Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[mkeskus]

Hello to everbody,
For one of my tasks I am really having touble in answering. I really dont understand the question in teaching grammar in a formal mannar? I was wondering if someone can help me with this question. The question is as below. Thank you in advance....


[b][b]" Knowing a language is not just a matter of having grammatical 'competence' ........ We have seen that we also need to add communicative competence - that is the understanding of what language is appropriate within certain situations."
'The Practice of English Language Teaching' Harmer

Is there any place for teaching grammar in a formal manner? Give reasons for your answer.[/b]

[CP]

I suggest you write your answer, post it here, and see if anyone has suggestions for improvement.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[pugachevV]

The question says that it's not enough just to know the correct grammar - you have to be able to explain to your students what is the correct language to use in some situations.

[mkeskus]

Hi Again,

Thank you for your replies. Below is my answer to the questıon, but it is not enough. I need to write more...I need examples. If someone could help me I would really appreciate it.thank you ın advance...



Teaching grammar is an important part of language teaching. I think teaching grammar only in a formal manner is not enough for the students to improve their english. At first stage it is necessary because grammar is the basic basis of learning a language. For example if we don't know the tenses, it will be impossible to make a sentence. It will be hard to communicate. Another example is the grammar of words. Tables showing : -walk, walks, walked, and boy, boys, boy's, boys' etc. We need to learn the rules of the language and this is only taught in formal manner. But when we add communicative competence with it learning the language is more efficient.



There is 2 views of teaching grammar in a formal manner.

For some this means the teacher lecturing about grammar or preparing the students for a test like TOEFL; for others perhaps it evokes an image of the teacher answering learners' questions about grammar or carrying out a correction activity. Such perspectives entail too narrow a view of 'formal grammar instuction'.