I want to ask about this question: How much should we learn about Grammar? Since it has many subjects to learn about and sometimes it makes beginners feel overwhelmed and desperate in which part they should start to learn grammar. Tenses, parts of speech, etc. Can anyone make a list contains which parts of Grammar that beginners should really understand?
For example, Is it important for a beginner to really understand parts of speech?
Replies
Dear Friends...
Grammar is only one for every stage whether he is a beginner or advanced person/native speaker...
The point here is... once we know the grammar, we should start learning usage of more words... (meaning of a word and how to use the word in a correct place).
Only by practicing we can learn more word and its usage....
I don't agree that even the heading itself is not correct...
Grammar is some kind of rules in any language.. that is all.
I am reading response from another who has tasted the bitter side of learning English..WELL >you are not alone here as a great lot will say this ??BUT I .,as a teacher with over 30 years and about 20 years commendable success with my methods need to say I an correct???I would have upheld your opinion about 25 years ago but not now??
SO try another teacher ,I would say. I am concrete proof ???
English is NOT a stumbling block ??this is what most feel, it is ??I teach grammar though the text used in the lesson and it is introduced as it comes in the lesson and NOT as an independent item NEVER??I get the learner use the language in their speech and writing within about 50 hours of evenly spaces out lessons. My strategy is to use graphics to introduce grammar. SO the learners hardly feel they are learning grammar. ??I make it game almost?? And regular repetition is a must, May be,I teach the same grammar item within the lesson many times but never seperate..then i graduate to higher levels and finally end up with Shakespeare , the complete works,the original Elizabethan English .They fit in very comfortably ?? IT must be made a fun item ,not a lesson in English ?? Raja Wimalaratne
AS per the experience of teaching English Language an then literature for over 30 years, I fee, grammar should be made an experience assimilated through the lesson ??lt should not be an airtight compartment and not even a lesson separated,, NEVER???
I use graphics and the give grammar strictly based on the text I use to give the grammar/the learners NEVER feel they are studying grammar.And then i get the learners talk and write proper English but basic sentence structures correctly within 50 hours of evenly spaced out lessons.
Simple it is ???IT is made a pleasant experience??they enjoy and then once they feel they can talk freely, the learning process. gathers momentum and speed comes in. THEN Once i feel confident I introduce Literature ??And finally Shakespeare plays a role in my lessons with ease.
i talk of the the original version. ,,not the abridged or simplified.
SO FINALLY ''grammar"" SHOULD NEVER be an independent item in a lesson NEVER??never
DO NOT make it out-stand and give undue stress to the learners.
If you aspire to be an English teacher at university or high school, you probably need a very sound knowledge of grammar. For the rest of us, we need to know sufficient to be able to structure our sentences well and avoid common mistakes. It matters not if we don't know what a gerund, preposition or countable noun are, provided we can use the language well.
Like all languages, English is evolving ... a living language. New words appear and sometimes unacceptable use becomes acceptable use.
Friends....
One small suggestion... It is not like how much we should learn about grammar.. we should know the English Grammar... Once we come to know the grammar portion, we need to practice continuously. There is no limit in Grammar... only we should know what is what... and further the Grammar rule never changes at any time.... It is a standard one only...
Selvakumar
i think beginners should understand the basic grammers carefully otherwise the would not express the fluency in English at the same time there are very complicated parts of grammer that increase confusions to some extint
Since this discussion has been going on for a while, I won't spend too much time reviewing everyone's ideas. Instead I will state that how much grammar you need depends on what you plan to do with English. If you mainly need to communicate with others (as in conversation) grammar can be taught by example while practicing speaking.
In Saudi Arabia we spend too much time on the rules of grammar before students have any foundation in English. The style of teaching here tends to be rote memorization. We have students who can barely answer "What is your name?" learning parts of speech, but not really understanding their lessons. I have found that asking questions and answering questions helps students understand the structure of the language. Then the teacher can explain grammar as we encounter new things. I would rather have them speaking and making some mistakes than unable to speak because they are concentrating on grammar.
We should remember that the students in English speaking countries learn their own language before they start school. Only after learning to speak do they begin getting lessons about grammar. When we teach English as a second language we should bear in mind this natural order of things. Text books that mimic books for native English speakers often focus on lessons that English speaking countries only give their children after they have been speaking English for six or seven years. The natural way to acquire language is first to listen, to speak, and then to worry about reading, writing and using perfect grammar.
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