Teaching English Grammar

1.1.4 Grammar explanations as used in the major methods

We shall briefly review the treatment of grammatical explanations by some of the major methods. This is not meant to be an exhaustive study of all available methods; rather it is an attempt to show the variety of ways in which different methods deal with grammar explanations and may help teachers in evaluating available materials.

Grammar translation is associated with formal rule statement. Learning proceeds, deductively, and the rule is generally stated by the teacher, in a textbook, or both. Traditional abstract grammatical terminology is used. Drills include translation into native language.

The direct method is characterized by meaningful practice and exclusion of the mother tongue. This method has had many interpretations, some of which include an analysis of structure, but generally without the use of abstract grammatical terminology.

The audio-lingual method stresses an inductive presentation with extensive pattern practice. Writing is discouraged in the early stages of learning a structure. Here again, there has bee considerable variation in the realization of this approach. In some cases, no grammatical explanation of any kind is offered. In other, the teacher might focus on a particular structure by isolating an example on the board, or through contrast. When grammatical explanation is offered it is usually done at the end of the lesson as a summary of behavior (Politzer, 1965), or in later versions of this method the rule might be stated in the middle of the lesson and followed by additional drills.

Each method is realized in techniques. By a technique we mean an individual way in doing something, in gaining a certain goal in teaching learning process. The method and techniques the teacher should use in teaching children of the primary school is the direct method, and various techniques which can develop pupils` listening comprehension and speaking. Pupils are given various exercises, connected with the situational use of words and sentence patterns.

1.2 Some General Principles of Grammar Teaching

1.2.1 Conscious approach

This means that in sentence patterns teaching points are determined so that pupils can concentrate their attention on some elements of the pattern to be able to use them as orienting points when speaking or writing the target language. For example, I can see a book. I can see many books.

The teacher draws pupils' attention to the new element in the form of a rule, a very short one. It is usually done in the mother tongue. For example: Помни, что во множественном числе к существительному прибавляется окончание -s [s,z] или -es [IZ]. Or: Помни, что в отрицательных предложениях ставится вспомогательный глагол “do not” (“does not”).The rule helps the learner to understand and to assimilate the structural meaning of the elements. It ensures a conscious approach to learning. This approach provides favourable conditions for the speedy development of correct and more flexible language use. However it does not mean that the teacher should ask pupils to say this or that rule, Rules do not ensure the mastery of the language. They only help to attain the practical goal. If a pupil can recognize and employ correctly the forms that are appropriate, that is sufficient. When the learner can give ample proof of these abilities we may say that he has fulfilled the syllabus requirements.

Conscious learning is also ensured when a grammar item is contrasted with another grammar item which is usually confused. The contrast is brought out through oppositions. For example:

I get up at 7 o'clock.

It's 7 o'clock. I am getting up.

He has come.

He came an hour ago.

Give me a book (to read into the train).

Give me the book (you have promised),

I like soup (more than any other food).

I like the soup ( you have cooked).

Rule for the teacher:

The teacher should realize difficulties the sentence pattern presents for his pupils. Comparative analysis of the grammar item in English and in Russian or within the English language may be helpful. He should think of the shortest and simplest way for presentation of the new grammar item. The teacher should remember the more he speaks about the language the less time is left to practice. The more the teacher explains the less his pupils understand what he is trying to explain, this leads to the teacher giving more information than is necessary, which does not help the pupils in the usage of this particular grammar item, only hinders them.

1.2.2 Practical approach

It means that pupils learn those grammar items which they need for immediate use either in oral or written language. For example, from the first steps of language learning pupils need the Possessive Case for objects which belong to different people, namely, Mike's textbook, Ann's mother, the girl's doll, the boys' room, etc. The teacher masters grammar through performing various exercises in using a given grammar item.

1.2.3 Structural approach

Grammar items are introduced and drilled in structures or sentence patterns.

It has been proved and accepted by the majority of teachers and methodologists that whenever the aim to teach pupils the command of the language, and speaking in particular, the structural approach meets the requirements.

Pupils are taught to understand English when spoken to and to speak it from the very beginning. This is possible provided they have learned sentence patterns and words as a pattern and they know how to adjust them to them to the situations they are given.

In our country the structural approach to the teaching of grammar attracted the attention of many teachers. As a result structural approach to grammar teaching has been adopted by our schools since it allows the pupil to make up sentences by analogy, to use the same pattern for various situations. Pupils learn sentence patterns and how to use them in oral and written language.

Rule for the teacher:

The teacher should furnish pupils with words to change the lexical (semantic) meaning of the sentence pattern so that pupils will be able to use it in different situations. He should assimilate the grammar mechanism involved in sentence pattern and not the sentence itself.

1.2.4 Situational approach

Pupils learn a grammar item used in situations. For example, the Possessive Case may be effectively introduced in classroom situations. The teacher takes or simply touches various things and says This is Nina's pen; That is Sasha's exercise-book, and so on.

Rule for the teacher:

The teacher should select the situations for the particular grammar item he is going to present. He should look through the textbook and other teaching materials and find those situations which can ensure comprehension and the usage of the item.

1.2.5 Different approach

Grammar items pupils need for conversation are taught by the oral approach, i.e., pupils aud them, perform various oral exercises, finally see them printed, and write sentences using them.

For example, pupils need the Present Progressive for conversation. They listen to sentences with the verbs in the Present Progressive spoken by the teacher or the speaker (when a tape recorder is used) and relate them to the situations suggested. Then pupils use the verbs in the Present Progressive in various oral sentences in which the Present Progressive is used. Grammar items necessary for reading are taught through reading.

Rule for the teachers:

If the grammar item the teacher is going to present belongs to those pupils need for conversation, he should select the oral approach method for teaching.

If pupils need the grammar item for reading, the teacher should start with reading and writing sentences in which the grammar item occurs.

While preparing for the lesson at which a new grammar item should be introduced, the teacher must realize the difficulties pupils will meet in assimilating this new element of the English grammar. They may be of three kinds: difficulties in form, meaning, and usage. The teacher thinks of the ways to overcome these difficulties: how to convey the meaning of the grammar item either through situations or with the help of the mother tongue; what rule should be used; what exercises should be done; their types and number. Then he thinks of the sequence in which pupils should work to overcome these difficulties, i.e., , from observation and comprehension through conscious imitation to usage in conversation (communicative exercises). Then the teacher considers the form in which he presents the grammar item - orally, in writing, or in reading. And, finally, the teacher plans pupils' activity while they are learning this grammar item (point): their individual work, mass work, work in unison, and work in pairs, always bearing in mind that for assimilation pupils need examples of the sentence pattern in which this grammar item occurs.

PART 3 FURTHER POINTS FOR CONCIDERATION

1.1 Introduction of new Material

1.1.1 Introducing new language structure

We will consider ways in which children can be introduced to new language structure.

When we present grammar through structural patterns we tend to give students tidy pieces of language to work with We introduce grammar, which can easily be explained and presented. There are many different ways of doing this, which do not (only) involve the transmission of grammar rules.

It is certainly possible to teach aspects of grammar - indeed that is what language teachers have been doing for centuries - but language is a difficult business and it is often used very inventively by its speakers, In other words real language use is often very untidy and cannot be automatically reduced to simple grammar patterns. Students need to be aware of this, just as they need to be aware of all language possibilities. Such awareness does not mean that they have to be taught each variation and linguistic twist, however. It just means that they have to be aware of language and how it is used. That is why reading and listening are so important, and that is why discovery activities are so valuable since by asking students to discover ways in which language is used we help to raise their awareness about the creative use of grammar - amongst other things.

As teachers we should be prepared to use a variety of techniques to help our students learn and acquire grammar. Sometimes this involves teaching grammar rules; sometimes it means allowing students to discover the rules for themselves.

What do we introduce? Our job at this stage of the lesson is to present the pupils with clear information about the language they are learning. We must also show them what the language means and how it is used; we must also show them what the grammatical form of the new language is, and how it is said and/or written.

What we are suggesting here is that students need to get an idea of how his new language is used by native speakers and the best way of doing this is to present language in context.

The context for introducing new language should have a number of characteristics.It should show what the new language means and how it is used, for example. That is why many useful contexts have the new language being used in a written text or dialogue.

A good context should be interesting for the children. This doesn't mean that all the subject matter we use for presentation should be wildly funny or inventive all of the time. But the pupils should at least want to see or hear the information.

Lastly, a good context will provide the background for a lot of language use so that students can use the information not only for the repetition of model sentences but also for making their own sentences.

Often the textbook will have all the characteristics mentioned here and the teacher can confidently rely on the material for the presentation. But the textbook is not always so appropriate: for a number of reasons the information in the book may not be right for our students in such cases we will want to create our own contexts for language use.

During the lead-in stage, then, we introduce our context (making sure that key concepts are understood) and show the new language in use.

During the elicitation stage the teacher tries to see if the students can produce the new language. If they can it would clearly be wasteful and de-motivating for them if a lot of time was spent practicing the language that they already know. At the elicitation stage - depending on how well (and if) the students can produce the new language - the teacher can decide which of the stages to go to next. If the students can't produce the new language at all, for example, we will move to the explanation stage. If they can, hut with minor mistakes, we may move to the accurate reproduction stage to clear up those problems. If they know the new language but need a bit more controlled practice in producing it we may move directly to the immediate creativity stage Elicitation is vitally important for it gives the teacher information upon which to act: it is also motivating for the students and actively involves their learning abilities.

During the explanation stage the teacher shows how the new language is formed. It is here that we may give a listening drill or explain something in the students' own language; we may demonstrate grammatical form on the blackboard. In other words, this is where the students learn how the new language is constructed.

During the accurate reproduction stage students are asked to repeat and practise a certain number of models. The emphasis here will be on the accuracy of what the students say rather than meaning or use. Here the teacher makes sure that the students can form the new language correctly, getting the grammar right and perfecting their pronunciation as far as is necessary.

1.2 Teaching grammar patterns

We'll examine "Teaching Grammatical Patterns" by Robert Lado (Chapter 10 "From Sentences to Patterns")

Robert Lado thinks that even children who have never studied the rules grammar make use of the grammar of the language. This is seen in the mistakes they make. When a child says, He goed, he is forming a "regular" preterite on the pattern: showed, weighed, served: "goed." His error reveals the fact that he has been applying the pattern even though he is not able to describe it.

- Patterns and Sentences

A grammatical pattern is an arrangement of parts having linguistic significance beyond the sum of its parts. The parts of a pattern are expressed by words or classes of words so that different sentences often express the same pattern. All the sentences of a language are cast in its patterns.

John telephoned, The boy studied.

We understood different sentences are expressing the same statement pattern in English.

A pattern is not a sentence, however. Sentences express patterns. Each sentence illustrates a pattern. To memorize a sentence does not imply that a pattern has been memorized. There can be countless sentences, each unique, yet all constructed on the same pattern.

- Patterns and Grammar

Children learn the grammatical patterns of their language before they study grammar in school. When a child says goed instead of went or knowed instead of knew, he is applying the regular preterite pattern on the analogy,

open: opened = go: goed

Patterns are learned in childhood. Adults no longer have to learn new patterns; they learn new words that are used in old patterns. That the old patterns are alive is shown by putting unknown words and phrases into them.

And what is the role of the native language in learning the patterns of a foreign language?

The most important factor determining ease and difficulty in learning the patterns of a foreign language is their similarity to or difference from the patterns of the native language. When the pattern in the target language is parallel to one in the native language, the student merely learns new words which he puts into what amounts to an extended use of his native pattern. Since his word learning capacity is not lost, he makes rapid progress. When, however, the native language pattern does not parallel that of the target language, the student tends to revert to his native language patterns through habit.

- Grading the Patterns

There is no single grading scale for teaching the patterns of a foreign language. Any systematic cumulative progression, taking into account the structures that are difficult, would be satisfactory from a linguistic point of view.

- Pattern-practice

Approach The mimicry-memorization exercise tends to give the same amounts of practice to easy as well as difficult problems. It also concentrates unduly on the memorization of specific sentences, and not enough on the manipulation of the patterns of sentences in a variety of content situations. For those patterns that are functionally parallel to the native language, very little work needs to be done, and very little or no explanation is necessary. On the other hand, for those patterns that are not parallel in the two languages, more specific understanding of the grammatical structure points at issue is needed while the sentences are learned and not before or after. And more practice with the pattern is necessary before it is learned, that is, used without attention to its structure.

- Basic sentences

The memorization of sample sentences that con-tain the grammatical problems to he mastered is common to both pattern practice and mimicry-memorization. For this practice there is ample justification in linguistics and in psychology. The utterances have to become readily available if the student is to use them in the rapid sequence of conversation.

- Teaching the patterns

A sentence can be learned as a single unstructured unit like a word, but this is only the beginning. The stu-dent must acquire the habit of constructing sentences in the patterns of the target language. For this he must be able to put words almost automatically into a pattern without changing it, or to change it by making the necessary adjustments.

Teaching a problem pattern begins with teaching the specific struc-ture points where a formal change in the pattern is crucial and where the student is not able to manipulate the required changes. The steps in teaching problem patterns are (1) attention pointer, usually a single sentence calling the students' attention to the point at issue; (2) ex-amples, usually minimally contrastive examples showing a pair of sen-tences that differ only on the point or points being made; (3) repetition by the class and presentation of additional examples of the same contrast; (4) comments or generalization elicited inductively from the students and confirmed by the teacher; (5) practice, with attention on the problem being taught.

These steps an intended to clarify the crucial point of contrast at the time when sentences are being learned. They should take only a small portion of the class time--no more than 15 per cent.

Robert Lado accents that many teachers make the mistake of trying to explain everything at length while the class listens passively. Long explanations without active practice are a waste of time, and even with practice they are inefficient. Most of the class should be devoted to practice.

1.3 Correction

During the accurate reproduction phase there are two basic correction stages: showing incorrectness (indicating to the student that something is wrong) and using correction techniques.

- Showing incorrectness

This means that we will indicate to the student that a mistake has been made. If the student understands this feedback he or she will be able to correct the mistake and this self-correction will be helpful to him or her as part of the learning process.

There are a number of techniques for showing incorrectness:

§ Repeating: Here we simply ask the student to repeat what he or she has just said by using the word 'again'. This, said with a questioning intonation, will usually indicate that the response was unsatisfactory (although it could be misunderstood as only indicating that the teacher has not heard the student's response).

§ Echoing: We will be even clearer if we repeat what the student has just said, using a questioning intonation since this will clearly indicate that we are doubting the accuracy or content of what is being said.

Sometimes we can echo the complete student response, probably stressing the pan of the utterance that was incorrect, for example:

She go to school?

Another possibility is to echo the student's response, but only up to the point where the mistake was made,ftor example: She go …?

Echoing, in its various forms, is probably the most efficient way of showing incorrectness.

§ Denial: We can simply tell the student that the response was unsatisfactory and ask for it to be repeated. This seems somewhat drier than the techniques so far discussed; it may be a bit more discouraging.

§ Questioning: We can say 'Is that correct?' asking any student in the class to answer our question. This has the advantage of focusing everybody's mind on the problem, though it may make the student who made the mistake seem somewhat exposed.

§ Expression: Many teachers indicate that a response was incorrect by their expression or by some gesture. This is very economical (and can be quite funny) but can be dangerous if the student thinks that the expression or gesture is a form of mockery.

In general, showing incorrectness should be handled with tact and consideration. The process of student self-correction, which it provokes, is an important and useful part of the learning process. Showing incorrectness should be seen as a positive act, in other words, not as a reprimand.

Frequently, however, we find that showing incorrectness is not enough for the correction of a mistake or an error and the teacher may therefore have to use some correction techniques.

- Using correction techniques

If students are unable to correct themselves we can resort to one of the following techniques.

§ Student corrects student: we can ask if anyone else can give the correct response. We can ask if anyone can 'help' the student who has made the mistake. If another student can supply the correct information it will be good for that student's self-esteem. However, the student who originally made the mistake may feel humiliated if this technique is used insensitively.

§ Teacher corrects student(s): Sometimes we may feel that we should take charge of correction because the students are extremely mixed-up about what the correct response should be. In that case we can re-explain the item of language, which is causing the trouble. This will be especially appropriate when we see that a majority of the class are having the same problem. After the re-explanation we can move to choral and individual repetition (if necessary) before moving on.

The object of using correction techniques, of course, is to give the student(s) a chance to (know how to) get the new language right. It is important, therefore, that when we have used one of the techniques suggested above, we ask the student who originally made the mistake to give us a correct response.

When the children and teacher are confident that the children can form the new language correctly they will move to immediate creativity. Here they try to use what they have just learned to make sentences of their own, rather than sentences which the teacher or book has introduced as models.

It is at this stage that both teacher and student can see if the students have really understood the meaning, use and form of the new language. If they are able to produce their own sentences they can feel confident that the presentation was success.

Notice again that if the students perform well during elicitation the teacher can move straight to immediate creativity. If at that stage they perform badly the teacher may find it necessary either to return to a short accurate reproduction stage or in extreme cases, to re-explain the new language.

1.4 The Most Common Difficulties Pupils Howe in Assimilating English Grammar

The chief difficulty in learning a new language is that of changing from the grammatical mechanism of the native language to that of the new language. Indeed, every language has its own way of fitting words together to form sentences. In English, word order is more important than in Russian. The word order in Tom gave Helen a rose indicates what was given (a rose), to whom (Helen), and by whom (Tom). If we change the word order and say Helen gave tom a rose, we shall change the meaning of the sentence. In Russian, due to inflexions, which are very important in this language, we can say Том дал Лене розу or Лене дал Том розу without changing the meaning of the sentence, as the inflexion “e” in the word Лене indicates the object of the action.

The inversion of subject and finite verb in Are you… indicates the question form. In speaking English, Russian pupils often violate the word order which results in bad mistakes in expressing their thoughts.

The English tense system also presents a lot of trouble to Russian-speaking pupils because of the difference which exists in these languages with regard to time and tense relations. For example, the pupil cannot at first understand why we must say I have seen him today and I saw him yesterday. For him the action is completed in both sentences, and he does not associate it in any way with today or yesterday.

The sequence of tenses is another difficult point of English grammar for Russian speaking pupils because there is no such phenomenon in their mother tongue. Why should we say She said she was busy when she is busy?

The use of modal verbs in various types of sentences is very difficult for the learner. For example, he should differentiate the use of can and may while in Russian the verb may covers them both. Then he should remember which verb must be used in answers to the questions with modal verbs. For instance, May I go home? No, you mustn't. May I take your pen? Yes, you may. Must I do it? No, you needn't.

The most difficult point of English grammar is the article because it is completely strange to Russian-speaking pupils. The use of the articles and other determiners comes first in the list of the most frequent errors. Pupils are careless in the use of “these tiny words” and consider them unimportant for expressing their thoughts when speaking English.

English grammar must begin, therefore, with pupils' learning the meaning of these structural words, and with practice in their correct use. For example: This is a pen. The pen is red. This is my pen and that is his pen.

PART 4 TYPES OF EXERCISES FOR THE ASSIMILATION OF GRAMMAR

1.1 Recognition exercises

These exercises are the easiest type of exercises for pupils to perform. They observe the grammar item in structures (sentence patterns) when hearing or reading. Since pupils only observe the new grammar item the situations should be natural and communicative. For example:

- Listen to the sentences and raise your hands whenever you hear the verbs in the Past Simple.

Mike lives in Pushkin Street. I lived there last year. Ann gets up at 7 o'clock in the morning. She got up at half past seven yesterday. Etc.

It is desirable that sentences formed should concern real situations and facts.

Pupils listen to the teacher and raise their hands when they hear a verb in the Past Simple. The teacher can see whether each of his pupils has grasped the sentence.

- Read the sentences and choose the correct form of the verb. The following sentences may be suggested:

I (go, went) to school yesterday.

Tom (takes, took) a bus when he goes to school.

She (got, gets, gets) up at 7 o' clock every day.

Pupils should read the sentences and find the signals for the correct choice of the form. Since the necessary form is suggested in each sentence they should only recognize the one they need for a given context.

Recognition exercises are indispensable as pupils retain the grammar material through auditory and visual perception. Auditory and visual memory is at work.

1.2 Drill exercises

They are more completed as they require reproduction on the part of the pupils. In learning a foreign language drill exercises are indispensable. The learners cannot assimilate the material if they only hear and see it. They must reproduce it both in outer and inner speech. The more often they say it the better they assimilate the material. Though drill exercises are those in which pupils have only one difficulty to overcome, they should also be graded:

- Repetitive drill. Pupils pronounce the sentence pattern after the teacher, in imitation of the teacher, both individually and in unison. For example:

Teacher: They are dancing in the park.

Class: They are dancing in the park.

Individuals: They are dancing in the park.

Or pupils listen to the dialogue and say it after the speaker.

-Is Ann dancing now?

-No, she isn't.

-What is she doing?

-She is watching television.

Attention is drawn to the correct pronunciation of the sentence pattern as a sense unit, as a statement (sounds, stress, and melody).

- Substitution. Pupils substitute the words or phrases in a sentence pattern. For example:

The children are dancing in the park.

The children are dancing in the garden.

The children are dancing in the street.

The children are dancing in the yard.

The children are dancing in the hall.

The children are dancing after classes.

The children are dancing at the party.

A pupil substitutes a phrase, the rest may say it in unison. Then they are invited to replace the word dancing with other words.

They are singing in the park.

They are working in the park.

They are walking in the park.

They are playing in the park.

They are running in the park.

They are talking in the park.

They are watering flowers in the park.

They are planting trees in the park.

They are helping the workers in the park.

The use of a particular verb is stimulated with pictures (or a Russian word). Quick revision is achieved with a small expenditure of effort. In this way they review many words and phrases. As pupils have only one difficulty to overcome the work does not take much time. Or pupils are invited to replace the words in the dialogue with those given in columns (see the dialogue above).

There is one more advantage in performing this type of exercises--pupils consolidate the grammar item without thinking about it. They think of the words, phrases, but not of the form itself, therefore, involuntary memory is at work.

- Completion

Pupils complete the sentences the teacher utters looking at the pictures he shows. For example:

Teacher: Look at the picture.

Mike is ... ... .

Pupil: Mike is getting up.

Class: Mike is getting up.

Teacher: Mike is ... ... .

Pupil: Mike is dressing.

Class: Mike is dressing.

Attention should be given to the use of is in this exercise. The teacher should pronounce Mike is ... to prevent the typical mistake of the pupils (Mike dressing). This is essential structural element of the tense form of the Present Continuous; Russian-speaking pupils, however, do not feel any necessity to use it.

- Answering the teacher's questions

For example:

Teacher: Is Mike getting up?

Pupil: Yes, he is.

Teacher: Who is getting up?

Pupil: Mike is.

Teacher: What is Mike doing?

Pupil: He is getting up.

Drill exercises may be done both orally and in written form. Pupils perform oral exercises during the lesson and written ones at home. For example, they ate told to write five or seven sentences on the model given.

During the next lesson the work done at home is checked orally. In this way pupils have practice in pronunciation while reading their own examples, and in auding while listen-ing to their classmates.

1.3 Creative exercises (speech exercises)

This is the most difficult type of exercises as it requires creative work on the part of the learners. These may be:

- Making statements either on the picture the teacher shows, or on objects. For example, the teacher hangs up a pic-ture and asks his pupils to say or write three or five statements in the Present Continuous.

- Asking questions with a given grammar item. For example, pupils are invited to ask and answer questions in the Past Indefinite.

- Speaking about the situation offered by the teacher. For example, one pupil gives commands to perform this or that action, the other comments on the action (actions) his classmate performs.

Pupil 1: Go to the door, Sasha.

Pupil 2: Sasha is going to the door.

Pupil 3: Open the door.

Pupil 4: Sasha is opening the door.

- Speaking on a suggested topic. For example, a pupil tells the class what he did yesterday.

- Making dialogues using the grammar item covered.

- Telling the story (read, heard).

- Translating into English.

Participating in free conversation in which pupils are to use the grammar item they have learned. E. g., pupils have learned sentence patterns with the impersonal it.

Through these questions pupils are stimulated to speak about the weather and use the grammar item they have learnt.

All the exercises of the creative type are designed for con-solidating grammar material pupils need for hearing and speaking.

All the exercises mentioned above are designed:

- to develop pupils' skills in recognizing grammar forms while auding and reading English texts;

- to accumulate correct sentence patterns in the pupils' memory which they can reproduce whenever they need these patterns for speaking or writing;

- to help the pupils to produce sentences of their own using grammar items necessary for speaking about a situation or a topic offered, or writing an essay on the text heard or an annotation on the text read.

1.4 Grammar tests

A check on the assimilation of grammar material is carried out through:

- auding (if a pupil understands what he auds, he knows grammar);

- speaking (if a pupil uses the grammar item correctly, he has assimilated it);

- reading (if a learner understands what he reads, he knows grammar);

- tests.

Tests allow the teacher to evaluate pupils' achievement in grammar, that is, how each of them has mastered forms, meaning, and usage. Tests in grammar may involve: filling in the blanks; opening the brackets; transformation (e. g., make it negative, change into plural, etc.); extension (e. g., / like to read books -- I like to raid English bocks in our li-brary); completion (e. g., When I came home ...); making state-ments on the pictures given; translation.

CONCLUSION

In order to understand a language and express oneself correctly one must assimilate the grammar mechanism of a language. Indeed, one may know all the words in a sentence and yet fail to understand it, if one does not see the relationship between the words in the given sentence. And vice versa, a sentence may contain one, two, and more unknown words but if one has a good knowledge of the structure of the language one can easily guess the meanings of these words or at least find them in a dictionary, No speaking is possible without the knowledge of grammar, without the forming of a grammar mechanism. Children need grammar to be able to speak, and write in the target language.

Our aim is to form grammar skills and prevent children from making grammar mistakes in their speech. The aim of foreign languages in primary schools is to develop pupils' skills in order to understand speech and participate in conversation.

The method and techniques the teacher should use in teaching children of primary school is the direct method and various techniques which can develop pupils' listening comprehension and speaking.

We have examined two kinds of grammar skills: the reproductive and receptive grammar skills. The reproductive grammar skills give pupils an opportunity to make up their own sentences in oral and written forms in other words to communicate and the receptive grammar skills give them an opportunity to read texts or aud and understand it.

To master the reproductive grammar skills one should study the basic sentences or models (grammar is presented as itself in the basic sentences), to master the receptive grammar skills one should identify and analyze the grammar item. We teach children to read by means of grammar. It reveals the relationship between the words in the given sentence.

We have such a conclusion that the forming of grammar skills depends on training. Training is of great importance to realize the grammar item. We must use a lot of training exercises for the assimilation of grammar. We should provide the motivation of learn English, encourage children to communicate and remember that the correction of errors in the early stages of a language course may foster the following negative aspects:

- children lose confidence when they have fear of making grammar mistakes

- children become reluctant to take risks: they only the say the information they know they can say

We should realize the importance of training exercises and the role of the individual approach to teaching the children. Besides, the teacher must have a clear idea of the grammar of the language, its structure and usage; everything he teaches must be based on it; he should always be conscious of introducing or practicing some point of grammar.

LITERATURE

1 Rogova, G.V., “Methods of teaching English”; М.,1970

2 Harmer, Jeremy, “the practice English language teaching”; London-New York; Longman,1991

3 Синявская, Е.В. и др., «Вопросы методики обучения иностранным языком за рубежом.» /сост.: Е.В.Синявская, М.М. Васильева, С.В.Калинина/; М., Просвещение,1978

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21 www.teachingenglish.org.uk

22 www.englishclub.narod.ru