When I attended a TESOL teacher training program in Thailand last year, I was appalled by the minor importance attached to this important subject.

Here's my own defense of grammar that will hopefully shatter the idea that it's acceptable to slight this important subject.

English Grammar--The Fundamental Tool for Self-Expression

Is learning English grammar important? Absolutely. Understanding grammar will give you better communications and thinking skills, making you a better listener, speaker, reader, and writer. Understanding grammar will also allow you to develop your own unique personal style of communicating, which can lead to a rewarding career as a speaker or writer. Knowledge of grammar will enable you to communicate effectively in any situation, allowing you to form more successful and meaningful relationships with your coworkers, friends, and family. Indeed, learning grammar can improve your life and make you a better person in several ways.

Grammar and Logic
Grammar is a means of organizing words, phrases, and clauses into meaningful communication. This organization depends on logic. Understanding grammar and being able to use it well helps you to think logically. Without logic and organization, your thinking will be disorganized and so will your listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. The more you understand grammar, the more clearly, meaningfully, and freely you will be able to organize and communicate your own ideas as well as comprehend the ideas of others.

Grammar and Style
Style is the manner you use to communicate. Your style tells a lot about your views of yourself, your subject, your audience, and even your world. If you have a dry, uninteresting style, people will not take your communications seriously. On the other hand, knowledge of grammar, with its flexible and creative syntax, can be used to produce a unique personal style. With a knowledge of grammar, you can have fun with writing, to make jokes, and to create writing that is unique from that of the rest of the world’s. If you can communicate your ideas well, rest assured people will pay attention to you and even seek out what you have to say. Indeed, you can find a rewarding career as a writer or speaker if you are a master at communicating your ideas. Just ask former U.S. President Clinton, one of the most sought-after public speakers on the lecture circuit, or J.K. Rowling, the British author whose Harry Potter books have made her a household name all over the English-speaking world (not to mention Thailand).

Grammar and Personal Relationships
No matter how brilliant your insights, they will count for little if you are unable to communicate them meaningfully. Knowledge of grammar will enable you to express yourself clearly no matter what your profession. Grammar helps define who you are, and you will be more successful in your career if you are able to communicate your ideas to those around you in unique, interesting ways. You will also be able to form more meaningful friendships and intimate relationships with more interesting and stimulating people, something that requires good speaking ability. Conversation is indeed an art, and if you wish to join the ranks of the world’s great communicators, as well as reap the myriad benefits that accrue to great communicators, you must master the fundamental tool for self-expression--grammar.

How well you communicate your ideas and how well you understand the ideas of others, be they spoken or written, is governed by your understanding of grammar. Mastering this critical subject will make you a more logical thinker and allow you to understanding and appreciate all speech and writing, from the dense styles of Winston Churchill and Henry James to the simple speech of Martin Luther King and the lean writing of Ernest Hemingway. Knowledge of grammar will also give you the ability to communicate your own thoughts more freely, making for better relations with your coworkers, your friends, and your family. You are going to be listening, speaking, reading, and writing your entire life. Don’t limit yourself to being able to comprehend only simple speech or having only one or two simple ways of communicating your thoughts. Master grammar to give yourself the ability to communicate effectively in any situation and the ability to comprehend any communication you will encounter.
Yes. Learning grammar is important--absolutely. And even THAT may be an understatement.

Elephant