Should we teach first language grammar in compulsory schooling at all? Some reflections from the Spanish perspective

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.

Sound form signalization in L1 Polish, Czech and Slovak textbooks: In search of best practices

“…Only the methods of SFS in textbooks were analyzed; not all phonetics content in textbooks and no teachers' practices in the classroom were verified. It might be interesting for further research, which would provide a better understanding of how to shape language awareness while using textbooks, as well as to promote a metalinguistic activity in language education (Camps, 2014;Fontich, 2019). The SFS can serve for developing phonetic awareness by the way it is introduced, both in the technical sense (how the speech is written) and in a broader sense-what activities accompany it during the lesson.…”

Research on L1 grammar in schooling: Mediation at the heart of learning grammar

“…The origin of this special issue lays in the III International Conference on Teaching Grammar held in Barcelona in January 2019, which hosted more than 250 delegates from 30 countries. This conference has inspired a number of actions, such as the special issues by Reig et al (2020) and Marcotte et al (2020), devoted to present empirical studies by junior researchers, which reveals the interest that this field raises and is also a testimony of the renewed interest on grammar teaching over the last years (see, for instance, Myhill & Newman, 2019;Van Rijt & Coppen, 2017;Van Rijt et al, 2019b;Van Rijt et al, 2020a;Van Rijt et al, 2020b;Camps & Fontich, 2020;Fontich, 2016Fontich, , 2019Beaulne & Gauvin, 2017;Bélanger & Gauvin, forthcoming;Gauvin et al 2017;Fontich & Rodríguez-Gonzalo, 2020).…”

Regulación metacognitiva y actividad metalingüística durante el proceso de composición escrita en colaboración a partir de la lectura de fuentes diversas

“…Distintos trabajos han destacado que los procesos de escritura cooperativa y revisión estimulan una actividad intensa de reflexión sobre la lengua -actividad metalingüística- Fontich, 2016Fontich, , 2019Milian, 1996, entre otros), una actividad muy dinámica y que puede emerger con varios grados de consciencia por parte de los aprendices (Allal, 2000;Fontich y Camps, 2014;Rodríguez Gonzalo, 2012). El estudio de dicha actividad abre la puerta a explorar los procesos de aprendizaje, pues de acuerdo con los postulados vygotskianos el diálogo es un doble mediador: entre uno mismo y los otros, y entre uno mismo y los procesos cognitivos superiores.…”