On Grammar Teaching for Japanese Learners of English as a Foreign Language (2) : A Case for Teaching Sentence Patterns in the Beginning Stages of Learning

This paper, the second in the series entitled 'On Grammar Teaching for Japanese Learners of English as a Foreign Language', presents a case for the teaching of sentence patterns in the beginning stages of English language learning at Japanese junior high school. First of all, several arguments are presented for teaching English grammar explicitly in the beginning stages of learning on the basis of the discussion of the nature of language as a system of systems, the characteristics of adolescent learners, the role of grammar in communication, and the educational and socio-linguistic factors associated with English language teaching at junior high school in Japan. After presenting a case for grammar teaching in the beginning stages, the paper presents a case for teaching sentence patterns in the beginning stages, arguing that sentence patterns represent basic syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations of English, that sentence patterns can facilitate the learning of a language as a system of systems, that the ability to deal with sentence patterns may lead to the formation of the common core of grammatical competence in English, and that sentence patterns can also generate linguistic creativity through the use of varying vocabulary. Finally, the paper discusses strategies for the teaching of sentence patterns in the beginning stages. The basic approach adopted in this paper is developmental and cognitive. It is developmental in a sense that it argues for the adaptation of sentence patterns to the developmental stages of learners. It is cognitive in a sense that it encourages the learners to make a conscious and deliberate use of sentence patterns in their attempt to comprehend and produce English sentences. The approach is also based upon the theory of information processing, which indicates that information is usually processed in terms of natural chunks. It is argued that elements of sentence patterns can function as natural chunks which enable the learners to process incoming information effectively. It is also argued that the whole process of English language learning can be equated with the process of the diversification and expansion of chunks in sentence patterns