There is so much emphasis on grammar, however, there doesn’t seem to be much room for communication. It feels like a test. Is learning grammar really a help for communication?

　　我们在课堂上，经常过多地强调语法，没有多少进行交流的余地。这如同考试测验一样。学习语法确实对我们的交流有用吗?

　　You put your finger on it when you say ‘it feels like a test’. What you’re referring to is the old grammar-translation method. In this approach, language learning was concerned entirely with rule-giving followed by exercises (fill in the blanks, translation, etc.). This was how we learnt ancient languages like Greek and Latin, and it was considered to be the proper way to teach modern languages as well. The trouble is, we never had to speak Greek and Latin, whereas in modern language teaching we’re concerned with the four primary skills of understanding, speaking, reading and writing. Clearly, grammar exercises alone are not going to meet the needs of communication. If that is all we do in class, then you are right: it is just a constant grammar test. In the past, grammar was the master and communication (if it occurred at all) was the by-product.

　　Today, the situation has been entirely reversed. Communication is the master and grammar is the support system. This doesn’t mean that in communicative teaching grammar is unnecessary; merely that its role has been re-defined. What we do today is teach students communicative activities (conducting transactions, engaging in interaction, and so on) and then use grammar as the support system of these activities. After all, grammar is the operating system of a language: it tells us how and why things happen, so we still need it for this purpose. This means, we teach grammar after conducting communicative activities, not before or instead of conducting them.

　　The main reason we teach grammar is that we can’t avoid it. Students will always want to know how or why things happen in language. Questions about how things happen refer to form (for example, how we ask questions in English); questions about why things happen refer to use (for example, why we can’t say *I haven’t seen him since six years*). Language teaching must be communication-based, but it must also be supported by constant explanation, clarification and the opportunity to practise difficult forms: i.e. grammar. You can’t become a skilled performer of a musical instrument without practising scales, and scales are like grammar in language acquisition.

　　你说“这如同考试测验一样”，这里面确有一定的道理。你在这儿所指的是老式的语法—翻译方式。这种教学法使语言学习完全被限制在条框规则之中，然后是课后的练习(填空、翻译，等等)。我们以往学习古老的希腊语和拉丁语采取的就正是这种方法，我们在讲授现代语言时，这种方法也曾被奉为“金科玉律”。但问题在于，我们从不需要说希腊语和拉丁语，而现代语言教学却强调理解、表达、阅读、写作这四个基本技能。显然，仅仅语法练习是不可能适应交流的需要的。如果我们在课堂上只教语法，那么你就说对了：整个语言教学就像一个无休止的语法测验。过去，语法是语言课堂上的主角，而交流(假如发生的话)只是一个副产品。

　　现在情况完全不同了。交流成了语言交流式教学的主角，而语法却成了一种辅助体系。当然这并不是说在现代交流式教法中，语法已不必要：我只是说它的作用已被重新定位。我们今天所做的是教授学生交流性活动(从事交易、互相影响，等等)，只把语法当成这些活动的一种辅助工具。但语法毕竟是一种语言的操作系统：它可以告诉我们事情的来龙去脉，为此目的，它对我们还是有帮助的。这就是说，我们应把对语法的讲授安排在交流练习之后，而不是在它之前，更不是取而代之，仅仅讲授语法。

　　我们讲授语法的主要原因是因为我们不能回避它。学生总是想对语言中所发生的一些事情的来龙去脉有个了解。有关事情如何发生的问题通常指的是形式(例如：我们如何用英语提问)；有关事情为什么会发生通常指的是用法(例如：我们为什么不能把“我已经有六年未见他了”这句话说成 *I haven’t seen him since six years*)。语言教学必须以交流为本，但它必须以经常的阐释和对困难的形式进行练习(即语法练习)为辅助。就像你若不练习指法，你就不能成为一个熟练的乐师一样，不学语法也不可能获得牢固的语言知识。

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