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The third and most talked about text in this series is L. Ron Hubbard’s The New Grammar. It logically follows from the previous texts; for with his grip of English building blocks and use of a dictionary, the student is now prepared to learn the way in which we best communicate. A revolutionary work, The New Grammar embodies a thoroughly practical view of the language with grammar as “the way words are organized into speech and writings so as to convey exact thoughts, ideas and meanings amongst people.” In that regard, grammar becomes not the rules for the construction of sentences, but “a system of agreements as to the relationship of words to bring about meaningful communication.”
The distinction is enormously important, and hits right at the heart of another formidable impediment to written and verbal expression: English grammar as a complex and ill-taught tradition. In the main, what passes for modern English usage is the legacy of medieval grammarians attempting to structure the language according to a Latin model. As part of the baggage, comes a view of grammar as a stern subject to distinguish an elite from the vulgar. (Latin was, after all, both the language of the liturgy as well as diplomacy, and thus proper usage bore heavily upon social advancement. Moreover, the thirteenth century grammarian counted himself as much a philosopher as a linguist, and so offered his work as a highly esoteric study). For all periodic talk of reformation, the trappings still remain. The modern grammarian is still a vaguely medieval figure, while his stock in trade is still an esoteric study of constricting rules. Then, too, those rules are still a fairly severe measure of social standing, and particularly so considering how difficult they are to comprehend.
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