Teaching and Learning Language: Grammar and Vocabulary

All students need direct instruction of vocabulary, but it is especially imperative for ELLs. They need much more exposure to new vocabulary than their native-English-speaking classmates. ELLs need to learn cognates, prefixes, suffixes, and root words to enhance their ability to make sense of new lexicon. Beginning ELLs and more advanced ELL students should actively engage in holistic activities to practice new vocabulary because learning words out of context is difficult for these students. If they memorize the meanings of the words on a list, they will not be able to use the words in their own writing or verbal production until they really understand the meanings. When vocabulary instruction includes explicit, implicit, and strategy instruction, students are repeatedly exposed to the target vocabulary in a variety of contexts which increases their individual vocabulary development and the other resources that help in doing so is the Semantic Mapping primary focus on visual relationships, which is helpful to students from all backgrounds.

As we look at principle three it instruct needs to ensure that learners also focus on form. Professor Ellis explains that the teacher can achieve this by focusing on inductive and deductive grammar lessons. It allows and make ELL students aware of explicit grammatical rule, it gives the learner specific practice on grammatical structure, and it gives them the opportunity to get corrective feedback. (Ellis, R, 2008)

Learning had been widely discussed among the researchers. It had become the subject matter that interests psychologists, educationists, scientists and came up with a number of learning theories. There are many different theories that attempt to describe the learning process. The theorists came out with some methods and approaches to be applied in the language teaching in the classroom. Approaches consist of specific principles in the language teaching and to apply these approaches, methods are needed which include various procedures and techniques. In this coursework, I would discuss on two theories, methods and approaches, two of their strength and limitations. In addition, I would further discuss on the implementation of one of the theories in the English language classroom.

In addition to the vocabulary in their readings, students have been expected to learn twenty-five new vocabulary words per week. The focus is not on rote memorization of definitions; students must know synonyms, antonyms, and especially how to use vocabulary words in the context of the entire sentence. They study how to choose the right word for their purpose (diction) and analyze the subtleties of language.

Namely, it is suggested to introduce discovery grammar activities (problem solving activities), for example YL listen to a story and sequence pictures in the correct order. It is both the process of solving tasks and teaching grammar as the consciousness-raising process (cf. Ellis, 2002, 167-174 in Richards and Renandya). The idea is to provide opportunities for meaning-focused language use – communication.

After discussing grammar in class, I learned that it is not just a simple definition. By looking at different examples, I was able to learn how grammar is present in many different aspects of my life. A good example of this would be dance. I started taking dance classes when I was young and I continued throughout high school. There are many different styles of dance, and things would be done differently in each style of dance. For example, with modern, students are usually able to dance barefoot, while with jazz students usually where a specific type of jazz shoe, and with ballet there are pointe shoes. At my studio, there was a specific type of pointe shoe that was worn by some dancers who were more experienced, so when I was little I would

The first principle is that of presenting new words frequently and repeatedly in the input, the more the learners are exposed to the vocabulary, the more likely they will remember it. The second principle is to use meaning-bearing comprehensible input when presenting new words. This principle shows that, in order for learners to successfully make the correlation between a foreign language word and the meaning it infers, that meaning must be conveyed in a comprehensible manner. The third principle is that the limited forced output during the initial stages of learning a new word, therefore we can see that learners should be given time to assimilate the meanings of individual words at their own pace before being required to use them in a larger context. The fourth principle is that limited forced semantic elaboration during the initial stages of learning a new word this means that a vocabulary program should also avoid other kinds of elaboration that therefore might produce bad effects on the attainment of new words. The last and fifth principle is that of progress from less challenging to a more challenging vocabulary-related activities, which shows that vocabulary learning is much more productive when learners start off with a small group of words, and then they gradually add more terms as the first ones are

Teaching vocabulary to students is vital to the growth of student’s comprehension level. I found by teaching vocabulary to my students they tend to use the words frequently once they had a concrete understanding of the word. I also found that if my students could not relate to the word that was being introduced many times it was harder for them to learn the word. Therefore, it was imperative for me to always provide a description, explanation and example to all vocabulary words that was introduced. In the video How to Teach Vocabulary Acquisition ( ), many of the strategies that were introduced to the viewer such as asking students to restate in their own words, having students create a picture or symbol for the vocabulary word and allowing students to discuss new words with their peers is something that I already do in my

Lawson, A. (1993). Inductive-deductive versus hypothetico-deductive reasoning: A reply to yore. J. Res. Sci. Teach., 30(6), pp.613-614.

I teach in the English department, and the primary focus of my courses is reading instruction. Thus, vocabulary knowledge is essential to my students’ ability to succeed in the high school English curriculum since they encounter increasingly complex texts in my classes. Consequently, vocabulary learning is essential to my students’ development in my course, but also, essential to the transferable skills that they gain in English for use across the content areas. Moreover, the knowledge and skills in my course cannot exist in isolation from the other content area courses my students engage

It will then present four key components of an effective vocabulary instruction program: word choice, direct instruction of strategies, multiple exposures to new vocabulary, and creating a word-rich environment. In conclusion the paper will present the authors reflection as well as implications for instructional practices.

There are plenty of teaching methods that are used to teach a language, they developed over the years and centuries, in this essay two well-known teaching methods will be discussed, their principles, their advantages, and their drawbacks, these methods are Grammar Translation Method and The Direct Method.

As one of the most important part in English language, grammar gets attention from many teachers around the world. Many researchers have even debated about almost every single thing of it. Meanwhile, for the learners, learning grammar often means they have to learn the rules and patterns of grammar and also have an intellectual knowledge of grammar. Many teachers believe that learning grammar intensively can help the learners build their knowledge, so that they will be able to use the language eventually. Unfortunately, in terms of learners’ success with languages, grammar has been seen to be a quite huge problem. The English grammar acquisition does not come naturally. The learners have to go to school to learn it, dig it deeper, and know every part of it in order to be able to use it well. Many learners have difficulty doing so, few retain the knowledge for long, and hardly anyone finds it very exciting. (Tabbert, 1984: p. 39). Thus, it can be said that by identifying such

It is not uncommon to say that grammar instruction plays an important role in language teaching. Regarding the status and importance of grammar teaching, a variety of opinions have been made. Batstone (1994) states that “language without grammar would be chaotic: countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified” (p. 4). More vividly, Wang (2010) makes two similes. She compares grammar to the frame of a house, which is a decisive factor to ensure the solidness of it. Additionally, she regards grammar as a walking stick, whose function is to help and support students to learn English. Thus, the nature of grammar instruction manifests its own significance as it helps students

In this essay I will discuss the definition of the concept grammar in linguistic science and thee attitude teachers may have towards such a conceptualization of what grammar is. I will go into detail by explaining perspective and descriptive grammar.