Teaching grammar

By Bijoy Mohan Gosswami Instructor, Comilla P.T.I. Comilla
25 January 2005, 18:00 PM
I have a little disagreement with Khan Md. Iqbal Hossain, ( The Daily Star 21/1/2005). As English teachers we should teach basic principles of grammar to make a good foundation for learning English, both spoken and written. It is like that a young kid has to learn grammar first and foremost, and then learn language. Is it sensible? What should we do in learning mother tongue? Definitely, we do not do so. The child learns the language naturally imitating mum and dad. Therefore, should we not follow the natural way of learning a language- the sophisticated English language? "Sir, why didn't you come to teach me tomorrow? " it is a minor fault, it can be corrected without making the child knowing his/her fault, the teacher could say, "I didn't come to teach you yesterday because......." That's a very normal process of correcting and helping the child to learn a language spontaneously.

Learn language first. I think as a teacher we should not keep anything in front of them that acts as an obstacle(GRAMMAR) in his/her learning process. Child psychologists agree with that. Is it possible for the teachers to be a little friendlier with boys and girls ignoring their minor shortcomings?