The place of spoken grammar in the teaching and learning of speaking

Abstract

In the light of fast-developing technology which is encouraging spontaneous global communication, conversational skills have become an inestimable asset. McCarthy and Carter (1995, 2002) argue that natural conversation calls for the use of certain interactive, interpersonal aspects which only spoken grammar (the grammar of conversation) can offer. However, they point out, almost all accounts of English grammar have been based on the written standard version of the language. The present research sets out to get insight into the place of spoken grammar in the teaching and learning of speaking at the Department of Letters and English, University of Constantine 1. More precisely, consideration is given to the issue of whether and to what extent spoken grammar is used by the students as well as the issue of the usefulness of teaching a selected range of spoken grammar aspects in order to make the students‘ conversational English more natural. Another equally significant aspect of this study is to check whether spoken grammar is taught, the way it is presented and the teachers‘ views about the viability of incorporating it into the Oral Expression syllabus. We hypothesise that if the students under study receive instruction of a selected range of spoken grammar aspects, their conversational English is likely to be more natural. We also hypothesise that the Oral Expression teachers who are convinced of the importance of teaching the intrinsic aspects of spoken grammar would refer less to standard grammar in the teaching of conversation. The first hypothesis is checked by means of a pre-test post-test Control Experimental group design, whereas the second hypothesis is tested through a Teachers‘ Questionnaire. The findings obtained allow to validate the first hypothesis and partly confirm the second one. The majority of the students have been found unaware of most of the aspects of spoken grammar, and the treatment provided (instruction of a selected range of spoken grammar aspects) has proved to have a positive impact on the students‘ conversational output. The results also reveal that more than half the teachers do not teach the most salient aspects of spoken grammar, but tend to refer mainly to the aspects of standard grammar in the teaching of conversation, notwithstanding their awareness of the usefulness of integrating aspects of spoken grammar into the syllabus. On the basis of these findings, recommendations are suggested to Oral Expression syllabus designers and teachers in order to assign adequate importance to the teaching of spoken grammar.