What is grammatical knowledge?

1. Grammar teaching

(1) Contents of grammar teaching

1. The connotation of grammar

For the connotation of grammar, traditional The concept of grammar is different from the concept of modern grammar, and people of the same era will have different understandings of grammar. Generally speaking, there are the following views on grammar.

(1) Grammar is a kind of knowledge

Those who hold the view of grammatical epistemology believe that grammar is a kind of knowledge studied by linguists and language teachers, including descriptive knowledge and Procedural knowledge. Descriptive knowledge consists of various grammatical rules, including morphology, syntax and composition, including parts of speech, clauses, tenses and voice, modality, etc. Procedural knowledge refers to the knowledge of how to use grammar to complete communicative tasks. The first kind of knowledge can be acquired through learning, while the second kind of knowledge is manifested as an ability and must be mastered through training and application.

(2) Grammar is a skill

Those who hold the perspective of grammatical skills believe that mastering grammatical knowledge does not mean being able to speak or write grammatical sentences, let alone being able to Communicate ideas using correct sentences. Learners need to go through various exercises and use it repeatedly to master grammar. For those native speakers, grammar is more of a skill, an automatic one, since they most likely cannot name the grammatical rules used.

(3) Grammar is a basis for communication

Many people believe that being grammatical means that the language is correct. However, grammar should not only solve the problem of correct language, but also ensure appropriate meaning and appropriate use. Therefore, grammar should not just be simple sentence structure and word usage, but also include morphology and discourse, including the role of register in language use. Therefore, scholars have proposed the concept of communicative grammar, and grammar has become the basis for effective communication.

2. Grammar learning

Grammar learning is a very important part of language learning. It also follows the most general rules of learning, but grammar learning also has its particularities. Therefore, it is necessary to understand some characteristics of grammar learning in order to better design grammar teaching activities.

(1) Theory of Natural Acquisition of Grammar

Given that the acquisition of grammar in mother tongue is acquired in a natural environment, people can master the use of grammar without going to school. Grammar learning is also unconscious. Second language acquisition research has found that students who learn in certain teaching methods, such as immersion, can also acquire grammar without explicit grammar instruction. Therefore, some people suggest that grammar does not need to be taught and students can learn it naturally.

(2) Grammar learning sequence theory

Second language acquisition researchers have found that no matter what order is used to teach grammar, the order of grammar acquisition is basically fixed. Therefore, when writing textbooks, textbook writers generally also consider the order of grammar acquisition. We can clearly see that in the textbooks, simple sentences are always first followed by compound sentences, present simple tense is followed by past simple tense, affirmative sentences are followed by interrogative sentences and negative sentences. Teachers often follow this order when designing classroom teaching activities. .

(3) Behaviorist Grammar Learning Theory

Grammar is the best demonstration of the structural nature of language, and is naturally most influenced by structuralism and behaviorism. People generally believe that practice makes perfect, and therefore, the same should be true for grammar learning. Coupled with the use of listening and speaking teaching methods and structured teaching materials, behaviorist learning theory is even more valued by learners. Many learners also spend most of their time memorizing and practicing grammar rules, although this kind of practice does not necessarily meet the requirements of mechanical training.

(4) Communicative theory of grammar learning

Different from behaviorist learning, the communicative teaching theory believes that the learning of grammar serves communication, and the mastery of grammar must also be achieved through application. . Grammar is just a medium, not the purpose of language learning. Explicit grammatical knowledge may not be effective in language use. The most important thing is the grammatical awareness that subconsciously promotes language use. Therefore, those who hold communicative learning theory believe that grammar learning must be carried out through activities, communication and completing tasks.

(5) Explicit grammar learning and implicit grammar learning

The process of grammar learning has two forms, one is explicit and the other is implicit. Is the explicit learning method helpful for mastering grammar, or is the implicit learning method helpful for mastering grammar? We can analyze the effects of the two learning methods on grammar learning through teaching research cases.

In 1989, Scott conducted experiments on explicit and implicit teaching in an advanced French speaking class. The students in the oral class were divided into two groups. The experimental group received explicit teaching, and students listened to the teacher's explanation of grammar rules; the control group received implicit teaching, and listened to stories containing the same grammatical items. It was found that even if the control group listened ten more times, it could not surpass the experimental group in either the oral test or the written test. In addition, research by Ellis et al. also proved the advantages of explicit teaching. Krashen, Jones, Zelinski & Usprich (1978) found through research that explicit teaching is particularly effective for adults. However, Flix & Simmet 1981), Rod Ellis (1984) conducted research on the teaching of pronouns, and Kalia (1988) conducted research on Chinese students learning English direct quotations, but found that students in the experimental group (explicit teaching) improved. Much slower than the students in the control group. Lightbown's (1985) research even found that explicit teaching hindered the development of students' language abilities.

(Source: Wang Duqin: "On English Teaching Strategies" Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2002 first edition: pages 160-161)

Understanding of grammar can promote In the language acquisition process, however, explicit knowledge is difficult to promote natural acquisition. The best way to teach is a combination of explicit learning and implicit learning. They not only learn descriptive knowledge of grammar, but also use grammar through various communicative activities to develop language application abilities.

3. Grammar teaching content

Generally, grammar teaching focuses on formal structure, paying little attention to semantics and pragmatic functions. However, the content of grammar teaching should include three aspects. In addition to language form/structure (including morphemes, phonetic/phonemic forms, syntactic forms, etc.), it should also include "meaning/semantics" and pragmatics. . Semantics include the grammatical meaning and content meaning of grammatical form and structure. The main form of pragmatics is function, which refers to the ideographic function of language in a certain social context and a certain discourse. Grammar teaching should not only enable students to master the form and meaning of language, but also enable students to understand the use of forms and give grammar communicative meaning.

Expert advice (1)

1. Grammar teaching

Grammar is an organizational rule summarized from language practice. Understanding grammar can reduce the blindness of language use, improve the ability to use language accurately, and also achieve correct language communication. The only way to achieve accuracy and accuracy. Although grammar is very important, we cannot overemphasize the role of grammar. Grammar teaching is only a means, not an end. Grammar must ultimately serve language communication. The English curriculum standards clearly point out that the teaching of English grammar in high school should be based on pragmatics and organically combine the form, meaning and usage of language.

1. The status of grammar teaching

The new Curriculum Standards propose a comprehensive ability model, of which language knowledge constitutes one of its main components. The Curriculum Standards clearly classify grammar as a category of language knowledge. So, how is grammar teaching carried out? What position should it be placed in? Because the new "Curriculum Standards" put forward requirements for task teaching and the cultivation of application abilities. We will also see that the college entrance examination is increasingly downplaying grammar. It no longer only tests grammatical knowledge, but focuses on the application of grammar.

The Guangdong Provincial College Entrance Examination has canceled the multiple-choice fill-in-the-blank test for grammar knowledge. So how should grammar be taught? Is it necessary to downplay grammar teaching? Or don’t want grammar teaching? In recent years, with the development of communicative teaching method and task-based teaching, everyone is confused about grammar teaching. What kind of method should be used in grammar teaching? Should it be taught or not taught? In fact, the new "Curriculum Standards" have clearly pointed out that since it is regarded as One of the goals of language proficiency is naturally to be taught. Therefore, first of all, it is not that grammar is not taught or not developed, but it is a question of how to develop it.

There are many current high school students who are unclear about grammatical concepts. Some even don’t know what a preposition is, what a subject and a predicate are, which brings a huge burden to high school teaching. Therefore, it is necessary for students to understand the concept of grammar. The key is how to teach it. Grammar teaching in high schools should be connected with grammar teaching in junior middle schools and be carried out on the basis of grammar teaching in junior middle schools. In addition, under normal circumstances, there is no need to carry out specialized grammar teaching. The development of grammar teaching can be connected with listening, speaking, reading, writing, etc., and can be connected with doing things, completing tasks and completing projects. In other words, grammar teaching is necessary, but the key is the method. Where we place grammar teaching is related to what abilities we want to cultivate through grammar teaching.

2. How to master English grammar

Grammar is the skeleton of language. Grammar teaching is essential for middle school students to learn English, especially for our current middle school students to learn English. Due to the lack of a natural and real language acquisition environment, students mainly learn English through classrooms (although there are currently many English learning resources in various media, including the Internet). Grammar learning helps students master the language system. In addition, high school students already have a certain cognitive foundation, and their grammatical analysis and perception abilities have been strengthened, which is conducive to the development of grammar teaching. There are some things that words can express, but when it comes to the sentence level, the words themselves cannot explain it clearly. For example, sentences like Can you ask me a favor o send me the ticket I booked last week are obviously not a pile of vocabulary. Students must understand the grammatical rules. At the high school level, grammar teaching should be downplayed, but what is downplayed is the grammatical rules, not the application of the grammatical rules. Instead, we want to strengthen the application of grammatical rules. From this point of view, activation may be more appropriate.

3. Definition of Grammar

People have different views on grammar. Some people think that grammar is a kind of knowledge, while others think that grammar is a skill. Then, grammar under the concept of the new "Curriculum Standards" is How is it defined?

In the description of standards and objectives, the new "Curriculum Standards" separate grammar and skills, classify listening, speaking, reading and writing as skills, while placing grammar within the scope of language knowledge. As a result, many teachers believe that grammar is grammatical knowledge. In fact, we can see that there are no grammatical items such as attributive clauses and non-predicate verbs in the fifth-level and eighth-level goals in the "Curriculum Standards." For example, the grammar goal of Level 8 is to "further understand and master the expressions of comparing people, objects and things, use appropriate language forms to describe, express opinions, attitudes, emotions, etc." In other words, grammatical knowledge is still regarded as a skill It’s required, but after all, there is still grammar knowledge. So, what knowledge issues does grammatical knowledge include? This puts forward requirements for the display, training and application aspects of grammar teaching. What content should be trained to display and apply. In addition to grammatical knowledge, everyone will think more about the structure and structural knowledge of grammar. In fact, it should also include the functions of grammar, that is, pragmatic knowledge and strategic knowledge of grammar, that is, how to learn grammar, how to use grammar, etc. As a skill, it requires students to be able to do things with grammar. Grammar knowledge is only a foundation. If students only know grammar knowledge, it is obviously not guaranteed that they can use language to complete things and express their thoughts.

Some students can clearly understand which antecedent of the attributive clause is used under what circumstances, but in fact they may not be able to say a complete sentence containing the attributive clause; they may know the subjunctive mood, but when he expresses one of his Regrettably, when making a wish, there is no need to use a sentence containing the subjunctive mood. Therefore, we must take grammatical knowledge as the basis, and on this basis, apply grammatical knowledge to cultivate students' language skills. That is, grammatical knowledge serves listening, speaking, reading, and writing. We say that students should have certain language abilities. The language abilities mentioned here can also be called grammatical abilities. After all, students must be able to use grammar to do things. We are not training linguists, so in the education process, there should be a question of degree in imparting knowledge. What knowledge should be imparted? What knowledge should be focused on teaching is an issue that must be considered in the design of grammar teaching. Judging from the current teaching practice, our teachers pay more attention to the structural knowledge of grammar, but pay less attention to the pragmatics and meaning of grammar, especially the learning strategies of grammar. Another point is that in the classroom teaching process, grammar training is done very well, but the application part may need attention. This involves positioning the goals of grammar teaching. If we know that grammar itself includes skills, then we can design activities to cultivate students' ability to use grammar knowledge to complete tasks, solve problems, and express ideas. In other words, grammar teaching under the concept of the new "Curriculum Standards" is not only to teach students some grammar knowledge, but more importantly, to cultivate their ability to apply grammar and grammar learning strategies.

4. Grammar teaching: Explicit or implicit?

Scott conducted an experiment on explicit teaching and implicit teaching using an advanced French speaking class in 1989. The students in the oral English class were divided into two groups. The experimental group received explicit teaching, and students listened to the teacher's instructions on grammar rules; the control class received implicit teaching, and listened to stories containing the same grammar items. The results showed that even if the control group listened to it ten more times, it could not surpass the experimental group in either the speaking test or the Bitou test. Therefore, some people conclude that explicit teaching is more suitable for grammar teaching. In fact, the experimental results are related to the test method. What is tested may be explicit things, not implicit abilities, not grammatical abilities. Second, this may also be related to students' learning styles. For example, these students do not have an experiential learning style. They do not learn by doing things, but by analyzing and need to know the rules of grammar. There are many similar related studies, and many studies show that explicit teaching is indeed beneficial to the cultivation of students' language ability. However, some studies have found that, for example, studies in China have found that through implicit teaching, students who learn through implicit teaching can express their language ability far better than those students who are exposed to explicit teaching. However, in our multiple-choice fill-in-the-blank test , they don’t perform as well as students who receive explicit instruction. Because previous standardized tests tested grammar more through fill-in-the-blank selection, students were required to know the grammar rules. Another study found that there is a period of rigidity in learning. After students study for a period of time, they will temporarily stop progressing. When this phenomenon occurs, formal instruction, that is, formal language practice, can help students get through this period. At this time, implicit teaching will appear powerless. Therefore, we need to adjust grammar teaching according to the characteristics of students. From the current teaching philosophy, since the goal of grammar teaching is to cultivate students' application, grammar teaching should be based on implicit teaching, with explicit teaching as appropriate assistance .

5． How to carry out grammar teaching

There are many studies and discussions on grammar teaching, many grammar teaching models have emerged, and there are countless grammar teaching techniques. In general, we should pay attention to the following points:

1) Focus on the ideographic function of grammar

2) Pay attention to the context in which grammar is used

3) Pay attention to students’ Already have the foundation, including the basics of Chinese grammar, and correctly utilize positive transfer in language learning

4) Pay attention to students' learning styles

Grammar teaching must pay attention to students' learning styles.

Some students have an analytical learning style and some have an experiential learning style. The two have different requirements for grammar teaching. When designing grammar teaching activities, attention must be paid to analyzing students' learning styles.

To adapt teaching activities to students' learning styles, first, do research to see what types of learning styles the students in the class have. Second, design a variety of activities, including analytical activities and experiential activities. Besides, students also have differences in multiple intelligences. If we only have language activities in class, then students with slightly weaker language skills may gain very little, and not only that, they may not participate. If grammar teaching is to let students understand rather than express, we will ask students to answer questions in English after reading, but the students' current language level has not reached the level of expression. Even if they have achieved the goal of understanding, they cannot answer question. A common phenomenon at present is that whether it is listening, reading, grammar, or vocabulary, teachers are accustomed to asking students to answer questions or write them out. Writing it out is actually a higher requirement. There are many ways to demonstrate understanding, including body language, expressions, and drawings. When reciting lessons, teachers must not only memorize teaching materials and knowledge, but also memorize students to see what kind of learning styles these students have and what are the differences in language intelligence. The design of teaching activities must be rich, suitable, and diverse. This is called grammatical knowledge. Is it comprehensive enough?