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Scott Thornbury: 7 ways of looking at grammar

Scott Thornbury lectured on the seven theories of teaching grammar. He says that although there are many other ways, these seven are the main ones and that he would be focusing on these. I deal with each of these in the order of presentation.

 1. Grammar as rules- English teachers are very familiar with this method; it focuses on learning grammar through the presentation and practice of rules. For example, add -s/es to the Verb in the 3rd person singular in the Simple Present.

2. Grammar as structures- Parrot-like, the pupil repeats over and over again the "grammatical structures" taught to him. Here, the meaning of the utterance is not the main thing. The example that Scott gives is a somewhat unrealistic sentence "this is my head" designed purely for learning the correct structure

3. Grammar as mathematics- The theory needs the English language teacher to teach in the same way that the Mathematics teacher teaches Mathematics. The theory often uses diagram trees. In mathematics, there is a progression from one point to the next, 1 plus 1 is 2, 2 plus 2 is 4, and so forth. Similarly, language learning progresses from one step to the next, from an easier grammar point to a more complex one

4. Grammar as algorithms- The English language teaches the English grammar rules as if they were algorithms, a series of computer rules.

5. Grammar as texture- Linguists look for a possible underlying cause. Something in the text causes something else to happen and this helps the building of the grammar. For example, People are cheering. Spurs must be winning.

6. Grammar as collocation- “There is no boundary between lexis and grammar: lexis and grammar are interdependent.” According to this view, not only do lexis and grammar depend upon each other, but grammatical patterns such as was+V+ing or it+doesn’t are nothing but strong collocations.

7. Grammar as an emergent phenomenon- The pupil uses the target language and grammar develops dynamically as a result of this communication. Scott says the English language teacher needs to create language learning opportunities. By making the most of these opportunities, pupils will learn grammar rules and improve their grammar skills and target language ability. Scott acknowledges that the teachers will chose for themselves which teaching theory/ies to adopt. However, he believes the best way to teach a child the English language is to combine theories 6 and 7, which, practically speaking, say the same thing, namely by teaching the language, the grammar will develop from it.

To summarise, Scott discusses seven methods of language communication in a Language classroom. These teaching methods differ from each other and each method, whether or not combined with others, is potentially relevant. Which method or methods should be chosen in a given situation depends on three different things: (1) the teacher’s teaching style; (2) the Punctuation learning style and (3) the content or subject matter of the lesson. These are three variables and ultimately it is for the teacher to decide which method will be most effective for the content to be taught to that particular student. The “bottom up” methodology of the last two of the theories appears to me to be the most useful. The student is learning a mix of grammar and vocabulary through his experience of the language. He realises his output is experimentation and he has the added support of the teacher’s supervision. He will make mistakes along the way. Through these mistakes, he will learn important lessons. Eventually the mistakes will be eradicated. This is a very lively experience through which he can learn a great deal, largely by trial and error. Arguably, this is far more efficient means of communication and learning than, for example, simply putting a table of vocabulary and grammar on the board for him to learn parrot fashion and simply to regurgitate it at the time of the English language test.