The third teacher Marcus is a teacher in his twenties who has been teaching for eight years in an average size primary school in a rural area. He had studied English through his primary teaching degree.
The function of grammar
Marcus emphasised that grammar was important for communication in line with the communicative approach. I asked him if we could not make ourselves understood without learning grammar and he emphasised the prescriptive element of grammar, stating that it
was important to speak correctlyand that this had to be learned, particularly as in this era of technology he feels that correct grammar and spelling have been downgraded.
Grammar is important for communication. It helps us to express ourselves correctly. It is an essential component of communication; a means of getting across our message and in turn for people to understand what we mean.
Do we need to know grammar in English to communicate? Is it not automatic?
Well correct grammar assists in expression, articulation and to show a measure of education. So it is necessary to know correct grammar to make oneself understood in a more correct way. This won’t necessarily come automatically.
The use of grammar
Marcus was quite sure that a knowledge of grammar in one language helped to understand another both in comparison and in contrast.
Do you think understanding grammar in English helps you to understand it more in Irish?
Absolutely, even if it’s not the same – the contrast helps you to learn it and it is by referring it back to what you know already.
The value of grammar
Marcus deemed that the way a person used grammar correctly was a measure of their intelligence. He associated prescriptive grammar with education.
So you associate grammar very much with correctness?
Well yes because children are overexposed to slang. In a society addicted to speed and instant gratification, ‘proper’ language has been downgraded as being out-of-date. Look at how texting has downgraded language. Letter writing, future CV’s and professional emails
were held to rely on correct grammar as a measure of a person’s education and intelligence. Good grammar equals good quality work and fluency in any language is impossible without mastery of the grammar.
Teacher’s own experience in learning grammar
During the course of his own education, Marcus had been taught in some classes but not in others. In fact, a lot of his learning had been self-taught.
Were you taught grammar during your primary school years?
I was taught in some classes and not others … a lot of what I know was self-taught.
Teacher’s own experience in teaching grammar
Marcus taught grammar as it arose and having observed his lesson I deduced he is a teacher who thinks it is important to know the mechanics of language, and so he teaches grammar as needed and integrates it in other lesson as it arises.
Do you think you should have been taught grammar?
Yes, as you can see in my lesson I teach grammar as it arises – it comes into lots of lessons – not just a specific ‘English grammar’ lesson.
Yes, there was a lot of grammar and the children have a good grasp of aspects of grammar and they enjoy learning it.
Affective responses to grammar
Marcus was very conscious of using correct grammar and he associated prescriptive grammar with evidence of academic attainment. This was very much for creating a good impression. This would seem to convey that grammar was important to impress others and
distinguish oneself by the education that it seemed to convey. Marcus had respect for grammar, integrating it with and through other lessons. He had not been taught grammar in primary school. Marcus, like Paula, is concerned that the sociocultural environment in which the pupils find themselves has downgraded language through messaging, and grammar and language have been compromised. He stresses the need to teach “proper” language as a measure of showing good education. Ellis’s review of studies (2002a, p. 229) shows FoF’s positive effect on L2 acquisition for children aged 12 or below. These studies suggest that without attention to form, L2 children will continue to experience problems with basic structures. Keith (2001) and Dean (2004) state that within mother tongue education, active grammar knowledge is indispensable but it needs additional classroom attention to bring students to the required standard.
Marcus highlighted the communicative approach to learning grammar in that CLT is fundamentally concerned with semantics and ‘making meaning’ in the language, by conveying one's message, inferring someone else’s or negotiating when meaning is unclear (Musumeci, 1997). Spada (2007, p. 275) clarifies this by calling the thought that ‘Communicative Language Teaching means an exclusive focus on meaning’ a myth or a misconception. Grammar is very much a part of the communicative approach.
The shared belief of Widdowson (1983) and Hymes (1972) that children acquire not only a knowledge of grammar, but also a knowledge of sociocultural rules, such as when to speak, when not to speak, what to talk about to whom and in what manner, at the same time as they acquire knowledge of grammatical rules was recalled here. Marcus had the motivation to study grammar himself if he felt that it was needed in his teaching. This was how strongly he felt it should be taught.
Marcus was very clear that knowledge of grammar in English supported the knowledge of grammar in another language both in comparison and in contrast. Vygotsky (1987) emphasised the key role of a person’s first language in the learning of a second.