Job Discussion Forums

[Sadken]

Hi,

I was raised in the UK and, as a result, my English education involved the briefest concentration (2 lessons perhaps) on grammatical terms. Somehow I find myself with decent grammar skills but little knowledge of what to call them. How much of a disadvantage has their education proven to be for anyone from the UK and how easy is it to adapt or pick up at this late stage?

[ls650]

That doesn't sound that much different from other English-speaking countries. If you have good English skills but don't know the mechanics of grammar, don't worry - you'll learn quickly!
The secret is to plan your lessons carefully and be prepared for the questions the students are likely to ask. If you're teaching, say, present perfect tense, you prepare for that grammar point. If a student should ask about something you're not prepared to answer, it's perfectly okay to say "We'll discuss that next class."

[Sadken]

Thanks,

I had hoped that that might be the case. I am currently searching for jobs and teaching myself the names of the rules I have lived by my entire life.

[Afra]

Why don't you get some training to help you teach grammar? A CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL, for example.

[lajzar]

[Roger]

[Chris_Crossley]

Roger wrote:

[Snoopy]

I am old enough to have learned English grammar for the 11-plus, followed by Latin and French at secondary school. Ah, les beaux jours d'antan!

[Will.]

This is not an uncommon occurence Sadken. I too was one of those poor saps, who having passed their 11+, went to the'grammar school' and learnt sod all about grammar. It was not until uni that I fully gained an understanding of it. Taught secondary, then took the CELTA and realised I hadn't learnt as much as I thought I had.
Of use to you may be the book 'About language' by Scott Thornbury.
I am sure others will recomend books that may also be of use to you.

[jojo_rock]

Don't know if this is true or not but someone once told me that English people are able to communicate better because they don't concentrate on the grammar rules. In some ways not knowing can be better. I now find myself annalysing things grammatically whenI read books... or listening to all the mistakes that people make when they speak.

I've been teaching english for a year ago and I have to admit a year ago my grammar knowledge was very limited. I didn't learn much about grammar from my TEFL course I learned more through teaching. Unfortunately my students would have suffered with my lack of knowledge that first year but now I have no problems. And now I get to laugh at all the wonderful efl teacher jokes!

Don't worry too much about not knowing now. It'll come.

[Deborann]

In almost any situation living somewhere where you not born or brought up is a disadvantage - you don't know the most basic rules of life in a new place.

Grammar teaching is very secondary to working with students from a different culture. Knowing those rules makes us feel more powerful, but does not provide us with tools for teaching to a different mindset.

Know your students then figure out if they need grammar rules. Most Chinese students of English will know more grammar rules than you will ever have heard of!!

[dandan]

Don't worry. Teaching methodology, practical classrom skills and the ability to establish rapport with your students will have a far more significant effect on your teaching than your knowledge of grammar.

Just buy a grammar book (eg. Swan, Murphy etc.) and learn how to use it. You can look up a grammar point 5 minutes before the lesson if you need to clarify it, if you need to look up how to teach 5 minutes before the lesson that's when you're in trouble.

[Ki]

There has been some great advice said here. Myself a victim of a similar native English education, I had the same problem 18 months ago. I couldn't even tell a noun from a verb. I bought a very simple book and taught myself. There are also a number of good websites and tests to do on the internet to learn and practice.

It is useful to know the basics if only for yourself. It really doesn't take that long to learn, at least for the basics. As was already mentioned, learning a language is a great way to learn about English.
Ki.

[once again]

I am in total agreement with Dandan on this. After a while of self study and interest, the knowledge will come; and then a refresher of the points to be taught before hand will be fine. There is an awful lot to remember, and for even the most seasoned teacher a refresher "reading" is the best way to go.

[vre]

Same. I knew verb, adjective, noun. That's it. Did a CELTA and on it I had to do a presentation about non-defining relative clauses. I did it and by the end of the presentation, I still didn't know what a n.d relative was. So don't expect CELTA to give too much grammar awareness, or DELTA as I remember.

I was thrown in the deep end in my first EFL job in Greece. I had to teach proficiency grammar and be expected to trouble shoot spontaneously when students had qs. It frightened the life out of me BUT, it made me learn 'grammar' FAST.

Learning 'grammar' is really satisfying as an EFL teacher. It makes you value the science and art of the language and gives you an excellent ability to look at students' problems very explicitly and immediately. BUT, although many EFL schools around the world like the old grammar translation method and insist on teaching grammar as if it were isolated from the rest of the whole package of English, it is always better to encourage your students to learn grammar through communication and skills. One last thing, how many 'native speakers' are accurate in their use of English?

Northern English 'I've ate my dinner' ' I've took the dog for a walk' (it has taken me a while to iron out that one myself!)

Signs 'Accomodation'

EFL teachers 'GRAMMER'

Kids 'I'm not doing nothing'.

And how much does it matter? I work with fine 'non- natives' and they make many mistakes but they teach students what needs to be learned, and I must say are equally or much better qualified than me.


I want to go on to PRON but I think I've said enough