English textbooks vital for methodical teaching

by W. M. J. B. Wijekoon

The continuation of the article on the use of English textbooks in government schools which appeared on February 25

The following factors were felt as needed to be outlined in order to have a basic idea on which this argument is based.

Syntax, or grammar in inductive terms, is the texture of inter-woven medley of language passed through from generation to generation, the knowledge within the first language users naturally acquired due to the dominant use in the immediate environment, which needs to be instilled within those who aspire to acquire it as a second language. Grammar and meanings in conveying a message are undoubtedly interrelated and the two sides of the same coin.

But what makes the task hectic is to decide how to teach the learners or make them acquire the syntactic structures to get the meaningful ideas across. Chomsky very categorically states that syntax, in the process of first language acquisition, is fully independent of the semantics and semantic functions are assigned later. It is anybody's guess that full application of this theory is impracticable with regard to second language acquisition of adults. But, what is bewildering is why more complex patterns are included in the first stages and lesser complex patterns are included in the later stages in the textbooks separately and sometimes in the same textbook.

It is quite understandable that complex structures with Complementiser Phrases (CPs) and movements in early lessons units and less complex structures in later lessons units have been accommodated, basing on the need of making the students know and understand the meanings of those structures that occur in the selected reading and comprehension passages and paragraphs. The universal Grammar assumes, as has been mentioned about the human beings' ability to acquire a language, that basic structures need language data to trigger the acquisition.

Furthermore, the meaning of a whole sentence is coined by the concatenation of meaningful lexical items, and that concatenation system is purely the syntactical rules that govern the semantic functions of the message that is to be conveyed properly. The suggestion made here is that it need be selected the syntactic structure first and then move to the selection of the matter or material as per the semanticity in order of precedence of culture, peace, nature or whatever the theme as anybody wishes.

Acquisition order

UG very strongly claims that there is an order of emergence of Constituent Categories due to the mere and simple fact of 'structure dependent and rule governed' nature of language. First of all, it is obvious that the learners should be made to acquire and learn the lexis along with their lexical categories and functions. Some may argue that that this is reverting to the traditional classical grammar translation method or the structural approach, but the teaching method or the methodology may be revised, devised and improvised to suit to the need. One such constructive step taken, as has been observed, is the introduction of Activity Based Oral English to the children below grade three, which paves the way for the little kids to understand the verbs and nouns (basic lexical categories) separately and also to practise, though there are ceaseless criticisms about the way the subject is being handled by the teachers and even by the teacher educators. For an instance, when the little child hears 'go to the class' and 'go the ground' several times, he or she quite naturally understands the difference between the functions along with the categories to which the lexical items 'go', 'ground' and 'class' belong, the preliminary tenet of UG. Suitable activities and lessons can be devised to instil the use of the content words explained in inductive grammar such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs that would enable the learners understand the lexical category and their functions, even without their knowledge. For example, occurrences of noun phrases in subject position and object position and verb phrases in middle position can be instilled within learners not by drilling but by indicating repetitive short sentences. In the Acquisition Order, emergence of IP stage takes place next, after the emergence of lexical categories and their functions.

'The age factor' and the grade in the school 'for language acquisition' ( Lenneberg 1967) is not discussed here, though the level of understanding matters much. The learners here need to be fully acquainted with tensed inflection/ verbal morphology to maintain tensed agreement with number as the agreement with inflectional morphology of morphological inflection is of paramount importance in English syntax. This stage seemingly needs to be strenuously and repeatedly drilled and practised, as the learners are liable to make errors owing to the reason of differences of verbal inflections according to tense and aspect in the languages of Sinhala and Tamil.

Traditional approach

This is not in any way reverting to the traditional approach to second language teaching, but it is to steadily establish the verbal inflection with tense and aspect as no learner can proceed in the acquisition process without knowledge of this.

It could appeal to the experienced teachers to see whether any learner has proceeded without proper knowledge and establishing within himself or herself of this stage, an imperishable impasse by and large in teaching of English as second language for Sinhala and Tamil speakers.

( To be continued)