1、1How Should English Grammar Be Taught in Middle SchoolsBy Wang Shi kunAbstract ： This paper mainly deals with the idea that whether grammar teaching should be weakened or not ，the importance of grammar teaching， the present situation of grammar and some suggestions on how to teach grammar ， aiming a
2、t the improvement of English teaching and learning. Key words： grammar teaching importance Present situation suggestion. G633.41 I. The importance of grammar in language teaching Linguists believe that grammar is the frame in which language is used. Without grammar， the form of peoples thought commu
3、nication has no consistency so that a language can not be formed. Chomsky， a famous linguist believed that language is not only a set of habitual system， but also a system allocated by rules. Some foreign and domestic scholars study indicate that the speech exactness in formal occasion cant be obtai
4、ned only by communicative practice， it requires grammar explanation， that effect of learning with grammar 2explaining is better than that of communicative one， that grammar teaching has direct influence on the acquisition of particular language features. As to Chinese students， classroom teaching is
5、 the only language environment. They cant get the chance of meaningful and comprehensive language input and social communication. The importance of grammar teaching is so clear. Its necessary for us to look back at the previous foreign language teaching practice. II. The present situation of Grammar
6、 teaching 1.The teaching method is single， unfashionable and dull. In teaching design and strategies， they cant get away from the unfashionable teaching models and methods. For example， they explain grammar points not only in reading classes but in oral or listening classes， when the present textboo
7、ks are not at hand； when they have grammar classes， they cram students wholly， neglecting Ss oral communication as well as the training. Ss various needs can not be satisfied and they does feel interested in it. 2. Consistency and systematism of grammatical knowledge structure are ignored with unfas
8、hionable and mechanical training methods. At present， more popular textbooks in our 3country are written according to ideal of communicative function. Although the textbook writers noticed the principle of following in order and advancing step by step as well as going from the easy to the difficult
9、and complicated. Therefore， the purpose of precise lecture and carefully drilling cant be reached. This does not only increase the weight of Ss memory task， so that much of energy and time are wasted， but hurt Ss learning will and motivation. 3. The reform of grammar classroom teaching is seldom att
10、ached importance. With the deepening of syllabus reform， reading and dialogue classes become the important parts in senior English teaching. Some new teaching models have been explored with certain achievement， however， few have paid attention to the reform of grammar teaching. There are few article
11、s on new ideas and methods of grammar teaching appearing in the journals for English language teaching research. III. Advice on grammar teaching According to the present situation of grammar teaching in middle schools， it is urgent to improve grammar teaching， lessen Ss learning burden. 1. Strengthe
12、n the connections between grammar and context. It is in certain context that people communicate and get 4information. There would be no activity of speech without context. The maximum unit that make up of a language is not sentences but context. The combination of the contents of grammar teaching an
13、d context is available to develop Ss ability of speech. Thus， it should be the best choice to combine the context and grammar to design the teaching methods and models. In SEFC textbooks， grammar teaching is not isolated， of which the grammar contents appear in sections and chapters gradually. Induc
14、tive methods are taken to explain grammar. That is to take some examples to indicate the facts first， then to explain the rules， transiting from perceptual knowledge to rational one. However， the grammar items appear fragmentarily in different texts， it is difficult for students to memorize them. 2.
15、 Strengthen the connections of grammar and conversations. Context can be in written forms as well as oral ones. Grammar teaching is dull because it lacks the interactive communication between teachers and Ss while conversations can satisfy this kind of demand of communication. This kind of drills wh
16、ich are the least informative can easily frustrate Ss activity. So teachers are requited to design some conversation exercises with certain information gap in classroom teaching in order to 5arouse Ss curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Let Ss practise grammatical structures by conversation and lay
17、a foundation for Ss to develop their communicative ability of language. 3. Strengthen the connections of grammar teaching and the use of CAI. The advantage of CAI is that it can combine and synthesize the information of words， pictures， cartoons， sounds and videos， enlarge the medium scope of non-la
18、nguage teaching so that it can add some valuable features to teaching practice. For example， It can shift the scene quickly to form different visual and audio stimulus to control Ss attention effectively， to help Ss form coded memory and storage， and to form the concrete ideas which can be drawn by
19、Ss. Teachers should pick up the important and difficult points in teaching and weak points in Ss learning so that CAI can be used to help understand them. Only with good textbooks and good teaching methods， can Ss learn grammar well without wasting too much time and energy. Bibliography 1. Jack C. R
20、ichards， John Platt and Heidi Platt， Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics， Foreign Language Teaching and Research press， 2000. 2. Jeremy Harmer， How to Teach English， Foreign language 6Teaching and Research Press， 2000. 3. H.D. Brown， Principles of Language Learning and Teaching， Foreign Language Teaching and Research press， 2002.
