Pixel International Conferences

Owing to the developmental characteristics of young learners, it is neither appropriate nor effective to focus in their EFL lessons on the formal teaching of grammar. However, it is widely recognized that teachers can greatly contribute to the children’s understanding of grammar by incorporating form-focused activities in fitting contexts. Such activities enable pupils to acquire basic sentence patterns. Moreover, they draw their attention to the correct forms while engaging them in meaningful communicative situations. This paper first briefly outlines various issues and concerns related to grammar teaching and discusses them in terms of their relevance in the young learners’ classroom. Then, it analyses instructional activities used by two primary English teachers to raise their pupils’ consciousness of specific grammatical structures by including form-focused activities. It examines how these teachers support their pupils’ grammar awareness, how they assist them in noticing and practising language patterns, and how they respond to the learners’ mistakes.

Keywords: grammar awareness, young EFL learners, form-focused activities;

Keywords:
[1] Brewster, J.,et al. (2002). The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
[2] Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[3] Dvořáková, K. (2013). Gramatika v primární jazykové třídě. In: Metodický poradník učitele cizího jazyka. Ústí nad Labem: Univerzita J. E. Purkyně.
[4] Michell, Michael & Sharpe, Tina. (2005). Instructional scaffolding in English as a second language classrooms. Prospect. 20. 31-58.
[5] Oliveira, L.C. & Schleppegrell, M.J. (2015). Focus on Grammar and Meaning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[6] Pinter, A. (2006). Teaching Young Language Learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[7] Thornbury, S. (1999). How to Teach Grammar. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
[8] Thornbury, S. (2001). Uncovering Grammar. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann English Language Teaching.