TEACHING GRAMMAR Grammar is something that produces the sentences of a language (Paul Roberts) I.

General Considerations on Teaching Grammar Grammar plays an important role in the process of foreign language learning because in order to understand a language and to express oneself correctly one must assimilate its grammar mechanism. Moreover, no speaking is possible ithout the kno ledge of grammar, ithout the grammar mechanism formation. !f a learner has ac"uired such a mechanism, he can produce correct sentences in a foreign language. #till the role of grammar shouldn$t be overemphasi%ed hen e refer to the communicative approach in teaching and though e cannot deny the syllabus re"uirements the amount of grammar rules should be strictly structured according to the learner$s age, level, needs, and allotted time. &oo much grammar may lead young and beginner level learners to demotivation as they have to learn many abstract rules and constantly practice the structural patterns hich they may find scary, boring or frustrating. &he research surrounding grammar is often conflicting. 'n the one hand, one can learn to communicate in a language ithout the language being taught grammatically. 'n the other hand, once one has reached a certain level of performance or competency, grammar becomes more important. #o the aprroaches proposed belo are contrastive but orth considering. II. The Approaches in Teaching Grammar 1. Teaching Grammar as Product- educti!el" !t is by far the most idespread approach. (ccording to it teaching is structured round a certain )product*(grammatical form) to be taught in one or t o lessons. +eduction is the process of extracting the particular from the general. ,ie ed in the grammatical context it is deducing the grammatical pattern(particular) from the grammar rule(general). -earners are presented ith explicit information about rules and their functions and they are guided to figure out the grammatical structures and reinforce their forms in drills and other types of tasks. &hese manipulations are mechanical as they do not re"uire much effort on the part of the learners being mostly under teacher$s control. #. Teaching Grammar as Process-Inducti!el" Process teaching engages learners directly in the procedures of language use. &hrough discovery techni"ues they are oriented to )task.based* activities to discover and practice by themselves general features of grammar(rules) out of the structures proposed in specific contexts(patterns). a conscious process that re"uires effort on the part of the learners as they have not only to induce the rules but also consider the "uality of the language used in their tasks and reflect on possible improvements. (lthough there is a strong emphasis on inductive grammar teaching, particularly in communicative language teaching approaches, both inductive and deductive strategies are re"uired in the classroom given the many learning styles of students. &he more similar the grammar structure is to the -/, the easier it is for students to grasp. 0uestions to consider in relation to the teaching of grammar include1
#hould the item be taught deductively (giving the rule and then getting learners to produce examples of target structure) or inductively (giving examples of the target structure and getting learners to generate the rule)2 !s the explanation clear2 (re there sufficient examples2 (re teachers themselves sure of the rules2 (3unan, /444)

'ne ay of teaching grammar to beginners is to use minimal grammar but to sho patterns and help these students see that there are patterns, so that hen they get to more

intermediate and senior levels of learning they label of a grammar concept.

ill be able to transfer the

ord 5pattern$ to the

$.

&eaching Grammar as #kill.#elf +iscovery

It is a %ind o& 'alanced approach (hich com'ines the product teaching (ith its &ocus on grammatical &orms (ith the process teaching (hich emphasi)es sel&-e*pression o& the grammatical &orms in meaning&ul conte*t. This approach means guiding the learner+s attention to grammar and designing tas%s (hich ena'les them to de!elop the s%ill o& using and attending to grammar. It is &or this reason that the approach is called ,teaching grammar as s%ill-. More e*plicitl". learners are gi!en (ords (hich the" graduall" com'ine in order to ,grammatici)e-. Irrespecti!e o& the perspecti!e o& teaching grammar. the goals are achie!ed onl" (hen the learners are a'le to produce grammar correctl" in their o(n conte*ts in the process o& communication this is (h" grammar teaching shouldn/t 'e restricted to 0product- or ,process- onl". e*ploring grammar as s%ill (ill increase e&&icienc" and producti!it" thus enhancing creati!e thin%ing. !!!. &eaching Grammar #tages The process o& teaching a &oreign language has se!eral stages (hich are 'est represented '" 1erem" Harmer (ho has designed a general model &or teaching grammar. !oca'ular". etc. These are2 Presentation, Practice and Production. uring this process 'oth2 teachers and students assume certain roles.

1. Presentation
Presentation is the stage at (hich students are introduced to the &orm. meaning and use o& a ne( piece o& language. At the same time as learning ho( the language is constructed. the" learn (hat it means and ho( it is used. As a (hole. at this stage the" learn ho( to put the ne( s"nta*. (ords and sounds together. 3o it is !er" important &or the presentation to 'e a good one. In Teaching and 4earning Grammar 1erem" Harmer enumerates the characteristics o& a good presentation (hich should 'e2 clear. e&&icient. li!el" and interesting. appropriate &or the language that is 'eing presented and last 'ut not least producti!e. uring the presentation stage the purpose is that o& recognition2 hearing5reading and understanding. 3tudents must hear the structure correctl". That is (h" the teacher can chec% '" repetition. 6uestion5ans(ers or translation7!er" limited8 and the students are supposed to understand the structure onl" roughl". Here are some (a"s o& presenting grammatical structures and &unctions2 a8 Modelling -the teacher gi!es a clear spo%en modelo& the ne( structure (ith normal speed. stress or intonation. The teacher can gi!e this model a num'er o& times. then as% the students to repeat it in chorus or indi!iduall". '8 Isolation-teachers &re6uentl" isolate parts o& the sentences the" are modeling in order to gi!e them special emphasis. This might 'e done &or more complicated structures using color. highlighters. etc.

c8 E*planation is another techni6ue appropriate. e!en it is a'stract and ma%es use o&
technical (ords 7metalanguage8. E*planations in students+ mother tongue should 'e

a!oided as much as possi'le. 9or 'eginner and elementar" students isolation and !isual demonstration o& grammar on the 'lac%'oard could 'e done '" means o& diagrams. charts. dra(ings. underlined (ords. 'o*es. arro(s. etc.

d8 Time-4ines-a &a!ourite techni6ue &or man" teachers (ho introduce !er'al tenses to
intermediate and ad!anced students.

e8 :isuals-teachers &8 g8

ma" use cards. handouts. pictures. slides and other !ideo (or%shops to introduce a ne( grammatical pattern. The 9inger Techni6ue- pointing out &ingers that stand &or parts o& speech. parts o& sentence. contracted structures or other patterns in order to !isuall" demonstrate the ne grammatical structures &ormation and use. isco!er" Techni6ue-students are gi!en e*amples o& language and as%ed to &ind out ho( the" (or%. This might &unction 'etter (ith intermediate to ad!anced students 'ecause the" are as%ed to disco!er the rule rather than 'e told (hat it is re6uires a good !oca'ular" as (ell as the appropriate s%ills. This is done in certain steps2 Te*t stud"2 &or e*2 decide (hat the ne( grammar point is in the second passage; Pro'lem 3ol!ing-the teacher sets up a pro'lem and as%s students to sol!e it or as%s students to identi&" certain mista%es. ra(ings-this techni6ue is actual (ith "oung learners. &or e*. Mar%ing the ad!er's o& &re6uenc" (ith s6uares.

1.1. 1.#. 1.$. #.

Practice

The second stage in grammar teaching is intended to rein&orce the %no(ledge ac6uainted in e*ercises such as drills in order to increase accurac". Here are some techni6ues2

a8 Repetition-under

the &orm o& repetiti!e drills (ith the (hole class or (ith the students in pairs. The teacher is a'le to get students to as% and ans(er 6uestions 6uic%l" and e&&icientl". This techni6ue has 'oth ad!antages and disad!antages. The chie& ad!antage o& this techni6ue is that teachers can correct an" mista%es that the students ma%e and can encourage them to concentrate on di&&iculties at the same time. The pro'lem (ith drills is that the" are not !er" creati!e. Teachers ma%e sure that the" are not o!erused and that the" do not go on &or too long.

For ex: Lets +verb Teacher: Lets play tennis Students: Lets play tennis

'8 3u'stitution-under the &orm o& drills it gi!es the students more &reedom o& choice e!en i& it remains !er" controlled language practice2
For ex: Lets +verb Teacher: You want to play football Students: Lets play football

c8 3ingle <ord Prompts

For ex: Lets +verb Teacher: Cinema Students: Lets o to the cinema

d8 Prompts on the =lac%'oard ma" 'e organi)ed and (ritten under the &orm o& charts or simpl" in a se6uence o& (ords li%e this2
! ocloc"# et up#brea"fast $us stop#bus#empty#surprised School#closed#remembered#holiday

All these acti!ities are &airl" mechanical (a"s o& getting students to demonstrate and practice their a'ilit" to use speci&ic language items in a controlled manner. There are also other acti!ities more meaning&ul and more en>o"a'le designed so that students (or% together. e*change in&ormation in a purpose&ul and interesting (a". These are2 Interaction Acti!ities. The" are o& di&&erent t"pes2 a8 In&ormation Gaps- The students (or% in pairs. The" ma" as% each other 6uestions in order to &ill in maps. &orms in order to close the gaps in the in&ormation (hich the" 'oth ha!e. '8Charts5Grids are !er" use&ul to promote interaction 'et(een students. In order to complete them the students ha!e to 6uestion each other and note do(n the replies appropriate &or this techni6ue. c8 Games-!arious %inds o& games ha!e 'een used in language teaching &or a long time and the" are 'oth use&ul and highl" moti!ating &or "oung learners especiall". d8 Multiple Choice ?students ha!e to choose the correct ans(ers &rom a num'er o& alternati!es. 6. Production Man" acti!ities appropriate &or the practice stage can also appl" success&ull" to the production one. The di&&erence is that the &irst ones pro!ide a mechanical practice (hile the latter ones gi!e a more meaning&ul communicati!e practice. Here are some t"pical e*amples o& acti!ities used during the production stage2

a8 @no(ledge Aui))es-the" can 'e used to practice !arious grammatical items 'ut the most common ones are those 'ased on comparisons. 9or e* : %hat is the hi hest mountain in the world& 3tudents ans(er the 6uestions either orall" or in (riting pre&era'l" in complete sentences. 9or e*2 'ount (verest is the hi hest mountain in the world) The" can 'e put in pairs or in groups and do the 6ui) (ith a time limit. This %ind o& practice can ta%e the &orm o& a contest. thus 'ecoming more en>o"ing and moti!ating. '8 Auestions5Ans(ers using a structure5a picture5 a situation5a te*t c8 3entence <riting-students are as%ed to (rite their o(n sentences &or appl"ing di&&erent structures2 -3entences a'out a picture using a particular !er' tenseB - sentences to &inish i& clauses. 9or e*: *f * were you+, d8 =uilding sentences &rom %e" (ords e8 <ord Crder-students are gi!en >um'led sentences (hich the" ha!e to unscram'le. 9or e*2 -t. ets.'ar aret.home.half past six.usually) &8 Guessing (hat someone is miming-this is a good producti!e e*ercise &or orall" appl"ing ne( grammatical patterns g8 Personali)ation- the students use the ne( grammatical structures to sa" things (hich reall" mean something to them or to appl" the ac6uired %no(ledge to their situation &or e*ample sa"ing things a'out themsel!es. (hat the" do. (here the" li!e. spea% a'out their dail" programme. etc. using the ne( grammatical pattern. Irrespecti!e o& the acti!ities the teacher chooses &or the production stage the" should 'e oriented &rom controlled to less controlled or &reer practice so that the students are a'le to ,grammatici)e- (hen the" communicate in English.