This paper was written as the culminating assignment for English 220: Language & Society.  I have included it in this section for its content.  Although it is in no way a compendium of the history of language arts instruction, it relates Classical language instruction to the modern classroom.  The paper balances its focus between the emerging role of the English language as a world language with how it has been traditionally taught.  The main pedagogical question addressed is whether language should be taught by prescriptive or descriptive rules.     

A History of Teaching the English Language