Strategies for Teaching English Grammar to Students of Iraqi Universities

Abstract

The current paper aims to identify the strategies implemented by teachers for teaching grammar to Iraqi university students. This descriptive study is essential for students to make sense of the language they are learning. This skill is used for understanding language and avoiding ambiguities. It is taken for granted that grammar plays a key role in teaching a foreign language. Yet, for most students, grammar is a difficult topic. It is argued here that if teachers are familiar with the following strategies for teaching grammar, the teaching processes will be successful, beneficial, and effective. Although there is no limit to the number of strategies used for this purpose, the present paper focuses on the six most successful and widely used strategies which contribute much to the teaching processes. These successful strategies are inductive strategy versus deductive strategy. Incorporating songs, creating opportunities for students to take part in grammar lessons, presenting grammatical items and structures in contrast, and using visuals can serve as wonderful aids in teaching grammar. The study concludes with some points that can be applied for further research.