Applying Communicative Approach in Grammar Teaching in Middle School.doc

毕业论文(设计)Applying Communicative Approach in Grammar Teaching in Middle SchoolApplying Communicative Approach in Grammar Teaching in Middle School11 Introduction12 Definition of grammar33 A literature review of grammar teaching53.1 The status of grammar teaching in different language teaching methods63.1.1 The status of grammar teaching in Grammar- Translation Method63.1.2 The status of grammar teaching in Direct Method73.1.3 The status of grammar teaching in Audio-Lingual Method73.2 The importance and necessity of grammar teaching83.3 The current situation of grammar teaching in Middle School94 CA and grammar teaching94.1 A literature review of CA104.2 The uncontradictory relationship between CA and grammar teaching114.2.1 Grammar teaching is the main teaching component of CA124.2.2 Grammar teaching provides a tool for students to become good communicators135 Applying Communicative Approach135.1 The roles of student-teacher135.2 Teaching grammar in context145.3 Focusing on communicative competence165.4 Applying CA to the procedure of grammar teaching185.4.1 Teaching grammar in presentation195.4.2 Teaching grammar in practice215.4.3 Teaching grammar in production225.5 Techniques of correcting grammar errors245.5.1 Teachers attitude255.5.2 Specific ways255.6 Using some specific activities286 Conclusion30References321 Introduction Grammar teaching has always been one of the most controversial and least understood aspects of language teaching. There are three main traditional language teaching methods, GrammarTranslation Method, Direct Method and AudioLingual Method, which had dominated the FLT field for a long period. The status of grammar teaching in these three teaching methods was different. However, in China, grammar teaching is always the key teaching content in ELT. Chinese students spend years studying grammar, but most of them, even the students who can get high mark in the exam still have difficulties in using English in communication effectively. This inability reflects that traditional grammar teaching greatly limits students communicative competence in the real life, which departed from the goals of grammar teaching. Therefore, Communicative Approach appears to be a most popular teaching method in grammar teaching. CA offers more opportunities for students to learn grammar in an interesting and active way. Understandably, there came some problems when CA was first introduced and applied to the Chinese situation. Difficulties with the application of CA include, among others, lack of real language environment, the large number of students in one class and so on. Whats worse, some teachers are often confused by a swarm of mixed messages about the place of grammar teaching in the communicative language classroom. They even doubt that whether CA may involve neglecting role of grammar teaching. The purpose of the dissertation is to help teachers to understand the right relationship between CA and grammar teaching, and try to explore an optional English grammar teaching by means of communicative activities in Middle School.In terms of this dissertations structure, following this introduction chapter, chapter 2 will be a literature review of grammar which focuses on the concept and the status of grammar. Chapter 3 reviews the status of grammar teaching in three traditional language teaching methods. This chapter also points out that the importance and necessity of grammar teaching and analyses the current situation of grammar teaching in middles schools. Next in chapter 4 a thorough introduction of CA is provided which helps the readers to understand CA further. The author also discusses the right relationship between CA and grammar teaching. Chapter 5 emphasizes the roles of student and teacher in CA. This chapter introduces some practical and effective application of CA in the aspects of communicative competence and the procedure of grammar teaching. Some particular communicative extracurricular activities are also presented as examples to show how to apply CA to grammar teaching. The conclusion comes in the last chapter. 2 Definition of grammar Traditionally, grammar was most widely defined as the study of sentence structure. It was widely known that grammar includes two aspects, morphosyntax (form) and semantics (meaning) which includes phonology (form) and semantics (meaning). Morphosyntax refers to the branch of grammar studied the structure of sentences. It means grammar tells us how to construct a sentence (word, order, verb and systems, modifiers, phrases, clauses, etc.)Semantics tells us something about the words and string of wordsor I should say meanings because there may be several (Brown, H. Douglas, 2003: 348). For example, here is a sentence which sounds odd, although it is a grammatically well-formed.This is 2680239. We are at home right now. Please leave a message after the beep.The sentence We are at home right now. is possible. That is, its grammatically well-formed, but it doesnt make sense in this context. The form the speaker has chosen doesnt convey the exact meaning the speaker requires.However, as more and more linguists found that these two aspects couldnt really explain the essence of grammar which limited the process of grammar teaching, so they tried to give a new and complete definition to grammar. Moreover, as a major component of communicative competence, when more and more professors paid more attention to the communicative competence of a language, grammatical competence was also focused on by linguists. Then many linguists turned to examine what grammar was once again. Nowadays, the concept of grammar has been expanded. Many linguists support the point of view of Larsen-Freeman that grammar is one of three interconnected dimensions of language. Grammar embodies the three dimensions of morphosyntax (form), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (use). (from net1)In this new definition, its clear to know that pragmatics is another new and important dimension of grammar.Pragmatics tells us about which of several meanings to assign given the context of a sentence. The context takes into account where and what the communication takes place(Brown, H. Douglas, 2003: 348). Taking the passive voice in English for example to show the pragmatics of grammar:1) A flower case was broken by the boy.2) The boy broken a flower vase.A writer describes a boy broken many things at home one day, one of the things was a flower vase. If the writer wants to stress the treasure of the flower vase was, it maybe better for the writer to use sentence1. On the contrary, if the writer wants to stress how naughty the boy is, sentence 2 will be more suitable to be used for the writer. Consequently, in order to express in a more suitable way, we should try to use different grammar structure in different contexts. Therefore, grammar is really plays a key role in using one language.3 A literature review of grammar teachingGrammar has been the focus in the field of FLT for several decades, but the attitudes towards grammar teaching have changed several times. The status of grammar teaching in different language teaching methods turns to be different. In these three mainly traditional language teaching methods, Grammar-Translation Method, Direct Method and Audio-Lingual Method, grammar teaching hadnt been dealt with rightly. In these methods, grammar teaching couldnt reach its goals and its value had been doubted. These methods dont put grammar in the right place which is completely different from Communicative Approach. In next chapter, the author will talk something about the relationship between CA and grammar teaching. In a word, being a basic teaching content in FLT, the importance and necessity of grammar teaching shouldnt be ignored, although the current situation of grammar teaching is not good enough.3.1 The status of grammar teaching in different language teaching methods Historically, the attitudes toward grammar teaching have changed many times. “In 1622, as one of the earliest educators who questioned the value of grammar instruction, Joseph Webbe, a schoolmaster and textbook writer wrote: No one can run speedily to the mark of language that is shackledwith grammar precepts.(Scott Thornbury, 2003:14) Joseph Webbes statement of grammar teaching had given rise to a number of objections to grammar teaching. From the 18th to the beginning of 20th, its known that grammar teaching had an absolutely dominant status in FLT. Everything focused on grammar teaching was its advantages and importance. But in the 1970, everything turned to be opposite. There were a swarm of the condemnations of grammar teaching as harmful and unnecessary. Meanwhile, a review of FLT abroad presents that the status of grammar and the way people deal with grammar fluctuate in different language teaching methods. According to the three traditional language teaching methods, Grammar Translation Method, Direct Method and Audio-Lingual Method, the status of grammar teaching is different. 3.1.1 The status of grammar teaching in Grammar- Translation MethodGrammar- Translation, as its name suggests, took grammar as the starting point for instruction. Grammar was put in the central place of FLT and taught in a deductive way. GT courses followed a grammar syllabus and lessons typically began with an explicit statement of the rule, followed by exercises involving translation into and out of the mother tongue (Scott Thornbury, 2003). The aim of it was to teach students to know the grammatical rules which were explained and practiced with lots of mechanical exercises, and then let the students understand, read and translate the target sentences or texts. Therefore, with this method, grammar teaching played a dominant role in FLT. The status of grammar teaching in this teaching method was very high.3.1.2 The status of grammar teaching in Direct MethodThe Direct Method, the natural method, which emerged in the mid- late-nineteenth century. The method holds that grammar is important but should be taught in a inductive way. By claiming to be a natural method, the Direct Method prioritized oral skills, and while following a syllabus of grammar structures, rejected explicit grammar teaching (Scott Thornbury, 2003: 21). In classroom, teachers didnt teach grammar explicitly. The students, it was supposed, picked up the grammar in much the same way as children pick up the grammar of their mother tongue, simply by being immersed in language. Therefore, this method didnt consider grammar teaching as the important teaching content. In that case, the status of grammar teaching in this method is lower than in Grammar-Translation Method.3.1.3 The status of grammar teaching in Audio-Lingual MethodAudio-Lingual Method was a method which stayed faithful to the Direct-Method belief in the primacy of speech, but was even stricter in its rejection of grammar teaching. This method derived its theoretical base from behaviorist psychology, which considered language as simply a form of behavior, to be learned through the formation of correct habits (Scott Thornbury, 2003: 21). This method emphasizes the skills of listening and speaking, so dialogues and drills are the basic classroom technique, but it avoided to explain grammar. Therefore, with this method, the importance of grammar teaching was not embodied in classroom. The status of grammar teaching was lower than ever before.3.2 The importance and necessity of grammar teaching In spite of the fact that the role of grammar teaching in those traditional language teaching methods has been changed, grammar teaching is still one important aspect teachers should focus on. In spite of the fact that the value of grammar teaching in FLT has been challenged for decades, the importance of it cant be ignored.Firstly, according to Scott Thornbury (2003), who wrote the book How to Teach Grammar, which gives some examples to show the importance of grammar teaching is. Here are some sentences:1) We are not at home right now.2) Right now we are not at home.3) Not we at right home now are.4) We is not at home right now (2003: 1-2).Without grammar instruction, students cant explain why sentence1 is acceptable and others are wrong. Therefore, teachers should focus on grammar teaching which provides a first key for students to open the door of foreign language learning. just as Penny Ur ( a teacher trainer, the author of Grammar Practice Activities) said, there is no doubt that knowledgeimplicit or explicitof grammatical rules is essential for mastery of a language ( D. H. Hymes, 2003: 21).Secondly, in China, grammar teaching affects the students mark of English exam. Grammar is one basic component of English exam which is one senior high school and National College Entrance Exam. In order to do well on such tests, students have to know and apply the rules of English grammar. Therefore, grammar teaching is one of the main teaching content in English class, so the importance and necessity of grammar teaching cant be ignored in ELT in China.3.3 The current situation of grammar teaching in Middle SchoolAs its necessity and importance, grammar teaching has always been a central aspect of FLT. Chinese traditional methods of ELT are grammar-centered ones. English teachers spend so much time explaining the grammar and taking drills of grammar in class. However, as the wrong attitude towards grammar teaching, these traditional teaching methods made grammar learning become a boring and tiring task for the students. Whats worse, most Chinese students can not communicate with native English speakers successfully in spite of the fact that they are good at grammar, which led to the phenomenon of dumb English. In that case, its urgent for teachers to have a new and effective teaching method. CA is the teaching method which can solve the past educational problem and do effectively in grammar instruction.4 CA and grammar teachingCompared with those traditional methods mentioned above, CA turns to be more suitable and effective to deal with grammar instruction. Communicative Approach is an approach to foreign or second language teaching which emphasizes that the goal of language learning is communicative competence. This method recognizes learners need to know the grammatical rules of the second language, but hold the belief that the purpose of learning such rules is to be able to do things, to perform functions. In CA, grammar teaching has been put in the right place and be taken in an effective way. The relationship between CA and grammar teaching is harmonious. 4.1 A literature review of CAThe call for adoption of CA wasnt accidental. It came from the educational problem that needs to be solved. The origins of CA can be traced to the changes in the British language tradition dating from the 1960s. With the boom of economy, people among western countries felt it difficult to communicate with foreigners even if they have learned their languages for many years in traditional teaching methods. So the value of the traditional method had received critics. At that time, British applied linguists began to emphasize the fundamental dimension of language, the functional and communicative potential of language. From middle period of the seventies, the important issues of all practices, theory and research in educational linguistics and language teaching method field gradually formed this conception of communicative competence. From then on, more and more linguists focus on the importance of communicative competence. These ideological trends which combined with the concept of communicative competence had formed this thought of CA. Since the 1970s, CA has been used in language teaching and it did play a significant role in many countries. CA aims at making communicative competence the goal of FLT and developing procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge that interdependence of language and communication. Unlike the traditional approaches, CA provides a real life situation for students which can motivate students desire to learn grammar with meaningful communication.CA stresses that the practices of communication should be full of meaning and practicability. CA focuses not only on the language forms, but also on what learners do with these forms when they communicate with each other in real lifethat is the skill and strategies of how to use language appropriately to achieve a communicative purpose in a given situation. So teachers should attempt to make classroom activities to provide the context the same as the real-life language use.4.2 The uncontradictory relationship between CA and grammar teachingWhen CA was introduced into China, it was mistakenly understood that CA forbids the teaching of grammar. The phenomenon was emerged that some English teachers tried to avoid teaching grammar in class. However, actually, there is no contradiction in the relationship between CA and grammar teaching. CA not only stress the communicative competence, but also focuses on the learning of grammatical structure. Chomsky said, A grammar describes and attempts to account for the ability of the speaker to understand an arbitrary sentence of his language and to produce an appropriate sentence on a given occasion. (Christopher N. Candlin, 2003). As its name suggests, CA stressed the cultivation of students communicative competence, and communication in a certain language involves the learning and active use of grammatical rules. As a result, during applying CA in English-classroom, teachers can and should also teach grammar. Grammar teaching is one of the teaching content of CA. The author is in favor of communicative grammar teaching for the foll