Is It Necessary to Teach English Grammar? Teaching grammar in English classes, often sparks heated discussions and arguments, particularly when our students are new immigrants. Some educators say it is better to start with learning the language through talking with native speakers, like newborns picking up the language of their parents. Others believe that learning English grammar is important, but too difficult for newcomers. Both views have value if we have the time to teach casually through spontaneous conversation. The problem is that, even in formal conversation circles, only the leaders are native speakers. In a typical ESL class for new immigrants, we will have people coming from different parts of the world, speaking different languages. Some of them are similar to English in terms of alphabets and language structures, such as Spanish, which can easily be “transposed” to English. However, more often we will have people speaking languages beyond our reach, such as Farsi, Korean or Chinese, languages with totally different alphabets, structures and even direction of writing. Furthermore, newcomers may have totally different goals and schedules in life. For those who just want to improve their day-to-day communication in a leisurely fashion, they may not need to learn English grammar seriously. However, for those who want to join a professional organization or pass an English language test like IELTS or CELPIP to meet certain criteria (PR or collegiate prerequisites) --- taking English grammar seriously is a must. 

(Courtesy of Stephen Leung - Cooperative ESL Ministries)