Yes, I'm That Grammar Guy! | Hunt Lyman | TEDxAshburnSalon

The anthropologist, Ralph Linton, observed that the last thing a fish would ever notice would be water. We are in a similar position today regarding language, which surrounds every human being almost every waking minute. Yet while every English course in elementary, middle, and high school addresses writing and language, students do not typically encounter the study of language before linguistics in college.

While many students and parents are unaware or apathetic to what is the meaning of grammar today, teachers have essentially divided into two camps with regards to grammar and language: those who teach formal grammar and those who essentially ignore language study in their English classes?!

Hunt will touch on the passion and power of language and the issues as we accelerate forward in our daily lives at the speed of need. How does language change over time? How is technology (e.g., emojis, social media) changing language today? How do we learn language? Who makes the grammar rules? Who writes the dictionaries? Most importantly, how do we move from the middle to make learning language, a labor of love and play not a battlefield? Hunt Lyman is in his 36th year of teaching English in Virginia independent schools. Hunt graduated from Yale Phi Beta Kappa in 1983, and he earned a Master’s Degree from Wesleyan in 1992 and Ph.D from the University of Virginia in 2004. He has chaired high school English departments, taught Advanced Placement courses, graded AP exams, taught at the University of Virginia, directed the Central Virginia Writing Project, written frequently for publication, and presented at schools across the country. Hunt has been active in the Virginia Association of Independent Schools, serving on the faculty of the New Teacher Institute and leading Accreditation teams. Hunt’s particular interest is introducing his students to the miracle of language. In addition to his role as Academic Dean and middle school English teacher at The Hill School, Hunt teaches a linguistics course to 4th graders. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx