Teach English in Nancun Zhen - Datong Shi

Grammar is fundamental and is a core to any language, grammar is often said to the tree trunk of a language By "Grammar" people mean a set of rules that provides structure for the language, systemizes it and gives people the basis for constructing their speech correctly. In ESL world teaching grammar is very important because knowing how a language works is very important in building the student's confidence and motivation. It is essential that the students understand basic grammar and are able to use it in communication. The first step in teaching grammar is explaining the parts of speech that differ from language to language. For example, in some languages, like Chinese, there are no articles or gerunds and the students struggle to understand the usage of these parts of speech. In English, the main parts of speech are: Nouns. A noun names people, things and places. There are several kinds of nouns - common, proper, compound, abstract and collective. There are nouns in every language, but categories and uses are different, for example, plurals. My Chinese students find it quite difficult to memorize the plurals and their forms of exceptions, like "oxen" or "geese", they often make mistakes and I have to review the plurals quite often during the course. Adjectives. We use adjectives to describe nouns. When teaching adjectives it is important to explain to the students some rules of usage, like the place of the adjective in a sentence or a word combination. My Spanish speaking students often make mistakes with the word order, placing the adjective behind the noun (influenced by their native language). Another issue that needs attention when teaching adjectives is the degrees of comparisons. There are exceptions to the rules and they need to be explained early on so that the students learn to use the forms correctly from the start. Articles. The two types of articles in English are definite and indefinite. The rules of using the articles are quite complex and the Chinese students struggle to understand how to use the articles because there are no articles in their own language. As a teacher, I sometimes hand out worksheets to review the usage of the articles during the course when I see appropriate, usually when we work on a text. Articles are an important grammar issue and need attention from the teachers. Verbs. In my opinion, verbs are the most difficult to teach because there are many rules for verbs in English. The verbs denote actions and states and can be either transitive or intransitive. I sometimes tell my students that there is no sentence without a verb. The Chinese students often have problems using the past simple and the past participle forms of the verbs as there are many exceptions that have to be memorized. Adverbs describe actions, quality or state denoted by a verb, there are several main types of adverbs - manner, place, time, degree and frequency. As I noticed, this part of speech is easier than the others and my students almost always understand it quickly and use it correctly. The gerund is a very special part of speech that combines a noun and a verb. Once introduced and explained, gerunds should be easy. I never had to struggle with my Chinese students, the most common problem I faced is overusing gerunds and trying to insert them into every other sentence. The Chinese students like the gerund and have no problem using it correctly and abundantly in their speech. Pronouns are the words used instead of nouns. There are several types of pronouns - personal, possessive, reflexive and relative. It is interesting that pronouns differ in languages. For example, in English, all animals and non-living things are referred to as "it" while in Chinese the animals are either "he" or a "she". Also, all three personal singular pronouns (he, she and it) sound the same in Chinese, "ta" and are only differentiated in writing. This causes a lot of mistakes, a lot of my students have a hard time memorizing what is "she" and what is "he". I try to use worksheets as often as I can and review the rules when appropriate, especially when I teach the beginners. Prepositions and Conjunctions. Prepositions show the relationship between a nouns and pronoun or some other words a sentence. This is one of the most difficult grammatical points. As a teacher, I try to teach prepositions in context and structures, with lots of precise and exercises for my students to understand the placement of the prepositions and their meanings. Conjunctions are used to join words or groups in a sentence. When teaching grammar I prefer the communicative approach when the grammatical structure is introduced in a situation, text or a structure. I believe that the structure of a language is fundamental when learning a new language. Knowing when and how to use it is of great importance. In my experience, there are certain things I keep in mind when I teach grammar. 1. It is important to introduce tenses gradually. For example, I always teach the present tenses before teaching simple past, because this will build the students' confidence in the language and ties the previous knowledge to the new information. 2. Using lots of examples proves to be useful. Showing the students how to use this new language structure presented with examples in context makes teaching new grammar easier. 3. One of the best ways to evaluate and assess if the students understand and are learning is to have them provide you with examples. So, eliciting the grammar point being taught is also very important. 4. Using gestures and color markers is useful when teaching grammar because most of the students are the visual learners and these tools help illustrate the new grammar objective making it easier for the students to memorize it. 5. Using visual aids supports grammar presentation. The students find it easier to have some flashcards or charts in front of their eyes and be guided when using new grammar structures. Teaching grammar is a continuous process and should be paid a lot of attention to as the grammar is the basis of any language. A good teacher must be creative and use visual aids to help the students understand the new grammar and practice it in the best possible way.