The Efficacy of Pair Interaction in Teaching Communicative English Grammar

Grammar learning for proficiency has been debated by the language acquisition and linguists proponents. The study aimed at finding out the best grammar teaching strategies for proficiency to be used in actual communication. The study used a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design that involved 120 students of English Department of four different private universities in Makassar which were selected randomly from the same year intake. The data were collected through proficiency test which covered the aspects of grammar, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Multivariate analysis was used to examine the proficiency differences among students who learned grammar through pair interaction and those learned through small groups interaction in five areas of proficiency. The data analysis results and interpretation showed that students who learned grammar through pair interaction activities outperformed their peers in small groups interaction to a large extent in all areas of language proficiency. Pair-Interaction activities can be used extensively for low proficiency students in tertiary education as it provides more opportunities for students to practice accross the scheduled communicative grammar activities