Why Grammar is a Currency

Would you be happier if you had a million dollars? And would you be happier still if you had ten million? It's tempting to answer at least the first question with a resounding YES! Yet research shows that more money doesn't necessarily make people happier.

Different studies into money and happiness may present varying numbers and results, but they still agree on three critical points. First of all, you need enough money to meet basic requirements like food, clothes and shelter. After that, there's a distinct correlation between increased wages and increases in perceived happiness. Beyond a certain point, that correlation disappears.

I think the same is true regarding grammar. Just as money will assist you in taking control of your life, so grammar allows you to manage your language more effectively. Without it, you can't do much. Beyond a certain point, more doesn't matter. In between those extremes, putting it to good use is what counts.

Without lexis, you can't say anything; without grammar, you can't say much. So it's necessary to first meet essential requirements like word order and handling verb forms. Those form the crucial grammatical difference when speaking English: without them, you'd be speaking any other language except with English words.

Spending your grammar currency wisely

After fulfilling the basic requirements, there's a certain correlation between increases in grammar and increases in fluency. Any increase in your command of variations in word order and more complex verb constructs will benefit your fluency. But more grammar alone doesn't help. Like money, only putting it to good use and spending it in real-life situations will make a difference.

In other words: merely knowing grammar rules doesn't increase your fluency - no more than knowing the traffic code by heart makes you a good driver. Learning a language involves constant and meaningful practice with language input while discovering how to spend your grammar money wisely.

The heart of the problem

One complaint I often hear from teachers is that their students can't apply the grammar that the curriculum and coursebooks prescribe beyond closed exercises. So that kind of grammar, let alone more and more of it, doesn't seem to help learners gain control over the language.

It's a widespread problem, but it'd be unfair to blame the teachers. They'll typically find clever ways to get information across and explain complex matters - it's what teachers do. However, several factors outside their immediate control frequently frustrate their efforts: a restricted amount of time, compulsory coursebooks, and rigid educational systems. There must be something wrong with how we typically approach language learning and the role that grammar plays in it.

More of the same?

If grammar rules and closed drills don't do much to improve fluency, would more of the same ever solve the problem? That's not unlike swallowing more and more pills without noticing any health benefits - or spending more and more money while getting nothing in return. It's incredibly frustrating for everyone involved, teachers and students alike.

I love what the inimitable Albert Einstein had to say on such matters, which boils down to this: you can't solve any problem using the same mindset that created it, and if you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got. Who could argue with that?

Accordingly, if you find that spending money on material things doesn't make you happy, would spending even more money on more useless stuff do the trick? Of course not. So money isn't everything - unless you put it to good use as a tool to manage and improve your life.

Put your grammar where your mouth is

Likewise, grammar is a currency and meaningful only if it hands you control over your language. Vast amounts of it are no guarantee at all. Grammar will help language learners increase their fluency only when used wisely and spent in the right places.

In language teaching, this typically translates into less is more. After all, grammar should help, not hinder.

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grammarCORE/GrammarBob's continuing mission: to boldly go where no grammar has gone before and make essential English grammar easy for all

grammarCORE: I help English language teachers discover how a radically new approach to grammar will empower them and their students