TEACHING OF GRAMMAR

IN THE PRIMARY ESL CLASSROOM

WEEK 1
4th. January 2017
Rozanna Noraini Albakri

What is
Grammar?
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Grammar is the structural foundation of our ability to

express ourselves. The more we are aware of how it

works, the more we can monitor the meaning and
effectiveness of the way we and others use
language. It can help foster precision, detect
ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression
available in English. And it can help everyone--not
only teachers of English, but teachers of anything,
for all teaching is ultimately a matter of getting to
grips with meaning.
(David Crystal, "In Word and Deed," TES Teacher,
April 30, 2004)
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Definition of GRAMMAR
The study of how words and their component parts

combine to form sentences.

The system of rules implicit in a language, viewed
as a mechanism for generating all sentences
possible in that language.
The study of the classes of words, their inflections,
and their functions and relations in the sentence.

Definition of GRAMMAR
A

system of rules that defines

the grammatical structure of a language
The study of how words and their component
parts combine to form sentences.
A set of rules and examples dealing with
the syntax and word structures (morphology) of a
language. Adjective: grammatical.

What is grammar?
The grammar of a language is
concerned with the forms of words
and how they are arranged to
enable its users to express
meaning.
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Grammar is
the conventional way in which the

users of the language arrange their words.

Without grammar, the message may be
misunderstood.
necessary, not for its own sake; but for
talking about the language, e.g. to explain
an error, or to describe a certain style.
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Grammar is not
defined by mere knowledge of

grammar rules
all there is to learning a language.

In truth, grammar rules are only

aids to learning, not the object
of learning.
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Rules, like maps, are useful for

negotiating the terrain; they
should not be mistaken for the
terrain itself. And they are only
helpful in so far as they do help us
negotiate the terrain.
(Alan Maley)

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Descriptive Grammar
and
Prescriptive Grammar
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Descriptive Grammar
(definition #1) refers to the structure of a

language as it is actually used by speakers and

writers.
Descriptive grammarians generally advise us not
to be overly concerned with matters of
correctness: language, they say, isn't good or
bad; it simply is.
For instance, a discussion of the Basic Parts of
Speech is primarily descriptive.
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Prescriptive Grammar
(definition

#2) refers to the structure of a

language as certain people think it should be
used.
Prescriptive grammarians prefer giving practical
advice about using language: straightforward
rules to help us avoid making errors. The rules
may be over-simplified at times, but they are
meant to keep us out of trouble--the kind of
trouble that may distract or even confuse our
readers.
A lesson on Correcting Errors in Subject-Verb
Agreement is obviously prescriptive.

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Basic distinction between descriptive

grammar and prescriptive grammar
Both kinds of grammar are concerned with rules--

but in different ways.

Specialists in descriptive grammar (called linguists)
study the rules or patterns that underlie our use of
words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.
On the other hand, prescriptive grammarians (such
as most editors and teachers) lay out rules about
what they believe to be the correct or incorrect
use of language.
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Grammatical Meaning
Meaning that is conveyed by word order and

other grammatical signals.

Linguists distinguish grammatical meaning

from lexical meaning (or denotation) - the

dictionary meaning of an individual word.

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Words grouped together randomly have little

meaning on their own, unless it occurs accidentally.

For example, each of the following words has
lexical meaning at the word level, as is shown in a
dictionary, but they convey no grammatical meaning
as a group:
[without grammatical meaning]
Lights the leap him before the down hill purple.
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However when a special order is given to these

words, grammatical meaning is created because

of the relationships they have to one another.
[with grammatical meaning]
The purple lights leap down the hill before him.
(Bernard O'Dwyer, Modern English Structures: Form, Function and
Position. Broadview Press, 2006)

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Different forms of the same lexeme will generally

(though not necessarily) differ in meaning

They will share the same lexical meaning (or
meanings) but differ in respect of their grammatical
meaning
E.g. the difference between singular and plural
forms of a noun of a particular subclass
or, the difference between the past, present and
future forms of verbs, is semantically relevant: it
affects sentence-meaning.
The meaning of a sentence . . . is determined partly
by the meaning of the words (i.e., lexemes) of which
it is composed and partly by its grammatical
meaning.

(John Lyons, Linguistic Semantics: An Introduction.

Cambridge University Press, 1996)
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Fluency vs Accuracy
There are two types of language learner:
The first type:
gets really worried about making errors or mistakes.
thinks about everything that they say carefully.
sometimes, if they start to say something, and then
realize they have made a mistake, they will stop and
correct that mistake, maybe returning to the beginning of
the sentence.
might pause between each word, contemplating what the
right word or phrase is before they say it.
For these learners, generally, their accuracy is high, but
their fluency is low.
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The second type:

doesnt really care about making mistakes or errors.
have an idea in their head of what they want to
communicate, and they say it with whatever words and
language feel the most natural.
makes frequent mistakes, sometimes in every sentence!
their grammar can be a mixture of English and their
native language.
they either dont know or dont care if they are making
errors or mistakes.
These learners have high fluency, but low accuracy.

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Accuracy
Accuracy is the ability to produce correct sentences using

correct grammar and vocabulary.

Accuracy is relative. A child in early primary isn't capable of
the same level of accuracy as an adult.
Teachers who concentrate on accuracy help their students
to produce grammatically correct written and spoken
English.
Typical accuracy activities are:
grammar presentations, gap-fill exercises, frame dialogues.

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Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read, speak, or write easily,

smoothly, and expressively. In other words, the speaker can

read, understand and respond in a language clearly and
concisely while relating meaning and context.
Fluency generally increases as learners progress from
beginning to advanced readers and writers.
Language teachers who concentrate on fluency help their
students to express themselves in fluent English. They pay
more attention to meaning and context and are less
concerned with grammatical errors.
Typical fluency activities are: role plays, speeches,
communicative activities, games.
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Which one is more

important for you as
a language learner
fluency or accuracy?
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The answer depends on what kind of learner you are.

If you focus too much on accuracy, and therefore

speak very slowly, you need to improve your fluency.

Speaking too slowly is bad for maintaining a
conversation.
After a few seconds of silence, the person you are
talking to starts thinking about something else.
Communication is failing, you need to speak faster.
Dont worry about making errors or mistakes most
are not serious, and dont affect communication.

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But if you focus too much on fluency, you need to

ask yourself if you are achieving your goals in

communication.
Are your mistakes and errors causing problems for
the people who listen to you?
If the answer is yes, you need to slow down and pay
more attention to what you say.
Speaking really fast, with lots of errors, is very
problematic for the people who are listening to you.

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And if you are somewhere in the middle?

Now you have to take a balanced approach.
When you are in the safe environment of a

classroom, with the support of teachers and fellowlearners, you should focus on accuracy, because
these people can help correct your mistakes and
errors.
But when you are outside the classroom when you
are at work, or socializing with friends concentrate
on communicating as fluently as possible.

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Accuracy and Fluency are two factors which can

determine the success of English language students

in the future.
Both fluency and accuracy are equally important.
At the end of the day, it depends on what your goal
is for learning English.

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Taken as a given that students' needs should always

dictate what you teach them, the question of whether

it is more important to work on accuracy or fluency in
the language classroom remains.
Many teachers believe that fluency is a goal worth
striving towards only with students who are at a fairly
advanced level.
Other teachers, strong in the belief that the learning
of a language is about communication, feel that
fluency should be the main goal in their teaching and
that it should be practiced right from the start.

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More traditional teachers give accuracy paramount

importance and test their students for accuracy and

accuracy only!
Often a rigid educational system where tests and
exams are the focus, will have students (and their
traditional teachers) believe that language accuracy
is what matters most, and giving the "correct"
answers often becomes an obsession.
Students who have been taught this way can
complete any grammar gap-fill you care to give
them, but will struggle to order a coffee in a real
English speaking situation.

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Students learning accuracy without fluency, and

vice versa, is one of the biggest threats to

successful learning and balancing accuracy and
fluency should be the aim of any English
language teacher.

So, as a teacher, what should you

focus on with the learners?

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The role of grammar in ELT

The value of grammar in foreign language

teaching has been a focus of debate for

decades, and no conclusion is in sight.
The answer to whether grammar should be
taught and to what extent grammar should be
taught depends on some variables in the
language teaching/learning context, such as
learner variables and instructional variables.

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The very mention of grammar creates a huge mental

block in the mind of a student.

Grammar can be taught first via listening and

speaking and then reading and writing. But it need

not be boring, dry, technical, and fundamentally
useless.
Maybe the way grammar is taught should change.

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Should we be teaching English

grammar in the primary school?
It is generally believed that :
Grammar teaching is less important for
children than for adults;
Grammar teaching is less important in

listening and reading than in writing.

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Grammar for Young Learners

Teaching grammar to young Learners is different to
teaching grammar to teenagers and adults.
What are the main differences?
Clear and easy to understand
Motivating and interesting
Keep vocabulary simple
Review and revise

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Some suggestions about teaching grammar

1. Teach only those rules that are simple and
2.
3.
4.

5.
6.
7.

typical.
Teach useful and important grammar points.
Teach grammar in context.
Use visible instruments such as charts, tables,
diagrams, maps, drawings, and realia to aid
understanding;
Avoid difficult grammatical terminologies as
much as possible.
Allow enough opportunities for practice.
Live with the students mistakes and errors.
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The Value of Studying

Grammar
Studying grammar may help learners become a

more effective writer.

The study of grammar all by itself will not
necessarily make learners a better writer.
But by gaining a clearer understanding of how
language works, learners should also gain
greater control over the way they shape words
into sentences and sentences into paragraphs .
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Two common Approaches

Inductive
Inductive is known as a bottom up approach.
In other words, students discovering grammar
rules while working through exercises.
For example: A reading comprehension
which includes a number of sentences
describing what a person has done up to that
period in time
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Deductive
Deductive is known as a top down
approach. This is the standard teaching
approach that has a teacher explaining rules
to the students.
For example: The present perfect is
made up of the auxiliary verb have plus the
past participle. It is used to express an
action which has begun in the past and
continues into the present moment... etc
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Metaphor on Grammar
Grammar is like the icing on the cake.
The cake is the basic foundation of
language which includes all the skills
(listening, speaking, reading and
writing) plus vocabulary.
One can have a big and tall cake but if
the icing is done untidily, it won't look
good.
The icing gives the cake its real value.
It makes the cake look delicious, even
the tiniest cupcake.
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Metaphor on Grammar
Teacher is the chef who can teach her students

how to make a good icing - the colours they can

choose and introduce them to other toppings
(cherry, candies, sugar etc.)
However, it's the students responsibilities to
decorate their own cake - whether they can be a
good writer or speaker.
They can always ask for the teachers advice
and she'll correct them on their techniques.
We have the same goal: to be able to create a
masterpiece one day.
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Conclusion
As teachers, we should endeavor to learn about

how English works, and that includes how

English grammar works, in order to be able to
explain to our students.
Teachers need to know correct grammar rules and

to effectively teach them and transmit them so that

students not only understand the rules, but also
apply them correctly.

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Tutorial Tasks
In groups discuss and present:
1.What is the place of grammar in language
teaching?
2.What is the current perspective of teaching
Grammar in English Language Education and in
the Malaysian context.
*Refer to the KSSR
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