Effectively Learning Grammar: What Works and What Doesn't 

All teachers agree that students are better writers when they have an understanding of grammar. To be effective writers in school and to effectively communicate later in life when in the workplace, students need to use proper grammar. It is also the part of their academic learning.   But, what are the best methods for learning grammar, normally thought of as a very controversial topic?

Whenever we teach grammar in a classroom, we teach it in isolation. That means we are not associating it with the language. We are just encouraging our students to cram the rules. It is not improving their language. And the students also love it.  In the short term it’s ok but in the long term it is not fruitful. The students normally forget 90 percent of it after a short time. We are wasting our lots of time in learning grammar.

What does not work when learning  grammar?

  • Learning grammar as a subject in isolation  is not effective.
  • Students learn nothing about the use of grammar by just reading the rules.
  • Learning to identify parts of speech does not improve the quality of a student’s writing.
  • Studying grammar in isolation does not help students avoid grammatical errors in their writing.
  • Learning  grammar as grammar is not helpful and takes up classroom time that could be better spent reading and writing.

What does work when learning grammar?

Educator and author on teaching English, Rei R. Noguchi, says, “We need to teach not so much ‘rules of grammar’ but ‘principles of writing.'” Research validates his theory and the following principles have been proven to be more effective than teaching grammar as a separate subject.

Include reading and writing

The best grammar instruction includes extensive reading and writing. This includes the teacher reading aloud to students of all ages. When students hear and see what is proper, they incorporate it into their own writing. This means that teachers need to provide extensive opportunities for students to read and write in the classroom.

The writing process itself teaches grammar. As students proofread, edit and revise their own work, they learn about the proper use of grammar.

   Posted by:

Chandrashekhar Sahu




 


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