CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives A Study of the Teaching and Learning of English Grammar with Special Reference to the Foundation Course in the Norwegian Senior High School by Tony Burner A Thesis Presented to The Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages The University of Oslo in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the MA degree Fall Term 2005 i List of abbreviations...........................................................................................iii List of figures..................................................................................................... iv List of tables....................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. v Chapter 1: Introduction.............................................................................. 6 1.1 Background ............................................................................................. 6 1.2 Aim ......................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Previous research..................................................................................... 9 1.4 Methodology ......................................................................................... 11 1.5 Structure of the thesis............................................................................. 13 PART I THEORETICAL EXPLORATION...................................... 16 Chapter 2: The concept of grammar .........................................................17 2.1 Types of grammar.................................................................................. 17 2.1.1 Theoretical grammars ........................................................................ 18 2.1.2 Functional grammars.......................................................................... 19 2.2 Pedagogical grammars ........................................................................... 21 2.3 Summing up .......................................................................................... 28 Chapter 3: The teaching and learning of grammar..................................31 3.1 Clearing the ground ............................................................................... 31 3.2 The Grammar-Translation Method......................................................... 32 3.2.1 The Reform Movement paving the way for a new method.................. 33 3.3 The Direct Method................................................................................. 34 3.3.1 The Direct Method loses its credibility............................................... 37 3.4 The Oral Approach ................................................................................ 37 3.5 The Audiolingual Method...................................................................... 40 3.5.1 The decline of Audiolingualism ......................................................... 43 3.6 Mentalism.............................................................................................. 44 3.7 Error analysis and interlanguage ............................................................ 45 3.8 Communicative competence .................................................................. 46 3.8.1 Communicative Language Teaching .................................................. 47 3.9 Where are we now in grammar teaching?............................................... 50 3.9.1 The 1994 syllabus (R94) .................................................................... 50 3.9.2 Discussion ......................................................................................... 51 3.10 Summing up .......................................................................................... 52 PART II GRAMMAR IN PRACTICE................................................. 55 Chapter 4: Analysis of textbooks...............................................................56 4.1 Methodology ......................................................................................... 56 4.2 Passage ................................................................................................. 57 4.3 Imagine .................................................................................................. 62 4.4 Flying Colours ....................................................................................... 64 4.5 Targets .................................................................................................. 68 4.6 A comparison of the textbooks............................................................... 70 4.7 Grammar books..................................................................................... 72 4.8 Summing up .......................................................................................... 74 Chapter 5: Field investigation....................................................................77 5.1 Methodology ......................................................................................... 77 ii 5.2 The informants....................................................................................... 79 5.3 Findings................................................................................................. 80 5.3.1 Opinions and attitudes........................................................................ 80 5.3.2 The teachers’ perception of the learners ............................................. 83 5.3.3 Grammar teaching.............................................................................. 85 5.3.4 Teaching material .............................................................................. 87 5.3.5 Linguistic competence in R94 ............................................................ 89 5.3.6 The forthcoming syllabus................................................................... 91 5.4 Discussion ............................................................................................. 92 5.5 Summing up .......................................................................................... 94 Chapter 6: Conclusion ...............................................................................96 6.1 Looking back......................................................................................... 96 6.2 Synthesis ............................................................................................... 96 6.3 A critical view ....................................................................................... 99 6.4 Looking forward.................................................................................. 100 References....................................................................................................... 105 Appendix: Interview questions for the teachers................................................ 111 iii List of abbreviations CLT Communicative Language Teaching DM Direct Method EFL English as a foreign language ELT English language teaching GTM Grammar-Translation Method iO Indirect Object LAD Language Acquisition Device LAP Lektor- og adjunktprogrammet LDOCE Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English L1 First language/Mother tongue L2 Second language (practically any language learnt after L1) L76 Læreplan for videregående skole, 1976 M74 Mønsterplan for grunnskolen, 1974 M87 Mønsterplan for grunnskolen, 1987 NP Noun phrase O Direct object PPU Praktisk-Pedagogisk Utdanning R94 Reform ’94 ( Læreplan for videregående opplæring , 1994) S Subject SFG Systemic Functional Grammar TGG Transformational Generative Grammar UG Universal Grammar V Verb VP Verb phrase E English N Norwegian iv List of figures Figure 2.1. Processes and participants ....................................................................... 20 Figure 2.2. The process from pure linguistics to pedagogical grammar...................... 22 Figure 2.3. A possible way of seeing relations between formal, functional, and pedagogical grammar ........................................................................................ 29 Figure 3.1. Example of sentence exercise in the DM ................................................. 35 Figure 3.2. Guidelines for teaching oral language...................................................... 36 Figure 3.3. The principal approach to language teaching material in the Oral Approach .......................................................................................................................... 38 Figure 3.4. Teaching material from 1933................................................................... 39 Figure 3.5. An example of a substitution table........................................................... 41 Figure 3.6. Example of drill exercises ....................................................................... 42 Figure 3.7. Developmental stages of negation in English........................................... 46 Figure 3.8. Aims in R94 ............................................................................................ 50 Figure 3.9. Points of assessment relevant for the teaching and learning of grammar .. 51 Figure 4.1. Direct grammar exercises in the textbooks............................................... 71 Figure 6.1. Points from “Language learning” in the forthcoming syllabus relevant for the teaching and learning of grammar.............................................................