Effective teaching of English grammar by means of visual aids in grades 7-8 of primary school

Nauczanie gramatyki jest trudnym obszarem nauki języka Angielskiego, poprzez wymaganie przejrzystych przykładów i dogłębnego zrozumienia tematu przez nauczyciela. Poprzez zastosowanie niewłaściwych metod nauczania, uczeń może zostać zniechęcony do dalszej nauki. Zadaniem tej tezy jest zaprezentowanie alternatywnej metody nauczania gramatyki Angielskiej, z użyciem wspomagaczy wizualnych. Zostanie to osiągnięte zarówno poprzez dogłębną analizę obszaru nauczania gramatyki jak i poprzez zaprezentowanie materiałów dla nauczyciela. Pierwszy rozdział zawiera dogłębną analizę procesu nauczania gramatyki, charakterystykę grupy wiekowej 7-8 klasistów oraz prezentację teorii stojącej za użyciem materiałów wizualnych, wraz z instruktażem ich efektywnego użycia. Drugi rozdział zawiera materiały dla nauczyciela, składające się na trzy lekcje i aspekty gramatyki, których efektywne zaprezentowanie i utrwalenie zaprojektowane jest pod użycie wspomagaczy wizualnych.

For many years, grammar has been at the centre of learning foreign languages, usually taught alongside vocabulary and pronunciation. It is a difficult area to explain to students, as the teacher needs to have an in-depth understanding of the subject at hand and a carefully selected collection of examples for its effective presentation. Unfortunately, coursebooks often provide insufficient or unclear explanations that may prove insufficient for some students to understand and as such will contain grammar exercises without helpful visual examples. This omission results in students developing a misconception about the grammatical principles of a FL and a decrease in motivation to learn when their understanding inevitably results in a failure to complete assigned work. The aim of this thesis is to present a beneficial method of teaching English grammar in upper primary school (grades 7-8), that will employ the usage of visual aids for late primary school. It will also provide grammar presentations meant to fill in a gap found in the available teaching aids. This will be accomplished firstly, by an analysis of the process of teaching grammar to the target age group and secondly, by providing an assortment of visual-based grammar teaching materials The first chapter provides a detailed description of the process of teaching grammar. It describes and analyses the target age group of learners along with identifying their characteristics that need to be recognised for teaching to be effective. It then describes how to prepare and introduce the visual aspect into the classroom and presents its advantages and methods of its proper usage. At last it describes the benefits of using visual aids during teaching grammar, such as heightened motivation or accessibility. The second chapter contains a description of a teacher’s resource pack which contains materials that allow for presentation of grammar using visual aids alongside exercises that reinforce acquired knowledge with exercises based on the aforementioned materials.