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Does Grammar Matter?

29/3/2018

 
Finnish classes have a tendency of being very grammar heavy. This is in part because of how the language itself works, but it's also just plain tradition. Grammar rules have played a central part in language learning at least for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, going at least back to how Greek and Latin have been studied throughout the centuries. 

Grammar can mean many things, from a set of rules to follow to theories about language to being synonymous with the structure of language itself, encompassing every aspect of language use: phonetics, vocabulary, genres, contexts and so on. For the purposes of this post, I'll be using the word grammar to mean the set of rules that you learn and practice when you're first learning a language - in linguistic terms, phonology, morphology and syntax. For instance, the word type rules in my previous post and exercises to practice them would be an example of what I mean by grammar. 

One of the reasons why Finnish is difficult is that there's often a lot of emphasis placed on getting the forms right right away, by us teachers but also by students. I help moderate a language learning group on Facebook (Learn Finnish Language - Opiskelemme suomea, you're very welcome to join us), and a lot of the discussion centers around people asking if the sentences they have written are correct. This is of course a good thing - it's fine to want to get your grammar right from the beginning, but a lot of the time it can become an obstacle on the way to actually learning to understand, speak and write Finnish. The problem is that with a language like Finnish, where there's a lot of morphology (word forms, cases, tenses...) to learn, there's nearly always a little something wrong with even the most meticulously crafted sentences. That, in turn, makes you lose confidence in yourself and your ability to learn, and learning Finnish starts to feel like an impossible task. 

The truth is, usually you can get the message through without getting everything right. I if writes like zis, you understandings I, yes? The same of course goes for Finnish.

When I'm studying a new language, I find myself terrified that if learn the forms wrong in the first place, I'll never ever get them right. However, that is not at all what I've seen as a teacher, or what the research tells me. It's absolutely possible to learn the language wrong and to then have a hard time unlearning the errors and relearning the correct forms, but in my experience this is actually quite rare. I've never seen it be a problem for the students who keep an open mind and try their best keep learning even after the initial stage. What is true for 99,99 % of my students is that as they get more experience with the language, the correct forms also emerge, bit by bit. Then there's the 0,01 % who can read a grammar from cover to cover, then read a dictionary from cover to cover and start speaking more or less perfectly. Yes, those people exist (though the numbers are off the top of my head). As a talented language learner I have them to thank for knowing what it's like to be the slowest learner in class, which I think has made me a much better teacher.  

As a teacher, I'm often torn on whether to correct my students' mistakes or not. On one hand, speaking and writing the language and making yourself understood with it is what counts. On the other, I feel it's my job to help my students eventually get the forms right. What do you think, how much correction is the right amount? 
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Here's what Helsinki looked like this morning. Stadi <3
Photo: Lena Salmen arkisto
Raisa Haikala link
30/3/2018 03:25:03

Thank you for this post! I find it very valuable and agree with you totally. It also takes a lot of courage from a teacher to NOT correct all the mistakes and to guide students to explore the language instead of giving them a pile of rules. The history of language learning is heavy. If you ask students what would you like to learn, they answer grammar and vocabulary. Mastering some form may give false feeling of mastering the language but in my experience using of the language is really the one that gives you confidence and guides you to learning.

Larsen-Freeman has written incredible words of wisdom: ”It is not that you learn something and then you use it; neither it is that you use something and then you learn it. Instead, it is in the using that you learn - they are inseparable.” It took me over 10 years to really deeply understand the meaning of this and some day I need to frame it next to my desk where I teach.

What is the right amount of correction? I’ve adapted American approach that my kids use in school: two stars and a wish, kaksi tähteä ja toive. Especially in beginner level the amount of errors in the text is huge and correcting them all can be excruciating plus most students don’t benefit that as much that I’ve put time to it as a teacher. This method always needs explanations but if we have common language, no student questioned it after I explained why I use this method.

Good work, Mari! I’m extremely happy Finnish teachers like you exist ❤️. And by the way - I also agree that the most ”difficult” students, so called ”slow learners” really teach us teachers most and push us to find the methods that actually benefit all the students. Nothing is more terrible than a feeling that I am stupid and I don’t learn. On the other hand all the ”quick learners” should challenge themselves to teach the language by themselves and throw themselves to using without analyzing all the minor errors which actually are not at their zone of proximal development yet.

Mari Nikonen
30/3/2018 13:06:14

Thank you for your kind words Raisa! And thank you for sharing the quote, it's excellent and really something to live by.




Emmanuel
30/3/2018 08:15:40

Thank you so much for bringing out your time to help alot of us students. I most say it very difficult for the teachers and also the students because first, finnish is not there mother tongue, and also most of the students have been living all there lives in a country with diffirent grammer and idelogy and difficult for the teachers too because you really need to patience and friendly to help and carry everyone alone.. and for how correction need to be given, i also think it all depends on the teacher.. a good teacher is one who love the job not just the money that comes with it.. there should be room for correction in some point, but is best to help the Student to love the language and teacher the students in there on pace a level they can understand and remain focus.... and once again thank so much for help us in this group may God continue to strengthen and empower you

Mari Nikonen
30/3/2018 13:07:34

Thank you Emmanuel!

Meri link
30/3/2018 13:44:55

You make a point about learning something wrong and then unlearning it. Here is the thing I strongly believe in. I have studied some Finnish, I speak fluent English, and my native language is a Slavic language, belonging to one of the largest groups.

Every language has it's rules that can't go without. Finnish is amazingly structured, and there is a beautiful logic in it, which is not well covered in the schools that teach Finnish to foreigners. I am speaking out of my experience, and sharing my point of view, it may not apply to all.

So, if I am to invest my time into learning anything new, especially a language, I DO want, and it is a MUST with me, to learn it right. I do not believe in unlearning AT ALL. To this day I still have problems with spelling the words 'remember' and 'tomorrow' because I learned them wrong. Why invest my time and effort to learn if I will have to unlearn it?
This was my biggest problem when I was attending the Finnish school. I say something (not knowing it is wrong) , the teacher DOES NOT correct me, and it stays with me until one day all of the sudden I realize it is wrong. It is the teacher's job, in my opinion to try and stop this in the bud, because for me it does two things:
1. Demotivates me, and robs me of my time.
2. Makes me feel stupid, and afraid to ever speak again.
At the end, I become desperate that I will never learn, and I always doubt that what I say is wrong.

But like I said, it's just me. Others may not care all that much. But I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to what and how it comes out of my mouth.

So, I suppose, you could simply try to understand what the individual needs of your students are. If some of them want to dig like I do, let them dig, dig alongside with them.

I am a strong believer in correcting. Of course, a learner will make mistakes here and there, but learning is about becoming better. How will anyone become better, and grow if not whatever new they are learning is built upon a strong foundation?

I was rarely corrected when making mistakes, which has left me confused, discouraged, underestimated, demotivated, basically picking up the pieces. Not good.

Mari Nikonen link
31/3/2018 09:46:43

Thank you for you insightful comment Meri!

I completely agree with you on many points. I actually don't believe in learning things wrong and unlearning at all either, which I now see might not come across very clearly in my post. I don't want to teach my students wrong and then have them do a bunch of unnecessary work to get it right.

What the research tells me and what I see every day in my work is that even though people will start out saying things wrong, the vast majority of them start getting the forms right just by just listening to the language, having the teacher teach them the right forms and then using them. Mistakes happen and are part of the process, but they very rarely get engraved in the students' minds. I do think that correction is absolutely necessary, but I'm not sure what the right amount is. But you're right, it depends on the individual student and their needs. That's one of the reasons why I do private lessons for the most part - it's so great to be able to focus on just one student at a time once in a while.

As Raisa points out, a lot of learning happens by doing - when you say something out loud wrong once, it's not yet engraved or learnt. It's only by repetition that learning happens. The challenge for the teacher I think is to correct the right things at the right time - not too much correction, but not too little either.


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