TESL 0110: Unit 2 - Grammar Methods - Embedding, Moderation & Balance?
As I try to write this blog post I will admit that this has been a long week. I came down with a pinched nerve in my neck and cannot remember when I have had pain like this. Typing hurts. In the midst of that, I have still worked, though I would imagine not as productively as I am used to and I have been humbled by my small problems in light of others bigger issues.
Our town suffered a loss this week when an eight-apartment block building caught fire and burned nearly everything. All residents of the apartment are safe, including four newcomer families that have at least one providing member of the family work at the place where I work. That happened overnight Tuesday to Wednesday. Wednesday we put out a call at work for support for material things to help get these families started. Our Vice President of Human Resources found temporary housing (apartments or condos) for the families, and we sent out an email to all staff asking for donations to help get these families started. Pots, pans, blankets - just the basics and you know what? By Friday, all basic needs were met for all four families and they are moving into their temporary housing this weekend. Until now, they have stayed in our customer suites and have never been without shelter. And, we received more donations of goods than are needed and whatever is left will be saved until the next round of newcomers comes to work at our company, or there is a more pressing need. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of our community. We have about 550 employees that work locally for our company, in a town of about 4,300 people and their commitment to sharing and generosity is an example.
I share this to keep things in perspective. My physical pain is real this week, but there are others struggling too. My struggle to learn what I think I need to know (in this course) to be effective is real, but there are those struggling with communication more than I struggle to learn grammar. Keeping things in perspective is hard because I know what is real to me in an intimate way.
My perspective from this week is that my "aha" moment this week is not so much a momentary "light bulb" but rather a dawning or awakening - giving voice and vocabulary to what I think I already believed, but did not know how to express. That is the goal of learning, so rather than trying to dream up something that is witty or new, I am going to share one of the discussion posts that I wrote this week as part of Unit 2 for the TESL 0110: Grammar Fundamentals class. This post is about the various options for grammar instructional methods - I know - riveting right? Well, I'll let you decide...
Hi there,
One of my great frustrations in working in Staff Development is that high school students often graduate without the specific essential skills that are needed for the workplace. This can be basic math (fractions and percentages), or it might be problem solving and prioritization skills, it could be what I would consider basic effective communication - on the phone, by email, or in essay format (I read essays at times for scholarship applications), or even basic use of spreadsheets. What I have found is that often the expected skill development is embedded into the curriculum but not overtly taught and so because there isn't emphasis on them, the students know the "gist" of things but not the practical realities. No one has taught them.
I kept thinking about these things and relating them to my experience as I read through Thornbury's article. I really appreciated the continuum that was shown that demonstrated in linear format where the approaches would be on a scale of zero grammar to heavy emphasis.
I cannot inherently agree with the Grammar-Translation method in teaching as it doesn't provide context for the learning and if there is little context then there is little meaning. Learners learn best when there is meaning in their learning. For example - I don't know a lot about grammar, but if I had to take this course for no reason, I might engage differently than I do now. I am taking this course for several reasons - 1. I need to to complete the TESL program; 2. Language teachers need to know grammar; 3. Language teachers need to know how to teach grammar; 4. In some form I want to be able to support language learning; 5. Grammar matters; 6. I am interested in this topic (primarily because I'm interested in TESL). All these concepts create meaning and make this subject matter to me. Meaning defines my reason to be engaged. Grammar-translation method on its own provides little meaning for learning and is limited in its ability to create language users.
Audiolingualism - essentially a rejection of grammar teaching - language is a form of behaviour and is learned through correct habits. That may be true - I can teach my children how to eat properly at the table and remind them of their manners in order to be excused (habits), but if it has no meaning, then they will soon forget or lose interest because it doesn't matter. I have a hard time with this method also, because I feel that it's missing any deliverables in terms of meaning.
Natural approach - This comes across as chaotic learning in a planned environment and that doesn't feel like it will work to me. We'll have a class where you come at appointed times, and on a schedule, but we won't force or design your learning in order to support the natural acquisition of this new language. That might work for a few people (if you have the gift of languages), but it's not likely to work for a majority. If you go to a classroom and a teacher says "here, go ahead and learn what you can and eventually it will all make sense", I feel like I could do a better job on my own. The only way to ensure that second language acquisition occurs as first language acquisition is if they happen simultaneously and most of us are not working (or planning to work) with those where they're learning English alongside another language in their formative years. My experience would indicate that not all language learners learn at the same rate, but all language learners need some direction and support in their learning, thus the natural way doesn't seem practical for being strategic about learning and providing learning support.
My personal leaning would be to the shallow end of Communicative Language teaching. I feel that there is a good balance of embedding skill development in the lessons while taking time to overtly teach those skills that are likely to need support, and in a relevant way. So many lessons that we've worked on or seen in the course curriculum thus far are about practical things that people need to know to live - how to visit a doctor, how to go shopping, how to file your income tax paperwork, etc and all the important things about learning a language are included. Learners - children and adults - want to learn what is relevant to them. If it's not relevant to them, why would they put in the effort? CLT brings the language concepts together to support all areas and what I'll call sub-areas of learning. I really have an increased appreciation for the CLB tool and measurements that it provides in terms of guidance for teachers and learners and I believe that it is highly focused on CLT theory.
At times I've experienced resistance in the learners at work because they do not understand the meaning - why am I in class? What do I need to learn to get out of class? Why am I supposed to learn this? When we take time to talk about it, we can often rebuild a sense of value in the class itself and intrinsic motivation in the learner because we have now moved from a place where it didn't matter to a place where the learning really is relevant.
On page 25 Thornbury says "But this doesn't mean that grammar should be the goal of teaching, nor that a focus on form alone is sufficient. The goal of the communicative movement - communicative competence - embraces more than just grammar, and implies a focus on meaning as well. It may be that communicative competence is best achieved through communicating, through making meanings, and that grammar is a way of tidying these meanings up. If so, the teacher's energies should be directed mainly at providing opportunities for authentic language use, employing grammar as a resource rather than as an end in itself."
This really resonated with me and helps me to put in perspective the importance of grammar in language learning (and teaching) while ensuring that the learning has inherent value (meaning) for the learner.
Thanks,
Dana
References
Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Essex, UK: Pearson Education Limited.
Our town suffered a loss this week when an eight-apartment block building caught fire and burned nearly everything. All residents of the apartment are safe, including four newcomer families that have at least one providing member of the family work at the place where I work. That happened overnight Tuesday to Wednesday. Wednesday we put out a call at work for support for material things to help get these families started. Our Vice President of Human Resources found temporary housing (apartments or condos) for the families, and we sent out an email to all staff asking for donations to help get these families started. Pots, pans, blankets - just the basics and you know what? By Friday, all basic needs were met for all four families and they are moving into their temporary housing this weekend. Until now, they have stayed in our customer suites and have never been without shelter. And, we received more donations of goods than are needed and whatever is left will be saved until the next round of newcomers comes to work at our company, or there is a more pressing need. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of our community. We have about 550 employees that work locally for our company, in a town of about 4,300 people and their commitment to sharing and generosity is an example.
I share this to keep things in perspective. My physical pain is real this week, but there are others struggling too. My struggle to learn what I think I need to know (in this course) to be effective is real, but there are those struggling with communication more than I struggle to learn grammar. Keeping things in perspective is hard because I know what is real to me in an intimate way.
My perspective from this week is that my "aha" moment this week is not so much a momentary "light bulb" but rather a dawning or awakening - giving voice and vocabulary to what I think I already believed, but did not know how to express. That is the goal of learning, so rather than trying to dream up something that is witty or new, I am going to share one of the discussion posts that I wrote this week as part of Unit 2 for the TESL 0110: Grammar Fundamentals class. This post is about the various options for grammar instructional methods - I know - riveting right? Well, I'll let you decide...
Hi there,
One of my great frustrations in working in Staff Development is that high school students often graduate without the specific essential skills that are needed for the workplace. This can be basic math (fractions and percentages), or it might be problem solving and prioritization skills, it could be what I would consider basic effective communication - on the phone, by email, or in essay format (I read essays at times for scholarship applications), or even basic use of spreadsheets. What I have found is that often the expected skill development is embedded into the curriculum but not overtly taught and so because there isn't emphasis on them, the students know the "gist" of things but not the practical realities. No one has taught them.
I kept thinking about these things and relating them to my experience as I read through Thornbury's article. I really appreciated the continuum that was shown that demonstrated in linear format where the approaches would be on a scale of zero grammar to heavy emphasis.
I cannot inherently agree with the Grammar-Translation method in teaching as it doesn't provide context for the learning and if there is little context then there is little meaning. Learners learn best when there is meaning in their learning. For example - I don't know a lot about grammar, but if I had to take this course for no reason, I might engage differently than I do now. I am taking this course for several reasons - 1. I need to to complete the TESL program; 2. Language teachers need to know grammar; 3. Language teachers need to know how to teach grammar; 4. In some form I want to be able to support language learning; 5. Grammar matters; 6. I am interested in this topic (primarily because I'm interested in TESL). All these concepts create meaning and make this subject matter to me. Meaning defines my reason to be engaged. Grammar-translation method on its own provides little meaning for learning and is limited in its ability to create language users.
Audiolingualism - essentially a rejection of grammar teaching - language is a form of behaviour and is learned through correct habits. That may be true - I can teach my children how to eat properly at the table and remind them of their manners in order to be excused (habits), but if it has no meaning, then they will soon forget or lose interest because it doesn't matter. I have a hard time with this method also, because I feel that it's missing any deliverables in terms of meaning.
Natural approach - This comes across as chaotic learning in a planned environment and that doesn't feel like it will work to me. We'll have a class where you come at appointed times, and on a schedule, but we won't force or design your learning in order to support the natural acquisition of this new language. That might work for a few people (if you have the gift of languages), but it's not likely to work for a majority. If you go to a classroom and a teacher says "here, go ahead and learn what you can and eventually it will all make sense", I feel like I could do a better job on my own. The only way to ensure that second language acquisition occurs as first language acquisition is if they happen simultaneously and most of us are not working (or planning to work) with those where they're learning English alongside another language in their formative years. My experience would indicate that not all language learners learn at the same rate, but all language learners need some direction and support in their learning, thus the natural way doesn't seem practical for being strategic about learning and providing learning support.
My personal leaning would be to the shallow end of Communicative Language teaching. I feel that there is a good balance of embedding skill development in the lessons while taking time to overtly teach those skills that are likely to need support, and in a relevant way. So many lessons that we've worked on or seen in the course curriculum thus far are about practical things that people need to know to live - how to visit a doctor, how to go shopping, how to file your income tax paperwork, etc and all the important things about learning a language are included. Learners - children and adults - want to learn what is relevant to them. If it's not relevant to them, why would they put in the effort? CLT brings the language concepts together to support all areas and what I'll call sub-areas of learning. I really have an increased appreciation for the CLB tool and measurements that it provides in terms of guidance for teachers and learners and I believe that it is highly focused on CLT theory.
At times I've experienced resistance in the learners at work because they do not understand the meaning - why am I in class? What do I need to learn to get out of class? Why am I supposed to learn this? When we take time to talk about it, we can often rebuild a sense of value in the class itself and intrinsic motivation in the learner because we have now moved from a place where it didn't matter to a place where the learning really is relevant.
On page 25 Thornbury says "But this doesn't mean that grammar should be the goal of teaching, nor that a focus on form alone is sufficient. The goal of the communicative movement - communicative competence - embraces more than just grammar, and implies a focus on meaning as well. It may be that communicative competence is best achieved through communicating, through making meanings, and that grammar is a way of tidying these meanings up. If so, the teacher's energies should be directed mainly at providing opportunities for authentic language use, employing grammar as a resource rather than as an end in itself."
This really resonated with me and helps me to put in perspective the importance of grammar in language learning (and teaching) while ensuring that the learning has inherent value (meaning) for the learner.
Thanks,
Dana
References
Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Essex, UK: Pearson Education Limited.
Comments
Post a Comment