Teach English in TiAnmuhu Zhen - Changzhou Shi

It is quite often said that learning grammar can hinder speaking English fluently. I, a big fan of grammar and also a current grammar teacher, also have heard of it and furthermore, partially agree with it. When learning English, students have to develop fluency and accuracy at the same time, but being too obsessed with accuracy might affect the fluency in a negative way. For instance, I met a lot of Korean people who have been learning English since they were kids. However, Korea is one of the countries where reading and grammar are the most important parts in learning English, so lots of them care too much about speaking correctly. When they speak, I can see that they are hesitating because they are aware of the correct way to say something, but It doesn’t pop up quickly enough. In this case, grammar is stopping them from speaking fast. So, what do we do? Do we have to neglect Grammar in order to speak English fluently? The answer is “No.” First, let’s look at the definition of grammar. Grammar is the ways that words can be put together in order to make sentences. Yes! Grammar makes sentences and we deliver our messages through the sentences. We shouldn’t ignore the importance of grammar. It is the rule of the language, so it is better to learn it, especially after the age of 13. Because before 13, the mother language doesn’t set in, young students can learn English like another mother tongue. But after 13, English became the second language. When the students over 13 learn English, the procedure of translating from English to native language is often accompanied, which can also hinder from understanding and learning English directly. After 13, learning another language becomes little different. We can still learn it, but not as naturally as mother tongue. That’s why studying grammar is quite necessary for the students from adolescents. Besides, grammar is helpful when it comes to making a variety of expressions. For example, today I had a lot of things to do, but I didn’t complete them. So I am regretting. But If I know and use subjunctive, I can express like this. “I should have done my works today.” I am running a class and the students are all adults whose English level is between basic and intermediate. When they just started their study with other teacher, the curriculum was full of memorizing the sentences. It worked for 1-2 years. But when their English had gotten better, it wasn’t that effective like before. So I changed their curriculum thoroughly, and I began to teach grammar in order to let them make their own sentences. The students are satisfied, even they have hard time making their own. The problem of grammar education is focusing too much on the problem solving. When the tests are held, problem solving is the easiest way to gauge the students understanding, because asking one by one takes a lot of time. But in order to get good grades in the test, students spend much time in problem solving and don’t have enough time for productive skills like writing and speaking, which leads to neglecting fluency. We all know that we should put highlights on both fluency and accuracy. Then we need new way to evaluate students’ level. This is what is going on in Korea. The absolute evaluation is introduced only in English subject to enhance students’ speaking and writing ability and restrain the excessive concentration on grades. To sum up, learning grammar is an essential part in studying English, since it helps making one’s own sentences and figuring out subtle differences in this language. While grammar improves our accuracy, we should also work on fluency with creative and aggressive mind. This way, all English-learners can achieve both of them at the same time without neglecting any of them.