Session Information
31 SES 11 A, Instructing Grammar
Paper Session
Contribution
In this conference paper we will present findings on the disciplining power of grammar in language classrooms in lower secondary education in Denmark. Our research is part of a wider national study on grammar instruction, investigated in seven schools across Denmark in three language subjects, Danish as L1 as well as English and German as foreign languages. This means that in our paper we employ the same methodology of focused ethnography as in the nationwide study but operate with a different theoretical framework based on the Foucauldian concept of power and power relations.
In our research, we set out to investigate what exactly occurs in the language classroom when grammar instruction takes place. Our conceptualization of “grammar instruction” incorporates both explicit and implicit, contextualized and decontextualized, functional and structural, form-oriented and meaning-oriented ways of working with grammar. This broad view allows us to understand the complexity of grammar instruction as practice, where grammar is presented, perceived, practised and produced in different ways and for different purposes, whether these are intended or not by teachers and learners.
In our data, we trace repetitive cases which indicate that grammar and grammar instruction play a disciplining role in the language classroom, create visible and invisible power relations and represent other phenomena. These include grammar as a determining agent in classroom settings, classroom management as well as a surveilling and controlling technique. We view and analyze selected data, employing Foucault’s analytical concept of power and power relations (Foucault, 1982) in an educational and pedagogical context (Cameron, 1995; Hermann, 2010) by drawing on specific didactic perspectives (Swan, 2002; Thornbury, 1998; Schmenk, 2015).
Based on our observations, our research aims to shed light on the power of grammar as it appears to be (mis)used intentionally or unintentionally - albeit through subtle techniques. Today’s (foreign) language classroom, which builds on communicative competence, fosters equal and democratic participation in the learning process. The perception of grammar we have detected in our research may jeopardize the very foundation that lies at the heart of the communicative classroom.
Method
Our presentation takes its point of departure in the national study on grammar instruction mentioned above. This study has as its methodological framework “focused ethnography” (Knoblauch (2005), which allows us to capture, understand and describe the actual occurrences of grammar as a means of exercising power in grammar instruction. Our data consists mainly of field observations (collected through an on-purpose developed observation guide), interviews with teachers and students as well as classroom artefacts.
Expected Outcomes
The aim of our study is twofold. On one hand, it provides new knowledge of different forms of grammar instruction in L1 and L2 in Denmark. On the other hand, it raises awareness of grammar as disciplining power embedded and constructed in practice by teachers and students. In our presentation, we plan to show and discuss a number of specific cases that illustrate disciplining aspects of grammar and the power relations thereof. Our study is relevant not only in a Danish educational context, but also in a European arena, since foreign language teaching in Denmark is based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001).
References
Cameron, D. (1995). Verbal Hygiene. Routledge Council of Europe (2001). The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/level-descriptions Foucault, M. (1982). The Subject and Power. Critical Inquiry, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 777-795 Hermann, S. (2010). Michel Foucault - pædagogik som magtteknologi. In S. Olesen & P. Pedersen (Eds.) Pædagogik i sociologisk perspektiv. VIA Systime Knoblauch, H (2005). Focused Ethnography. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung, 6(3) https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004 Schmenk, B. (2015). Grammatik. Macht. Sprache. “Teach as you were taught” und die Ordning des DaF-Unterrichts. Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache, 42.1, pp. 25-42 Swan, M. (2002). Seven Bad Reasons for Teaching Grammar – and Two Good Ones. In J. Richards & W. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice (Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, pp. 148-152). Thornbury, S. (1998). Grammar, Power and Bottled Water. IATEFL Newsletter, pp. 19-20
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