1) The role of grammar in the English language classroom.

- Behaviourism: decontextualized grammar structures. Privileged FORM over MEANIN

G.
- The 1980s experienced an anti-grammar movement, perhaps influenced primarily b
y Krashen's (1982) idea that grammar can be acquired naturally from meaningful i
nput and opportunities to interact in the classroom: in other words,. that gramm
atical competence can develop in a fluency-oriented environment without consciou
s focus on language forms.
- Grammar: approaches transitioned from HIGH to LOW priority. --> gram. inaccura
cy --> in turn, REASSERTION of grammar in syllabus design and the contents of le
ssons (gram. forms and rules). --> not identical to what it was before.
How do learners learn the grammatical system of English?
2 issues:
what insights are available into the ways in which learners move towards accurat
e production of the English language to measure the usefulness of grammar-based
knowledge and grammar-based practice as part of classroom methodology
AND
factors to consider? Age, degree of exposure to English, and reasons for learnin
g English
OTHER QUESTIONS:
If we believe that a focus on grammar is a necessary and/ or a desirable part of
classroom language learning, the questions that follow are:
how to integrate grammar teaching into a'communicative methodology which pays at
tention
to all aspects of communicative competence, and what precise form that
teaching should take. And these imply further questions abo ut the choice of
grammatical structures to present, what kind of grammatical description to
use, whether to use an inductive or a deductive approach, what the role of
practice might be, and what forms of practice are appropriate for different type
s of learner.
GRAMMAR-VOCABULARY LINK
Traditionally, grammar has been considered as being of primary importance with v
ocabulary
in a subordinate role, but currently vocabulary is seen as of equal significance
in language learning,
What do we know about the learning or grammar?
INPUT HYPOTHESIS and the notion of INTAKE.
Learners receive information about language from a variety of SOURCES in the env
ironment/classroom (teacher, textbook, other ss, recordings, etc.). --> WORK to
achieve ACQUISITION.
ACQUISITION PROCESSES:
1) Noticing: pay attention to specific features of the Lg. In order for the lear
ner to notice, the Lg feature has to be noticeable.
Criteria for being noticeable: frequent occurrence, related to ss common sense a
bout basic FUNCTIONS of the Lg, its functions are likely to noticed (example, DO
N'T).
After being noticed and interpreted (FORM-MEANING) --> become part of INTAKE. Ss
have to work out how to fit this new info into their PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE.
2) Reasoning and hypothesizing: analyse new Lg using a set of STRATEGIES they kn
ow:
a. Deductive reasoning: applying rules ss know to communicate (inversion of orde
r in indirect questions)
b. Contrastive analysis: compare their knowledge of L1, L2 or other languages an
d work out their similarities and differences. (False cognates)

c. Translating.
d. Tranferring: apply knowledge of one language to the understanding or producti
on of another. "I no like..."
3) Structuring and restructuring: new rules have to be integrated into the repre
sentation of English grammar they hold in their minds, and this information has
to be restructured as the learner moves on to another stage of development. Stag
es --> Lightbown and Spada (1999)
4) Automatizing: earlier stages, learner plans and chooses what to say and how t
o say it by paying attention to whether the form communicates a meaning successf
ully. Through repeated practice of the successful form its use will ultimately b
ecome automatic, in just the same way as L1 acquisition.
Problems/qualifications:
1. The ways in which these processes of noticing, reasoning, restructuring, and
automatizing relate to one another is far from clear. Role of practice in the in
take of grammatical structures (facilitate or confuse, succesful production in f
ocused practice in the lesson but not in later lessons, WHEN and WHAT KIND of pr
actice helps),
2. whether processes occur consciously or unconsciously,
3. implicit vs explicit grammatical knowledge.
4. There must also be other processes.
DEBATE on just how language is processed by a learner: what the psychological re
ality is, and what the respective roles of grammar and vocabulary are. For examp
le, it has been suggested (Pawley and Syder 1983) that learners improvise when t
hey speak, especially in the early stages of learning a language, stringing toge
ther chunks of language in a process that owes more to memory and an understandi
ng of word meaning than the selection of grammatical units.
What information can help us in the selection and presentation of grammar?
Pedagogical grammars (in textbooks) therefore act as 'filters' or 'interpreters'
between the detailed formal grammars of linguists and the classroom (Candlin 1
973). This means that they are structured according to
the age and level of proficiency of the learners and in terms of their objective
s for learning English.
Points to bear in mind when reviewing the grammar component of a coursebook (ped
agogical grammar):
1. Idealization: great difficulty to give rules for some aspects of grammar. -->
'the use of any in an affirmative sentence is in fact much commoner than its us
e in interrogatives' (Any fool knows that!)
2. Different approaches to the description of grammar (NOT as a formal system):
1) Grammar as meaning: examples: modals, diff. person; intonation, contr
ast.
2) Grammar in discourse: go beyond the sentence; "Normal linguistic beha
viour does not consist in the production of separate sentences but in the use
of sentences for the creation of discourse." Widdowson
Analysis of connected discourse (Leech and Svartvik): Six ways:
1. Linking signals: anticipate what comes next (fortunately, i.e
.)
2. Linking construcions: conjunctions
3. 'Gral purpose' links: participle clauses (being a...), verble
ss clauses (... , too nervous to reply)
4. Substitution and omission: the use of PRNs to refer back to s
th (the one... as good as I do) and ellipsis.
5. Presenting and focusing info: Contrast (spoken).
6. Order and emphasis: cleft sentences, inversion, fronting.
Problems: discourse: context-bound (spoken).