Page 14 - EL108 Learrning Module

Learning Ladder

Perhaps no term in the language teaching field is as ambiguous as

grammar. It has been used to mean:

1. an internal mental system that generates and interprets novel utterances
(mental grammar)

2. a set of prescriptions and proscriptions about language forms and their use
for a particular language (prescriptive grammar)

3. a description of language behavior by proficient users of a language

(descriptive grammar)
4. the focus of a given linguistic theory (linguistic grammar)

5. a work that treats the major structures of a language (reference grammar)
6. the structures and rules compiled for instructional and assessment

purposes (pedagogical grammar)

7. the structures and rules compiled for instructional purposes for teachers
(usually a more comprehensive and detailed version of point 6) (teacher’s

grammar)

A reading of this list readily reveals why the use of the term “grammar” is
fraught with ambiguity. It includes both implicit and explicit grammars, universal

and language-specific grammars, the way that language “ought to be used” and

the way it actually is used, theoretically exclusive grammars and more eclectic
ones, etc.

The ambiguity in the term “grammar” is magnified by the fact that every one
of these seven definitions is multidimensional. For instance, (1) can be used to

represent both learner grammars and proficient language speaker grammars.
Descriptive grammars (3) can take as their starting point the form or structure of

language (formal grammar), or conversely, can conceive of language as largely

social interaction, seeking to explain why one linguistic form is more appropriate

Teaching and Assessment of Grammar 2