Teaching grammar in the English language classroom: perceptions and practices of students and teachers in the Ampara district

Abstract

In the Sri Lankan context, long after the introduction of the Communicative Approach to language teaching, the tendency is to base the teaching of English on the teaching of grammar. Unarguably, grammar is an important component of language. However, there are many issues in relation to teaching and learning of it. Teachers adopt different methods to teach grammar which students are unaware of. The deductive and inductive approaches, also known as rule-driven and discovery approaches respectively, are the two popular ways most teachers use to teach grammar. This study investigated the perception of 15 English teachers who teach both secondary and tertiary levels and 80 students of tertiary level on teaching and learning grammar: the effectiveness of explicit teaching of it, and the specific sub-components of grammar which learners found difficult or easy to learn. Questionnaire surveys were followed by discussions with the sample. It was revealed that teachers like to teach grammar and students like to learn it. Both parties are aware of the importance of having a sound knowledge of grammar for language development. However, students feel that learning grammar in isolation is boring. Nevertheless, they are reluctant to do away with grammar lessons. It was revealed that majority of the teachers were completely unaware of grammar teaching approaches.