I’ll be a JHS ALT this coming school year. One school for the whole week. I’m absolutelysure I’ll get asked why something is something when it comes to grammar. I’ve never needed to explain why when it comes to grammar. I do believe I need a refresher in order to explain why for grammar points.
I hope my incoherant babbling wasn’t too confusing.
14 comments
Good luck.
ESID but I’ve never been asked to explain why something is the way it is at my JHS. I think you might be overestimating their abilities.
Essential Grammar In Use by Raymond Murphy.
ESID, but if you’re going to explain English grammar to a JTE – or even better, a student – your English teaching will need to be in Japanese.
Can you speak Japanese at a level where this is even going to be an issue?
You are an ALT, that isn’t your job.
People are saying don’t expect these questions but I get these questions all the time.
If I don’t know the answer I’ll tell the JT that I’ll find out for them and then research the grammar point.
Most JT’s are very capable of understanding the explanation in English.
Obviously it’s great if you can answer without having to look it up but I don’t think many JTs will be annoyed if you have to look it up.
Kahn academy? Free and useful
You won’t be able to explain it in Japanese. If you could do that you wouldn’t be an ALT.
Being able to explain nuances and context of how the language is used without using any Japanese or technical jargon makes you a good teacher rather than a mediocre one.
I am a JHS ALT and this happened to me a lot. If you don’t know then you say “I’m not sure but I’ll find out and get back to you”. Then just go on google and find the answer and tell them that. If that doesn’t work then just say “it just sounds natural for native speakers”. Hope this advice helps.
What I did when I started at JHS is that I just went over the books at home and made mental notes of what grammar is being taught.
When a student or teacher asks a grammar question that I don’t know, I just be honest and say “I’m not entirely sure. I can check on it later.”
This lead me to googling so many things.
Don’t explain – demonstrate and give examples; let them notice the pattern; and then provide opportunities to use it in context.
If you explain “The present perfect is used for …” they will a) not understand; b) fall asleep.
Raymond Murphy, and I also recommend Michael Swan’s Practical English Grammar as well, it’s VERY thorough. There’s also a Japanese edition of it too.
A lot of people I know endorse *The Grammar Book* (various editions, but the editors always include Marianne Celce-Murcia & Diane Larsen-Freeman) if you want to be able to explain, in English, various bit of grammar or want to get it straight in your mind.
If you’re thinking of teaching it, however, there’s not a great deal of “why” in grammar until you’re going to explaining why a particular way of expressing a given idea is preferable to alternate ways.
For teacher reference, A Practical English Grammar by Martinet and Thomson or Swan’s Practical English Usage.
Murphy’s books are available in Japanese, too. Look for マーフィーのケンブリッジ英文法.
Online – https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/ Very clear explanations. A senior high student introduced me to this one.
Also, https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/beginner-to-pre-intermediate