At 09:35 AM 1/7/00 -0600, Bob Yates wrote:

>I wish we would not confuse teaching grammar to non-native speakers to
>teaching grammar
>to native speakers.

There are some major differences in teaching grammar to native and
non-native speakers.  However, there are also some correlations, and
researchers investigating ESL issues and researchers investigating language
learning of native speakers may well have much to learn from each other.
Noticing and learning from these similarities does not mean that the two
areas of study are getting "confused."  We deprive ourselves of important
insights when we get too narrow-minded in how we divide our investigations
up, or put too many limitations on the kinds of things we look at.

Indeed, the study and teaching of grammar may become both more effective
and more acceptable when we start integrating research from a broader array
of subject areas.

On the other hand, it might also be important to be more specific about
what is meant and intended by the study of grammar.  "Grammar" means
something specific to each person that uses it, but that specific something
is different for different people.

Susan Mari Witt



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