Teaching
grammar lessons can be tricky because grammar doesn't always follow standard
rules, is different to the student's native language and requires that a
teacher fully understands it to teach it. Consider some of these suggestions
and tips to make it an easy and interesting lesson to teach.
What is
Grammar?
Grammar is the way we put words together to make correct sentences and convey meaning in any language.
Grammar
doesn't only deal with sentences but also with smaller units from phrases down
to individual words. This is easy to understand when considering the correct
use of "he ran a race" versus the incorrect use of "he runned a
race". Grammar can also include the changing of spelling and pronunciation
in different situations.
Grammatical
structures deal with specific instances in a language, such as tenses. These
structures provide in-depth information and time value to a language.
Grammar and
Meaning
Grammar
affects meaning, so incorrect grammar can lead to confusion. Despite this, a
lot of teachers argue that accuracy of form is more important than grammatical
accuracy because it is difficult to teach. Unfortunately, a phrase that has
been misunderstood can have a potentially disastrous or humorous effect on a
situation, so students need to learn grammar to put words together
meaningfully. In the end, knowledge of a language is virtually useless if students
can't convey meaning.
Presenting
and Explaining Grammar
Generally,
if a student's native language has a rigid grammatical structure, they will
expect a teacher to explain the English equivalents of their language. To do
this, a teacher needs to understand, himself, what is involved in the
structures being taught; must give clear examples and explanations; and must
find a balance between accuracy and simplicity in examples. A teacher who knows
how to present a structure's form and meaning in a simple, accurate and helpful
way is guaranteed to get the message across.
Tips and
Guidelines in Teaching English Grammar
A
well-prepared lesson plan is essential for teaching grammar. It should include
oral and written examples as well as form, meaning and context use. Other tips
for teaching grammar include:
- Students must
have plenty of examples of the structure and understand when and how to
use it
- Explanations
must cover the majority of instances because students are sure to
encounter exceptions along the way
- Too much detail
confuses students so explanations must be simple and clear
- Generalization
is helpful even if it's not always completely accurate
- Rhyming rules
like "i before e, except after c" can be a fun and easy way to
remember a rule, even if they aren't absolutely true
- Students need to
experiment by rearranging sentences and playing with them to get a feel
for the language
- Students must be
given the essential rules and guidelines and shouldn't have to guess
- language games
can be fun and give students the opportunity to use a grammatical
structure practically
Grammar
may be difficult and boring to teach. However, if a teacher understands the
grammatical concepts, is capable of explaining grammar and its structures
clearly and simply, follows up with appropriate games, exercises and
role-playing activities, he will be creating a context for fun and interesting
grammar lessons.
Grammar includes a lot
of important things like time, frequency, regular and irregular verbs. Unless
you have proper knowledge about all these it is not easy to write grammatically
correct sentences. But if you are an English teacher for children you can do it
with ease. You can actually read out a number of texts about vacations, hobby
or daily activities. You just need to pay attention that the texts contain
ample mention of time, frequency, regular and irregular verbs.
In fact learning of
grammar can be an interesting exercise for children if they are taught in a
pleasant manner. The concept of tenses can be introduced to them in an
interesting way. On the other hand if you try to make the children understand
the concept of time and frequency just with the help of plain sentences it
might be pretty boring to them. Hence it is always a better idea to explain
these concepts with the help of stories. You can also ask the students to sing
the English songs. As they go on repeating the songs certain things actually
get imprinted in the minds of the children.
You can use other
innovative ways also to make the students aware about correct grammar. You can
actually watch an English film with them. In the beginning you can choose a
small film which is easily understandable. This way the children will find more
interest in the learning exercise. Rather watching a film can be both
entertaining and educational. In fact you soon realize that even teaching
English grammar to the children can be an interesting experience altogether.
Scrambling of words as
well as sentences and be an effective exercise to help the students learn more about
the language. As they are given to solve scrambles they are forced to think
critically. As the children think critically they are bound to develop their
creative ability.
As you are teaching
grammar to the children you can also introduce them to simple writing skills
like you can ask them to write about food and you can also ask them to write
about their daily activities. As the children carry on practicing the writing
exercise gradually their writing skills also improve.
Other ways you can correct the errors is asking the children to imagine about a certain thing and speak or write about them. As they do so they express their emotions without any inhibition and in the process they learn grammar in a better manner.