Grammar as a Foundation for Skyscrapers
Nowadays, an increasing amount of people have taken on a liking on English for various purposes, thus causing heated discussion about learning English, grammar learning especially. Some contend that we shouldn't learn grammar. While others attach great importance to English grammar.
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Personally speaking, English grammar is of great essence like the foundation for the skyscrapers. Everyone who wants to master a language must have a solid grammar foundation.
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hóng Méi Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Grammar as a foundation
Firstly, nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards, so for English learners, they need to grasp some basic grammatical rules. From the perspective of an English teacher, I met myriads of English beginners who know nothing about English. And they are often troubled by English study and have no way to start. Thus It's necessary for them to understand some basic rules of English grammar and teachers should equip them with some grammatical exercises, and productive speaking exercises. Gradually they can distinguish right from wrong or even correct themselves. Until they lay a solid foundation of English grammar can they construct a clear structure of English as a foreign language? Finally, they will foster their confidence in learning English well. Also, I met loads of some intermediate and advanced English learners who can speak English fluently, but you can't expect too much on their accuracy. Judging from their class performance, I can know the grammar of the students is quite poor and weak. No matter how fluently they can speak English, they can't avoid the grammatical mistakes which could cause any misunderstandings among native and non-native speakers. At this stage, teachers should correct and add language points occasionally by reinforcing and familiarizing students with grammatical rules of higher levels. Some intermediate and advanced learners know some scattered grammatical rules, but deficient in a systematic structure. So what matters for the advanced learners is realizing the disadvantages and further reinforcing the grammar foundation.
Also Read: What does TEFL mean?
Grammar as a game
Secondly, Life is a game, and the winners are those who know the rules. It's the same case with English learning. And studying grammar is a good beginning. From the perspective of an English teacher who also has been learning English for over ten years. I have gained a lot of English learning experience during the journey. We can rate the whole grammar structure and divide it into three levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced which adjust to students' ability levels. After they have a basic mastery of grammar, they can further boost their receptive skills such as listening and reading, their productive skills such as speaking and writing. Thus learning grammar can, to the greatest degree, facilitate them to success in English.
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In conclusion, learning grammar is of great necessity to both English beginners and intermediate and advanced learners. A teacher should attach great importance to grammar teaching and try to use the scientific and effective methodology in teaching. To be honest, however, grammar learning is some kind of dull and boring, so how to activate students' interests, create vivid and ease atmosphere, and boost students' motivation becomes one of the major concerns. Thus we English teachers need to consistently put into teaching practice, and explore more scientific methods.
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