On teaching GRAMMAR....

I LOVE teaching grammar, and I am completely opposed to people who believe it is unnecessary to teach grammar in the classroom. There are two methods behind teaching grammar: prescriptive and descriptive. Descriptive grammar "describes" the language as it is acutally used, whereas prescriptive grammar explains how people "think" it should be used. I have often been prey to the inquisition of intuitive students who obsess about the rules of presciptive grammar. "But teacher, you said no sentence never end in preposition? Your direction say: Describe something you are good at? Teacher, you lie." Oh, what's a teacher to do?

When I started teaching ESL, I really didn't know much more beyond the prescriptive. Honestly, I didn't know there was such a thing as the descriptive. I didn't think much about it because I just "spoke" English, I quit thinking about grammar in 6th grade. I thought, "I speak, spoke, have spoken, and will continue to speak it well. Teaching this will be easy." Wrong. The first thing an ESL teacher needs to know is: What is descriptive and prescriptive grammar, and how he/she is going to explain the variations in it when a student asks the type of question I just described?

I also think that there are two types of Standard English: American Standard English and British Standard English, but I think that wherever you are -- Standard English is business English. It is what you hear on the news (spoken -- including dialect), and it is how we read it in newspapers, books, and magazines. Those who argue that the standard cannot be defined, I think are those who just choose not to learn the formal rules of English grammar. I only differentiate between the English and British because the two vary in word choice and in the prescriptive rules. For example, in the U.S., we no longer have to know the rule for "whom." We just say, use "who," however, not in England. They use "whom" -- always, even in rock-n-roll.

Studying grammar gives the speaker control of how he/she shapes words and provides an understanding of how language works. Here are some examples of why I think it is important to know gramar: First, I will use my husband as an example. It is pretty funny (or sad), but he has absolutely no concept of the rules of grammar. We both grew up as bilinguals with a different L1 language; however, we went to two different schools. My school focused on teaching grammar, and his did not. He is 36-years-old and has absolutely no idea how to use the past participle. "I should have came." Modals? Forget it. For the longest time, he thought that "should have" was actually "should of." Crazy!

Next, the active and passive voice -- people should know why we use them and how to use each one. We use it to emphasize the subject, especially in news reporting. Think how differently the focus of the the articles would be if the subjects were different: Five Canadians blew up the Eifel Tower, or The Eifel Tower was blown up by five Canadians. It is important to understand why these sentences are structured this way.

I teach at ELS Language Centers here at MTSU. There are pluses and minuses working for a coporation. One of the pluses is that they are dedicated to the teaching of grammar. ELS uses the direct method approach, and students study academic English 6 hours a day Monday - Friday. My favorite class to teach is Structure and Speaking (SSP). No matter what level the student, he/she always takes SSP for 2 hours a day. The objective for all SSP classes is mastery of grammar. Language acquisition is demonstrated through utilization of spoken and written grammar.

I use both inductive and deductive method in my teaching. I always begin the class by demonstrating the grammar point and following it by some type of listening or visual exercise. For example, if I am teaching the past progressive, I might have them listen to the Tennessee Waltz. "I was dancing with my darlin' ... " After that, I focus on the grammar point through direct instruction. I write and demonstrate some examples and explain the method behind it. I then ask students to individually use of the grammar by providing them with some type of prompt. I normally don't have them raise hands. I just pick on them, and they know this. Therefore, they are usually keeping up. When I am confident they have good command of the grammar point, I finish the lesson with some type of group work. I like to use role play, and the students seem to enjoy it, too.

I think it's really important to teach grammar when teaching ESL. I know that sometimes the rules seem too overwhelming and confusing to the students, especially when they're ready to start talking. Often times, grammar seems like a big road block for them and busts their confidence when they get it wrong; however, with persistence and dedication, they always overcome it. Grammar is essential for proficiency and fluency. Otherwise, their language just becomes fossilized, and they will forever be making the same mistakes.