I have decided to deal with topic 12 which deals with CONCEPTO DE

GRAMÁTICA: REFLEXIÓN SOBRE LA LENGUA Y SU APRENDIZAJE. DE

LA GRAMÁTICA NORMATIVA A LA GRAMÁTICA EN FUNCIÓN DEL USO
DE LA LENGUA Y DE LA COMUNICACIÓN. The topic will be divided as
follows:
0. Introduction
1. What is grammar? A reflection on language acquisition
2. Kinds of grammar. From normative to the Communicative
Approach
3. Language awareness and language teaching
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliography

Let´s start with the introduction:

The areas of grammar and language learning have been changing

rapidly along these last decades. Grammar has had a bad press for
many years. To many people, it is the boring subject done at school
that consisted of learning parts of speech and parsing the 15 types of
adverbial clauses. To language teachers, it is associated with the
despised use of “formal” grammar and the learning by heart of
paradigms and rules with innumerable exceptions. Yet originally the
word “glamour” came from the same root as “grammar”; the person
who knew grammar was glamorous and could cast mysterious spells.
Only in recent times has grammar become a peripheral boring
activity.
This topic we are dealing with is about grammar and its application to
language teaching. We will start first with a reflection of what
grammar is and we will continue with a detailed chronological
description of the different types of grammar and their development.
1. WHAT IS GRAMMAR? A REFLECTION ON LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION

Grammar “branch of linguistics dealing with the form and structure of

words (morphology), and their interrelation in sentences (syntax)”.

There are two popular misconceptions about grammar. One is that

the “rules” are somehow there in the language more or less ready
formulated. According to this view, there can only be one “correct”
solution to any grammatical problem.
A second misconception is that the rules of grammar are arbitrary.
Perhaps, grammar though not logical in a strict sense, is nonetheless
both systematic and meaningful.
To many linguists, grammar has been the most exciting area of
language in the 1980s. What actually enables the dealers to
communicate with each other but grammar? Every bid they make
relies on the grammatical system of language. Grammar is at the
heart of all human activities: declaring war, writing a love poem,
sentencing a prisoner to death, advertising soap powder, praying,…

We use language for a purpose and that purpose is to get something

across to someone. But how do we connect the inner world of ideas
and meanings with the outer world of sounds? The answer to linguists
is grammar. The vital link between human thought and human
communication is through grammar.

Hence, the modern interpretation of grammar rejects the earlier

notions of prescriptive grammar that told people what to say, of
traditional grammar that analysed parts of speech, and of
structuralist grammar that looked at substitutions of items within
“structures and patterns”. Each of these, of course, has some truth to
it but none of them reflect this central concept of the grammar as the
core mental system of language.

What is grammar then? The grammar is an interlocking system in

which the grammatical choices themselves contribute to the
communicative meaning.

The grammars of all languages are similar; the differences are not
random but represent systematic choices from the alternative ways in
which the mind can use language.

There are particular sequences of acquisition through which most

learners go. For example, children go through a stage in learning the
first language in which they leave the subjects out of their sentences.
Similarly in Second Language Acquisition, the same process occurs.
The so-called grammatical morphemes of English such as “the”, “-
ing”, the saxon genitive occur in much the same order regardless of
the learner´s first language.

What does this mean for our understanding of how people learn
second languages and how they should be taught? The overall lesson
is that the learner´s minds construct grammars for themselves and
teaching provides the means to do it. Teaching can do little about
changing the sequence of acquisition but has to work round it. The
crucial thing for teaching appears to be the choice of particular
sentences as input for the learners so that they can set the
parameters naturally for themselves.
3. KINDS OF GRAMMAR. FROM NORMATIVE GRAMMAR TO THE
COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH.

Once we have established a framework for grammar studies, we are

going to focus on the main grammar models and their application to
teaching languages, commenting both their advantages and their
disadvantages, and how they developed in the communicative
approach.

TRADITIONAL / NORMATIVE GRAMMAR

Most people first encounter grammar in connection with the study of

their own or of a second language in school. This kind of grammar is
called normative, or prescriptive, because it defines the roles of
various parts of speech and tells what the norm is. These rules are
taken from written literary texts.

In the field of SLA, we have the GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD. It

adapts traditional grammar to language teaching. The objective is to
be able to read literature in the foreign language and the ss must
acquire a grammatical knowledge through an inductive way.
Obviously, translation acquires a great importance.
Spoken language and written non-literary language are left apart so
motivation is highly difficult to reach since the texts are not related to
the students interests. Moreover, morphology and syntax are
absolutely separated, which makes it impossible to explain such
concepts as what a transitive verbs is. So, students cannot
understand why examples such “I prepare” are wrong with no Direct
Object.

In spite of all the criticism made to this method, we must remember

that it is necessary to know the rules of a language in order to be
able to use the standard register. But these grammar point should
not be studied in isolation but in relationship with a context and the
reasons to use it.

STRUCTURALISM

Different structural grammatical models rose from the theoretical

bases of Structuralism given by Saussare. They are usually grouped
in two groups: European Structuralism and American structuralism.
Within the European Structuralism we find Prague´s School that
concentrated on phonology. The American structuralism started with
Bloomfield´s language.
The application of the structural ideas to language teaching is called
BEHAVIOURISM. The main idea of this theory introduced by Skinner
is that language is behaviour, so it can be learnt by means of
acquiring habits. (S – R – r)

According to this theory, ss learn when their reactions to given stimuli

are reinforced in a negative way, in order to avoid repetition.
Structural grammar and the behaviourist approach gave rise to a new
model which has a great importance in language teaching:
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS. It consists of comparing the L1 and L2 in
order to identify the differences that can cause problems to students.
For contrastive analysis, the main problem students have to face is
interference or negative transfer ( I have 14 years old).
These theories were put into practice in the AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
where oral language is emphasized, new materials attractive for the
ss are used and the typical activities are both structural drills and
dialogues that ss have to hear and reproduce.
In spite of the enormous evolution that structuralism represented,
there are some criticisms to be made to this approach since the mere
creation of habits does not take into account the creative aspect of
language.
GENERATIVE GRAMMAR

TGG appeared as a reaction to structuralism. It makes a basic

distinction : COMPETENCE / PERFORMANCE. Competence is the
knowledge one native speaker of a language has about his own
language. Performance is the actual realization of the language, what
the speaker actually says.
Chomsky believes that human language is an innate human capacity.
The proof is the fact that young children are able to learn how to
speak correctly, in spite of the fact that they are exposed to only a
limited set of sentences and that, often, the kind of language adults
use to speak to children is incorrect.
The application of this theory language teaching is known as the
COGNITIVE APPROACH. Ss are believed to have a LAD, as children
have, which allows them to create their own grammar.
One of the most influential authors in the field of cognitivism is
Steven Krashen. His theory is constituted by the 5 basic hypothesis
that we study in topic 1; acquisition/learning hypothesis, the monitor,
the natural order and the affective filter.

TEXTUAL LINGUISTICS

Under “TL” we find a group of heterogeneous approaches to language

study, whose common point is that they go beyond the sentence. It
has three main disciplines: syntax, semantics and pragmatics, which
is the most important one.
It is interested in language use and communication, so it studies
performance. Competence evolves from a linguistic one to a
communicative one.
The application of textual linguistics to language learning is THE
COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH. The main objective of this learning
process is to achieve a communicative competence. For this reason, it
is necessary to study not only grammar but also the different
varieties of a language and cultural and social aspects.
Syllabuses have to be organised around functions, not around
grammar points. Moreover, it is necessary to use “real”
communicative situations, where these functions can be used and
which will motivate students.
The four skills have to be worked on equal emphasis and fluency is
more important than correctness.
According to Widdowson, the heart of the language lesson is the
communicative activity in itself, not the grammar explanation. As
stated by Morrow, a communicative activity has to have 3
characteristics: information gap, authentic materials and feedback.
Obviously, if we have the chance we should use the new technologies
to present attractive activities for our students or just to make use of
the wide range of possibilities and resources they offer.

3. LANGUAGE AWARENESS AND LANGUAGE TEACHING

As teachers of a second foreign language, and as advanced non-

native students, we cannot avoid some questions, for example: is
grammar just needed for writing but not for speech? Is English
grammar simple if we compare it with Spanish or Valencian one? . If
simple then is easy. But, could any non-native speaker of English who
has spent several years learning the language feel that A
Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language by R. Quirk et al.
is simple and easy? . And finally, if there is no doubt that the field of
grammar is fundamental, dynamic, relevant, and real…, how can
something which ought to be so fascinating come to be so boring?
 English has generally been perceived and practiced as a highly
serious subject, with the aim of following the tradition which began
with Classical authors, with the focus always on the written language
and on the elimination of what was considered grammatical error.
The atmosphere of many grammar classes was, as a
consequence, one of uncertainty, because a large number of
grammatical rules lacked solid basis, and came from arbitrary
decisions of the first grammarians. The prospect of grammar class
being enjoyable was rare.
In addition, school-leavers wanted to forget about grammar as
quickly as possible. But society would not permit them to forget the
distance between the rules in their grammar books and the way they
actually spoke. So, they developed a sense of linguistic inferiority.
This is the real source that those mastering the difficulties of
traditional grammar were perceived to be educated and socially well
off. For schoolchildren, secretaries, and subordinates of all kinds, the
use of split infinitives was one of several sure signs of social linguistic
inadequacy, and their avoidance a mark of successful upward
mobility.
Grammarians of the 2000’s are the inheritors of the distortions
and limitations imposed on English by two centuries of a Latinate
perspective, and have to find ways to deal with them.
Modern approaches to English grammar are improving, and
some approaches that are now being used aim to help people obtain
insight into grammatical structure. Let’s illustrate some of them:
- Using role play, stories, poems and other genres to focus
attention on a linguistic issue. Another consists on…
- Taking nothing for granted when we teach. For example it is
not possible to teach a young child the concept of word order in
sentences, if the basic notion of “order” is itself not clear.
- And finally, using animation, cartoons, and computer products.
 These are just some of the modern ways of putting across a
grammatical point.
Ways of showing grammar as something real, familiar and easy
and as important as a tool.
To conclude this pondering and the topic, we say that…

6. CONCLUSION
The topic provides a general view of the discipline from both
sides linguistics and society. Both directly related and interdependent.
Firstly, we define the matter by contrastive definitions of
grammar; secondly, we reflect on the subject throughout the
fundamental methods used from linguistics; and finally, we reflect on
people’s rejection to grammar, causes and avoidance.

As far as the bibliography is concerned, the woks consulted have

been:
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Chrystal, D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of English Language.
2nd edition C.U.P.
Cuenca. M.J. Teories gramaticals i ensenyament de llengues.
Tàndem.
- Robins, R.H. General Linguistics: An Introductory Survey.
Longman. 3rd edition. London, 1980.