A focused ethnographic study on grammar teaching practices across language subjects in schools

Abstract

Studies exploring grammar teaching in first and foreign language subjects in Scandinavia are very rare. In this article, we present findings from a focused ethnographic study (Gramma3, 2018(Gramma3, -2019 of grammar teaching practices in the three major first and foreign language subjects at lower-secondary level (age 13-15) in Denmark: Danish L1, English L2 and German L3, with data collected at seven schools. The dominance of traditional school grammar content in all three classrooms is one main finding. However, the approaches vary across the three subjects, mirrored also in different traditions and cultures for language learning within first and foreign language subjects. The co-existence of concurrent and even contradictory practices within each language subject is another main finding. Thus, the cross-curricular perspective of the present study leads to detailed findings suggesting new ways of understanding explicit grammar teaching in compulsory education. In this way, the study helps to shed light on an under-researched, yet key curricular content area in all three subjects, suggesting opportunities for cooperation between first and foreign language teachers. In turn, it contributes knowledge, which is valuable beyond the national context of the study, with the potential for comparative studies across borders.

Grammar Instruction in the Digital Age: The Impact of Corpus Linguistics

“…Some advocated for a more implicit method in which grammar is picked up via practice and exposure (Saengboon et al, 2022). Others argued that grammar should be given more explicit attention, especially for students who are having difficulty in certain areas (Kabel et al, 2022). Corpus linguistics emerged at the turn of the twenty-first century as a useful technique for guiding grammar education (McEnery & Hardie, 2011).…”

Flersprogethedsdidaktik og sproglig opmærksomhed - Et læreplansstudie på tværs af sprogfag og klassetrin i den danske grundskole

“…Samtidig bygger danskfaget på en skoletradition, hvor faget anses som et modersmålsfag (Elf et al, 2020;Kristjánsdóttir, 2015), hvorfor faget fokuserer på at videreudvikle elevernes dansksproglige kompetencer og i mindre grad på at laere eleverne at laere sprog. Et øget samarbejde mellem danskfaget og de øvrige sprogfag med fokus på sproglaering og transparens mellem sprogene vil kunne styrke elevernes forudsaetninger for at laere sprog i skolen samt bidrage til en meningsfuld og sammenhaengende sprogundervisning (se også Kabel et al, 2022).…”

“…Flere studier traekker i dag på et mere holistisk (Cook, 1991) og additivt (Cummins, 2000) sprogsyn og undersøger sproglig opmaerksomhed i en flersprogethedsdidaktisk kontekst i krydsfeltet mellem første-, andet-og fremmedsprogsdidaktik (se fx Jessner & Allgäuer-Hackl, 2020). Dette ses også i nordisk uddannelsesforskning, hvor flere udviklings-og forskningsprojekter beskaeftiger sig med feltet (se fx Gramma3 (Kabel et al, 2022), LANGUAGES (Brevik, Vold & Myhill, 2022), MetaLearn (Möller-Omrani et al, 2020, MULTIWRITE (Dirdal, 2021) og PE-LAL (Daryai-Hansen, Drachmann & Krogager Andersen, 2022)).…”

Grammatikken som system og mulighet Grammatikken forklart og praktisert i to lærebøker for ungdomstrinnet

“…Studier av grammatikk i laerebøker er altså et nokså sparsommelig utforsket felt (jf. Haugen, 2019;Kabel et al, 2021). Det er derfor behov for deskriptive studier som gir innsikt i hva slags grammatiske mønstre som trer frem i norsklaerebøker på alle skoletrinn.…”