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Teaching GrammarI have chosen the article ? Teaching Grammar? because it is an unavoidable subject for language teachers. Firstly, I would like to understand the root of word ?grammar?. The word grammar is rooted from greek which means "art of letters", from ?????? (gramma), "letter", itself from ??????? (graphein), "to draw, to write".[5] *What is Grammar? Grammar is the structural foundation of our ability to express ourselves. The more we are aware of how it works, the more we can monitor the meaning and effectiveness of the way we and others use language. It can help foster precision, detect ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression available in english. *Is it important to learn Grammar? The study of grammar is to understand how our language works, you should also gain greater control over the way you shape words into sentences, and it may help you become a more effective speaker. In general, children don?t learn grammar for mother-tongue language, they pick up language from ordinary routine from family, media, etc? EFL teacher should not focus on teaching grammar when teaching children and young learners, but grammar should be taught to adults by ESL teachers as they are able to understand constructions. *How do teachers teach grammar? There are two main teaching approaches, called deductive and inductive A deductive approach to teaching language starts by giving learners rules, then examples, then practice, so it is a teacher-centred. For example, the teacher says ?today we are going to learn how to use the present perfect structure.? The deductive approach may be suitable with lower level learners who need a clear base from which to begin with a new language item, or with learners who are accustomed to a more traditional approach and so who lack the training to find rules themselves. An inductive approach to teaching language starts with examples and asks learners to find rules, and hence is more learner-centred. Inductive approaches to presenting new language are normally found in course books, and form part of a general strategy to engage learners in what they learn. For example, if the structure to be introduced is the comparative form, the teacher would begin the lesson by drawing a figure on the board and saying, "This is Jim. He is tall." Then, the teacher would draw another taller figure next to the first saying, "This is Bill. He is taller than Jim." The teacher would then provide many examples using students and items from the classroom, or things from normal daily life of the students, to create an understanding of the use of the structure. With this approach, the teacher's role is to provide meaningful contexts to encourage demonstration of the rule, while the students evolve the rules from the examples of its use and continued practice. There was the survey for preference for teaching english, and result are: I prefer a deductive approach 15% (202 votes) I prefer an inductive approach 16% (210 votes) I use a mixture of both 66% (863 votes) I use another approach 3% (37 votes) (Grammar teaching approaches, Submitted by TE Editor on 2 September, 2010) After researching for teaching grammar, I have found there are lots of pros and cons of this article, and debate whether to focus spoken grammar or formal/written grammar when teaching. I can?t say which is more important, however, teachers should grasp the objective of learning english for students. I still believe that teaching grammar is very essential for EFL students. Martin Parrott , who wrote ? Grammar for english Language Teacher?, says that people sometimes associate the term ?Grammar? with the different parts of speech or ?word classes? that words can belong to. I don?t agree with some teachers thinking grammar is different category, therefore, grammar can be neglected from teaching. Once learners know some basic knowledge of grammar, they create their own sentences effectively and correctly. And more, Grammar is essential for reading and listening to understand what is written or what people say. What I want to say is that grammar is involved for all four skills, reading, writing, speaking, listening. And top of that, teachers should have good preparation to teach grammar.
