Introduction
Pedagogical grammar is a rather new concept that has been applied by a number of language instructors to impart new language knowledge to students (Nordquist 2011, p. 1). The teaching methodology has its own structures in the sense that it is divided into two aspects: the first talks about the grammatical composition of language while the second talks about the articulation of language rules (of the new language). In comprehensively analyzing how the teaching methodology works, it is important to understand that when grammatical arrangement of words is to be done, the most appropriate arrangement of the words should be considered before the exercise. This approach is observed in the above sequence because pedagogical grammar has a definite, coherent and heuristic set of rules (Chalker 1994). These features should enable students to easily learn the second language through the development of an axiomatic system between L1 and L2 languages (Allwright 2009).
Pedagogical grammar is however very unique in its purposes (especially regarding grammatical composition) because f...
The keynote article “Grammatical processing in language learners” by Clahsen and Felser, aimed to compare the grammatical processing in adult native speakers, child first language learners, and adult second language learners (L2ers) (3). The authors examined works that observed the processing of morphology, ambiguous sentences, and syntactic dependencies before going into their general discussion in which they summarize the results and suggest the shallow structure hypothesis.
Muncie, J. (2002). Finding a place for grammar in EFL composition classes. ELT Journal, 56(2),180-86. doi:10.1093/elt/56.2.180
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
I believe students feel daunted by all the rules that the teachers are trying to teach them with grammar. However, writing classes are encouraging the students to release their barriers with writings and encourage their inner thoughts to be released as well. In the study from Patrick Hartwell’s article, he mentioned that, “So Grammar 1 is eminently usable knowledge—the way we make our life through language—but it is not accessible knowledge; in a profound sense, we do not know that we have it (Hartwell).” This article encourages our grammar knowledge, which we have stored unknowingly, be brought out and one way that this could be is if we let the students hand in their writing unedited to the teacher to look over their mistakes but not to make any corrections. Then the students use a red pen to correct their mistakes and edit their paper themselves so that the teacher has an understanding of what grammar errors students can correct on their own. This way students’ strengths and weakness in grammar are considered more than teaching the rules of grammar. In order to learn and gain an understanding of grammar, it must be a part of students’ education since it helps students correct their overlooked mistakes and for professionalism’s sake. Grammar is needed as Christensen’s article summarizes when she says, “We must teach our students how to match subjects and verbs, how to pronounce lawyer, because they are the ones without power and, for the moment, they have to use the language of the powerful to be heard (Christensen).” Grammar is important for our writing, nevertheless; grammar shouldn’t be the focus of how we write instead our thoughts should
In the article, “Shifting Perspectives about Grammar: Changing What and How We Teach” by Dean, the reader is presented with additional examples of stylistic rules versus actual rules based in grammar.
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
Grammar teaching has an irreplaceable place in English language teaching because of the fact that without teaching grammar learners cannot learn the system of English language; they may not achieve to express their intentions or meaning of the messages in a well-established communicative activity. It has been seen that throughout the history, the attention of grammar teaching has differed from time to time. In the beginnings of the twentieth century, grammar teaching was considered so essential that other aspects of language were ignored as it was thought that it was necessary to know the grammatical rules in order to communicate appropriately.
Teaching Grammar as a Parent As a parent how do you teach grammar? Children learn from their parents; what they do and how they do it. Of course, children learn from their teachers, as well as, other children.
In the present scenario, most of the teachers are giving importance only to the Task Based approach, completely neglecting grammar i.e traditional approach. Even if the teachers try to teach grammar, students show little attention on grammar. But without grammar, there is no possibility of good communication. This article shows how the students can be given Task Based Lessons without neglecting grammar and vocabulary.
The lesson is designed to give implicit exposure of grammatical features to the students. In some sections of the lesson (e.g. warming up activity and transi...
For teachers, this allows them to evaluate the student’s work. The nice part of the Glossing process is that grammar instruction is individualized. The teacher can assist students individually while others fill out their “Glossing Sheets.” This process also allows the teacher, depending on the grade, to steer the process based on what they are teaching their students. For instance, Johansen and Shaw explain how a freshman teacher may highlight fragments and run-ons in their students’ papers while a senior teacher might highlight parallelism (98). However, to keep students from feeling overwhelmed by the amount of grammar rules, a list of twenty most difficult grammar rules for students in 9th to 12th grade was created, English Conventions Rule Sheet. Based upon this list, the teachers would go through the student’s compositions and highlight the rules that were violated. Johansen and Shaw conclude the article with the results of their research which consisted of students understanding the Glossing process, a better understanding of the grammar rules, or finding the process tedious yet
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.
Language is a way of communication between two or more people and is a melding of the languages of the many different people who have lived in Britain; Grammar is the constitutional foundation of our ability to express our selves and the proper way to write and speak is through grammar because Standard Written English requires proper grammar usage in order to make sense and for people to comprehend what is been said and ultimately projecting a reflection of who you are and what you are made of.
While languages do essentially have the same building blocks, the arrangement of words can range. Some languages begin with clauses by naming a subject such as a noun, which would make it the topic of the sentence. However, other languages begin clauses with words that name the action in a specific sentence (Freeman & Freeman, 2014). For example, English syntax is different from Spanish syntax. This means that confusion may result for students whose L1 is Spanish. For example, in English “red shirt” is used, but in Spanish, the phrase is inverted to “shirt red”. This may result in non-standard syntax when Spanish learners speak or write English. Another difficulty may be faced if a student does not understand that a structured sentence is needed. A student may not see the purpose of saying “I want to get a dog” when simply the words “want dog” would suffice. The problem with this is because syntax is a part of grammar, there is a set of internalized rules that people acquire (Freeman & Freeman, 2014). Within time, students will discover that a full sentence is needed instead of just two words. However, this is something that cannot be simply taught, as a student requires this throughout time and