3638. Toward an Effective Way of Teaching a Second or Foreign Language

 Are you a teacher yourself? I mean, a second or foreign language teacher? 

I’m going to tell you something today which hopefully may help you with your lessons. Let’s see to it. 

It’s common to say that we language teachers have to have our students practice the language they’re learning and we should not confine our teaching to teaching language facts. And that’s okay. We should not confine our teaching to grammar and little else. 

Yep, that’s right. However, let us not think we cannot teach those grammar facts, like for example verbal tenses or the use of the comparative of irregular adjectives. 

Thus, if I’m teaching a bit of grammar or lexis, I don’t have to think I’m doing something wrong. Come on, as well you have to give your dear students language facts and grammar and the like, because those students do need those facts… to be able to precisely communicate in the target language. And above all if they are adults or even teens. 

They do need the language! It’s ok you would teach them about the comparative and superlative of good, bad, far, etc. 

If they learn about those points, well, they will likely be able to use those points for their communication, in class and out of class. 

Maybe you teacher can attempt to reach a balance of grammar facts and practical communication in the classroom. 

Something else: those learners will learn a lot of grammar, vocab, ways of saying things in English or whatever the language they’re learning… by reading books massively and intensively. Or graded readers. 

It’s my own experience and what some authors state, like Krashen for example. 

So let’s foster and promote reading a lot. Also Sandy Millin on the Internet says that reading books is one of the ways to learn and acquire the target language. Not only reading, of course, for there are four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and all of them should be practiced. Have a nice day.

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