Department of English Studies

The importance of grammar in

second language teaching

Research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of License in English Studies

Paper presented by: supervised by:

Zakaria Dalil Pr. Meriem Harrizi

June 2013

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 Acknowledgement
I would like to address my most sincere gratitude to the following persons for their invaluable
support and encouragement.

First and foremost, I would like to thank my Professor Meriem Harrizi for her outstanding
supervision, kind treatment and remarkable devotion. She was always there for us, guided us,
motivated us, and most importantly, provided us with all the materials we would need for the
research.

I also would like to thank my family, my mother and my little sister for their invariable belief
in me which was the drive that motivated me, charged me with the desire to work hard and
succeed and inspired me in times of despair.

Lastly, I would like to thank friends Othman, amine and everybody else for the best three
years of my life and for all the fun and great memories we shared together.

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Introduction………………………………………………………………………………4

I. What is grammar……………………………………………………………….. 5
1. General definition…………………………………………………. 6
2. Grammarians’ views on grammar…………………………………… 6
3. Linguists’ views on grammar………………………………………... 7

II. The role of grammar …………………………………………………………….. 8

1. An enabling skill (speaking, writing, reading, listening) ……………….. 9
2. Meaning conveyance ………………………………………………. 11
3. sentence-making machine ..................................................................13

III. The role of grammar in SLT ……………………………………………………. 15

1. Grammar-based methodologies ……………………………………………..17
2. Approaches to teaching grammar ………………………………………… 19
3. ‘Teaching or not teaching’ grammar ………………………………………. 23

IV. Teaching grammar in the Moroccan Baccalaureate …………………………. 25

1. The presentation of grammar ……………………………………………… 26
2. Error correction ……………………………………………………………. 27
3. National exams ……………………………………………………………. 28

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………… 29

References ………………………………………………………………………………. 30

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Introduction

Over the last few decades, a great debate has taken place among theorists as to what is the role

of grammar. Certain notions and approaches to teaching languages started to emerge that

neglect the role of grammar in acquiring a second language. These sorts of notions were based

on the grounds that children didn’t have to learn grammar to pick up their first language.

These notions, however, were proven later on impractical as grammar plays an irreplaceable

role in breaking down the language for kids and facilitating it to adults.

This research is an attempt to highlight the vitality of grammar in teaching and acquiring a

second language. The role grammar plays can take many dimensions. Some of the roles

discussed in this paper are its ability to convey unambiguous meaning, having the capacity to

create an infinite set of sentences and a substantial enabling skill. Additionally, grammar

forms an important subject in almost all the syllabuses all around the world. Be it English

grammar or any other grammar, be it a native or a bilingual, a person can not write or speak

eloquently bereft of this key factor.

The research entails many aspects of grammar and its functions. The first part is composed of

a definition of grammar from three different perspectives. The second part deals with the role

grammar play in the process of acquiring and polishing the language. as for the third part, it

tackles the different methods and approaches known to teaching and instructing a second

language. last but not least, the fourth part is about the teaching grammar in the Bac level.

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 I. What is grammar?

What is grammar? A question we rarely ever ask ourselves when we speak our native

language. However, when it comes to learning a second language, it’s the first thing we are

introduced to. When we contemplate this question, the first answer that comes to our minds is

a set of rules that govern a language. Yes, it is true, but there is more to grammar than that.

Grammar is a system composed of many interconnected components that ensure accuracy and

meaning. It is the art of writing and speaking a language correctly. It is “the mental system of

rules and categories that allows humans to form and interpret the words and sentences of their

language.”There is no escape from using grammar if we want to improve our English or learn

a new language. Just as the latter, grammar is a living entity that evolves and undergoes a

great deal of change over time. Grammar of the 19th century is by no means the grammar of

today. These changes are due to several factors such as time, culture, literature and so on.

Grammar differs from one language to another and from one person to another. Non-native

English speakers may presume that the English language has less complicated grammar in

comparison to French or Spanish and that grammar, as a concept, to a Spanish speaker, may

not be the same to a German or a Japanese speaker. Nevertheless, grammar, from a linguistic

point of view, is the same in terms of complexity in all languages and they all share the same

universal components. Although the grammatical structure or the arrangement of words

would differ, yet its role remains imperative and instrumental in all languages.

Definitions of grammar vary greatly according to one’s knowledge and expertise in the realm

in question. A laymen’s definition of grammar would be much distinct from a grammarian’s

or a linguist’s. This distinction is primarily on account of the extent of knowledge one

possesses over the field or the orientation one has chosen to pursue. A laymen’s definition

would only scratch the surface of grammar while a grammarian’s definition would delve into

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more elaborate aspects like word class and part of speech. As for a linguist, he would tackle

the linguistics components of language such as phonology, semantics and so on. Grammar is a

tremendously vast field which could be approached from a myriad of ways. In this part of the

research we shall see how each of the aforementioned persons perceive grammar and in what

ways their views are different?

1. Laymen’s definition

Laymen’s definitions of grammar are usually succinct and superficial. They give grammar an

over general definition which makes it lose its significance. An example of these definitions is

“the rules and structure we use to make sentences, phrases and words logically.” Another

example is “The study of how words and their component parts combine to form sentences.”

These sorts of definitions don’t give grammar its actual worth and limit, in scope, the role

grammar plays in governing the usage of language. Nevertheless, these sort of simplified

definitions come in handy when it comes to teaching native children or new learners of

English about the basic concepts of grammar. Namely, it encourages children and especially

the adult learners, who usually quit due to the complexity of the grammatical rules, to

embrace it and learn its rudiments until they reach a level where they could grasp more

intricate notions. Complicating grammar right from the start would only result in developing

an aversion for the language and hence alienate the learners.

2. Grammarians’ definition

Grammarians’ definition of grammar is on a totally different level than the latter. Their

perception of grammar is much more profound and entails more elaborate entities which adds

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to the multiple usage grammar can take. They delve into more intricate details and tackle

advanced components which would seem bewildering for the non-specialist. Some of these

entities grammarians approach in view of grammar are like word class, clauses, part of speech

etc and how they merge together to form accurate and meaningful sentences. A grammarian’s

definition would take such a form as “The science which treats the principles of language; the

study of forms of speech, and their relations to one another.” Also “A normative or

prescriptive set of rules setting forth the current standard of usage for pedagogical or

reference purposes”. Furthermore, grammarians have primarily two or rather three approaches

in which they conceive the role of grammar. The first approach is the descriptive approach.

The latter describes how a language is used. As for the second approach, it is the prescriptive

approach. In this approach Grammar provides rules for correct usage. The last approach is the

generative approach. It provides instructions for the production of an infinite number of

sentences in a language.

3. Linguists’ definition

As regard the linguistic perspective. Grammar is a branch of the vast field of linguistics. “It’s

the part of the study of language which deals with the forms and structures of words

(morphology), with their customary arrangement in phrases and sentences (syntax), along

with language sounds (phonology) and word meaning(semantics).” In addition to this,

grammar of language should be thought of as “a device of some sort for producing the

sentences of the language under analysis” (Chomsky 1957:13). It’s a system of rules implicit

in a language, viewed as a mechanism for generating all sentences possible in that language.

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II. The role of grammar

Grammar plays a substantial role in governing the use and application of language. It gives

the user the structure to build complete and meaningful sentences. The role of grammar can

take many dimensions and varies according to the situation and context in which it is used.

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The underlying role of grammar lies in being the language which enables us to talk about

language. It names the words and words groups that make up sentences as well as the way in

which they can be accurately put together. It is true that natives can subconsciously pick up

their languages without any kind of explicit or formal instruction, but they can’t talk about it

or explain some of its irregularities without having learnt them.

Grammar also plays an important role in the writing and reading processes. One cannot write

efficiently and professionally without this instruction. It would be nearly impossible for the

writer to articulate his thoughts and make them intelligible for the reader. How would he be

able to express the future perfect or doubt without knowing grammatically how? In addition

to that, without grammar, one can not even read without misunderstanding the meaning. If the

reader has to go back and re-read a sentence several times because they are not quite sure

what it means, it spoils their reading experience and they are quite likely to misunderstand the

point or even to give up and not read any further. Knowing about grammar also helps us

understand what makes sentences and paragraphs clear and interesting and without it any

language will be totally coarse and ugly to deal with, not to mention that the language would

eventually become completely illegible and nonsense.

Grammar, as Chomsky put it, is a set of finite rules which, if learnt and mastered, can

generate an infinite set of sentences. This is also one of the attributes of grammar. With a

sufficient vocabulary, one can give utterance to any thought that crosses his mind. The only

two criteria which would restrain the number of sentences created are the vocabulary at hand

and the user’s sense of creativity. To exemplify, tourists who choose to spend their vacation

somewhere abroad, they usually buy a small tourist book with all the basic ready-made

sentences needed for communication. However, that book is only usable for 1 or 2 weeks and

there comes a time when the tourists need to say something that is not in the tourist book. In

that case, a little of grammar instruction and some elementary vocabulary would enable them

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to express what they want, Not necessarily correctly, but the recipient would most likely

receive the meaning.

“Grammar communicates meaning, meaning of a very special kind” (article ‘grammar

meaning and pragmatics’ by Michael swan ). Usually people disregard the usage of grammar

to communicate when there is enough contextual input. Single words or motions would do the

job. For instance, at a dinner, the waiter would come to you and ask you “coffee?” you would

understand what the waiter meant by that due to the context. However, when you are home

and you would like to ask your wife to make you some coffee, you can’t just go ahead and say

“coffee”. It would seem inappropriate and rude. This is where grammar comes in, it serves to

make the speaker’s or writer’s meaning clear when contextual information is lacking.

Moreover, Grammar also serves as an enabling tool for articulating complex thoughts. Baby-

talk is fine to a certain point, but there comes a time when you need to express more

complicated concepts and meanings for which simple words are not enough. To do that, rule

of syntax and morphology must be employed.

And last but not least, grammar is considered to be a prerequisite factor for effective

communication. The role of grammar in communication comes in organizing words, clauses

and phrases into meaningful sentences. The exchange of theses sentences results in a

conversation. In this respect, the importance of grammar here resides in making it possible

for each person to say exactly what they want to and be able to understand the other. It serves

as a mechanism against ambiguity and confusion. On the other hand, however, when grammar

is lacking in a conversation, there is a good chance for misunderstanding and disagreement.

Imagine going to a foreign country and using a dictionary of the local language to

communicate. You may pick the right word but the way you put them together can be funny,

maybe even dangerous. The purpose of grammar in communication is to be able to convey

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your thoughts through language. If you are not understood, then the whole point of the

conversation is lost.

The roles grammar play are multiple and diverse. In this part of the research, however, we

will focus on in what way or rather the extent to which grammar is an enabling skill, how it is

a sentence-making machine and the role it plays in conveying meaning

1. An enabling skill:

One of the primary and uppermost traits grammar has, as mentioned above, is that it enables

the user to process and produce correct sentences, be they spoken or written. The skill in

question is an indispensible factor for the user to function properly in each of these areas

(speaking, writing, listening, and reading). A decent mastery of grammar can make it easier

for the person to communicate and articulate his thoughts coherently. However, when the

person’s mastery of grammar is not sufficient, communication is more likely to be disrupted

and misconceived. What follows is an attempt to demonstrate the role grammar plays in each

of these areas.

“We know that the strength of a tree lies in its roots. Similarly the strength of any spoken

language lies in its grammar.” (Blog, how to improve spoken English) That it to say, grammar

serves the base and foundation of all spoken languages. Human interaction and

communication are based on mutual understanding. This requires the person to have a decent

level of grammar to be able to convey the message the same way he/her has in mind.

Speaking is an everyday activity and one can’t do without it. Therefore, a good command of

grammar is vital for effective communication. More to the point, the way one expresses

himself during communication gives off hints as to one’s knowledge and education. Whether

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we like it or not, we are judged by the way we speak. A correct use of grammar on all

occasions will make people perceive you as a well educated person. By contrast, if one’s

usage of grammar is weak, then the impression formed by others will be a very poor one and

they might take you to be poorly educated.

The second skill in which grammar monopolizes a great role in is writing. Grammar governs

the mechanisms of writing and ensures that it can be easily understood by all. A person may

have splendid ideas and distinctive perspectives which would make great changes in the

world. Nevertheless, if this person lacks the aptitude to fluently and accurately express these

ideas, they wouldn’t matter at all and would not even entice others’ attention. Had the greatest

writers in history like Dickens or the Indian spiritual leader Gandhi been terrible users of

grammar, their ideas would not have reached the world and would not have lived decades

after their demise. To exemplify the status grammar has in writing, syntax governs word order

in a sentence. Imagine reading an English sentence in which words are arbitrary placed. It

would clearly be impossible to understand. Punctuation also helps the reader to pause or

switch to a new thought. So often we find errors of punctuation and syntax that change the

meaning of the sentence; we then need to go back and re-read, perhaps several times, in order

to find out what the writer actually meant, a waste of time and effort.

The function of grammar does not extend only to the written and spoken forms; it rather

exceeds that to be also an underlying component in listening and reading. The role of

grammar pertains not only to one’s production but also to one’s understanding and perception.

When the student already knows grammar, it makes it considerably easier for him/her to

process what they hear and not dwell on it because they are not sure what it really means. A

teacher, for instance, asks a student to bring him/her the books on the desk, only to have the

student bring one book because he/her didn’t hear the S sound or didn’t understand it. In this

case, a better grip over grammar would have improved the student’s listening. This applies to

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reading as well. The way grammar contributes to reading is that it helps the reader better

understand what he/she reads.

“…an understanding of grammar and how it works, will improve your writing and

speaking skills, allow you to develop your own unique style of writing and

communication and express your thoughts and feelings effectively. More, this

knowledge and understanding of your language enables you to read more and more

widely, and absorb the ideas and techniques of the world’s great thinkers and writers.”

(the importance of grammar by Maureen)

2. Meaning conveyance:

Among the multiple functions grammar has, its ability to convey and clarify meaning

is the most important. A language is futile and doomed to perish if it’s ineligible of

constructing meaning. Communication constitutes a central part of human activities, and

meaning is a pre-requisite factor for the former to occur. There are many ways in which

grammar determines the meaning of the sentence. Each grammatical rule serves a particular

purpose. Conjugation to express an action in a certain time, modals to express obligation,

probability and certainty, even the intonation while speaking says a lot about what the person

wants to say. In addition to this, correct grammar enables us to articulate the same thought in

so many ways and in so many different structures. Once the person learns how to efficiently

employ these rules, he/she becomes able to use the language to convey any thought he desires.

One way in which grammar brings about meaning is the way it brings the words

together. Words grouped together randomly have little meaning on their own. For instance, if

father would like to know where his son is and the mother answers” with friends cinema go”.

In this instance, the father is highly unlikely to get the message and even if he somehow

managed to infer the meaning of the sentence, the latter is still ambiguous and open to

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different interpretations. Unless they occur accidentally, like in “go study”. Words may have

lexical meaning at the word level, but they convey no grammatical meaning as a group.

However when a special order is given to these words, grammatical meaning is created

because of the relationships they have to one another. The subject verb agreement, or to take

another example the difference between the past, present and future forms of verbs. The

meaning of a sentence is determined partly by the meaning of the words of which it is

composed and partly by its grammatical meaning.

Punctuation is also another way in which grammar contributes to meaning. When having a

face-to-face conversation, we use intonation, voice patterns and body language to express

exclamations or questions. However, when reading, we don’t have these useful tools so we

rely on the punctuation to help us figure out what the writer means. Punctuation has also the

capacity to change the meaning of a sentence. Making mistakes at the level of punctuation

leads to ambiguity. This sentence for instance:

‘A woman without her man is nothing’.

This sentence could be punctuated to have an utterly different meaning. A woman: without

her, man is nothing. While in the first sentence, women are worth nothing without men, the

second is the total opposite. Punctuation is a powerful tool. It helps maintain consistency and

ease understanding. Being punctuation a sub- branch of grammar, this shows the importance

and influence grammar has over meaning in particular and language at large.

To delve into more details regarding the role of grammar in conveying meaning, we must

have a look at the linguistic branch that is concerned with meaning. that is semantics. The

latter is the study of the meaning of words and sentences. The discipline in question studies

the interpretation of individual words. People pick up the meaning of words subconsciously at

first, but then as they grow more adept with language, more complex meanings emerge.

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“Semantics explains the various types of meaning that exist within a language, granting

insight into how a person builds ability and understanding with that language.”

“Semantics is critical to a language because without it, there would be no real structure to a

language.” Without the basic, intrinsic understanding of semantics that comes along with

language acquisition, speakers could bring words together in any order they want, and

listeners would have a difficult time deriving meaning from those sentences. Semantics

provides speakers with a structure to use when they need to slot words into sentences, creating

meaning.

3. A sentence making machine.

As mentioned in the introduction of this part, grammar serves many functions and

many purposes that pertain to the application of language. One of these functions is the

sentence making machine. The latter is actually one of the cogent arguments that stresses on

the importance of grammar instruction. This argument asserts that there is a limit to the

number of items, such as words and phrases that a person can both retain and retrieve.

Grammar enables us to generate sentences based on the preconceived diction and structures

we have in our mental repertoire. “Grammar, after all, is a description of the regularities in a

language, and knowledge of these regularities provides the learner with the means to generate

a potentially enormous number of original sentences” (article, ‘why should we teach

grammar). As mentioned above, the only two things that could restrain the number of

sentences are the vocabulary at one’s disposal and his sense of creativity.

The second argument that ascertains the utility of grammar in generating sentences is

Chomsky’s theory “Nativism” in 1959. This theory came as a counter argument for Skinner’s

theory “Behaviorism”. The latter claims that children are born tabula rasa. Namely, like a

blank paper without any innate capacities to pick up their native language. According to this

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theory, children learn their first language through stimulus and imitation. Children imitate the

sentences they hear and stimulus serves as a corrector when they make mistakes.

Nevertheless, the nativist theory debunked the behaviorist on the ground that children are not

born tabula rasa, but born with the language acquisition device (LAD). Furthermore, children

do not imitate ready made sentences but they process what they hear in order to reach rules. A

finite set of rules that would enable them to create an infinite set of sentences. This theory was

proved to be true on the basis that is impossible for children to imitate all the sentences in a

language and that by the year of five; they can produce sentences that they have never heard

before, all due to the language acquisition device. This shows the underlying role grammar

plays in generating sentences. Even if it was subconscious grammar and people use it without

being aware of it, they can’t do without it or else the sentences they create would make no

sense.

The role of grammar, at the sentence level, is not concerned with the sentence

construction only but with their combination also. A decent mastery of the grammatical rules,

gives the person the potential or rather the ability to manipulate and combine a variety of

basic sentence structure. The goal of this practice is not to learn how to produce longer

sentences but rather how to develop more effective ones. This applies to both, speaking and

writing . People actually grow disinterested and bored when they hear or read a set of

detached individual sentences, that in addition to the little meaning they convey. Instead of

creating many sentences to convey simply one idea, with the sentence combination, they can

all be merged into a one complete meaningful sentence. To exemplify, ‘the exercise was not

difficult. The exercise was not easy. The exercise was manageable’. By cutting out the

needless repetition and adding a few conjunctions, we can combine these three short

sentences into a single, more coherent sentence: ‘The exercise was neither difficult nor easy

but manageable’. Or ‘The exam was not difficult or easy but it was manageable’.

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Furthermore, a systematic practice in combining and expanding sentences increases one’s

repertoire of syntactic structures and may also improve the quality of sentences.

All in all, grammar is an instrumental tool that not only enables the speaker to create a

wide variety of sentences but also equip him with the necessary instruction as to how combine

and manipulate these sentences to best suit his purpose.

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III. The role of grammar in second language teaching.

One of the most controversial issues that has preoccupied theorists and practitioners

over three decades is grammar teaching. This situation resulted into bringing about

two main streams of opinion, those who think grammar should be taught and those

who do not. The attitude of the former is reflected in the grammar translation method,

where there is a heavy emphasis on the grammar instruction. As for the attitude of the

latter, it is applied in the natural approach or in a strong version of the communicative

language teaching where there is little grammar learning, though contains loads of

communication exercises. Joseph Web(1622) a schoolmaster and textbook writer

stated “No man can run speedily to the mark of language that is shackled with

grammar precepts. By exercise of reading, writing, and speaking all things belonging

to Grammar, will without labor, and whether we will or not, thrust themselves upon

us.” He maintained that grammar could be easily picked up through the exposure to

the target language and through communication.

This is the fallacy which a large portion of theorists fell pray to, that grammar is

merely a group of arbitrary rules about static structures in the language. To take this

misconception even further, these theorists asserts that these grammatical structures

don’t have to be taught and that learners will acquire them on their own. The theorists

in question also claim that explicit grammar instruction teaches only about the

language and not the actual language itself. As Omaggio stated”this method sends a

clear message that the focus of the lesson is on talking about the language rather than

on talking in the language." Nevertheless, these claims and assertions were proven

wrong later on by theorists like Mulroy(2003), “The value of grammar was never

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challenged” and Frank Palmer(1972), “the central part of a language is its grammar,

and this should be of vital interest to any intelligent educated person”. Grammar,

according to its advocates, provides the learner with a perfect understanding of

language structures and contributes to eloquent self-expression. An english student

who doesn't know grammar, for instance, the parts of speech, is like a composer who

doesn't know the music notes. We shall delve into more details regarding this debate

in the third section of this part.

The role of grammar in second language teaching is that it enables the teacher to break

down the language into many pieces; That is to say, basic, fundamental rules and

structures, for the student to pick up and understand so that he could reassemble them

in real communication. There is no doubt that Grammar should be put in the

foreground in second language teaching, because knowledge of grammar and

vocabulary is the base of any other foreign language. The majority of people who

learn a second language do so to be able to speak it. Well, grammatical competence is

a pre-requisite factor of communicative competence. Communicative competence

involves knowing how to use the grammar and vocabulary of the language to achieve

communicative goals, and knowing how to do this in a socially appropriate way.

Without this underlying competence, as stated above, communication will be fraught

with blunders and misunderstanding. In an extensive review of research in the SLA

Ellis (1994) suggests that the ideal approach to teaching of grammar is the

combination of both formal teaching and engaging students in communicative

activities.

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Contrary to what some of the naturalist theorists such as Crashen and Terrel Believe,

second language grammar is not acquired unconsciously. They advocate that

knowledge is acquired implicitly through interaction with authentic input, rendering

grammar instruction unnecessary. On the contrary, Grammar is not acquired naturally;

unlike first language grammar, second language grammar must be taught and

instructed. We may be able to exchange simple greetings and express emotions using

short phrases, but without a good grasp of sentence construction, we most likely end

up producing sentences and utterances that at best mislead listeners. The current trend

argues that an explicit awareness or ‘noticing’ of grammatical structures is essential to

attain high proficiency. As Seliger, (1979) observed, “conscious rules obtained by the

learners through instruction result in different performance levels. They can facilitate

acquisition to help induce hypothesis testing, Thereby making this process more

efficient. “

Another argument that ascertains to the utility of grammar is the fossilization

argument. It is possible for learners with a flair for languages to attain a high level of

proficiency in a certain language without any sort of overt formal instruction. At some

point, however, these kinds of learners are usually confronted with a wall which they

find very difficult to get passed. In other words, they reach a language plateau beyond

which is very difficult to progress. To put it technically, their linguistic competence

fossilizes. Research suggests that learners who receive no instruction seem to be at

risk of fossilizing sooner than those who do receive instruction.

Grammar instruction serves also as an accelerator of the learning process. Grammar

helps students and learners learn the language much faster than those who don’t

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receive an explicit grammar instruction. Long (1983) reviewed eleven relevant studies,

six of which clearly showed faster development in children and adults who received

ESL instruction and concluded that instruction does effect acquisition. Due to this

prior instruction of grammar, students need not tire themselves by having to notice and

understand the inflection of words and verbs because they study them and when they

notice them in use, they fully comprehend them and become able to apply in different

contexts. This saves them a considerable amount of time and effort plus it affects the

accuracy of their learning. A student, should he have to notice and understand all these

grammatical rules and forms on his own, may get perplexed or make wrong

deductions that could ruin his learning process. This is precisely why grammar should

be taught explicitly.

“Grammar instruction can also have a delayed effect. The researcher Richard Schmidt

kept a diary of his experience learning Portuguese in Brazil. Initially he had enrolled

in formal language classes where there was a heavy emphasis on grammar. When he

subsequently left these classes to travel in Brazil his Portuguese made good progress, a

fact he attributed to the use he was making of it. However, as he interacted naturally

with Brazilians he was aware that certain features of the talk certain grammatical items

seemed to catch his attention. He noticed them. It so happened that these items were

also items he had studied in his classes. What's more, being more noticeable, these

items seemed to stick. Schmidt concluded that noticing is a prerequisite for

acquisition. The grammar teaching he had received previously, while insufficient in

itself to turn him into a fluent Portuguese speaker, had primed him to notice what

might otherwise have gone unnoticed, and hence had indirectly influenced his

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learning. It had acted as a kind of advance organizer for his later acquisition of the

language.”

There is no denying that Grammar instruction for second language learners is an

essential thing. First it facilitates the role of the teacher by enabling him to break down

the language to little pieces and then provides him with a syllabus to follow with

which make the teaching job goes so much smoother. As for learners, grammar

provides learners with a sort of criterion by which they could assess and measure the

accuracy of what they say and write. In addition to that, grammar ensures that its

learners have the skills and rules necessary to articulate any thought that crosses their

minds. With a sufficient diction and a decent mastery of grammar, learners should be

capable of carrying out meaningful conversations; the thing that saves them quite a

substantial time rather than having to observe and find the rules all by themselves.

a) Methods to teaching grammar:

Over the last few centuries, the language teaching field has undergone tremendous

changes especially in the twentieth century. Unlike the teaching of Maths and Physics

which has to a greater or lesser extent remained the same, language teaching discipline

has advanced a great deal. Teachers and theorists are insistently coming up with new

approaches and methods which will help the learner acquire the target language more

easily and quickly. In this part, we shall have a look at some of the distinctive methods

and approaches related to the language teaching field.

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 The direct method:

The direct method is a method posited in the first part of the twentieth century by

Charles Berlitz. He asserts that the basic tenet of this method is that second language

learning is similar to first language learning. In this respect, there should be lots of oral

interactions, spontaneous use of language, no instruction in the native language and

little of grammar and syntactic learning.

The concepts of this method are conducting the instruction process only in the target

language. This method, as matter of fact came as a counter-method for the grammar

translation method which promotes the instruction in the mother tongue. Translation is

entirely banished from any classroom activity. The latter are carried out solely in the

target language. The direct method put a heavy emphasis on the oral use of the target

language. Speaking is taught first before reading or writing. Students are actively

involved in using the language in realistic everyday situations and encouraged to think

in the target language. As for the vocabulary, only the everyday vocabulary is taught.

Concrete vocabulary is taught through pictures and objects. As regards grammar, the

method in question adopts an inductive approach. Namely, letting the learners deduct

the rules from adequate linguistic forms in the target language.

Teachers adopting this method rely mostly as classroom activities on reading aloud,

question answer exercises, dictation and conversation practice.

This method was highly praised by grammar critics and theorists and said to have

many advantages. These advantages are presented in its ability to simulate the first

language acquisition conditions. It teaches you the foreign or second language in the

23
same way as one learns one’s mother tongue. In addition to that, Instead of teaching

about the language, this method teaches the language itself through demonstration and

conversation in context. Pupils, thereby, become able to converse with fluency and

felicity in the target language.

Notwithstanding, this method is not an all flawless method. Grammar critics argue it is

nearly impossible for this method to imitate the first language acquisition process.

Students acquire their mother tongue through total immersion in the language and

direct contact with native speakers. At this rate, it is going to take ages for students to

acquire a second language without these vital conditions.

Grammar translation method:

grammar translation method is a method that was originated in the early 1500s from

the teaching of Latin. In grammar-translation classes, students learn grammatical rules

and then apply those rules by translating sentences between the target language and

their native language. In that era, this method had two main goals: one is to develop

the students’ reading capacity to read literary material in the target language, and to

further students’ general intellectual development. This method focuses on the reading

and writing activities as it has developed techniques which facilitates the learning of

reading and writing. Hence, speaking and listening activities are totally overlooked.

One reason why this method has gained such popularity among students is that it

conducts its classes in the students’ mother tongue. This method places a heavy

emphasis on the instruction of the grammatical rules. The latter are learned

deductively by means of rote and then practice these rules by doing grammar drills and

24
sentence translation. The mainstay of classroom materials for the grammar-translation

method is the textbooks. it attempts to codify the grammar into discreet rules for

students to learn and memorize.

This method, however, has been proven to be an impractical way of teaching a second

language. Despite the fact that it has been the standard way in which languages were

taught from the 17th to the 19th century, and still widely practiced today, yet, the

whole point of learning a new language is to be able to communicate in it and interact

to it and not only be able to translate or interpret sentences. Maybe this method was

suitable for that era but it’s by no means apt for this.

The audio-lingual method:

The audio-lingual method, also called army method is a foreign language teaching

method, developed by the renowned linguist Bloomfield and based on the behaviorist

theory. This method is to a certain extent similar to the direct method. They both

coincide in that students should be taught the language directly without having to

resort to the mother tongue to explain some of the words or grammar rules.

Nevertheless, unlike the direct method, the audio-lingual method didn’t focus on

teaching vocabulary. Rather, the teacher drilled students in the use of grammar

covertly through the memorization of forms.

In this method, the teacher presents the students with correct model of a sentence and

the students have to repeat it. Thus, the teacher is expecting a certain response and not

providing it will result into having a negative feedback. The point of this exercise is to

drill certain structures onto the mind of the student until he/she becomes able to use

them spontaneously. In this light, the student has little or no control of his/her own

output since all they are required to do is to repeat what the teacher says. In audio-

25
lingualism there is no explicit grammar teaching. Everything is simply memorized in

form.

Grammar critics maintain that this method has very limited benefits in terms of

instruction and acquisition. This method lacks the essence of second language teaching

which is grammatical rules to enable the students to construct sentences themselves

and communication exercises to learn how to apply the rules in conversation. Having

to repeat mere sentences and do rote exercises simply reduces the cognitive capacities

of the students and strict their engagement with the target language.

b). approaches to teaching grammar

The natural approach:

The natural approach is a language teaching theory developed by Stephen Crashen and

Tracy Terrel in the late 1970 and early 1980s. this approach strictly banishes the use of

the native language in the classroom and aims to promote naturalistic language

acquisition in classroom sitting. It emphasizes communication between students and

use of the target language in everyday life. This approach is somewhat a simulation of

the first language acquisition. Grammar is hardly given any attention on the basis that

we didn’t have to learn the grammar to speak our mother tongue. In this approach,

errors are corrected explicitly by the teacher . the latter does all he can to provide a

stress-free learning environment. In the natural approach, language output is not

forced, but allowed to emerge spontaneously after students have attended to large

amounts of comprehensible language input.

The primary aim of this approach is to develop the communicative skills in the

student. This approach was initially intended for beginners, its principles however, can

26
 apply to a wider range of learners and teaching situations. Terell highlighted three

major principles of this approach: "Focus of instruction is on communication rather

than its form.", "Speech production comes slowly and is never forced.", "Early speech

goes through natural stages (yes or no response, one- word answers, lists of words,

short phrases, complete sentences.)"

Nevertheless, this method also has shortcomings. The lack of teaching grammar in this

approach has caused the students serious problems in writing and speaking. Their

incapacity to produce accurate spoken and written sentences has made critics

reconsider this approach. A requisite element in any language is correctness. In

addition to that, researches found this first language acquisition is somewhat

impossible no matter how much linguistic input you provide to the student, Unless the

learner lives in an environment where the target language is solely spoken.

The communicative approach:

The communicative approach or communicative language teaching is an approach that

emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The premise of this approach is the emphasis on

interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study. This approach appeared as a

result of the tremendous demand for learning a second language either for professional or

personal reasons, initially in Europe. However, traditional methods like the grammar

translation proved to take a considerable amount of time and not really meant for

communication. Thus, theorists came up with a new approach which would assure fluency

and immediate pay off.

Major characteristics of this approach are: “1. An emphasis on learning to communicate

through interaction in the target language. 2) The introduction of authentic texts into the
27
learning situation. 3) The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on

language but also on the learning process itself. 4) An enhancement of the learner’s own

personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning. 5) An attempt

to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom.”

Just like any other approach, CLT also has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are

represented in being a holistic approach. It places more emphasis on the communicative

activities rather than stick to the traditional structural syllabus. Moreover, it creates an

atmosphere of vitality and excitement in the classroom where everyone have to participate

and contribute. And finally, the reason why most of new language neophytes prefer this

approach is that it capitalizes on the interests and needs of the learner. As regards the

disadvantages, this approach improves the students’ communicative competence at the

expense of their correctness. The lack of grammar exercises weakened the students’ ability to

speak accurate and meaningful language.

The deductive approach:

The deductive approach (called also rule-driven learning) is the approach where grammar is

explicitly presented to the students and followed by exercises applying the rules. This

approach is derived from the concept that deductive reasoning works from the general to the

specific. That is to say, theories are presented first and then their application. “This approach

has been the bread and butter of language teaching around the world and still enjoys a

monopoly in many course books and self-study grammar books.” (Fortune 1992). In such an

approach, the grammar teacher provides the students with the rule first and then explains it

through a set of examples. Once students understand the rule, they are asked to apply it to

various examples of sentences. This way students are expected to be capable of applying the

rule in different context without fearing of making mistakes. As Eisenstein (1987) puts it

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“with the deductive approach, learners be in control during practice and have less fear of

drawing an incorrect conclusion related to how the target language is functioning.”

Nonetheless, the deductive approach has also its advantages and disadvantages. The

advantages of the latter reside in being a straightforward method. It goes directly to the point

without any sorts of confusing introductions. In addition, the aspects of the rules, like the

form and its application, can be more simply and clearly explained than elicited from

students; hence, preventing students from drawing wrong conclusions. Furthermore, this

approach is based on the direct explanation and instant application of the grammatical rules,

the thing that makes them stick in the mind of students. And last but not least, The deductive

approach respects the intelligence and maturity of many adult learners in particular and

acknowledges the role of cognitive processes in language acquisition.

As regards the disadvantages, some theorists argue that beginning a class with a grammar

lesson may be off-putting for some learners, especially the younger ones. Moreover, students

may find a hard time comprehending the concepts of the rule or understanding all the

terminology that is usually accompanied with the rule explanation. More to the point, this

approach encourages the attitude that language learning is merely an understanding of the

language grammar, which is something a large proportion of learners fall prey to. And lastly,

Grammar explanation encourages a teacher-fronted, transmission-style classroom. It hinders

the student’s involvement and interaction in the classroom.

Inductive approach:

The inductive approach is somewhat the counter-approach of the previous one. inductive

approach comes from inductive reasoning stating that a reasoning progression proceeds from

particulars (that is, observations, measurements, or data) to generalities (for example, rules,

laws, concepts or theories) (Felder & Henriques, 1995). That is to say, unlike the deductive

29
approach, students observe a number of specific instances and from them a general rule of

concept is inferred. The approach in question suggests that the teacher should teach grammar

by presenting a wide variety of examples and that students derive the grammatical rule from

the examples. “Eisenstein (cited in Long & Richards, 1987) maintains that the inductive

approach tries to utilize the very strong reward value of bringing order, clarity and meaning to

experiences.” In short, this approach highlights the grammatical rules implicitly through

which students are encouraged to infer the rules by themselves.

Similar to the deductive approach, the inductive approach also offers advantages and

disadvantages. The former lies in that learners become accustomed and familiar with the rule

discovery , the thing that enhances learning autonomy and self-reliance. In addition, by

having to infer the rules all on their own, learners are more active in the learning process

rather than being passive recipients and get to train and capitalize more on their cognitive

capacities. Furthermore, The approach involves learners’ pattern-recognition and problem-

solving abilities in which particular learners are interested in this challenge. And finally, If the

problem-solving activity is done collaboratively, learners get an opportunity for extra

language practice.

As for the disadvantages, The concepts given implicitly may lead the learners to have the

wrong concepts of the rule taught. Also, The approach is time and energy-consuming as it

leads learners to have the appropriate concept of the rule. Moreover, The approach may

frustrate the learners with their personal learning style, or their past learning experience (or

both) would prefer simply to be told the rule. And lastly, The approach can place emphasis on

teachers in planning a lesson which many teachers may find tiring or even unduly.

The eclectic approach:

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Throughout the language teaching history, there have been two main opposing approaches to

teaching languages; those who focus on analyzing the language and those who focus on using

it. On the one hand, students acquire a good grip of grammar and vocabulary but they lack in

applying them in meaningful communication. On the other hand, students begin using the

language instantly in order to acquire it but they make so many mistakes as they lack in

constructing grammatically accurate sentences. Nevertheless, more and more practitioners

come to realize that these two approaches complete each other and that if combined, they

could result in an eclectic approach that combines correctness and fluency.

Some of the advantages of such an approach are that it focuses on form with contextualized,

communicative practice of the target structure, Students get to learn grammar in a natural

way, classroom activities are interactive and most importantly it includes attention to form

along side the communicative activities.

This approach is advocated by many researchers as Rodriguez (2009,2) “attention to form

“should take place within a meaningful, communicative context, making it an extension of

communicative language teaching, not a departure from it.” Also “teachers who focus

students’ attention on linguistic form during communicative interactions are more effective

than those who never focus on form or who only do so in decontextualized grammar lessons”

(Spada and Lightbown, 1993, and Lightbown, 1998, cited in Larsen-Freeman, 2001).

c) Teaching or not teaching grammar:

Throughout the language teaching history, there have been two main forces constantly

clashing trying to prove each other wrong; a force or a stream that advocates the instruction of

grammar and another that does not. This has generated a great debate in second language

31
teaching and a lot of research has been done on it. In this part of the research, we shall

examine some of the adversaries’ views with respect to grammar instruction and some of the

proponents’ counter-arguments.

Many adversaries of grammar teaching believe that an overt instruction of grammar does not

necessarily contributes to the student’s development or influence his acquisition process. The

premise of this stream is that in order for students to pick up a second language, teachers must

expose their students to a considerable amount of authentic input. Namely, create a native-like

environment where the student is forced to communicate and interact in the target language.

this forms the base and foundation of the natural and direct approach which claims that

natives didn’t have to learn their language grammar to speak it. Prabhu (1987) “the

development of competence requires the creation of conditions in which learner engage in an

effort to cope with communication, not systematisation of planned grammatical input.”

The strongest advocate of this view is Steven Krashen (1982, 1985) who is famous for his

learning Vs acquisition dichotomy and his monitor theory. He proposes the dichotomy of

explicit knowledge that can be reported and explained and the implicit knowledge that can be

explained only tacitly and intuitively. He maintains that only implicit knowledge is

responsible for acquisition and that explicit knowledge can be learnt and taught, but it is only

useful for monitoring oral production. Implicit knowledge cannot be taught, but it can only be

acquired through genuine communicative activities. On these grounds, he rejects formal

grammar teaching.

Despite the fact that this entire research serves as a highlight of the importance of grammar,

we shall state some of the arguments that debunks the aforementioned ones. Recent research

findings concerning formal grammar teaching have provided theorists and practitioners with

strong evidence that this type of instruction can help accelerate the acquisition process, raise

32
consciousness of the grammatical rules and increase accuracy. Seliger ( 1979) suggests that

“conscious rules obtained by the learners through instruction result in different performance

levels. They can facilitate acquisition to help induce hypothesis testing. Thereby making this

process more efficient”

“The Findings of Pica's ( 1985) study suggests that formal grammar instruction does make a

difference. She compared 3 groups of learners: a natural group (no grammar teaching, learners

learn naturally through communication), a mixed group and an instructed group which used a

number of grammatical morphemes in unplanned speech. The instructed group performed -s

plurals more accurately than the naturalistic group. A comparison by Ellis ( 1989) between the

results of his study on the sequence of classroom acquisition of German word order rules and

that reported for naturalistic learners suggests that there were no differences in the sequence

of acquisition. However, this comparison did suggest that the classroom learners appeared to

be more successful because they achieved a higher level of acquisition in a shorter period of

time. Therefore, Ellis concludes, the results suggest that classroom learners may learn more

rapidly.”

As for krashen’s theory, Long and Ellis debated the latter only to show that his argument

contains many contradictions and that is difficult to defend. Long (1983) reviewed eleven

relevant studies, six of which clearly showed faster development in children and adults who

received ESL instruction and concluded that instruction does effect acquisition. This

conclusion presents a serious blow to Krashen’s theory. Krashen, however, maintained that

the findings simply reflect the utility of a classroom as a source of comprehensible input for

beginners which is lacking in the natural environment, and not the results of instruction

(Krashen, 1985). When Long mentioned that the studies also involved advanced learners,

Krashen simply defended himself by saying that subjects in some of the studies have been

wrongly classified as intermediate and advanced. In the end, Krashen himself in an earlier

33
paper concluded that 'formal instruction is a more efficient way of learning English for adults

than to learn it in the streets' (quoted in Ellis, 1994)

To conclude this part, grammar instruction is indispensable to second language learning and

acquisition. It accelerates the learning process as it improves the accuracy of the student.

Nevertheless, excessive stress on grammar can demotivate students. Grammar instruction

must start at a certain age and that each set of rules should be taught to a specific age

category. Some teachers rush their students and instruct them about rules that they roughly

comprehend. And finally, grammar instruction must be adjoined with communicative

exercises so that the grammatical competence would not improve at the expense of the

communicative one or vice versa.

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IV. Teaching grammar in the Moroccan Baccalaureate

In Morocco, public schools students do not start learning English until the third year of their

secondary school. This year serves as an introduction to the language; it sets the foundation

and provides the students with the necessary notions of the language, Such as how to

pronounce the alphabets, how to greet and thank others, how to read simple texts and how to

form simple sentences. After that, students move to the first and second year of high school

where they get to the next level and start learning grammar and more challenging concepts.

Namely, how to use simple tenses (the simple present and simple past), how to employ

modals and how to carry on simple conversations in English. By the time students reach the

final year of high school, they acquire a set of skills that enable them to absorb and

understand more complicated notions. In a survey, I asked 15 teachers some questions about

the teaching of grammar, the way they present it and their opinion about the textbooks of the

Baccalaureate year. Their answers varied and differed according to each teacher’s perspective

and experience.

The first question in my survey was whether the grammar lessons of the Bac year are suitable

to the students’ level or not. 10 out of the 15 answered negatively. They argue that the

majority of students find some lessons somewhat too difficult to grasp. such as the future

perfect, passive voice, and direct speech, to name a few. According to the teachers, the reason

behind this is that students didn’t have enough training in their previous years as English is

roughly given enough attention. They maintain that two sessions or so a week is by no means

enough for teachers to take their time to slowly explain the lesson. Thereby, they are forced to

rush the lesson at the expense of students’ comprehension. Hence, students succeed the year

35
with little knowledge of grammar until they get to Bac where they find themselves confronted

with lessons beyond their comprehension.

As regards the other five teachers, they maintain that the lessons are to some extent suitable to

the bac year and not necessarily to the students’ level. They argue that the latter differs

according to the students’ aptitude and willingness to apply themselves. They claim that they

have some students who do very well in grammar and in English as large though they have

the same hours and same syllabus as the other students. Thereby, the second category of

teachers asserts that students’ level in English grammar rely on two factors: their willingness

and desire to learn and the quality of the teachers’ explanation.

The second question in the survey was about the attitude of students towards grammar

lessons. Almost the majority of teachers agreed that grammar is the least favorite activity in

class. Students prefer activities where they get to converse and interact with each other. The

reason behind this according to the teachers is that students often find the lessons

overwhelmingly boring. All they are required to do is to learn the form and apply it in

exercises. Some teachers also attribute this attitude to the way some teachers explain the

lesson. They maintain that some teachers conduct their class in a very plain and almost

mechanical way; the thing that decreases students’ attention and desire to learn grammar.

Kamal Najabi, a teacher in Abdel karim khatabi, suggests a method whereby the teacher could

make the lesson more entertaining. he stated “ The teacher must make the students feel more

involved in the lesson and not just an audience and that is through asking them questions or

by creating dialogues among the students where they get to employ the rule at once. This way

students will feel more involved and more willing to absorb.

As for the third question, it was about how well do students do in grammar? 12 out 15 of the

teachers surveyed agreed that 60% of students have serious problems understanding the

36
lessons, and applying the rules in a class conversation, Except for some students who show an

exceptional interest and aptitude for the subject. It is true that Almost the majority of class

understands the forms and applies them on exercises. Yet when it comes to the function, the

majority of class fails and misuses the rule. Furthermore, most of English teacher are

grammar oriented, they focus on the teaching of rules and its application and forget about

teaching students how and when to use them in live communication. I asked Aziz Sfart, a

teacher in lycee Al mosta9bal, as to what is the main reason behind students’ incompetence in

English? He answers “the main reason behind this incompetence is due to the fact that

students didn’t have enough training in their previous years of high school. Students are

supposed to have already established a foundation in the previous two years on which they

can proceed to learning lessons of the final year. Without this foundation, students can not

assimilate last year grammar.”

This part was merely an introduction to the fourth and last section of this research. In the

subsequent parts, teachers answer my questions as to how they display grammar to their

students, their methods of correcting the students’ mistakes and their attitude toward the Bac

syllabus of English.

a) The presentation of grammar:

The presentation of grammar is when the teacher introduces the grammar lesson to the

students. This stage plays a very important role in enticing the students’ attention. Should the

teacher start the lesson monotonously, students are most likely not to pay attention. Hamid

Riguig, an English teacher in lycee Anour, stated “the first 5 minutes of the lesson are very

crucial because it’s the period in which the student decides whether to pay attention or not.

According to the survey I conducted, these 15 teachers shared 2 main methods by which they

introduce the grammar lessons.

37
The first method is the grammar translation method. The latter, according to 9 of the teachers

surveyed, is the most used method in teaching grammar in morocco. Using this method, the

professor directly introduces the lesson, explains the form of the rule and provides the

students with exercises to do. One of the proponents of this method Lamia Othmani said “ the

grammar translation method is very resourceful. It facilitates the role of the teacher, it goes

directly to the core of the matter as it is time saving”. Hassan Chgar, Another advocate of this

method said “ I have been using this method for over 10 years, and I can say that it is the best

suited to the students’ needs.”

As regards the second method, it is somewhat similar to the natural approach. In this

approach, the teacher emphasizes more on communication and interaction activities rather

than grammar drills. Proponents of this method try to create an environment where their

students get to employ the rule in a conversation. In the end, the teacher provides the students

with the form after they have fully assimilated its function. Only few teachers use this

method. out of the 15 teachers surveyed, only three use this method and not all the time.

Karim Boutahar, a teacher in high school Ibno Banaa stated, “Despite the substantial utility of

this method, yet it is not suited to all students. Some students tend to be a bit bashful and

restrain from participating in class. Others lack in communication skills, speaking English to

them is not as easy as others find it, the thing that drives them to prefer the previous method.

Finally, it is time-consuming. Usually one session is not enough to cover all the aspects of the

lesson”

I, also, requested these teachers’ opinion with respect to conducting an English class in

Arabic. All the teachers opposed to this method on the ground that it is not educational. Karim

Boutahar argues “this cheap method is by no means a way to teach English. Students come to

class not only to learn a bunch of grammar rules but rather to know how to communicate in a

new language and learn about the culture of that new language.” in addition, Lamia Othmani

38
stated “using Arabic as means of explaining is a clear sign of the teacher’s incompetence.

How can one teaches a language with a wholly different one. I would accept French due to the

similarity it has with English. Arabic, however, is a semantic language and can’t be used as

medium to teach English.”

b) Error correction:

One of the major roles the instructor has in class is to rectify the students’ mistakes. This has a

very important effect in the development of the student. Should a teacher ignore his students’

mistakes, their learning process will be filled with blunders and errors. There are two globally

known method teachers usually use to correct their students’ mistakes; The implicit and the

explicit methods.

Implicit correction is when a teacher corrects a student’s mistake without being the latter

aware of it. A way of doing that is when the teacher briefly imply to the rule so that the

student would realize the mistake he made or when the teacher asks the student whether he is

sure about his answer. This drives the student to reconsider it and realize the mistake by him

self. This method has a lot of advantages such as it spares the student the embarrassment of

having their mistakes openly corrected as it encourages them to participate more. Wafaa

Hamadi, a teacher in Almostakbal high school, stated about this method “this method is one

of the most effective ways to correct students’ mistakes and I personally use it. Letting the

students realize his mistake all by himself energizes their mental faculties as it accustoms

them to correcting themselves by themselves rather than waiting for the teacher to do it.

As for the explicit correction method, it is when the teacher openly and directly corrects the

students’ mistake. This method points directly to the student’s mistake, the thing that makes it

save a considerable amount of time. When the teacher Karim Botahar was method he

personally prefers, he replied “ I personally prefer the explicit method. it saves times as not all

39
students positively respond to the implicit method. They just keep on making the same

mistake until the teacher is forced to overtly correct it.”

c) National exams:

The Moroccan national exam, the final and ultimate setback students have to overcome to

obtain their Baccalaureate certificate. In this exam, students get tested in so many subjects and

English is one of them. The English national exam usually constitutes of a reasonably simple

text along with comprehension questions. In addition, some word finding exercises and of

course writing. As regards grammar, the national exam tries to examine the students in as

much grammar that they learnt throughout the year as possible.

To illustrate, the 2009 national exam contained a set of grammar exercises such as, verb tense,

sentence rewriting, word form, gap filling and sentence joining. As for the exam of 2010 and

2012, it contained exercises regarding phrasal verbs, verb tense and form, linking words and

passive voice.

When I surveyed some teachers about their view with respect to the national exam, most of

the teachers’ answers were positive except for some few cases. Hamid Rguig stated “ to me, I

find the English national exam as being a well structured one. It attempts to entail as much

grammar lessons as possible as it reasonably challenging.” Additionally, Aziz Sfart

maintained “ English national exam are most of the time convenient. It’s exhaustive and

diverse. It tests the students’ knowledge in everything he/she has learnt throughout high

school.” Lamia Othmani, however, had a different perspective. She argued “ I’m personally

not in favor of the Moroccan national exam. They are structured in way that doesn’t give

40
grammar its worth. Students study grammar all year just to have them tested in one of two

lessons.”

41
Conclusion:

All in all, teaching or learning a second language is a long process with multiple stages.

Contrary to what some theorists believe, grammar is not merely a set of static rules but rather

a body of rules which gives structure to the instructor and the student. it is a crucial factor for

one to develop his/her second language properly. The importance of grammar lies in

rendering the student self-dependent. Once he/she acquires a decent mastery of grammar, he

can use it as a criterion to assess the accuracy of his/her speaking or writing.

Additionally, the role grammar play in acquiring a second language is crucial. It raises

consciousness of the rules, accelerate the learning process and increases accuracy. The more

conscious the students about these rules, the more he can be in control of his second language

and keep it in check.

This research has been an attempt to highlight the role of grammar in second language

instruction and acquisition and dispel some of the many misconceptions theorists used to have

concerning its validity. The controversy of grammar instruction, however, is still ongoing and

theorists are still conducting research to come up with new approaches and method that would

best suit the students needs and accelerate his/her learning process.

42
References:

- Betty Azar, (2007), Grammar based teaching: a practioner’s

perspective.
- Dr. Sasan Baleghizadeh, (2008), An Exploration of Teachers' Beliefs
about the Role of Grammar.
- Wagner, (2002), Grammar Acquisition and Pedagogy.
- Michael Lewis, (2008), How do learners acquire grammar.
- K. Lynn Savage with Gretchen Bitterlin and Donna Price, (2010),
teaching grammar in adult ESL program
- Constance Weaver, Carol McNally, and Sharon Moerman, (2001), to
grammar or not to grammar, that is not the question.
- Beverly Ann Chin, (2008), The role of grammar in improving
students’ writing.
- Sheena Gardner, (2008), Changing approaches to teaching grammar.
- Michael P. Kaschak and Arthur M. Glenberg, (2001), Constructing
Meaning: The Role of Affordances and Grammatical Constructions in
Sentence Comprehension.
- Furaidah dan Nur Mukminatien, (1997), THE PLACE OF
GRAMMAR IN LANGUAGE TEACHING: AN ATTEMPT
TOWARDS A SYNTHESIS OF ITS TEACHING APPROACHES.
- Thornbury, S. 1999. How to Teach Grammar Harlow. Longman.

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- Frodesen, J. & C. Holten (eds) 2005. The Power of Context in
Language Teaching and Learning. Boston: Thomson/Heinle.

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