LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 20:4 April 2020
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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An Attitudinal Study on the Role of Grammar in the Communicative Approach to Second Language Teaching

Dr. K. Sanmuganathan, Ph.D., M.Phil., M.A., PGD in Edu.

Abstract

There have been arguments and counter arguments among the ELT practitioners regarding the role of grammar in teaching English as a second language with the aim of developing communicative competence of the second language learners. This paper investigates the attitudes towards the role of grammar in communicative language teaching which aims broadly to apply the theoretical perspective of the Communicative Approach by making communicative competence the goal of language teaching and by acknowledging the interdependence of language and communication. The objective of this study is to provide valuable insight to the ELT practitioners regarding the place of grammar in the communicative approach. Firstly, the theoretical aspects of Grammar, the communicative approach to second language teaching and communicative competence put forward by different scholars in the field of second language teaching are discussed in detail. Secondly, the research methodology discusses the research tools and the number of respondents to collect data for this study. Finally, the data were collected and analyzed. The findings have revealed that teaching grammar plays a vital role in developing communicative competence of the second language learners. At the same time, the study has pointed out that teaching grammar is not only the aspect of second language and the sole focus of second language teaching. Instead, it should be taught along with the language skills to achieve the communicative competence of the second language learners.

Keywords: Grammar, Communicative Language Teaching, Communicative Competence, Second language skills, Second language teaching, Sri Lanka.

1. 1. Introduction

There have been theories with opposing views among the ELT practitioners with regard to the role of teaching grammar in second language teaching and learning. However, it is felt that there is a link between teaching grammar and achieving communicative competence with students learning English as a second language. It is necessary to investigate the attitudes of the ESL practitioners and students towards the role of grammar in Communicative Approach which aims to develop communicative competence of the second language learners because there is a tendency found among the ESL practitioners and learners that teaching and learning ESL mean the learning of grammar of that language. In contrast to this idea, Communicative Approach which focuses on the four components of the communicative competence emphasizes the fluency of the language rather than focusing much on the accuracy of the language. As a result, this causes an issue in relation to the role of grammar in the communicative approach to ESL teaching and learning processes. It should be noted at this point, that grammar is not only the aspect of language to be taught and learnt and should not be sole focus of teaching English.

There are two main aims to this paper. Firstly, in the theoretical part, it attempts to explain the link between teaching grammar and achieving communicative competence, thus highlighting the importance of teaching and learning grammar. The terms grammar and communicative competence are considered from different perspectives. Additionally, a number of arguments for and against the teaching of grammar are presented and investigated. Secondly, in the empirical part, it aims to investigate the attitude of the ESL practitioners and their students towards teaching grammar, namely their awareness of the term communicative competence and of what it includes, as well as the perceived role of grammar in the process of English language teaching. Finally, effort is made to suggest possible ways of making grammar beneficial towards achieving communicative competence.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Dr. K. Sanmuganathan, Ph.D., M.Phil., M.A., PGD in Edu.
Senior Lecturer in ELT
Department of English Language Teaching
University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka 40000
saneltc@yahoo.com
+94778759534
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