THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING GRAMMAR IN EFL CLASSES

Grammar seems to be something which is hovering like a threatening cloud below the classroom ceiling. If the teacher accidentally let slip out that today’s lesson will consist of grammar instructions, a murmur would be heard in the classroom which would be likely to express boredom or lack of interest. That is one reason why applied linguists and teachers alike are trying to find a way in which grammar could be taught both effectively and interestingly.

According to Penny Ur (1999), in the case of the learners, grammatical rules enable them to know and apply how such sentence patterns should be put together. The teaching of grammar should also ultimately centre attention on the way grammatical items or sentence patterns are correctly used. In other words, teaching grammar should encompass language structure or sentence patterns, meaning and use.

Further, grammar is thought to furnish the basis for a set of language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. In listening and speaking, grammar plays a crucial part in grasping and expressing spoken language since learning the grammar of a language is considered necessary to acquire the capability of producing grammatically acceptable utterances in the language. In reading, grammar enables learners to comprehend sentence interrelationship in a paragraph, a passage and a text.

In the context of EFL, teaching grammar has traditionally been dominated by a grammar-translation method where the use of mother tongue is clearly important to elicit the meaning of target language by translating the target language into native languages. For example, in such a method learners are required to learn about grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language. In the case of grammar, it is deductively taught; that is, learners are provided the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then are asked to apply the rules to other examples.

According to Thornbury (2006), there are seven reasons why grammar is taught in English language teaching as presented in the following:

The fine-tuning argument- The teaching of grammar serves as a corrective against the kind of ambiguity.

The fossilization argument- the teaching of grammar helps learners reduce their incorrect grammatical structure.

The rule-law argument-The teaching of grammar offers teachers a structured system that can be taught and tested in methodical steps. It allows learners to experience the language through communication.

The learner-expectation argument- the teaching of grammar provides students with learning experience more efficient and systematic.

In the case of teaching grammar to EFL learners, a teacher may feel frustrated when learners are taught grammatical items separately. Students may become good at grammar; however, when told to write and speak, they often make grammatical mistakes. This case is very challenging to solve.

Teaching grammar is not a ‘one size fits all’ experience. As teachers, we have the freedom to choose how we present and teach new language, we can change our minds if we find that the approach we originally chose isn’t working. For example, we can use PPP approach:

Presentation

In this first stage we need a meaningful context in which to show how this grammar is used. We can do this in many different ways, we can draw pictures on the board with speech bubbles explaining what is happening, we can use a short video clip or photographs, we can even mime a short scene if you feel confident in your acting ability.

Practice

There are many ways that we can get learners to practice in a controlled manner, these include gap fill exercises, substitution drills, sentence transformations, reordering sentences, or matching a picture to a sentence, for instance.

At this stage it’s quite important that the activity is controlled so that the focus is almost entirely on the new grammar structure.

Production

In the final stage of the lesson you should give learners the chance to use the new grammar in a meaningful yet freer way. Good activities for facilitating this include role plays, pictures cues, ‘find someone who...’, information gaps and interviews. If using an interview activity, you might get learners to ask three people what they would do if they won the lottery, for instance.

When we teach grammar, we give our learners the ability to express themselves accurately, while also fulfilling their expectations of what it means to learn another language. This basic plan will help you deliver such lessons effectively.

So, as English teachers, they must have knowledge, experience and skill on the method, and technique in English language teaching. By having these, they can use the appropriate method and technique in teaching, and the objectives designed before teaching and learning takes place can be achieved. Students are also given materials on part of speech in order that they can produce English sentences, phrases, and expressions accurately, and correctly. The other important point to be noted that teachers can use various exercises, activities, tasks and games to train and improve their English language.

Used literature:

1. Brown H. 2000. Principles of language learning and teaching (4th ed.). New York: Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc
2. Penny Ur. 1999. A course of language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3. Thornbury Scott. 2006. How to Teach Grammar. England: Pearson Education Limited.