Module (4)
Applications Of Linguistics To Language Teaching
Section (A)
1) What is the place of grammar in language teaching? How necessary is it for the teacher to have knowledge of both English Grammar and the grammar of the students’ language or languages?
Many people believe that the grammarissueis a crucial one. The word Grammar has variousinterpretations to different people. Ordinary citizens interpret itascorrect or incorrect English. Students interpret it as the study of the terminology and analysis of the sentences. Grammar provides the students with the skill to recognize their mistakes and master the writing skill. A lot of peopledislike grammar andregard it as the most uninteresting partof learning a new language.
For linguists,
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Ithas beengiven acentralattentionwhenteaching or learning any language.Teaching grammar is aneeded aspect of school education or adult learning.
The place of grammar has beenalso a matter of debatealong the history of second language teaching. Thornburry(2001) believes that grammar debate is the most important issue that has taken the effort and time of the linguists and practitioners.Many attitudes have been revealed within this debate. Some argues that grammar is a main item in teaching English language. This attitude is shown in the Grammar Translation Method. However, some linguists assume that learners of English shouldn't learn grammar. And this attitude is shown in Natural Approach and the Communicative Language Teaching.
Those who advocate grammar teaching believe that teaching grammar provides the learners with the greatest possible amount of linguistic creativity. It is a tool that helps them to producean extremely largenumber of sentences. They assume that memorizing single words has restricted use and isn't enough for outstanding communication. Teaching grammar has asignificanteffectin language acquisition. Learners will be able to recognize the input presented for them. Learners with no grammar background don't have the chance to gain this
There are many reasons why good grammar is important at work. First of all, if an applicant has bad grammar, then he or she may not even get hired in the first place. Kyle Weins, CEO of ifixit, said in his “Harvard Business Review article” that he won’t even hire applicants who have bad grammar; his company has an English test that all applicants must take. Many other companies also have English tests in the hiring process. He also said that good grammar skills show how serious someone is about they’re work; someone with lazy grammar looks like a lazy worker. Plus, good grammar makes people look smarter; someone with a wide vocabulary and great grammar would do a better job impressing a client (Weins ). In her Frobes article, Susan Adams listed the reasons why she thinks good grammar at work is important. She says that good grammar show that an employee knows when to use context appropriate language. It also shows respect to the person they’re talking to and finally it shows that they’re organized people. Employers value an organized employee because they more dependable (Adams).
Good Grammar in the work place is very important. Without good grammar the work place wouldn’t be as repeatable as they want to be. Grammar is important in the work place because the employees need to sound as educated and intelligent as they can. Kyle Weins states that having good grammar shows intelligence. Having good grammar, according to Kyle Weins, shows that people can be organized in grammar and in tasks unrelated to grammar. Because of the internet, the grammar rules are changing. Correct grammar in the work place is important because if you work in a job that is like Kyle Weins’s company; the employees need to have good grammar because detail is very important to his company (Weins). Proper grammar in the work place shows that the employees are intelligent and recommends respect. Adam states that if you look for correct grammar while listening to other people; it shows that you are listening to the person and are thinking about what you are going to say. Correct grammar in the work place is very important, because it shows intelligence in the employee and will benefit the whole company (Adams).
In the article, “Current Developments in Research on the Teaching of Grammar” by Hossein Nassaji and Sandra Fotos two main issues had been discussed. The first one is whether grammar teaching make any differences to language learning where the questions raised are whether grammar should be taught or not. The second issue is what kinds of grammar teaching have been suggested to facilitate second language learning. If grammar should be taught, how much and should it be implicit or explicit grammar teaching? Lastly, the article discussed on the current approaches to grammar teaching in which formal instruction can be integrated with communicative activities which are processing instruction, interactional feedback, textual enhancement, task-based
will start by examining the origin of the word. The word grammar originated from the greek
“Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages” (TESOL) is a phrase used to represent the teaching of the English language as a second or foreign language to foreign individuals. Going through this topic and the role of the grammar, is basically the rules that govern the art of forming clauses, phrases, sentences, and gives the content of speech, and writing a kind of magnificence. I believe knowing these rules in learning a new or even mother language is really important. The principle of teaching grammar can be viewed like signs on the road, which provide useful information for direction and navigation of the vehicle to the intended destination. Grammar provides the much needed sentence construction, without which there would be misunderstanding
Nassaji, H., & Fotos, S. (2011). The role of context in focus on grammar: Teaching Grammar in Second Language Classroom (pp.121-134). New York and London: Routhdge
Pedagogical grammar is however very unique in its purposes (especially regarding grammatical composition) because f...
Mastering the grammar of the foreign language is essential in order for students to understand the written target language
History of language teaching has long begun in the middle ages and its development is a never ending course. The chronology of language teaching shows a continuum of teaching forms from traditional (teacher-centeredness) to modern (student-centeredness). It starts with Grammar-translation, a primary methodology when the study of Greek and Latin in public schools was significant back then. This form of language teaching concentrated on “memorizing the grammatical rules and lexical items of the target language” (Knight, 2001). It also occupied learners to translate the target language, hence keeping one into both their native language and the target language to and fro. Grammar-translation method presents a very traditional way of learning whereby learners studied grammar rules deductively, and thus explaining the use of drilling in classroom. Learners were directed to be focusing on solely writing and reading skills. In other words, the method seems to be monodirectional because there was not much of interaction and exchange of information and knowledge.
Language learners need to expose themselves to grammar learning to have a clearer point of view of grammar, more robust comprehension in language knowledge, and a more accurate use of the language construction. In this manner, grammar perceptions for learners’ view can be exemplified as an effectual way where they can expand their insightful knowledge of understanding the language. This contribution will eventually lead learners to produce logical sentences with exact utilisation of linguistic rules and ultimately express the acceptable denotation. This position concludes grammar, an indispensable component of language learning, needs to be acquired by every language
The grammar translation method has old history and also it known as Classical or Prussian Method. İn our today, this method uses for the goal of helping students to read and appreciate foreign language literature. İn addition to, students comprehend better his/her own grammar rules of mother tongue with the target language’s grammar works and activities and thanks to this comparison and occurring proximity, students perceive language’s structure and differences.
A large part of an English teacher’s job deals with helping students find their own voices amidst the many teachings of their parents and peers. A student’s voice can be their values, their interests, and their perspectives of the world in which they live. Their voice can be their critical questioning of the many situations they face, whether in a text, the school cafeteria, or a park after school. It is the job of an English teacher to aid in finding this voice through their writing. It is by putting words and thoughts down on paper that a student can sometimes feel comfortable enough to take risks and find their true voices. Although traditional grammar instruction has long been thought to improve this skill, this is no longer the case. Instead, by providing a classroom environment in which students are immersed in classic literature from many genres including poetry, short stories, and novels, students will learn how to harness grammar for their own purposes of finding their voice in their writing.
It is not uncommon to say that grammar instruction plays an important role in language teaching. Regarding the status and importance of grammar teaching, a variety of opinions have been made. Batstone (1994) states that “language without grammar would be chaotic: countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified” (p. 4). More vividly, Wang (2010) makes two similes. She compares grammar to the frame of a house, which is a decisive factor to ensure the solidness of it. Additionally, she regards grammar as a walking stick, whose function is to help and support students to learn English. Thus, the nature of grammar instruction manifests its own significance as it helps students enhance their overall language proficiency by integrating grammar into other aspects of learning, like listening, speaking, reading and writing.
It goes without saying that grammar teaching plays an essential role in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL). This opinion is based on the assumption that without a detailed knowledge of grammar, the language use will stall. Despite its importance, grammar teaching has gone through some debates for the decades. Before the 1970s, it was a common belief that grammar was a crucial part of the language teaching since no one would be able to reach the point where he/she communicates well without comprehending the grammatical rules of any language. This belief was then questioned by the conception that "knowledge of the grammatical system of the language was one of the main components which underlie the notion of communicative competence."
In the last century, there has been major shifts in attitudes towards language teaching and learning. Language was previously viewed as a system that can be acquired through focusing on grammar, that view influenced some teaching methods such as Grammar Translation Method, Audiolingual Method and Situational Language Teaching (Nunan 2001). Scholars started to question the validity of such methods, because they have noticed that although students had a good knowledge of the language rules, they were unable to use the language to communicate (Larsen-Freeman 2001). In other words, students should learn linguistics skills as well as communicative skills (Richards and Rodgers 2001). Littlewood (2002:1) commented, "the structural view