Grammar: To Teach or Not to Teach?

Hi kevchua, at my son's school huge emphasis is placed on the teaching of grammar but it is not taught as a separate subject to the teaching of the language itself. Greek lessons include all aspects of the language but at the end of term handwriting and spelling have a separate grade. The rules of grammar are continualy reinforced in the first years of schooling which is necessary as the subject of Greek grammar is extremely complex.

I have been read many english grammar books written by expert from china and abroad. But when i read the works by john updike. I can not undterstand the sentence structure. It is really a big challege!

Perhaps I could add another "school of thought" to your list. It would be that grammar is indeed very important and may still be taught in context. When I taught English, I taught some grammar separately, and some in context. Only after teaching a topic alone did begin to count off for it in the student's written texts. I suppose I am saying that there is a healthy combination of the two schools of thought!

When I was in junior school in the late 1950's, we had a short session each day of either grammar, spelling, tables, mental arithmetic or handwriting. Over the school week, we spent about half an hour each day polishing our skills in these areas, and then we put them into practice in our main lessons. We were tested regularly on what we had learned, and if it was obvious from our test results that we hadn't understood something, our teacher would go over it again until we - and she - were happy. By using this 'bite size' technique, we were absorbing what we needed almost without realising it. 50 years on, my spelling, grammar, handwriting and mental arithmetic is pretty well faultless. Some modern education professionals may say that such methods of learning have no place in schools today, but I would disagree. Unless children grasp the basics at an early stage, we will continue to produce school leavers who are almost illiterate and couldn't string a sentence together with 50 yards of rope. In answer to your question, I'd say grammar should be taught as a mixture of single subject exercises and in context practical assignments. Thanks for making us think about this.

As a student I like something between. But the most important is that people can understand each other. I am from Central Europe, so what do you think about my english?

I think it should be taught in schools, along with spelling. Clear use of language helps you communicate correctly, and on a practical level helps you in the job market. I have seen plenty of CVs which were filled with spelling mistakles, and it gives a really bad impression of the candidate

I belong to the Old School! Many students don't know grammatical rules. They cannot tell you where to use commas, semi-colons, and other punctuation marks. They are unable to decipher a sentence and tell you what an adverb, adjective, or subject is. Without proper grammar the art of writing suffers as well.

I prefer the first one. Grammar is very important and it bascily the base of conversation, writings, and evrything. It should be studied proper way. But I easily find people neglect grammar rules when they make conversation. =) It's okay as long as they understand each other and do not change the meaning of it.

Hello friend, I learned all my English through reading newspapers and magazines and listening to cricket commentary while watching the game. I have never been taught the fundamentals but still, I consider my grammar is fine enough. however, I do feel that I sometimes get stuck with the tenses. Still, I would recommend that if you have to teach the language to a young kid, you can start off by exposing him to the newspapers and child magazines and then slowly include a chapter of grammar and parts of speech here and there. I know it sounds tough but then, that's what I have to contribute.. Cheers!

I think if you are native English speakers, grammar is important to writting and equal to reading.If who poor grammar will not be good writting.

I grew up with 'English' which is basically grammar/spelling/other writing being taught as I whole. I learned how to look words up in a dictionary, how to write letters to a business and where to put an apostraphe, though I must admit that part is still a bit weird for me. I shall say that I don't care how it is taught as long as it is. If people don't understand Grammar than they shouldn't write, because I really think that if someone is going to write, than they must understand the fundamentals. Sure, it is fine to break a few rules, but you should be careful about which rules you break.

hi there! i hope you don't mind if i share my opinion even though i am not an english teacher. i have always loved english and the subject has always fascinated me. you see, english is not our mother tongue. however, our medium of instruction at school is english. anyway, i agree with what macdingolinger said. when i was still studying, english grammar, reading, and writing and all the forms of speech was taught in just one subject. obviously, the subject was called English. i don't believe that grammar is not important. in fact, i believe that proper grammar should be taught early. grammar is an essential part of language. it makes communication easier and more effective. furthermore, i don't think it's very difficult to integrate grammar while teaching speech, reading, writing, etc. in fact you can't separate grammar because it's basic. my teachers in past did that and it was very effective. there's no reason why it can't be done now. in fact it would be great if we integrate grammar, speech, reading, writing, listening and speaking in just 1 curriculum and still have a separate grammar class. that would actually be better. do you agree?