A Research On The Application Of Task-based Approach To English Grammar Teaching In Senior High Schools

Grammar is not only one of the three elements of language, but also an indispensable part of language learning. However, the status of grammar learning in senior high schools is beyond optimism, and how to effectively teach grammar has been a question worth being discussed and studied. Since the last century,the theories and methods about grammar teaching have emerged in an endless stream. The traditional PPP(Presentation, Practice, and Production) teaching method has been popular in English grammar teaching in China, but this method excessively depends on the teachers’ explanations and analyses, while the students’ task is to memorize grammatical rules, and then do a lot of related grammar exercises. Although this way of grammar teaching can largely ensure that students master correct grammatical forms, it ignores the development of students’ ability to use language. In such a grammar teaching environment, grammar learning becomes boring, and if it goes on like this, it will affect students’ learning interest and their learning efficiency. How to ensure that students can improve their ability to apply the language knowledge at the time of mastering the grammar forms has become a problem paid attention to by teachers and students.In the 1980 s, the India linguist Prabhu first proposed the definition of task-based language teaching.Task-based approach regards task as the center, which pays more attention to students’ using the learned language knowledge to express themselves meaningfully and their improvement of ability to use language.This kind of teaching method well solves the shortcoming caused by the traditional teaching method’s overemphasis on linguistic forms neglecting the application of language knowledge, therefore, it is considered as an effective method in language teaching, and it is also advocated by New Curriculum Standard of China. This research is to verify the effect of task-based approach, which lasted for two months, and it aims to answer the following two questions:(1) Can the application of task-based approach to English grammar teaching be more effective in improving students’ grammatical achievement than the traditional PPP teaching method?(2) Can the task-based approach be more effective in changing students’ attitude towards English grammar learning and increasing their interest and confidence in learning English grammar?The subjects of the experiment were 124 Senior Grade One students from two parallel classes: Class17 and Class 18 in Shang Cai Middle School, Henan Province. The author chose Class 18 including 61 students as the experimental class and Class 17 including 63 students as the control class. Class 18 carriedout task-based approach, while Class 17 adopted the traditional PPP approach. The instruments involved in the study were: two tests of grammar knowledge and the questionnaire after the experiment to find whether students have made progress in grammar knowledge and increased their learning interest and confidence in grammar learning.The analyses of the results of the experiment proved that the task-based grammar teaching was more effective than traditional PPP approach in grammar teaching, and it could promote students’ grammatical achievement, and enhance their interest and confidence in grammar learning.