English Language Teaching: Grammar and Learner Background

This assignment delves into the crucial aspects of English language teaching, specifically focusing on the role of grammar instruction. It explores the significance of a teacher's knowledge of both English grammar and the grammatical structures of learners' native languages. The text emphasizes the importance of innovative teaching methods to enhance student understanding and application of grammatical rules.

Running head: IMPORTANCE OF GRAMMAR IN LEARNING AND TEACHING
Importance of Grammar in Learning and Teaching
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

1IMPORTANCE OF GRAMMAR IN LEARNING AND TEACHING
The role or the utility of grammar in teaching languages has led to a lot of speculation in
the recent times. According to teachers who have been engaged with the subject for long as also
for linguists, grammar is an important part of the lesson. After the emergence of new approaches
and methods, somehow the significance of grammar was lost. In the recent times, more and more
attention is being paid to it and is being considered important.
Irrespective of the method that the teacher uses, the extent to which the teacher works on
grammar is bound to differ greatly depending on the age of the learners. The younger the student
is, the lesser is their knowledge of the explanation of grammar and exercises. It is thought that,
grammar is not that significant and hence much of attention need not be given to the teacher.
This sort of a realization is due to the age of the student. It can additionally be said however that,
the students can catch the rules of the language and make them their own much faster than in
case of adults. Despite this, there is definitely a need to explain the grammar to kids.
Answer 1:
It has been seen that the learner’s minds can control the grammar for the people; the
teachers are unable to perform it on their behalf. Grammar is within the mind and is a
categorization of knowledge and it is not a set of policies or structures to be memorized or to be
learnt as habits but is an active system to be built by the individual’s mind for dealing with the
different sentences which it hears and grasps. The teaching method provides the way by which
the computational system in the students mind can be formulated (Cook).
There are considerable learning and mental abilities of the adults just like the younger
ones but adult learners are considered to be in need of certain explanations specifically in certain
steps of the learning process. One reason they need to attain such a level of accuracy is due to the

2IMPORTANCE OF GRAMMAR IN LEARNING AND TEACHING
reason that these people do not seem to be willing to take risks of making mistakes, the younger
learners are not really afraid. The second reason for them needing such accuracy is because their
age group is that which requires them to join jobs and get involved in their careers. Thus they
will need to maintain a command of English in addition to a sound knowledge in their own fields
(Alsagoff et al).
There are several learners who are always under pressure to accomplish a higher level of
accuracy than whatever is needed for an effective amount of communication. It is required that
the examiners be satisfied by the students and in these situations, there are certain criteria which
have little to do with the effectiveness of the language use. When it comes to the employers,
even some frequent small mistakes are unacceptable and hence needs to be kept in mind by them
(Richards and Theodore).
Accuracy is considered to come after proper amount of exposure and practice but in
certain countries, the only place of exposure of the students to the English language is the
English class. Therefore it is necessary for the teachers to compensate for the loss of adequate
amount of exposure (Cook).
Languages have reasons of structure which are difficult and hard to learn. Therefore for
the learners to master them, adequate amount of experience, consideration and use of these
features are crucial. In cases where the time is limited and learners have out of class exposure,
the situation can be brought about with the help of pedagogic intervention. There needs to be
explicit teaching and also systematic practices informed by a syllabus of the known problems.
The inaccuracy of the methods of understanding also needs to be realized and modified in the
very beginning (Dickins and Kevin).

3IMPORTANCE OF GRAMMAR IN LEARNING AND TEACHING
There are certain items of grammar which are more vital than others, and other aspects
need extremely high exposure in order to be acquired subconsciously. In case the inputs for the
exposure are highly sufficient these items are more capably and quickly learned effectively. In
case any sort of errors are committed on these cases, the meanings will severely change. On the
other hand, the items which are very less basic and also have a less amount of disturbance in case
of the communication are more properly acquired either subconsciously or inductively. The
grammar items might be more suitably accomplished through the raising of consciousness
(Cook).
Answer 2:
Another important question is the importance of the teacher’s knowledge in English. A
teacher needs to possess sufficient amount of knowledge. The teacher needs to possess the ability
to answer all the relevant questions and also those queries which are irrelevant. It is not enough
to state that there is no knowledge of a particular topic to a person. In addition to this, due to the
extremely fast evolutionary nature of language as also teaching ideas, a teacher needs to be a
learner forever nourishing his or her knowledge of the latest amount of changes (Rutherford).
The teachers are obliged to be aware of the new ideas about grammar and learning of
language today so that they can take from them anything which they find beneficial. It is
significant that the teacher of English as an outside language know about the language properly
so that the students who learn from that particular teacher are able to grasp the important aspects
of grammar apart from learning it as a language (Wong, and Mirta). It is rather difficult for
students having different languages as their mother tongue to focus on the conjunctions, articles,
prepositions and their effective use in the language which they are learning for the first time. It is

4IMPORTANCE OF GRAMMAR IN LEARNING AND TEACHING
therefore the role of the teacher to ensure that all the requirements of the grammar are clearly
explained to the students. Introducing innovative ways and methods of learning can also help the
students to remember and properly apply the grammatical techniques which they are learning
(Basturkmen).
Answer 3:
Whether the teacher knows about the native language of the students is also a significant
question. There are several types of errors which are committed during the learning and teaching
process. In case a teacher is aware of the grammar of the student’s native language, he or she can
be made aware of what grammatical processes that arise in the learner’s mind. It also allows the
teacher to identify the problem, in case there are any problems and also inform the students about
them. The uses of verbs, prepositions, their positioning as well as the agreement of the verb with
subject are different in case of different languages (Purpura).
The teachers who are aware of the grammatical differences in the different languages can
make the students aware of these issues and prevent them from making grammatical errors.
However, the most important issue is the in-depth knowledge of the English language. It is the
duty of the teacher to have an in depth knowledge of the languages in which he is teaching
(Richards and Theodore). It is due to this that the teacher can notice even the smallest of
grammatical errors and ask the students to correct it as soon as they can remove it. The teacher
can also devise a solution of it. The knowledge of students’ native language might help the
teacher to relate its procedures with that that of English. However it is not imperative that the
teacher possesses knowledge of that language.

5IMPORTANCE OF GRAMMAR IN LEARNING AND TEACHING
References:
Alsagoff, Lubna, et al., eds. Principles and practices for teaching English as an international
language. Routledge, 2012.
Basturkmen, Helen. "Review of research into the correspondence between language teachers'
stated beliefs and practices." System40.2 (2012): 282-295.
Cook, Vivian. Second language learning and language teaching. Routledge, 2013.
Dickins, Pauline Rea, and Kevin Germaine. Managing evaluation and innovation in language
teaching: Building bridges. Routledge, 2014.
Purpura, James E. Assessing grammar. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2013.
Richards, Jack C., and Theodore S. Rodgers. Approaches and methods in language teaching.
Cambridge university press, 2014.
Rutherford, William E. Second language grammar: Learning and teaching. Routledge, 2014.
Wong, Cathy Chiu Yin, and Mirta Barrea-Marlys. "The role of grammar in communicative
language teaching: An exploration of second language teachers’ perceptions and classroom
practices." Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 9.1 (2012): 61-75.