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Date Posted: 12:04:51 10/13/04 Wed
Author: Verônica
Subject: Re: Task 3
In reply to: Kátia 's message, "Task 3" on 09:09:14 10/12/04 Tue

Some perspectives of teaching grammar in a second/foreingn language curriculum

According to Michael Lewis (Lewis, 1986: 7;8), it is possible to classify grammar in two different ways: descriptive grammar and pedagogical grammar. A descriptive grammar is the one produced by linguists who classify and describe the language based on an enormous number of examples of it. This kind of grammar is as difficult as a technical book to use because it contains long, complicated and accurate descriptions of a rule. A pedagogical grammar is the one used by foreing language students. It is smaller and esier to use and contains a simplified language. Instead of describe how the language is used, it tells how the language should be used, conciliating accuracy and accessibility. Based on the last researches about teaching grammar, a pedagogical grammar may contain three different perspectives (The Aquisition Theory, The Learner’s Perspective and The Pedagogical Perspective) and three different kinds of information (Facts, Patterns and Primary Semantic Distinctions).

Rod Ellis (Hinkel, E.; Fotos, S., 2002: chapter2) points out three different perpectives in teaching grammar. The Aquisition Theory shows that adult learners have more difficulty to learn grammar than the other students. There are some reasons why this happens: age (after 15 years old grammar acquisition becomes harder); communicative sufficiency (adult learners are able to “satisfy their communicative needs” – page 18 – without knowing all the norms); limited oportunities for students because of the total output given by teachers (the classroom inviroment is not sufficient to practice the language). The Learner’s Perspective says that some learners, specially adults, expect to study grammar in a L2 course, so they are more prepared to classes focused on the structure of a language. The Pedagogical Perspective is based on the idea that notional/ functional syllabus “do not provide a basis for the systematic coverage of the language to be taught” (page 21). In this way, this perspective emphasizes the importance of keeping both syllabuses, notional and task-based, to teach grammar.

Lewis (Lewis, 1986: chapter 2) says that analyzing the pedagogic grammar it is possible to note that it contains three kinds of information that must be considered while teaching grammatical structures. The Facts is a non-generative information. It means that if you know one rule it will not help you to understand the others. “The information given is generally accepted by all native speakers of English” (page 9). The Patterns is a generative information. It means that once the students has acquired the pattern of some subject, it will help them to understand the whole topic. The Primary Semantic Distinctions is the kind of information that is related to meaning. In this case, the emphasis will be on understanding rather than memorising the subject.

Considering these different kinds of perspectives and information that can be conveyed by pedagogical grammar, the importance of studing the different aspects of the pedagogical grammar before teaching some grammatical rule must be emphasized.

Reference:

Hinkel,E; Fotos, S.(Ed.). New perspectives of teaching grammar in second language classroom. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum. 2002.
Lewis, M. The English verb: an exploration of structure and meaning. Hove: LTP.1986.

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