Pedagogical Grammar Development
Joana Jansen
Rose Mary Miller
Janne Underriner
Course Information:
This workshop discusses the development, purpose, composition and use of pedagogical grammars. We focus on pedagogical grammars for minority and endangered languages. Topics include: grammars and the speech community; typology of grammars; writing grammars; how the language determines what to include; including/writing culture into a grammar; consideration of issues of planning, use, function; examining differences between theoretical and pedagogical grammars. In addition, we look at these topics from several perspectives: that of a pedagogical grammar writer, that of an endangered language teacher, and that of a language program consultant.
Speech communities are increasingly looking for linguists who are aware of and able to contribute to language teaching and learning goals, and who can collaborate with community members in meeting these goals. Language community members want to learn how to use, learn, and teach their language, and a pedagogical grammar is written with those goals in mind. The input of community members is key to developing an accessible and culturally appropriate grammar. The workshop is geared towards linguists and speech community members who are planning to write or are writing a grammar, or reworking a theoretical grammar into a pedagogical grammar.