Teach English in Dongchen Zhen - Nantong Shi

Regarding to learning grammar, there has been a variety of opinions and definitions. Generally, it connotes accuracy or inaccuracy of the use of a language that people use. To a student, it means the rules of a language that show how sentences are formed and how words are inflected . Whatever it is, nobody can deny that grammar is important when learning a language because it is the study of words, how they are used in sentences and how they are changed in different situations. Knowledge of grammar also helps us understand what makes sentences and paragraphs clear, interesting and precise. In addition, it can make us produce better and accurate written and spoken language. Actually, a foreign language cannot be systematically constructed only through a process of unconscious assimilation. because it is the systematic study and description of a language and it helps us to understand how words and their component parts combine to form sentences. It is generally approved that there are four rounded skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Hence, Learners of a foreign language need to comprehend that they can improve their language skills through these systematic approaches of learning. To grasp their goal, language components are essential to the mastery of all the four skills. You cannot use any language skill without using grammar and vocabulary. In fact, grammar is not an end in itself but it is a means to an end—to improve learners’ proficiency. To my experience, grammar is the backbone of language and without it, the produced text, whether it is spoken or written, will be classified with many labels: broken, uneducated, incomprehensible or simply not belonging to the language. Objectively, reading can also give us how to understand the structures of various sentences The more you read, the more you improve your grammar and vocabulary. Though it may be tiring and difficult to comprehend everything, it is one crucial aspect you cannot ignore if you want to get better at grammar. What’s more, good reader can be good writers. As Lock (1996, p.266) said, “Grammatical competence was a part of communicative competence”, to gain an effective communication skill, people should pay attention to grammar due to the reasons below:- Firstly, he who knows accurate grammatical rules can organize his ideas in his mind without difficulty. As a result, he can be able to read, speak or write a language in a skillful way. Secondly, a person with a poor grammar skill can form negative impression on the first time meeting and this may last for a long time. Additionally,proper use of grammar can help learners develop a habit of thinking logically and clearly. Actually, listeners do not want to waste their time trying to check out what speakers are saying.Though learning English grammar and using it correctly takes a lot of time, effort, and practice, it cannot be denied that grammar is a vital component which can provide us lots of benefits. On the other hand, there are some problems of learning grammar. Clark (2010) points out that “As the world becomes more technologically inclined, good grammar seems to go to the side way.” Nowadays, more people seem to be familiar with fast and modern lifestyle. Everything is eventually brief. Consequently, people become grammatically lazier. As grammar is thought to be unnecessary as long as they understand each other, it can often cause misunderstanding through communication. To sum up, good communication is a vital aspect in human society. If there is no good communication, good relationship cannot work normally or smoothly. Studying grammar can also develop our habits of thinking logically. To avoid misunderstanding, teaching grammar must be mainly focused in language classrooms because grammar describes how a language works and it also affects students’ communicative competence.