A Qualitative Study

of Teachers’

Practices and

Cognitions

THE USE OF GRAMMATICAL

TERMINOLOGY IN SECOND

LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

Introduction

Arguments against and support terminology

Learners variables influencing the use of terminology

Significance of the study

Purposes and context

Research Framework

Data collections and analysis

Presentation of data

Discussions

Implications and limitations

RESEARCH OUTLINE

1. … terminology is of little consequence in the communicative or proficiency-

oriented classroom. (Mitchell, 1993 : 19)

2. if we encourage learners to learn terminology, they may develop an ability

to talk about the language rather than to use it for communication

(Halliwell, 1993)

3. … be not appropriate for learners (Bialystock 1081; Dekowska 1993; Garrett

1986; Sharwood Smith 1981)

4. metalinguistic complexity is a characteristic of bad grammar teaching and

good pedagogical rules should be non-technical (Larsen-Freeman 1991;

Mohammed 1996; Sharwood Smith 1994)

Arguments against terminology 7

5. Learners may study the terms without understanding the grammar they refer

to … (Mohammed, 1996)

6. … interfere with learning (Eisenstien, 1987)

7. Terminology-free grammatical explanations are more effective than those

presented on formal pedagogical grammar. (Mohammed, 1996)

Arguments against terminology

In contrast,

1. In order to talk about a language easily learners need to be familiar with the

metalanguage of grammar (Huchinson ,1987)

2. Grammatical terminology has an important role to play in classroom discourse,

particularly in enabling students to communicate with teacher about language. (Faerch,

1985)

3. Label … can and must be used in formulating rules. (Berman, 1979)

Arguments in favor of terminology 3

/ variables

1. … ‘formulated in a way which is appropriate to the maturity, knowledge, and sophistication of the learners (Corder, 1973)

2. … terminology is only useful when learners posses an appropriate level of metalinguistic sophistication. (Jefferies, 1985)

3. … learners’ conceptual sophistication and its effect on the use of terminology with reference to the principle of conceptual parsimony (Swan, 1994)

4. levels of the learners (Chalker, 1984)

5. learners’ maturity and background (Stern, 1992)

Learners variables influencing the use of

terminology

6. learners’ expressed willingness to know grammatical labels (Eisenstien, 1987)

7. cognitive style and age are two factors which teachers should also consider in deciding on the role of terminology in their work (Ur, 1996)

Learners variables influencing the use of

terminology

Objectives of the study

This study aims to;

1.describe the use of terminology in the practices of L2

teachers in an actual classroom, and

2. provide the emic perspective on the motivations for

teachers’ decisions in terms of using terminology.

Significance of the study

• To make to a fuller and more realistic understanding of

the role of terminology in L2 instruction

Research framework

• Naturalistic research design

• Perspectives: exploratory-interpretative

We lack both descriptive data about L2 teachers’

practices during formal instruction as well as insight

into the cognition which underlie these practices.

?

Data collection and analysis

Fieldwork : 2 EFL. Schools in Malta

Duration : between April 1995 and March 1996

Learner levels : elementary to advanced level groups

Age : 18-35-year-old

gender : male and female

class size : between 6 -8 students

subject : 4 teachers who obtained TEFL qualifications and certificate

The research data base consisted of audio

recording of teachers’ lessons and of interviews

in which the teachers discussed the use of

terminology in these lessons.

DATA COLLECTIONS AND ANALYSIS

Each teacher has 15 hours of unstructed classroom observation ,3 hours

semi-structed interview

1. the first interview :establish a profile of the teachers’ educational background, teacher education, experience of teaching and general views about L2 teaching

2. observation : a detailed account of classroom events

3. analysis the observation data : key instructional episode

4. post-observation interviews: teachershad the opportunity to talk about andmake explicit the reasoning behindtheir instructional decisions

5. All interviews were transcribed :a) check their accuracyb) answer additional questions

6. Decoded interview data andobservation analysis

Case 1

Name : Matha

Gender : female

Age: 24-year-old

Qualif ications: 3 years in TEFL

Ss. Level : Intermediate

Native speaker:

Episode 1

The teacher asks the

students to look at the

grammar question on their

sheet. The question reads as

follow;

FOUR CASES

What is the difference between the Past Simple and the Past

Continuous?

T: (to the class) “What do you think? (she writes ‘Simple’ and ‘Continuous’ on the board)

S3: The continuous describes an action which is longer.

The teacher writes ‘ longer’ underneath ‘Continuous’ on the board. The students are not forthcoming. So she prompts them:

T: From the exercises we’ve done, what can you say about the difference between the past simple and the past continuous?

S2: The continuous is made of the verb ‘ to be’ plus the ‘-ing ’ form(the teacher writes ‘subject + v2to be + -ing ’ on the board under‘Cotinuous ’) and the past simple is often the ‘-ed ’ form of theverb, the past participle (the teacher writes ‘subject + v2’ under‘Simple’

EPISODE 1# CONVERSATION BETWEEN MATHA AND HER

STUDENTS

T: Is ‘past participle’ correct?

Some students shake their heads, and the teacher goes on to explain:

T: If we think of verns in terms of three forms. In regular verbs, the 2nd and 3rd forms are the same.

S2: Is the 1st form the infinitive?

T: Yes, it is.

S2: Do grammar books show the 3rd form of regular verbs?

T: Yes, they do, but don’t study irregular verbs as a list, it’s difficult. Actually using them will help you to learn these verbs.

Episode 2

Eric was here leading

students to correct the

sentence ‘Do you want

that I come back home?

Case 2

Name : Eric

Gender : male

Age: 40-year-old

Qualifications: 15 years in TEFL

(cert. and Dip.)

Ss. Level : -

Native speaker : English

EPISODE 2#CONVERSATION BETWEEN ERIC AND HIS

STUDENTS

T: What do you say if you offer someone a cup of tea?

Ss: Do you want a cup of tea?

T: What do you want to say if you invite someone to the cinema?

SS: Do you want to go to the cinema?

The teacher explains: ‘With a verb, ‘want’ takes ‘to’ and we can follow it with an object if there’s someone else.’ (Some of the students look puzzled)

T: If I say ‘subject’, ‘object’ do you understand?

S1 says she does not, some of the other students say they do.

T: ‘Want’ is the verb. Who wants?

S6: You.

T2: So ‘you’ is the subject. ‘Me’ is on the other side of the verb. ‘Me’ is the object. It’s not necessary to know these words, just to understand grammar books.

Case 3

Name : Tina

Gender : female

Age: late 30s

Qualifications: over 10 years in TEFL and CTEFLA

Ss. Level : adcanced

Native speaker : English

Episode 3

It occurred during theanalysis of the ‘third’condition with anadvances class.

T: Ok, so we’ve got two clauses. What’s in the ‘if’ clause? What have we got in the ‘if’ clause, ‘if’ I had liked it?

S3: Past perfect

T: What have we got in the other clause?

The students aren’t sure. The teacher writes on the board [If + past perfect] [would + have + past participle].

T: Let’s call it ‘would + have + past participle’.

S3: What do you mean ‘let’s call it’?

T: I’m not sure that it has a name.

EPISODE 3#CONVERSATION BETWEEN TINA AND HER

STUDENTS

S3: (laughing ) Nameless construction

T: I’ve never actually seen that described or termed as anything. When I teach that tense I always call it ‘past perfect + would + have + past participle’. I’ll look. I’ll ask around the staff room and see if we can call

it anything.

Case 4

Name : Hanna

Gender : female

Age: 27-year-old

Qualifications: 4 years in TEFL

and Cert. TEFL

Ss. Level : -

Native speaker : English

Episode 4

It provides the starting point

for an analysis of the use of

grammatical terminology in

her work.

EPISODE 4#

CONVERSATION BETWEEN HANA AND HER STUDENTS

T: Can you think of any other ways of asking this kind of? [i.e. making a request] Can you think of any other forms that you might have heard. Can you try to form one with the word ‘mind’?

S2: Would you mind to lend me an umbrella?

T: It’s nearly right, not exactly, but it’s that kind of sentence. Try again, Walter(s3).

S3: Would you mind me to?

T: Would you mind?

S2: Would you mind to?

T: No, we say ‘would you mind lending me your umbrella, please?So you have got ‘would you mind’, and what have you got next? Can you tryanother one, ‘change my money for me?

S5: Would you mind changing me, changing my money for me?

T: Yes, very good. ‘Call me a taxi’?

S1: Would you mind calling a taxi?

[Later in this lesson the teacher is reviewing the different ways of making requests elicited earlier on]

T: And mind?

S2: A continuous form

T: Well it’s not really a continuous form but you do have an –ing at the end of the verb. It isn’t really a continuous form.

S1: We call it gerund.

T: Yes it is a gerund.

DISCUSSIONS

1. Teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning are influenced by significant educational and professional experiences in their lives.

2. Different education background is a key factor in the development of cognitions which are highly personalized.

IMPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS

The descriptive and interpretative data expand on current conceptions of the role of terminology

in L2 teaching by shedding light on hitherto un explored facets of

- the cognition

- the manner

Limitations: The instructional context studied here involve four native-speaking teachers, trained

In the British EFL tradition teaching adult learners with heterogeneous

The use if terminology from the perspective of students was not analyzed.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

1. The nature of teachers’ interactive decisions has been an area of intense interest in

research into teacher recognition.

2. An understanding of the contextual factors which encourage L2 teachers to use or

to avoid terminology in their work is clearly another issue to explore in the study of

this facet of L2 instruction.

REFERENCE

Borg, S. (1999). The Use of Grammatical Terminology in the Second Language Classroom: A Qualitative Study of Teachers' Practices and Cognitions. Applied Linguistics, 20(1), 95 - 126.