The History of Grammar in Foreign Language Teaching

Taking a broadly chronological approach, this volume of original essays traces the origins of the concept of ’grammar’. In doing so, it charts the social, moral and cultural factors that have shaped the development of grammar from Antiquity, via the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Modern Europe, to current education systems and language learning pedagogy. The chapters examine key turning points in the history of language teaching epistemology, focusing on grammar for language teaching across different European cultural contexts. Bringing together leading scholars of classical and modern languages education, The History of Grammar in Foreign Language Teaching offers the first single-source reference on the evolving concept of grammar across cultural and linguistic borders in Western language education. It therefore represents a valuable resource for teachers, teacher-educators and course designers, as well as students and scholars of historical linguistics, and of second and foreign language education.

Simon Coffey is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Modern Languages Education at King’s College London, where he is Programme Director of the PGCE. His scholarship revolves around modern languages teaching in schools and he is currently researching the history of French teaching and learning in England.