The usual reaction we get from students when informed that a new grammar topic will be discussed is nagging. You immediately hear sighs and see frowns on students' faces. For this reason, we should surpass the routine and traditional ways grammar has been taught. Students like to experience whatever they are learning. You may think, " Is that possible with grammar?" Well, as a matter of fact it is! For example, when explaining possessive pronouns, you can gather students' possessions and place them on a table. Then you can have volunteers choose an object and say:
This is David's bag.
This bag is his.
This is his bag.
Students will really enjoy this activity and they will remember it every time they want to recall possessive pronouns.
One cooperative learning strategy I have learned about is "Teams Games Tournaments" which I have implemented as a kind of assessment for quoted and reported speech. Students were given time to study together as groups of threes called cooperative teams. Then they moved to the competing teams and the games began. During this activity, a spirit of cooperation was created in the cooperative teams and students felt competitive which made them study harder. Throughout the whole activity students were not distracted and they were very pleased. At the end they were anxious to find out the results and recognition cards were given to the winners which made them feel appreciated.
I totally agree with you Joumana that a lot of students hate grammar because it is introduced in a boring way by the teacher. The students exert an effort in paying attention and trying to get along with the teacher but they cant since the teacher only present the material and rules in a dull way and never provide real life examples, or use authentic material. Using cooperative learning techniques is one of the best strategies used to make learning fun and at the same time easier to understand and practice it without any difficulties.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Joumana that a lot of students hate the fact that they learn grammar and many of them never understand it because it is presented in a very boring way by the teacher. Also many students never pay attention to grammar lessons, that goes back to the fact that teachers only give the grammar rules in a very dull way and never provide real life examples or even use authentic material to make grammar easier. Moreover, the use of cooperative learning techniques is very helpful in making students more engaged as well as enjoying learning grammar and practicing it.
ReplyDeleteVery nice activity which made grammar a fun academic game.For me as a teacher, grammar class is always an opportunity for fun. I cannot imagine dry and dull ESL/EFL grammar classes. During classtime there are, of course, periods of
ReplyDeletefocused concentration, especially during the first phases of a new unit when the students are trying to grasp an initial understanding of the form and meaning of a structure. We, as teachers, should know that even during those phases, explanations and examples can be enlivened by funny sentences using the students’ names or by fun demonstrations or pantomimes.