Reflections on Teaching Grammar

Idea/Activity/Quote/: “If we don’t have a specific communicative object with a language focus, we are in danger of random input with nothing for the Ss to hold on to” (Ron Bradley). So, we have to bear in mind the clear goal of our grammar input, what we want our Ss to acquire and in which way to introduce it.

Why is it important to me? “Lesson objective will give a direction to all of the activities of the lesson, culminating the final communicative activities”: If we solely rely on drilling or substitute exercises, our Ss will go nowhere or they won’t be able to start internalizing the knowledge they acquire at the lessons, real life tasks or TBL really comes in handy at the end of the lesson.

Why it may be relevant to my Ss? Mainly, I focus on ‘academic encounters context’ forgetting that presentation and practice have to be memorable and engaging to the Ss.

Why it may be interesting to my colleagues: My local colleagues are too much concentrated on GTM not allowing Ss to get some freer practice, so communicative approach with ‘grammaring’ as the fifth skills will create the paradigm shift.

Things to keep in mind: create as many collaborative/TBL activities as possible and to incorporate them into grammar lessons.