Grammar Explorer: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:35, 31 October 2023

Revision as of 03:01, 31 October 2023

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Additionally, existing online materials do not make full use of the ideas laid down in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. They do not support a [[syllabus]] such as Waystage, pitch themselves at a clearly defined level (A2) or help students to prepare for a recognized European Language Certificate.

'''Grammar Explorer''' was created to address the missing pedagogical link between grammar as rule system and the needs of the language learner. This is achieved by putting into practice a functional and constructivist pedagogical concept that focuses on the aspect of usage in the language system and the individual learner’slearner's need to acquire practical competence which does not require the ability to account for one’sone's grammatical knowledge.

===Pedagogical approach===

The pedagogical concept underlying '''Grammar Explorer''' is firmly rooted in [[Constructivism (learning theory)]], [[cognitive psychology]] and recent findings of the [[neurosciences]] with regard to learning. It, therefore, fulfils the criteria laid down in The Common European Framework of Reference: The materials are multi-purpose, flexible, easily accessible, dynamic and non-dogmatic.

'''Grammar Explorer''' surpasses the descriptive, form-focused grammars currently available, because it treats learners as active meaning-makers and puts them firmly in control of their learning experience. Within the structure of the grammar, learners are able to enter into a non-linear process of negotiation with grammatical material that requires and encourages the use of basic cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies such as inferencing, grouping and recombination.<ref>O’MalleyO'Malley, J. and A. Chamot (1990). [https://www.academia.edu/download/36875588/lenguage_learning_strategies_and_second_lenguage.pdf Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition]{{dead link|date=July 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref> It is through this process of exploration and negotiation that the learners acquire the type of functional grammatical competence that is essential for the successful acquisition of pragmatic competence and for the development of [[cognitive]] and [[metacognitive]] skills.

Information technologies and the [[hypertext]] principle underlying the World Wide Web/relational databases are ideally suited to support a constructivist approach to grammar acquisition.<ref>Noblitt, J. (1989). ‘Technology'Technology and Language Learning’Learning'. Academic Computing, October. p.56.</ref>

===Innovation in online language learning===

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Grammar Explorer is arranged in a modular way. The modules are arranged in alphabetical order rather than according to the structure of the grammar. In this respect Grammar Explorer is more like a dictionary. This is a clear indication that Grammar Explorer has adopted what the [[neurosciences]] have argued for some time, that our memory tends to store semantically, especially at the level of the Basic User.

Furthermore, the neurosciences clearly support [[Michael Lewis (applied linguistic)|Michael Lewis]]’s's [[didactic]] approach to language acquisition/learning that has been in circulation for about two decades now: Language must be seen as ‘grammaticalized'grammaticalized lexis’lexis'. A learner must have sufficient semantic data at hand in order to be able to construct meaning. At first this is exclusively semantic meaning, which is then transferred into higher level thinking once sufficient semantic data is available to enable the learner to infer the underlying structures. Learners move progressively from semantic meaning into more abstract syntactic and morphological meaning.

==References==