Old English Grammar

Now the concept of grammar has been defined and approached in historical terms, it is time to move onto the second section of this topic; a section which will deal with the role or importance of grammar within the process of L1 and FL learning.

We have all observed children acquiring their L1 with ease yet struggling to learn a L2 in the classroom and sometimes even failing. Regarding L1 learning, it has been shown that babies may become familiar with aspects of their future L1 while they are still in the womb. After birth, learning a language starts with the baby producing its first noises and cries. They are able to mirror their parents’ use of intonation and stress, for example, by waggling their hands in time of parents’ use of stressed

The child begins to use two words at a time. Some call this very stage "the emergence of grammar" because it is now possible for the child to choose a word order and to produce more flexible, with a range of grammatical functions utterances. However, even though it is possible to work out the grammar behind many utterances, there are still some that defy definition and often understanding. Yet, these utterances should not be seen as deficient or wanting. Even at 18 months most utterances have the correct syntax and the use of prepositions, possession words and pronouns begin. At the age of 2, children begin to produce more complex utterances. Indeed, they begin to be able to combine 3-4 words in a variety of grammatical construction. They can now produce and differ statements, questions and

A similar process takes place when learning the grammar of a FL although, in this particular case, the process is much more complicated. Actually, while in L1 grammar learning, which is considered to be a natural process, the amount of time and motivation devoted to learning is so great that there is no need for conscious planning, in FL grammar learning, there is much less time available and often less motivation; which means that learning time has to be organized for optimum efficiency. Therefore, the total corpus of FL grammar knowledge may be presented one after other for gradual and systematic acquisition, rather than all at once. It also means preparing an organized, balanced plan of classroom teaching/learning procedures through which learners will be enabled to spend some of their time concentrating on mastering the components of the target language on their way to acquiring it as a