This paper will critique the qualitative research paper, “The use of grammatical terminology in the second language classroom: A qualitative study of teachers’ practices and cognitions” by Simon Borg (1999). Borg investigates four English teachers’ cognitions regarding the use of grammatical terminology and their actual practices in the classroom. In order to clarify the relationship between the teachers’ cognitions and their practices, Borg conducted lesson observations and interviews as data collection methods. In this paper, Borg’s research will be critically analyzed in terms of the conceptualization of the research study, appropriateness of the research design and the quality of the research analysis. Conceptualization of the research study Borg gives a clear rationale for the research by contextualizing the topic. Despite the significance of teachers’ cognitions to instructional decisions and an in-depth understanding of instruction itself, empirical studies of second language (L2) teachers’ cognitions are scarce, especially in relation to grammar instruction. Teachers’ cognitions can be defined as “the beliefs, knowledge, theories, assumptions, and attitudes that teachers hold about all aspects of their work (Borg, 1999, p. 95). Borg’s previous research (1998) explores the cognitions of L2 language teachers that influence grammar teaching in general, including error analysis, the use of grammatical terminology and grammar rules and practices. This earlier research is the basis for the research article under examination here. In the present article, Borg focuses only on the relationship between teachers’ cognitions and instructional practices with respect to grammatical terminology. This is because there has been little... ... middle of paper ... ...directions: the use of grammatical terminology in other contexts and the research of teachers and students collaboration regarding metalanguage discourse. In order to fill the gaps of studies and gain deeper understanding of teachers and instruction, those studies mentioned by Borg should be examined. Works Cited Borg, S. (1998). Teachers’ pedagogical systems and grammar teaching: A qualitative study. TESOL Quarterly, 32(1), 9-38. Borg, S. (1999). The use of grammatical terminology in the second language classroom: A qualitative study of teachers’ practices and cognitions. Applied Linguistics, 20(1), 95-126. Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (4th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. McKay, S. (2006). Researching second language classrooms. New York: Routledge.
Merriam, S. B. & Co. a. The adage of the adage of Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Palmer, P. (2000).
Throughout the span of the past few weeks I have traversed the globe, visiting several countries and regions, only to realize that although new methods develop, language as a way of expressing ones self has remained the most effective. Despite this fact, language still has its pitfalls. Neil Postman, in his essay “Defending Against the Indefensible,'; outlines seven concepts that can be used to aid a student in better understanding the language as a means of communication. He describes how modern teaching methods leave a student vulnerable to the “prejudices of their elders';, further stating that a good teacher must always be skeptical. He urges teachers of all subjects to break free from traditional teachings as well as “linguistical tyranny';
Gay, L.R., Mills, G. E., & Airasian, P. W. (2009) Educational research: Competencies foranalysis and applications. (9th. Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. ISBN-10: 0135035015
Bartlett, S and Burton, B (2007) Introduction to education studies. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Hugo, W. (2013). Cracking the Code to Educational Analysis. Chapter 7. p105-116. Pearson: Cape Town
O’Neill,S., Gish, A. (2008). Teaching English as a second language. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
Sharma, B., 2008. “World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, and English Pedagogy”, Journal of NELTA 13 (2), pp. 121-130. Available from
Many researchers like Krashen (1985), Harmer (2007), and Turnbull (2001) emphasise that in most EFL (English as a foreign language) environment, a teacher’s English proficiency ...
In the article entitled “How to Teach Grammar, Analytical Thinking, and Writing”, Lynn Sams (2003) voiced and suggested methods on how grammar and writing should be taught in the classroom. This article was published in the English Journal by the National Council of Teachers of English. Sams based her research on her 16 years of experience as a high school teacher and the instructional approaches she used with her sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth grade classes. Sams refers to grammar as “the relationship between structure and meaning” (57). The information in this article demonstrates processes of analyzing the structure of sentences and suggests students cannot completely understand writing without first understanding the basic concepts of grammar.
Lee Thomas is a linguistics teacher at the University of Nevada, Reno. He probably can speak at least one other language than English, if not more. He probably writes many articles dealing with language use. He cares about language use and its affects in the family and in the society. He knows what he is talking about probably from first hand experience. I am determining all of this because he is a linguistics teacher and he probably would not be writing this article if he did not speak another language other than English. Linh Cao is an English teacher at Sparks High School, Sparks, Nevada. She speaks four languages including English. Most of the time she uses English, except when around her parents and grandparents. She also cares about language use and its affects in the family and in the society. I am determining all of this because in the article her family is the one that is used for examples and because if she did not care about language use than she would not have written this article. The targeted audience is teachers and families, to help th...
Lynne Flowerdew (2009) “Applying corpus linguistics to pedagogy” International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 14:3, 393–417
Research can be defined as collecting data, information, and facts to gain knowledge. Research can be used as a tool to engage an efficient approach to one’s practice and provide them with effective data to make changes based on what he or she may have learned from the research. By conducting research, school administrators gain knowledge about not only their practice but their staff members, students, and district. Thus providing the administrator the abil-ity to make more effective decisions that can bring more success to the school or school district. When conducting research, one may decide to traditional research or action research. This paper will address the differences between action research and traditional research regarding their use in an educational environment, as well provide explanations and examples to delineate their uses in an education setting.
In the last century, there has been major shifts in attitudes towards language teaching and learning. Language was previously viewed as a system that can be acquired through focusing on grammar, that view influenced some teaching methods such as Grammar Translation Method, Audiolingual Method and Situational Language Teaching (Nunan 2001). Scholars started to question the validity of such methods, because they have noticed that although students had a good knowledge of the language rules, they were unable to use the language to communicate (Larsen-Freeman 2001). In other words, students should learn linguistics skills as well as communicative skills (Richards and Rodgers 2001). Littlewood (2002:1) commented, "the structural view
Miller, T. P, & Faigley, L. (1982). College English. National Council of teachers of English, 44(6). Retrieved from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0010-