There is still controversy about whether or not to teach grammar, and some teachers are unsure of its purpose. It’s helpful to look at this quote from Martha Pennington.
Grammar is “nothing more or less than the organizing principles of a linguistic or (broader) communicational system, without which, there is no system.”
Basically, explicit grammar instruction helps students organize the language. It forms the BASE for the other skills we teach: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. It’s simply a base. It’s not about teaching students terminology for the sake of terminology. In fact, as a teacher, I try to avoid using terminology as much as possible. Our students don’t need to be grammarians; that’s our role.
Explicit grammar instruction helps students see patterns. This is critical because cognitive science tells us that the adult brain is a pattern-seeking organ. Adult learners are looking for rules. That’s why grammar charts work! According to neuroeconomist Arkady Konovalov at the University of Zurich, humans try to detect patterns in their environment all the time because it makes learning easier.
As you know, other, another, and the other can be really confusing for students. One way to show the pattern is by using circles, as in this new chart from the fifth edition of the Fundamentals of Using English Grammar:
While visuals work well, summaries, as in the green words in (c) and (d), are also helpful. In other words, clear, uncluttered charts help students see patterns.
We can also show patterns in exercises. It’s very typical to tell students (via a chart) that the passive is formed with the verb be plus the past participle. And then we expect students to begin forming passive sentences. But students can really be confused by the various forms of be and whether a verb is a past participle or not. In the following exercise, students are asked to find the be verb and the “past participle” and then decide if it’s passive or not:
In item 1, they will see there is no be verb and no past participle, so it can’t be passive. But item 2 is passive because both the be verb and the past participle are present.
By going through several items like this, students begins to realize that they need BOTH the be verb and past participle necessary for the passive to be formed.
Seeing patterns makes learning more efficient. Let’s help our students become aware of them.
References:
Grammar and Communication: New Directions in Theory and Practice. Pennington, M. From: New Perspectives on Grammar Teaching in Second Language Classrooms, edited by Eli Hinkel, Sandra Fotos, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 2008.
Stacy Hagen is a teacher, teacher trainer, and co-author of the best-selling Azar-Hagen Grammar Series. The new, fifth edition of the intermediate level, Fundamentals of English Grammar, is available now. www.pearsoneltusa.com/azar.
