TEACHING GRAMMAR

A.  WHAT IS GRAMMAR

Grammar is a scientific statement of the principle of good usage with concerns with the relation of word in the sentence. Educated people use certain froms of expression. Language specialists study the forms they use, note that they follow a few comparatively simple priciples, and state these principles. The result is grammar.   

Teaching of grammar is a much debated topic in language learning. Different expert have give different opinion about teaching of grammar. According some, the language can not be learnt without studying of grammar of the language. According to Dr. Sweet ”Grammar is not a code of rules.” According to Chapman:

Grammar is a study of language by specialist, made in order to establish the rules and principles which underline the correct speech and writing, rules and principle which are follow with more or less unconsciously by the native speakers.          

But some people say that the utility of teaching of grammar is doubtful in learning English. They say that the students who study grammar are very often able to solve grammar exercise but do not write correct speech.

Teaching of grammar had very important place in the past. It was commonly believed that to help the pupil to learn English language its grammar must be taught first. It was also believed that without knowing and mastering grammatical rules of English, one can not learn to speak and write it. Slowly it was realized that correct usages go on changing fro time to time. And as a result grammar teaching which was regarded as an end in itself lost its importance. Then the direct method of teaching English was introduced and teaching of grammar lost its importance. The introduction of direct method gave an idea that to be able to speak or write English knowledge of grammatical rules is not necessary. Those who favoured the direct method of teaching English said that language can be learnt by practice and not by studying the rules of grammar. Now it is believed that grammar can not be only to understand and to decide whether the language that they speak or write is correct or not.

B.  METHODS OF TEACHING GRAMMAR

1.      Deductive method:

In deductive method the teacher uses a grammar text book. He tells his students  rules or definitions and explains those with help of examples than he gives exercise and ask his pupils to apply the rules.

Advantages of Deductive  methods :

1.      Average teacher can use this methods in country like India.

2.      This method helps student to compare the ideas in grammar of mother tongue and second or first language.

3.      The learner can try the grammatical questions very easily.

4.      Learner can respond effectively  and can explain rules, structures, etc.  

                 Disadvantages of Deductive Method :

1.      This method makes learners learning about language.

2.      This method can not develop communicative ability among learners.

3.      The learners become inactive during class room teaching.

4.      This method is not child centred but teacher centred.

5.      In the class room teaching there is hardly use of audio visual aids.

2.      Inductive Method :

In inductive method the teacher first present or takes the example from the students then comes on theory or concept.

Advantage of Inductive Method :         

1.      Inductive method is based on the theory “From example to generalization”. So it is very useful in class room teaching.

2.      This method helps students to understand the difference between particular notion in grammar of L1/FL.

3.      The learners learn the particular grammar point through use. Fists they have to deduce the meaning and later the generalize the from or structure.

                 Disadvantage of Inductive Method :

1.      This method is not useful in over crowed classes like India.

2.      The institute must be ready to focus the language aspect, not the mark criteria.

3.      In this method the teacher has to use modern method of teaching language.

4.      Only an innovative teacher can use this method.

3.      Inductive Deductive Method:

This method as the name shows is the synthesis of both above the methods. This method can remove the limitation of both the above methods. The teacher following this methods will first present the examples before his students then will explain them or analyses them. Then he will try to see the pupil draw some conclusion and the teacher will give the rules. But here the teacher does not stop. He then gives new examples and ask his pupil to verify the rules.

The method of teaching grammar proves very successful and advantageous as it become practical, real and scientific. It proves very successful  because it is very psychological following all the accepted maxims of teaching and the pupil are not forces to cram the rules.

4.      Incidental Method

Grammar teaching in this done during the teaching of a textbook or composition

writing. The teacher explains complex sentence pattern. But the method at times disturbs the teaching of textbook or composition writing.

C. TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING GRAMMAR

1. Using the students and you, the teacher

A direct context for language can often be found in the lives and experiences of the people in the room. Personal contexts immediately show how applicable the grammar is, and can also be more memorable than stories of people from outside the students’ worlds. Throughout the book we suggest activities where students talk about themselves, their experiences, their lives, their opinions. We also suggest ways that you can use stories from your own life to present grammar, for example in Unit 24.1 we suggest that the teacher use photos of themselves when they were younger to introduce was/were. Student photos can also be a great resource. Most students will have photos on their mobile phones that they can share with each other to support any number of practice activities.

2. Dialogue building

This collaborative technique involves setting a scene and, with the students’ help, writing a dialogue on the board including the language you want to focus on. In Unit 10.6, the teacher provides a framework for a dialogue between waiters and customers in a restaurant. This is a familiar situation in which the indefinite pronouns something, anything and nothing occur naturally. Students then either practice the dialogue in pairs as it is or with variations (e.g different choices of food and drink, a different type of restaurant). A great way to push students towards memorizing the language is to gradually erase the text, word by word, until the students are repeating the dialogue from memory.

3. Dictation

With grammar points where the written form is already familiar to the students, but where meaning needs to be explored in more depth, a quick and effective means of introducing the language is to dictate model sentences to the class. Dictation immediately gets students working with the language and tests listening skills and spelling, as well as grammatical knowledge. It also promotes conversation management skills, such as asking to clarify and repeat: Sorry, could you say that again, please? In Unit 9.4 the teacher dictates sentences containing verbs used with and without reflexive pronouns to start exploring the differences in meaning and use. Unit 33.3 involves another basic dictation to teach the meaning of reporting verbs.

4. Dictogloss

In a dictogloss, the teacher has a text prepared to dictate to the class, but instead of dictating it slowly to ensure students write a faithful copy, they read it at a more natural speed two or more times. Prepare a text of no more than 100 words (fewer for lower-level students). Read it out first for content, and check comprehension. Then tell students to write down keywords, such as nouns and verbs, as you read it out again. Explain that even though they will not be able to write every word, they should keep writing as much as possible. Using their notes, students in pairs or small groups reconstruct the text in complete sentences. The idea is not to reproduce the text verbatim, but to focus in on certain aspects of the language used. For example, Unit 30.6 is a dictogloss activity focusing on the use of would to talk about past habits. Others can be found in Units 14.3, 34.2 and 42.7.

5. Songs

Another popular way of encouraging students to repeat structures as well as to make them memorable is through songs, eg If I had a million dollars by the Barenaked Ladies (see Unit 43.6). Choose songs that contain the target language multiple times and which contain a natural stress pattern for it, too, eg If I had a million dollars, I’d buy you a fur coat. Songs can be used to present the target language through listening tasks such as gap-fills or reordering the lines or words in the lyrics. They also offer repeated exposure to the language and, if your students enjoy singing, can also offer a chance to practice pronunciation.

6. Error correction

Students want and expect correction from their teacher. Choosing which mistakes to correct, when to do so and how, are complex questions. It’s important, however, to remember that students who need the most correction may not be those that make the most or biggest mistakes. Lower-level or quiet, shy students may benefit from less correction so that they are not discouraged from using English, however imperfectly. We correct students in the hope that they won’t keep making those mistakes. To encourage them to think about their errors, let them try out new language, listening out for errors of use. Then point out the errors and show them the corrections. Finally, let them do the activity again, this time with those common errors fresh in their minds. In a shopping roleplay in Unit 5.3, for example, students can perform the roleplay first, you correct any errors, then they swap roles and try again.