DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING GRAMMAR IN AN EFL CONTEXT

The role of grammar instruction in an ESL/EFL context has been for decades a
major issue for students and teachers alike. Researchers have debated whether
grammar should be taught in the classroom and students, for their part, have
generally looked upon grammar instruction as a necessary evil at best, and an
avoidable burden at worst. The paper reports a study undertaken to investigate
the difficulties teachers face in teaching grammar to EFL students as well as those
faced by students in learning it, in the teachers' perception. The study aimed to
find out whether there are significant differences in teachers' perceptions of
difficulties in relation to their gender, qualification, teaching experience, and the
level they teach in school, thus providing insights into their own and their
students' difficulties. Mean scores and t-test were used to interpret the data. The
main findings are reported with implications.