Grammatical Knowledge and Grammatical Competence Among English and Non-English Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

Grammatical competence is defined as the linguistic ability required for the precise production of language in a certain context. This study aims to investigate the grammatical knowledge and competency of pre-service teachers, specifically at colleges affiliated to Tamilnadu Teachers Education University. In India, English is considered a second language, and in many instances, pupils exhibit deficiencies in grammar despite several years of study. In this regard, it is essential to comprehend the nature of the pre-service teacher’s grammatical competency and knowledge. This research has been undertaken for this goal. A survey was administered to students in their first and third semesters across several pedagogy subjects for fact-finding purposes. This study revealed that the grammar components like subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, parts of speech and adjective-adverb agreement are positively correlated with grammar competency of pre-service teachers. And also, the grammar knowledge is play a crucial role for the grammatical competency of pre-service teachers.