Should we teach first language grammar in compulsory schooling at all? Some reflections from the Spanish perspective
Xavier Fontich
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, SpainXavier Fontich is a lecturer at the Faculty of Education of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain). His scholarly work pertains to language education, focusing on a variety of educational issues (textbooks, using literature in the classroom, in-service teacher education, etc.) with attention to L1 grammar instruction for writing. He has authored or co-authored papers, books, chapters, and pedagogic material on this topic, arguing that social interaction has an enormous epistemic potential in learning grammar. He is co-editor of Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature, a Scopus indexed online peer-reviewed, multilingual journal that publishes research by graduate or post-doctoral students, as well as invites contributions by internationally recognized scholars. In the period 2014-2016 he was a Visiting Scholar at the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter (UK). He worked as a secondary school teacher (1995- 2014).
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1095-1363
Abstract
This text explores the controversial issue of grammar teaching in Language Arts. It considers the importance of grammar in schooling based on the learners’ reflection on language (i.e., their “metalinguistic activity”), and some of the features of such a reflection. A model of intervention is presented as well as its particularities, especially the goal of establishing new dimensions with regard the methodology of teaching, the conception of grammar, and the final objectives of grammar instruction. The text ends by referring to some of the challenges for the future.Keywords:
school, language use, grammar, reflection, metalinguistic activity, instructional sequenceReferences
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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Xavier Fontich is a lecturer at the Faculty of Education of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain). His scholarly work pertains to language education, focusing on a variety of educational issues (textbooks, using literature in the classroom, in-service teacher education, etc.) with attention to L1 grammar instruction for writing. He has authored or co-authored papers, books, chapters, and pedagogic material on this topic, arguing that social interaction has an enormous epistemic potential in learning grammar. He is co-editor of Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature, a Scopus indexed online peer-reviewed, multilingual journal that publishes research by graduate or post-doctoral students, as well as invites contributions by internationally recognized scholars. In the period 2014-2016 he was a Visiting Scholar at the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter (UK). He worked as a secondary school teacher (1995- 2014).
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1095-1363
