Page 11 - ELG2402 Feb Issue 488

FEATURE

naming basic word types and so on, for language as communication, this may mean it tends to be assumed that dialect speakers
this reason. Therefore, the strategy many most learners. are simply ignorant, and incapable of or
English language instructors are tentatively Whether dialect speakers should have to untrained in speaking Standard English and
inching towards is dropping grammar learn the grammar of Standard English is using the grammar.
teaching altogether in favour of a skills- and another debate, but as it is acquired naturally But certainly, what no first language
vocabulary-based approach. with extensive listening and reading, it is learner does, either as a baby or in high
Whether or not a skills-based approach probably simpler for all to keep one form of school, is try to consciously extrapolate the
is more effective, teaching grammar points English as the written standard in Britain and rules for grammar use from the context.
through guided discovery does not seem to Ireland. Significantly different dialects, such In first language learning, grammatical
have a sound theoretical basis, and seems as Scottish English, certainly profit from being structures are acquired through years of avid
to be rather frustrating and time-consuming recorded in writing, such as the dialect poetry listening, in other words, years of exposure
for teacher and learners alike. The grammar of Robert Burns. However, entire books in a to vast quantities of input in context, and
discovery method appears to originate less widely-spoken non-standard dialect of it is the language acquisition device in the
from the findings of modern research into English can be difficult to read fluently, and mind postulated by Chomsky in his theory
language teaching, which appear to suggest probably would be confusing even for speakers of universal grammar that successfully
that explicit grammar teaching may not be of the dialect. captures the language accurately. Students
necessary at all. Those who are widely-read will pick and teachers alike tend to be confused by
However, most students are used to up the fact that written English needs exercises that ask them to use the grammar
being taught language through the use to be in the standard form, though this discovery method, and it seems probable that
of verb tables and so on, and tend to be may be more difficult for dialect speakers. an inductive method is often ineffective for
reassured by the explicit presentation However, education in English language the teaching of structures.
of these language features in class. And classes into the historical and ethnic basis
considering that adult language learning is for the regional varieties of English, and Joanna Buckle has worked
more challenging than that for a small child, some examination of texts in dialect in the as an English language
it is probably better to use a little traditional course of the regular syllabus, such as the teacher for nine years, most
grammar teaching to give your learners excellent ‘Penguin Book of Caribbean Poetry recently for The American
confidence and maintain your credibility in English’ would have an enormous effect in University of Sharjah. She has
as a language teacher for learners that countering the wide-spread prejudice against an MA in English Language
may know nothing about modern language speakers of regional working-class dialects
teaching methodology. Unfortunately, that is only now being reduced through Teaching and is currently studying Journalism
thinking of the numbers of language learners the British media, with comedians such as at The University of West England. Joanna
from traditional education systems, who may Johnny Vegas and Mickey Flanagan. Without has previously published five articles on the
not see the purpose of learning a foreign some explanation of their historical origins, topic of ELT.

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