From: Paul Zellmer (zellmer@digitelone.com)
Date: Fri Dec 10 1999 - 18:10:32 EST
Steven Craig Miller wrote (in part):
> I've posted a couple quibbling messages encouraging people to expand
their
> categories beyond the two bipolar extremes of "beginner" and
"advanced" so
> as to add a third category "intermediate" into their vocabulary. And
now,
> someone has taken my exhortation to heart.
Steven,
Let me quibble with you a bit more. If you look back at my 12/8
message, which is one of the messages to which your "quibbling" messages
were responding, you would find that I said, "The "second year"
course, which is many times referred to as "intermediate Greek," is
normally the first real course in *syntax*, how the words relate to the
other words in the context."
As I read Rev. Goltz' description of teaching grammars, I see his use of
the terminology more likely based on a common referent to the
second-year course than on your exhortation. Don't break your arm
patting yourself on the back! And, if you are going to be encouraged by
one small instance like this one, you should have been just as
encouraged by the fact that I used the vitally important term in my
note.
But, in reality, from the point of a teacher, I prefer the first course
and the second course to have significantly different names. I find
that, using "syntax" to describe the second year course, I find the
students come in realizing that they are indeed going to approach the
language in a new way, as opposed to the memory-intensive course of
study that normally marks the first-year course. A significant change
of name also tends to prevent much of the sophomoric attitude by some
that they basically know it all. It makes that first day of the second
year a lot more enjoyable.
As I learned in my linguistic training, some people are joiners and some
are splitters when it comes to classification. While giving the
appearance of being a splitter with your argument of "intermediate,"
you, my friend, are actually are "joiner," trying to gather all these
courses and books under a single overall umbrella. To each their own.
Paul
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