An Experimental Study On Discourse-based English Grammar Teaching In Senior High School

Grammar is an important aspect of English, and it is not only a series of rules or structures, it also has close connection with context. But current grammar teaching ignores that point and treats grammar as simple rules without real situation. This phenomena causes some troubles, the most significant one is that students lose their interests in grammar learning and the ability to use grammar knowledge in real communication. On the other hand, the new exam patterns of testing grammar—Filling Blanks in Discourse replaces the traditional one—Multiple-choice questions in The National College Entrance Examination Paper reflects the new demand for grammar teaching that the proficient use of grammar should be the goal of grammar teaching. Instead of only focusing on drilling grammar knowledge, the proper blend of language form, language meaning, and its communicative function may correspond with the new trend of grammar teaching.But the traditional grammar teaching method seems have trouble in achieving these demands. It even has difficulties in improving students’ grammar competence and learning interest. Therefore, finding an effective way to change this situation is very important for the teachers of English. This study intends to conduct an experiment on discourse-based grammar teaching and try to find out whether it is an effective way to lead a better result of grammar teaching.106 students participated in the study and they come from two classes. There are 54 students in the experimental class and 52 students in the control class. The experimental class is taught English grammar with the help of discourse while the control class is taught under the traditional way. The instruments are mainly questionnaires and tests. In this study, three questions are to be answered 1). What is the current situation of grammar teaching and learning in senior high schools? 2). Can discourse- based grammar teaching improve students’ grammar competence? 3). Can discourse- based teaching improve students’ attitude toward grammar teaching and learning?The major findings are as follows: 1) In current senior high school, students can do a good job in mastering English grammar knowledge. But they are lack of interest in grammar learning and they hold a negative attitude to class activities and spend a little time on grammar learning. 2) Students who learn grammar with the help of discourse perform better in the grammar competence results. 3) Discourse-based grammar teaching has greatly kindled students’ interest and motivation in grammar learning. Some suggestions have been made for the future English grammar teaching: Teachers should have a new understanding of grammar and the goal of grammar teaching by applying discourse in the teaching process. Then, teachers have to get deep knowledge of discourse and combine it with other professional knowledge. At last, teachers should create an active learning atmosphere for students by applying discourse in English grammar teaching.