I found "The Phenomenology of Error" really interesting. It opens with a kind of rant as Williams claims, "The language some use to condemn linguistic error seems far more intense than the language they use to describe more consequential social errors" (153). He makes the flippant comparison of using words like 'irregardless' or phrases like 'between you and I' with "break[ing] wind at a dinner party and then vomit[ing] on the person next to us" (152-3). He goes on to cite his own hierarchy of insult as one in which grammatical errors fall below encroachments on personal space.
This first portion made me think of a common frustration of my students and myself (is that a correct usage of 'myself'?): attempting to cater to various pet peeves of professors and even friends. I recall a moment during my MA program when a few of my fellow students created a list of 'Banned Words' in the grad student lounge. I believe 'performativity' was first on the list. I've had students tell me about high school teachers who wouldn't allow them to have more than ten words in a sentence or use contractions or 'to be' verbs. And sometimes I wonder if I'm leading them astray by not employing similar standards when I know other professors might do so in the future.
Reading on, however, I realized this article is almost attempting to take a scientific approach to the world of grammar. Williams references experiments where teachers, editors, scholars, and the like were asked to discuss their feelings about certain usages. Williams points out, however: "The trouble with this kind of research, ...with asking people whether they think finalize is or is not good usage, is that they are likely to answer...Merely by being asked, it becomes manifest to them that they have been invested with an institutional responsibility that will require them to judge usage by the standards they think they are supposed to uphold" (154). It's almost like the light experiment where light particles changed their reactions depending upon the ways in which they were observed. I don't really know what I want to say about this last part other than that I think it is interesting. And that what is interesting to me might be infinitely frustrating to my students: grammar and usage 'errors' seem vary from person to person and professor to professor.
There definitely seems to be a discussion of focus in Williams article in the course of which he challenges us to think about what errors we actually notice and feel compelled to comment upon and argues that this is a very short list. I think he's right! But, if we sit down and try to think about what errors we're noticing and what errors we are not, then we are bound to notice more in the long run. To continue your thought that you find this topic interesting but most of your students probably wouldn't, my guess is that just like us, our students also notice errors to a widely varying degree, so that might be something to consider in designing lesson plans or assignments that foreground grammar or "errors."
ReplyDeleteKacy, I so understand pet peeves from both my undergraduate years and my MA program. I have had teachers who had personal investments in grammar usage. I have students tell about all the things that they have been warned against by their writing teachers about such as contractions, not "ever, ever" using be verbs, paragraphs not exceeding 5 sentences.... I think having these very specific things for students distracts them from the ultimate goal of writing a good piece.
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