Sunday, April 29, 2012

Why do we teach grammar?

Why do we teach grammar?

Throughout my professional experience I have noticed teachers provide different reasons according to their own perceptions and background towards language learning. Based on their personal and professional practice some are extremely systematic and demanding regarding grammar instruction, others on the contrary are more flexible and adaptable. No matter what the situation is I consider ESL teachers should have several reasons and ways to support their procedures, theory is important but through actual results teachers go beyond and make learners believe in the effectiveness of being familiar with grammar.

I remember my English classes at school, although the lessons were most of the time grammar instruction, were not contextualized and the teacher did not explain the purpose of the lessons clearly I like learning English, I though learning grammar structures had to be useful, a key element to structure this language in my mind,  the teacher did not provide enough feedback, the lessons were boring but, I think now, as teachers we eventually have to teach some rules or patterns which may be seen boring or difficult by students, but we have to, I would focus my attention on my learners’ understanding more than their pleasure, of course I would do my best to make the lessons nice, but my goal is their comprehension, I do not want to have a nice class full of questions and few answers or no feedback, having fun while learning is good but having feedback is essential and must be mandatory.  

Based on the scenario given, I would ask my learner how she would learn English without grammar (she could have great ideas), then I would say to her that individuals have different ways to learn and she may not find the purpose of the grammar lessons at the beginning but in the process she will find the tasks functional. I also say grammar is a means to a closing stage which is the communicative competence, so the objective of these lessons is to make her competent enough to apply these tools in an autonomous way in different contexts (not only the ones she studied). Finally my role as a teacher is to be a guide to help her understand and develop skills, even when she is not having fun she can learn. After this conversation I might revise and adjust my grammar tasks, I would try to improve them by making them more interesting and attractive, and definitely I would keep in mind her recommendations.