Grammar Overload!

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TESL 0100
Unit 3 Reflection

 This unit was all about grammar, grammar, grammar! It was definitely a lot of information to process. One of the activities we completed was to go through Bolitho and Tomlinson's Common Areas of Difficulty from Discover English to determine what areas of the English language we might need to brush up on. It was overwhelming! I believe I have a great deal of knowledge and expertise of the English language as I have been working in the field of literacy in one way or another for close to twenty years. I do know a lot about grammar, tenses, and many of the other language features explained in the text and have taught some of them at one time or another. However, I was definitely confounded by some of the information that I read and by some of the questions presented! I can see that there are some areas I need to review and work on in order to be an effective ESL teacher. 
In an ESL class, I don't think we as teachers would ever go into as much detail and description as the material presented in this text. If the information was confusing and information overload for me, I can only imagine how an ELL would feel. I do believe that there is a time and place for grammar instruction, but it needs to be explained in simple terms and then practiced in context immediately afterward. It is not so important for ELLs to know all the names of types of words or tenses. What is most important is that they are able to use the language to communicate or to perform everyday tasks. In an ESL class, grammar is not usually a separate lesson in and of itself; it is interwoven within the context of a lesson. The only way it would be the focus of a lesson would be if it were taught in isolation in a separate class. I'm not sure if that is the class that I would want to teach. I think I would much rather teach a class that focused on integrated skills or conversation.

Reference:
Bolitho, R., & Tomlinson, B. (2005). Common Areas of Difficulty. In Discover English (pp. 7-18). Oxford: Macmillan Publishers Limited.

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