Grammar as an “Art of Lettes” in Foreign Language Teaching (A Study of Teaching English Verb Tenses in Lower and Upper Secondary Schools)

Abstract

Introduction: This paper focuses on the issue of teaching verb tenses in Slovak lower and upper secondary schools – in particular, on teaching three grammatical tenses (Present Simple, Present Continuous, and Simple Present Perfect) and the learner’s ability to use them. It also identifies the mistakes made by the learners in the research sample, causes of their mistakes, and suggests ways of eliminating these errors.

Methods: The paper presents the research data collected using quantitative (questionnaire and achievement test) and qualitative (lesson observation and semi-structured interview) methods. The data are analysed, compared, and conclusions for school practice are drawn.

Results: The main research findings show how the three tenses are taught, identify the impact of the ways they are taught on the ability of lower and upper secondary school learners to use them, and outline the errors they commit. The authors seek to explain the errors and suggest possible ways of eliminating them.

Discussion: The current study is compared to research data presented by Gadušová and Harťanská (2002), Hlava (2012) and Lojová (2016). All of them consider the practical application of grammatical functions significant in spontaneous and meaningful communication.

Limitations: Regarding the limitations of the research findings, the research sample of five interviewed teachers is too small either to make generalizations or to claim that the conducted research is fully reliable.

Conclusions: The research findings demonstrate that teaching the verb tenses in lower and upper secondary schools lacks sufficient contextualised communicative activities for practising the discussed grammar items.