A Receptive Perspective for Introductory German

Abstract

Introductory German language textbooks, along with the teachers who use them, have traditionally accorded the predominant role of language acquisition to language production-speaking and writing--both in presentation of the grammar and in testing student competence.2 However, this emphasis on language production clearly overlooks what research on the frequency of occurrence of certain forms in context tells us. With the current emphasis on the development of reading and listening as important receptive skills, a critical re-examination of the purpose and possibilities of a receptive grammar presentation is imperative. This article will discuss a possible pedagogical grammar for reception, using examples from German morphology and syntax to illustrate the issues. Finally, some suggestions for testing receptively will be provided. There are at least two good reasons for giving greater recognition to a receptive grammar in introductory German textbooks. First of all, anecdotal evidence is often cited to show that the overemphasis on productive skills today has been to the detriment of the receptive skills of reading and listening (Rusciolelli 262). Current interest in developing reading and listening comprehension would suggest that some attention ought to be given to how and what grammatical topics are presented in textbooks. Yet, almost no attention is given in the research literature to the relationship between grammatical structures and the discourse of reading (McCarthy and Carter 89-124). Secondly, first-year German textbooks, many of which now extend to 400 or even 500 pages (Hook and Kahn 156-58), have become unwieldy to many teachers. Understandably, many programs now find it advisable to extend these textbooks into the