| This paper is an attempt to argue for the necessity and even importance of grammar teaching. The author recommends an optimal English grammar teaching method by means of communicative activities in secondary schools.The teaching of grammar has always been a central aspect of foreign language teaching (FLT) in history. Beginning in 1970s there has been a rapid shift of research and practice from grammar-translation and audiolingual methods to the exploration of communicative language teaching (CLT), and more emphasis has been put on the use of the language for communication. The Communicative Approach (CA) reveals the social function of language and the goal of FLT. It regards the development of communicative competence as the core of FLT. CA was not introduced into China until 1980s. Although the adoption of it met with considerable resistance, CA is worth exploring and has been one of the mainstreams influencing the methods of FLT of our country. Recently, it is necessary to rethink about the role of grammar teaching in the communicative framework. In the view of the author, CA does not involve neglecting the role of grammar teaching but involve integrating communicative activities into grammar teaching to acquire the good results of form and meaning, and get balance between accuracy and fluency. It is significant to apply CA to the teaching of grammar in the middle schools because grammar is an element of language, a basis of communicative competence and a tool of FLT.First, to investigate the current state of adopting CA to the teaching of grammar, a survey of the communicative teaching of grammar in secondary schools was conducted from the perspective of teachers in Jiangxi province. Data collected from the questionnaire show that when adopting CA in their class teachers still have to meet many practical problems such as large classes, grammar-based written examination, passive style of Chinese students' learning, the differences between EFL and FSL, and lack of training for teachers with CLT. In order to make grammar teaching effective teachers need carefully... |
