GOALS AND TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING GRAMMAR IN CLASS

 

( THE GUIDE BELLOW IS FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS, I'M SORRY STUDENTS, NEXT POST WILL BE FOR YOU)

Goals and Techniques for Teaching Grammar

The goal of grammar instruction is to enable students to carry out their communication purposes. This goal has three implications:

• Students need overt instruction that connects grammar points with larger communication contexts.
• Students do not need to master every aspect of each grammar point, only those that are relevant to the immediate communication task.
• Error correction is not always the instructor's first responsibility.

Overt Grammar Instruction

Adult students appreciate and benefit from direct instruction that allows them to apply critical thinking skills to language learning. Instructors can take advantage of this by providing explanations that give students a descriptive understanding (declarative knowledge) of each point of grammar.

• Teach the grammar point in the target language or the students' first language or both. The goal is to facilitate understanding.
• Limit the time you devote to grammar explanations to 10 minutes, especially for lower level students whose ability to sustain attention can be limited.
• Present grammar points in written and oral ways to address the needs of students with different learning styles.

An important part of grammar instruction is providing examples. Teachers need to plan their examples carefully around two basic principles:

• Be sure the examples are accurate and appropriate. They must present the language appropriately, be culturally appropriate for the setting in which they are used, and be to the point of the lesson.
• Use the examples as teaching tools. Focus examples on a particular theme or topic so that students have more contact with specific information and vocabulary.

Relevance of Grammar Instruction

In the communicative competence model, the purpose of learning grammar is to learn the language of which the grammar is a part. Instructors therefore teach grammar forms and structures in relation to meaning and use for the specific communication tasks that students need to complete.
Compare the traditional model and the communicative competence model for teaching the English past tense:
Traditional: grammar for grammar's sake

• Teach the regular -ed form with its two pronunciation variants
• Teach the doubling rule for verbs that end in d (for example, wed-wedded)
• Hand out a list of irregular verbs that students must memorize
• Do pattern practice drills for -ed
• Do substitution drills for irregular verbs

Communicative competence: grammar for communication's sake

• Distribute two short narratives about recent experiences or events, each one to half of the class
• Teach the regular -ed form, using verbs that occur in the texts as examples. Teach the pronunciation and doubling rules if those forms occur in the texts.
• Teach the irregular verbs that occur in the texts.
• Students read the narratives, ask questions about points they don't understand.
• Students work in pairs in which one member has read Story A and the other Story B. Students interview one another; using the information from the interview, they then write up or orally repeat the story they have not read.

Error Correction

At all proficiency levels, learners produce language that is not exactly the language used by native speakers. Some of the differences are grammatical, while others involve vocabulary selection and mistakes in the selection of language appropriate for different contexts.
In responding to student communication, teachers need to be careful not to focus on error correction to the detriment of communication and confidence building. Teachers need to let students know when they are making errors so that they can work on improving. Teachers also need to build students' confidence in their ability to use the language by focusing on the content of their communication rather than the grammatical form.
Teachers can use error correction to support language acquisition, and avoid using it in ways that undermine students' desire to communicate in the language, by taking cues from context.

• When students are doing structured output activities that focus on development of new language skills, use error correction to guide them.

Example:
Student (in class): I buy a new car yesterday.
Teacher: You bought a new car yesterday. Remember, the past tense of buy is bought.

• When students are engaged in communicative activities, correct errors only if they interfere with comprehensibility. Respond using correct forms, but without stressing them.

Example:
Student (greeting teacher) : I buy a new car yesterday!
Teacher: You bought a new car? That's exciting! What kind?

ESL Teaching Tips

• Let them talk

Gaining better communication skills is the top priority for most ESL students. Pay careful attention to the most common errors your students make during an exercise. Once they have finished doing the exercise, correct them. If a teacher corrects every mistake the students make, they will become hesitant to speak because they are afraid of being corrected. Frequent correction will also disturb the natural flow of conversation. By correcting their mistakes after they have finished their exercise, you can give them more confidence.

• Create the right setting

Setting the right mood is extremely essential because it helps students to concentrate. Many teachers recommend playing music in the class to improve the spirits of students.

• Get your students more physically involved in the lesson.

Get your students physically involved in the lesson. Give them short breaks every now and then and ask them to get up and walk about. These short breaks will help rise their energy levels and improve learning.

• Put special focus on developing communication skills.

Foreign students learn English because they want to be able to communicate in English. Each exercise should have a communicative aspect connected to it. For example, while teaching tenses, get students ask each other questions about their experiences. Ask them to use the specific tenses.

• Keep a folder of great lessons

If you find a great lesson, make an extra photocopy for future use and keep it aside in a special folder.

Advantages and challenges of teaching large classes

Teaching a small group of students is a whole lot easier than teaching a large group. But unfortunately due to budget and space constraints, many ESL schools only offer large classes that may consist of 50 or more students. No matter what the size of your class is, an ESL teacher has to come up with ideas and activities that will interest and engage his / her students. Fortunately, there are many coping skills and activities that will make your job easier.


Advantages of Teaching Large Classes

• Classes with many students will be quite noisy. But they also offer a high energy setting that is more fun and exciting.

• Classes will go by quickly when there are numerous students seeking your attention. In fact, while teaching a large class you will never find yourself looking at the clock. Lessons and activities will take longer to complete, so there will be no need for fillers.

Challenges of Teaching Large Classes

• You may never to get to know your students as well as you would like to. You may also feel anxious about being outnumbered by your students.
• Grading assignments and tests will take longer than you would like to them.

• That you are teaching a large class doesn’t necessarily mean that you will get fatter pay checks than those teaching smaller classes.

More distractions

• It is quite easy to get distracted in a large class. There will always be latecomers. You will also find plenty of students chatting while you are teaching and that can be pretty distressing.

From: Englishpractice.com