Content Introduction Chapter The Role of Translation and Mother Tongue in flt

26
Chapter 4. The Role of Mother Tongue in Grammar Teaching
The role of grammar is viewed differently by different FLT methods. The communicative approach views grammar as a means to achieve communicative goals. Harmer (1991, p. 4) claims that the task of grammar teaching within the communicative approach is to concentrate on language functions, like inviting, apologizing, suggesting, etc., rather than explicit grammar teaching. Another issue of communicative grammar teaching is learners' involvement in communicative activities to help them become competent users of L2.
Lessons are events which are fairly easy to recognize. They take place in a particular setting (e.g., a school or classroom), they normally involve two kinds of participants (the teacher and students), and they normally consist of recognizable kinds of activities (e.g., the teacher lecturing at the frontof the class, the teacher posing questions and calling on students to answer them). A lesson is, hence, distinguishable from other kinds of speech events, such as meetings, debates, arguments, or trials. Like other speech events, however, lessons have a recognizable structure. They begin in a particular way, they proceed through a series of teaching and learning activities, and they reach a conclusion. This pattern of structure or organization is a result of the teacher's attempts to manage the instructional process in a way which will optimize the amount of learning that can take place in the time available.Also, the aim of the current language education expressed by CEFR being a communicative competence, linguistic repertory to which all knowledge and experience of languages contribute and in which languages interrelate and 1 interact (CEFR 2001,4-5)
27
and this competence is appreciated no matter if it is learnt at school or outside it.
4.1.Mother Tongue in Grammar Presentation. The manner of grammar presentation depends on the proficiency and age of learners (ibid.). Thornbury (1999, p. 25) claims that the shorter the presentation of grammar is, the better. In terms of techniques for presenting grammar, i.e. introducing the form, meaning and use of a new language structure (Harmer 1991, p. 17), we can distinguish between overt and covert grammar teaching (ibid., p. 3 - 4). If grammar is presented overtly, grammatical rules are explicitly explained by the teacher.
In covert grammar teaching, learners' attention is not drawn to grammar itself. They are expected to acquire new language forms from e.g. reading a text where new grammar is introduced (ibid.). Daňová (2006, p. 21) puts it that presentation of grammar can be done either through grammar rules or without them. The first one refers to inductive and deductive techniques. The inductive technique expects learners to infer the rules themselves, e.g. from context or examples.
Deductive way involves the presentation -practice process. She points out teachers must be able to decide which form is suitable for their learners.they refer to grammar as a system
28
with a set of rules which need to be learnt but, at the same time, they see it as a way to improve one's communicative performance. From this perspective, grammar is a system that helps make meaning more precise.
4.2.Grammar in Communicative Language Teaching. Considerable evidence indicates that, in language learning classrooms that adopt a communicative language teaching (CLT) approach, explicit grammar instruction helps learners master specific syntactic features of the target language. The degree to which teachers themselves conceptualize explicit grammar instruction as an integral part of the CLT approach is less clear.
The current study investigates the relationship between stated beliefs and reported practices among English as an Additional Language teachers regarding the integration of explicit grammar instruction into learner-centered CLT classrooms.
Several strategies are available to create an effective lesson closure. These strategies not only help facilitate learning of the content of the lesson, but also allow the lesson to be seen as an integrated ,,:,hole. Strategies which teachers use to achieve closure include:
• Summarizing what has been covered in the lesson.