Grammar is partly the study of what forms or structures are possible in a language.

Traditionally,
grammar has been concerned almost exclusively with the analysis at the level of the sentence.
Thus a grammar is a description of the rules that govern how a language's sentences are formed.
Traditionally, grammar teaching is viewed as the presentation and practice of discrete
grammatical structures. Why is this overly narrow definition? Grammar teaching can :
(1) Consist of presentation without practice and reversely;
(2) Involve learners in discovering grammatical rules for themselves – neither
presentation nor practice –
(3) be conducted simply by exposing learners to input contrived to provide multiple
exemplars of the target structure.
(4) Be conducted by means of corrective feedback on learner errors when these arise in
the context of performing some communicative task.
Grammar teaching involves any instructional technique that draws learners’ attention to
some specific grammatical form in such a way that it helps them either to understand it
metalinguistically and/or process it in comprehension and/or production so that they can
internalize it.
Should we teach grammar?
(Or should we simply create the conditions by which learners learn naturally?)
Early research into L2 acquisition showed: that learners appear to follow a natural order and
sequence of acquisition (i.e., they mastered different grammatical structures in a relatively
fixed and universal order and they passed through a sequence of stages of acquisition on route
to mastering each grammatical structure)
Communicative ability is dependent on acquisition
However, instructed learners generally achieved higher levels of grammatical
competence and more rapidly than naturalistic learners but instruction was no guarantee that
learners would acquire what they had been taught.
Teaching grammar is beneficial but that to be effective, grammar had to be taught in a
way that was compatible with the natural processes of acquisition.
Many studies measure learning in terms of constrained constructed responses (e.g., fill in
the blanks, sentence joining, or sentence transformation), which can be expected to favour
grammar teaching. There is only mixed evidence that instruction results in learning when it is
measured by means of free constructed responses (e.g., communicative tasks).
Grammar teaching can contribute to interlanguage development.
What grammar should we teach?
In general, syllabus designers and teachers have not found such models useful and have
preferred to rely on modern descriptive grammars, such as Celce-Murcia and Larsen-
Freeman’s (1999) Grammar Book. This resource is especially valuable because it not only
provides a comprehensive, clear, and pedagogically exploitable description of English grammar
but also identifies the kinds of errors that L2 learners are known to make with different
grammatical structures.
As Van Patten, Williams, and Rotti (2004) emphasise, establishing connections between
form and meaning is a fundamental aspect of language acquisition. Thus, any reference
grammar that fails to describe the form-meaning connections of the target language must
necessarily be inadequate.
Which grammatical structures should we teach?
Two opposed opinions:
On the One pole: Krashen (1982) advocates for simple rules like the 3rd person –s or past
form –ed; complicated rules being not learnable or beyond students’ ability to apply through
monitoring. However, this position is not warranted.
On the other pole: teach the whole of the grammar of the target language.ii Nevertheless,
most teaching contexts have limited time for teaching grammar, so some selection is needed. The
selection should be based on the inherent learning difficulty of different grammatical structures
but how can these difficulties be determined? – (a) understanding a grammatical feature or (b)
internalizing a grammatical structure so as to be able to use it accurately in communication.
Ellis suggests two approaches to delineate cognitive difficulties:
1. Teach those forms that differ from the learners’ first language (L1): a contrastive
analysis approach. Focus is on known common learner errors.
2. Teach marked rather than unmarked formsiii. The general idea is that we should teach
the marked features and leave the students to learn the unmarked forms naturally by themselves.
When should we teach grammar?
Two competing answers to this question:
 Emphasize the teaching of grammar in the early stages of SLA.
“error like sin needs to be avoided at all costs” (Brooks, 1960; behaviourist theory). This
premise holds that once learners have formed incorrect habits, they will have difficulty
eradicating them and replacing them with correct habits. Thus, it is necessary to ensure that
learners develop correct habits in the first place.
Many teachers believe that beginning-level learners cannot engage in meaning-centred
activities because they lack the necessary knowledge of the L2 to perform tasks. Thus, a
form-focused approach is needed initially to construct a basis of knowledge that learners can
then use and extend in a meaning-focused approach.

II. Teaching pronunciation in primary schools

Knowing a foreign language, means, in the future a better capacity for communication,
a better accesses to documents and a better understanding of cultural diversity and tolerance.
Because of the importance of being able to express oneself in English due to the
context of cultural changes in today's society it is mandatory for children to start learning English
at an early age as possible in order to be able to communicate in this language when the situation
requires it.
When it comes to learning a foreign language most specialists agree that students have
a great availability for linguistic acquisitions and because of that communication skills and
proper speaking are easier to form at a young age.
By learning the English language, children will acquire new ways of thinking and
understanding the world around them and also improve their cognitive abilities. Through the
contact with the English language, children will be able to understand the people outside their
own culture.
 Teaching pronunciation in primary school is, in my opinion, of paramount importance.
Why? Because the younger they are the easier is for them to learn a foreign language, especially
its pronunciation.
It is a known fact that children are better learners the younger they are. Pronunciation is
important because:
 it is learnt by imitation but this capacity decreases with age. The introduction of the
English language in primary schools starting at the age of six, has happened because the
abilities of learning another language are greater the younger the children are.
 students must understand spoken English and to be able to make themselves understood
by others;
 learning a new language cannot be done in a single year of study, but young students
can learn how a new language sounds, to articulate sounds, to learn the basic elements
of communication;
At this young age all didactic activities in which children take part are based
on games. With the help of games teachers can transmit knowledge by asking them to draw,
analyze images or video sequences, repeating songs/poems etc.
The investment in early education is the most profitable investment one can make when it
comes to education. A study was done by R. Cuhna (an Economy Noble prize winner) which
showed that by starting to learn as soon as possible, your abilities and skills will favor the
development of others later on and that knowledge gaps will later on only grow.
But, when it comes to developing skills starting from ages 5-6 it can prove to be a
challenge for both teacher and students.
Preparatory students, because of their young age, often have the tendency to get
involved in play activities. Given this factor, it is very important when it comes to teaching, not
only the English language, for the teacher to teach with the help of game like activities which
are meant to arouse interest and capture their attention. The most often activities include:
drawing, looking at pictures, commenting on audio and video clips (What did you understand?
Did you hear...? etc.), repeating song and poems etc.
 But, because they are so young, the students in the preparatory class soon become
bored with an activity, shortly after it has started, no matter how attracted and involved they
were at first. This is the main challenge a teacher, teaching preparatory classes, has to deal with.
Another issue is the fact that the volume of knowledge that needs to be taught is quite
considerable and the amount of time a teacher has at his disposable is not enough.
The third problem is the fact that at this class students' don receive course books, so the
teacher has to provide all the material needed. Without it, the activities simply cannot be done.
This puts a lot of stress on the teacher because finding the appropriate material can be
quite daunting. Yes, there are a lot of materials available on the internet but finding the right one
can, sometimes prove to be impossible (it has to be accordingly to the Romanian syllabus, age
appropriate, lesson appropriate, theme appropriate, vocabulary appropriate etc.)
The fourth problem is the lack of resources. In most schools, teachers do not have
access to internet (most classes do not have computers or internet. In my school for example,
only the preparatory class has a computer and internet access, and this has been done very
recently) computers or laptops, interactive boards, multimedia rooms, projectors, dictionaries,
story books with pictures, of course, charts, sketches etc. Because of this, most Romanian
teachers have to buy the necessary material out of their own pockets. Without this material,
lessons simply cannot be done.
So, supposing that all the necessary materials and resources are available. This does
not guarantee a successful lesson. Like it was mentioned before, children get bored and
maintaining their interest and involvement in the activities is quite difficult. In order to avoid this
the teacher must take into consideration this very important factor, and plan the activities to be
done in short amounts of time (5-15 minutes, no more) and plan various types of activities, not
just one type. The result of this is the fact that, at the end of a lesson, the information transmitted
and the knowledge acquired may count less than the task of keeping the students interested.
The fifth problem, too many students in one class (there can be as many as 30 students
in one class. In my case, I consider myself lucky because I only have 11 students in preparatory
class.) A high number can add to the difficulties of the education process because the students,
unaccustomed, to the way lessons are done in the primary level, need permanent guidance. The
teacher must make sure that all students understand what it is required from them.
 In conclusion, there are a lot of difficulties and challenges a teacher encounters, that are
in close connection with the age of the students and their particularities. In order to avoid these
problems, and be able to transmit all the information need it for a successful lesson, the English
teacher must take into account the age particularities and construct his lesson accordingly, by
providing various types of activities in a lesson, interesting material, helping when it is need it
and by not forgetting that, at this age playing is important.
Starting with the year 2013 the syllabus states that a foreign language (English in most
cases) must be studied starting with the preparatory class, one hour a week during preparatory
class, first and second class and two hours a week during third and fourth class.
The Romanian syllabus suggests, for primary classes (preparatory class, first and second
grade) that the teacher must take into account the age of his students and teach them accordingly.
This should be done by nonverbal language to illustrate concepts, even if it is only about object
names or various actions or if it is about communicating language functions or acts of speech. To
be more precise, if the teacher, when speaking, mimics the action of standing up or standing
down, for example, it will be much easier for the students to understand and relate.

Based on the syllabus new workbooks have been developed but only for first, second,
third and fourth grade. As for the preparatory class they have to purchase their workbooks and
the English teacher has to provide all the material that will be studied during classes.
Another new feature is the presence of CDs at the end of all English workbooks,
although they are pretty much useless, because if you do not have internet access you cannot use
them (they only provide a link). Even with this major drawback they do provide authentic audio
material.
So, why this age? The answer is that because ontogenetic development recommends
the youngest school age as being the proper age for learning your own language and skills and a
foreign language as well. Starting to learn a foreign language from primary school has as a main
target the development of reception and oral communication of the language but also the forming
of communication competencies. Regardless of the methods and procedures used during
preparatory class and first class, learning a foreign language is mainly done through songs,
games, listening and drilling.
 The first stage is listening. This is done in order for the students to become accustomed
to intonation, accent and the specific sound of the foreign language.
Listening is the main way we start learning a language, we can say it is the foundation
of learning a foreign language. In this case listening exercises are recommended. These can
contain: matching the word with the picture, reacting to certain commands: stand up!, sit down!,
clap your hands! etc, learning to listen for specific information etc.
At this young age the practical-intuitive thinking predominates, and because of that
when teaching new notions/vocabulary images must be used. The importance of listening cannot
be overstated . It is quite unlikely that the students will acquire new vocabulary and expressions
only through listening exercises done once a week.
In order to develop speaking, the practice of it is mandatory. This can be done with the
help of expanding the students' vocabulary and by putting them in situations that require
speaking. The student must pronounce the sounds he hears, then the words and finally sentences
and phrases.
Playing with language is a natural thing to do at this age, even if it means talking
nonsense (e.g. Andy, Pandy, sugar candy) and it is very efficient for practicing pronunciation.
During preparatory class, students get accustomed to hearing how "the English
language sounds".
The syllabus recommends the following general and specific competences :
1. Understanding simple oral messages.
1.1. Provide an adequate reaction to greetings and short, simple questions/instructions articulated
clearly and very slowly by the interlocutor and accompanied by gestures.
1.2. Recognize names of objects from their immediate universe in short messages, articulated
clearly and slowly.
1.3. Manifest curiosity towards understanding the global meaning of children's films and songs
in English.
2. Speak in common communication situations.
2.1. Reproduce simple information/short songs/poems with the teacher's help.
2.2. Provide basic punctual information about themselves (name, age, gender), about their
immediate universe, with the help from the interlocutor.
2.3. Take part in communication games by reproducing or creating short chants/messages.
3. Understanding simple written messages.
3.1. Manifest curiosity towards decoding short written messages related to their own universe.
4. Write short simple messages in common communication situations.
4.1. Take part in group/class projects by producing short written messages with support from the
teacher.?!?
For acquiring and improving their vocabulary the syllabus recommends: greetings,
classroom objects, family members, body parts, numbers 1-10, colors, toys, rooms in a house,
furniture, wild and domestic animals etc.
Activities and methods used to acquire new skills:
 role playing;
 group or pair playing
 short dialogues
 moving games based on short commands/expressions
 image lecture: poems, stories, clips, songs
 theme worksheets/symbolic games
 interpretation activities
 practical activities: drawings, the usage of non-verbal language, portfolio
 drilling
 singing theme based short songs