Deductive-vs.-Inductive-Grammar-Teaching

1THEEFFECTSOFDEDUCTIVEANDINDUCTIVEAPPROACHESOFTEACHINGONJORDANIANUNIVERSITYSTUDENTS'USEOFTHEACTIVEANDPASSIVEVOICEINENGLISHBy:Mohammed,AzmiAdel,Jaber,HannaAbu,CollegeStudentJournal,01463934,Jun2008PartB,Vol.42,Issue2.Database:AcademicSearchPremier1.RelatedLiteratureThisempiricalstudypresentedthedescriptionoftwoteachingmethodscalleddeductiveandinductiveapproaches.Thefirstinvolvedprovidingagroupofparticipantswithrulesandthenexamplesdirectlyandseparately,butthesecondapproachinvolvesprovidinganothergroupofparticipantswithexamplesorcontentwithoutofferingexplicitgrammarrules,andsothestudentsshouldinducesuchrulesbythemselves.ThisstudyinvestigatedtheeffectsofeachapproachandtheinteractionbetweenthetypeofteachingapproachandtheuseoftheactiveandpassivevoicesentencesinEnglishasaforeignlanguage(EFL).Ninety-threefreshmanandjunioruniversitystudentsparticipatedinthisstudy.TheywerechosenrandomlyfromthreeclassesintwouniversitiesinJordan.Themethodofthestudyincludedapretest,twolessonsforeachgroupinthethreeclassesandaposttest.Theresultsofthestudyrevealasignificantstatisticalresultatthelevelof0.05betweenthetwoapproachesforthedeductivegroup.Butthereisnosignificantdifferencebetweenclassesforthesametypeofapproach.Thereisalsonosignificanteffectfortheinteractionbetweenapproachandclass.1.1TheImportanceofTeachingGrammarEnglishistodaytheworld'smostwidelyusedlanguage.Thedesiretolearnitisatthepresentissoimmense.ThefutureofEnglishasaninternationallanguagehasalwaysbeensaidtorestonthepracticabilityofteachingthelanguage.Formorethan2000yearsofdebateregardingwhethergrammarshouldbeaprimaryfocusoflanguageinstructionorshouldbeeliminatedentirely,orshouldbesubordinatedtomeaning-focuseduseofthetargetlanguageiscontinuinginthetradition.Butonceagain,theneedforgrammarinstructionisattractingtheattentionofresearchersandteachersofsecondlanguageacquisition.AdebatewastheoreticallyrepresentedbyKrashen's(1981)distinctionbetweenconsciouslearningandunconsciousacquisitionoflanguage.Theclaimwasthatlanguageshouldbeacquiredthroughnaturalexposure,notlearnedthroughformalinstruction(Ellis,2002;Skehan,1998).Despitesuchresearchfindings,NassajiandFotos(2004)indicatethatcurrentresearchinsecondlanguagelearning,however,hasledtoareconsiderationoftheroleofgrammarinsecondlanguageclassroom.Theresearchsuggeststhatsometypesoffocusongrammaticalformswerenecessaryiflearnersweretodevelophighlevelsofaccuracyinthetargetlanguage.Mostsecondlanguageinvestigatorsagreethatnoticingorawarenessoftargetstructuresandformsplaysanessentialroleinsecondlanguagelearningwasnecessaryiflearnersweretodevelophighlevelsofaccuracyinthetargetlanguage(Doughty,2001;Ellis,2002).Briefly,thereconsiderationofgrammarteachinginsecondlanguageclassroom,accordingtomanyresearchersandinvestigators,isevidenceforthepositiveeffectsofgrammarinstructionastheirempiricalandclassroombasedstudies.1.2TheDeductiveApproachofTeachingThedeductiveapproachofteachingEnglishgrammarreferstothestyleofteachingstudentsbyintroducingthegrammaticalrulesfirst,andthenapplyingthembythestudents.Thismeansthatateacherworksfromthemoregeneraltothemorespecificinadeductiveapproachcalledinformallyatopdownapproach.Decoo(1996)understandseducationasaprocessthatgoesfromthegeneraltothespecific.WhereasMountone(2004)statesthatthedeductivemethodsseemtoworkbestifyouwantstudentstobeabletoquicklyandaccuratelysolveproblemslikethoseworkedoutinclassorinthework.Younie(1974)believesthatthedeductiveapproachismorepredictablebecausetheteacherselectstheinformationandthesequenceofpresentation.2Shaffer(1989)criticizesthedeductiveapproachclarifyingthattheproblemmanystudentshaveapplyingthesevariousrulesindicatesthattheymaynotfullyunderstandtheconceptsinvolvedandthatthedeductiveapproachtendstoemphasizegrammarattheexpenseofmeaningandtopromotepassiveratherthanactiveparticipationofthestudents.ButGoneretal(1978)statethatthedeductiveapproachcanbeeffectivewithstudentsofahigherlevel,whoalreadyknowthebasicstructuresofthelanguage,orwithstudentswhoareaccustomedtoaverytraditionalstyleoflearning.SchrampferandSpack(2005)introduceaprogramwherethepresentation-practice-production-evaluationpatternadoptedbytheprogramisafeatureofthedeductiveapproachtotheteachinggrammarassumingthatpotentialuserswillunderstandtherulegoverningthetargetgrammarpattern.1.3TheInductiveApproachofTeachingTheinductiveapproachreferstothestyleofintroducinglanguagecontextcontainingthetargetruleswherestudentscaninducesuchrulesthroughthecontextandpracticalexamples.Inotherwords,thesequenceinthisapproachgoesfromcreatingasituationandgivingexamplestothegeneralizationwherestudentsshoulddiscoversuchgeneralizationbythemselvesorwiththeteacher'shelp.Mautone(2004)saysthatwithaninductiveapproach,teachersshowtheirstudentsaseriesofexamplesandnon-examples,andthenguidethemtowardnoticingapatternandcomingupwiththegeneralizationorconceptrule.SomescholarssuchasAusubel(1963)andCarroll(1964)indicatedthattheinductiveapproachwastoodifficultforweakerorslowerstudents,andthatonlybrighterstudentswerecapableofdiscoveringtheunderlyingpatternsofastructure,butther