Teaching grammar is a difficult task in language teaching and it is even more difficult in teaching grammar to a learner of a second language. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay There are many methods in today's scenario of teaching grammar. We find teachers using many visual aids and hands-on experiments to teach grammar. Teachers put more effort into teaching grammar than into any other part of language teaching. Grammar deals with strict rules for perfectly acquiring a language. But these strict rules are not necessary for learning a communicative language. L2 or second language learners need the language to be taught communicatively. Their need is not to master the language but to acquire basic communication skills. English as a language was taught to us right from the time of Lord Macaulay. English language and grammar are part of our school curriculum and have been taught from kindergarten onwards. Grammar teaching starts from primary level and is taught at different levels up to higher secondary level. Our students are exposed to around ten years of grammar instruction at their grade level. But most of them fail to acquire even a basic level of communication. The teaching of grammar did not allow for mastery of the language or even basic communication skills. This led us to think about many questions. Where can we go wrong? Is grammar teaching necessary in second language teaching? Why do our students shy away from learning grammar? The answer to these questions can be explained logically. Grammar is not the only way to acquire a second language and at the same time we cannot exclude grammar in language teaching. We are wrong in the method and level of providing learners with grammar. Almost all countries have changed their second language teaching model and categorized language teaching modules according to the needs of the learner. They do not teach grammar excluded from language teaching. They teach grammar alongside language teaching classes. They teach grammar in a practical way and do not threaten learners by presenting them as rules to follow. Grammar is taught to them in application with their course so that students never show reluctance to learn grammar. Grammar should be taught theoretically in the form of rules only to learners who seek mastery of a language. The basic need of a second language learner is to learn the communicative language. In the communicative competence model, the goal of learning grammar is to learn the language of which grammar is a part. Instructors therefore teach grammatical forms and structures in relation to meaning and usage for the specific communication tasks that students need to complete. Our traditional methods of teaching grammar have failed to provide the communicative purpose of a language and now the new methods provide communicative skills. We can compare the traditional model and the new model of communicative competence for teaching the English past tense: Traditional: grammar for grammar's sake Teaching the regular final form with its two variants ofpronunciation Teach the double rule for verbs that end in d (e.g., wed- married) Distribute a list of irregular verbs for students to memorize Do pattern repetition exercises for –ed Do substitution exercises for irregular verbs Skill communicative: grammar for the pleasure of communication Distribute two short stories about recent experiences or events, each to half the class Teach the regular -ed form, using as examples the verbs that appear in the texts. Teach the rules of pronunciation and doubling if these forms appear in the texts. Teach irregular verbs that appear in texts. The students read the stories and ask questions about points they do not understand. Students work in pairs in which one member has read the story. A and the other story B. The students interview one another; using information from the interview, they write or orally repeat the story they have not read. To be more clear, we can say that the traditional method of teaching grammar in schools is a prescriptive method and the new method is a descriptive method. These teachers adopted the notion of prescriptive grammar (also called traditional or academic). Grammar was taught as a discrete set of rigid rules to be memorized, practiced, and followed. At the height of the language movement, when teaching grammar in isolation became taboo, these teachers became frustrated and disconcerted by the lack of grammar teaching in the classroom. English teachers of later generations, on the other hand, joined the profession by embracing ideas. descriptive grammar (also called transformational). These teachers believed that grammar teaching should be tailored to the user's goals. Teachers found descriptive grammar theories to be more flexible, reflecting actual usage and self-expression rather than "correct" structures. Some people credit the descriptive approach with a general relaxation of rules regarding grammatical structures that were once considered unacceptable, such as split infinitives. With the widespread institution of standards and high-stakes tests, students are expected to recognize and use correct grammar. Educators can no longer afford to assume that students acquire an accurate understanding of formal language structures through reading, writing, and speaking. Furthermore, they also cannot assume that prescriptive or descriptive approaches, taken in isolation, are particularly effective. Instead, English and language arts teachers should embrace the idea that grammar teaching, like any other content area, should reflect current pedagogical approaches. Grammar instruction should be tailor-made to meet students' needs and should integrate prescriptive and descriptive practices into relevant and meaningful instruction. Good teaching practice begins with assessment and planning. Start developing your grammar teaching plan by comparing what students need to know with what they already know. Identify the standards. In this standards-driven era, school curricula can dictate what grammar skills should be taught at each grade level. If the skills are not labeled as grammar skills, use the proofreading/editing skills listed in the writing standards. These standards clearly identify what students should know and what teachers are responsible for teaching. Determine this.