TEACHING GRAMMAR

What is grammar?

 GRAMMAR is a collection of
rules and principles which
govern the languages

 The goal of grammar

instructions is to enable
students to carry out
their communication
purposes.

 THE TRADITIONAL WAY

OF TEACHING GRAMMAR:
(The structural approaches)
Grammar for grammar's sake

 Teach the regular -ed form with its

two pronunciation variants.
Teach the doubling rule for verbs (for
example, wed-wedded, run-running)
Hand out a list of irregular verbs
that students must memorize
Do pattern practice drills for -ed
Do substitution drills for irregular
verbs

 Example:
Student (in class): I buy a
new car yesterday.
Teacher: You bought a new
car yesterday. Remember,
the past tense of buy is
bought.

 THE COMMUNICATIVE
COMPETENCE
APPROACHES:
Grammar for
communication's sake

 Student (greeting
teacher) : I buy a new car
yesterday!
Teacher: You bought a
new car? That's exciting!
What kind?

 When students are engaged

in communicative activities,
correct errors only if they
interfere with
comprehensibility. Respond
using correct forms, but
without stressing them.

 The desired outcome of the

language learning process is
the ability to communicate
competently, not the ability
to use the language exactly
as a native speaker does.

 THERE ARE TWO

APPROACHES FOR
TEACHING GRAMMAR:

Deductive approach
(top down approach)

1-

 It starts with the

presentation of a rule and
it is followed by examples
in which the rule is
applied.

 The students learn the

rule and apply it only
after they have been
introduced to the rule.

 For example, if the structure to be

presented is present perfect, the
teacher would begin the lesson by
saying, "Today we are going to learn
how to use the present perfect
structure." Then:
The rules of the present perfect
structure would be outlined
And the students would complete
exercises, in a number of ways, to
practice using the structure

 The present perfect is made

up of the auxiliary verb 'have'
plus the past participle.
It is used to express an
action which has begun in
the past and continues into
the present moment... etc.

2-Inductive approaches
(bottom up approaches)

 New grammatical
structures or rules are
presented to the students
in a real language
context .

The students learn the

use of the structure
through practice of the
language in context, and
later realize the rules
from the practical
examples.

 For example, if the structure

to be presented is the
comparative form.
The teacher would begin the
lesson by drawing a figure on
the board and saying, "This is
Jim. He is tall."

 Then, the teacher would

draw another taller figure
next to the first saying,
"This is Bill. He is taller
than Jim."

 The teacher would then provide

many examples using students
and items from the classroom,
famous people, or anything
within the normal daily life of
the students, to create an
understanding of the use of the
structure.

 Then the students

practice the structures
meaningfully in groups or
pairs.

 The teacher's role is to

provide meaningful contexts
to encourage demonstration
of the rule, while the
students evolve the rules
from the examples of its use
and continued practice

 Another example:
A reading comprehension
which includes a number of
sentences describing what a
person has done up to that
period in time.

 After doing the reading

comprehension, the teacher could
begin to ask questions such as:
How long has he done this or that?
Has he ever been to Paris? etc. and
then follow with
When did he go to Paris?

 To help the students inductively

understand the difference between
the simple past and the present
perfect, these questions could be
followed with which questions spoke
about a definite time in the past?
Which questions asked about the
person's general experience? etc.