Metatalk and metalinguistic knowledge: the interplay of procedural and declarative knowledge in the classroom discourse of first-language grammar teaching

Abstract

High-quality talk' is a fundamental principle of many approaches to teaching grammar. However, relatively few studies have attempted to characterize this talk with attention to the ways in which classroom dialogue might engender metalinguistic thinking. This paper explores how the concepts of procedural and declarative metalinguistic knowledge may be applied to classroom discourse in order to identify the problems and potentials of grammatical 'Metatalk' . The data is drawn from observations of functionally-oriented grammar lessons in 17 classrooms across England. This opportunity sample was drawn from the intervention group of a randomized control trial, all of whom were working within a pedagogical model which embeds attention to grammar as a resource for meaning-making within the teaching of writing. Given the impact of effective teacher-student dialogue on student learning, studies such as this are valuable for illuminating how classroom talk operates within the teaching of grammar for writing. The findings particularly reveal the role of teacher-guided talk during collaborative writing activities in facilitating bi-directional transfer between declarative and procedural metalinguistic knowledge.

Indonesian Students’ Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness in Classroom Discourse

“…Some researchers have documented a number of empirical investigations on classroom discourse [13][14][15][16]. Weninger's study of classroom discourse [16] examines English classes that used a critical literacy unit.…”

“…A study [15] has also reported an extensive study of classroom discourse. The goal of this study is to explore the opportunities and challenges of grammatical metatalk in classroom discourse by examining procedural and declarative metalinguistic knowledge.…”

Using Interactive Fiction to Stimulate Metalinguistic Talk in the English Classroom

“…However, it is possible to express metalinguistic understanding without the use of metalinguistic terms (Myhill et al, 2019). MT provides teachers with opportunities to assess, guide and model the expression of metalinguistic understanding (Watson et al, 2021). …”

Investigating academic achievement of English medium instruction courses in Turkey

“…Declarative knowledge can be made overt or explicit, "teachable" knowledge that is statically stored in memory (Ullman, 2005). This is conceptual or descriptive knowledge, as opposed to "implicit" knowledge, or knowledge of performance or operation (Watson et al, 2021). It is therefore hypothesized that bilingual learners transfer knowledge from their L1 to perform academically in the L2 (Olivares, 2002).…”