Korean Job Discussion Forums

vaticanhotline

I've been asked to write an article about teaching English for the school newspaper, and I want to make the point that studying grammar inhibits a student's ability to speak. I actually read this in a journal some time ago, but I've lost the reference, because it was ages ago and I didn't know that I might actually need it. Does anyone know of a quotation that says much the same thing?

frankly speaking · Joined: 23 Oct 2005

I don't think that you will find many credible sources that can defend that statement. It isn't necessarily accurate. Learning grammar doesn't ever inhibit communication. However, if one only focuses on grammar and doesn't develop other language skills like speaking, then yes it would diminish those other language skills.

I think that you are drawing yourself into a corner that you cannot get out of if you start this argument. You need to be very clear on what you are writing about.

It seems to me that they are having you write about something that you know very little about. It never ceases to amaze me how little most teachers in Korea actually know about linguistics or second language learning. They all have opinions but never any concrete knowledge.

I suggest that you do a little more research about linguistics before you make grandiose statements in a printed school journal.

vaticanhotline · Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 6:55 am Post subject:

Not to brag or anything, but I have a Masters in English, and I was halfway through a Ph.D in English before I came out here. I read that statement (or at least something to that effect), in an academic journal. I'm also trying to draw a parallel between language learning back home (Ireland) and here. In Ireland, in the study of Gaelic, priority is given to studying grammar rather than learning to speak the language. Because of this, to my mind at least, less than 10% of the population can speak their native language. I understand that there are a lot of people who work here that have no idea about anything to do with ESL or even English in general, but I'm not one of these people.

That said, I understand what you're saying and I appreciate that I'll have to make clear that there is a distinction between focusing only on learning grammar and learning both grammar and speech.

languistic · Joined: 25 Nov 2009

Steve_Rogers2008 · Joined: 22 Mar 2010

wouldn't the master cover this matter in brief?

"Do... or do not.... there is no try." Confused

Master Yoda.... a genius in any system... Shocked

frankly speaking · Joined: 23 Oct 2005

Some may argue that fluency of spoken language should be the emphasis above accuracy of the spoken language at first. That if a student focuses too much on accuracy, they will not develop their fluency and thus not have natural flow to their words.

Younger learners especially should be forgiven and mostly ignored when they don't use the correct grammar form. They will naturally correct themselves over time if they hear enough proper spoken language.

OP, if your studies personal or formal included second language acquisition, linguistic approaches and methodologies to teaching, then I would probably give you more credit, but your unrelated degree doesn't impress me much. Studying literary criticism, creative writing and the like doesn't prepare you to be an EFL teacher. Yes, you might have a good grasp of your language and have good writing skills, but that doesn't translate to being able to explain to non English speakers how to use and learn the language.

I really don't think that you know a lot about EFL. I really suggest that you do a lot more research and be very accurate before pissing down the backs of all your co-workers who teach grammar. You will not be fully appreciated by the staff if you don't have very accurate findings. Your opinions and opinions of others is not valid research.

HapKi · Joined: 10 Dec 2004 Location: TALL BUILDING-SEOUL

vaticanhotline · Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 6:05 am Post subject:

Thanks Hapki.

jugbandjames · Joined: 15 Feb 2010

I don't know that studying grammar inhibits a student's ability to speak. There has been research into correcting grammatical errors in speech, and they found that correcting a language learner's errors can inhibit language acquisition. It's better to show them the correct way to form a sentence rather than tell them.

Take these two conversations, for instance:

Child: It was the most tastiest birthday cake ever!
Adult: No, it was the tastiest birthday cake.

or

Child: It was the most tastiest birthday cake ever!
Adult: Oh, was it tastier than the one we had last year? Was it the tastiest you've ever had?

Basically, the studies showed that children of parents who used the first method of correction acquire English more slowly than children of parents who used the second method. My explanation for this is that humans didn't evolve to learn English in a classroom. We evolved to learn the rules based on the data we perceive.

Anyways, if that's the kind of thing you were looking for, I can look up more details on the study.

vaticanhotline · Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 5:47 pm Post subject:

That's interesting dude. I'm not sure that I'll be able to go into such fine detail in my article, but if you can spare the time, I wouldn't mind a look at anything you know about that. As has been pointed out to me, my previous studies are painfully inadequate for teaching English as a second language.