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Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Faculdade de Letras Inglês - Produção de Textos Argumentative Essay Classroom Methodology Professor Herzila Bastos Karina Helen Brugger Belo Horizonte, 28 de dezembro de 2013 Grammar Teaching is Important in the Acquisition of English as a Second Language Some people believe that hearing native speakers talking is enough to learn a second language, however, a basis is necessary in order to understand how the structures of the language are formed. Besides, native speakers commit mistakes during their speeches, which can lead non-natives speaks to make the same mistakes if they don't have the notion of what is and what is not grammatically acceptable. Many people reached the conclusion that non-native speakers who study deeply English grammar know more about its structure and rules than an average (High school student, for example) native speaker. Another argument in favor of grammar teaching is that, if a person needs a prove that he/she has proficiency in English, to travel abroad or for academic purposes, for

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Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Faculdade de Letras

Inglês - Produção de Textos

Argumentative Essay

Classroom Methodology

Professor Herzila Bastos

Karina Helen Brugger

Belo Horizonte, 28 de dezembro de 2013

Grammar Teaching is Important in the Acquisition of English as a Second Language

Some people believe that hearing native speakers talking is enough to learn a second

language, however, a basis is necessary in order to understand how the structures of the

language are formed. Besides, native speakers commit mistakes during their speeches,

which can lead non-natives speaks to make the same mistakes if they don't have the

notion of what is and what is not grammatically acceptable.

Many people reached the conclusion that non-native speakers who study deeply English

grammar know more about its structure and rules than an average (High school student,

for example) native speaker.

Another argument in favor of grammar teaching is that, if a person needs a prove that

he/she has proficiency in English, to travel abroad or for academic purposes, for

example, he/she has to take a proficiency test. This kind of test is composed manly by

"structure and written expression" questions, which requires a high level of grammar

knowledge and writing skills.

People who aren't in favor of grammar teaching may say that you can just read texts

written by English native speakers, translate them to get the main idea and "copy" the

way they write, but that would probably fail in so many levels. First of all, to translate

you need to have grammar knowledge; second, the way a text is written may vary

according to its genre, its theme, its audience... So there is not a guarantee that this

strategy is going to work. Also, without understanding how the structures are formed

and master the language, you have no freedom to develop your own way of writing.

Page 2: Argumentative Essay - Final Draft

According to a study made by Pawet Scheffler and Marcin Cinciata and described in

their article Explict grammar rules and L2 acquisition, explicit grammar rules can

contribute to SLA (second language acquisition).

Bu what is the difference between explicit and implicit grammar rules? Ellis (apud

Schedffler and Cinciata, 2010, p 13) defines that:

Implicit knowledge is intuitive, procedural, systematically variable, and

automatic and thus available for use in fluent unplanned language use.

It is not verbalizable. According to some theorists, it is only learnable

before learners reach a critical age (e.g. puberty).

Explicit knowledge is conscious, declarative, anomalous, and inconsistent

(. . .) and is only accessible through controlled processing in planned

language use. It is verbalizable, in which case it entails semi-technical or

technical metalanguage. Like any type of factual knowledge, it is potentially

learnable at any age.

Through that definition, it is possible to find another argument in favor of grammar

teaching, it is applicable to any age; which goes against the idea that people can deduce

how the structures work, until a certain age, children don't have this capacity yet.

Therefore, in order to learn a second language properly, grammar is a necessary tool.

References

SCHEFFLER, Pawet & CINCIATA, Marcin. Explicit grammar rules and L2 acquisition. ELT Journal Volume 65/1 January 2011. Oxford University Press.

ELLIS, Rod. Interpretation-Based grammar teaching. Temple University Japan. System, Vol. 21, No. 1, p 69-78. Pergamon Press, 1993