A place for grammar?

It could be argued that grammar has no place in a young learner classroom, that it is too difficult for children or is not relevant to their learning. In this chapter, I want to open up the idea of ‘grammar’ and to explore grammar from the learners' perspective. By doing this, I hope to convince readers that grammar does indeed have a place in children's foreign language learning, and that skilful grammar teaching can be useful. Opening up what we mean by 'grammar' will remind us that it is something much more than the lists of labels and rules found in grammar books, and that grammar is closely tied into meaning and use of language, and is inter-connected with vocabulary. We will then see how some current methods of helping learners develop their grammar can be adapted for younger learners.

To start the chapter, a short conversation with a young learner will help focus on grammar and meaning. The following conversation took place between a seven year old boy and myself in Malta, where children start learning English from five, mostly nowadays as a foreign language. I was visiting his English class, where the children had been working on a dinosaur project, and he was showing me his drawing of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.