The position of grammar in Finnish, Dutch, and global course books for German as a foreign language

Abstract

Communicative language teaching and language teaching research suggest forms for desirable and effective grammar teaching. This study investigates to what extent these suggestions are integrated into teaching materials. On the basis of prior studies, we developed a list of both qualitative and quantitative criteria to determine the position of grammar in foreign language course books. This list was then applied to course books for German as a foreign language that are used in Finland and the Netherlands to examine the role grammar plays in these materials. Our results show that many similarities exist between the Dutch, Finnish, and global course books with regard to the location and integration of grammar, and the instructional approach adopted. However, a striking difference was found in the Finnish materials: they provide more grammar exercises and generally a lower progression rate than the Dutch and global materials. We relate this to the typological distance between German and Finnish. In general, even though the analysed teaching materials all follow the rationale behind communicative language teaching, they are traditional in the sense that grammar inhabits a prominent position in the course books. On the other hand, we have observed pedagogical innovations with respect to grammar teaching, such as inductive grammar presentation, a spread of the learning load as well as self-evaluation tools for learners.

Young Finnish Adults Perspectives on Using English in Different Social Situations: Exploring the Influence of Affective Factors through Photo-Elicitation Interviews

“…This could explain why students feel textbooks mostly focus on grammar and vocabulary and that oral skills are overlooked in comparison (Harjanne & Tella, 2010;Kalaja et al, 2011). Despite claims of grammar-based teaching (Harjanne & Tella's, 2010), and evidence of a greater grammar focus in English textbooks when compared to some other European nations (Tammenga-Helmantel & Maijala, 2019), young Finnish people have generally expressed that the curriculum enables them to use English independently (Aro, 2013;Ranta, 2010), however, recent research on young people's perspectives of English education is lacking in the Finnish context. Indeed, it should be acknowledged that the NSELF survey, the last such large-scale survey taken on the attitude toward and use of English in Finland, was conducted nearly a decade ago, but English remains the dominant choice for foreign language study (Jaatinen & Saarivurta, 2014).…”

Verbindliche und verbindende Landeskunde. Eine Analyse des niederländischen DaF-Lehrwerkes Neue Kontakte

“…Tomlinson, Dat, Masuhara & Rubdy 2001;Tomlinson & Masuhara 2010;Tomlinson 2012;Garton & Graves 2014) nimmt im DaF-Bereich die Lehrwerkanalyse eine bedeutende Position in der fachdidaktischen Literatur ein. So erschienen in den letzten Jahren mehrere Analysen mit unterschiedlichen Themenschwerpunkten, wie Grammatikvermittlung (Maijala & Tammenga-Helmantel 2017;Tammenga-Helmantel & Maijala 2018a;2018b), Sprachbewusstsein (Jarząbek 2013aŁyp-Bielecka 2016;Haukås 2017;Flinz 2018) und auch Landeskunde (Jarząbek 2013b;Maijala 2016;Maijala, Tammenga-Helmantel & Donker 2016;Tammenga-Helmantel, Ciepielewska-Kaczmarek & Jentges 2017). Im Gegensatz zu den Kriterienkatalogen (Funk 1994;Krumm 1994), die eine breite Skala an Kriterien zu unterschiedlichsten Bereichen berücksichtigen, richten sich die aktuellen Analysen auf einen Aspekt, wobei die Analysen zur Landeskunde generell die Umsetzung von didaktischen Prinzipien oder theoretischen Einsichten in Lehrwerken thematisieren.…”

Coastal Students' Tense on Grammar Tense(s): A Rasch Model Analysis

“…Their offers are becoming triggers of debate among others. Reports exposed the English grammar learning and teaching around a selection of dichotomies [20]: accuracy versus fluency, focus on form [21,22] versus focus on forms [23,24,25], direct versus indirect (grammar) instruction [26,27,28,29]. Accuracy versus fluency: in the usages, accuracy [24] belongs to grammatical accuracy, but spelling and pronunciation can join together in accuracy.…”

“…Goodwin states that a core grammar object as a form and social practice is on producing upcoming communication through decomposition, reuse, and transformation of language structure [34]. Not only do teachers use traditional explicit-deductive grammar instruction but also the exposure of their students to certain approaches like inductive and implicit types of instruction should be engaged [29]. A different approach instead of the traditional ones is required by grammar instruction in the teaching of foreign language.…”