Mauricio Jativa wrote: My Grammar Teaching Experience

The Content of the Grammar Lesson

While it is essential for learners to be able to manipulate grammatical forms, this is not sufficient. Learners also need to understand the concepts expressed and the functions performed through a particular grammatical element Matters of pronunciation are an integral part of a grammar lesson; nevertheless, pronunciation instruction relevant to grammatical forms will not be tackled since it falls outside the scope of this essay.

TEFL Methodology

Current TEFL methodology seems to advocate a two-stage grammar lesson: presentation and practice. The practice stage comprises a sequence of activities/tasks ranging on a cline from controlled (focusing solely/mainly on form) to free (focusing only/mainly on meaning). Presentation is less clearly defined.

The framework which will be used in the evaluation will consist of presentation, awareness-raising, and (controlled to free) practice. I will now briefly outline the nature and content of each ‘stage’.

Presentation

In this stage the learners receive input. Given the multi-dimensional relation between form, concept and function, the time constraints, and the limited attention span of children, the aim of a ‘grammar lesson’ should be limited to dealing with a single form-concept-function combination. This combination should be demonstrated clearly through an appropriate context that distinguishes between situational and linguistic context. This fact argues that the former should be relevant to the learners’ experience, whereas the latter should be ‘‘free from unnecessary language items’’.

Written by: Mauricio Jativa