How to teach English as a second language?

Tui thấy một điều rất đáng quan tâm trong fương fáp dạy TA hiện nay, đó là hình như các thầy cô quá chú trọng đến vấn đề ngữ fáp và gạt 2 kĩ năng quan trọng ko kém là nghe và nói sang một bên.
Nhớ hồi lớp 1 tui đi học TA, bài thứ hai ngay sau khi học hết bảng chữ cái là mẫu câu là I am, She is, We are... rồi các thể loại chủ ngữ, vị ngữ. Hik, công nhận hồi đấy mình cũng chịu khó vật. Hôm nào đến mặt cũng ngơ ngơ ngác ngác mà cuối cùng vẫn theo đủ 3 buổi một tuần! Nhưng mà tình hình là con em tui nó cũng đang trong tình trạng tương tự. Chả biết giúp nó như thế nào!
Dẫu biết là có ngữ fáp mới nghe nói được dưng mà rõ ràng là so với hs nhiều nước học TA như ngôn ngữ thứ hai, thì mình vẫn kém hơn (mặt bằng chung). Liệu có nên thay đổi hẳn cách giảng dạy là đối với hs tiểu học, cứ để các em í xem băng với nghe đài, đọc truyện tranh (tự hấp thụ) suốt ngày rồi sau đó lên cấp 2 mới bắt đầu dạy ngữ pháp?

Mong các bác luận bàn tiếp!

Do you think grammar is a waste of time ? Dont focused much on grammar ?
And others ? What do you think ?
According to my point of view, at the beginning stage we should focused on grammar.
If when you are at higher, we can not be grammar dependent all the time, mainly in face to face communication. What does not mean we are supposed to diregard all the grammatical aspects when aiming at establishing relations with others. I think English is not just a communication tool, but also a art work, so words are bricks and grammatical rules are as cement. But teachers can not help you much in studying vocaburlary. It is up to you.
I have an idea, if you read my posting, dont read others, thus your opinion will be more positive
Được nguyen vinh quang sửa chữa / chuyển vào 21:12 ngày 04/03/2003

I think it depends on the situation though. Some people living in the English speaking environment can speak and listen quite well, but they arent that good in reading, writing, and grammar.
In the case where we are studying in VN, maybe its for the best of us that the teachers arent teaching speaking, since I doubt that many teachers can pronounce correctly in English.
IMHO, the best way is to have a solid grasp in grammar, try doing reading and listening by yourselves. As for speaking, its best if you can learn speaking with a native speaker, or from someone that has a solid reputation. Otherwise, takes everything with a grain of salt.

This is an interesting topic. I have once taught a preparation course for taking the SAT exam, so here are a few things I've learnt from my own experience. Just imagine learning English is like building a house. First, you build the base, then the first floor, and then the second floor, etc. In a language, grammar is the base. Of course, without a base, you cannot build anything. Yet, suppose you have about a year to complete the house, then you wouldnt want to spend 10 months on the base and only 2 months for the rest. Furthermore, the base of an ordinary house and that of a large building should be very much different. What I want to say is, how much time should you spend on studying grammar really depends on the purpose of your learning and the amount of time you have. If you want to be a writer, for example, then of course, you'd better spend a lot of time on grammar. If you just want to be able to read newspapers and to communicate with others, then only a reasonable amount of time is recommended.
"The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well"

Another thing I want to point out is that, having the knowledge of something and being able to use and react in real situations are far different. I find that most of Vietnamese people are very good at reading and writing, but perform rather poorly in conversation. My personal advice would be to read newspapers and short stories, to watch a lot of TV, read and re-tell jokes. Once you can tell a joke in English flawlessly, that means your communication skill is good.
"The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well"

This is a same old topic we have discussed so many many time ...
As far as I'm concerned we'd better learn both Speaking and grammar. It's true that without grammar we cannot do anything. For example, how can you get a TOEFL or IELTS certificate to apply a school if your grammar is extremely bad, not to mention when you have to write essays at university. However, speaking also plays an significant role. It's kinda funny if you speak a lot but the listeners hardly understand anything! But the problem is that Vietnamese people seem to be shy to speak English. They're always afraid of their wrong pronunciation. But how can they improve it when they never speak? And for one thing, seldom do Vietnamese teachers pronounce exactly, so undoubtedly, we are influenced a lot. If you have a chance to speak E with native speakers, try to talk as much as possible
Some people living in the English speaking environment can speak and listen quite well, but they arent that good in reading, writing, and grammar.
I don't think so, with such good environment, their English will sooner or later improve at Speaking, Listening, reading and writing as well.


Forever trust in who you are




And nothing else matter!


Được britneybritney sửa chữa / chuyển vào 10:46 ngày 06/03/2003

Well, NVQ, you had made some mistakes, is it alright if I point them out? I don't mean anything, just wanna show you them, so you wouldn't repeat it. I'm sure what I wrote also contain loads of mistakes, I'd be grateful for your correction.
Do you think grammar is a waste of time ? Dont focused much on grammar ?

It should be "learning E is a waste of time". Grammar just cannot be a waste of time. Another one, "focused"... I'm sure this is just a typing mistake.
According to my point of view, at the beginning stage we should focused on grammar.
From my point of view is better, again "focused", ed should be left out.
If when you are at higher, we can not be grammar dependent all the time, mainly in face to face communication.
"at higher" only doesn't make sense. In my opinion, you should change it into "When you are at a higher level". And leave out IF as well. "If when" is not alright.
Grammar should be changed into grammatically as the following word is an adjective.
What does not mean we are supposed to diregard all the grammatical aspects when aiming at establishing relations with others.
I'm not sure if What is correct here. You can use either "...(comma),which does not mean..." or "......(Stop).It doesn't not mean.."
But teachers can not help you much in studying vocaburlary. It is up to you.
help sb with sth, but it's OK, nobody notices it. I'm specialized in English, so it's my habit to notice other's mistakes (But I can't see mine, shame on me )
Once again, I post this without any bad intention but the wish that you wouldn't make it again. We're all learning. Is that right?


Forever trust in who you are




And nothing else matter!

Thank you very much,
I donâ?Tt fear losing my face, iam not afraid of exposing my faults. On the contrary, I would be very grateful to you for pointing my mistakes out. I know, you did that because you want express concern .Honestly, Iam weak at talking and writing skill because iam self-educated, i dont have many experiences and, i dont specialized in english. Drawing experiences from the previous mistakes, learning from friends, listen to their advices will help me better in studying english.
Thank you again,
I would rather be a coward than brave because people hurt you when you are brave

Bác nói thế cũng có phần đúng chứ chưa chắc tất cả các Gv tiếng Anh đã như vậy. Thực ra dạy tiếng Anh là một nghệ thuật dung hoà cả các kỹ năng.
Vả chăng chương trình chưa cải cách do điều kiện chưa thể áp dụng được cách phát huy các kỹ năng nên có vấn đề đó xảy ra.
Còn bạn nói là

?
Thì bạn đã chưa rõ principles in tteaching English rồi !

I think it''s very good to teach grammar first. The problem is that next they need to pratise / apply what they have learnt.
I don''t think we should start with comics or televisions, how do you want the children to understand them ???