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The grammar gap

Dick Hudson

Liverpool February 2010

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Plan

1. Grammar in a normal world

2. How we got our grammar gap

3. Curriculum reform

4. The problem

5. The symptoms

6. The diagnosis

7. The remedy

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1. A normal world

• Everyone needs some “knowledge about language” (KAL)– explicit knowledge

– with established terminology

• Why?– like biology: for interest and self-understanding

– like literacy: for learning more• in L1

• in foreign languages

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What is KAL?

• External KAL: own language and others:– history– geography

• Internal KAL:– varieties, e.g. standard/non-standard– pronunciation, e.g. IPA– vocabulary, e.g. synonymy, hyponymy, cognate– grammar.

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Grammar in a normal world

• ideas– e.g. compositionality and irregularity

• categories– e.g. word classes

• skill in analysing examples• skill in using analyses

• in learning new language• in using old language

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Grammar in a normal world

• Accepted as part of the curriculum– like literacy, numeracy, IT.

• Informed by research on grammar.

• Taught by best methods– systematically– interestingly– relevantly

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Where is this normal world?

• Ancient India, Greece and Rome

• Mediaeval Arabic civilization

• 18th and 19th century Britain

• France, Spain, Italy, …

• Russia, Bulgaria, …

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2. How we got our grammar gap

• At one time, English education was normal.• ‘Grammar schools’ taught Latin and other

languages, including their grammar• the ‘trivium’ in mediaeval universities was:

– logic– rhetoric– grammar

• Grammar survived till the 1960s

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GCE O-level English 1950

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But between 1900 and 1950 …

• HE: No research on language– except phonetics– No teaching of ‘language’

• except OE and philology

• Schools: Traditional grammar taught and tested– but grammar for English was ‘Latinate’.– ‘ [it is] impossible at the present juncture to teach

English grammar in the schools for the simple reason that no-one knows exactly what it is ’ (Board of Education 1921)

– so grammar was marginal – one optional question

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The turning point: the 1960s

• The end of grammar teaching in schools– first in English– then in Foreign languages

• The start of grammar research in universities– Quirk– Halliday– Chomsky

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3. Curriculum reform

• Since 1990, grammar is back in the curriculum:– but not old-fashioned Latinate grammar– linguists have had a lot of influence

• The National Curriculum – for English (1990, 1995, 1999)– for foreign languages (1990, 1999)

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and of course, …• A-level English language appeared in 1985

entries

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2000

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6000

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10000

12000

14000

16000

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1985 91 93 95 97 99 O1 O3 O5 O7

entries

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What Ofqual expects in ALEL:

• 3.5 AS specifications should require candidates to show broad knowledge and understanding of …

• the characteristic speech sounds and intonation patterns (phonetics and phonology)

• the vocabulary of English, including the origins, meanings and usage of words (lexis)

• the forms and structures of words, phrases, clauses, sentences and texts in speech and writing (morphology, grammar and discourse) …

• 3.6 In addition, A level specifications should require students to show deeper knowledge and understanding of … the following frameworks …: – phonology and phonetics, lexis, morphology, grammar, discourse …

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4. The problem

• Young teachers don’t know grammar– Schools didn’t need to teach grammar 1960-

1990.– Most university English and FL depts still

don’t teach about grammar.– So since 1980 teachers have had to teach

content that they probably didn’t learn either at school or at university.

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5. The symptoms

• In 1986, educational linguists were worried.• So Tom Bloor constructed a simple test

– for Aston University French Dept– and UCL Linguistics Dept

• to be taken by new undergraduates:– 63 in language subjects (Aston, UCL)– 175 in other subjects (Aston)

• one part involved grammar KAL:

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The grammar test• From the sentence below give ONE example

of each of the grammatical items requested and write it in the space provided. NB You may select the same word(s} more than once if appropriate. – Materials are delivered to the factory by a

supplier, who usually has no technical knowledge, but who happens to have the right contacts.

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The items requested

• verb, noun, …

• countable noun, relative pronoun, auxiliary verb, …

• passive verb, past participle, …

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% of students who ‘gapped’  Linguists (N= 63) Non-linguists (N = 175)

verb 0 5

noun 0 7

countable noun 38 43

passive verb 27 85

adjective 2 27

adverb 25 66

definite article 21 48

indefinite article 33 67

preposition 9 60

relative pronoun 17 68

auxiliary verb 44 54

past participle 21 45

conjunction 11 55

finite verb 41 56

infinitive 11 58

N 63 175

44% of linguists couldn’t find an auxiliary verb

85% of non-linguists couldn’t

find a passive verb

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A simple index of grammatical KAL

• Average gaps per student (max: 15):– linguists (inc French): 3.02– non-linguists: 7.45

• Conclusions:– linguists had serious gaps– but they were much better than non-linguists– they must have learned it from A-level FL

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What happened next?

• NB from 1990 official policy requires grammar to be taught– but NOT tested

• Did this reverse the trend?• 1992, 1994: Charles Alderson at Lancaster

– tested students of French and of Linguistics

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1986, 1992, 1994

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1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996

errors

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2009

• Charles Alderson and I invited colleagues in LAGB and BAAL to repeat the test.

• It was taken by 659 students at 11 HEIs

• Including Aston and UCL

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A typical FL undergraduate in 2009French and Spanish

at A-level

‘a describing word’?

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How do students feel about it?

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1986 - 2009

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1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Aston French: 11UCL Lingx: 18

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Moreover, other HEIs are worse

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1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

UCL BSc

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Effects of A-level

• Foreign language A-level does teach grammar– 1986: it added 5 points to score– 2009: it only adds 1 or 2 points

• English language makes no difference

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6. The diagnosis

• Students aren’t learning grammar at school– in spite of the curriculum

• But some grammar is being taught• So official policy is not working• Why not? Maybe because teachers

– are anxious– don’t really understand– can easily avoid it

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7. The remedy

• Official policy should test grammar.

• Ofsted should ensure it’s taught well.

• Linguistics and Eng Lang graduates should become school teachers.

• Linguistics depts should teach English grammar for text analysis.