Learning grammar on the web
The best way to learn English grammar is the same way that you learned the grammar of your own language; by listening to English and reading it; by speaking it and writing it. But many learners enjoy doing grammar work and think that it helps them to learn English more quickly!
It is certainly true that doing grammar exercises like the ones on these web pages can help a little. For example, if you read and think about the explanations, they may lead you to understand better why a particular grammar form is used in a particular situation. The exercises can also be used to test yourself on what you already know (or think you do!) You need to remember, however, that some people find they are very good at doing grammar work, but make lots of mistakes when they come to write themselves. (And it is even more of a problem when they come to speak.) Others don`t do very well in grammar exercises but can write and speak accurately. So the best thing is not to spend too much time on grammar alone. You would do better to read an interesting book.
And never forget: no-one learns to speak a language without making grammar mistakes. The main thing is that you can communicate what you want to say!
From teacher to teacher
I have produced these grammar notes and testing materials for ESL students at Frankfurt International School (FIS). My day-to-day teaching is based on the theory that students learn a new language most efficiently and enjoyably when they are involved in performing various communicative tasks set in the context of a wider topic that is of interest and importance to them. For example, students might be asked to find out about one of their ancestors and talk about him or her to the rest of the class. Or, at a more advanced level, they may have to research an environmental problem and prepare a written report of their findings for publishing on the Web.
Any focus on grammar results from students discovering a gap in their ability to communicate their ideas effectively and accurately. So, students wishing to talk about the life of an ancestor will clearly need to know how to form and use the past simple tense. And students working on a written report of a scientific nature will need to have good control of the passive forms and an understanding of when the passive is to be preferred to the active. Grammar teaching at FIS, therefore, is rooted in context and arises out of a communicative need.
There are, however, many students who enjoy learning and testing themselves on grammar out of context. This may be what they are used to from from their previous learning experiences or how they expect language should be taught and learned. Others want extra practice or the chance to formalize their knowledge of the grammar they have acquired in the course of their daily exposure to English in the school. It is for such students that these pages have been produced.
The quizzes are based on the principle that learners should be required to make a choice between two or more tenses. So, for example, the pages in the first grammar block contain questions which require the student to choose between the present continuous and the present simple. Later blocks (will) have questions where the choice is much more open. (This approach reflects the findings of a 1992 survey* into self-study grammar practice, in which 89% of the participants preferred exercises which involved a choice of linguistic forms.)
Each of the grammar quiz question pages contains a direct link to a brief explanation of the use of the particular tense in the question, with further examples. The grammar of the English language cannot of course be reduced to a few hard and fast rules; it is vastly more complicated than that. The simplified explanations in this on-line textbook, however, are considered appropriate for school learners in their first year or two of English. Similarly, the examples and situations in both the notes pages and the quiz pages reflect the needs and interests of ESL students at FIS.
If you have any comments on the content of the pages or find any mistakes, please contact me at paul_shoebottom@fis.edu
* Self-study grammar practice: learners` views and preferences Fortune, A ELT Journal 46/2 1992
Auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verbs are sometimes called helping verbs because they are needed to form many of the tenses. The most used auxiliary verbs are the verbs to be, to do and to have. For example: the auxiliary to do is needed to ask questions in the present and past simple tenses. To be is needed for the present and past continuous, and all the passive forms. The auxiliary to have is used in the present and past perfect tenses. Some tenses, like the present perfect continuous, need more than one auxiliary!
