How to teach grammar

How to teach grammar: Three Golden Rules

There are three golden rules for successful grammar teaching. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are. So instead, let me offer a few personal opinions. I'll try to be brief: I've spent the last three years writing a practical grammar course that's moving towards publication, and I've got so much in my head that it's hard to sum it all up.

Theory
There's a lot of theory around, much of it contradictory. It can be valuable, but I sometimes feel, to quote Mark Twain, that "the researches of many commentators have already thrown much darkness on this subject, and it is probable that, if they continue, we shall soon know nothing at all about it". My rather unhelpful view is that it all depends. Learners vary greatly in their response to grammar teaching: some get a lot out of it, some very little. Learning contexts and purposes also vary greatly. And 'grammar' means so many different things that it's extremely difficult to generalise about how to teach it.

Explanations
In general, I have little sympathy with people who are hostile to giving students rules. Explanations of how things work are often useful. They do need to be clear and simple, though: the whole truth can be counterproductive, in language as in life. I get uneasy if an explanation in a book for learners takes up more than two or three lines of text. They should be in the mother tongue if possible. Some points can be usefully learnt through an inductive 'discovery' approach, others probably not.

Examples
Good realistic examples are vital, but they don't replace explanations – an example on its own never tells you exactly what it's an example of. Suitably chosen authentic material – advertisements, cartoons, songs, poems, etc – can make examples memorable and fix them in students' minds. I've often found it helpful myself to learn examples by heart – they act as a sort of template for generating similar phrases or sentences – and I think this is true for many learners.

Exercises
Variety is really the key. There's nothing wrong with mechanical exercises – gap-filling, sentence transformation and so forth. These can help learners to grasp the form of a complex structure at the outset without having to think too much about the meaning. But it's important to move on to activities where the structure is used in more interesting and realistic ways. I like structure-oriented problem-solving activities and quizzes, games, picture-based work, text-based work, role-play, exercises that get students using the structure to talk about themselves and their ideas, exercises that combine grammar practice with vocabulary learning, and internet-exploration activities, to name just a few approaches.

Supplementing the coursebook
The coursebook (if there is one) generally won't provide enough work on key points. More practice will be needed in class, using groupwork and pairwork. Out-of-class work (corrected or self-access) using good grammar practice materials can also help a lot. 

'Carry-over'
The real problem, of course, is getting learners to carry over their grammar learning from controlled practice to spontaneous real-life use. They get their tenses all right in the grammar exercises on Tuesday morning, and all wrong in the discussion on Friday afternoon. Up to a point, we have to live with disappointment: foreign-language learners don't get everything right. We certainly need to keep coming back to key grammar points, revising them, practising them in semi-controlled speaking and writing activities, and correcting mistakes by whatever approach we find most useful, but we won't get anything like complete accuracy. (My basic view of grammar teaching is that if we teach some grammatical structures to some students, some of them will get better at using some of those structures some of the time. Definitely.) I think we also need to respect students' decisions. If they have learnt when to use third-person -s, have had plenty of practice, have had their mistakes corrected, and still go on dropping it – well, that is their choice, and we shouldn't waste any more time on the point, or beat ourselves up because we haven't got the students to do what we want. Life is too short.

Average: 3 (8 votes)

Submitted by Sitor on Mon, 02/14/2011 - 02:13

        Hello Mr Michail! I maintain your method of teaching grammar.I'm a second year language learner and I know very well how much this strategy is useful.My teacher always uses this teaching style and I'm making a great progress in my grammar.

       I hope your method will be common around the world soon.

Submitted by Malicabanu on Sun, 02/13/2011 - 19:32

Good! I partly agree to you. I think vital is not so good .Maybe for some students this is a only true way but not for all of them . I am a student and we also had grammar classes. but I want to change style of teaching in our faculty . Because your advices are usefull for students to understand easily. Before i thought that our style is ok.After read this blog i changed my mind. If iwill be a teacher in the future I will choose this one. I liked your blog. Thank you.

Submitted by evab2001 on Sat, 02/12/2011 - 10:31

Dear Mr Swan,

From the day I enterd the classroom as an EFL teacher, I carry Basic English Usage with me as a reference book and I plan my lessons with it.

Thank you for sharing these useful tips with us. I really enjoy reading your blog on TE.

Regards,

Eva Buyuksimkesyan

Submitted by Sabapathi on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 06:37

Dear Michael,

It is interesting to note that people teaching English face the same sort of problems all over the world. Surprised to see that you in England are trying to tackle the issue which also comes between me and my students  in Coimbatore, India. For long I was doubting whether I alone was thinking on the lines which come up with the peculiar questions each student asks according to his or her understanding and more importantly the questions that rise within ourselves as to how we are going to  make students understand this particular fine point(whichever comes up as we teach along).

There are times when we are totally surprised the way we have taken it to the students and when it ends as a revealation to ourselves. For eg.,I was teaching on the vowels as usual for the 'articles' and found the vowels in English are same like the vowels in Tamil, my native tongue, and for that matter similar to many more languages in India including Hindi. This led me to a conclusion that all our languages have a common ancestor or mother from which all our languages have descended, something like a common primate from which we, apes and tailed monkeys have have descended from.

Your blogs have emboldened us in our endeavours and made light of the facts which have bemused all along. I can't stop but to be awed by your openess which has made us to be least bothered and also eager to find more finerpoints that raise their heads helping us to strngthen our language knowledge

Thanks to you and thanks to the British Council 

regards

Pathi

 

 

 

 

Submitted by Teri Hedberg on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 21:19

Dear Michael,

Thank you for your article on How to Teach Grammar.  I found it enlightening.  I guess grammar is "my thing" too.  I have also enjoyed your presentations in the past (TESOL-France).  Please let us know when your practical grammar course book appears as I want to hear more!

 

 

Submitted by jvl narasimha rao on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:10

Dear Mr swan,

I am really doubtful whether teaching of grammar helps the acquistion of language in the initial stages.It may be helpful in the higher stages when a student is knowing about a language. 

It may help him to pass an examination or write better but never help him speak fluently.I think grammar canot be taught for the sake of grammar.it should be internalised through real life situations.

regards,

JVL Narasimha Rao

Andhra Pradesh

India

 

Submitted by gabezmail on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 14:31

Mark Twain: "the researches of many commentators have already thrown much darkness on this subject, and it is probable that, if they continue, we shall soon know nothing at all about it". 

Just to add more darkness, I find it useful to "conceptualise" grammar. This is where the Ss often go "Ah! Now I understand". An example would be to place various "expressions of politeness" or "modals of obligation, probability, or ability" on a scale entitled "degrees of ...." Or tenses on an XY diagram etc. etc.

Regarding this I find that a lot of ESOL course books (e.g. English File) seem to be integrating techniques taken from "Relational Frame Theory" (RFT) i.e. tapping into the students innate ability to learn from derived stimulus relations.

My question: Does anybody know anything about this or where I can find out more?

Any help much appreciated

Submitted by ancaelena on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 13:03

it is true that grammar seems sometimes to be very boring during classes. But if we choose to cover it in real-life situations then our students certainly can cope with it easily. Your article is very useful for all the teachers and types of grammar lessons, but at a certain point we have to become aware of the class' particularities in order to get our grammar structers learnt.

Submitted by ninos on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 10:32

Michael Swan.. such a great grammarian and linguist. I can't wait for your newly heralded masterpiece. Honestly, when anything goes wrong, I turn to Practical English Usage for comfort and good read. One thing though still remains there unresolved to me: there has always been denying of the influence of the 'verb phrase structure', or sometimes you just call things in the (present perfect simple) - well, Mr Swan, when it is perfect, it cannot stay simple any further, innit?

Submitted by SLI.ABOU on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 10:19

Mr Swan, currently i am researching the way to adopt a portfolio model to teach English tenses and tense shift to EFL writers, i.e, native ARABs. Would pls help me with any advice or document. I wld be grateful!

thx

Submitted by K.Rajalakshmi on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 05:56

Greetings Sir,

Your method of teaching is amazing.Is it possible to make the students to understan by giving mere examples without rule?

Submitted by Ajit Singh Nagpal on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 01:42

Hi Michael,

 

The moment I saw the title of your blog I had to read all of it.  I don't think it's all that lengthy, but honestly and I am sorry to say this but I don't think there was much to chew on.  With due respect, it's not your fault, but it is just the subject of 'grammar'.

I believe that grammar rules are not to be taught.  If one wishes to know the rule, sure go ahead and read about it, but for sure it is not going to help you to understand how to write or speak better.  Yes, you will know the rule and you will be able to regurgitate the rule.

Many a time after completing a grammar lesson, how often do you ask yourself, "How much of what I have taught will be rememberd by the students and how much will be reflected upon for actual use when speaking or writing?"

Good grammar comes with exposure (reading, reading and reading) and using the language regularly.  Grammar should be taught with exposure to different usage and meaning of phrases, sturctuires and word patterns.  That has been my experience

 

Cheers             

 

 

 

 

Submitted by Corajean on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 21:47

I don't ever really remember the grammer classes from school way back when, but I do remember that I really enjoyed reading and I always enjoyed writing.

Some years later and much more matter in these matters I was fortunate enough to be able to do a year long French course and having to learn the grammer.  Iwas amazed because it was only than that I realized that at some point in school I must have learned all this in English.  I still remember our French instructor emphazing the "subjunctive". 

I do think a lot of kids especially boys get turned of in school when it comes to grammer because the teachers don't make it fun or sometimes they're learning it as they go themselves and that can be stressful.

I am going to try and do the TESOL crse this year because I would love to have the chance to teach English as a second language.

If you have any hints on how I could accomplish this I would be grateful.  Some people say you need a degree, which I don't have and some people say you don't need a degree.

 

Submitted by Vlazaki on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 20:53

Open minded, humorous, focused. That's the approach of a good teacher!

Thanks for reminding

Submitted by acLiLtocLiMB on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 20:07

Hi Michael,

Actually, to me, "I didn't say nothing to nobody" means "I said something to somebody"! Haha.

Seriously though, I find that the majority of students actually like learning grammar; grammar provides them with a sort of comfort zone: they need to know why something is this way and not another. The problem is that a lot of teachers, especially native, aren't very comfortable with teaching grammar because they don't know the rules! This is why your book, Michael, remains a bible to many of us. It's true; I find that, generally, non-native teachers have a better grasp of grammar.

What students, especially the younger ones, don't like are repetitive written exercises because they find them boring. Whenever I've got students to do my online exercises (in the form of quizzes and games), I find that their level of enthusiasm shoots right up.

Kind regards,

acLiLtocLiMB

Submitted by Survival Guide on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 19:04

Hi

Thank you for this great sharing. ''They get their tenses all right in the grammar exercises on Tuesday morning, and all wrong in the discussion on Friday afternoon....... '' I try to revise it in the class but class time is generally limited to revise all of the things we covered in class. I have fast learners and slow learners in the same class. If ı deal with slow learners the other students get bored. Any suggestions? My students are teenagers and they generally don't want to do their homeworks. I don't want to threaten them with low quiz marks.

Submitted by RRK on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 16:37

Hello Michael,

Have to admit that I don't like teaching grammar per se. Currently, I live and teach in Mexico and I have found that by the time most students get to my class, they have been grammar-translationed to death. They can barely speak nor can they write correctly, often after years of study, which is a sad commentary on English teaching where I live.

Believe me, I don't claim to have all the answers, but I have found that for basic level learners, the Communicative approach works for me. I realise you find that anathema. However, given that the students I receive have just been taught grammar and little else, it helps to encourage them to improve their self-confidence. Once, they are no longer afraid to speak, we can work on improving both their spoken and written English. In addition, the vast majority of learners have difficulty with their listening skills because many times their teachers don't speak to them in English.

It is my belief that when starting to teach another language, we need to do a lot of inductive teaching of grammar as opposed to out and out explanations which often confuse the learner. Many learners want hard and fast rules and formulae, which in many cases don't exist. Many of my students get tongue-tied, not only because they don't have the vocabulary, but also because they are trying to remember whether they must use present simple or present continuous according to the rules they've learned and they are desperate not to make a mistake.

This does not mean I don't believe in teaching grammar. It means that it needs to be more natural (shades of Krashen!) and when the learner begins to ask "why", we can start to provide more formal grammatical explanations. I have found that usually happens when a person reaches a level of language where they want to go beyond the plateau - from say an intermediate level to a more advanced level. Of course, there are always exceptions to this. This said, if a student asks for an explanation, of course, I give it. 

Therefore, in my opinion, your suggestions are excellent for teaching those who have reached a stage where they want more. I suppose explaining the grammar rules in the native tongue is alright for those who are starting to learn the language at an older age, but I have a fundamental dislike of using L1 in a language class. Probably my Communicative approach teaching education.

Thanks for the great blog/article.

Roberta King


Submitted by kuilao on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 16:12

Hi Michael, thank you for your article, very interesting and agreeable.  I would be very interested in seeing/using your completed grammar lesson plans in the future when you've published them

Submitted by pajand on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 20:20

don't be sorry cause the length of the article or any kind of write-for-help pieces not considrable and can be usefull even more than what you expected ...

actually according to my experiences and teaching time ..I think we have  many different ways to use as the number of people around the world  and it depends on their intelligences and their interests to that field we can grab one of those ways and continue it till achieving what we want  ..I had many students(Ss) who had  kind of mental problem ..those who are great in visual and horrible in audial ...even the weakest one can get the examples through  the way that they are good at ... sounds and musics for the one who has ineterst or even more powerfull intelligences in  ..or the other one may catch the same info much easier by touching the words (something like Montessori) ...and million other instances .I have written an article which i will DL  here for the very first time wish u help me to be better on this matter ...enjoyed ur blog and will continue reading ur precious  writtings...

Best

Pajand Soleymani

Submitted by MADINABONU on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 08:04

Hi michael. I liked your methods which you use to teach the grammar. Useful exercisesyou use in your methods. If anybody weants to be a good teacher surely, I suggest your three golden rules to them. GOOD LUCK

Submitted by Ana Cristina d… on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 14:47

In reply to by MADINABONU

Hello Michael,

 

I've always felt terrible when teaching grammar and had to give students all the rules that must be followed but after reading your opinion on the matter, I think I've been doing the right thing...

Thank you

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