Ellis's Q2: What grammar should we teach?

(2) What grammar should we teach?

This question can be broken down into two separate questions:
1. What kind of grammar should we base teaching on?
2. Which grammar features should we teach?

grammatical models: structural grammars, generative grammars (based on a theory of universal grammar), functional grammars (p.86)

Modern syllabuses give more attention to the functions performed by grammatical forms. Less empahsis is placed on such aspects of grammar as sentence patterns or tense paradigms and more on the meanings conveyed by different grammatical forms in communication. (p.86)

Grammar Book (by Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999) is a valuable resource of grammar. It identifies the kinds of errors that L2 learners are known to make with different grammatical structures. (p.87)

VanPatten, Williams, and Rott (2004) emphasize that establishing connections between form and meaning is a fundamental aspect of langauge acquisition. (p.87)

Which type of grammar to use as a basis for teaching is not a major source of controversy (descriptive grammar??); the choice of which grammatical structures to teach is controversial. (p.87) --> two ploar positions:
A. Krashen's minimalist position: Grammar teaching should be limited to a few simple and portable rules such as 3rd person -s and past tense -ed that can be used to monitor output from the acquired system. (p.87)

There is now ample evidence that many learners are capable of mastering a wide range of explicit grammar rules (Green & Hecht, 1992).

B. Course book writers such as Walter & Swan (1990), Murphy (1994): comprehensive position (Ellis's term)
Such a position would also seem unwarranted because learners are clearly capable of learning a substantial amount of the L2 grammar without instruction and because most teaching contexts have limited time available for teaching grammar so some selection is needed. (p.88)

Ellis's viewpoints:
1. The selection of grmmar teaching should be based on the inherent learning difficulty of different grammatical structures. (p.88) First, we should distinguish two different senses of learning difficulty.
A. the difficulty learners have in understanding a grammatical feature
B. the difficulty they have in internalizing a grammatical feature so that they are able to use it accurately in communication (p.88)
--> the distinction between learning grammar as explicit knowledge and as implicit knowledge
Most learners have no difficulty in grasping the rule for English third person -s but they have enormous difficulty in internalizing this structure so they can use it accurately. (speaking or writing??)

Summary of Rod Ellis's article on TESOL Quarterly 2006

Ellis, R. (2006). Current issues in the teaching of grammar: An SLA perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 83-107.

Rod Ellis addressed 8 questions about grammar teaching and learning:
(1) Should we teach grammar, or should we simple create the conditions by which learners learn naturally?
(2) What grammar should we teach?
(3) When should we teach grammar? Is it best to teach grammar when learners first start to learn an L2 or to wait until later when learners have already acquired some linguistic competence?
(4) Should grammar instruction be massed (i.e., the available teaching time be concentrated into a short period) or distributed (i.e., the available teaching time spread over a longer period)?
(5) Should grammar instruction be intensive (e.g., cover a single grammatical structure in a single lesson) or extensive (e.g., cover many grammatical structures in a single lesson)?
(6) Is there any value in teaching explicit grammatical knowledge?
(7) Is there a best way to teach grammar for implicit knowledge?
(8) Should grammar be taught in separate lessons or integrated into communicative activities?

My teacher at TKU Dr Wible also brought up 7 questions in the first class of our class (pedagogical grammar).
(1) Can grammar be taught?
(2) Is grammar a coherent notion? That is, can grammar be carefully isolated as a body of knowledge or is language somehow distorted when this is attempted?
(3) Is there a different kind of grammar knowledge needed for reading than for writing, for speaking than for listening, etc.?
(4) Is there some order in which the rules or generalizations of grammar should be learned/acquired/taught?
(5) What are the ideal conditions under which learners can master the grammar of a target language?
(6) Of what value is explicit grammar knowledge to a language learner?
(7) Of what value is explicit grammar knowledge to a language teacher?

I will summarize Rod Ellis's opinions about grammar teaching one by one in the following postings.