Contribution to the history of the grammatical theories : French school grammars and textbooks in Belgium from 1830 till 1914.

The aim of this project is to describe, analyse, and typologize the French school grammars and textbooks that were published in Belgium between 1830 and 1914. The research project proposed here consists essentially of two parts : (1) the constitution of an operational, analytical data-base of all the grammars and textbooks published in Belgium between 1830 and 1914, (2) a detailed analysis of these grammars and textbooks, with special attention being paid to linguistic and grammatical theory formation and to the didactic context of French taught as a second and as a first language. The research project seeks to explain why and to what extent schools in Belgium developed a specific grammatical and educational doctrine which was distinct from grammatical publications in France. In this part, both the training anbd recruitment of the teachers and the school curricula will be investigated. The focus of the project proposed here is new, both in terms of chronological extension ( 1830 - 1914), of national focus (French grammars published in Belgium) and of approach ( viz. content-based analysis; typologization of grammatical production). The project will thus contribute both to the conservation of our cultural heritage (e.g. by drawing up a catalogue of books which are difficult to find and often forgotten) and to the training of language teachers.