Learning to think about language step by step: a pedagogical template for the development of cognitive and reflective thinking skills in L1 grammar education

Abstract

Traditional L1 grammar teaching focuses on students’ learning the correct grammar rules rather than learning how to deal with grammatical issues in real life. This is mainly due to the fact that traditional grammar education suggests that language consists of sentences which are well-formed according to a fixed prescriptive norm. However, language is messy (especially spoken language), and even the analysis of written language is often unclear and controversial. Students generally do not learn how to deal with the differences between the prescriptive norms taught at school, language in real language situations, and their own language intuitions. They are not taught how to develop a more reflective attitude to tackle ill-structured language issues. Such a reflective attitude could be stimulated by a pedagogical approach to grammar that addresses higher order cognitive thinking skills and teaches students how to consult language resources. In this paper we combine a cognitive learning model with a reflective development model into a pedagogical template aimed at stimulating both cognitive learning and reflective development.