Literature Review
Debates on teaching second language pedagogy have existed for long. Most debates centered on whether grammar instructions would help the learner of a second language become proficient (Gascoigne, 2002). The most popular method for teaching a second language in early 19th century Europe was the Grammar-Translation approach, in which students were taught the second language in their mother tongues with a lot of emphases put on language structure. Other teaching approaches such as Audiolingualism, Situational Language Teaching, Community Language Learning, Direct Method, and Communicative Language Teaching(CLT) were developed and applied in teaching a second language in the 19th and 20th century (Hinkel, 2002). Failure in earlier approaches led to the development of the Communicative Language Teaching method in the 1960’s, becoming the most popular teaching method since inception. However, the introduction of CLT has led to a decrease on teaching grammar despite the fact that grammar is the foundation of learning a second language.
The Grammar Translation approach was developed in the 18th century to help European student’s who studied classical Latin or Greek as a second foreign language. In an effort to teach the classical literature students how to read and understand the texts, it focused a lot on learning grammatical rules, vocabulary, translating texts, and writing exercises. By the 1940’s, GTM had become the most popular method for teaching English as a second language (Brown, 2007; Hinkel, 2002). GTM put a lot of emphases on teaching grammar with minimal attention to pronunciation skills. Grammar teaching has been the basis of most second language pedagogy. Debates on the importance of teaching grammar as a basis for teaching second language pedagogy, led to the development of two approaches. One method focused on formal grammar instructions and the other on non-formal grammar instructions (Nassaji & Fotos, 2004). Grammar teaching focused a lot on grammatical structures rather than on the learner’s ability to use them correctly leading to the most linguistic experts’ belief that learning grammar in a second language as useless since it has the potential to inhibit the learner from mastering the second language. These drawbacks led to the increased use of the Communicative Language Teaching method since the 1970’s.
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Language Teaching method developed in Britain in the 1960’s, places a lot of emphases on meaningful language learning in an interactive setup to achieve communicative competence. Key characteristics of the method include lessons that focus on real-world contexts thereby enabling the student to learn how to apply the lessons learnt in a real scenario, and a lot of emphases are placed on fluency rather than accuracy (Brown, 2007). Since the method focuses on developing a learner’s competency in applying the second language in a real life situation, CLT has become the most popular teaching second language method since inception. Research on the implicit and explicit approaches described above indicate that emphasis on both extremes impedes a learner’s acquisition of English as a second language thereby paving the way for the current focus-on-form movement- an extension of CLT. Focus-on-form method emphasizes on inducing learners to pay attention to linguistics form within meaningful communicative context (Ellis, 2001). Another approach that has become popular based on CLT framework is the Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), in which learning activities focus on real world situations and the learner is expected to complete the assigned tasks through communication (Brown, 2007).
Despite CLT method placing a lot of emphases on communication competency, the role of grammar in learning a second language and the importance of teaching grammar cannot be understated.
The heart of any given language is its grammatical structures. Grammar provides the systematic rules that govern structure and word order in a given language. Lack of grammatical structures might lead to loss of meaning in a language. Current research support the importance of teaching grammar in English as a Second Language (ESL) class since grammatical knowledge can affect how a learner expresses themselves in the second language. Teaching grammar therefore serves the purpose of teaching an ESL student to communicate effectively and meaningfully in the second language. Research on the needs of learners of English as a Second language indicates that students learn best when instructors incorporate both explicit and implicit approaches (Goldenberg, 2008).
Focus on communicative instructions has led to the decline in the role of grammar instructions in English as Second Language lessons. However, research also indicates that the importance grammar instructions play in English language acquisition cannot be understated. Communicative approaches such as TBLT and focus-on-form show that teaching grammar plays a vital role in language acquisition. To build grammatical accuracy in learners, instructors need to incorporate teaching methods that employ explicit and implicit approaches within the context of meaningful learning activities that allows the learners to practice and apply what they have learned in a real-life setup to build competency and proficiency.
Contextualized Dialogues
Subject Pronoun
Josiah: She thought she was tall enough to jump over the fence.
Jack: Is that’s why she fell down and broke her teeth?
Josiah: It was my mistake to advice her to jump.
Simple Present Tense
Mark: Thank you for spending your time to come for the interview. What is your area of specialization? Jonny: I am an aeronautical engineer. Mark: Are you married? Jonny: Yes, I am. Mark: What does your wife do? Jonny: She works as a restaurant attendant.
Mark: What religion do the two of you profess?
Jonny: We are Christians. Mark: Do you usually go to church together? Jonny: Yes, we regularly go. Mark: Where do you like going on vacation? Jonny: We rarely go on vacation. However, we do go to the beach wherever possible. Mark: What type of movies do you watch? Jonny: I often watch scientific movies. Mark: Thank you very much for answering all the questions. Jonny: You are welcome!
Present Continuous
Rose: Hi Bob! How are you?
Bob: I am good! How are you doing?
Rose: Great! Do you shop here?
Bob: Yes. I am picking a few items for my vacation. What about you?
Rose: I am looking for a magazine. How many times a week do you go shopping?
Bob: I usually go once a week. How often do you go shopping?
Rose: I always go three times a week.
Bob: I am really happy to see you. Do you want a ride home?
Rose: Yes, I do.
Present Tense and Present Continuous Tense
Noemi: What are you studying? Victor: I study Political Science. Noemi: I study Social Anthropology. Where are you coming from? Victor: I'm from Coimbra, in Portugal. Noemi: How many hours of classes do you have to study in a day? Victor: It depends on the day, but usually four hours. Are you going to the party tonight? Noemi: Do you mean the one for new students? I can't, because I need to get organized. I am moving to a rented flat tomorrow. Victor: Where are you living at the moment? Noemi: I stay at the Afix Hotel which is adjacent to the Super Petrol station. The rental rates are quite higher than the place I’m planning to shift to tomorrow. Victor: What are you planning to do on Sunday afternoon? If you want, we could meet and look around the city. Noemi: I plan to meet some friends in the afternoon. What about Sunday morning? Victor: Fine. Where shall we meet?
Past Simple
Rachael: Hi Alice, what did you do last weekend? Roberto: I did a lot of things. I did a thorough cleaning of my house on Saturday morning, and went to see my grandparents the same day in the afternoon. I also went shopping on Sunday afternoon after I visited my elder sister the same day in the morning. Rachael: What did you buy? Roberto: I bought some new jewelry and some toys for my nephew. Rachael: Did you see Marx over the weekend? Roberto: Yes, I did. Rachel: Where exactly? Roberto: At the new mall in town. Rachael: What did you do after your shopping? Roberto: Well, I went home and took a shower and then went out. Rachel: Where did you go out? Roberto: The new joint. Rachael: Did you enjoy your dinner? Roberto: Yes, I did. They had some wonderful wine! What about you, did you go out? Rachael: Unfortunately, I didn't go out this weekend.
Roberto: What did you do? Rachael: I stayed home and studied for my next week test! Roberto: Poor you!
Past Simple and Past Continuous
Carrey: Have you ever felt really frightened? Matt: Yes, I have been. Many times! But I think the worst time was about ten years ago when I went on holiday in Spain with my parents. Carrey: What happened? Matt: Well, we were driving to Madrid, the capital city, where we went to visit some friends who lived there. We were late, so we were driving quite fast. Suddenly a cat appeared out onto the road in front of us. My father put his foot on the brake and the vehicle skid. It made a terrible noise and we slammed on a tree at the road side. Fortunately, the car did not run on the cat. The car was also slightly damaged.
Passive Voice
Kate: Hi Betty! Would you accept as true that a car that moves on plain water was finally invented? Rita: Really? Who invented it? Kate: That, I do not know. If I do, I should have told you the name of the person who came up with the idea of such a car that moves on water. But since I do not know the name of the inventor, I would rather talk of her invention. Rita: But why did you not at least make an attempt to find out who the inventor is? Kate: I missed her name because the broadcaster mentioned it just once. Rita: Oh! So, you heard this news on the television? Kate: Precisely. Can I tell you something that is quite interesting? Extracts from banana leaves and water lily were used in making the car. Rita: Oh my! What for? Kate: I heard that they were to improve the power of the engine. Just one liter of gasoline was used to prime the engine of the car as the rest of the fuel was water during the introduction of the technology. However, the engine has really improved at the moment.
Comparative Adjectives
Teddy: Hey Helena! It’s a long time now since we last met. How are you? Welcome to the city of London. Martha: I am doing fine Teddy though I feel very exhausted and sleepy because of the flight but I must say that it is good to be here. Steve: How was your flight? Martha: I had a safe but long flight! It was longer than the flight between Ohio and Phuket. Steve: Where are you from? Martha: I am from New York City in the United States. It is a lot cold here than it is in New York. Steve: London is one of the coldest cities in the world, isn’t it? Martha: Yes, I think so. It is also one of the best cities to visit in Europe.
Teddy: Do you have relatives in England and specifically in London? Martha: Yes. I have an aunt and two brothers. My aunt works here while my two brothers are students in London School of Economics. Additionally, my parents too live in England but not in London. Steve: Do they all have dark hair like you? Martha: No! My brothers have red hair while the rest of my relatives here have black hair just like me. Teddy: Wow! It is interesting to know about that. Well, are you hungry? Martha: Of course yes. I had a meal in the past three hours. Steve: What would you like to eat? Teddy: There are lots of restaurants in London that offer good services and food. Martha: Yes, that would be fantastic. Steve: Your bags seem to be heavy. Can I help you carry one? Martha: Sure, thank you.
Adverbs
Supervisor: Rooney, you are late again!
Rooney: I am very sorry boss. There was a heavy traffic this morning despite having left my home earlier than usual.
Supervisor: That is the reason you always tell me!
Rooney: I know.
Supervisor: Why don’t you use the train as most of your colleagues do? It never experiences traffic. Actually, it has a fixed schedule.
Rooney: I do not use the train because of the long distance between the train station and my house.
Supervisor: A lot of excuses from you! Just ensure that you be on time tomorrow to avoid problems!
Adverbs and Adjectives
Samson: I am going on vacation in New York, America. Would you love to come with me?
Trish: Are you going with your wife or just alone?
Samson: She does not want to. She prefers being at home with our children. That is the reason I am inviting you. I will pay for the ticket from London to New York and back.
Trish: Oh my! That is generous of you. In that case, I will accompany you, I need to buy some American products.
Sam: Perfect!
References
Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy . White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Ellis, R. (2001). Investigating form-focused instruction. Language Learning, 51 (Suppl. 1), 1-46.
Gascoigne, C. (2002). The debate on grammar in second language acquisition: Past, present, and future. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press.
Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English language learners: What the research does—and does not—say. American Educator, 32 (2), 8-44.
Hinkel, E. (2002). From theory to practice: A teacher’s view. In E. Hinkel & S. Fotos (Eds.), New perspectives on grammar teaching in second language classrooms (pp. 1-12). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Nassaji, H., & Fotos, S. (2004). Current developments in research on the teaching of grammar. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics , 24, 126-145.
