Is Grammar Awareness important? 30/10/2017

Is Grammar Awareness important?     30/10/2017

The English language is learnt as the second language in Sarawak.  Our pupils /students  do not have the environment to immerse themselves in this language but at least spare an hour out of four hours or more a week to drill them grammar item by item.  At least let them learn the language with the awareness that how the language works. 

If every teacher drill them since primary three some basic rules they learn in context and drill them of the correct form in not so isolation but with close reference to the context:  Introducing yourself.

Let’s say, they are learning:

Simple Present Tense ---Verb-to-be

I am Aminah.  (Name/noun)

I am a girl.      (Gender)

I am a pupil.    (Occupation)

        I am seven years old.  (Age)

        I am polite and hardworking.   (Adj.)

        I am at the canteen now.  (Prepositional Phrase—Adv.Place)

        It is 10 o’clock now.   (Adv.Time)

        This is the Sibu town.   (Adv. Place)

Learn the rules

I               am                    We

You           are                    You          are

He/She/It  is                      They

([S] am/is/are + N/Adj/Adv.P|T/PP)

Action Verbs in Simple Present Tense

  I study in SK Sungai Merah, Sibu.   (Action-Verb)

  I study hard every day.

  I have many friends in school.     (Possession)

  We talk and play during recess every day.

  I really enjoy myself so much in school.

  I always listen attentively in class.

Rule for Action in Simple Present Tense

[He/She/It]                        F1+s/es

[I/We/You/You/They]                  F1

Forms of the Verb

Regular Forms of the Verb   F1+ed to form F3 and F4

Irregular Forms of the Verb  --different forms for F3 and F4

F1             F2                     F3             F4

talk           talking               talked        talked

walk          walking             walked       walked

go             going                went          gone

speak        speaking           spoke         spoken

        Studying with the awareness of language forms is advisable or many learners learn them in great confusion.  It is not surprising when students in Form Five or Six are not able to distinguish Present Perfect Tense from Past Perfect Tense.  Is it not appalling to see that 70% of our Form Five or Six pupils cannot write accurately after years of learning English through communicative way.  Majority can hardly use the language properly though there is so much emphasis on communicative learning of English.  What has gone wrong?  They just simply write without following any grammatical rules as few take learning of grammar seriously nowadays. 

Let’s test those who have learnt these rules and those who have not in order to find if learning of English grammar is necessary or not.

Use the word ‘sing’ in twelve tenses.

1.    Abu _________ every day.

2.    He __________________ now.

3.    He ________________________ since he woke.

4.    He __________________________ the sone, “A Happy Wanderer” at

 least fives times since he woke up.

5.    He _________________ for two hours by 10 o’clock. 

(continuous action)

6.    He ________________ ten songs if he sings again.

7.    Yesterday, he __________ loudly to record a song.

8.    When he ________________, a thunderstorm came.

9.    He ____________ a few songs before he went out with Peter.

10. He ___________________ for some time before Peter came.

11.  Next Saturday, he ______________ in a concert.

12.  He __________________ the song  that he has been practising all the

       time.