Is Grammar REALLY Important For A Second Language Learner?
You may be surprised to hear that most of my own students, even advanced ones, have very little awareness of grammar jargon and terminology, in spite of the fact that they can make a pretty good use of the second language. “How is that possible?” you may ask. First and foremost, teachers need to know precisely what they are trying to prepare their students for. I do know that what I want is to “create” users of a new language. I want to prepare people to actually engage in communicative situations using appropriate language and patterns. I am not definitely interested in their explaining to me or making a mental list of all the grammar uses that a certain pattern has. For example, think of your own native language. Name all the tenses that you can find in your own native tongue with their corresponding uses and structures. Unless you are a teacher, a translator or someone who needs to have a very good grasp of this meta-language, more likely than not you may feel at a loss to answer th
