Interview In the English Department

I interviewed Professor W. of the English department about the use of grammar in the field of English. I started by asking what she expected students in her class to know about grammar. She said she expected students to know some basic grammar, but, more importantly, she expected students to be able to go find out what they did wrong if needed. So if she told them they had a problem with dangling modifiers that they could go and educate themselves on what those were and how to fix them. She added that she doesn't lower grades for grammar on student papers, but that sometimes their grammar impacted their ability to clearly communicate their ideas, which did impace their grade. The grammar error she was bothered by most was the confusion between plural and possessive.

As far as how grammar is used in the field outside of the classroom, I asked about how important it was in her field of work. She responded that it was crucial: when submitting an article to a scholarly journal any grammar errors make it look unprofessional and less likely to be taken seriously.