Pre-Service ESL Teachers’ Knowledge about Language and its Transfer to Lesson Planning
FINDINGS
Journals from the English Grammar Course
Challenges and Disequilibria
A predominant theme in the first set of journals, written in the second week of class, was the realization that grammar is more complex than participants had imagined. The descriptive approach reduced the certainty of grammar rules found in the prescriptive approach participants were familiar with. Also, the notion that grammatical structures have form, meaning, and use dimensions (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1999) was new, and contrasted with the commonly held view that grammar is one-dimensional. This complexity challenged the participants and induced anxiety in several. Twelve out of 19 participants expressed some degree of anxiety or confusion about the new material, the most extreme version of which was found in the following quote:
Before the readings and discussion I was “scared” of grammar. Now, I’m terrified. I see a lot of things I don’t know and they just don’t seem to stay in my mind. (B.V., journal, 9/12/01)2
They also wrote about how the new approach would influence their teaching, as in the following:
Before, I really liked grammar, but my idea was that it was always taught in a rules-based manner. The readings and discussion are helping me open my mind to the possibilities in making grammar meaningful for my students. (L. B., journal, 9/12/01)
Some participants were concerned about the challenges of teaching grammar to English language learners (ELL) given this more nuanced view of grammar:
I have only gotten more interested in how to teach grammar. The problem is that now I’m thinking about the way grammar can be prescriptive and descriptive and as a result am beginning to feel more confused which way to teach ELLs. (G.M., journal, 9/12/01)
While this view opened up grammar as a more interesting subject to learn and teach, it also brought out feelings of disorientation because it was inconsistent with most of the participants’ prior experience with grammar.
