Teaching Grammar in English - Report Example

Teaching grammar in English Name Course Institution Date Introduction Given the increasing standards of learning and tests, students are expected to recognize and use the correct form of grammar. This applies to all the subjects, not only in English subject. Educators no longer assume the learners acquire a proper understanding of language through reading, writing, and speaking. Furthermore, they should not assume that descriptive or prescriptive approaches are effective by themselves. All the teachers, English and language arts teachers need to embrace the fact that grammar instruction should reflect current language approaches. Grammar instruction ought to be organized to meet the needs of all students, and should include both prescriptive and descriptive practices. The mode of instruction should also be meaningful (Fotos, 2005). Grammar is essential to teaching and learning languages of all kinds. Grammar is one of the most difficult aspects of language one can teach properly. Most people, language teachers inclusive, the word ‘grammar’ to them means a fixed set of word forms with rules of usage. They associate ‘proper’ grammar with the classic forms of the language, like those used in formal presentations and writing, and ‘improper" grammar with the language used by speakers who do not fall under the category of prestigious people. Grammar can be defined as sound, meaning and structure system of language (Rott, 2004). Grammar is in all languages and, every language uses its own grammar. People who understand similar grammar can communicate smoothly because they understand the language. Usually, rules governing use of language exist, and ought to be followed in order to bring out meaning. Native English speakers are already familiar with English grammar. They can already identify the English sounds as well as the meaning. Such people will also be able to construct sentences by putting words together. For those people whose English is a second language, they need to be taught from scratch for them to be able to construct English sentences (Lester, 1999). There is a relationship between grammar and communication. Initially, grammar was indicated as the art of writing. The art of speaking, on the other hand, referred to rhetoric. Many learners and teachers use the term grammar to refer to a set of rules that govern language. Normally these rules refer to the syntax and morphology. However, these two are only a few grammar components. In communicative language teaching, the role of semantics is being emphasized in the definition of language To begin with, communicative language tries to bring meaning in the language, for example, by interpreting someone’s message, expressing one’s message, and even negotiating to make the message clear. It is possible for teachers to understand the complexity of language. Communicative classroom language helps learners to understand grammar in all senses as the second language. This further enables them to use the second language proficiently. Research and experience reveals that grammatical rules should not be taught in explicit teaching, however well the teachers formulate them. This is simply because explicit teaching does not lead to grammar competency (Deinzer, 2009). Currently, English enjoys the status of a worldwide language, being mostly used in most countries. In the past, Arabic used to be a worldwide language but, English overtook it later. Linguistics could not understand how a different language could take the place of Arabic, a language of both culture and worldwide communication. It used to be the most common language and, teachers widely taught it in schools. We are currently living in a world, which is a global village, and failure to understand English language will make one feel out of place (Byrd, 2003). Acquiring communicative competency in Arabic was highly emphasized by the teachers and this significantly affected teaching of language. The learning shifted from teaching students on how to copy manuscripts accurately to understanding what the authors had to say in their writings. History, philosophy and sciences, were mainly taught. Learning became practical in the new curriculum and students would be given information which would help them improve their moral and personal development. Students could be assisted to develop Arabic, as a second language and to enhance their civic development. Guarino da Verona, an Arabic language teacher celebrated in Europe for his outstanding reputation, played a major role in language development. He argued that for students to be able to understand written classical texts, and new ideas, Arabic had to be taught as a practical language. He, therefore, emphasized on teaching the meaning of language rather than the form of language. He wanted the students to equip themselves with the Arabic language. He knew well that learning is a process and that expressive skills develop later than interpretive skills. He openly told the teachers not to expect a child to speak like an adult, and told them to have patience while doing their teaching job. He frequently told them that fluency would come with a lot of experience. When approaching a written text, it is important to pay attention to the meaning rather than reading word by word. He admitted that the students would be expected to have difficulties at first but with time, they would have language fluency. The students should use the teacher, who is their guide, to make them competent. Once immersed in the language, a person acquires interpretive skills. An individual should also be interested in the subject matter and must be exposed to the proper models of language. The interaction in the language should also be pleasant enough. Fluency in both written and oral expression develops later on due to the exposure (Kočnar, 2002). Students should be exposed to interesting text for them to acquire functional language. The interaction in the second language should as well be meaningful. Grammar and humanities, emphasized since the early centuries, are core subjects. Lectures should be made compulsory and students should attend them on a daily basis. These lectures must be taught in grammar and the students’ capacity must be accommodated. Before teaching students, the teachers, should have background information of the students, for him to know where to begin. The teachers should also ensure that the students comprehend the lectures to make sure that they acquire the interpretive skills. Through exchanging of ideas, the students will eventually learn the expressive skills (Svartvik, 2000). Students should meet after the lectures to discuss the content with each other. Repeating the content of the lecturer while the other students are listening would make the students have the interpretive and expressive skills. The students must identify the hard points, and consult their teachers in case of any misunderstandings. However, they should try to settle or the problems amongst themselves which would help them increase their understanding capacity. Language fluency usually develops as the students try to repeat the teacher’s content. It would also be advisable for students to assume the role of their teacher by imitating him. The teacher should be used simply as a resource to assist students. To learn a modern language, parents and guardians, should take their children to a place where that language is spoken to make them read the text books, and learn how to write. Attending a school with linguistic models, which are excellent, will help the student learn a second language. The text books should also be very interesting, and the interaction should be meaningful. Several scholars such as Ignatius and Guarino recommend this. The mode of instruction is usually content based. Some teachers, however, teach the content in such a way that they force students to memorize, repeat or even drill to acquire the required accuracy and, to master grammar. The curriculum should, however, emphasize on understanding rather than cramming. This will help in producing professionals who are competent (Scrivener, 2003). In teaching, teachers should use the correct tenses. They must never forget the fact that there are general rules governing the formation of verb tenses. Students should have the capacity to distinguish a verb from a noun, and should use the tense accurately following the rules. With that practice, they become able to respond to their teachers without any difficulties during examinations. Eventually they will understand what the authors have written, starting with easy prose writes. When one exposes students to literature, which is difficult, they may end up losing hope and may never understand the correct grammar. Question one: Student diversity (for example grammar in teaching students learning English as an additional language or dialect). Teaching grammar in English has several challenges. Learners always start by learning their mother tongue but, as time goes by, teachers expose them to learning grammar, to help them get the norms of English language. Some students are, however, advantaged English being their first language. Grammar teachers usually face a challenge on whether to aim at students’ communicative competency or grammar competency. This usually happens because there are two models, which include; descriptive teaching, and prescriptive teaching. A teacher should first understand the students he will be teaching before starting the teaching programme. These students can be either the first language learners or second language learners. The mother tongue becomes inherited by people through the culture, exposed to them, and the setting of the environment. Both the culture and the environment serve as the first teacher through exposure to a variety of grammatical structures and forms, needed in language. These skills stick to their memory naturally. On the other hand, when learning a second language, foreign language especially, the exposure is usually very limited. A lot need to be done to equip such students with the basic language skills for them to fit in the same classrooms with the first language learners (Hinkel & Fotos, 2001). Second language learners need to be motivated a lot so that they do not find learning a burden to them. Learning grammar is very necessary especially to second language learners. These people, even if they know some bits of grammar, they get to know it through other learners who may not be fluent in the language. It, therefore, becomes very necessary for these people to be informed concerning the grammar for them to fit in the modern society. Exposure to grammar is very vital and, everyone ought to know the correct form of the language. A second language learner would find it important to learn grammar than a native speaker. This is so because the second language learner has not yet internalized the language, and especially the grammar of the language. An individual should make an extra effort for him to master the aspects of the new language unlike a native speaker who has internalized the grammar intuitively. Important to note is that it is crucial for the second language learners to attend classes and learn grammar so as to fit in the society, and manage to communicate effectively with the competitors. Meaningful situations should be created in the classrooms, to assist second language learners in having the correct target language norms. Practice should also be emphasized as it helps in bringing language fluency. Students’ poor standard is a major challenge that faces the English teachers. Most students who are learning English as their second language lack even the slightest idea of the basic rules governing grammar. They are also not aware of the structural patterns, which they ought to have known while still at the lower levels of learning. Therefore, if a teacher starts teaching directly without bothering to know the students’ level of grammar, his efforts shall bear no fruits. He will, therefore, not build a firm foundation for his students. It is, therefore, important that all the teachers assess the language background of all his students. By so doing, he will be able to select the teaching items and present them properly using the local situations. Every teacher should start from the simple items in grammar and finally to the complex ones, when the students have understood the simple ones. Each succeeding lecture should be based on a previous one, to enhance students’ understanding. The teacher must ensure constant student practice so that the students can construct correct sentences, using the correct grammar forms and the correct sentence structures (Gerngross, Puchta & Thornbury, 2007). Question two The need to relate grammar in meaningful ways to classroom work on literature as well as literacy is yet another challenge. The teachers face a problem of selecting what to teach in the classroom. They should at least teach a meaningful content, and at the same time, it should be interesting to their students. It proves hard to choose the interesting texts in that what interests one student, could not necessarily interest the other. The expanding nature of English has also posed a challenge to the teachers. Teachers usually receive different students to teach, and most of these students have different needs. The classes are usually too large for the teacher to ensure that each student has understood what he has taught. This has posed a challenge in that some students end up not understanding, especially the slow learners. The little time allocated for Grammar lectures is also a major challenge. Teachers are not able to cover the syllabus by the end of the learning period, and students leave school when they are not well equipped with English grammar skills. We have a tradition in second language teaching that views language as a rich and complex system of human communication; acquired best through interaction, which is meaningful, with interesting content. This opposes a practice that emphasizes accuracy, following of rules, and learning the grammatical forms. It is difficult to effect true change in an institutional setting; but it is especially so if the agents of change make it clear what constitutes the innovation. Hope is that this discussion will serve as the first step in clearing up any misunderstandings, witnessed in the history of grammar (Basturkmen & Ellis, 2004). Conclusion In conclusion, grammar should be emphasized in all areas, not only in the English subject. If possible, the teachers should go through a subject in English Grammar and explain it immediately in vernacular. This is, however, difficult especially now that we have diverse languages. It, therefore, becomes difficult for a lecturer to explain in vernacular since he cannot use all the languages. Teachers will hence stick to grammar, which is usually used as the mode of teaching in schools. If the teachers were teaching students from a similar cultural background, who use a common language, it would be possible for them to use vernacular while explaining their points to students (VanPatten, Williams & Rott, 2004). Teachers should as well remain in class for at least half an hour after the lecture, to allow students to ask him questions, which could be disturbing them. A chance should also be given to the students for them to get any clarification in case they did not understand some content well. Good relationship should also be established between the teacher and his students. This will encourage students to ask any questions, by approaching their teachers without fear or any embarrassment. The teachers should always be ready to give a reason behind every answer they give to students. This will help the students not to forget the content. Individuals must always adhere to the rules of grammar. This helps in producing students who are fluent and who use the correct tenses in their speaking. At some point, the teacher should call one student to explain a point, which he has just explained. The student in this case assumes the role of the teacher to explain to the other students what the teacher meant by a certain statement. Another student can also be called to stand, and explain the same point (Brien, 2000). Several other students should also explain until they convince the teacher that the whole understands what he taught them. This has several advantages such as boosting a student’s self-confidence. It also helps the student to have a clear picture of what the teacher meant, thus, boosting the student’s understanding. Once again, when a fellow student explains something, students tend to understand better than when explained to by a lecturer. When calling the students to explain, the teacher should start with the clever ones so that, by the time, he calls the ones who may not be clever, they will have understood the point (Herron & Tomosello, 1992). I intend to become an English grammar teacher in the future for Arabic students in Saudi Arabia. As a teacher, I will ensure that all students understand and use the correct form of grammar while speaking and writing. My students shall also be encouraged to read written texts regularly for them to improve their communicative competency. As an English language teacher, I will emphasize on classroom interaction so that the students can improve their communicative skills. References Basturkmen, H., & Ellis, R. (2004). Teachers’ stated beliefs about incidental focus on form and their classroom practices. New York: Cngage Learning. Brien, D. (2000). Parsing Natural Language with Lingua: Link Parser. The Perl Journal, Issue 19: 30-34. Byrd, P. (2003). Grammar in the foreign language classroom: Making principled choices. Washington, DC: Sage. Crintron, K. M. (2008). Teaching Grammar. New York: Longman. Deinzer, E. (2009). Teaching Grammar: Approaches and Methods. New York: GRIN Verlag. Fotos, S. (2005). Integrating grammar instruction and communicative language use through grammar consciousness-raising tasks. TESOL Quarterly . 28: 323-351. Gerngross, G., Puchta, H., & Thornbury, S. (2007). Teaching Grammar Creatively. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Herron, C., & Tomosello, M. (1992). Acquiring grammatical structures by guided induction. New York: Cengage Learning. Hinkel, E., & Fotos, S. (2001). New perspectives on grammar teaching in Second language classrooms. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Kočnar, A. (2002). Teaching grammar: grammar practice activities. New York. Lester, M. (1999). Grammar in the Classroom. New York: Macmillan. Schneider, G. (1998). A Linguistic Comparison Constituency, Dependency, and Link Grammar. Zurich: University of Zurich. Scrivener, J. (2003). Teaching grammar. London: Oxford University Press. Svartvik, J. (2000). A comprehensive grammar of the English Language. New York: Longman. VanPatten, B., Williams, J., & Rott, S. (2004). Form-meaning connections in second language acquisition. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum. Read More