Grammar is a pivotal part of teaching and learning language in Bhutan. It is also the most difficult aspect of language to teach effectively and meaningfully. In the Bhutanese curriculum, teaching English grammar has always been a challenging issue and raised a big concern among the curriculum officials. As per a BCSEA analysis, every year the students fairly do well in English compared to other subjects, and it indicates the standard of English among students in Bhutan. Teaching learning English grammar in the classroom could be one of the reasons for the fair performances of the students. Besides, a few urban students, others hardly communicate in English in the schools. It is difficult to gain mastery over the language without constant …show more content…
First of all, teaching and learning English grammar in the classroom plays a fundamental role in improving the spoken English skills of the students. Many students equate being able to speak language as knowing the language, thereby taking learning language as learning how to speak a language. The students should be provided enough opportunities to communicate in English; otherwise, they would be de-motivated and lose interest in learning. To intensify the confidence level of the learners to communicate in English as a second language, teaching and learning English grammar has become an important part among the learners and the educators. Students are usually reluctant to communicate in English when they have inadequate vocabulary or are not confident of grammatical rules. Otherwise, students with a sound knowledge of grammar do not hesitate to communicate in …show more content…
It claims, “The best grammar instruction includes extensive reading and writing” (“Curriculum and Instruction, 2012, para.7). The teacher must extensively read aloud to all age group of students. This will help the learners to hear and see what is appropriate and can incorporate in their writings. The precise instructions for any type of activities will lead to carry out the works without confusions and difficulties. Furthermore, Caplan, (2017, para. 3) states that learners should read for the meaning first and then grammar next. He added that there are limited resources that gain the attention, so it is natural for the learners to read first for the meanings. However, as they gain some ideas about the different usage of grammatical applications, reading becomes more easy and enjoyable. The functions of different part of speeches help to clear the doubt of the readers. For example, Her beauty mesmerised Dorji . Here, readers are supposed to know what ‘Dorji’ is, which one is the ‘verb’, ‘subject’ and ‘object’. As the readers become familiar with these terms and functions, they can shift their attention to more complex terms such as ‘noun phrases’, ‘adjective phrase’ , ‘forms of conjunctions’ and other grammatical features. The more the learners get used to with grammatical usage, the more excited they become from their reading, as they understand the depth of the concept from
Children were taught to speak in a proper manner and because they were taught to speak correctly they wrote in a proper way as well. As technology evolved and texting came more profound grammar was becoming a lost art. In Dana Goldstein’s article ,‘Why Kids Can’t Write’, she talks about what teachers are doing about grammar. The teachers are not doing much about the grammar issue in schools.
It might be necessary to weigh the worth of grammar in proper English. The world for those who speak it is becoming smaller. Proper English is becoming part of an elitist group which is also becoming smaller. Possibly less stress should be put on grammar. Few people understand perfect business language but a growling cat is understood quite well. English grammar is a created language, having both seperatist powers and anglocentric values. Voice is universal and quite older than grammar. Standards within English speaking areas must be questioned soon for it is becoming smaller and less powerful everyday. A rising population will require social skills. Seperating these from educated grammar will lead to greater problems.(One country under God...)
Good grammar shows how others feel about and respond to each other, which carries a lot of importance in the business arena. Making an impression on customers and colleagues through the usage of proper grammar can help an employee maintain an air of professionalism and can help show others that he really cares about his job and his company's products or services. The fact
As a professional and as a college student; using correct grammar is very important. It is important because, as a professional you want to look “professional”. Correct grammar in college is important to because you want to achieve worthy grades and enhance your knowledge. The one thing that could set you apart in an interview is your use of correct grammar. The use of correct grammar makes you look professional, smart, and trustworthy. Correct grammar will help you to be successful as a professional and a student.
In the past and present day in Libya, learning English has been free to all students at all levels. Students start learning English as one of the main subjects from the age of 12 until the university stage. Libyan teachers followed the old traditional system, which was the grammar translation method. This method was based on analysing the grammar rules followed by translating of sentences and texts into the students’ target language and memorizing large amount of vocabulary, which was selected from the reading texts. Moreover, several of vocabulary items presented with their translation equivalents. As Larsen-Freeman points out, “students are given lists of the target language vocabulary words and their native language equivalent and are asked to memorize them”. Otherwise, reading and writing were a major focus whereas no systematic attention was paid to speaking and listening. For that reason, teachers tended to use the grammar translation method by focusing on these features. “In Libya, the teaching was by using a translation method, which emphasized the acquisition of vocabulary through reading” (Barton, 1968). As a result, teachers ignored all the communicative approach and techniques inside the class, for instance using different interaction activities such as games to attract learners’ attention and keep them interested in the topic.
A large part of an English teacher’s job deals with helping students find their own voices amidst the many teachings of their parents and peers. A student’s voice can be their values, their interests, and their perspectives of the world in which they live. Their voice can be their critical questioning of the many situations they face, whether in a text, the school cafeteria, or a park after school. It is the job of an English teacher to aid in finding this voice through their writing. It is by putting words and thoughts down on paper that a student can sometimes feel comfortable enough to take risks and find their true voices. Although traditional grammar instruction has long been thought to improve this skill, this is no longer the case. Instead, by providing a classroom environment in which students are immersed in classic literature from many genres including poetry, short stories, and novels, students will learn how to harness grammar for their own purposes of finding their voice in their writing.
Nassaji, H., & Fotos, S. (2011). The role of context in focus on grammar: Teaching Grammar in Second Language Classroom (pp.121-134). New York and London: Routhdge
It is not uncommon to say that grammar instruction plays an important role in language teaching. Regarding the status and importance of grammar teaching, a variety of opinions have been made. Batstone (1994) states that “language without grammar would be chaotic: countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified” (p. 4). More vividly, Wang (2010) makes two similes. She compares grammar to the frame of a house, which is a decisive factor to ensure the solidness of it. Additionally, she regards grammar as a walking stick, whose function is to help and support students to learn English. Thus, the nature of grammar instruction manifests its own significance as it helps students enhance their overall language proficiency by integrating grammar into other aspects of learning, like listening, speaking, reading and writing.
In the article, “Current Developments in Research on the Teaching of Grammar” by Hossein Nassaji and Sandra Fotos two main issues had been discussed. The first one is whether grammar teaching make any differences to language learning where the questions raised are whether grammar should be taught or not. The second issue is what kinds of grammar teaching have been suggested to facilitate second language learning. If grammar should be taught, how much and should it be implicit or explicit grammar teaching? Lastly, the article discussed on the current approaches to grammar teaching in which formal instruction can be integrated with communicative activities which are processing instruction, interactional feedback, textual enhancement, task-based
Language is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication and a language is any example of such a system of complex communication. The scientific study of language is called linguistics. The twelfth century records reveal that spoken Dzongkha was used as the language of the royal court, the military elite, and erudite scholars. It is spoken by a majority of people as their native language in the eight of the twenty districts viz. Thimphu, Punakha, Paro, Wangdue Phodrang, Gasa, Haa, Dagana and Chukha.
Good reading skills are very important in learning languages. Reading improves spelling because as students learn to sound out letters and words, spelling comes easier. It helps to expand the vocabulary, since the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to read. Students learn new words as they read and put them in their mind for later use. . They also unconsciously absorb the information about things like how to structure the sentences, how words are used in different contexts, and it gives a better understanding of the word usage and definitions than the cold facts of a dictionary. It improves a person’s vocabulary and knowledge without the person even knowing it. Even if students do not understand every word, they will hear new sounds, words and phrases which they can then try out, copying what they have heard. They can comprehend ideas, follow arguments and detect implications. Reading texts also provide good models for English writing. Krashen (2004) found that reading is extremely important in learning English, since it is the only way to “become a good reader, develop a good writing style, an adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar” and the only way to “become a good speller”.
English has been grown as global language. It has been used widely in every sector such as in the field of science, technology, commerce and international relation. The English language has been taught for many years in Nepal. To glance it’s history, started when Rana people established durbar high school at Dakhchowk, Thapathali. At that time, they had invited two English teachers to manage the school and the curriculum design. Since then, though there were no strong government policy documents regarding teaching of English. The school level curriculum includes English as a subject. It has been taught as compulsory subject in the school from grade one.
Each component carries sufficient weight in imparting English language instructional system. Among the resources, teacher is the most influential one as s/he has the persuasive powers to help students acquire the language skills at stress-free and cozy atmosphere. Teacher with a smile would be the welcoming milestone. Teacher’s proficiency over the English language and knowledge over student psychology would profoundly contribute towards better language skill acquisition, as it involves two major components teaching and learning. Teaching English is different from teaching other subjects. The notion of treating teaching English and other subjects equally needs modification as language acquisition is not merely an understanding of a pack of information. English is a set of discourses that involve a learner to use the same for expression and communication. In the ESL classroom the teacher’s part is bit much challenging in involving a learner’s participation in language
Brown (2007) expresses “just as language ego, self-esteem, empathy, and motivation undergird the [learning] of spoken discourse, reading is subject to variability within the affective domain. The love of reading has propelled many learners to successful [learning] of reading skills” (p.36). Reading takes an important role at the time to learn and acquire a language because it provides useful elements that will help the comprehension and production of students. Nowadays, reading is considered as an important language skill in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) since it lets learners to acquire vocabulary and grammar throughout different strategies such as inferences, implicit and explicit information, facts, opinions, rhetorical
The Grammar Translation Method has been considered as the major factor causing to the low linguistic competence on the learners. However, the role of translation in teaching English cannot be ignored. Translation was an important part of English teaching for a long time, and then it was replaced by other methods. When the communicative methodologies arrived and then totally dominant, translation was consigned to the past. In spite of this, now it is used in many communicative classrooms and successfully assists to the learning. Duff (1989) supposes that teachers and students now not only use translation to translate the language, but also to learn the language. Nowadays, translation activities have clear communicative aims and real cognitive