Spanish Teaching And The Role Of Grammar

Teaching grammar in English and MFL lessons: an opportunity to work together

Although it can be argued that the approach to grammar used in English lessons might not

benefit MFL learning, I consider that MFL teachers have a lot to learn from the implicit

way in which grammar is taught by English teachers, as well as the methodology they use

to make students work on texts. Nevertheless, I consider that reinforcement of explicit

grammar explanations in English can benefit students learning in both subjects. Therefore,

it is essential a collaboration between both departments.

One of the things that struck me the most in the English lessons observed was the

interaction created in the classroom. When analysing texts, students were encouraged to

express themselves and listen to others. Even the activities that led to a final writing task

were preceded by an interactive process, in which students had to discuss ideas and

exchange opinions, sometimes in an atmosphere of collaborative work. I could easily

observe how this engagement and promotion of communicative skills through improving

the learners speaking confidence was highly effective, especially considering that, in the

specific lessons observed, English was not the first language for the majority of students.

This approach can undoubtedly support the learning of our students in MFL lessons by

improving their general communicative skills and supporting their confidence when

expressing themselves. Furthermore, it can be an inspiration for MFL teachers especially

with the new curriculum specifications, with the four skills being equally weighted at 25%

in GCSE and the importance given to literary texts at A-Level.

Although Ellis (2005:15) states, The opportunity to interact in the L2 is central to

developing L2 proficiency , sometimes it can be difficult to promote in the MFL

classroom. In some of the KS3 lessons observed, language was explained mainly with a

translation method, with students working independently and focusing on writing skills.

The reiterated use of translation produced frustration in students, as their capacity to

communicate in the target language was reduced to the use of chunks that they could

infer from the translation, and besides, it could be especially difficult for EAL learners to

make these translations. Apart from this frustration (and therefore, lack of motivation), this

methodology did not enable students to reflect on the structure of the language or acquire

the tools that enabled them to analyse and reapply grammar patterns in different contexts.

Relating to this, my own experience as a learner of English in Spain showed me that,

although I memorised a huge range of grammar patterns during my secondary education, it

took me a long time until all that declarative knowledge became procedural, as I had

barely put the grammar into use before.

On the other hand, I have observed teachers trying to address the need of students to

reinforce their grammar knowledge by increasing the amount of metalanguage and using

explicit, decontextualised grammar exercises. As Macaro points out (2014:118), this might

be due to the reduced amount of lesson time and exposure to language, alongside the

pressure to achieve outcomes. One result that I have observed when this happened is how

some students did not understand what Preterite tense was and were not able to use it,

despite having completed conjugation tables of this and other tenses.

As mentioned above, a reinforcement of explicit grammar explanations in English lessons

can help to address these difficulties. Besides, documents such as Supporting triple

literacy: language learning in KS2 and KS3 , published by the Welsh government in 2011,

provide different ideas of collaboration, for instance: a common approach to reading, with

the same routines for reading in different subjects the establishment of common

terminology across languages for language concepts, structures, etc using common

strategies for helping students memorise spellings and creating multilingual displays

around the school. Another, not mentioned in the report, can be the use of common colours

for visual differentiation of grammar aspects. This collaboration could be inspired by the

idea in The Bullock Report (1975) of an organised policy for language across thecurriculum .