Critical Reflection

Introduction What is grammar? According to Oxford (2013), grammar is defined as the way in which words are put together to form proper sentences. It is important to write wellformed grammatical sentences if we want to create a good impression and get our meaning across effectively. In the past few weeks, I had prepared a set of teachinglearning kit for my simulated grammar teaching activity. Therefore, in this essay, I am going to reflect on the experience of developing the teaching-learning kit and carrying out the activities as well as the relation of the approaches and issues on the teaching of grammar in the primary ESL classroom to the activities. Experience of developing the teaching-learning kit Teaching-learning kit is a very important tool in a lesson. Pupils can learn better when they are motivated properly through different teaching aids (Nikky, 2010). Hence, there are many considerations needed to be taken into measures when developing teaching-learning kit. For instance, I had to ensure that the teaching materials that I had prepared matched the current curriculum specifications as well as the pedagogical principles. For my activity, I had chosen to carry out Poison Box to teach adjectives. A pupil had to draw a small piece of paper from the box when the music stopped. In those every small pieces of paper, I included different kinds of adjectives. Choices of vocabulary such as plump, square, and disappointed were suitable to the age of the Year 5 pupils from intermediate level of proficiency. Experience of carrying out the activities In carrying out the activities, I realized that teacher should ensure every lesson that is meaningful and purposeful. According to Chitravelu, Sithamparam & Teh (2005), teachers are important agents in bringing about success in English language learning. They select activities and materials that are relevant and interesting to the students. The personality, attitude and teaching styles of a teacher can increase or diminish students interest in English as well. I personally think that a good English lesson should not be always stuck to typical Malaysian classroom teaching style. In the Malaysian classroom, teachers always give homework to the pupils after teaching session which in this case, I realized that there is no sense of interest that could be aroused among the pupils. Hence,

instead of giving homework to the pupils, I had chosen to carry out a fun and meaningful activity, which was Poison Box. Passing round the box could be fun because when the song was playing, the pupils would have chance to play among themselves by placing the box on their friends hands once the music stopped. The activity was said to be meaningful because the pupils would learn to build sentence using adjectives by drawing a small piece of paper from the box, at the same enjoyed the interaction among themselves. Relation of the approaches In this simulated teaching activity, I had actually applied deductive approach in the lesson. A deductive approach starts with the presentation of a rule and is followed by examples in which the rule is applied (Teaching Grammar, 2012). Before the activity began, I explained to the pupils regarding the definition of the adjectives as well as the use of adjectives. A few examples about how to use adjectives were taught to them so that they would have the overview and concept on the topic of the lesson. Besides that, I had also applied communicative approach in the teaching activity. The communicative approach to language learning focuses on getting pupils to use language to communicate efficiently (Chitravelu, Sithamparam & Teh, 2005). To achieve this, I had put pupils into situations where during the activity is carried out, pupils had to get along by describing each other using adjectives. By doing this, their knowledge on using adjectives would improve; at the same time enhance their ability to communicate in the language. Issues on the teaching of grammar There were a number of issues faced when I was doing teaching of grammar in the simulated activity. Pupils learning English grammar often find it complicated and confusing. Harmer (1988, as cited in Chitravelu, Sithamparam & Teh, 2005) cites three reasons for this; which is mismatch between form and function, exceptions to the rule and interference of the native language. During the simulated teaching activity, I realized one of the issues faced by the pupils is the exceptions to the rule. For instance, pupils understood the concept that adjectives are used to describe nouns. However, when there were more than one adjective is used in a sentence, they would be confused which adjective to use first

instead. For example, She has a square and beautiful face. Both square and beautiful are adjectives; however the pupils would only consider the word nearest to the noun as the adjective. Another issue is lack of motivation in learning grammar by the pupils. Grammar learning requires multiple repetitions and this is boring. It also requires perception of rules which may be difficult and abstract for some young learners. Therefore, very few pupils would enjoy learning grammar during the simulated activity. As a solution for this, I used a catchy song entitled Finale for the Poison Box activity to arouse their interest which encouraged active participation of the pupils. Conclusion In conclusion, as future teachers, we should always evaluate our own teaching activity so that it will always meet the requirement of the pupils. We should also always be aware of the features of the activities that support grammar learning in order to escalate the motivation of pupils to learn grammar.

References
(2013). Retrieved from Oxford Dictionaries: http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/grammar

Approaches to teaching grammr. (2012). Retrieved from Chomikuj.pl: http://docs6.chomikuj.pl/1150267866,PL,0,0,approaches-to-teaching-grammar.doc

Chitavelu, N., Sithamparam, S., & Choon, T. S. (2005). ELT Methodology Principles and Practice. Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar.

Nikky. (2010, July 13). Teaching Aids, their needs, types and importance of teaching aids in teaching learning process. Retrieved from India Study Channel: http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/120148-Teaching-Aids-Their-NeedsTypes-Importance.aspx