Grammar - TESL 0110 - Reflections
Grammar: It's Daunting
I don't think I was ever taught grammar explicitly in my school career. If I did, it's been long forgotten. The thought of having to learn grammar, and all it entails, is a bit daunting. I was curious to find out just what the TESL 0110 course was all about, specifically, whether or not we would be having a crash test on all grammar (insert gasp) or whether there was more to it.
As it turns out, we as teachers don't need to know all the rules prior to teaching English. Depending on where you are in your teaching: the level of your students, the content in the curriculum, and knowing where your students are at with respect to their expectations of teaching strategies, grammar can be taught using different methodology.
Deductive methodology (presenting the rule first and providing drills and exercises to learn) may be of benefit for students who are working on a writing task. Also, older students who expect a rule to guide their learning, may also benefit from this type of teaching method. Inductive methodology (providing a text and asking students to acknowledge a pattern and form the grammar rule) can be effective for teaching students grammar rules while participating in speaking, listening and writing tasks. Both of these approaches have pro and cons, however, can be effective ways to teach grammar.
Best news of all, is that the internet is a great place to start when researching activities using both of these methodologies. I conducted some research for this TESL unit and was able to find a lot of information using both methods. So, I guess I'm not alone in my quest for grammar knowledge.
These are some of the sites I found useful while completing this Unit:
Resources:
https://www.esllibrary.com/
Inductive vs Deductive Learning
Teaching Grammar Inductively
Making Grammar Fun
In conclusion, grammar appears to be an invaluable part of classroom ELS teaching. In an internet article called "How to Learn Grammar So I Can Teach It" by David S Wills posted September 20, 2018 , he gives reassurance that while it is not essential to be versed in all grammar prior to language teaching, learning grammar has made him a better language teacher.
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