Teaching Grammar Over History

Starting from the grammar translation method, grammar

used to be taught deductively on the basis of grammar
rules and examples, students memorize the rules, then
apply them to other examples. Moving to the direct
method, the role of grammar is minimized, vocabulary
and communication become more prominent, grammar
rules are learned inductively-by generalizing from
examples. In the Audio-Lingual method, over learning
and habit formation are emphasized in order to
communicate successfully. In the communicative
approach of language teaching, functions are
emphasized over forms where the main concern is to
become communicatively competent, able to use the
language appropriate for a given social context.

Teaching Grammar Inductively vs.

Deductively

Teaching grammar can be an inductive

experience for students. This means students are
given the context and then are presented with the
grammar rules afterwards. Some learners learn better
this way while others need the rule in order to
understand the rationale for the new grammatical
structure.
Teaching grammar inductively has favorable
implications for communicative competence, which
involves a selection of the right grammatical terms to
that of the appropriate setting. Learners need to also
know how to use language in context:
When ,where and to whom to use these grammatically
correct sentences. An example could be :

How to begin a conversation

.How to address people in different situations
How to respond to different speech acts
involving requests, invitations ,compliments,
.and apologies
Whatever method for teaching grammar you
ultimately choose ,each method provides a
'recipe' for various practical classroom ideas
and procedures. Obviously a good method
that stems from a good theory can produce a
number of ideas.

Induction is the opposite of deduction .Deduction

is learning a general rule and then making
specific applications .For example ,you can give
your child a list of auxiliaries and tell him that
be ,have and do can also be used as main verbs:
then he can underline all the auxiliaries in an
exercise. Induction is examining specifics and
creating a general rule .Teaching inductively ,you
would give for students several example
sentences with verbs and auxiliaries and let them
generate a list of auxiliaries. Using this list, he
would then determine which of these auxiliaries
could also be used as main verbs. Through
induction, he will discover concepts himself or
least be curious and eager to learn more.

Declarative and Procedural

Knowledge
Language teachers and language learners are
often frustrated by the disconnect between
knowing the rules of grammar and being able to
apply those rules automatically in the four skills.
This disconnect reflects the separation between
declarative knowledge and procedural
.knowledge
:Declarative knowledge
Knowledge about something, It enables students
to describe a rule of grammar and apply it in
.pattern practice drills

:Procedural Knowledge
Is knowledge of how to do something. It
enables students to apply a rule of grammar
.in communication
e.g., declarative is what you know about music
theoretically. You can get a full mark in a pen
and paper exam. Whereas procedural
.knowledge enables you to play music
Both types of knowledge dont translate
automatically to each other. Many native
speakers can use their language clearly and
correctly without knowing any rule of grammar.
Likewise, many students can correct all verbs
between brackets in pen and paper tests but fail

To bridge the gap between declarative

and procedural knowledge, these ideas
:may help you
.Relate knowledge needs to learning goals -1
Students who plan to use the language for
reading journal articles and to deal with formal
situations, need to focus on the declarative
knowledge of grammar. Whereas students who
plan to use language informally need to focus
on procedural knowledge. In a school
environment, a teacher has to design activities
. that deal with both equally well

Apply higher order thinking skills -2

Teaching students how the language works and
giving them opportunities to compare it with
other languages they know allows them to draw
.on critical thinking and analytical skills
.Provide plentiful, appropriate language input -3
Such input requires students to pay attention to
the relationship among form and meaning and to
encounter the grammar rule in a variety of
.contexts

Use predicting skills- 4

Different communication types can be
characterized by linguistic features that are
.common to those types
When we write or talk about a narrative, we
expect that the past simple, continuous,
perfect and perfect continuous- is going to be
used. While describing, we expect that the
present . is going to be used. Awareness of
these features allows students to anticipate the
forms and structure they will encounter in a
.given communication task

INTEGRATIVE GRAMMAR TEACHING

Integrative grammar teaching combines form-based and
meaning based teaching of grammar.
A strategy that emphasizes integrative grammar teaching is the
EEE method proposed by Sysoyev, Pavel. V. which consists of
three equally important stages: exploration, explanation and
expression.
Exploration
In this inductive way students are given sentences illustrating a
certain grammar rule and are asked as a group to find the
pattern and, with the help of the teacher, to formulate the rule. In
this way, the knowledge students obtain becomes theirs and it is
often much easier to remember. Excerpt 1

Explanation
As students find sequences or patterns in the
examples they use during the exploration stage,
the teacher or the students can summarize
what was previously discovered, now focusing
on form. The explanation stage is quite
important because students feel safer when
they know the rules and have some source to
go back to in case of confusion or for future
.reference

Expression
After discovering certain grammatical patterns in the
exploration stage and getting to know the rules in the
explanation stage, students start practicing the
production of meaningful utterances with each other
in communication and interactive tasks. The
advantages of this stage are:
* to provide students experience in applying their
acquired knowledge in practice by making meaningful
utterances.
* motivate students, since they can actually see what
they can do with what they have learned.
* to practice communication under the teacher's
supervision.

Teaching Tips for the Grammar

Teacher:
1- Always try something new:
A teacher of grammar should try some different types
of activities and tasks and vary his techniques from
time to time especially if he is teaching in the
elementary stage. This is due to the very limited
attention span for such students.

2- Share your ideas:

If you try something in class and it works well, Dont
keep it to yourself. Share your ideas with colleagues.
In turn they will probably share their ideas with you.

3- Observe a colleague:
Observing other teachers or language assistants can be a
great way to pick up tips and ideas for your own teaching.
Make sure that this doesnt come across as threatening in
any way. A two way observation can sometimes be the most
fruitful, so you observe each other and then have a chat
about it afterwards.

4- Keep a Teaching Journal:

Keep a record of what you do in your classes and how
students react to different activities and techniques. This
will help you to look back and see how you are developing
as a teacher and to remind you of things that have worked.

5- Read bout the Subject you are Going to Teach:

When you read , you can refresh your memory about a
certain topic and you can have ready examples to clarify
your points.

6- Limit your explanation to 10 minutes especially

for lower level students whose ability to sustain
attention can be limited.
7- Present grammar points in written and oral ways
to address the needs of students with different
learning styles. ( involve as many senses as possible)
8- Your examples must be accurate and appropriate
culturally and communicatively. values and ethics are
important.

9- Use the examples as teaching tools. Focus

examples on a particular theme or topic so that
students have more contact with specific
information and vocabulary.

10- Teach grammar for the sake of

communication, emphasize meaning over
form. Following is an example of how the
past tense is taught traditionally and
communicatively:
Why do we use the passive, the reported speech, the conditional
sentences?

:Traditional: for grammars sake

Teach the regular ed form with its three*
.pronunciation variants
Teach the doubling rule for verbs that end in a*
consonant preceded by a vowel ( for example,
stopped)
Hand out a list of irregular verbs that*
. students must memorize
do pattern practice drills for ed*

Communicative Competence: grammar for

communications sake:
* Distribute two short narratives about recent experiences
or events , each one to half of the class.
* Teach the regular ed form, using verbs that occur in the
text as examples. Teach the pronunciation and doubling
rules if those forms occur in the texts.
* Teach the irregular verbs that occur in the texts.
* Students read the narratives, ask questions about points
they dont understand.
* Students work in pairs in which one member has read
story A and the other story B. Students interview one
another; using the information from the interview, they
then write up or orally repeat the story they have not read.

11-In responding to students communication,

teachers need to be careful not to focus on error
correction to the detriment of communication and
confidence building. When students are engaged in
communicative activities, correct errors only if they
interfere with comprehensibility, respond using
correct forms but without stressing them.

Example:
Student: I buy a new car yesterday.
Teacher: You bought a new car yesterday. Remember, the
past tense of buy is bought.
Example:
Student: I buy a new car yesterday!
Teacher: You bought a new car? Thats exciting! What
kind?

Schiffman, Harold (2007) suggested an interactive way to

teach the noun phrase in Indonesia.
He followed the steps below:
1- He elicited whatever knowledge students have of the grammar of the noun
phrase and summarizes it on the board.
2-He asked volunteers to represent the constituents of an English Noun
Phrase. He prepared large cards with nouns, adjectives , and other
modifiers on them , and they have to organize themselves into an
acceptable noun phrase.
3- He asked for volunteers to organize some noun phrases using cards I have
prepared or to prepare their own cards. I asked for a volunteer to represent
a noun, who is then expected to recruit some other modifiers to form a
sentence.
4- As students realize what is going on, a teacher can go further suggesting
other activities like:
5- Choose someone to represent another noun, have him or her recruit
constituent and arrange them.
6- The teacher may divide the class into teams and give them scrambled noun

How is this method different from

Chalk- Talks?
1- Attention: Students pay attention when this demo is going
on. There is an element of tension and surprise. They
dont know what will happen next. In the chalk talk
grammar session, students feel bored.
2- Remembering: Students remember their part in the
memo
months afterwards.
3- Learning channels: Students remember the motion or the
spatial relations. They might not remember what they got
through the visual/ auditory channel. With motion there
may be emotion.
4- Action: Children best learn by doing. They wont learn the
verb jump without themselves jumping.

Testing Grammar
Multiple Choice Tests
To give testees a sentence with a blank and four or five*
choices of a word or phrase which completes the
sentence correctly
Because my mother was sick, I to go home last
#.week
(had, have, has, hadn't(
To give testees an utterance and have them decide*
. which four or five utterances is an appropriate response
."I think tuition is much too high here# "
a) I do so. B) Do I so. C) I so do. D) so do I
To give testees a sentence and ask them to choose*
.which of five or four alternatives has the same meaning
."the school should have expelled him"
.a) The school didn't expel him
.b) The school expelled him, because it was necessary
.c) The school might have expelled him, if it had known

The testees are given a sentence with an error. Four*

words or phrases in a sentence marked with letters,
and the testee needs to decide which of the words or
.phrases has the error
a) Most of students b) believe that they c) should be
.getting better grades d) than they are
To present the testees with four alternative word*
.orders
I wonder how she knows
.a) how it costs much
.b) how much it costs
.c) it costs how much
.d) it how much costs
Completion Items*
The testees are asked to fill in blanks in sentences
e. g, Give the book to .woman in the
.blue dress

Transformation Items*
.Jim hasn't been home in a long time- 1
It has been a long time

.It is difficult to study when it is so noisy- 2

Studying
..
Word Changing Item*
I have never .to Australia.
( be)
Testees might be asked to combine pairs of*
.sentences using a relative pronoun
I met a man
.The man went to the same high school I did

In order to write a grammar exam you feel proud of, you must cover most
of the levels of thinking including higher order thinking skills. Below is

:an example of testing the passive voice

.Choose the correct answer between brackets - 1
-----------------a-The current constitutional problem is
. by the top legal minds in the country
A- studying B- been studying C- being studied
D-been studied
----------------b-The childs arm was swollen because he
. by a bee
A- stung
B- had stung
C-had been stung
D- had being stung
B- Complete the sentences with the words in parentheses.
Some of the sentences are active and some are passive.
:Use any appropriate text
!A- What a beautiful old house
.B-It ------------(build) by my grandfather over fifty years ago
.C-Most insects ------------(live) for less than a year
.D-The common housefly (live) -------from 19 to 13 days

C- Rewrite these sentences with the new beginning. Dont

.change the meanings
.Farmers dont grow rice in Jordan- 1
------------------------------------ Rice
The teachers in this school are going to suggest a new - 2
.strategy for teaching
------------------------------------------------------- A new
D- Complete the sentences with the appropriate forms of
the verbs in the list . Use each verb only one time. Some of
the sentences are active and some are passive
(revise scrub establish obtain)
Surgeons must --------------their hands thoroughly with
disinfectant soap and hot water before they enter the
operating room
A drivers license can ------------from the licensing bureau at
.the corner of Pine Street and 5th Avenue
F- Find and correct the errors in the following
:sentences
. Progress is been made everyday
.It was late, and I was getting very worry about my son
Use the passive voice to write a recipe for preparing any - 6
. dish you know well

While teaching grammar, there are a number of

questions that need to be addressed for each
.class
?What are the objectives of this class- 1
Are they preparing for a standard test like the TOEFL
or they only need English for communication? Being
test oriented, you have to decide what kind of
.output your are going to come up with
What is your students background? Are they aware- 2
of the grammar terminology? What pre teaching
you are going to do before achieving the objectives of
.your class
What learning materials and resources are- 3
?available
Do you have worksheets, a workbook, teaching
aids, flash cards, pictures? The more learning
resources you have the easier it will be for you to
employ different strategies when teaching your

What kind of learning style does each student-4

?have
Is the learner comfortable with standard right
brain
learning techniques (logical charts,
study sheets)?
Does the learner work better
? with listening and
repeating exercises