Language Awareness is a very important element for an English teacher to know. There are many ways of teaching the language, some of which may not focus specifically on teaching grammar, but you can be sure that your students, depending on where they come from, will have questions for you to answer. Understanding how the language works is therefore a crucial part of the job. One disadvantage that the native speaker may have, is the fact that the language is not always sufficiently analysed at school. This could mean that, although you don't make mistakes with your own language, you don't have the 'labels' needed to categorise Parts of Speech or to explain why we use different Tenses. Word order is another area which differs between languages, and of course,knowing which vocabulary and grammar to use in a given situation is also important to get right.
The Non-native teacher may be in a better position from the point of 'labels'. Having learnt English as an additional language, it will likely have been taught using the necessary categories.
Try the exercises in the next few pages, and if you are not sure of the answers, do some research using the links given.
The Non-native teacher may be in a better position from the point of 'labels'. Having learnt English as an additional language, it will likely have been taught using the necessary categories.
Try the exercises in the next few pages, and if you are not sure of the answers, do some research using the links given.