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Originally Posted by guyy
Grammar is an after-the-fact summarisation of linguistic practice. Linguistic form structures the message, but there is still a message. To write an essay, a student has to go outside the grammar book for knowledge and opinion.
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Yes. This is what I'm getting at.
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Originally Posted by guyy
In ancient times, they had kids memorise Homer or Confucius & the other 4 books & 5 classics. "There. Do it like that." You'd pick up the proper form and the content in the process of reproduction. Anglo-American pedagogy seems to be stuck in a reaction against that sort of classicism.
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Is this in reference to Plato's railing against the written word, and that it leads to forgetfulness and a lack of seriousness (i.e. the dialogue is the only serious discourse)?
It is a pity what we have lost from classical education, but I do believe it isn't practical anymore--not in our current culture and political economy.