Teaching grammar to ESL students

Teaching grammar plays a central role in every ESL/ELL teacher's classroom. The important question that needs to be answered is: how do I teach grammar? In other words, how do I help students learn the grammar they need.

Before I address the issue of how do I teach grammar, I think the more important question to be answered is what is grammar. In particular, what is grammar to my ESL students? To me grammar is a set of rules that help me navigate written language. Grammar tells me how to phrase my thoughts and when and where to punctuate. I don’t know that my view of grammar is or should be shared by my ESL students. To a non-native speaker I imagine the most important function of grammar is to help the speaker effectively communicate in his new environment. Only after this basic level of communication has been mastered should a student concern himself with the whys of grammar.

In the ESL classroom, grammar cannot be taught in a vacuum. Students are surrounded by multiple types of language in school and their community. ESL students will benefit from learning two types of grammar- the type presented in textbooks known as prescriptive or Standard English, and the type they hear their friends using in the cafeteria often called descriptive grammar. Fortunately for the teacher, these two types should sometimes overlap.

Learning a new language can be intimidating. With this in mind, material should be divided into manageable chunks. Covering nouns on Monday, verbs on Tuesday, and a test on Wednesday is not going to cut it. Teachers should take time to cover each unit thoroughly, checking with each student for understanding. Teachers should also get to know students individually to make sure the lessons are presented in a way that every student will understand and retain.

One complaint even native speakers often have of grammar is that it is boring. Teachers should make an effort to make the learning fun. Play grammar games in class or have material review challenges to keep students engaged and excited about coming to class.

I think another aspect of teaching grammar to ESL students teachers must consider is how to keep the learning relevant. Our hope as teachers is to see our students succeed. Success does not always mean an A on a test. Teachers should make sure to include real world examples of the language in teaching. I would invite students to make note of phrases or terms they hear their friends or classmates use in other classes. We would come together as a class and discuss what those phrases actually mean in their spoken text, for example, the word cool very rarely refers to temperature when spoken by the American teenager. ESL students need to be able to blend in when conversing with their peers.

As with any class, assessment is key. The difference in the ESL classroom is that teachers should not be using assessments to check for complete mastery of a topic. If a students achieves total mastery great, but this will not often be the case. Teachers should instead use assessment as a reference point. Testing should be used as a tool to determine where the next lesson should begin. Can we start a new topic, or should we linger here a bit longer until we are all comfortable? I think this approach to assessment will help ease student anxiety about content that is very daunting.