Practice does not Make Perfect in Learning Grammar

Grammar learning and teaching has consistently been regarded as a crucial part in the domain of second language acquisition. However, notions upon effective approach to learning grammar have never reached agreement. The cultivation of a learner's communicative competence is the ultimate goal of acquiring a language, therefore grammar learning should also be communicative and the traditional conception that grammar acquisition is just rote-learning through practicing grammatical rules ought to be questioned as well. Nevertheless, communicative grammar does not exclude grammatical rules but is instructed through such appropriate means as task-based teaching. As the medium of delivering explicit grammar knowledge, teaching material is important in learning grammar and formulaic materials are of great significance during the process. It has been identified that grammar acquisition follows certain natural orders, thus the teaching of grammar should also adhere to such developmental sequences in learners as grammar learning is an implicit cognitive process. Learner's motivation is another factor affecting grammar learning and motivational strategies can be employed in order to achieve the optimum learning outcomes.