Gestalt learning theory and teaching grammar in Tamil

 

When I was learning art at HACC, I came to know about the gestalt theory. I thought it was an art principle, but knowing the same as cognitive capacity of the brain makes a difference for my teaching techniques in Tamil. Though Tamil grammar rules are 2000 years old, they are living breathing rules of the language today, but they were taught as a strict rules that one needs to follow. These grammar rules were taught in a sequence. Though they were right behind the lessons in the text books there was no co-relation between the lesson and the grammar instruction that followed the lesson.

So as a student I felt very lost learning those rules and memorizing them, let alone applying them in real life writing. This problem continues even today. I know I am good writer but my grammatical errors turns my thoughts in to poor writing.

Undertaking the cognitive theory and gestalt theory as a learning theory inspired me to look at Tamil grammar in a new light.

The Transposition experiments of the chicken and the idea that humans are predisposed to structure their experiences in predictable way gave me an idea to look at grammar learning in a new way.

 I am going to base my learning on law of similarity and the law of pragnanz. Learning the grammar rules by using similarity, I can make the connection between the rules and its application

 Associating similar words to a rule will give me much more understanding. Learning the rules as a part of word which is a whole will also help me remember to apply the rules in my writing.

I am going to present my case in the other activity.