Sie sind auf Seite 1von 12

Teaching Grammar

Introduction Grammar is central to the teaching and learning of languages. It is also one of the more difficult aspects of language to teach well. Making grammar more interesting for students is one of the great challenges and teacher faces. Whether teaching from a course book or from other sources, it is inevitable that you will have to cover some English grammar. The way that teachers tackle grammar varies a great deal and there is no real right or wrong. At the beginning its a case of trying several approaches to see which ones are effective for you and your students. How Has Grammar Been Taught Grammar Translation It used to be that a study of a language was the study of the grammar, as in the grammar translation method, with a syllabus focus and explicit rules. Learners were instructed to do exercises involving translation in and out of L1 and L2. Direct method Which challenged the above by prioritizing oral skills. Learners acquired the language through the formation of correct habits, irrespective of rules. A syllabus was graded list of sentence patterns which were practiced through drilling. It involved explicit language teaching Audiolingualism There after the explicit teaching of grammar was rejected, as in audiolingualism. Learners acquired the language in a similar form to the direct method, but language acquisition was viewed as an innate human capability rather than habituated behavior.

Probably it was here that the focus of language learning shifted towards the learner. We became more interested in how they learnt and sought to apply this to our teaching. Natural Approach It was apparent that there was genuine interest in the learner. The approach underlined the views of Krashen that language could be picked up by immersion, as a child with their mother tongue. Communicative Language Teaching Which can be split between shallow and deep. The shallow approach did not reject grammar teaching and sought to use grammar and vocabulary to achieve communicative goals. Whereas the deep approach rejected grammar teaching and acquisition was encouraged through a system of tasks and the emphasis was on the successful completion of the task. Grammar seemed to have been taught indecisively, swinging from a pro to anti approach. Yet learners did acquire the necessary language. We created double edged sword- it may have been irrelevant if the methodology was pro or anti, learners acquired the language through the natural process as argued by Krashen or what was formally learned did pass into the acquired system as argued by McLaughlin. The earlier methodologies placed a higher emphasis on production in a limited form (Grammar Translation, Direct method), but never considered the needs of the learners or presented language as a package, therefore failed the recipient of instruction the learner. Whereas later methodologies did not, they combined learners needs with tasks to enhance their communicative competence but arguable sacrificed accuracy over fluency, as there was no focus on form (CLT shallow and deep approach). What is Grammar? Grammar is a way of describing how language works to make meaning within a particular culture.
2

Grammar is the way a language is organized. Grammar is the system of structural rules which describes how words combine with each other to form sentences

Grammatical competence is a major component of communicative competence. Organizational competence is necessary for communication to take place. As Dianne Larsen- Freeman (1991) pointed out, grammar is one of three dimensions of language that is interconnected. Grammar gives us the form or structures of language i.e. grammar tells us how to construct a sentence (word order, verb and nouns systems, modifiers, phrases, clauses etc.) and discourse rules tell us how to put sentences together, and these forms are meaningless without a second dimension, that of semantics which tells us something about the meanings of words and strings of words and a third dimension, pragmatics which tells us about which of several meanings to assign given the context of an utterance or written text. Context takes into account the following:

who the speaker/writer is, who the audience is, where the communication takes place what communication takes place before and after a sentence in a question, implied vs. literal meanings, styles and registers, the alternative form among which a producer can choose.

It is important to understand the significance of the interconnectedness of the three dimensions: no one dimension is sufficient.

Views of Grammar

Prescriptive View Grammar is a means to maintain linguistic excellence [Garner 1989]. It tries to preserve what is assumed to be the standard language by telling people what rules they should know and how they should speak and write [Fromkin et al. 1990] Example of prescriptive rule: Do not use different to and never use different than. Always use different from. Descriptive View Grammar is a systematic way of approaching the study of linguistic facts [Garner 1989]. It describes the already existing rules which represent the unconscious linguistic knowledge or capacity of its speakers [Fromkin et al. 1990] Example of descriptive rule: We use used to with the infinitive (used to do, used to smoke etc.) to say that something regularly happened in the past but no longer happens. Communicative View Language is viewed as an instrument of communication. Grammar is a tool or resource to be used in conveying meaning and comprehending other peoples messages. Goals of Teaching Grammar to enable learners to achieve linguistic competence to be able to use grammar as a tool or resource in the comprehension and creation of oral and written discourse efficiently, effectively, and appropriately according to the situation [Lewis1986]

grammar should never be taught as an end in itself, but always with reference to meaning, social function, or discourse or a combination of these [CelceMurcia and Hilles 1988, Larsen-Freeman 1991]

Role of Grammar in ESL /EFL Classroom Does grammar have a place in language classes? If so, how is grammar taught? In the past, grammar teaching was often seen as establishing the correct way of speaking and writing. It tended to focus only on the structures. Grammar instruction is sentenced-based. They rarely moved beyond the sentence level. Now, grammar is an essential element of language teaching. It pays attention to the spoken language and discourse structure. Grammar instruction should be content-based, meaningful, contextualized and discourse-based. GRAMMAR PRESENTATION 1. The Deductive Approach rule driven learning A deductive approach starts with the presentation of a rule and is followed by examples in which the rule is applied. The grammar rule is presented and the learner engages with it through the study and manipulation of examples. Grammar is taught explicitly. We are talking about stating directly, usually at the beginning of a particular activity, what the grammar is. For example, Today we are going to study about nouns. 2. The Inductive Approach the rule-discovery path An inductive approach is an implicit approach to grammar. The students are led to grammar through a series of steps. It aims to lead students towards a generalized grammar rule or pattern. For example: Find the Rule

Look at these sentences: You know Norma and Jose, dont you? They work every day. Jose talks to tourists, and Norma writes letters. The agency offers tours to many countries. 3. Functional Notional Approach This method of language teaching is categorized along with others under the rubric of a communicative approach. The method stresses a means of organizing a language syllabus. The emphasis is on breaking down the global concept of language into units of analysis in terms of communicative situations in which they are used. Explanation of specific terms: A notion is a concept or idea: it may be specific (dog, house) or general (time, size, emotion). A notion may be time past, phrases like a month ago, in 2000, last week and utterances using temporal clauses beginning with when. . . , before. . . , after. . . and so on. A function is some kind of communicative act: it is the use of language to achieve a purpose. Examples would be suggesting, promising, apologizing, greeting, inviting. A situation may affect variations of language such as the use of dialects, the formality or informality of the language and the mode of expression. Situation includes the following elements: the person taking part in the speech act the place where the conversation occurs the time the speech act is taking place the topic or activity that is being discussed

Functional Categories of Language [Finocchiaro 1983]

1. personal- clarifying or arranging ones ideas; expressing ones thoughts or feelings 2. Interpersonal enabling us to establish and maintain social and working relationships 3. Directive attempting to influence the actions of others 4. Referential talking or reporting about things, actions, events, or people in the environment in the past or in the future 5. Imaginative discussions involving elements of creativity and artistic expression 4. Functional Grammar People who study and use a language are mainly interested in how they can do things with language - - - how they can make meanings, get attention to their problems and interest, influence their friends and colleagues and create a rich social life for themselves. They are only interested in the grammatical structure of the language as a means to getting things done. A grammar which puts together the patterns of the language and the things you can do with them is called a functional grammar. [Cobuild, 1990] The main objective of a functional grammar is to explain language in terms of what people do with it, how they use the language to live. It tries to do that by adopting more of a semantic and pragmatic orientation inside the grammar. 5. Teaching Grammar in Situational Contexts The generative situation is a situation which the teacher sets up in the lesson in order to generate several example sentences of a structure. Example: A factory needs workers. Yesterday Mang Ambo read their advertisement in the paper. It said these things: We are very large firm, pay high wages, and have a good pensionscheme. Mang Ambo is at the factory today. He now knows that all things are not true. At this moment he is saying these things to the manager:

YOU SAID YOU WERE A VERY LARGE FIRM but you are really a small one! YOU SAID YOU PAID HIGH WAHES but they are really very low. YOU SAID YOU HAD A GOOD PENSION SCHEME. You havent one at all.
6.

Teaching Grammar through Texts If learners are to achieve a functional command of a second language, they will need to be able to understand and produce not just isolated sentences, but whole texts in that language. Language is context-sensitive; which is to say that an utterance becomes fully intelligible only when it is placed in its context. The implications of this context-sensitive view of language on grammar teaching are that: Grammar is best taught and practiced in context This means using whole texts as contexts for grammar teaching.

7.

The Consciousness Raising Approach

Focuses on aspects of grammar without necessarily using a rule on technical jargon Instead of trying to impart rules and principles directly as in traditional grammar lessons, it seeks to help learners discover for themselves a grammatical rule through meaningful negotiations Differs from pure communicative approaches by telling learners which structures are ungrammatical and proving the grammatical counterpart Asks the learners not only to notice but also to perform an operation of some kind [Rutherford,1987] Encourages focused communication activities

8.

The Strategic Interaction Approach centers around communication dilemmas which are resolved by students themselves

9.

The Genre-Based Approach emphasizes the crucial importance of rhetorical text structure a genre has a particular schematic structure: a distinctive beginning, middle, and end. to make explicit to teachers and students knowledge about how the type will vary according to purpose, topic, audience, and channel of communications. allows students to concentrate on particular stages in order to polish strategies for organizing information and evolving realizations. [Hyland,1992]

10.

The Task-Based Approach gives emphasis on classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting in the target language while their attention is focused in meaning rather than in form [Nunan,1989] it involves a communication of language use which learners of the target language focus their attention on meaning rather than on linguistic structure a communicative task which ahs six basic components: - Goals: express the intentions behind a learning task - Input: refers to the data which provide as take off point for the task - Activities: state what the learners do with the input with the input data - Roles: refer to the part that the learners play in carrying out the learning tasks - Setting: means the classroom arrangement directly or indirectly specified in the task

11.

Teaching Grammar Through Stories

Everyone loves a story. Storytelling is traditional in all cultures. Stories can be used for both eliciting and illustrating grammar points. The former employs inductive reasoning, while the latter requires deductive thought. Storytelling can be a convenient and natural grammar teaching tool. It is the technique that holds students attention best, as well as the one they enjoy most. Grammar points can be contextualized I stories that are absorbing and just plain fun if they are told with a high degree of energy, and involve the students. Students can help create stories and impersonate characters in them. 12. Teaching Grammar Through Songs, Rhymes Songs are one of the most enchanting and culturally rich resources that can easily be used in language classrooms. They are precious resources to develop students abilities in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. They can also be used to teach a variety of language items such as sentence patterns, vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm, and word classes. Songs give new insights into the target culture. They are the means through which cultural themes are presented effectively. Since they provide authentic texts, they are motivating. Prosodic feature of the language such a stress, rhythm, intonation are presented through songs. At the primary level of singing the song, the prosodic features of the language is emphasized. At the higher levels, where the practice of grammar points is at the foreground, songs can be used with several techniques: Gap fills or cloze texts Focus questions

10

Put these lines into the correct sequence Dictation Add a final verse Circle the antonyms/synonyms of the given words Discuss

Poems like songs contextualize a grammar lesson effectively. It acts as an effective tool for practicing a specific grammatical structure. Through repeating and considering the poem, the grammatical structures become more deeply internalized. Like songs, poems exaggerate the rhythmic nature of the language, since English is a syllable timed language with stressed syllables being spoken at roughly equal time pauses, even in everyday speech. Poems have an enormous linguistic value as they provide authenticity and cultural views. Some Rules for Teaching Grammar The Rule of Context Teach grammar in context. Teach grammar forms in association with their meanings. Try to think of some real life situations when speakers would use that type of language. o These situations can be used to create role-play situations for students to practice the structure or they can be used for you to introduce the structure or grammar point in a natural way. o With higher levels find some authentic texts, such as a paragraph from a book youre reading or a chunk of article from the internet. Pick out real examples of the grammar point you are dealing with. This helps to bring the language to life. The Rule of Use Teach grammar in order to facilitate the learners comprehension on production of real language, rather than an end in itself The Rule of Economy
11

Be economical. This means economizing on presentation time in order to provide maximum practice time. The Rule of Relevance Teach only the grammar that students have problems with. This mean start off by finding out what they already know. The Rule of Nurture Teaching doesnt necessarily cause learning not in any direct way. Instead of teaching grammar, therefore, try to provide the right conditions for grammar learning. The Rule of Appropriacy Interpret all the above rules according to the level, needs, interests, expectations and learning styles of the students.

References:

Brown, H. Douglas. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, 2nd edition. NY: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2001. COBUILD English Grammar, London: HarperCollins. Derewianka, B. A Grammar Companion.1991. http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk/form.html http://www.nclrc.org/about.html

12

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen