Language

Ball, R. J., and Ellsworth, J.D., 'Against Teaching Composition in Classical Languages', Classical Journal 85, no. 1 (1989): 54 - 62.Ball and Ellsworth argue against the teaching of composition - the translation of English sentences/paragraphs into Greek and Latin. Topics covered are: 1 The Historical Basis of Teaching Composition; 2 The Elitist Motivation for Teaching Composition; 3 The Pedagogical Fallacy of Teaching Composition; 4 The Pedagogical Alternative to Teaching Composition. Ball, R. J., and Ellsworth, J.D., 'Flushing Out the Dinosaurs - Against Teaching Composition, 2', Classical Journal 88, no. 1 (1992): 55 - 65.A sequel to the Ball and Ellsworth article 'Against Teaching Composition in Classical Languages'. It is also a response to two other articles which take a positive view of composition and which criticize the views expressed in the original article on this subject. This article argues strongly against the practice of teaching Greek and Latin prose composition, stressing that it is of much more value to the student to learn to read original texts. Ball, R. J., and Ellsworth, J.D., 'Teaching Classical Languages, a Reasonable Approach', Classical World 83, no. 1 (1989): 1 - 12.Argues that if we wish to prevent (or at least postpone) the eventual collapse of the study of Greek and Latin, we must answer to the needs of today's students, who tend to show more ability with electronic media than with writing long papers in correct English, memorizing and grammar. It sets out the approach at the University of Hawai, where the main objective is for students to learn to read and understand classical texts in the original, rather than prose composition, oral and aural skills. Burke, E., 'Calling the Register: the logical case for teaching classical grammar', Language Learning Journal , no. 3 (1991): 21 - 24.Burke takes a fresh look at traditional grammar on philosophical grounds. Corson, D., 'The Learning and Use of Academic English Words', Language Learning 47, no. 4 (1997): 671 - 718.Examines the learning and use of academic English words by students who differ socioculturally. Argues that the Greco-Latin vocabulary of English offers various levels of potential difficulty for students from different class, cultural, or linguistic social factions. Infers some changes to practices in native and second language academic English education. (132 references) Newman, J. K., 'Composition - a Reply & Teaching Prose Composition in the Classical Languages', Classical Journal 85, no. 4 (1990): 344 349.Newman replies to the R.J. Ball and J.D. Ellsworth article 'Against Teaching Composition in Classical Languages', and argues that prose composition forces the student to read attentively, with attention to Latin idiom, to decipher the English carefully, and to put into practice rhetorical skills.

Poultney, J.W., 'Classical Linguistics in the United States', Classical Outlook 65, no. 2 (1987): 37 - 41.Reviews the history of classical linguistic studies in the United States. Cites many of the important American classicists from the nineteenth century to the present. Also gives the history of some scholarly organizations, including the Linguistic Society of America and the American Philological Association. (LMO) Reece, S., 'Teaching Koine Greek in a classics department', Classical Journal 93, no. 4 (1998): 417 - 429.The classics Department at Saint Olaf College offers a traditional curriculum, except that for the past 25 years it has positioned Koine Greek as the regular 4th semester course in the Greek language sequence. Reece discusses how they go about teaching Koine Greek, and the challenges that students might encounter. Stray, C., 'Primers, publishing, and politics: The classical textbooks of Benjamin Hall Kennedy', Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 90, no. 4 (1996): 451 - 474.Christopher Stray explores the connections between the histories of the textbook and education, and considers as an example the development and reputation of Benjamin Hall Kennedy's Public School Latin Primer (1866) and its successor, the Revised Latin Primer (1888). Stray, C., 'The Smell of Latin Grammar - Contrary Imaginings in English Classrooms', Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 76, no. 3 (1994): 201 - 220.Concentrating on the role of textbooks, such as Latin grammars, in 19th and 20th century English education, Christopher Stray explores the variety of symbolic overtones which Latin, as a coding device, has acquired. He considers how Latin pupils added their own layers of meaning through Hudson's 'contrary imaginings' (either: convergence: defensive caution and impersonality; or divergence: imaginative creation and personal association).