Key Terms and Concepts in Managing and Implementing Standards- based Grammar Teaching image. : Good or bad, you have made an impression. And like all impressions, you are in total control. - Seffrey Gitomer This Chapter will introduce you to the important key terms and concepts in managing and implementing standard — based Grammar Teaching. The activities will help you better understand the domain of a language effectively and appropriately At the end of this activity, you shall have: a. discussed the fundamental terms and concepts associated to the teaching and assessing of grammar; and b. shared the implications of one’s knowledge of key concepts in the teaching learning process. Scanned with CamScannerDiy Deer As you move forward in this course, The Teaching and Assessment of Grammar, you must remember these key terms and concepts in managing and implementing standards-based grammar, Implementing a variety of standard- based teaching strategies and techniques for teaching grammar in the development and. integration of English skills is important. “Standard” is the regularization of the grammar, spelling, language usage, and not to minimal desirability or interchangeability. Teaching and learning a language serve as a liberating factor because it educates people in what language and linguistic manners are all about hence, we need to study the different key terms and concepts in study of grammar. a, Grammar and Grammaring Grammar is what one knows about a language - the phonology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics while language skills are what we do with language including speaking, listening, writing and reading. What we know about a language and what we do with a language had sparked controversies about their blurry boundaries (Benhima, 2015). These controversies resulted in the development of different models that accounted for grammar differently. Grammar was then considered a ‘ method of teaching and learning a language in what we called Grammar- ‘Translation Approach which viewed grammar as the core of the language. However, the notion of grammar has changed with a shift from philology to linguistics. The outburst of modem linguistics described grammar as a system of structures besides vocabulary and pronunciation. ‘The shift from structuralism to transformational grammar has become a system of rules every native speaker of a language acquired and then later on described as: competence. ‘Larsen-Freeman (2001) gave a convincing argument on how grammar should be treated, She shared that grammar should be seen as a skill rather than purely competence. She postulated grammaring to be the fifth skill (together with listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and referred to grammaring as the ability to accurately, meaningfully and appropriately use grammar structures. Grammar is much more than knowing rules, though it is part of the construct. Grammaring involves sensitivity to usage because grammar is more flexible than we think. Everytime we speak or write, we always consciously or unconsciously involved ourselves in doing grammar. Grammar ‘teachers should strip themselves of the idea that grammar is simply a set of rules for memorization. Rather, the goal of leamers should be in the development of a skill and conceive grammar in its active and progressive sense. Scanned with CamScannerb. Grammaticalizing/Grammaticalization French linguist Antoine Meillet introduced the concept of grammaticalization in his 1912 study “L’evolution des forms ‘grammaticales. In its broadest sense, grammaticalization is described as the process by which grammar is created (Croft, 2006) or the study of this process. It is the language process change by which words representing objects and actions (i.e. nouns and verbs) become: grammatical markers (affixes, prepositions, etc.) which results in the creation of function words through a process other than deriving them from existing bound and inflectional constructions, but instead derive them from content words. Grammaticalization involves reduction and increased dependency, Reduction also known as phonetic erosion or phonological reduction is an expression in linguistics that loses phonetic substance if it undergoes grammaticalization. For example: 5 1. going to (verb) — gonna (auxiliary) 2. because ——» coz 3. that (demonstrative) — that (complementizer) as in: Demonstrative: I saw that. He went there. Complementizer: I saw [that he went there] 4, I will see. you later —— I am gonna see you later. 5. My friends will be there this evening. —— My friends’ll be there this evening. ¢. Error Correction vs. feedback Mistakes usually refer to slips students commit which they can correct themselves once pointed out to them. But when it comes to errors these are mistakes which the students can not correct themselves and therefore need an explanation. When teachers respond to errors, it should be viewed as teachers giving feedback, helping students to reshape their knowledge than telling them outrightly, they are wrong. The teacher's reaction towards errors students have committed is very important. Positive feedback confirms a student's response’ correctness. A negative feedback (Error Correction) corrects the faulty language behavior of students. Examples: Positive feedback 1, Confirmation: "7 like how you pronouince X. Can you try it once more 0 that it sounds more like it is pronounced in [target language)?" 2. Praise: “amazing”, “bravo”, “excellent” 6 | The Teaching and Assessment of Grammar Scanned with CamScanner3. Teacher's request to repeat: Teacher applauds students in front of the class. Negative Feedback Indirect/Implicit Strategies 1, Recasts: Student: Yesterday I go shopping. Teacher: Oh yesterday I also went shopping. : Excuse me?” 2. Clarification request Direct/Explicit Strategies: 1. Correct answer feedback “the correct verb form is 2. Guided Feedback: Elicitation techniques + Metalinguistic feedback, The teacher asks a question and/or provides a comment or information related to the utterance of the student without giving the correct form. (For example, “Is it masculine?” “Is that how you say in English?” and “Do you say it that way?” * Teachers request to repeat (with corrective intent). h, you. meal 1 should say” d. Spoken vs. Written Grammar The difference between spoken and written grammar is like an argument formal and informal grammar although there are disputes that prove that spoken grammar doesn’t really seem to exist technically because it is essentially the same as the written grammar. The spoken grammar has a distinct approach from the one used in written grammar. The distinction is practically due to the fact that we don’t speak the way we write and we certainly don’t write the way we speak. In spoken grammar, contractions such as I'll, don’t, etc. are allowed but are strictly not appropriate for written grammar, while the inclusion of slang words or colloquialism can be allowed in spoken grammar. Breaking of strict grammar rules such as excluding prepositions in beginning a sentence is included in spoken grammar, It is more dynamic and immediate; therefore, the speaker may commit many grammatical errors that can never be possible and acceptable in written grammar, Chapter 1: Key Terms and Concepts in Managing and implementing Standards-based Grammar Teaching | 7 Scanned with CamScannere. Grammatical Assessment Assessing grammar is a fundamental aspect of teaching that helps determine student proficiency in language. It can be used to help identify the strengths and weaknesses of learners. Assessment has to be used constantly to determine how well students are comprehending the materials . that have been covered. Assessment of grammatical ability is characterizing proficiency in different levels s and contexts. . Scanned with CamScanner