Chapter 10: “Like Trying to Find a Black Cat in a Dark Room”: The Role of Grammar in World Language Education

Grammar is the primary focus of Chapter 10. The chapter begins with a discussion of the difference between descriptive and prescriptive approaches to the study of grammar. It is suggested that grammar can best be seen as a dynamic set of skills rather than as a static unchanging collection of rules governing language use. The distinctions between implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge, grammaticality and acceptability, and grammar and syntax are discussed, as is the concept and implications of “pedagogical grammar” for the world language classroom. The historical controversies about the formal and explicit teaching of grammar are examines, and the chapter discusses some of the factors that can assist the classroom teacher in predicting which grammatical elements of the target language will be more or less difficult for students to master. Both deductive and inductive approaches to the teaching of grammar in world language education are described, and both the strengths and weaknesses of each are identified. Next, the chapter provides answers to the questions of why we should teacher grammar in the world language classroom, and how we should teach grammar in the world language classroom, as well as which grammatical elements should be taught in the world language classroom. Finally, the chapter considers the role and place of critical pedagogy in the teaching of grammar in the world language classroom.