Teaching grammar: a comparison between Schools and University

Abstract

Teaching grammar has been a concern for teachers for the reasons that grammar is an important area in language learning and also is considered a difficult skill to handle in ESL classrooms. The objective of the study is to identify the methods of teaching English grammar at a university and two selected schools. For this purpose, fourteen teachers from two local schools and ten university teachers at the university were selected using a convenient sampling method to participate in this research. Mixed methods research design comprising a questionnaire survey and classroom observation was used to collect data. In addition to these methods, further data were also obtained from focused group discussions with teachers. The findings revealed that there are differences in the approaches adopted by teachers to teach grammar in the university and schools. The university teachers had more understanding of grammar teaching approaches, whereas the school teachers lacked that knowledge. The study also revealed that adopting the most effective method of teaching grammar to the students depends on some factors such as the topic of the grammar taught, the language proficiency of the students, and the availability of teaching resources. The study suggests that further research should be conducted with students of different language proficiency levels to investigate the impact of these two approaches to teaching grammar using an experimental research design.