Grammar Teaching and Assessment

lOMoARcPSD|38512052 Teaching-and-Assessment-of-Grammar Issues-of-Grammar-Teaching-and-Assessment Teaching and Assessment of Grammar (University of Perpetual Help System Jonelta) Scan to open on Studocu Studocu is...

lOMoARcPSD|38512052 Teaching-and-Assessment-of-Grammar Issues-of-Grammar-Teaching-and-Assessment Teaching and Assessment of Grammar (University of Perpetual Help System Jonelta) Scan to open on Studocu Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university Downloaded by LYNDEE MAE LINDONGAN ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|38512052 Issues of Grammar Teaching and Assessment Why should we teach grammar? There are many arguments for putting grammar in the foreground in second language teaching. Here are seven of them: 1. The sentence-machine argument Part of the process of language learning must be what is sometimes called item-learning — that is the memorization of individual items such as words and phrases. Grammar is a kind of 'sentence-making machine'. 2. The fine-tuning argument The purpose of grammar seems to be to allow for greater subtlety of meaning than a merely lexical system can cater for. While it is possible to get a lot of communicative mileage out of simply stringing words and phrases together, there comes a point where 'Me Tarzan, you Jane'-type language fails to deliver, both in terms of intelligibility and in terms of appropriateness. Downloaded by LYNDEE MAE LINDONGAN ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|38512052 3. The fossilisation argument Research suggests that learners who receive no instruction seem to be at risk of fossilising sooner than those who do receive instruction. 4. The advance-organiser argument Grammar instruction might also have a delayed effect. 5. The discrete item argument Grammar consists of an apparently finite set of rules, it can help to reduce the apparent enormity of the language learning task for both teachers and students. By tidying language up and organizing it into neat categories (sometimes called discrete items), grammarians make language digestible. 6. The rule-of-law argument It follows from the discrete-item argument that, since grammar is a system of learnable rules, it lends itself to a view of teaching and learning known as transmission. A transmission view sees the role of education as the transfer of a body of Downloaded by LYNDEE MAE LINDONGAN ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|38512052 knowledge (typically in the form of facts and rules) from those that have the knowledge to those that do not. 7. The learner expectations argument Many learners come to language classes with fairly fixed expectations as to what they will do there. The teacher who ignores this expectation by encouraging learners simply to experience language is likely to frustrate and alienate them. METHODS OF TEACHING GRAMMAR There are few methods of teaching of grammar: 1.Deductive Method 2.Inductive Method 3.Interactive Method 1.Deductive Method:  This method is also called the traditional method.  The teacher uses a grammar text book. He first tells his students rules or definitions and then explains those with the help of examples then Downloaded by LYNDEE MAE LINDONGAN ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|38512052 he gives exercise and ask his pupils to apply the rules.  The learners are supposed to memorize the definition of noun. 2. Inductive Method Inductive method is also known as informal method. The teacher first presents or takes the example from the students then comes on theory of concept. This method implies teaching of grammar not by rules but by usage. 3. Interactive Method Using games to teach grammar not only engages students but also helps them to remember what they’ve learned. This method allows teachers to tailor their lessons to the different learning styles of students. Patterns and Reasons, Not Rules Not all lexical items can be freely substituted into a particular pattern. Once one lexical item Downloaded by LYNDEE MAE LINDONGAN ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|38512052 is selected, the likelihood of a particular item or phrase following is increased. Larsen-Freeman's (2000a) suggested that teachers concentrate on teaching "reasons, not rules.“ While rules provide some security for learners, reasons give them a deeper understanding of the logic of English and help them make it their own. What Is Fossilization? Language fossilization refers to the process in the learning of a secondary language in which the student has more and more difficulty furthering his fluency in the language, until eventually, the student can learn no more. Fossilization is the 'freezing' of the transition between the native language and the target language What are fossilized errors?  Mistakes that students know is wrong but keep making. Errors from force of habit which students no longer notice they are making. Downloaded by LYNDEE MAE LINDONGAN ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|38512052 Something that students learnt wrong and now need to change. Errors that students may correct when focused but still make on their own. Mistakes that recur despite constant correction. Errors based in Native Language interference or Target language overgeneralization that is made by many speakers. Mistakes that teachers may not any longer “hear” after a number of years teaching in a particular context (and therefore do not any longer correct). Mistakes that has been repeated so that it sounds right to the learner. Causes: L1 interference Lack of correction The connection between interlanguage and errors Method of instruction (too much based on the native language) Errors that come from previous stages of learning (especially with older students) Downloaded by LYNDEE MAE LINDONGAN ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|38512052 Affective, cultural, cognitive and environmental perspectives of a language Lack of motivation to correct oneself Lack of strategies Lack of learner autonomy – reliance on correction by teacher. Fossilization Reduction 1.Adoption of proper learning strategies 2.Reduction of negative transfer of L1 3.Exposure to TL (target language) and TL culture Adoption of proper learning strategies “good” learning strategies Appear use strategies more frequently and in qualitatively different ways Involve attention to both form and meaning. Different kinds of learning strategies may contribute to different aspects of L2 proficiency Reduction of negative transfer of L1 Downloaded by LYNDEE MAE LINDONGAN ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|38512052 Not to use TL too early until the learners‟ oral competence is facilitated with sufficient input and without relying on their native language (Krashen,1983)) abundant input of TL can lessen the negative transfer of the native language Exposure to TL and TL culture Allow them to stay for some time in the native environment abroad Multimedia instruments Textbooks with original passages by foreign authors Fossilization is an inevitable state in and has significance influence on second language acquisition. It needs our attention and research to solve fossilization problems in all aspects of language. Downloaded by LYNDEE MAE LINDONGAN ([email protected])