What is the best way to teach grammar?
10 answers from our tutors
Best answer
Expressing that a particular way or technique is the most effective is challenging because what works for one student or group, may not work for others. Nevertheless, the following suggestions might prove useful: *Establish the context clearly and carefully before diving into the main lesson to ensure that students understand the objectives of the task; *Present the grammar by providing sample sentences, explanations, comparing and contrasting with the learners' native language (if possible), offer texts that highlight the target grammar; *Ultimately, the results should be evident in students' written and/or spoken production. Assessing their learning progress through "assessment for learning" can greatly assist in determining the extent to which learning has occurred. Finally, it is beneficial for teachers to reflect on the lesson, preferably immediately after it concludes -for higher retention- to be capable of preparing more productive lessons for the future.
Hi I start with a reading comprehension And extrapolate rules from it Best Regards
Hi Thulile, the best way is to break it down as best you can and not overwhelm your student. "Rome wasn't built in a day" Take small steps and drill, focusing on students application of new language and correct pronunciation. When discussing a certain topic use lots of examples of how a student can apply this new language on a day to day basis. Wish you all the best Hope this helps
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- DaniloTeaching English linguistics
Let's take the example of the -ing form in English, as an aspect of language that has caused a lot of headache for students of English, especially those from certain linguistic backgrounds. This verb form is used in a multitude of syntactic contexts, and the student needs to be aware of the structures that this form is normally part of. Not having a clear understanding of the difference between the form and function, syntax and semantics, tense and aspect etc. gave rise to such obscure and misleading concepts as gerund and continuous tense, which generations of students have been grappling with for ages. And that's the syntactic side of the analysis. Once we start speaking about the meaning of the -ing form in different context, we are no more in the realm of syntax, we are talking semantics. It helps a lot when we are able to disentagle these two concepts. When that is achieved the student is one step closer to seeing the purpose in studying different grammatical structures.
- DaniloTeaching English linguistics
Teaching language has to be coherent, methodical, systematic and orderly. The teacher himself has to have a clear grasp of the logical system that underlies the use of language and has to have a clear roadmap that he will use to guide the student through the learning process. The very idea of "grammar" and how it links with semantics and other aspects of language has to be perfectly clear to the student. Unfortunately, in teaching practice these fundamental language concepts are most often all blurred into one confusing mess, which most students I've met simply understand as "grammar". The problem that lumping together different language aspects into one creates is that students do not have a clear understanding of what they are doing. In learning a foreign language, one simply cannot afford not to be able to clearly distinguish between the concepts of tense, verb aspect, voice etc. Different aspects of language are closely interconnected and all neatly fit into one big picture
It all needs to be taught in context of correct and common use, or it is all a waste of time.
- Nelisa MfabanaCertified ESL teacher
The best way to teach grammar is through common objects like household items or everyday activities. That way it is easier to remember.
Real life sentence examples and games.
Real life examples, visual aids, and clear explanations of the grammar rules themselves. Encourage practice, utilize multimedia resources and provide feedback to reinforce learning.
- Concillia NdouHolding 120HR TELF certificate
Through sentences .
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- Can you share your experience how you teach students conditionals?
What kind of method do you use to explain clearly each conditional for students? Do you provide some examples from real life and how you do it? Thank you!
Best answer
The first thing to do when teaching conditionals would be to explain what conditionals are, then provide them with examples, then play a game where they need to identify the conditional, and finally have them create their own to see if they understood it
- Could you explain me, please, when I need to use 0,1,2,3 and mixed conditionals? Thank you!
Can you provide examples?
Best answer
Mixed conditional combined second and third conditionals to talk about the past situations has a present consequence or a present situations that is a result of a past action Structure: If + past perfect + would +verb If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now.
