I have witnessed it numerous times in classrooms around the world. A teacher in an ELL class, trying to embed grammar into his/her students, through aging course books and non-dynamic rote education. The students looked visibly bored and unengaged and it’s understandable why, as both the content and the epistemological approaches are neither relevant nor practical in their lives. From reports, many ELL students and educators are aware of the necessity of grammar acquisition, yet they also find some of the current methodologies, such as strict repetition boring, which may effect how much the students are motivated or retain what they are learning (Jean 467). In a survey of some ELL students about whether they enjoyed grammar education, more than half indicated either that they “did not like it much” (29%) or “did not like it at all”(23%) (Jean 475). In the questionnaire portion of the survey, students were asked what words came to mind when they thought of grammar education. The words were categorized as positive, neutral and negative, with few students answering positively (Jean 475). The focus of this blog is the present a contemporary approach to grammar education, where students are engaged in classroom activities that are meaningful, practical and relevant in their lives and thus motivate them to be more involved and interested in the lesson.

For more information, read on to the “The Why”