I believe that grammar needs to be taught. The woman and two gentlemen in the video provide great examples of why it is important to teach grammar. Betty Azar says that vocabulary is essential but there is a place for grammar. She also states that “Language should be fluent and accurate.” In order for language to be accurate, grammar teaching is necessary.
I agree that immersion is important to reinforce the correct use of the language, but students need the grammatical basis to be able to use the language accurately. I often find myself pausing during a lesson and giving a quick 1 minute review of a grammatical concept. Sometimes it’s about Spanish grammar and sometimes it’s English grammar to help clarify a concept that’s making it difficult for students to build connections between Spanish and English.
I also agree that the "zero grammar" approach to teaching to language is wrong. I was taught to teach that way and have resisted as much as I could. Students most certainly need to hear the language as much as possible but they also need to receive instruction on the strucutre of the language.
No comments:
Post a Comment