Event

Teaching Grammaring*

*This workshop is open to Penn instructors of South Asian languages and Penn Language Center instructors of other world languages. Registration is required.  To register, contact Jody Chavez at jchavez@sas.upenn.edu. 

A Workshop with Diane Larsen-Freeman, Professor Emerita, Michigan State University

Workshop Description:

Teaching grammar is challenging. For one thing, students often do not like to study grammar. They consider it boring. Even for those students who see value in its study, the ability to activate the grammar that they have learned in situations of use is subject to the “inert knowledge problem.” In addition, grammar is often equated with accuracy, but that characterization overlooks the fact that grammar is a resource for making meaning in a contextually appropriate way.

In this workshop, we will entertain a different view of grammar—a multidimensional view. We will also see that teaching grammar dynamically, or teaching grammaring, can help students enact their knowledge of grammar when communicating.  Finally, we will investigate ways of teaching grammaring that do not aim to entertain students, but which do seek to engage them.

The tentative schedule will be as follows:

8:30 - 9:00 Breakfast
9:00 - 12 noon - Session 1
12- 12:30 Lunch
12:30 - 3:30 PM - Session 2

The workshop location is TBD.