A few months ago when we were going around on this topic someone on
the list mentioned that they had used Accordance as a teaching tool in
their classes with some success. I was kind of sceptical about this at the
time but on further reflection I think this idea may have some merit. The
rule based approach to learning/teaching NT Greek I discussed in my last
post (Machen Revisited) could be pursued using Accordance.
Search patterns are rules. And the formulation of search patterns is a
form of rule writing. The construct window in Accordance lets you
formulate a rule in a visual way. A student can print a construct window
and turn it in as a class room assignment . This a good tool for syntax
rule writing.
At the level of morphology, rules could be written in Accordance using
the character level search patterns. These rules would be a little more
cryptic than the syntax rules using the construct window.
I should mention a minor qualification. The rule writing notation in
Accordance is optimized for doing *syntactical research*. A rule
notation that was intended to do generalized language *description*
would have somewhat different properties than one intended to do
syntactical research. If one were setting out to do language description
in an inflected language one would first have to come up with a rule
notation which does not have built in L-R (Left Right) characteristics.
One would want to formulate a rule notation that would allow one to
represent, in an elegant fashion, the word order flexibility of an
inflected language. So far I have seen no form of notation that solves this
problem.
Having stated this minor qualification, it is clear to me that Accordance
could be used in the class room for writing rules on morphology and
syntax. Therefore the tools are available for immediate implementation
of a rule based approach to learning NT Greek. All you have to do is get
busy with these tools and figure out how you would incorporate them
into your classroom instruction.
I agree with Jim Oxford. I think the best way to get started on
*innovation* is to combine traditional teaching methods with new
methods. I don't advocate leaping into the great unknown at the risk of
wasting your students in the process.
Clay Bartholomew
Three Tree Point