From Trash to Treasure: Grammar Practice for the Malaysian ESL Learners

Puspalata C Suppiah, Sathiyaperba Subramaniam, Angelina Subrayan @ Michael

Abstract


Learning of the English grammar has always been a challenging task particularly for students at the national-type schools in Malaysia. Often, these learners are not competent as they do not communicate in English language except during their English lessons merely because English is not their first language. Hence, it is the responsibility of the teachers to prepare appropriate grammar resources to gauge the varying needs of students with different learning styles. This paper therefore seeks to share with classroom practitioners several tested workable grammar activities using “throw-away” materials to help learners overcome their inhibitions in learning grammar. The results indicated that such teaching approach was indeed an effective strategy which brought about a “stress-free” environment and help build learners’ self-confidence in learning English grammar. This paper would be handy to ESL teachers who crave for creativity and innovation in their pedagogical approach.
Key words: Grammar; Throw-away materials; Communicative language teaching

Résumé
Apprentissage de la grammaire anglaise a toujours été une tâche difficile surtout pour les élèves dans les écoles de type national en Malaisie. Souvent, ces apprenants ne sont pas compétents car ils ne communiquent pas en anglais, sauf pendant leurs cours d'anglais simplement parce que l'anglais n'est pas leur première langue. Ainsi, il est de la responsabilité des enseignants pour préparer les ressources de grammaire appropriée pour évaluer les besoins différents des élèves ayant des styles d'apprentissage différents. Ce document cherche donc à partager avec plusieurs praticiens de la classe testée activités réalisables en utilisant la grammaire "jetable" du matériel pour aider les apprenants à surmonter leurs inhibitions en apprentissage de la grammaire. Les résultats ont indiqué que l'approche de cet enseignement était en effet une stratégie efficace qui a entraîné un "sans stress" environnement et aider à construire des apprenants confiance en soi en apprentissage de la grammaire anglaise. Ce document serait utile pour les enseignants d'anglais langue seconde qui ont soif de créativité et d'innovation dans leur approche pédagogique.
Mots clés: Grammaire; Matériaux jetables; Enseignement du langages communicatif


Keywords


Grammaire; Matériaux jetables; Enseignement du langages communicatif;Grammar; Throw-away materials; Communicative language teaching

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/J.css.1923669720110705.430

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