Diary 3

Session 3



Preparation:

This time we were supposed to read about language in general terms.
The part which attracted me the most was Widdowson’s discussion about grammar and its undeniable importance. Of course I never doubted the importance of grammar. However the point for me that usually in CLT the common belief is that fluency is primary and accuracy is secondary. It’s often said that it’s better that students say something without much hesitance and long stops ,rather taking a long time for saying an accurate one. Since this makes the listener bored , mixed up or even reluctant to communicate .Even it may make the speaker feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.
However the question is that how far this can go?
We can never ignore the great influence of grammar in reaching ones final meaning, which if not considered may lead to misunderstanding and not a desirable communication takes palace.
This is what Widdowson undertakes and demonstrates in a reasonable way. He defines grammar as a device for mediating between words and contexts. He emphasizes what is crucial for the learner to know is how grammar functions in alliance with words and contexts for the achievement of meaning.He continues that sometimes lexis is put to the service of grammar and sometimes it’s vice versa.
He argues that ,the best and most natural approach begins with lexical items and shows how they need to be grammatically modified to be communicatively effective.
What just comes tom my mind is that (according to my experience)students are usually aware of the importance of grammar and even they sometimes become picky about this.”Is what I’m saying correct?”Either it’s in their mind or just in their eyes.
So it seems to me that students are more or less sensitive about grammar. Maybe they’re not good at it but they admit the importance of it. They usually are concerned about their grammar and want to know how their grammar can get better.
To me students seem to be aware of the importance of grammar either consciously or unconsciously .But the problem I face how can we teach or how can they get the grammar points and rules in the best way, which is internalized and also make students able not only to distinguish and find errors but also use the correct ones when they are communicating.
As it was mentioned in some former materials we covered before it’s argued that when students are concerned about conveying the meaning which is in their mind they usually neglect the grammar points .They focus on meaning and not form.So how to help them have both into consideration is the question for me.
Widdowson quotes that a pedagogy which aimed at teaching the functional potential of grammar would have let the learners to engage in problem solving task which require a gradual elaboration of grammar. In this way learners would realize the communicative value of grammar in the very achievement of meaning.


Assistance:



This session started very differently, which I supposed most of us enjoyed. The final goal for us is somehow the practicality of the ideas we study how we can apply them in real situations.
Some of us tried to teach a grammar rule in an indirect way in which the teacher is not much involved, rather sts infer and discover the rule.
It was from here on that we talked about “what is grammar?”
The answer is that it’s form, meaning and use. By form we mean type or elements of a language.By meaning we mean the actual use or token which itself is of two types:

1-symbolic

2-indexical

The latter refers to the function of words in context.
The importance of grammar was discussed and the fact that how lexis can function differently by grammar was emphasized too. Also the problem solving tasks we suggested to achieve this goal in the best way.
Negotiation of meaning was regarded as a process of give and take from two aspects:

1-affective perspective: in which the state of ease and comfort is emphasized .There must not be a kind of top-bottom situation in which negotiation can’t take place. Also the personal territories shouldn’t be violated.


2-effective perspective dealing with quality, quantity, relevance and manner in which the communication itakes place.

It was argued that it’s not enough for the teacher to only have a descriptive knowledge of a language which includes grammar, lexis… .He must also have some kind of theoretical knowledge about what all languages have in general, where do they come from and also some kind of psychological and sociological knowledge too.


Appliacation:


I learned that in teaching grammar was helps the most is problem solving task in which the teacher is not in the center and the sts try to discover and infer the use and function of grammar rules. The teacher must not simply put the rules on board and explain them in terms of sub,obj,v,n.But facilitate -ting the process of learning and help them to use inductive approaches to discover the rules on their own.

I’m really trying to do this. However it’s easier said than done…