STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF GRAMMAR TEACHING IN EFL

Abstract

Teaching grammar has always been a crucial part of language acquisition, although it has often been the subject of controversy in the field of applied linguistics and methodics. Many studies have dealt with various factors that influence the process of learning and teaching foreign language. In recent years a light has been shed on a new factor which has not been investigated before – the perceptions of students– population of grammar teaching and foreign language teaching in general. Our study was conducted on a group of students (n12) at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade. The interviews were performed with 2 groups of 6 students and the data have been taped and transcribed. The analyses of the findings revealed that students– perceptions of grammar teaching and learning varied to a great extent. Their different perspectives were based on their educational background, previous language learning experiences, academic needs and professional aims. Most of them agreed that grammar was essential in learning English and almost everyone pointed out the significance of error correction. This sort of information can be valuable to teachers in terms of getting to know better their sudents– needs and avoiding any possible conflicts regarding whether or not grammar teaching is essential in the classroom.