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Issues of Grammar Teaching and Assessment
Issues of Grammar Teaching and Assessment
Issues of Grammar Teaching and Assessment
“Why do we have to learn this? When am I ever going to need this in life? This is so B-O-R-I-N-G!”
Why should we teach grammar?
• If you’ve ever taught grammar, you may be familiar with complaints like
these.
• It’s not only students who often dislike grammar lessons, though. Some
teachers question it, and some parents and administrators think it’s an
outdated practice.
• If you’ve encountered resistance in your English teaching experience, you
may feel like teaching grammar is fighting an uphill battle.
Why should we teach grammar?
• I always begin with a pre-test. It features questions that cover all grammatical concepts I plan to teach
throughout the year. Based on the results of the pre-test, I know what I can go through quickly and what needs
more focused instruction. First semester is all about the building blocks – establishing a firm foundation that
can be built upon second semester.
• The 8 parts of speech are the basics of our language, so if students need a refresher, I begin there.
• Students have to understand nouns, verbs, and modifiers to be able to identify the subject
and verb of a sentence as well as to divide a sentence in two: complete subject and
complete predicate. I cover direct objects, indirect objects, and subject complements
next because infinitives and gerunds can function as some of these elements.
• At this point, I only cover coordinating conjunctions with the 8 parts of speech because
the other conjunctions rely upon an understanding of more complex grammar concepts.
Two main issues in teaching grammar.
• Unfortunately, we often deal with many classes that do not conform the
pedagogical norm of 20-25 students per classroom. In many parts of the
world teachers may have a class size range from 30 students to over 130.
• This, of course brings benefits and challenges.
The benefits
• Often teachers will subconsciously design lessons that favor their dominant
learning style. Therefore it is important to remember to cater to an assortment
of learning styles.
Reference
• https://www.readingandwritinghaven.com/the-nerdiest-of-confessions-why-
we-teach-grammar-and-you-should-too/
• https://www.readingandwritinghaven.com/how-to-sequence-grammar-
instruction/
• https://www.slideshare.net/juliovangel/issues-in-teaching-grammar