Troublesome Language Knowledge: Identifying Threshold Concepts in Grammar Learning

Abstract

Threshold Concepts within the Disciplines brings together leading writers from various disciplines and national contexts in an important and readable volume for all those concerned with teaching and learning in higher education. The foundational principle of threshold concepts is that there are, in each discipline, ‘conceptual gateways’ or ‘portals’ that must be negotiated to arrive at important new understandings. In crossing the portal, transformation occurs, both in knowledge and subjectivity. Such transformation involves troublesome knowledge, a key concern for contributors to this book, who identify threshold concepts in their own fields and suggest how to deal with them.\nThis chapter will focus on the troublesome knowledge experienced by students in the module ‘Academic and Professional Skills for Language Learning’ when carrying out an assessed grammar project in groups. Between 2002-2006 this module was compulsory for all year 1 undergraduates reading a language (or two) as a major or joint degree subject at Coventry University.

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