Many Spanish teachers are searching the WWW for technical (digital) ways to enhance the conversational aspect of their Spanish language students. I’ve always been a believer that you need grammar in order to learn a language (I base that on how many of my American students misuse English grammar when speaking), but there is the premise out there that we don’t need to bother ourselves with teaching grammar.
For example, on the web site http://www.studyspanish.com/tchinfo.htm, dedicated to teaching Spanish, apparently without focusing on grammar, it is stated under the title “Grammar – Be Gone!, “It is our great hope that Spanish teachers will use this web sit to completely free themselves from the burden of teaching grammar in the classroom. we believe that the teacher’s skills are far too valuable to be used explaining grammar concepts, and that the student is much better served when the teacher can focus on communicative activities. Teachers who fully incorporate this web site into their method will no longer need to use valuable class time talking about grammar.” Now it should be known that this web site is an excellent resource for Spanish teachers and students alike. But as I reviewed it, I found that it is heavily laden with; you guessed it, grammar lessons!
Grammar is a vital part of learning any language. Every student who attends American public schools is trained in English grammar beginning in kindergarten. However, the teacher is speaking English as he/she teaches the grammar. If students are never trained in grammar, their ability to communicate successfully in society would be even worse than it already is. The ability to learn to speak proficiently in any language is not achieved by abandoning the teaching of grammar but by teaching the grammar as the language is being taught. Of course, this must be done gradually using less and less of the student’s native language in class and more of the language being taught, or the students will be lost and incapable of learning the language at all.
Now my two questions for readers of this blog are: “Do you believe it possible to teach Spanish conversation without grammar?” and, “Can we Spanish teachers teach grammar while speaking Spanish as if the focus was on conversation ability no matter the subject matter, e.g. grammar?”
Yes, I know, the title of this article is incorrect. It should say, “He gave the grammar lesson to Sixto and me.” My students missed it when I showed it to them. I simply told them they needed to take out “Sixto and” and then say, “He gave the lesson to me.” Not “he gave the lesson to I”. Oh well!
