Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Voyeur]

Like most English speakers, I learned very little formal grammar growing up. I first started teaching ESL in Korea in 2003 and didn't need to know grammar for my first two years. Then I moved over to Chungdahm Learning where grammar is not a focus, and the bulk of the grammar that is taught is taught online, and not by the English instructors.

I taught at Chungdahm for six years, and their approach works quite well within their paradigm. Those with weaker English are typically younger children, who are linguistic sponges and can learn quite rapidly without being exposed to much formal grammar. The older students, who have lost some of their linguistic plasticity, tend to already have decent English and acquired a critical mass of grammar when they were younger and able to learn it indirectly.

Since leaving Chungdahm, I have taught more globally to a wider variety of students. With lower-level adult students in particular, I am finding that you can't just 'immerse' the student and have them pick up grammar on the fly. There is a need for learning rules and guidelines (even when, as is typical with English, the 'rules' have plenty of exceptions). It isn't enough for a teacher to have a good ear for grammar, or even to have a vague understanding of the rules. He needs to know 'teachable grammar'. When a student asks me "Why isn't it 'I will work until it will be 5 O'clock'", you can't even tell him that the "until" changes the tense to simple present even though it is a future event. You have to have a mini-lesson about time clauses ready.

More and more I am finding that serious students think ESL teachers who don't have this level of facility with grammar are basically jokes--especially if they have taught for ten years. They basically ask themselves what the hell that teacher has been doing over the years, and feel that if the teacher can't be bothered to engage in even the lowest levels of self-improvement in their avowed profession, then how can they be trusted to teach others.

So now that I am done with the self-flagellation, can anyone recommend some books and material that I could use to get my grammar up to snuff? I realize this will take a lot of study, but it seems like it needs to be done.

[some waygug-in]

It depends what you mean by grammar.

I found Murphy's "Grammar in Use" to be all I needed.

It works with all kinds of sentence structures and verb tenses etc, without

getting too technical.

On the other hand,

some students will expect you do break down sentences and tell them

what function each word has. I don't find that kind of grammar useful

for language learning or teaching, but if students want it then you have

to be able to do that kind of thing. Maybe someone else could

recommend a book or some resources that do that.


Some students will try and trip you up with obscure grammar questions

just to make you look bad and or to make themselves seem smart.

You'll have to learn how to deal with those kinds of questions as well.

[diver]

Excellent Reference Books
*"Practical English Usage" Swan, M.
*"Cambridge Grammar of English" McCarthy, C (comes with digital version on disc)

Language Awareness/Self-Study
*"About Language" Thornbury, S (excellent self-help book)
"Beyond the Sentence" Thornbury, S (more about discourse analysis, but helpful)

Other Good Books
"How English Works" Swan and Walters
"A Concise Grammar for English Teachers" Penston, T

Teaching Grammar
*"Teaching English Grammar" Scrivener, J

Teaching in General
*"Learning Teaching" Scrivener, J (not a grammar teaching book per se, but discusses how you might prepare and present a grammar lesson effectively)
Online version: http://www.scribd.com/doc/55427695/Learning-Teaching-by-James-Scrivener

Apps for Android
"The Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation"
"The Oxford A-Z of English Usage"


* - my personal "must haves" books (IMHO)

1. Breaking down every word in a sentence - I don't do that. I usually focus on the specific form for that lesson.

2. "Stump the Teacher" questions. If it's within the context of the lesson I have planned, I'll address it (a good lesson plan should account for some of those questions - that comes with experience also). If it is outside the scope of the lesson, I tell them "Sorry. That's not what we are doing today. You can see me in the office if you want to discuss it."