Pedagogical Grammar

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

pedagogical grammar
"The object of a pedagogical grammar," says Ronald Carter, "is to present the grammar of a language in ways which are pedagogically appropriate to learners (usually non-native learners) of a language" (Keywords in Language and Literacy, 2008). Tetra Images-Erik Isakson/Getty Images
by Richard Nordquist
Dr. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks.
Updated November 04, 2019

Pedagogical grammar is grammatical analysis and instruction designed for second-language students. Also called ped grammar or teaching grammar.

In An Introduction to Applied Linguistics (2007), Alan Davies observes that a pedagogical grammar may be based on the following:

  1. a grammatical analysis and description of the language;
  2. a particular grammatical theory; and
  3. the study of the grammatical problems of learners or on a combination of approaches.

See the observations below. Also see:

Observations

  • "Just as a pedagogical grammar can be regarded as a description of the grammar of a language made for teaching and learning purposes, to aid in the teaching and learning of that language, so pedagogical phonetics and phonology can be regarded as a description of the sound system and pronunciation of a language for the purpose of allowing teachers to teach it more effectively and learners to learn it more effectively. The point about pedagogical grammars is that they are not the same as linguistic grammars because they have different functions and uses."
    (David Taylor, "What Do EFL Teachers Need to Know About Pronunciation?" in Studies in General and English Phonetics, edited by Joseph Desmond O'Connor and Jack Windsor Lewis, Routledge, 1995)
  • "Drawing on work in several fields such as linguistics, psychology and second language acquisition theory, pedagogical grammar is of a hybrid nature, which usually denotes grammatical analysis and instruction designed for the needs of second language students. In its expanded view, it involves decision-making processes on behalf of the teacher which requires careful and time-consuming interdisciplinary work. This process is influenced by the teachers’ cognition, beliefs, assumptions, and attitudes about the teaching of grammar."
    (Nagyné Foki Lívia, "From Theoretical to Pedagogical Grammar: Reinterpreting the Role of Grammar in English Language Teaching," dissertation, University of Pannonia, 2006)