Do You Think a Traditional Approach is the Best Way to Teach Grammar

8/12/2019 Do You Think a Traditional Approach is the Best Way to Teach Grammar

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Introduction:

Throughout the world, people are looking to education to pave the way for a more just

social order on the grounds that education instills in the young crucial humanitarian

values such as equity, tolerance and peace. Progress in education is taken to be

essential for sustainable development, environmental protection, improvement in

maternal and child health and participation in democratic social and political processes.

Education is also currently becoming the most important contributor to national

economic growth. Empirical evidence suggests that educational investment has been

one of the most important factors contributing to economic growth in both developed and

developing countries. Haddad et al. (1990),

Traditional Education

In general, the traditional Education to learning is focused on mastery of content, with

less emphasis on the development of skills and the nurturing of inquiring attitudes. The

current system of education is teacher centered, with the teacher focused on giving out

information about "what is known." Students are the receivers of information, and the

teacher is the dispenser. Much of the assessment of the learner is focused on the

importance of "one right answer." Traditional education is more concerned with

preparation for the next grade level and in-school success than with helping a student

learn to learn throughout life.

Traditional classrooms tend to be closed systems where information is filtered through

layers to students. In general, the use of resources is limited to what is available in the

classroom or within the school. Use of technology is focused on learning about the


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technology rather than its application to enhanced learning. Lesson plans are used to

organize the various steps in the learning process for the whole-class approach. On-

target questions that would tend to cause deviations from the plan are met with, "We will

get to that later."

The inquiry approach is more focused on using and learning content as a means to

develop information-processing and problem-solving skills. The system is more students

centered, with the teacher as a facilitator of learning. There is more emphasis on "how

we come to know" and less on "what we know." Students are more involved in the

construction of knowledge through active involvement. The more interested and

engaged students are by a subject or project, the easier it will be for them to construct

in-depth knowledge of it. Learning becomes almost effortless when something

fascinates students and reflects their interests and goals.Assessment is focused ondetermining the progress of skills development in addition to content understanding.

Inquiry learning is concerned with in-school success, but it is equally concerned with

preparation for life-long learning.

Inquiry classrooms are open systems where students are encouraged to search and

make use of resources beyond the classroom and the school. Teachers who use inquiry

can use technology to connect students appropriately with local and world communities

which are rich sources of learning and learning materials. They replace lesson plans

with facilitated learning plans that account for slight deviations while still keeping an

important learning outcome in focus. They meet on-target questions with, "How do you

suggest we investigate that question?"


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Another issue regarding inquiry-based learning has to do with a misconception about

when to do inquiry. Inquiry is not only done in laboratory or group work -- it can also be

done in lectures that provoke students to think and question.

Teachers often discount the fact that when they are giving talks or lectures to students,

the students, if engaged, are applying listening and observing skills -- using their senses.

If teachers focus more on "how we come to know" by presenting evidence and

information and encouraging student questioning, then talks can even become powerful

inquiry models for students. Collaborative meaning-making can take place through

discourse.

Getting It Right: Fresh Approaches to Teaching Grammar

How do you presently teach grammar? Why do you teach it that way? If you dontteach

grammar, why have you chosen not to teach it? To what extent has your grammar

instruction been effective? What ideas or standards do you base your judgments aboutwhat to teach? What constitutes correctness? How do your students respond togrammar instruction? What is their attitude toward correctness in their writing? Do you

agree that correctness is best taught when students are engaged and powerful readers,

writers, and learners?

Create a survey for students as a means of assessing their attitudes toward grammar.

Following are sample questions for the survey:


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How important is it to you that your paper is free of errors? When is it important that

your composing be error-free? When is it not that important? What do you consider to

be your biggest challenge with grammar? What do you do when you are writing and

dont know how to use punctuation correctly or have other problems with grammar? How

much time do you spend reading teachers comments when your paper is returned to

you? Which grammatical errors do you think teachers consider being most serious?


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Masters in Teaching and Learning of English

Theories of language

Felicity Elms

Do you think a traditional approach is the best way to teach grammar?

Victor Manuel Matla Rojas

29/09/12
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Do You Think a Traditional Approach is the Best Way to Teach Grammar