1.
Definition of Grammar
Grammar is the system of a language. People sometimes describe grammar as the rules
of a language. So, here we are going to look at different definitions that researchers give
to grammar. “Grammar is partly the study of what forms (or structures) are possible in
a language… Traditionally, grammar has been concerned almost exclusively with
analysis at the level of the sentence… Thus Grammar is a description of the rules that
govern how a language´ sentences are formed”. (Thornbury, 1999: 1)
According to Ur (2009:3) grammar may be roughly defined as the way a language
manipulates and combines words so as to express certain kinds of meaning, some of
which cannot be conveyed adequately by vocabulary alone.
Apart from the concept stated above, we also have others concepts that state what
Grammar is.
According to Scrivener (2005: 156) Grammar is a set of rules about sentence formation,
tenses, verb patterns, etc. or our internal database as to what are possible or impossible
sentences. In addition, Harmer (2001: 12) says that Grammar of language is the
description of the ways words can change their forms and can be combined into
sentences in that language. Further, he also believes that if grammar rules are too
carelessly violated, communication may suffer.
Of course, when grammar of a language is not taking into account seriously, it may
cause damages to the way we communicate. In fact, it is obvious that when the rules are
violated we make the speech confusing.
According to Martha (1995: vi) Grammar is a process of choosing forms and
constructing language in response to communicate demands, it essentially involves the
learner’s creative response to context and circumstance.
Here we can see that the forms we select when we come to speak depend on context and
circumstance. This means that if we speak to children the forms and construction we use
are simple and easy to understand, but if we speak to adults the forms and constructions
may be complex. Sambeny and Gonzalles (2011:33) believe that Grammar is
sometimes defined as the way words are put together to make correct and meaningful
sentences. Grammar is also defined as the system which describes the structure of a
language and the way in which linguistic units such as words and phrases are combined
to produce sentences in the language… Grammar is essentially the combination of
words and phrases to make sentences and allow communication among people.
It is noted that the concepts mentioned above, sustain the idea that grammar is a set of
rules that we find in a language. So, Grammar is like the Highway Code for drivers of
cars on the road. They have to follow the instructions given in order to prevent
accidents on the road. Swan (2009 : xix) argues that Grammar is the rules that show
how words are combined, arranged or changed to show certain kinds of meaning.
Finally, Bas Aart (2001:3) sustains that if you have thought about language, you will
realize that whether it is spoken or written, it has structure… The linguistic ingredients
that language is made up of are arranged in accordance with set of rules. This set of
rules we call the grammar of a language.
Grammar can also be seen as an instrument used to fine-tune the meanings that we want
to express when we communicate with others.
Taking into account the ideas stated above, becomes clear the fact that Grammar is
crucial for speaker of a certain language. In fact, teachers need to make effort in order to
teach grammar effectively in order to make the students to communicate properly.
Of course, in the present work, we look at grammar as the set of rules required to form a
meaningful and comprehensible speech in communication.
1. STAGES OF A GRAMMAR LESSON
Three (3) stages need to be considered on a lesson plan based on teaching grammar just
as with other skills:
1. Presentation: introduce something for students to understand meaning.
There are two approaches to presenting grammar: deductive and inductive. In a
deductive approach you provide students with grammar rules and explanations and later
you ask them to make new phrases and sentences using the new language. In an
inductive approach, the teacher goes the other way round by providing students with
examples leading the rules of grammar to be learnt.
2. Practice: Students practice the grammar items correctly. You can ask them to
find examples of the learnt structure in a text for example.
3- Production: Students use the new grammar point in a meaningful but free way.
2.1- PRACTISING STRUCTURES: FROM CONTROLLED PRACTICE TO
FREE PRACTICE
We can practise structures in two main ways through oral practice or written practice.
A combination of the two would be ideal. While presenting stage takes no longer than
(10) minutes a practice one would take approximately twenty (20) minutes.
• Oral drills: the main purpose of the oral drills is to allow students to practise
saying the new structure accurately. Drills do not give very meaningful practice
but they help the students to pronounce the new words correctly and gain
confidence in saying them.
• Question and answer drills
Do you like….? Yes I do.
• Gap filling
Complete the gaps with the verbs in brackets in past simple:
John ___________ to play football. (like)
• Transformation drills – used to practise different forms of the same structure.
They have a big house (She) ……… She has a big house
2.2- INTERACTIVE ORAL PRACTICE
When students have practised saying the new structure by repeating it or by using it in
drills, they can then practise it in creative and enjoyable way by interacting with their
colleagues. This will reinforce their understanding of what the structure means and how
it is used.
There are some useful ways of creating interaction:
✓ Information gap filling
Students have to ask questions in order to find the missing information.
✓ Charts
Students complete a chart with the missing information by asking questions to
their classmates.
✓ Games
Asking questions using a specific tense, preposition, etc…
✓ Quizzes
Asking using superlatives for instance: What is the highest mountain in Africa?
What is the longest river in Africa?
✓ Talking about themselves
When I was younger I used to…….
When I was in grade 4 I used to …….
2.3- SUGGESTING PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES
✓ Using pictures (from a picture students can produce sentences using the
language they have learned. The picture can be about finding the differences,
comparing two pictures, asking questions to get information and so on)
✓ Role – play (teachers can ask students to role – play a specific structure they
have learned but they must use their own words to perform the task)
✓ Story reconstruction (using a set of pictures we can ask students to tell the
story)
3. SOME GOOD HINTS FOR TEACHING GRAMMAR
1. When teaching grammar you should try to use only English in your classes.
All the time you speak English, you are exposing students to the language in use.
Use English for instructions, for presenting new language, telling stories, in other
words everything you say in class must be in English. Do not worry if students
answer in Portuguese. Just keep speaking English and encourage them to use the
language too. However, you must feel free to speak Portuguese should there be a
strong need. But do not let it take over.
2. Try to provide a small library. One of the fastest ways of learning a language is
through reading. Books should match the students’ level and they should not be
too thick.
3. Fill the walls with leaflets, posters, students’ stories, and other writing postcards,
magazines pictures, interesting words or saying in capital letter, etc.
4. Whenever possible, chat with your students in English, in order to expose them
to more natural language. Do not think you are wasting time.
4. Grammar and Teaching Methods
Method is the practical realization of an approach. (Harmer 2001: 78)
➢ Grammar – Translation method
As its name suggests, took grammar as the starting point for instruction. Grammar –
Translation courses followed a grammar syllabus and lessons typically began with an
explicit statement of the rule, followed by exercises involving translation into and out of
the mother tongue.
In this method, students listen the description of the rules of the L2 through L1.
➢ The Direct method
The direct Method emerged in the nineteenth century, challenged the way that
Grammar-Translation focused exclusively on the written language. By claiming to be a
natural method, the Direct Method prioritized oral skills, and, while following a
syllabus of Grammar structures, rejected explicit grammar teaching. The learners, it was
supposed, picked up the Grammar of their mother tongue, simply by being immersed in
language.
In the Direct Method, translation is not allowed. It receives its name from the fact that
meaning is to be connected directly without translation.
➢ Audiolingualism Method
Audiolingual Method is a largely North American inventions, stayed faithful to the
Direct Method belief in the primacy of speech, but was even more strict in its rejection
of Grammar teaching. Audilingualism derived its theoretical base from behaviorist
psychology, which considered language as simply a form of bahaviour, to be learned
through the formation of correct habits.
Habit formation was a process in which the application of rules played no part. The
Audiolingual syllabus consisted of a graded list of sentence patterns, which, although
not necessarily labelled as such, were grammatical in origin. These patterns formed the
basis of pattern-practice drills, the distinguishing feature of Audiolingual classroom
practice.
In the Audiolinguism Method, the students listen the pronunciation of the grammatical
forms and then imitate and memorize the forms.
The advantage of this method is that allows students to practice saying the new structure
accurately. It also helps the students to gain confidence when they pronounce the target
language.
This method gives priority to oral drills and repetitions.
➢ Communicative Language Teaching Method
developed in the 1970s was motivated by developments in the new science of socio-
linguistics, and the belief that communicative competence consist of more than simply
the knowledge of the rules of grammar.
Nevertheless, CLT, in its shallow – end version at least, did not reject grammar teaching
out of hand. In fact, grammar was still the main component of the syllabus of CLT
courses, even if it was dressed up in functional labels: asking the way, talking about
yourself, making future plans etc. Explicit attention to Grammar rules was not
incompatible with communicative practice, either. Chomsky, after all, had claimed that
language was rule governed, and this seemed to suggest to theorists that explicit rule-
giving may have a place after all. This belief was around at about the time that CLT was
being developed, and was readily absorbed into it. Grammar rules reappeared in course
books, and grammar teaching re-emerged in classrooms, often, it must be said, at the
expense of communicative practice.
To summarize the communicative Method, we can say that it focus more on
communicative skills of learners. The message from this method is that grammar
teaching is not rejected, but has to be contextualized in order to focus on the main
purpose of teaching, which is communication.
Language is a mean of communication, so everything teachers do in the classroom may
find or meet students’ communicative need. Further, we can sustain that CLT does not
leave apart the grammar teaching, but promotes the better way to deal with learners in
order to communicate.
The CLT is based on the premise that what we do in the classroom should have
some real life communicative value.
Recommendations
This workshop was conceived with the purpose of studying the phenomenon, then come
up with some suggestions that can help the teachers to teach Grammar. Indeed, there are
many strategies and methods that teachers can use in order to overcome or reduce the
difficulties in teaching Grammar. So, the recommendations for the teachers are the
following:
✓ Language is a mean of communication. This means that any person who learns a
language is entirely for communication purpose. So, teachers need to have a
huge background of the target language and a great domain of different methods
used in language teaching in order to teach a language in a meaningful way so
that students communicate in the target language and not only internalizing the
rules.
✓ The teachers should be aware about the individual differences in second
language learning such as: intelligence, aptitude, learning style, personality,
motivation, attitudes and age.
✓ Teaching can be an enjoyable and a rewarded activity. So, teachers should make
this process easy and interesting through using authentic materials and enjoyable
tasks.
✓ Teachers should teach Grammar in context through texts, dialogues guide, role
play, simulation, etc.
✓ Teacher should make use of different methods like Communicative Language
Teaching Method, Direct Method, Audiolingual Method and the combination of
deductive and inductive approach.
✓ Teachers should use activities which promote interaction among students in the
classroom like: role play, game, puzzle, group work, pair work, simulation,
songs, etc.
✓ Teachers should use different materials like: texts, flashcards, pictures, videos,
audios, objects, drawings and other interesting materials.
Bibliography
Sambeny Celeste and Gonzales Sofia(2011). English language teaching
methodology.Firstedition.Luanda.
Sambeny Celeste and Gonzales Sofia(2011). English language teaching methodology II.
Firstedition.Luanda.
Harmer,J(2001). The Practice of English Lamnguage Teaching. 3rd Edition. Longman
Thornbury, S (1999). How to teach Grammar. First edition. Pearsonlongman. Endiburg
gate. Pearsoneducational limited.
Martha.C Pennington(1995). New ways in Teaching Grammar. First edition. Pantagraph
Printing. Bloomington.Illinios.U.S.A.
Ur P(2009). Grammar Practice ativities. Cambridge University Press. 2nd Edition . New
York
Scrivener Jim(2005). Learning Teaching. Third edition. Macmillan Books for Teachers.
Cambridge University Press.
Swan Michael(2009). Pratical English Usage. Third edition. Great Clarendom Street.
Oxford University Press.
Aart Bas (2001). English Syntax and Argumentation. 2nd edition. Palgrave.
Macmillan.UK.
DESIGNED MATERIAL BY: TEACHER CHIVALA (ELT TRAINER)
MENONGUE, 11TH APRIL 2022
Email: danyinformation1990@gmail.com
