(In progress)
Background
According to the Danish National Curriculum for English (Fælles mål 2009), Danish 9th graders have to be able to use writing as a communicative tool nationally and internationally. This demands a certain degree of communicative competences, such as linguistic competence, pragmatic competence, etc. When I read and corrected a few English essays written by Danish 9th graders I noticed that frequent mistakes in syntax challenged the communication to such an extent that I found myself wondering if this area was particularly difficult to work with in TEFL; and it lead me to the following research question:
Research question
How can teachers work with grammar to decrease the frequency of syntactic mistakes appearing in the pupils’ written work?
Theory
Psychology (motivation and self efficacy – you need this the learn a new language)
Theories about L1-L2 and the interlanguage, direct transfer influence on syntax if the syntax in L1 andL2 are different. (Second Language Syntax and Ur?) Lightbown and Spada: How languages are Learned.
Hypothysis Testing NB (Ur, Cameron)
Scott Thurnbury (interlanguage errors) – Fossilization
Ulrika Tornberg: Sprogdidaktik, Eva Dam Jensen: Fokus på form – made in Denmark, Fokus on Form, Awareness, Notice, Syntax, Foreign Language Acquisition.
Bereiter, Carl et al.: Surpassing Ourselves, Expert learners?
Discussion
Connect theories above (I need the books to find citations and refresh my memory)
Briefly touch assessment in the writing process when working with syntax (based on the theories above)
Practical examples:
Pupils’ essays, 9th graders – Enghavegård, Blaagaard, and Engelsborg
Dictogloss and focus on form, Hanne Geist & Eva Dam Jensen(Swain 1995), Sprogforum 30, 2004 – Date: 05/04-11 (Sprogforum nr. 22 & 30
Nanna Bjargum: Læringsstrategier (referencer, spec. opgaver)
Tornberg, Ulrika: Sprogdidaktik (Focus on Form)
List of references:
Aarts, Bas: English syntax and argumentation, 2001
Cameron, Lynne: Teaching Languages to Young Learners; Cambridge UP, 2001
Lightbown, P. & Spada, N.: How languages Are Learned, Oxford, Oxford UP, 1993
Tornberg, Ulrika: Sprogdidaktik, Alinea 2001
Thurnbury, Scott: (interlanguage errors.. From the English library)
Ur, Penny: A Course in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press 200? (Hypothesis testing)
Online References
Arndt, Hans: The Contribution of Syntac to Meaning, Skandinaviske Sprogstudier, årg. 2, nr. 2, 2004
Bjargum, Nanna: Læringsstrategier (referencer, spec. opgaver) http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:sGO73qb4UXYJ:www.emu.dk/gym/fag/st/forloeb/grundfiler/laeringsstrategier.pdf+Nanna+Bjargum+l%C3%A6ringsstrategier&hl=da&gl=dk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjANtlaq2spwfoSzzuyZwbKk4hrT5wr53VAYL0iOqTXlCqmBvbGDhWj1LSA90lC1ftvCQ-Vehr_0PkWbDqxg42W7oXDrCpAE_0uPhCcwt4oTMKxYyuUzFlECEmfj5D6gMbVqlb0&sig=AHIEtbT1NaOH6wpUQ-WmSC8AjIOo4wk6rA 06/04-11
Geist, Hanne: Sprogforum 30, 2004 –http://inet.dpb.dpu.dk/infodok/sprogforum/spr30/Geist.pdf Date: 05/04-11
Haastrup, Kirsten: Focus on Form – Med afsæt I nordamerikans forskning, Sprogforum 30, 2004
Jensen, Eva Dam: Fokus på form – made in Denmark, Sprogforum 30, 2004
– Doughty, C. & J. Williams: Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge; Cambridge UP, 1998 (Reference in her article)
National Curriculum for English (Fælles mål 2009) http://www.uvm.dk/service/Publikationer/Publikationer/Folkeskolen/2009/Faelles%20Maal%202009%20-%20Engelsk.aspx?fullpub=1 06/04-11
Thurnbury, Scott: (interlanguage errors) Noticing http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:DV81kr0MjkUJ:www.thornburyscott.com/assets/reformulation.pdf+Scott+Thornbury+Interlanguage+Errors&hl=da&gl=dk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShmcHviUvnQ1vsWjG7LLicQZn1kgAnjTS9wm2eo27zAfpjutPWSb_tYtsn-A6cpISn0d4UHJeru_Ba93o0arnWt6vezFFrsyPqwDtoEp1pqkoSFV963Z7xJFG0R5JRZfMQN2EVo&sig=AHIEtbTiekfDoUku9jFzBtizK8yPzYa2kg
Hawkins, Roger: Second Language Syntax (L1-L2 (+ Krashen?), Grammar)
http://www.amazon.com/Second-Language-Syntax-Generative-Introduction/dp/0631191844 (06/04-11 Link to the book)
