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Learning the English language can be a very challenging task. The English language has a multitude of various grammar rules that one must learn in order to speak and write properly. This includes nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, tenses, etc. Grammar tells us who or what are we talking about, what are they doing and when is the action occurring? All of these parts of grammar work in conjunction with each other to create the English language as we know it. When learning English as a second language, one of the hardest areas grammar to learn is the tense system (ITTT, 2011). This area of grammar is so difficult for students because English has three main tenses that also have sub-tenses within them, which totals to about 12 tense (ITTT,2011). This is a stark contrast to many other languages, as they often have between one and three tenses total (ITTT, 2011). The tense system incorporates all aspects of grammar such as verbs, adjectives and nouns, and tells us how to sting them together when talking about the present, past and future. This aspect of grammar can be hard even for native English learners. There have been many times when I have heard someone say “I seen/seed that” rather than “I saw that” even though English is their first language. This is often due to the irregularities found within English grammar (ITTT, 2011). A word like work follows the regular layout for grammar tense rules by adding ‘ed/d’ and ‘ing’ to the ending of the verb i.e. “I am working”, “I work tomorrow”, and “I worked yesterday”. The words run differ from this lay out, as you would say “I ran over there” rather than “I runned over there”. It can also be hard for students to learn the tenses because their teacher will not have an answer for why some words are conjugated differently from other words (ITTT, 2011). The number of irregular verbs can seem very daunting to students and they will just need to memorize them if they want to succeed in speaking English fluently (ITTT, 2011). The future tense can be even more difficult that the past or present tenses. This is because the future is not always certain, so it needs to have different forms for concrete facts and possibilities, which often have different conjugations (ITTT, 2011). Students must also learn that the conjugation of questions will differ from a statement. They would need to learn that “I am…” is changed to “Am I…” when asking a question about themselves as well as other people and things. The most important thing students will need when learning grammar is a teacher who is confident and have at least a moderate understanding of how the different parts of grammar work. If their teacher lacks confidence on the subject so will their students. Their teacher should also be aware of the varying levels of knowledge of grammar in the classroom to make sure everyone is reaching their potential and not being left behind. Having an array of materials, worksheets, games, and knowledge will greatly help students pick up the finer aspects of English and increase their fluency with the language. Sources: ITTT, (2011). Unit 2 Parts of Speech. International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT, (2011). Unit 4 Present Tense. International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT, (2011). Unit 6 Past Tense. International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT, (2011). Unit 8 Future Tense. International TEFL and TESOL Training.
