Teaching Grammar

Dragica ugi

Teaching Grammar
Issues for discussion
1. The role of grammar in ELT
2. Grammar presentation methods
3. Grammar practice

What is grammar?

Grammar is:
A set of rules
Painful but necessary
Something which helps us to make correct
sentences
A meaning system

The role of grammar in ELT

The value of grammar in foreign language

teaching has been a focus of debate for
decades and no conclusion is in sight.

The role of grammar in ELT

The answer to whether grammar should be
taught and to what extent grammar should
be taught depends on some variables in the
language teaching/learning context, such as
learner variables and instructional
variables.

It is generally believed that

Grammar teaching is less important for

children than for adults;

Grammar teaching is less important in

listening and reading than in writing.

 Grammar teaching can be seen in

most formal classroom language
teaching.

Grammar teaching

Grammar presentation methods

The deductive method and
The inductive method

The deductive method

The deductive method relies on reasoning,
analysing and comparing.
Presentation of an example
explanation (comparison may be done
between the target language and the native
language)
Sss practice (producing sentences) with given
prompts

The deductive method is criticized

because:
Grammar is taught in an isolated way;
Little attention is paid to meaning;
The practice is often mechanical.

However, the deductive method is not without

merits.
It could be very successful with selected and
motivated students.
It could save time when students are
confronted with a grammar rule which is
complex but which has to be learned.

 It may help to increase students confidence

in those examinations which are written with
accuracy as the main criterion of success.

The inductive method

In the inductive method, the teacher induces
the learners to realise grammar rules
without any form of explicit explanation.

It is believed that the rules will become

evident if the students are given enough
appropriate examples.

The inductive method

It is believed that the inductive method is
more effective because students discover
the grammar rules themselves while
engaged in language use.

 In practice, the distinction between

the deductive method and the
inductive method is not always
apparent.

Grammar practice
According to Penny Ur, practice may be
defined as any kind of engaging with the
language on the part of the learner, usually
under the teacher supervision, whose
primary objective is to consolidate learning.
(Ur, 1988:11)

Ur (1988:41) predicts that the following 6

factors contribute to successful practice:
Pre-learning. Learners benefit from clear
perception and short-term memory of the
new language.
Volume and repetition. The more exposure
to or production of language the learners
have, the more likely they are to learn.

Success-orientation. Practice is most

effective when based on successful practice.
Heterogeneity. Practice should be able to
elicit different sentences and generate
different levels of answers from different
learners.

Teacher assistance: The teacher should

provide suggestions, hints and prompts.
Interest: an essential feature that is closely
related to concentration

Two categories of practice:

Mechanical practice and
meaningful practice

Mechanical practice
Mechanical practice involves activities
that are aimed at form accuracy.
e.g.
Substitution and
Transformation drills:

Substitute the underlined part with the proper

forms of the given words:
tall trees
clean house
pretty garden
nice flowers
Mrs Green has the largest house in town.

Substitution drills:
Teacher: He is going to drive a car.
Ss: He is going to drive a car.
Teacher: bus/taxi
Ss: He is going to drive a bus/taxi.
Teacher: They are going to eat the cake.
Ss: They are going to eat the cake.
Teacher: coffee
Ss: They are going to drink the coffee. (Mary, wine,
etc.)

Change the following sentences into the past

tense. Use the adverbs given in the brackets.
Now he lives in London. (last year, Paris)
We have English and maths today.
(yesterday, music and P. E.)
He usually gets up at seven.
(this morning, eight)

STRUCTURE DRILLS:
A: I live in Manchester.
B: Where does your brother live? (stress on brother)
Make questions using how, where, when, how much, how many, what...

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

I live in Oxford Street.

I smoke twenty cigarettes a day.
I have toast and coffee for breakfast.
I read detective stories.
I go to York for my holidays.
I drive a BMW.
I employ twenty men.

Meaningful practice
In meaningful practice the focus is on the
production, comprehension or exchange
of meaning, though the students keep an
eye on the way newly learned structures
are used in the process.
e.g. After the presentation and mechanical
practice of adjective comparatives and
superlatives:

Pair work:
Look at the table below. Rank the items on the
left column according to the criteria listed
on the top.
Cheap

Beer
Water
Fruit
Cigarettes

Alcohol
Milk

Healthy

Tasty

Fattening

Important

The students may come up with:

I think beer is cheaper than fruit.
No, no, I think fruit is cheaper than
beer.

There is no clear-cut distinction

between mechanical practice and
meaningful practice.
e.g.

Chain of events
Teacher: Now lets play a game. The first
student starts a sentence with a second
conditional clause. The next student takes
the result of the sentence, reforms it into
another condition and suggests a further
result.
For example, the first student says If I had
a million dollars, I would buy a yacht. The
second students says If I bought a yacht, I
would go for a sail.

The students may come up with:

If I went for a sail, there might be a
storm.
If there were a storm, my yacht would
sink.
If my yacht sank, I would die.
If I died, my parents would cry.

Using prompts for practice

Practice based on prompts is usually meaningful
practice.
Using picture prompts.
Using mime or gestures as prompts.
Using information sheet as prompts.
Using key phrase or key words as prompts.
Using chained phrases for story telling.
Using created situations.

Using information sheet as prompts

Names

Favourite
subjects

Favourite
sports

Favourite
food

Hobbies

Lily

Maths

basketball

pork

music

Susan

Chinese

Ping-pong

eggs

reading

David

English

football

ice-cream

collecting
stamps

Teacher: What about you? Tell your neighbour.

Using created situations: for

simulative communication
Your are a stranger in this town. You want
to buy some fruit, you want to post a letter,
and you also want to see a movie at night.
Ask about the places.

 There was a robbery yesterday in the

neighbourhood. A policeman is asking
some questions to three of the neighbours,
A, B, and C.
A: at work; came back at 6:30 p.m.; did not
see anybody.
B: a student; came back at 4:30 p.m.; saw a
young man going upstairs
C: an old man; stayed at home; heard some
strange noise at 5:00 p.m.; came out to find
a tall young man

Clarification&Presentation
Three general categories:
1. Explanation (teacher tells the learner)
2. Guided discovery
(teacher helps the learner to tell himself)
3. Self-directed discovery
(the learner tells himself)

Clarification&Presentation
60 minute-class

1. Lead-in (5)
2. Presentation (15)
3. Practice (40) a language teacher`s job is
primarily to push, encourage, help learners to try
using the language themselves.

Summary
The understanding of how to teach grammar is as
controversial as that of the value of teaching
grammar.

We believe that both mechanical practice and

meaningful practice are necessary.

Some suggestions about teaching

grammar

Teach only those rules that are simple and typical.

Teach useful and important grammar points.

Teach grammar in context.

Use visible instruments such as charts, tables,

diagrams, maps, drawings to aid understanding.

Some suggestions about teaching

grammar

Avoid difficult grammatical terminologies as

much as possible.

Allow enough opportunities for practice.

Live with the students mistakes and errors.

EXPLAIN grammar forms

Be brief and keep
it short
Be organized
Be repetitive
Be accurate
42

In sum
Even though English
grammar is painfully
difficult
You can make it fun!

43

A task for you

Suppose you have just presented the
simple past tense to a group of junior
students (7th grade). Design a
meaningful practice activity.

Thank you!