Teach English in Taoyuan Jiedao - Tianjin

Learning GrammarSome people may ask whether or not it is important to include the study of grammar when learning a language. Indeed, in learning japanese myself, I did not learn a lot about traditional grammar rules. The japanese language is so different from english it was hard to combine the two. It was not until learning German several years later, that I came face to face with grammar. I am glad that I did. Since then I have been on a journey of learning about english, my own language, just as much as learning either of the other two. It is one thing to know your grammar rules. It is quite another to use them proficiently in the learning of a language other than your first language. You may find yourself doing linguistic somersaults in an attempt to get it all correct. However, in teaching a language, it definitely seems worth the hassle. Despite the exceptions and ways in which the rules seem to be avoided or changed due to idiom, grammar helps build the backbone of any language. So, how should we proceed? What are the benefits and strategies we can see and use to do with learning grammar? 1. Grammar works well with goal-setting. To learn a particular grammar rule or pattern is a good goal for a lesson or part of a lesson. 2. Learning grammar rules helps with the learning of the language as a whole, in a variety of authentic settings. 3. Drilling can be very effective, especially where parts of the sentence or phrase are repeated, and therefore enforced. E.g. where the same question is asked about what students have done the night before, with the use of the past tense repeated in a different way by each student. 4. Learning the rules can be like learning the rules of a game. You may make a mistake, but that is part of learning the game. Eventually you will know how to play. 5. Like any learning exercise, one should concentrate on the parts you find most difficult, in order to master them. 6. A good place to start is to learn the grammar rules for verbs. Then add all sorts of different parts to the sentence. If possible, you should do more than just gap-fill or multi-choice exercises. Trying to write full sentences is the best way to practise the use of grammar. 7. There are many websites which can be useful in learning grammar. The best way to learn grammar is to be immersed in your chosen language as part of daily life. As a teacher it is important to establish a positive attitude towards grammar in the classroom. Commonly grammar will not excite your students, so it is important to combine the learning of grammar with an appropriate topic or context so as to engage their attention. Playing games and developing fun and interesting exercises will help achieve this. It is important that teachers learn the different learning styles of their students, and play to their strengths. When learning grammar myself, I found charts and visual aids most effective, because I am a visual learner. Others are aural or oral, and others kinaesthetic. These different learning styles can be useful in shaping lessons which are most effective. Once my German teacher established that I learn well from charts and lists, he used them often, and I thoroughly enjoyed grammar lessons. So we can see, that it is not necessary for grammar lessons to be boring. I, for one, found grammar fun and I developed correctly due to my teacher?s clever way of teaching. I developed the backbone of my language learning, and had fun doing it. Good luck to all you grammar teachers out there!! I challenge you, and myself, to be the same.