Dear FLE 404 members,
In this assignment, as a prospective English teacher, you need to describe your approach to teaching English grammar and teaching language skills (i.e., how you prefer to present grammar points, how you prefer to teach language skills, your difficulties in teaching grammar points and language skills while teaching English,your students' difficulties in learning grammar and skills). Please give examples from your experiences in the practice teaching schools.
While teaching grammar, I did not have any problems and I applied implicit teaching rules. After they get the point I used explicit way to go over the rules. This also helped the ones who could not understand at the first time. I plan to apply this in the following years. I did not have any other problems while teaching other skills too. I am always correcting their pronunciation mistakes while they are speaking, pronunciation needs immediate correction. I always encouraged them to speak.
ReplyDeleteI prefer inductive grammar teaching. I think that language learning should be seen as a natural process similar to acquiring the language. So, students don’t need to deal with formulas. The teacher should provide learners with the examples of usage and guide them to explore the borders of the language themselves. In this technique, there is less risk of forgetting because students actively take part in the learning process.
ReplyDeleteWhile teaching language skills, the teacher should create a friendly and enjoyable environment in which students enjoy the language. Lessons should be interactive. There should be continuous interaction between the teacher and the students, and among students, as well. Skills like reading, writing, etc. should be integrated with other skills like speaking and listening. The teacher should prepare the lesson taking “multiple intelligence” into consideration. His/her lesson should appeal to most of the intelligences because each student may have a different intelligence. S/he should have the intention to address this diversity in the class.
first of all, ı can say that unfortunately ı don't like teaching grammar, but ı am aware of the fact that ı have to teach grammar, it is an indispensable part of the language. ı prefer inductive teaching always. ı hate lessons in which deductive teaching is used. ı prefer to teach grammar in an integrated way. ın addition, ı think grammar should definitely be given in a context to make the learning more meaningful. ı taught three grammar lessons. in one of them ı used listening as a skill, and ı give the grammat structure through the lyrics of the song. in my second teaching, ı used a game to practice their previos learning instead of just giving them handout and fill in the blank activity. ın my third activity, ı used powerpoint presentation, ı created a context and ı gave the grammar point in a given context. however, ı realized that students were not familiar with inductive learning. especially in state schools, grammar is given mostly deductively and students expect me to give rules directly as well. however, ı suppose they can get used to inductive teaching as time passes and as they are ecposed to it more. so, ı am still in favor of inductive teaching.
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ReplyDeleteLike most of English teachers, I prefer inductive grammar teaching because it is much more efficient for the students to use the language by obeying the grammatical points. They get the language in a context and learn which grammar rules will be used in some situations, rather, they get the language involving in it directly. However, I believe that at the end of the lesson, it is necessary to give some points explicitly because some students learn them in this way and also it enables them to reinforce their knowledge about the grammatical point. As for the skills, I think they should be given in a perfect integration generally because to teach the language in a right way and to enable them to be competent on the all skills of the language, we should present them integrated.
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ReplyDeleteSince in all of my teachings, I failed to teach through inductive teaching, I don’t think that it is a very good technique. Maybe it can be a better option to combine inductive and deductive teaching. Since the students are not used to inductive teaching, they can’t learn with it. So pure inductive doesn’t work at least in my class it didn’t work :(( I support giving grammar and the vocabulary in context because it requires memorization when especially the vocabulary is given in isolation. Also when it is not taught in context, the students’ learning is not a long lasting one. As to teaching the skills, they should be taught in an integrated way in order for students to develop themselves multi-dimensionally instead of learning only one skill. Besides, when the class is only on reading, the students get bored and they don’t participate, but when it is integrated with the other skills they don’t get bored.
ReplyDeleteActually, I mostly had to teach grammar in my teachings at this semester. At the beginning of the term, I was afraid of teaching grammar because we did not receive so much information about it before. In my teachings, I tried to use both deductive and inductive methods. I generally started with a reading passage and tried to take students’ attention to the structure. Then, I presented them with the rules and we made some controlled, guided and freer exercises with them. In these exercises, I tried to integrate all the skills and I also made use of games in which students have fun. I did not encounter any major problem in my grammar teaching. Thus, I am now more confident that I can teach grammar to students in an enjoyable and effective way.
ReplyDeleteI must say that we have taught in our methodological courses that grammar can be disregarded in the classroom environment. I disagree with this notion . Firstly, in our educational system, we have achievement tests to measure our students’ learning and placement test like SBS, LYS and these exams includes grammar points if they are related to the language. In that sense, we must teach grammar in the classroom. Also, I believe that deductive teaching is sometimes more beneficial rather than the inductive one. Students get the gist of the point as soon as possible even if they are not involved in discovery learning. For instance, I have learned German grammar inductively,now, I can understand and read in German, but I cannot produce, so I can say that we should combine both of these techniques. Also, teaching language skills is the other perspective of teaching a foreign language. I think that as teachers, we should integrate grammar in the skills and we should create a balance between them.
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to rana:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the point that we can teach grammar in an enjoyable way by integrating it to other skills. In this way, students both enjoy the lesson and acquire the basic points.
I believe the effectiveness of inductive teaching while teaching grammar. I generally follow this strategy; Through a reading passage I enable my students to see the target structuresin a meaningful contex. I make them realize those unfamiliar structures to them. Then I explain those structures briefly b using the examples from the passage and give enough time to the students to enable them to internalize the rules. When I feel that they are redy to produce, I provide them wit meaningful contexts in which they can use those target structures. I create those contexts throgh games or various speaking, listening and writing activities.
ReplyDeleteI also follow the strategy of inductive teaching while teaching grammar in order for students to learn more effectively. For example, I give a reading passage. Students get familiar with the structure via the comprehensible reading text. I draw students’ attention to the example sentences in the reading passage which includes the grammar structure. Students try to understand or guess what the grammar structure means in the sentence from the context. I have learnt from my experience that giving rules explicitly after that step is necessary for most students, so they can reinforce their knowledge of the related grammar structure. Then I give places to the practices about grammar structure for the students. Moreover, I give opportunity for the students to produce something by using the learned grammar structure if they are ready for production. In all those stage I try to integrate the lesson with other skills.
ReplyDeleteIt is all the time said that grammar is haphazard to teach or to concentrate in classroom environments. However as Henry Widdowson (1990) suggests in his paper grammar is a “liberating force” which stands for liberating the language user from an over- dependency on lexis (knowledge of words in a language) and context for the expression of meaning. It is quite prominent that without grammar language learner stays out of expressing what he thinks or feels authentically but is forced to rely exclusively on lexis and immediate context, combined with gestures, intonation, other non- verbal features. Example, one learning Italian language without knowing the difference between “Indicativo” and “Congiuntivo” cannot get the message across truly- in senses of possibilities or facts. The other thing is if he wants to sound polite, without knowing “Condizionale”, it does not seem feasible that he can get by on in notional terms. Also, the term “learning grammar by time” is not so valid that it is not very likely to see the conjugation of the words (verbs) in contextual situations (How can one reach the idea that ‘abbia’ is actually the verb form of ‘avere’. For this reason, grammar is at the service of the language user- that is, a focus on specific grammatical forms arising in contexts of language use as an essential ingredient to raise the ultimate level of attainment (Long op. cit: 184). However, these all don’t necessarily mean that we have to do our class-works grammar- oriented, on the contrary it should be presenting the lexis and expecting the students take charge of slotting grammar into lexis the way the children do while acquiring the first language moving from lexical items to the gradual deployment of morphemes and function words. Another point which is worth our attention is that by teaching grammar, although it (deductive grammar teaching) may seem teacher- fronted, the teachers meet adult students’ expectations of classroom learning, which is really important in terms of catching their full concentration on the activities which they seem worthy.
ReplyDeleteIn the 21st century, it is an absolute fact that instead of sticking to only one approach in foreign language teaching, it is much more reasonable to adapt eclecticism as a way of teaching. In order to do that, a teacher should know all the approaches and techniques very well and also how to use the most appropriate one for the current occasion. For this reason I cannot say that there is a fixed approach that I’ll apply in my classes; however, the starting point would probably be Suggestopedia.” In order to learn a new language in an easy way, people shouldn’t take the learning process as a duty or assignment to be done. In a language class, the learning environment should be as relaxing as possible; all the students should feel easy, ready and eager to learn a new language. To provide this stress-free atmosphere, I can apply to teachings of Suggestopedia for the beginning.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, a language learning environment should definitely be interactive. A language class has to be learner centered, since no language can be learnt without being actively involved. In this sense, in order to improve each language skill, the learners should be active throughout the lesson. A teacher should be well prepared before each lesson to draw learner’s attention and provide them with necessary materials such as audio-visuals, worksheets,(etc.). The teacher can manage to get
students into the lesson only by presenting them interesting and useful materials and only in this way, a real and permanent learning can be achieved. At that point, I believe that I’ll always be well equipped and ready for teaching.
Grammar.. the most uncertain issue in ELT.. Thousands of teaching styles, approaches, hypothesis.. Especially this term, I was in cahoots with teaching grammar to young learners. My first attempts to teach it in inductive way had failed honestly because of lack of experience I suppose. However, I didn't give up and continued to apply this way of teaching for experience regardless of the fact that I could fail again. I saw that the more prepared the teacher is for even the simplest grammar topic the easier his/her job becomes. A teacher who are decisive about applying inductive way ought to be prepared for every kind of questions directed by students.Visual and audial aids can be used for illustrating and error fixing.
ReplyDeleteI state that ı am planning to get away from deductive way and I see it as a non-beneficial nad easy way to teach.
Grammar teaching is an important part of teaching a language, because language cannot be considered apart from its structure. Grammar should be well integrated into the lesson so that it can be taught inductively. As a prospective teacher, who believes in the effectiveness of inductive grammar instruction, I can say that teaching grammar is one of the hardest topics to be taught. The students' ages and their learning styles play an important role while planning about the grammar teaching. The teacher should take the learners' needs and learning styles into consideration for a successful grammar instruction. Otherwise, the learners may feel that they don't learn anything concerning grammar.
ReplyDeleteAlthough mentos teachers do not want us to teach grammar implicitly. No one can make me write down all the rules of the grammar topic on the board and say "hey guys! see it is our new topic, type-1 bla bla." I'm not of this kind,which doesnt work at all. You can see some piece of success with explicit grammar teaching, but this is not over-lasting compared to the one I prefer, implicit grammar. However, I'm not discussing the ineffectiveness of deductive grammari of course it has some strengths if only it is used as a helper for inductive one.
ReplyDeleteHello Everybody,
ReplyDeleteFor me a language cannot be separated from its culture. By using cultural and daily contexts, learners can acquire the language in a meaningful way. By this way, learners can understand why people act in certain ways by using a specific language; as a result they would not have to memorize the foreign language and its rules like a parrot.
Other than culture, teaching the language should be go hand in hand with all the four language skills. Starting with the receptive skills; namely listening and reading, equal attention should be paid to the skills during the courses. In this manner, I do not mean grammar can be disregarded; however, I support that without memorizing the structures in a foreign language, that language can be learned. Learners can acquire the rules peripherally by getting familiar with cultural contexts. Ample amount of meaningful language should be provided to learners to prepare them producing the language (to speak or to write). Of course, I would take time to internalize the language; however, the learners’ motivation can be kept at maximum by making them to enjoy what they try to learn.
SB