How to teach Grammar and Phonology:
1. What is grammar?
2. Presenting and explaining grammar.
3. Present tenses and examples of ways to present them.
1. What is grammar?
“A system of rules that defines the structure of a language.”
Grammar has been called the “machinery” of language.
2. Presenting and explaining grammar:
Many native speakers speak without knowing the grammar. We have learned English with the Language Acquisition approach. Just picking it up. That’s ok for learning a first mother tongue language, but for many second language learners, it’s best to learn the grammar.
It’s important to teach it right. If a student asks you a grammar question, don’t just blag, go home and check it in your grammar book. Remember many of your students will have English exams at school or work, and so they need the right answers.
Many languages have rigid rules (Spanish) and so they expect the same from English, even though many English grammar rules are not rigid, and there are many exceptions to the rule.
It’s not easy to teach grammar, try this:
Think about how you would explain the difference between the following:
a. I have been to France. (present perfect simple tense)
b. I went to France. (past simple tense)
We use many tools to help explain grammar:
- Remember to present grammar both orally and with written examples on the board. Examples should include: FORM, MEANING, PRONUNCIAITON and a SENTENCE example in CONTEXT.
- Keep the explanation as brief as possible. Don’t go on.
- With the lower levels, best to teach the minimum meaning, then as they improve, let them in on more. So when an elementary sts is learning present continuous for the first time; teach it only for actions happening now. Not for future arrengements. They will learn that at a higher level.
- Provide plenty of opportunities for students to experiment with the language. Remember that making mistakes is positive.
- You can use tense diagrams.
There are lots of activities for teaching grammar and pronunciation in Tim's Tips.
