Associate Professor Natalie Gerber of the Department of English gave two collaborative presentations with composition theorist Peter Ellbow and linguistics graduate-student Hülya Belketin from University of Dusseldorf in Germany at the 2014 Conference on College, Composition, and Communication, in Indianapolis, Ind.
"Grammar for the Eye, Grammar for the Ear: Implications for Writing," a half-day workshop, focused on grammatical features often associated with spoken language that give vitality to written texts.
Professor Gerber helped participants notice these features and their function in the poetry of William Carlos Williams. Ms. Belketin then used this experiential knowledge to introduce the theory of thetical grammar, an emerging area of discourse grammar. Professor Emeritus Elbow demonstrated the practical application of thetical and so-called spoken grammar for writing teachers and students. Several dozen people participated.
On Saturday, March 22, the three presented a condensed version as a panel, "What Can Students and Teachers of Writing Learn from a Careful Linguistic Exploration of Spoken Grammar?" that drew well over 100 attendees.
