【Abstract】 Currently， the concept of spoken grammar has been mentioned among Chinese teachers. However， teachers in China still have a vague idea of spoken grammar. Therefore this dissertation examines what spoken grammar is and argues that native speakers’ model of spoken grammar needs to be highlighted in the classroom teaching.

【Key words】 spoken grammar written grammar China

1. Introduction

Since the arrival of corpus-based grammars， especially Cambridge Grammar of English （Carter and McCarthy， 2006） and Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English （Biber et al.1999）， explicit information of native speakers’ spoken grammar has been explored in more detail and depth. It is a generally recognized concept among Chinese teachers that the difference between spoken grammar and written grammar would be best mentioned in the course of classroom teaching （Timmis， 2005）. McCarthy and Carter （2001， p.57） suggest “l(fā)anguage pedagogy that claims to support the teaching and learning of speaking skills does itself a disservice if it ignores what we know about the spoken language”. However， the question may be asked by Chinese teachers what spoken grammar is and whether a model of spoken grammar is suitable for Chinese learners？

2. Features of spoken grammar

The collection of the descriptions of spoken grammar has been occurring for a long time in the UK and now features of spoken grammar are well described in corpus such as Cambridge International Corpus. However， most Chinese teachers have no idea what spoken grammar is exactly or what the differences are between spoken and written grammar. Therefore a brief mention will be made here of the features of spoken grammar.

·Ellipsis

Unlike scripted speech， in real life conversation native speakers sometimes omit some elements of a structure， for example： subject， auxiliaries， etc. These eliminations will not interfere with the meaning because it is clear enough from the context. For example：

More tea？ ... No， thanks.

·Reported Speech

In written grammar， simple past tense such as ‘said’ is the only reported verb in indirect speech.

In spoken grammar， however， past continuous tense is also used as a reported verb in speech. The Nottingham corpus provides examples：

I mean I was saying to Mum earlier that I’ am actually thinking ...

·Vague Language

Vague language is often used in real life conversation on the basis that the speakers share the same knowledge. It is also used to express ideas indirectly.

Examples：

I have to talk to the head teacher， director or someone like that.

·Declaratives

In native speakers’ unprepared speech， declaratives are used for questions. For example， ‘you like tea？’ is being used as a question form instead of a statement form.

·Pausing and repeating

Fillers and repetition are common features in natural spoken speech. Fillers such as err and um are frequently used in spoken English.

·Will and be going to

English teachers would like to make it clear that the use of will and be going to is quite different. Will indicates that the speaker makes up his mind when he speaks. While， be going to suggests that the speaker has already decided the plan before the conversation.

However， this is not always the case in native speakers’ communication. According to the data， it seems that be going to emphasizes an interpersonal function or personal engagement and will is a “neutral detached verb”.

In real spoken data， it is shown that the interpersonal function or interactive interpretation is taken into consideration in order to choose an appropriate verb form.

· Tails

Tails is one of the repair strategies which enable speakers to supply some necessary information which allows listeners to make sense of a sentence.

Examples： This is so delicious， tofu.

He is such as funny guy， your neighbour.

（Mumford， 2008， p.137-144， Carter and McCarthy， 1995b， p.145-155， McCarthy and Carter， 1995a， p.207-214， McCarthy， 1991， p.143-145）

The characteristics of spoken grammar differ from written grammar. In comparison with written grammar， spoken grammar is considered ‘incorrect grammar’ in terms of its omission of elements， flexibility of element positions， pausing and repetition. However， as spoken grammar is not as fully developed as written grammar， it will need further discovery and analysis from native speakers’ daily communication.

3. Is it necessary to teach spoken grammar in China？

There is recognition that the history of the properties of English grammar is mainly occupied by written grammar （McCarthy and Carter， 1995a， p.207）. Nowadays spoken grammar is nothing new and the descriptions of spoken grammar are collected in corpus such as Cambridge Grammar of English （Carter and McCarthy， 2006） and Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English （Biber et al.2000）， but the majority of language teachers in China still tend to consider written grammar the most significant criteria in judging the accuracy of spoken speech and they have few ideas on how spoken grammar could enhance second language learners’ English ability.

Spoken grammar suggests a natural way of communication. In other words， it helps students to speak naturally and appropriately. For instance， in some cases ellipsis is more suitable than full forms. Suppose you are in Burger King and your time is very limited. In such a case it may be more appropriate to use an ellipsis instead of the full forms. Another example is the application of conversation gambits or two step questions. When you are going to ask the price in TESCO， for instance， it would be considered rude if you asked directly， “How much is this？” In this circumstance it would be more appropriate if you started the conversation with， “Can you help me？” Rings （1992） expressed his worries that learners’ may have a tendency to speak like a book if are only instructed the written grammar. Therefore， it is necessary for learners to learn spoken grammar as it enables them to speak more appropriately in certain contexts.

Moreover， learners’ language performance may be improved through the adoption of spoken grammar in the classroom. Spoken grammar enables learners to speak more confidently and fluently.

Firstly， learners’ confidence would possibly be increased. Learners are always under the impression that spoken English should be as perfect as written English and that the sentences in spoken English are constructed according to the written grammar norms. “They may think too much of the structure of the language， which in fact can prevent the communicating process （Goh， 2009， p.307）.” Spoken grammar highlights the ‘inaccuracies’ in native speakers’ daily conversation， say the omission of elements or flexibility of word order and those features may cease students anxiety in the course of English communication. In other words， spoken grammar， to some extent， can assist learners getting rid of the “psychological obstacle” and helping them to speak more confidently. （Goh， 2009， p.307）.

Secondly， spoken grammar may improve learners’ English fluency. With the help of spoken grammar， learners will possibly speak English without thinking too much. For example native speakers sometimes use ungrammatical structures such as the elimination of articles. Thus learners who have ‘spoken grammar awareness’ may speak more fluently without taking the choice of correct form into consideration. Another example is the pausing and repeating. Students may feel more comfortable and less anxious when they know that filler and repletion are natural features of spoken grammar instead of the sign of intelligiable speech. Alptekin （2007 cited in Mumford， 2009， p. 142） pointed out that “the need to communicate involves not only intelligibility but also efficiency and economy， i.e. fluency.” Therefore， spoken grammar might be used in order to improve students’ fluency.

In short， spoken grammar may enhance second language learners’ English ability. However， there are still problems that exist in the field of spoken grammar. For example， there has been an increase in non-native speakers using English in an international context. English belongs to nobody’s mother tongue and the authority of the native- speaker norm of spoken grammar is being challenged. Therefore， even though the native speaker model of spoken grammar is still preferred in China， issues of spoken grammar need to be further addressed.

【Reference】

[1] Biber， D.， S. Johansson， G. Leech， S. Conrad， and E. Finegan. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English[M]. Harlow， UK： Pearson Education Ltd. 1999.

[2] Carter， R. and M. McCarthy. Cambridge Grammar of English[M]. Cambrige： Cambridge University Press， 2006.

[3] Goh， C. 2009. ‘Perspectives on spoken grammar’. ELT Journal， 63/4： 303-312. Jenkins， J.2002. ‘A sociolinguistically based， empirically researched pronunciation syllabus for English as an international language’. Applied Linguistics 23/1： 83-103.

[4] Mumford， S. 2009 ‘An analysis of spoken grammar： the case for production’. ELT Journal 63/2： 137-144.

[5] McCarthy， M. Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers[M]. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press， 1991.

[6] McCarthy， M. and Carter， R. 1995a. ‘Spoken grammar： what is it and hoe can we teach it？’ ELT Journal 49/3： 207-218.

[7] Rings， L.1992. ‘Authentic spoken texts as examples of language variation： grammatical， situational and cultural teaching models’. International Review of Applied linguistics 30/1： 21-33.