Glisan, E. W. & Drescher, V. (1993). "Textbook grammar: Does it reflect native speaker speech?" The Modern Language Journal, 77(1), 23-33.
The article provides insight to previous research on the balance between textbook grammar and native speaker speech, as well as details of a recent study done on Spanish textbook grammar in relation to native speaker speech. Studies on teaching grammar communicatively lead to certain implications on grammar theory: "1) grammar becomes meaningful only if it is placed in real contexts and natural discourse; 2) grammar instruction is beneficial to learners if it is taught as a vehicle for real communication and interaction in the target language; and 3) if grammar is to be taught for communicative purposes, the structures presented should reflect their use in current-day native speaker discourse (p. 24)." Previous research on the subject also shows the tendency for textbook grammar to ignore or insufficiently describe the everyday grammar used in native speaker speech. This study examines the occurrences of four specific grammatical structures used in spoken Spanish and the treatment of these structures in six beginning-level college Spanish textbooks. Native Spanish speakers were recorded in natural conversation between June 1988 and June 1991; the speech samples reflect the Spanish used in eight countries: Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Peru, and Chile. The grammatical structures of focus were 1) double object pronouns, 2) nominalization with lo, 3) demonstrative adjectives/pronouns, and 4) possessive adjectives/pronouns. The speech samples were analyzed for these forms and then compared to the textbook treatments of these same forms. It was found that the textbooks do not reflect the grammar used in native speaker speech.
At the time of publication, Eileen W. Glisan and Victor Drescher were both Professors at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Spanish and Classical Languages.
"The evidence from this study and previous research has clearly shown that textbook grammar has not changed to reflect the philosophy of communicative, contextualized language teaching, and that the nature of grammar rules and explanations offered in textbooks is in many respects far removed from the reality of authentic speech. Perhaps, it is now time for the profession to re-examine how grammatical structures are presented in texts and taught in the classroom (p. 30)."
Teachers need to be more aware of how textbook grammar will be used in "the real world". This quotation reminds us that our beliefs about teaching grammar communicatively may not always be reflected in the materials we use.
Herschensohn, J. (1988). "Linguistic accuracy of textbook grammar". Modern Language Journal 72(4), 409-414.
In the article, Herschensohn analyzes the treatment of the French determiner system in college textbooks. She makes note of the textbook explanations of the determiner system in relation to morpho-phonological generalizations as well as the article system. The results show that textbooks tend to give lengthy non-cohesive explanations in terms of pedagogy from which students must infer the rule. Herschensohn advocates that students will have less trouble with grammar when they are given simple rules without the unnecessary textbook explanations. "An inductive grammar presentation which requires student participation in the target language and student formulation of a simple grammar rule (preferably in the target language--possible only if the rule is simple) is at once an exercise in formal grammar and in communication (p. 411)." Therefore, grammar explanations should be formulated in textbooks for their accessibility to students.
At the time of publication, Julia Herschensohn was a professor at the University of Washington.
"Grammar itself is not an intrinsic barrier to the acquisition of a second language. Rather, focusing on grammar at the expense of communication is what should be criticized. Pedagogical grammars too often explain the target language in a complicated and exception ridden format which requires an inordinate expenditure of pedagogical energy on the part of both teacher and student. This misappropriation should indeed be re-evaluated, but should not be taken as justification for a general disregard of grammar (p. 411)."
I like this quotation because it reminds us that grammar does not need to be viewed as the most difficult part of language learning by the students. It is the unnecessary explanations of grammar terminology that make grammar hard to comprehend.
Solomon, J. & Rhodes, N. (1996). "Assessing academic language: Results of a survey". TESOL Journal. 5(4), 5-8.
This article presents the results of a survey of educators view on academic language and assessment strategies. The participants were some 150 ESL educators in the United States, the majority being elementary school teachers. Five questions were posed: give examples of academic language, describe the difficulties ESL students have with academic language, state some suggestions for assessing academic abilities of ESL students, suggest alternative assessment strategies for ESL learners whose English language skills are weak, and tell whether explanations of academic language are explicitly addressed in class. The results found that teachers rely on a variety of methods to assessing academic language abilities of ESL students. The survey also identifies teachers' views on academic language as well as providing colleagues with a better idea of what educators are doing in the field.
At the time of publication, Jeff Solomon was and Education Researcher at the Center for Resource Management in South Hampton, New Hampshire. He was interested in learning how state standards can be implimented with students who are learning English as an additional language.
At the time of publication, Nancy Rhodes was Co-director of the Foreign Language Education and Testing Division at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington DC. She had been involved in language research, testing, and teacher training for the past 15 years, and was especially interested in working with elementary school teachers in developing second language assessment strategies.
"As these comments show, many respondents view academic language as composed of unique vocabulary words and phrases that can be unfamiliar to ESL students, and, consequently, difficult to acquire (p. 6)."
As the survey describes, teachers have found vocabulary to be one of the biggest problems for ESL students. Without having the necessary schema, terminology for a given field can pose many problems for students.
Celce-Murcia, M. & Hilles, S. (1988). Techniques and resources integrated: Text-based exercises and activities. Techniques and resources in teaching grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
This chapter of Teaching and Resources in Teaching Grammar presents various activities for working on grammar within a context. The authors note that grammar instruction tends to focus heavily on sentence level activities while the text level activities are reserved for reading and writing skills: "...if we want to teach grammar in a way that will facilitate transfer to our students' reading and writing, we must teach [grammar] at the text level, not just the sentence level (p. 149)." The kinds of activities include text replication, text completion, text manipulation and imitation, text elicitation, grammaticality judgements, and text editing (correction and feedback). Dictations and dicto-comps are the more traditional kinds of text-based exercises, which can be presented visually or aurally as well as over a period of sequential class meetings. Cloze passages and gapped text, two kinds of text completion, can be used for focus on particular grammatical forms, such as verb tense, the passive voice, use of prepositions, etc. Text manipulation exercises, such as controlled compositions, sequencing, and converting conversations into indirect speech, prove useful in getting students to practice particular structure-discourse matches. Short essay topics may also be used in conjunction with grammar practice: students are asked to use the passive in writing a short essay about their native countries. More advanced students may be given exercises in which they should determine grammaticality of a given text. These kinds of recognition exercises can make students more aware of how their English differs from native speakers. Finally, peer editing strategies give students the opportunity to focus on specific errors in other papers as well as their own.
Marianne Celce-Murcia has published various books and articles on resources for teachers in relation to both grammar and pronunciation.
"To ensure that students make a match between grammar and discourse we have argued the need for text-based grammar exercises and activities in all phases of grammar instruction: presentation, focused practice, communicative activities, and feedback and correction. Since reading and writing are text-based skills, grammar will transfer only if it is also practiced at the text level, and not simply at the sentence level (p. 167)."
I like this quotation in that it reminds us of the need to give students skills that will assist them with grammaticality in relation to both sentences and texts.
Dubin, F. (1986). Dealing with texts. Teaching Second Language Reading for Academic Purposes, F. Dubin, D. E. Eskey, and W. Grabe (Eds.). Reading, Ma: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
In this chapter, Dubin describes the kinds of texts that ESL teachers need to be aware of when considering materials to present to students. Two kinds that are mentioned are specially created texts and natural texts. The former kinds of texts tend to appear in comprehensive language textbooks, while the latter may be categorized as the more authentic communicative language used by native speakers. Dubin advocates that ESL learners need ample practice with such authentic texts if fluency is to be achieved: "...it is important for L2 learners to gain a great deal of experience reading such materials, even before they must produce it themselves in written format (p. 138)." The chapter goes on to emphasize the importance of schema theory or background knowledge needed for reading with comprehension and specific knowledge needed to read particular types of texts. Throughout the chapter, Dubin provides examples of texts and details of how those texts should be presented to students. She includes a description of the SQ3R technique, which stands for survey, question, read, recite, and review, as a skill for ESL students that may better assist them in dealing with texts.
At the time of publication, Fraida Dubin was an Associate Professor of English as a Second Language/Education at the University of Southern California. She had been a classroom teacher, teacher trainer, and adiministrator in India, Greece, Iran, Israel, Canada, Botswana, and Hungary. Among her publications, she is co-author of three second language reading skills texts.
"But in dealing with texts for the purpose of providing instruction for advancing L2 learner-readers, it is vital to look closely at expository text-types, for there is meaning in the type, just as there is in a single paragraph, page, or chapter. Further, the kind of meaning inherent in a particular text-type is inextricably bound up with one's general cultural knowledge--it is the background which educated reader of English bring to most texts they might pick up (p. 153-4)."
It is important to note that there are a variety of text-types that we can present to our students which can assist in extending their background knowledge so they may be prepared for the variety of authentic language they will encounter outside the classroom.