Reflective Journal #5
Students in Hong Kong continue to make grammatical mistakes in their speaking and writing despite having done a lot of grammar exercises since primary school. There are several reasons to that.
In Hong Kong, students are often asked to complete sentences using the grammar points taught. In the other words, students are simply getting practice on forming the grammar structures and are not aware of the meaning and the functions of the grammar structure that have been taught. This leads to the phenomenon of students not know how to write or speak in correct grammar.
Speaking and writing usually involves various grammatical structures. To be able to speak and write without making grammatical mistakes, students have to know when to use a particular grammatical structure. In order to know when to use what, students have to be able to differentiate one grammar item to another. Unfortunately, textbooks are often arranged in a way that one unit focuses on one or two grammar items. That means that students learn all the grammar items separately. Most students do not analyze the relationships between the grammar items, so they do not know when to use what. This causes a big problem when they speak or write.
Whether students can speak or write using correct grammar depends on their understanding of the grammar items. They have to know the meaning and the functions of each grammar item. Most importantly, they have to see the relationships between each grammar item.
In Hong Kong, students are often asked to complete sentences using the grammar points taught. In the other words, students are simply getting practice on forming the grammar structures and are not aware of the meaning and the functions of the grammar structure that have been taught. This leads to the phenomenon of students not know how to write or speak in correct grammar.
Speaking and writing usually involves various grammatical structures. To be able to speak and write without making grammatical mistakes, students have to know when to use a particular grammatical structure. In order to know when to use what, students have to be able to differentiate one grammar item to another. Unfortunately, textbooks are often arranged in a way that one unit focuses on one or two grammar items. That means that students learn all the grammar items separately. Most students do not analyze the relationships between the grammar items, so they do not know when to use what. This causes a big problem when they speak or write.
Whether students can speak or write using correct grammar depends on their understanding of the grammar items. They have to know the meaning and the functions of each grammar item. Most importantly, they have to see the relationships between each grammar item.
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