A Study of the Teaching and Learning of English Grammar with Special Reference to the Foundation Course in the Norwegian Senior High School (MA thesis) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2020
This study investigates teacher cognition and the role of grammar in English second language instruction (ESL) and the use of the target language (TL) in selected secondary schools in Norway. The data include interviews with teachers, classroom observations, and a collection of term plans. The findings suggest that teachers consider grammar an important part of ESL-instruction in order to improve students’ writing and to learn a metalanguage that can be used for discussing the structure of languages. However, little time seems to be dedicated to systematic, explicit grammar teaching and metalinguistic discussions. Interestingly, focus on grammar seems to diminish as students’ language competence improves. Furthermore, most of the teachers say that they use a deductive approach, and speak both Norwegian and English when teaching grammar. The teachers also say that many students express that they have an intuition for what is grammatically correct, but that they still make mistakes. I...
This paper presents a qualitative study investigating 1) whether ESL teachers teaching English 5 in Swedish upper-secondary schools take an explicit or implicit grammar approach to grammar instruction in their lessons, and, 2) which aspects they choose to prioritise. My initial hypothesis, based on prior, personal observation was that the ESL teachers sampled in my study would reveal preferences and tendencies more closely indicative of an implicit approach, and that this would be due to their beliefs about grammar and their own experience learning grammar as students. To find out which method ESL teachers use to instruct grammar, and to inform future practice on how to teach grammar and which aspects to prioritise, three ESL teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings show that, contrary to what was hypothesised, they instruct grammar with explicit-deductive approaches, and the teachers prioritise the same grammatical aspects, of which irregular verbs and tenses were identified as being the most important. These findings are discussed, and it is proposed that it is primarily a teacher’s experience from teaching grammar that influences his/her choice of teaching practice, and that it is the students’ specific needs that determine which grammatical aspects to prioritise.
In the history of language teaching, the role of grammar has been addressed by a number of linguistic theories, pedagogies and, currently, within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF). The way grammar is considered has a decisive influence on pedagogical practices, learning processes and many other areas involved in language teaching. This paper constitutes a revision of how grammar has evolved in the last fifty years paying special attention to its evolving role in both communicative (CLT) and post-communicative approaches and in the CEF.From this revision, some controversial issues concerning the pedagogic value of teaching grammar will arise as well, such as whether grammar is worth teaching in the classroom or not and how it should be taught.Even though there exists a parallel linguistic framework between CLT and the CEF, some issues still need revision concerning the notion of grammatical competence and its role for language teaching.
6. Current Developments in Research on the Teaching of Grammar
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 2004
With the rise of communicative methodology in the late 1970s, the role of grammar instruction in second language learning was downplayed, and it was even suggested that teaching grammar was not only unhelpful but might actually be detrimental. However, recent research has demonstrated the need for formal instruction for learners to attain high levels of accuracy. This has led to a resurgence of grammar teaching, and its role in second language acquisition has become the focus of much current investigation. In this chapter we briefly review the major developments in the research on the teaching of grammar over the past few decades. This review addresses two main issues: (1) whether grammar teaching makes any difference to language learning; and (2) what kinds of grammar teaching have been suggested to facilitate second language learning. To this end, the chapter examines research on the different ways in which formal instruction can be integrated with communicative activities. Continuing in the tradition of more than 2000 years of debate regarding whether grammar should be a primary focus of language instruction, should be eliminated entirely, or should be subordinated to meaning-focused use of the target language (for historical reviews see Howatt, 1984; Kelly, 1969), the need for grammar instruction is once again attracting the attention of second language acquisition (SLA) researchers and teachers. We briefly review arguments against and in support of grammar teaching before examining the approaches to grammatical instruction investigated in current research. 1
This article hopes to bring new insights to the debate about the effect of grammar knowledge on language use, especially writing. It raises the question of the need to look more closely at the following three questions: (1) What is the aim of grammar teaching?; (2) How capable are students of conceptualising about language and how is their metalinguistic activity shown in their language use?; and finally, (3) Which approach is most suitable for students to be able to develop their own knowledge, with emphasis on the role of interaction in the classroom? The article concludes with ten key points which provide a basic outline for progressing in grammar teaching research.
Editors’ Note: Current Research on Grammar Teaching. What is the Use of Teaching Grammar?
Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature, 2020
Research on grammar teaching covers a variety of topics and adopts plural perspectives. The III International Conference on Teaching Grammar (Congram19), held at the Autonomous University of Barcelona from January 23 to 25, 2019, is a sample of this. The presence of current research, carried out in various contexts, was an opportunity to consolidate a common field and to reflect on the particularities of the research carried out in each of these contexts, clearly linked to the purposes assigned to grammar teaching. This special issue includes the contributions of 16 researchers resulting from this conference. The reader will find these contributions in two parts: the first part in the previous issue of Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature (13.2) and the second part in the present issue (13.3).
Nordic Journal of Modern Language Methodology
Exam results show that many Norwegian students lack communicative competence in their second foreign language. This study investigates Spanish language instruction in Norway, in particular Spanish teachers’ opinions about grammar teaching, and why and how grammar is taught in lower and upper secondary school. Furthermore, the study explores whether common grammar teaching approaches are primarily explicit (rules provided) or implicit (rules not provided), inductive (language first) or deductive (rules first), and whether the language of instruction is primarily Norwegian or Spanish. The data comprise interviews with teachers and classroom observations, as well as teaching plans and other material. The analyses of the interviews and the observations show that the teachers think that grammar instruction is an important part of foreign language instruction, and they seem to prefer an explicit, deductive approach. The language of grammar instruction is predominantly Norwegian, independe...
Grammar Teaching and Learning at the Secondary Level
2017
Grammar is the precondition of language. After learning grammar, one can be more alert to the strength, flexibility and variety of the language and thus can be in a better position to use it and evaluate others’ use of it. In case of learning Second Language, the environment is much different than L1 acquisition. Without knowing the grammatical rules of using English, learners will not be able to utilise it with confidence and perfection. English is a compulsory subject at the secondary level in any country of the globe. Learners get enough time and opportunity to learn English for several years. There are some fixed items of grammatical rules to teach students in different education levels. In the syllabus of grammar the topics and themes have been introduced as vehicles for practicing the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, the question is whether the students are able to acquire the skills of English language or the teachers are able to teach them pr...