Getting it right is hard

I'm working on a presentation about collaborative learning. It's leading me to think hard about when my teaching works and and when it doesn't. What are the things I can control, and what are the ones I can't. I can try to create an atmosphere or a vehicle or a structure, but student motivation is complex. What seems like an invitation to experiment and play for one student is perceived as a lack of structure by another.

By emphasizing multiple ways to engage in low-stakes writing activities, in which the evaluation is not based on such factors as grammar or correctness, but rather on effort and communication, I'm continuing with a philosophy of second language teaching called "the communicative approach." It involves active learning, a more student-centered approach, and support for making mistakes. But the fact is that most of my own language learning (and teaching) background ALSO emphasized repetition, drill exercises, and the internalization of correctness as essential building blocks for good (better) communication. Sometimes the tension I experience between these two tendencies makes me tired. But then I read this passage by Timothy Mason in this post on teaching grammar:

"Grammar is surrounded by similar anxieties. Grammar is, indeed, the fruit of such anxieties. Rules of grammar are rules of comportment and the grammar teacher is a dancing master. Like so many other aspects of language, good grammar is good posture.You cannot teach it without attending to social nicety. Which is to say that any such attempt needs to be fully sociologically informed."

So, some of my anxiety about correctness in communication comes from my awareness that I want students to be able to move between informal and formal registers, to have more control over how they are perceived by a variety of audiences. I want them to be able to code-switch, between slang and formal, written discourse. That's a lot for students to absorb, and takes a lifetime to learn. So maybe I need to lighten up.



Sometimes I find myself turning into a "tongue-clucking grammarian."


A mashup created by YouTube user saintblackangle using MC Frontalot's song "Tongue-Clucking Grammarian." Mc Frontalot is an exponent of nerdcore hip hop.