中学英语语法教学

中学英语语法教学

[Abstract]ThispaperanalyzesthehistoryofEnglishgrammarteaching,from16centuryto19century.EnglishgrammarteachingmethodchangedfromGrammar-TranslationMethodtoDirectMethod,andtoAudio-lingualMethod.Nowadays,teachersandstudentsareaccustomedto3Pteachingmodel.AccordingtothestatusquoofEnglishgrammarteaching,thispaperdefinestheconceptionsoflanguageandlanguagelearning;introducesthatgrammarlearningmustfollowthesecondlanguageacquisition.Throughtheanalysisoftraditionalgrammarconceptionandteachingmethods,thispaperdiscoverstheproblemofgrammarteaching.

Traditionalgrammarteachingwasjustforlearninggrammar.Teacherwasthecenterintheclass.Butnowasthedifferentstudylevelandunsuitabletextbookandinappropriateteachingmethods,Englishteachingqualityislow.Therefore,tofindsuitableteachingmethodsisthebestwaytodevelopgrammarteaching.Atthesametime,thispaperstudiesthreepopularteachingmethodsforgrammarteachinginordertosolvethe“fiverecognition,fiveunderestimate”problemofgrammarteachinginChina.Itadvocatesfosteringstudents’languageusingcompetence;grammarteachingnotonlyfocusesonformsbutalsoonmeaning.

[KeyWords]grammarteaching;communicativeability;task-basedapproach;communicativeapproach;situationalapproach.

[摘要]本文分析了英语语法教学的历史，对从16世纪到19世纪的语法教学情况作了详细的阐述。语法教学经历了从翻译法到直接法，再到视听法的发展过程。现有语法教学现状是大部分教师及学生习惯了3P教学模式，本文根据了当前的现状,对语言及语言学习的概念进行界定,提出了学习语法应该遵照第二语言习得的意识发展进行。通过分析传统观念对语法的定义以及教学的方法，发现中学英语语法教学的问题及难点。语法教学的目的是培养学生掌握语言规则和运用语言的能力。

传统语法教学单纯只是为了学而学，教师是教学活动的中心。但是现在，不同学生不一样的学习水平，不恰当的教学方法，甚至不合适的教科书，造成了英语教学质量的低下。因此，找到适合的教学方法和合适的教科书是发展语法教学最好的途径。同时本文对任务型教学法，交际法，以及情景教学法这三种现在最流行的教学法，提出适合并能解决现在语法教学问题的教学方法。倡导语法教学要注重培养学生运用语言的能力，不仅仅注重语法形式，更要讲求意义，从而提高交际能力。

[关键词]语法教学；交际能力；任务型教学法；交际法；情景教学法

1.TheHistoryofEnglishGrammarTeaching

From16thto18thcentury,EuropeanmostpopularforeignlanguageteachingmethodwascalledtheGrammar-TranslationMethod.Atthattime,inEurope,Latinistheschoolcompulsorycourse;someEnglishelementaryschoolsarecalledsimplyGrammarschool.Studentsstudyanddrillthegrammarruleintheclass.ThetranslationistheLatingrammarclass’simportantcontent.ThiskindofGrammar-TranslationMethodtakesthegrammarasacenterinthestudyforeignlanguage,itfocusesonthestudyandthememorygrammarrule.Intheclassroom,teachersexplainedgrammarinnativelanguage.Studentsdidalotoftranslationspracticetostrengthenthememory.However,theshortcomingofthisteachingmethodwasveryclear.Ithadneglectedthespokenlanguageandthelisteningtraining,student‘scommunicativeabilityispoor;itpurelypursuedtheaccuracyofthegrammar,andhadneglectedstudent‘slanguagecreationability,andcannotfullyexploitthestudents’subjectiveinitiative.

In19thcentury,theEuropeancountriesexchangedalot;theGrammar-TranslationMethodhadbeenchallenged.ThedirectmethodaroseatthatmomentandwaspromotedinEuropeandAmerica.Duringthisteachingmethod,thegrammarstilltooktheleadingposition,butitemphasizedtheactualapplication,thedifferentcontextbecomesthefactor,whichthegrammarteachingmustconsider.Thedirectmethodstartedtoexcludethenativelanguage.Thecharacteristicsofthedirectmethodwerethat,usinginductionmethodtoteachgrammarrules;payingattentiontothespeakingandlisteningpractice;choosingthetalkingmaterialasthetextbook.Itdidnotcontrastwiththenativelanguage.Thismethodcouldfostertheoralcommunicativeability,buthadrevealeditsweaknessintheabilityofreading,writing,andtheabsorptionlanguageinformation.

Inthe50‘sof20thcentury,asaresultofthestructuralisminAmericandominantposition,thereappearedAudio-lingualmethodintheUSforeignlanguageteaching.TheAmericanlinguistshaveformulatedaplantotrainskillsthatweregoodatoralspeaking.TheDirectMethoddevelopedintoAudio-lingualmethodundertheinfluenceofstructurallinguistics.TheDirectMethod’scharacteristicswerethat,tomasterthegrammarrulesthroughalotoflisteningandspeakingpractice,nottousenativelanguageandtranslationasfaraspossible.Forexample,inFries’sTeachingandLearningEnglishasaForeignLanguage,heconsideredthatthedifficultiesofforeignlanguagelearningaretheresultofdifferentlanguagestructuresystem’sconflict.

Audio-lingualMethodandotherteachingmethod,whichbasedonthetheoryofstructurallinguistics,theirteachingpointisonthesentenceconstitutionrules.Afterward,astheuseoftheelectrifiedaids,theaudio-lingualmethoddevelopedintotheAudio—VisualMethod.ThecriticismtotheDirectMethod,Audio-lingualmethodandotherteachingmethodistheirtoolimitedgrammarconceptionandabstractgrammarteachingthatdivorcedfromthereality.Thosestudentswhowereeducatedundertheseteachingmethodscannotcommunicatewithothersnaturally.ThereisanotherweaknessthattheDirectMethod,Audio-lingualmethodneglectsstudents’acknowledgedabilityandlanguagecreationability.

Otherwise,Hymesadvancedhisfamousviewabout“communicativeability”.Inhisopinion,peopleshouldhavetheabilityoflanguageandcommunication,sotheycancommunicatewithothersatanytime,anywhere,withanyone,inanyway.AdvocatedbyHymesandLabov,thesociallinguisticsflourishedinUSA.Theforeignlanguageteachersbegantorealizethatit’spositivetopracticegrammarrulesinthemeaningfulcontext;however,contextwaslimited,mechanicalpracticecannotfosterstudents’communicationflexibility.Therefore,thereappearedtheCommunicativeApproach.Ittookthecultivationofcommunicativeabilityastheirteachingaim;itemphasizedonthemeaningbutnottheaccuracyofthesentencepattern.Grammarteachingmustfollowthecommunicativeapproach;somegrammarrulesareevencompletelyneglected.

Inthelate70’s,Krashendistinguishtheconceptionbetween“acquisition“and“study“.Heproposedthatstudywastolearnlanguagerules,butitisuselesstomasterlanguage.Therefore,inKrashen’theory,grammarlostitsposition.Tilllate80’s,Krashenstartedpubliclytorejectthegrammarteaching’simportantpositionintheforeignlanguageteaching.During80’s,grammarteachinghadoncedisappearedinclass.

Nowadays,manyforeignlanguageteachersconsideredthatgrammarteachingcouldmakelanguagelearningmoreeasily.Theyemphasizeontheimportanceofthegrammarteachingintheclass.Afterthedevelopmentofteachingmethod,peopleallfocusonthegrammarawareness,theydisagreetolearngrammarrulesthroughmechanicalpractice,theirresearchstressistofindabestwaytomastergrammar.So,howtoteachgrammareffectivelyisanimportanttask.[1]p1-3

2.TheStatusQuoofEnglishGrammarTeaching

From1980’s,task–basedgrammarteachingheldtheviewofcommunication,andtookthemeaningasitstask.Althoughthelearnersayswordssmoothly,buttheyarelackofaccuracy;thelearnerscompletethetaskwithenhancement,butthelanguageusageandthepatternneedmoreactuallyexercises.Underthedevelopmentofthetask–basedgrammarteaching,thecommunicativeabilitythatincludingthegrammarabilityisdiscussedbyalllinguists.So,toexpressmeaning,completelanguagetask,peoplemustbetaughtgrammar.Thegrammarteachingcannotbegivenupatanytime,anystage,inanysituation.Theforeignlinguistsalsoconsiderthatishelpfulfortheaccuracyofpeople’sexpression.Student‘sstudyeffectmustdependonthehumanrelations-likestudyeffect.Regardinglacksofenoughsignificance,theforeignlanguagecannotonlydependontheacquisition,butalsodependuponthestudy.Thegrammarteaching’sessenceistousethelanguageknowledgetohelpstudentswiththeircommunicationinthereallife.P31

Thedutyofgrammarteachingistofosterpeople’srealcommunicativeability.ByJanewills’flexiblemodalfortasked-basedlearning,thealignmentbetweenformandmeaningapplyarealenvironmentforstudents,andcausethestudentstostudylanguageeasily,tolearnthelanguageknowledgeatsametime.Inthepre-taskperiod,theteacherintroducesthetopicandthedutytothestudents;popsoutthekeypoint,andhelpthestudentstounderstandandpreparesfortheirtask.Inthewhiletaskperiod,studentsdeveloptheirtaskinpairsoringroupsfirst,teacherisjustamonitoraroundtheclass.Theteachershouldjustencouragestudentstocommunicateinvariousways,andnottointerrupttheminordertomakestudentsfeelrelaxed.However,inthisperiod,thecommunicativetaskdoesn’tpaytoomuchattentiontothelanguageform.Inthepost-taskperiod,eachgroupmustshowthetasktheyhavefinishedtothewholeclass.Afterthepreparationforthetask,studentsmustgiveareportandhaveadiscussionabouttheirtask,andlistentoothers’representation,sotheycanhaveacomparisonwithothers’task.Inthisperiod,theteachershouldplayaroleasanassessor,hemustdotwothings,thatis,correctingmistakesandorganizingfeedback.P38Andinthepost-taskperiod,theteachercangiveexamplestotellstudentshowtolearnforeignlanguageinordertocausestudentstoreflect.Afterthesetaskperiodsofsensation,suspicion,supposition,attempt,studentscouldunderstandthelanguagepointclearly.Atthismoment,theteachercandesignsomeactivitiesinordertoconsolidatestudents’masteryoflanguageknowledge.Tothelearnerwhoisaccustomedtothetraditional3Pmodel,task-basedgrammarteachingisanattractiveandcreativemodelforthem.Thiskindofteachingmethodachievestheaimofmakingthetask-basedteachingideasandgrammarteachingintoconformity.Itaffordsstudentschancestofostercommunicativeability.

3.DefiningLanguage

Definitionoflanguagefromtheliterature

1.Languageisameansofculturaltransmission.

2.Languageiswhatpeopleusetotalkaboutthethingsthatareimportanttothem,forexample,occurrenceintheireverydaylives.

3.Languageisasetofrulesthroughwhichhumanscancreateandunderstandnovelutterances,onesthattheyhaveneverbeforearticulatedorencountered.

4.Languageisameansofinteractionbetweenandamongpeople.

5.Languageisthemeansfordoingsomething-accomplishingsomepurpose,forexample,agreeingonaplanofactionforhandlingaconflict.

6.Languageisavehicleforcommunicationmeaningandmessage.

7.Languageisamediumthroughwhichonecanlearnotherthings.P1

Thelinkbetweendefinitionoflanguageandtheoriesoflearning

Althoughthereisnotauniqueconnectionbetweenaparticularviewoflanguageandaparticulartheoryoflearning,sometheoriesoflearningfitmorenaturallywithcertaindefinitionsoflanguagethanothers.Consistentwiththoseconceptionsoflanguagewasthehabit-formationviewoflanguagelearning,inwhichitwasessencetobetheresponsibilityoftheteachertohelpstudentsovercomethehabitsofthenativelanguageandreplacethemwiththehabitsofthesecondlanguage.P3

4.ViewsonLanguageLearning

Behavioristtheory

BehavioralpsychologistSkinnerinitiatedthebehavioristtheoryoflanguagelearning.Basedonlinguists’experiments,behavioristlinguistsformulatedastimulus-responsetheoryofpsychology.Inthistheoryallcomplexformsofbehavior—motions,habits,andsuchareseenascomposedofsimplemuscularandglandularelementsthatcanbeobservedandmeasured.Theyclaimedthatemotionalreactionsarelearnedinmuchthesamewayasotherskills.Thekeypointofthetheoryofconditioningisthat“youcantrainananimaltodoanything(withreason)ifyoufollowacertainprocedurewhichhasthreemajorstages,stimulus,response,andreinforcement”(Harmer,1983:30)P5

Cognitivetheory

Thetermcognitivnismisoftenusedlooselytodescribemethodsinwhichstudentsareaskedtothinkratherthansimplyrepeat.ItseemstobelargelytheresultofNoamChomskyreactiontoSkinner’sbehavioristtheory,whichledtotherevivalofstructurallinguistics.ThekeypointofChomsky’stheoryisrelectedinhismostfamousquestion:ifalllanguageisalearnedbehavior,howcanachildproduceasentencethathasneverbeensaidbyothersbefore?P5

AccordingtoChomsky,languageisnotaformofbehavior;itisanintricaterule-basedsystemandalargepartoflanguageacquisitionisthelearningofthissystem.Thereareanumberofgrammaticalrulesinthesystemandwithknowledgeoftheserulesaninfinitenumberofsentencescanbeproduced.Alanguagelearneracquireslanguagecompetencethatenableshimtoproducelanguage.

5.TheProblemoftheGrammarTeaching

The“InertKnowledge”Problem

Astheimportantpartoftheforeignlanguageteaching,grammarteachinghastwocommonproblemsforalongtime.Oneisthatunsatisfactoryeffect.Intheclass,itseemsthattheteacherhasexplainedthegrammarrulesclearly,andstudentshasunderstoodtherulesdistinctly,andtheycandoallexercises;however,theycannotpreventfrommakingmanymistakeswhentheyaretalkingorwriting.Thisphenomenonofthatlearnerscannotmakefulluseoftheknowledgeintheclassintheirreallife,itwascalled“inertknowledge”.Moreover,theotherproblemofgrammarteachingisthat,alotofstudentsfeeldullwhentheylearngrammarrules.Pf4Fewstudentssustaintheirenthusiasmforlearningwhenthelessonfocusesonthepartsoflanguage.Indeed,whenstudentsareaskedtoshiftfromacommunicativeactivity,tosay,agrammarexercise,thereisoftenanaudibleresponseofdispleasure.

TheproblemofChina’sgrammarteaching

AfterthepublicationofTheNewStandardofEnglishLesson,peoplehavefoundthedemeritsofChina’sEnglishgrammarteaching.

AsforChinese,thegrammarteachingisinclinedto“fiverecognition,fiveunderestimate”.Itisthat,mindknowledgeteaching,underestimateskill;mindclearexplanation,underestimaterepetitivepractice;mindwrittenpractice,underestimateoralpractice;mindgrammaranalysis,underestimategrammarusage.[10]p189

Thereasonoftheproblem

InChina,students’dutyistopasstheuniversityentranceexamination.What

determinestheirdestinyisthemarkoftheirwrittenexamination.So,intheEnglishexamination,studentswholearngrammarruleswellcangetthehighmark.Therefore,foralongtime,teachersjustpayallattentiontothegrammarrulesandgrammarpattern.Lotsofteachersusetranslationmethodanddeductivemethodingrammarteaching.Butthesekindofmethodsareoftencriticizedbecause,1)Itteachesgrammarinanisolatedway;2)Littleattentionispaidtomeaning;3)Thepracticeisoftenmechanical.[11]p63Althoughthesetwokindofmethodsmayhelptoincreasestudents’confidenceinthoseexaminationswhicharewrittenwithaccuracyasthemaincriterionofsuccess,itneglectsstudents’communicativeability.Duringtheteachingprocedure,teachersconsidereachgrammarpatternasaunitanddonotfocusonwhosesentence’steaching.Itbringstheresultthatstudentshatethedullgrammarlearning.AllthesebringsomanyproblemsofChina’sEnglishgrammarteaching.[12]P95

6.TraditionalStatementsofGrammarAndItsLearningAndTeaching

Traditionalconceptionsofgrammar

(1)Grammarisanareaofknowledge:Knowledgeaboutthelanguagesystemandknowledgeofhowtousethelanguage.

(2)Whenpeoplesaysomethingisgrammatical,theymeanthatitisaccurate.

(3)Grammarhastodowithrules.“Grammarandrules”,theyoftenprovidestudentswithsecurity,somethingtoholdonto.Theyprovideusefulguidanceabouthowalanguageisstructured.

(4)Grammarisarbitrary.Speakersusetheirknowledgeofgrammarforparticularreasons.Grammaticalresourcesarelimitedandprecious.Theyaredistributedinanonarbitrarymanner.

(5)Onegoodthingaboutgrammaristhatthereisalwaysonerightanswer.Teachersknowthistobetrue,eitherintuitivelyorbecausetheyrecollectthetimeswhenastudenthasaskedifaparticularwayofsayingsomethingiscorrectandtheyhavefeltcompelledtoanswer.

(6)Grammarhastodowithwordendingsandwordorderwithinasentenceandstructures,suchaswordendingsormorphology.Grammardoeshavetodowiththesentenceandsubsentencelevels.Grammarisaboutwordorderinthesentence(syntax)andwordformationprocesses(morphology);itisalsoaboutusingthecorrectfunctionwords.[13]P13

statementsapplytothelearningofgrammar

(1)Grammarisacquirednaturally;itdoesn’thavetobetaught.

(2)Grammarstructuresareacquiredinasetorder,oneafteranother.

(3)Allaspectsofgrammararelearnedinthesameway.

statementsrelatetotheteachingofgrammar

(1)Learnerswilleventuallybringtheirperformanceintoalignmentwiththetargetlanguage;errorcorrectionorfeedbackisunnecessary.

(2)Grammar(teachingand/orlearning)isboring.

(3)Notallstudentsneedtobetaughtgrammar.Children,forinstance,donotbenefitfromformalgrammarinstruction.

7.LearningGrammar:insightfromSlAresearchandconsciousness-raisingItisamyththatgrammarcanbelearnedonitsown,thatitneednotbetaught.

Thepointofeducationistoacceleratethelanguageacquisitionprocess,notbesatisfiedwithortrytoemulatewhatlearnerscandoontheirown.

TheprocessofgrammaracquisitioningeneralbasedonSLAresearch

Overall,mostlanguageacquisitionresearchersoperateundertheassumptionthatgrammaticaldevelopmentbeginswhenlearnershavehypothesesaboutfeaturesofthetargetlanguage.Iftheresearchers’theoreticalcommitmentistoChomsky’suniversalgrammar(UG),thenthe“hypotheses”wouldbeseentoarisefromaninnateUG,consistingofasetofcoreprinciplescommontoalllanguages,andparameters,whichvaryamongtheworld’slanguages.

Inferenceisalsothecognitiveprocessusedbyresearcherastheyattempttounderstandlanguagelearners’behavior.Whensuchbehaviorincludesovergeneralizationofrules.

SLAofgrammaralwaysamatteroffiguringouttherules

Anewerapproach,calledconnectionism,alsoreliesoninductiveinferencingtomodellearners’performance,butitrejectsanaccountthatclaimsthatitisrulesthatarebeinginduced.Connectionistshavedevelopedcomputermodelsofnetworks,whichareheldtobeanalogoustotheneuralnetworksinthebrain.Thenetworksconsistofinterconnectednodes.Thenodesaretakentorepresentneurons,whichareconnectedwithoneanotherthroughsynapses.Thecomputermodelsare“trained”byreceivingmassiveamountsoftargetlanguageinput.

Patternedsequencesorlexicogrammaticalunits?

Connectionsistmodelingmaybeveryusefulinaccountingfortheacquisitionofmultiwordstringsorlexicogrammaricalpatterns.

Inotherword,grammaracquisitionmaybefirstcharacterizedasaperiodoflexicalization,inwhichlearnersuseprefabricatedsequencesorchunksoflanguage,followedbyaperiodofsyntacticization,inwhichlearnersareabletoinferacreativerule-governedsystem.

Fluctuationofstudents’languagelearning

AcommonobservationinSLAresearchisthatthelanguagethatlearnersproduce,theirinterlanguagechangesrapidly.Besidesitsvariabilityanditssystematictity,anotherstrikingfeatureoflearners’interlanguageisitsnonlinearity.Furthermore,evenwhenlearnersappeartohavemasteredaparticularaspectofthetargetlanguage,andevenwhentheysustainthesamedegreeofeffort,itisnotuncommontofindbackslidingoccurringwhennewformsareintroduced.[14]P78

8.HowToTeachGrammar

grammarteachingmethod

method

Thedeductivemethodreliesonreasoning,analyzingandcomparing.First,theteacherwritesanexampleontheboardordrawsattentiontoanexampleinthetextbook.Thenteacherexplaintheunderlyingrulesregardingtheformsandpositionsofcertainstructuralwords.Theexplanationareoftendoneinthestudents’nativelanguageandusinggrammaticalterms.Sometimes,comparisonsaremadebetweenthenativelanguageandtargetlanguageorbetweenthenewlypresentedstructureandpreviouslylearnedstructures.

method

Theinductivemethod,teacherinducesthelearnerstorealizegrammarrules

withoutanyformofexplicitexplanation.Itisbelievedthattheruleswillbecome

evidentifthestudentsaregivenenoughappropriateexamples.Forexample,inordertopresentthetwoforms“thisis”and“theseare”,theteacherwillfirstholdupabook,saying,“Thisisabook.”Hewilldothesameshowingotherobjects.Thentheteacherholdsupseveralbooksandsays,“Thesearebooks.”Afterseveralsimilarexamples,itishopedstudentswillunderstand“Theseare”isusedwithpluralformsofnouns.[15]p62

Howtosolvethe“InertKnowledge”problem

.1Introductionoftask-basedgrammarteaching

Oneapproachtoteachinglanguagethathasattractedalotofattentionoverthepasttwenty-fiveyearswastask-basedapproachforlearningandteaching.Intask-basedapproaches,thefocusofclassroomactivitiesisonthetask,andatlastonmeaning.InJaneWillis’flexiblemodelfortask-basedlearning,learnersbeginbycarryingoutacommunicativetask,withoutspecificfocusonform.Aftertheyhavedonethetask,theyreportanddiscusshowtheyaccomplishedthis,perhapslisteningtoafluentspeakerdoingthesametask.Onlyattheendisthereaspecificfocusonfeaturesoflanguageform.

Theadvantageofthetask-basedapproach,accordingtoitsadvocates,isthatduringthetaskthelearnersareallowedtousewhateverlanguagetheywant,freeingthemtofocusentirelyonthemeaningoftheirmessage.Thismakesitclosertoareal-lifecommunicativesituation.

Onedangeroftask-basedapproachesisthatfocusonmeaningcouldcomeattheexpenseoffocusonform.Learnersbecomequitefluent,buttheirutterancesarenotoftenaccurate.Inaddition,theydevelopstrategiestocompletethetasksquitequickly,cuttingcornersintheirlanguageuseandform.

Nevertheless,thetask-basedmodelisanattractiveandliberatingone,especiallyiflearnershavebeenaccustomedtoaPresentation–Practice–Productionmodel.[16]

“InertProblem”isthat,alotofstudentsfeeldullwhentheylearngrammars,fewofthemcouldsustaintheirenthusiasmforlearningwhenthelessonfocusedonthepartsoflanguage.Ifteacherusetask-basedapproachtoteachgrammar,givestudentssomeinterestingtaskandcreatefreeenvironment,studentswilllearngrammarrulesinaspecialway,andsustaintheirenthusiasmindullgrammarlearning.

WhyinChina,teachersshouldtaketask-basedgrammarteachingnow

Inordertomeetourcountry’thesneedforreformandopeningtotheoutsideworld,theundertheleadofCountry’thesBureauofEducation,newcriterionofEnglishispublished;studentsaregivennewtextbooks.Thissetoftextbookiscompliedaccordingtothestructurefunctionlaw.Itattachesimportancetothecultivationoflisteningandspeaking,andtheadvancementofwriting,sothatstudentscandeveloptheircommunicativeandself-studyability.Inthatnewsetoftextbook,languagepatterncancarrythroughtheframeofcommunicativefunction;therefore,grammarisitscenter.ToComparedwiththetraditionaltextbook,inthenewcriterionofEnglishlesson,thegrammarexplanationisconsciousandclear,theitemphasizesonthegrammar‘susageintherealcommunicativeassociation;makebaldgrammarrulesembodimentandinteresting,sothatstudentscanmastergrammarrulesinthelanguageusingpractice.Grammarteachingalwaysplaysanimportantroleinthenewtextbook,itisthemajorteachingcontextofthenewtextbook.Becauselanguagecommunicativeability.Becauselanguageabilityistheprecondition.Thecultivationofcommunicativeabilitybasesonthecultivationoflanguageability.Languageabilitymeanstheabilitytousethegrammarstructure;nolanguageability,nocommunication.[17]

Howtocarryontask-basedgrammarteachingunderthelanguagecommunicativelaw

Intask-basedlanguageteaching,theteachermustcreateanenvironmentthatisconducivetocollaborativelearning.Inthisfreeenvironment,studentsperformtheirbest,assesstheirowngrowth,andfeelthattheiropinions,ideas,andresponsescarryweight.Thisallowstheteachertoseeamoreauthenticperformanceandprovidestheteacherwithamorerealisticpictureofthestudents‘capabilities(Glazer&Brown,1993).Soitistheteacher‘sresponsibilitytoprovideanappropriatesettinginwhichtaskscanbedemonstratedeffectively.

Theestablishmentoflanguagesceneisthebestwaytoembodythecommunicationlaw.Grammarknowledgeandlanguagesituation,theclassroomrealsceneorganicallyunifiesinparticular,thegrammarruleswouldnotarbitraryandvague.Sostudentscangraspthegrammarknowledgeeasilyinarelaxedsituation,andpracticegrammaratthesametime.

Ifteacherwantstoexplain,“havesomebodydosomething.”“havesomethingdone.”“havesomebodydoingsomething.”,hemustattractstudents’attentiontothatpattern,andthengivethemsomeexamples:

(1)Thenursehasseveralpatients.(Lookafter)

(2)Theyhadthepatient(take)tothehospital.

(3)Thebosshadthem(work)alldaylong.

(4)Shehadhim(wait)atthegate.

Atlast,studentswouldmakemanymistakes,butteachershouldnotcorrecttheirmistakesfirst,hejustsays,“Attention,please!Ihavesomethingtosaytoyou.”andsaystoanotherstudents“openthedoor,please“,andthenaskthewholeclass“whatdidIaskhimtodo?”Studentswouldanswer,“Youaskedhimtoopenthedoor.”“Yes,Ihadhimopenthedoor,Ihadthedooropen.”Inthisway,studentscanunderstandhowthegrammarwasusedinarealsituation.[18]p75-76

Fromtheexampleabove,creatingalanguageenvironmentisusefulforstudents’understandingonthegrammarpattern.Itisnecessarytopresentacommunicationtasktypology,whichcanbeusedtodifferenttasksaccordingtotheircontributionstolanguagelearning.Thetypologyconsistsofseventypesoftasks,eachwithadifferentstructureofactivityandgoal.Examplesoftasks,whichhavealreadybeenusedinteachingandresearch,areprovidedforeachtasktype,togetherwithacriticaldiscussionontheireffectivenessinthesecontexts,suchas

(1)Real-worldortargettask:Acommunicativeactweachievethroughlanguageinthe