Unit 1 - Grammar

 GRAMMAR

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/07/11/14/41/grammar-389907_960_720.jpg

The Teaching Knowledge Test or TKT is an international accreditation test that allows teachers to prove their knowledge related to  English language teaching. In this blog, we will provide information about the TKT Module 1 - Units 1-8 because it is important for teachers or people in general, to know the areas and contents that this test evaluates.

Unit 1 is focused on Grammar. Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams (2003) define grammar as part of a language which includes sounds, words and rules to combine them in order to create sentences to express meaning. It represents people’s linguistic competence and includes grammatical forms.

According to Spratt, Pulverness, Williams, University of Cambridge (2011) grammar refers to the way parts of words, words and groups of words are organized and combined in order to communicate. Grammar requires unconscious knowledge and describes language by using a wide range of forms and uses.

In addition, grammar involves grammatical forms that are the way words are presented in spoken or written language. They can be found in grammatical structures, word classes and words with affixes. First, we said that grammatical forms are present in grammatical structures because they have a specific way of organizing words. Furthermore, it is important to clarify that grammatical structures are the tenses in which sentences are written and forms refer to the parts we combine to make them.

Regarding word classes, there are nine different parts of speech which are: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, determiners, prepositions and exclamations. Finally, words with affixes that include prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes are letters which are added at the beginning of a base word. Contrary to suffixes which are added at the end.

This is a video about which summarizes the importance of grammar:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNdYhZbcGWQ

What did I learn in this unit?

In this unit, I learned about grammar, its importance in the language classroom and the aspects it involves for example, parts of speech, grammatical structures, forms and word building. Also, grammar must be taught if necessary, not as the main point of the lesson because teachers have to focus on helping students to communicate rather than using language in an isolated way.

How to apply knowledge related to Grammar in the English classroom:

2.  1. Knowledge of grammar and forms can be applying in a teaching situation to help learners to identify parts of speech that the parts we combine to make a grammatical structure. For example, to make a sentence in present, students have to write a subject (noun, pronoun) + verb + complement.

2.   2. Teachers must teach grammar using students’ context. For example, if teachers need to teach students the present simple tense by showing them some pictures about their daily routines. Teachers must teach grammar using students’ context. For example, if teachers need to teach students the present simple tense by showing them some pictures about their daily routines.

References:

English Learning Space. January 19^th, 2016.  Why is it so important to learn GRAMMAR?. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/aNdYhZbcGWQ

Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, V. (2003). An Introduction to language, 7 ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Wadsworth and Thomson Corporation.  Retrieved from: http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~pal/pdfs/pdfs/7th.pdf

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., Williams, M., & University of Cambridge. (2011). The TKT course: Modules 1,2 and 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.