Language Teachers’ Need for Linguistics

Abstract

This paper argues that language teachers need to have knowledge of the linguistics of the language they are teaching. It explores the relationship between implicit and explicit knowledge of the target language and the consequences of this relationship for learners and teachers. Previous research has shown that a focus on form and the teaching of explicit knowledge about the target language are useful for some kinds of language learners. Modern language courses at university level, form the content knowledge that future language teachers base their teaching on, yet they may not systematically cover the linguistics of the language in question. It is argued that a basic understanding of linguistics and some formal study of the structure of the target language will allow creative language teachers to better help the language learners they teach to see that the target language is organised in particular ways and make connections with their own language(s). This is a stipulated Achievement objective for the first levels of the Learning Languages learning area in the New Zealand curriculum. Language learners may not be served by being taught to talk about the sentence structure and phonology of their target language, but it is argued that their teachers need this knowledge to better identify and respond to the needs of the learners.