[ELTWeekly Volume 8, Issue 4 | January 27, 2016 | ISSN 0975-3036]
Of all the things we teach, most would agree grammar is one of the most challenging.
The reason is because it is not easy to motivate students, especially young students to learn grammar . Simply sitting kids down and explaining rules is not an option because they possess certain characteristics that make their learning different from that of adults. In an ESL classroom, kids are in a setting in which they are surrounded by language. The second language is made meaningful because of the context and because of the way teachers speak to them.
They have time to sort out the language that they hear and understand. When they are ready, they begin to use it to express themselves. Adults,on the other hand, usually focus more on learning vocabulary and grammar rules and they make an effort to apply those rules later. Here we see a clear difference between acquiring language and learning it. So, what do we need to do to teach young learners grammar?