Discussion On English Grammar Teaching In Middle School Base Stage

Grammar teaching (GT) has undergone a long and winding way in foreign language teaching (FLT) practice. Just as Rutherford (1987) said: GT was almost the synonym of FLT. Various GT methods have been created because of scholars' different recognitions on language, which leads to all kinds of language teaching approaches.A good many flaws have been found in English teaching practice, especially at present, though GT is always on the dominant position in our FLT. Guided by theories of communicative language teaching, teaching materials of nine-year Middle School compulsory education in operation are organized with structures-functions or functions-structures systems as the basic frame, in which grammars are arranged implicitly and spirally. Furthermore, GT become more confusing because of many educationalists' vague knowledge of FLT communicative theories.How to teach grammars well and how to deal with it in English teaching have been perplexing most of educationalists, particularly Middle School English teachers.The thesis, with theories of language learning, theories of learning foreign language, Bruner's cognitive construction theory, the characters of linguistic competence and communicative competence etc. as theoretical guidance, proves it necessary to teach grammar in Middle School base stage; analyses two tendencies in GT with their flaws probed into; expounds the nature of linguistic competence and communicative competence and their relationships with GT; points out GT will be influenced and limited by students' ages, their language levels and characters etc. Different teaching methods should be taken into use according to students' factors, teaching aims, study situations and teaching approaches.Based on the discussion, finally we draw a conclusion that knowledge learning must be melted into skills training, that is, GT should be carried out in communicative activities. We ought to avoid teaching grammar knowledge excessively without students' drills as well as practice blindly with GT neglected. Designing teaching methods by the real situations embodies that there is a teaching method with no pattern fixed.It is better that grammar knowledge can be acquired, digested and consolidated by listening, speaking, reading and writing to change the conditions of "high score with low ability" or "high ability with low score". As the proverb: cast a brick to attract jade, teaching examples have been given.In the conclusion part, we suggest that teachers should adopt a suitable method considering their students, and different approaches should be applied coordinately and alternately.