11/25/2019 Grammar teaching: The discovery technique | Onestopenglish

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Grammar teaching: The discovery technique

By Adrian Tennant

Level: Intermediate, Upper intermediate Type: Article, General lesson plan

Adrian Tennant discusses how to use the discovery technique to teach grammar and gives an activity idea for teaching
the third conditional using this method.

Introduction

What is the discovery technique?

Grammar can either be taught explicitly or implicitly. When we talk about an explicit approach to grammar we are
talking about stating directly, usually at the beginning of a particular activity, what the grammar is. For example,
‘Today we are looking at the third conditional.' On the other hand, an implicit approach to grammar is one where the
students are ‘led’ to the grammar through a series of steps – this is what is meant by the ‘discovery technique’. In other
words, the ‘discovery technique’ aims to lead students towards a generalized grammar rule or pattern.

Isn’t that the same as task-based learning?

No. Certainly, task-based learning is one form of ‘discovery technique’, but not the only way. In task-based learning the
focus is on carrying out communicative tasks without specific focus on form. However, it is possible in the ‘discovery
technique’ to be predominantly concerned with the form. The idea is that students will ‘discover’ the grammar through
a series of steps (these might be tasks, language awareness activities, pictures, questions, etc) and will deduce both the
form and the meaning from the context(s).

Why use the discovery technique?

One reason is that students often surprise us with what they already know or half-know. By using the ‘discovery
technique’ we learn more about their knowledge and abilities by eliciting information from them rather than telling
things to them.

Also, as Scrivener writes:

Giving students chances to be exposed to, or to attempt to use, language ‘above’ their apparent level of knowledge of
grammar is extremely useful and greatly aids future work on grammar. This approach celebrates what students can do
– and clarifies precisely what still needs to be worked on. (Learning Teaching, p115).

An example activity
Level: Intermediate/Upper Intermediate
Grammar point: Third Conditional
Function: Speculating about past possibilities (what might have happened)
Materials: Magazine pictures (optional) or board drawings

Procedure – setting the context

Use the following story to set the scene and try to elicit the form:

This is John
(show a picture of a man looking unhappy)

Question: Does he look happy?

(Elicit the response – No)

Q: Why do you think he’s unhappy?

(Elicit a few ideas)

Well, John was going to meet his friend

(show a picture of a woman) Jane.

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Q: What do you think happened?

(Elicit that John didn’t turn up)

John didn’t wake up until _______________.

(Elicit a time, and draw a clock)

Because he woke up late he missed _______________.

(show a picture of a bus)

John tried to phone Jane, but his mobile phone didn’t work.
(Elicit that he’d forgotten to charge it the previous night).

Jane waited for_________________ (elicit a length of time e.g. an hour) and then she left.

Q: Where do you think she went?

(Try to elicit ‘nightclub’ & show a picture).

In the club Jane met _______________.

(show a picture of another man & elicit a name).

Jane and _______________ (try to elicit fell in love) and they _______________ _______________. (try to
elicit got married)

Note 1: You can build on this story.

Note 2: Use ideas elicited from your students, BUT make sure that you keep the story on track (it is quite easy to go off
on a tangent).

Looking at the meaning

Now you can ask questions based on the story to try to elicit the structure (you will be surprised how many students
already know the structural form of a grammatical item but are not necessarily aware of its use). Start by asking
questions that focus on the events, e.g.:

Did John meet Jane?

- No.
Why not?
- Because he missed the bus.

Imagine John had caught the bus.

- (try to elicit the sentence: If John had caught the bus, he would have met Jane).

If you elicit the sentence, ask the following questions:

Did John catch the bus?

– No.
Did he miss the bus?
– Yes.
Did he meet Jane?
– No.
Why?
– Because he missed the bus.

You can focus on each event in the story by asking a similar set of questions, e.g.:

Did John try to phone Jane?

– Yes.
Did he manage to call her?
– No.
Why not?
– Because his mobile phone wasn’t working.
Why?
– Because he had forgotten to charge it. (Try to elicit the sentence: If John had charged his phone, he would
have been able to call Jane.)

Etc.

If you are unable to elicit a sentence containing the structure (third conditional) after two or three attempts, then give
the students an example. Then try to elicit sentences referring back to the model you have provided.

Note: Re-focussing on the meaning, use and structure is key to the discovery technique.

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Readers' comments (7)

Web Editor | Fri, 6 Nov 2015 9:46 am

Hi Jaime,

Thanks for the positive feedback. Good to hear that you found this article useful.

Best wishes,

The onestopenglish team

Jaime | Thu, 5 Nov 2015 12:29 pm

great tecniques and very effective

Web Editor | Mon, 26 Jan 2015 1:49 pm

Thanks for all the lovely feedback - we're glad you found the article useful. Why not look at our Methodology
section for more teaching tips?
http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/
Best wishes,
The onestopenglish team

Anonymous | Mon, 26 Jan 2015 10:47 am

A very pleasant activity to do.

writestuff | Wed, 14 Mar 2012 8:44 pm

A fine example of a communicative activity.

Anonymous | Sat, 28 Jan 2012 4:46 pm

I like this technique very much and I'm going to use it in my practice.

Miz | Wed, 16 Nov 2011 4:06 pm

The example activity and the CCQs that go with the example are very useful. Its a good reminder of some of the
CELTA training we had received.

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