Can your students use the grammar they learned for actual communication?
If they are having a hard time, it’s probably because they learned grammar first before exercising their receptive skills such as listening and reading.
「Nihongo teacher: But how will the student understand verbal and written information if they don’t learn grammar first?」
According to Second Language Acquisition studies, the process of acquiring inputs ⇒ recognizing and understanding grammar rules ⇒ producing output leads to effective learning. This process is called the Cognitive Approach.
In the same way we developed language skills growing up before learning grammar at school, we can also learn a new language more effectively by first acquiring inputs from our surroundings. Then, based on the patterns from inputs, we slowly understand what they mean and learn how to construct our own sentences.
「Nihongo teacher: Okay. So we ① facilitate listening/reading exercises first then, ② explain the grammar rules, then ③ facilitate output skills, right?」
The Cognitive Approach emphasizes letting the students recognize and understand the grammar rules on their own through the inputs provided. Our role as teachers is only to guide them to understand.
If you are used to the traditional method of teaching, don’t worry, the lessons in our official coursebook, IRODORI is structured according to the Cognitive Approach. If you follow the lesson steps, you will naturally be able to facilitate the effective learning process.
「Nihongo teacher: Sometimes, the Focus on the Form (形に注目) part is not enough for the students to fully understand the use and meaning of the grammar patterns」
IRODORI also includes Grammar Notes page in which the teacher may highlight the important points to support the students to further understand the pattern.
Link: Grammar Notes
If the students need more pattern practice for them to confidently use the pattern to communicate, the teacher can also facilitate the use of the Grammar Worksheets.
Link: Grammar Worksheets
Before using the worksheets, however, we highly recommend reading the How to Use Grammar Worksheets Page.
Link: How to Use Grammar Worksheets
Note: Please don’t forget to follow the Cognitive Approach. The Grammar Notes and Grammar Worksheets are only introduced after the students are given time to discover the grammar rules by themselves through inputs.
