1. Task 1: Essay task
To what extent is the teachers’ understanding of the concepts and theories of grammar helpful to
the teaching of grammar in schools? Your discussion should hinge largely on your own response,
supported with relevant literature where necessary.
Through understanding the concepts and theories of grammar, teachers can select different
strategies and approaches to be used when teaching grammar to students in school. Students need
to be exposed of creative and interesting lessons so that the learning process will be easier for the
students to comprehend as it is one way to reinforce proper grammar. Besides, teachers can adapt
or adopt materials from any resources to be used in the Teaching and Learning (T&L) process
with regards to Malaysian context. Teachers can design creatively the materials that they select
to suit the students’ level of ability and environment. Having lessons in creative and fun ways of
presentation will help teachers to have a more interactive teaching process.
By using varieties of concepts and theories, teachers can provide meaningful explanation
to students with practical as well as students’ friendly examples, as meaningful activities allow
students to use grammar in appropriate context. For instance, the lesson taught can be in terms of
student-centred whereby teachers act as facilitators, as a change from using the same traditional
procedure type of teaching grammar. This will nurture the students’ habits of thinking critically
and creatively when generating ideas during lessons.
In teaching grammar, enhancing meaningful interaction between teachers and students
can make teachers’ teaching and learning process become successful when the objectives of the
lessons are achieved, through using different concepts and theories. Nevertheless, teachers have
to have the knowledge and understanding of these concepts and theories and know which to
choose to suit the lesson of the day with regards to the conduciveness of the students’
environment and relevance to Malaysian’s schools setting. By doing so, students can generate
more ideas and allow them to obtain fundamental insight solutions to teaching problems. In

2. addition, teachers can diagnose the students’ knowledge of level of competence as well as
performance of grammar.
Besides, teachers can also identify the errors or mistakes made by the students in relation
to the selected concepts and theories through assessment and diagnostic. But most of all, teachers
can do self-evaluation to make sure they are on the right procedure of teaching grammar to
students.
Having good grasped of concepts and theories will make teachers perform successfully
during the teaching and learning process. As Sten (1983) had stated, a good language teaching
theory would meet conditions and needs of learners in the best possible ways. In other words,
understanding theory and concept allows teachers to select the tools and techniques that will
work best with specific students and learning goals, apply those principles in a coherent manner,
and adapt instructions as students’ needs change.

3. Task 2: Critical evaluation of language tasks
Select TWO language tasks from any work book. One should be designed for the teaching of
grammar as product and the other for the teaching of grammar as process. Give a brief
description of the selected language tasks. Compare and critically evaluate each task, focusing on
the relevance of each to the teaching and learning of grammar in Malaysian schools. A copy of
these language tasks should be submitted as part of your portfolio.
Teaching grammar as skill to students is to help them leap from the careful control of grammar
as product to the effective use of grammar as process. The product teaching focuses on things
learnt at the end of the learning process which is the outcomes, for example, writing letters,
compositions, notes and reports as they focus on grammatical, functional and lexical outcomes.
Whilst the process teaching, it focuses on the processes students use to complete their task, such
as collecting information, organizing ideas, drafting and revising.
In response to the tasks given, I have selected two language tasks, one product-oriented
(Refer Appendix 1) and one process-oriented (Refer Appendix 2), both designed to Year Five
students. When compared, the product activity task differs from that of the process activity task.
The product based activity requires a careful control of form for students while the process based
activity emphasises the use of language by the students. However, in introducing the topic, both
product and process must involve where teachers should first focus on the grammar used, and
then later deal with grammatical problems used.
The product-based activity is a student-centred whereby students are required to be
actively engaged during the whole process as this approach largely concerned the forms of the
written products that students compose. For the process-based, it is a teacher-centred whereby
teachers need to constrain and regulate the students’ involvement and fashioning context to
promote the activation of grammar as well as participation. So I think the product-based task is
more suitable to teaching of grammar as it promotes students grammar and diction as well as
their critical and creative thinking skills. This is further supported by Chia-Hsiu Tsao as cited

4. from http://www.ntnu.edu.tw/acad/epub/j51/j511-2.htm. Chia suggests that the product-oriented
approach is more effective than the process-oriented one in improving the students' grammar
and diction. Nevertheless, good product depends on good process.
In terms of exploitability, the product-based task is more suitable to high average students
while the process-based task is preferable to medium average students. Referring to the selected
activities, the product task needs students to fill in the blanks given for part (a) and to rewrite the
sentences for part (b), emphasizing the grammar and avoiding errors as possible. For the process
task, students need to develop ideas from the given notice through reading the notice first then
formulate the answers by completing the message and fitting their ideas into the blanks in the
framework given. But teachers should bear in mind that there are limitations to that of product-
based activity as we can never be sure of the use of grammar in real-life communication. For the
process-based activity, students are explicitly preoccupied in the procedures of language use with
teachers’ guidance, so that the students can give answers expressively and effectively.

5. Task 3: Designing a language task
This part of the assignment requires you to design a language task to teach grammar to a specific
group of learners. Select an approach of teaching of grammar that you deem appropriate and
create the relevant worksheet(s) for the task.
a) Briefly describe the language task and its objective(s)
b) Justify the selected approach in terms of its relevance to the task, and
c) Explain how the task can promote the understanding of grammar among the target learners.
a) The Language Task and Its Objectives
The language task is focused to Year Six students of average performance, whereby they have
the ability to state and share their opinions based on their previous knowledge related to the
topic. The language task focus to the theme ‘World of Knowledge’ and environmental values
will be inserted related to the students’ real-life. The task will be carried out for about thirty
minutes.
The objective of the language task is to define vocabulary used in the passage and
understand the importance of forest conservation. Besides that, students are able to enhance their
reading and writing skills as well as improve their critical and creative thinking skills and raise
their awareness about the target language.
b) The Selected Approach
The approach used in the language task is a task-based approach. In this approach, the focus of
classroom activities is on the task given by the teacher. Here, the students begin by carrying out
communicative task with guidance from the teacher. The students are brainstormed and allowing
them to use the language they want, freeing them to focus entirely regarding with the
characteristics of forest. This makes it closer to a real-life communicative situation. The students
will work in groups and in pairs according to teacher’s instructions.

6. The teacher uses hand-outs of the passage, ‘True Guardians of the Forest’, (Refer
Appendix 3) and gives instruction to students to read. Then, teacher will discuss the content of
the passage and the vocabulary as well as the terminologies, before the students are asked to
complete the worksheets 1 and 2 prepared by the teacher.
c) How the language task can Promote the Understanding of Grammar
Through using the selected approach, a teacher can promote the understandings of grammar to
the students of the target language through introducing the vocabulary and the meaning of the
words used. Throughout the process, the teacher will use appropriate grammar through
instructions, making minimal errors when dealing with the skills used which are speaking,
reading and writing skills. When the teacher gives information regarding the topic, at the same
time, the students will be engaged in content that requires them to be meaningfully involved,
requiring them to understand, notice, pay attention and react. The students are able to learn the
grammar through focusing on the form, meanings of words and the used of the structure that
have simple and friendly examples. In addition, working in groups or in pairs will further
enhance the students’ interest in participating through interaction during the process of teaching
and learning.