What does "Teaching Grammar Communicatively" mean?

 
1. Introduction

Teaching grammar has always been a conflict-ridden topic. Nevertheless, the importance of
grammar cannot be overstated as it helps students understand how the language works, its rules and
how to use it correctly for communication.

- What is grammar?

Grammar is the system of a language. The origin of languages started by people making sounds which
evolved into words, phrases, and sentences. No commonly-spoken language is fixed; all are changing
over time. What we call "grammar" reflects a particular point in this evolution process - it's not
something that was imposed on top but rather an inevitable reflection.

Human beings constantly modify their speech by stretching out or simplifying certain particles while
adding new ones at various intervals throughout any given conversation (depending upon how much time
they have!), so too make our habits when creating written material.

- Grammar in learning English as a second language acquisition process

GTM
Deductive approach
Explicit Grammar
Teaching
Audiolingual
Drills

Grammar in ESL Acquisiton Process

Natural
Situation Context

Intractionist
Functional Notional
Implicit Grammar Approach
Teaching

CLT
stories

Discovery
Inductive Approach

Since the rise of communicative approaches to language instruction, grammar has become an
essential focus in classroom teaching and learning.
However, teaching grammar in a traditional way has often been ineffective and can even be
counterproductive. Perchance, the problem is not grammar itself but how grammar has been taught and
learned. In primitive times grammar was only taught through GTM, i.e. Grammar Translation method, in
which long contexts were not entertained. This process was effective for receptive(reading) knowledge of
the language but failed to help the student communicate in speaking and writing.

A more practical approach has been adapted to teach grammar communicatively in recent years. In
contrast, ALM approaches placed a strong emphasis on developing oral proficiency. However, with a
focus on communicative competence, grammar is now seen as an essential component of language
learning. It enables students to use language effectively in a variety of real-world contexts. In addition,
grammar instruction can help students understand the underlying structure of a language, contributing to
their overall language proficiency.

Teaching grammar communicatively is not always easy, but it is worth the effort. There are many ways to
teach grammar communicatively, and there is no one "right" way to do it.

2. Teaching Grammar Communicatively means

Let's start with understanding what teaching grammar means in actuality. To put it in easy words,
teaching grammar communicatively means teaching grammar in a way that allows students to use it
for communication.

This approach to teaching emphasizes the practical use of language over its structural components. In
other words, communicative language teaching focuses on how learners use language to
communicate rather than on the individual parts that make up a sentence.

There are several advantages to teaching grammar communicatively.

-Students learn how to use grammar for day-to-day dealings.

-Grammar is taught in the context of meaningful conversations and activities.

-Students are less likely to forget what they learn since they are using the language in a real-world
context.

-Students develop a better understanding of the English language.

-Teaching grammar communicatively is more fun and engaging than teaching it traditionally.

3. Importance of Communicative Language Teaching

One of the main reasons for teaching grammar communicatively is communication in second
language learning. To communicate effectively, learners need to be able to use grammar correctly.
However, teaching grammar in a traditional way often does not allow students to interconnect. This is
because conventional methods focus on teaching grammar rules without context or real-world
examples. As a result, students learn how to identify and recite grammatical rules, but they do not
know how to use them in actual communication.

On the other hand, teaching grammar communicatively allows students to use grammar in meaningful
contexts. By using authentic materials and real-world examples, teachers can help students see how
grammar is used in the real world. This allows students to learn grammar more effectively and helps
them improve their communication skills.

4. Activities and Ways to teach Grammar Communicatively

There are many ways to teach grammar communicatively. Below are some activities and approaches
that can help your students learn and use grammar for communication.

1. Provide authentic materials: One of the best ways to teach grammar inhibited is to provide
original materials. Authentic materials are materials that are taken from real-world contexts. They
include articles, essays, dialogues, etc. These materials provide students with opportunities to see
how grammar is used in the real world. Additionally, they help students learn and use vocabulary
in context.

For example, you can use the following activities for this approach:

a. Use Detectable descriptions to describe different pictures. This activity can be done among
students as partners or as a whole class.

b. . One more activity for students to interact with each other, while guided by the teacher, can
be role-playing about the real-world situation where there is a need for communication such
as:

i. pretending to talk about last night's game,

ii. Haggling the prices of stuff,

iii. recalling the plot to the latest blockbuster

 2. Use multimedia: Another great way to teach grammar communicatively is to use multimedia.
Multimedia includes materials such as videos, audio clips, and pictures. It can be a great way to
engage students and help them learn grammar in a fun and stimulating way. Additionally,
multimedia can help students improve their listening and speaking skills. It can also help students
learn more dialects and accents used in different parts of the world.

For example:

You can show videos or play games online with the students. Such experiences help students learn more
accessible and more efficiently, leaving a long-lasting effect on their memory.

3. Play games: Games can also be a great way to teach grammar communicatively. Games can help
students learn grammar rules and vocabulary in a fun and interactive way. Additionally, games
can help students improve their communication skills. For example:

For example:
Spot the mistake: finding mistakes and editing text can be a fun and communicative way of learning
grammar. For this, the teacher can write one or two paragraphs down on a sheet of paper. Try to write
something that your child would be interested in reading or find amusing or funny. Include a single
spelling or grammatical mistake in every two or three sentences as you write. Give your child a red pencil
or pen to spot the errors and mark them on the paper – just like a teacher would. Most children will enjoy
this playful role-reversal and may even give you an overall score for effort!

4. Use task-based activities: Task-based activities are another great way to teach grammar
communicatively. Task-based activities involve completing tasks or activities. To achieve a
specific goal. They provide students with opportunities to use grammar in meaningful contexts.
Additionally, task-based activities help students develop problem-solving skills and learn how to
communicate effectively.

For example:

Give a project to students such as a presentation or research about a specific topic, maybe a country
or the latest ongoing game. Students can select the country and search for their currency, most
popular sports, etc. The same goes for the ongoing game. Students can observe games on tv and make
a commentary about it. Also, they can describe their favorite part of the game, etc.

5. Make use of comprehensible input: Comprehensible input is information provided in a way that
is understandable to the learner. It helps make language learning more effective by understanding
a new language in a contextualized setting. Additionally, comprehensible input can help students
improve their listening and speaking skills.

For example:
Teacher can use following activities:

Tell stories: Storytelling is one of the most successful comprehensible input activities, because an
exciting story can arouse interest in improving language skills.

Visualize: this is one of most effective comprehensible input activities as stundents can understand a
concept and illustrate it in their drawing, doodling or objects.

Sing Songs: Singing songs and chants is one of the easiest ways to make students memorize.

Specialized Reading: Students reading texts that focus on one narrow topic can study new vocabulary
related to this subject. They can also choose their topics of interest and participate in group discussions
with a professional tutor who has been specifically trained for these events!

Using these activities and approaches can help your students learn and use grammar communicatively.
Not only will this help them improve their grammar skills, but it will also help them improve their
communication abilities.

Conclusion
In the end, perspective has changed drastically and the methods for teaching grammar communicatively
to the student for ESL. Undoubtedly, a communicative, meaning-based approach to teaching grammar
has replaced historical teaching methods and repeating structured drills.
The failure of grammar-translation and audio-lingual methods to help learners communicate fluently in
another language led specialists on the subject to decide that it would be more beneficial for them if they
focused their efforts on finding an approach based on functions rather than teaching rules. It has been
found that while learners who had gone through the new approach became more fluent in speaking than
grammar-based ones, they made lots of grammatical mistakes both when talking and writing.
Thus, it is advised for teachers to use students to carry out a communicative task and then, together with
their teacher, reflect on the linguistic features of the task and assess the grammatical accuracy of their
performance.