Grammar Teaching
Group Two (Shirley, Cynthia, Christine) actually gave us a successful demostration with PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) approach to teach grammar. The grammar teaching is in an inductive way, that is the teacher gives the students a means to discover the rule for themselves. Their lesson plan is completely cohere with the goal and the whole process is smooth, so almost every students can fully participate in activities and enjoy the cheerful atmosphere in the class.
There are many models for planning a lesson, and all models have their advantages and disadvantages. Teachers should choose the appropriate way to teach depending on the lesson, class, level and learner styles. Grammar teaching can be interesting just like Group Two’s presentation which is different from the traditional way, Grammar Translation Method.
I think it is difficult for us to make a compromise between the two extremes of a structured based curriculum and a purely communicative classroom when teaching grammar because both of them have their own excellences and shortcomings. For beginners of learning language, Grammar Translation Method might be used more than Communicative Approach. For advanced learners, it is more suitable to use CA during all the classroom. However, it is necessary for teacher to use GTM to explain complicated structures or concepts to students in Taiwan, which is a test-oriented country.
Grammar seems not as concrete as daily usage. Teachers can design and offer tasks in real situation or more close to daily life to students, thus, student can learn how to apply what they have learned in the class to their life. It is so called meaningful learning.
Yes, it’s our responsibility to design our lessons cleverly so as to promote meaningful learning. If what students learn in class is not associated with their lives, learning becomes boring and meaningless. I suggest that besides the subject knowledge, we should understand teaching strategies and instructional design. (For your information: http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/edtech/strategy.html)