0811grammar in context

Q & A: Preliminaries
• • • • • • • • What do you think of when you think of grammar? forms rules sentence memorizing red ink drills/ exercises boring
Q & A: Preliminaries
Teaching grammar in context: Principle
• integrating form with meaning/ function for use in context • 1. form integrated with underlying meaning/ function/ reason • 2. illustrated in context, taught for use in context
Suggested Readings
• Hudson, R. & Walmsley, J. The English Patient: English grammar and teaching in the twentieth century,” Journal of Linguistics (2005)41: 593-622. • Hugh, G. Grammar in Context. London: Collins ELT, 1989. • Nassaji, H. & S. Fotos. “Current developments in research on the teaching of grammar,” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (2004) 24: 126-145. • Shrum, J. & E. W. Glisan. Teacher’s Handbook: Contextualized Language Instruction. Boston: Heinle. 2010.
The role of context in language production and comprehension
• What is the context of situation now? • a lecturer at a university addressing teachers in service about grammar • How can the context of situation possibly define the linguistic features of our lectures?
inert 惰性knowledge problem: possible cause
• What are possibly missing in the learning process? • 1. From declarative knowledge To procedural knowledge: • practice in context • 2. Presentation of declarative knowledge: • rule/ form+ meaning/ function in context

Grammar is meaningful
• (A difference in form implies a difference in perceived meaning. Bolinger, D. Meaning and Form. 1977.)
• It’s time for us to begin our class. • It’s time that we began our class.
Suggested Readings
• Bolinger, Dwight. Meaning and Form. London: Longman, 1977. • Halliday, M. A. K. & R. Hasan. Cohesion in English. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2001. • Kettemann, B & G. Marko. Teaching and Learning by Doing Corpus Linguistics. 北京: 世界图书出版 公司, 2009. • Larsen-Freeman, D. Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring. Beijing: Foreign language teaching and research press, 2005. • Quirk, R. et al. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman, 1985.
-ed Past tense
Defining context
• Context 语境(Halliday and Hasan 2001: 21） • 1. extra-linguistic 非语言context/ context of situation情景语境: • What it is about (field语场) • Who are involved (tenor语旨) • Which mode/ channel of language is used— spoken or written, prepared or not (mode语模) • 2. linguistic语言context/ co-text上下文
inert 惰性knowledge problem: possible cause
• Grammar is thought to be only about rule/ form, not about meaning. • Grammatical knowledge is not learned in context or from real data. • Grammatical knowledge is not learned for use in context.
Grammar is meaningful
Form Example Meaning We came here a Past time week ago.
If black were white, he would be right. Could you give me a hand? Hypothetical condition Politeness in asking for help
Teaching grammar in context: PACE as a tentative model
• PACE Model: integrating form with meaning in context (Shrum & Glisan 2010) • Presentation of grammar in context • Attention to grammar in context • Co-construction (teacher and student) of grammar explanation in context • Extension of grammar use in context
Larsen-freeman 2005: 8)
• i.e., Learners know rules, yet fail to use the rules in communication.
inert 惰性knowledge problem: possible cause
• Grammatical knowledge is only learned as declarative陈述性(knowing what the rule is), not procedural程序性knowledge (knowing how to use the rule when needed). • Illustrations: learning to drive a car/ ride a bike • Anderson (1983, 1985)
Solution: meaning-focused contextualized (illustrated in context, for use in context)
Question Revisited
• What should we think of when we think of grammar? • form • meaning • context
Teaching grammar in context
• Context: esp. confined to linguistic context语 言语境/ co-text上下文/ text文本 • Text: a meaningful unit to achieve a particular communicative purpose, usually larger than a sentence • a paragraph, an article
• What is grammar? • What is grammar for? • How is grammar learned/ taught?
• Can our students use grammar well?
inert 惰性knowledge problem
• Knowledge that is gained in (formal lessons in) the classroom remains inactive or inert when put into service (in communication within and) outside the classroom. (Whitehead, A. N. 1929 qtd. in
Possible solution to inert 惰性knowledge problem
• • • •
• • • •
Problem: form-focused de-contextualized (illustrated without context, for use independent of context)
The role of context in language production and comprehension
• How can linguistic context define our grammatical choice? • ——What’s this? • ——It’s a book. (NOT: This is a book.) • this or it: more or less focus •
Teaching Grammar (through Reading) in Context
陈崇崇 2012
Agenda
• • • • Theory: grammar, acquisition of grammar, context Practice: PACE: a tentative model of teaching grammar in context
Illustrations of PACE
• There be…
Presentation through context
• There was once a woman who wished for a very little child; but she did not know where she should procure one. So she went to an old witch… • (Thumbelina拇指姑娘)