Teach or not to Teach Grammar, is this the Question?

While many ELT experts and practitioners place a strong emphasis on grammar, others claim they can realise an effective learning process by setting less time for grammar on their lesson plans. This doesn’t mean that one of the two sides adopt more effective teaching of a language. Yes, that’s not the question. Therefore, how grammar is important in teaching depends on the objectives set by the teacher or the curriculum. So the key question here is when and in which framework should or shouldn’t we focus on grammar in our teaching?

Many experts in the field of English teaching think that emphasis on grammar doesn’t lead to successful learning. To illustrate, a student, for them, doesn’t need to study grammar to learn English. One of their major arguments is the process of language acquisition; which means anyone can acquire and speak a language fluently without learning grammar. That’s why, students according to them shouldn’t be exposed to ‘much’ grammar, or even any grammar rule. Also, they associate the issue with how the native speakers communicate ‘accurately’ without learning all the rules. This is strongly stressed by an ELT practitioner, who is an English native speaker, in one of his articles. . « I am native English and I speak English fluently, but I had never heard of a gerund or the present perfect tense before I started teaching English » he said. Another interesting argument suggests that many systems fail to produce English speakers from their schools, due to over-emphasis on grammar.

On the other hand, there is large part of the field professionals  including native speakers, who still defend allotting grammar a fair time and effort like any other skill. “Trying to learn a language without grammar is like trying to learn math without numbers” one of the field writers stated. Another native English speaker, who is a teacher of the language, points out in a comment that having wonderful ideas is quite not enough.  “Students need to be able to present their ideas with clarity and precision” she added. Many field researchers have come out that students can’t even speak English fluently if they lack grammar rule instruction. Communicative competence, according to them, involves knowing how to use the grammar and vocabulary of the language to achieve communicative goals. Therefore, Grammar shouldn’t be associated with verb paradigms and rules about linguistic form, because it embodies the three dimensions of form, meaning and use. That’s how a teacher should see it. Besides, others see grammar as the reputation of a person. A language without a proper grammar, for them, lacks its beauty and music.

As conclusion, we can’t deny that one of the methods is useless. As I see it, both of them can be applied in different contexts and frameworks. Grammar might promote the speaker’s brand and reputation in addition to their academic and professional career. A survey, which I recently read about, astonished me. Four in 10 job applications are rejected because of poor grammar and spelling, according to the global communication skills company Communicaid. Still, this doesn’t mean that grammar is only a set of rules, but extends to all dimensions of a language. That’s why, it shouldn’t be taught in isolation. Here comes the significant role that “Consciousness Raising Grammar” plays in the field of language teaching.