How to Prepare an Effective Pedagogic Grammar to be used in the University of Ruhuna

Abstract

A basic pedagogical grammar has been a long felt need of the students of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Ruhuna, Matara. Basically pedagogic grammar means to identify contextually important lexical items and teach them in a formal manner by focusing on the use. As a third year student recently remarked about the English education they receive at University, they are going to leave the University as the very same people who entered it three years ago. Of course, this is not the view of the entire student population of the University but it echoes the opinion of the majority with regard to their English education at university. It is true that the students are taught English for 3 hours a week. But most of these lessons are prepared on an ad hoc manner and there is hardly any rationale or coherence. Consequently, the students are unable to master their generative ability of the language. This research is an attempt to cater to this immediate need of the students. Its aim is to develop the knowledge of basic grammar which should be the foundation of language. It covers the most important areas of grammar in a simple way. A lot of exercises are given for the students to practice. Even the weakest student with a little knowledge of English can follow it without difficulty. The objective of this then would be to improve the knowledge of the students and equip them with the necessary skills enabling them to effectively use English.