The Role of Grammar in Teaching Young Learners
Young children are wonderful in absorbing new language. They can get maximum oflanguage through games and activities that they find funny. Their success in learning foreignlanguage does not depend on their knowledge of grammar. As Pinter (2006) stated thatchildren can use grammatical structures very well, they can speak language clearly, but theyare not able to say why they use particular structure. Some children are able to deal withsimple grammar at the age of ten or eleven. Teachers, of course, should be aware of grammarand structures that they want their children to know. But they should teach just a minimum ofgrammar because masteringgrammar is to help them speak with organized sentencestructures in order to make themselves understood. If our students learn proper speakinghabits while they are young, this should help them become good communicators in the future.If teachers teach grammar, it is very important to do it in context. For children it isnecessary to have lots of opportunities and chances to use the new language in their real lives.Children have to learn new structures and rules in depth, they should feel that they can use what they have learnt for everyday communication (Phillips, 1993).