ELL Classroom: A Case Study

As noted above, the classroom environment may be dictated by the institution that is responsible for providing the academic instruction. Certain institutions have a firm believe that explicit instruction is mandatory and a teacher will have to adjust their teaching style to the environment as much as practical. In other situations, the institution will allow the teacher to select their style and methods for teaching. The most important aspect of selecting a method to teach grammar, or a combination of methods, should be based on what will be most productive to the students in the classroom, the context. One size does not fit all in any learning environment and certainly not with grammar and language instructions. An adult ELL classroom …show more content…
All of these factors come into play when hiring teachers to fill the important roles at these various institutions. Teacher knowledge and experience and beliefs about language are important aspects of how grammar is taught. Many teachers are very well educated in English grammar and are able to teach grammar rules and many other teachers do not have the background to teach grammar. Less qualified teachers may be able to follow basic instruction in a teacher manual, but they do not have the pedagogical or grammatical knowledge to effectively teach grammar rules. This topic is discussed by Tutunis in a study that addresses adopting a sound approach in grammar instruction for English teachers (2012). Clearly the best teachers are those that have the knowledge, skills and passion to teach English, which would include a strong background in grammar. Depending on the context of the students and the general teaching skills of the teacher, great advancement can be made by ELL students being taught by teachers without a strong base in grammar, although the more advanced the students, the more challenging it will be for a teacher that does not understand English grammar and how to teach English grammar. While many teachers may have a strong tendency toward …show more content…
But, just as one size does not fit most people in any setting, it certainly does not fit in an ESOL environment. The most effective approach is a combination of the declarative knowledge (explicit) of grammar and the procedural knowledge (implicit) of grammar. Explicit grammar instruction creates awareness and leads to conscious learning and noticing. Implicit grammar instruction on the other hand converts input into intake similar to L1 acquisition (Tutunis, 2012, p. 122). The pendulum needs to swing sensibly and the type of instruction must be chosen based on the stakeholders involved in the learning