THE ROLE OF GRAMMAR TEACHING /
FORMAL INSTRUCTION
IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Hartono, S.S., M.Pd.
College of Languages
Sultan Agung Islamic University
Objectives
• Ss can understand what formal instruction
plays in acquisition.
• Ss can understand the effects of learning and
conscious rules in acquisition.
• Ss can understand the way to present rules for
learning.
• Ss can understand what to do with errors.
Definition of term
• Grammar teaching or formal instruction is
defined as the teaching of languages with the
emphasis on focusing the learners’ attention
on forms in order that they become conscious
of the rules of those forms and eventually
acquire the language.
• Similar terms referring to the same meaning
are: instruction (Krashen, 1982), formal
instruction (Lighbown and Spada, 1990), codefocused instruction (Doughty, 1991).
REMEMBER !!
Acquisition
vs.
Learning
The Role of Conscious Learning
(Krashen’ s Monitor Model)
Conscious learning acts as an editor, as a
Monitor, “correcting” the errors, or rather
what the performer perceives to be errors, in
the output of the required system.
This can happen before the sentence is spoken
or written.
• Conscious knowledge is therefore, not
responsible for fluency, it doesn’t initiate
utterances.
According to Krashen, learning doesn’t “turn
into” acquisition, based on the following
reasons:
1. We often see acquisition in cases where
learning never occurred.
2. We also see learning that never seems to
become acquisition.
3. The fact that even the best learners master
only a small subset of the rules of a language.
THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR
Krashen uses the term ‘grammar’ as a synonym
for conscious learning.
According to him, grammar has two possible
roles:
1. As a monitor:
2. As a subject matter or for language
appreciation.
ISSUES IN RELATION TO TEACHING
GRAMMAR FOR MONITOR USE
1. When the monitor is used: when the
performer has time, as in writing and
prepared speech, and he / she is
thinking about correctness or focused
on forms.
2. What can be monitored: all the rules
that students can carry around in their
heads as mental baggage and actually
use in performance.
TYPES OF MONITOR USER
1. Monitor Over-user: performers who do
attempts to think about and utilize conscious
rules during their production.
2. Monitor under-user: the performer who
does all self-correction by ‘feel’ and has no
control of conscious grammar.
3. Incompetent monitor user: the performer
who thinks s/he knows the rules but has
them ( or at least many of them) are wrong.
PRESENTATION OF RULES
1. Deductive – inductive issue
Deductive: the rules are given
directly.
This approach is supported by
cognitive-code teaching as Grammar
Translation Method.
Inductive: Learners are asked to figure
out the rules themselves.
The argument for this approach is “the
best way to insure learning was for the
student to work out the rule himself.
ACQUISITION AND INDUCTIVE LEARNING:
SIMMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
Acquisition:
-
Data first, rule follows
Rule is subconscious
Focus on meaning
Slow process
Requires large amount of data
• Inductive Learning:
- Data first, rule follows
- Rule is conscious
- Focus on form
- May occur quickly
- May occur after exposure to small amount of
data
2. Sequencing and Learning
Grammatical sequencing was undesirable when
the goal is acquisition.
Sequencing should be based on
- learnable
- portable
- not yet acquired.
ERROR CORRECTION
Henrickson (1978) lists the “five fundamental
questions” concerning the error correction.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Should errors be corrected?
If so, when should errors be corrected?
Which learner errors should be corrected?
How should learner errors be corrected?
Who should correct learner errors?
Question 1
• When the goal is learning, errors should be
corrected.
• Error correction is not of use for acquisition.
Question 2
• When there is time.
• When it doesn’t interfere with communication
(no error correction in free conversation).
• Correction is done in written work gramamr
exercises.
Question 3
• We should correct the “global” errors, errors
that interfere with communication or impede
with the intelligibility of message.
• Errors that are most stigmatized, that cause
the most unfavorable reactions.
• Errors that occurs most frequently.
Question 4
• Providing the correct form / direct correction.
• The discovery / inductive approach.