To

Teach or Not to Teach

G R A M M A R I N L A N G U A G E
T E A C H I N G

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Ques9ons:
1. What is Grammar?
2. How is Grammar learnt?
3. How should Grammar be taught?

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Grammar Pain!
One day an English grammar teacher came to
the class looking ill.
A student asked, What is the maFer?
Tense, answered the teacher.
The student paused, then conJnued,
What was the maFer?
What has been the maFer?
What might have been the maFer?

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What is Grammar?
The lies are all correct; true statements
are wrong!

I am not an old man yet.

I am younger than some of you.
Next year I will be twenty six.
I telling a lie.*
I hope you have understood myself.*
It seem that you think I am telling lies.*
I am serious quite.*

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SomeJmes Correct Statements are

Wrong Too!
A. You are a brave person!
B. Am I telling a lie?
C. Are you coming this evening?
D. I hope you understand me.

E. I am feeling quite unwell.
F. You should work hard.
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The Murder of English Language in

Schools
Physical Instructor: You, three of you stand
together, separately!
Class Teacher: Tomorrow, I want to meet
your parents, especially, Mother and Father.
Geography Teacher: Please hang that map
on the wall or else Ill hang myself.
English Teacher: Why are you looking at the
monkeys outside when Im in the class!
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Grammar involves
Knowledge of word order (statements, quesJons, negaJves
etc.)
Knowledge of grammaJcal facts and rules (verb forms,
plurals, preposiJons etc.)
Knowledge of form and funcJon (Can I/May I/ Might I
.* etc.)
Knowledge of grammar of spoken and wriFen sentences
(Hi!/How do you do? Etc.)
Knowledge about how words, expressions should be used.
Knowledge about appropriateness of language being used.

u WHAT TO SAY WHEN AND HOW.

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How Did You Pick Up English

Grammar?

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How does one learn grammar?

L1 and L2 speakers learn it dierently
L1 speakers through exposure and use without
realizing that they are acquiring grammar.
L2 learners in a classroom learn from:
- Teacher/s
- Lessons
- Grammar acJviJes
- Grammar resource books
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Teaching Grammar: Opposing Views

1. PracJce makes Perfect
Grammar pracJce makes a signicant
contribuJon to language learning.
Learning grammar, especially for second
language learners, does require some explicit
teaching.

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Teaching Grammar: Opposing Views

2. Teaching grammar has liFle value
Grammar is best acquired implicitly, through
plenty of comprehensible input. (listening and
reading)
GrammaJcal structures are learnt in a xed
natural order irrespecJve of the order in
which they are taught.

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Teaching Grammar: Opposing Views

Lets Compromise: An EclecJc View
We cannot ignore grammar teaching
completely; most course books and teachers
sJll provide grammar inputs.
There is place for explicit explanaJon and
pracJce of grammar in English courses as well
as in providing our students with
opportuniJes to use it for communicaJve
purposes.

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Helping Learners Understand

Grammar

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How much Grammar should a

Primary School Teacher Know?
As a language teacher you need a sound knowledge of
grammar so that you can:
Understand the grammar items in the syllabus and
select appropriate language forms for teaching;
Grade and sequence the grammar items appropriately;
Integrate grammar with the teaching of the language
skills (listening, speaking, reading, wriJng);
Select appropriate techniques for presenJng grammar
items;
IdenJfy and analyze students errors and provide
feedback and correcJon.
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Which of these appear correct?

Does he enjoy to paint?

Does he enjoy painJng?
My teacher was not well since a week.
My teacher was not well for a week.
Esah is knowing the answer.
Esah knows the answer.

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How should one teach Grammar?

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Teaching of Grammar: Conic9ng Views

vWithout explicit teaching of grammar, there can be no
language learning. It is the backbone of the whole
process.
vWhether you like it or not grammar is important.
vGrammar does play a role in communicaJng our ideas
clearly.
uIf our purpose is teaching students communicaJon skills,
grammar is of no real use.
uGrammar should not be taught directly. It is best learnt
by exposure to the target language.
uIts a waste of Jme teaching grammar it only confuses
the students.
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Grammar in the KBSR and KBSM

Grammar is to be incorporated into the four
language skills and should be taught in context
and in a meaningful way. However, teachers
may also teach the grammar items specically, if
they feel it is necessary to do so and later
integrate them with the other skills.

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Integra9ng Grammar: Two

Approaches
The Structural Approach
Uses grammar as the guiding principle to
grade and sequence the syllabus and then
works with skills, funcJons and forms
The CommunicaJve Approach
Uses communicaJve funcJons or themes as
the guiding principle and then ts in grammar
according to learner needs and level of
understanding
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The Structural Approach

Grammar items

Text

This/That

These/Those

This is an apple.
That is a window.
These are apples.
Those are bananas.

is/am/are

I am a boy.
She is a girl.
He is my father.
These are my friends.

NegaJve forms

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This is not an apple. This is a

banana.
I am a boy. I am not a girl.
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The Communica9ve Approach

Message forms/
Genre

FuncJons

Grammar

Story



DescripJon of
places




Messages

Talking of events in
the past, following
sequence of events

Describing





Making requests and
responses

Simple past tense,

sequence
connectors

AdjecJves, adverbs
of place,
preposiJons, simple
present tense

Modals: can, could,
etc.

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Problems in Teaching English Grammar

Students do not nd grammar interesJng.
Teaching grammar is complicated because there
is a mismatch between form and funcJon.
It is dicult to understand grammaJcal rules
because for every rule, there is an excepJon too.
It is dicult for learners to master the grammar
of a second language because of interference
from the mother tongue
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Strategies for Teaching Grammar

Be meaningful
Be purposeful
Provide plenty of pracJce
Provide variety
Encourage acJve parJcipaJon
Use a mulJmedia approach

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Complexity of the Grammar Item

Introduce regular forms rst

What should be taught rst?
Past tense forms of verbs work / study/
write/ read?
ArJcles a /an or the?
Simple adjecJves or adjecJve degrees?

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Usefulness of the Grammar Item

Choose the ones most suitable to the level

What would be more appropriate to teach Year
2 students:
Subject- Verb agreement: is/am/are and was/
were or either or/neither nor?
Use of have to indicate possession or its use
to express the relevance of a past acJon?
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Teachability
Choose a grammar item that can be easily
taught and integrated with language skills

Present progressive tense to indicate the
acJon taking place now
Simple present tense to indicate habitual
acJon

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Integra9ng Grammar with other

language skills
The principle of integraJon requires that the
four language skills, grammar items/sentence
paFerns, the sound system and vocabulary be
integrated and taught as a whole, wherever
possible.

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ACTIVITIES

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Stages of a Grammar Lesson

1. PresentaJon
IntroducJon to new language through spoken or
wriFen text
2. Focused pracJce
Explicit form-based exercises to ensure
students can produce new items accurately
3. CommunicaJve use
Meaningful acJviJes to allow students to use
new language in an appropriate context

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PresentaJon Techniques: Flip Cards

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PresentaJon techniques: SubsJtuJon

Tables

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PracJce AcJvity
Two friends were walking together in a eld
when _____ saw a bear. One of _____ ran o,
climbed a tree and hid in the branches. There
wasnt room in the small tree for ____ friend.
The friend knew ____ could not ght the bear
by _____ , and so ____ lay down in the eld and
pretended to be dead.

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PracJce AcJvity
Two friends (walk) _____ together in a eld
when they (see) _____ a bear. One of them
(run) _____ o, (climb) _____ a tree and (hide)
_____ in the branches. There wasnt room in
the small tree for his friend. The friend (know)
_____ he (cannot ght) _____ a bear by himself,
and so he (lie) _____ down in the eld and
(pretend) _____ to be dead.

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PracJce AcJvity
Two friends were walking together in ____ eld
when they saw _____ bear. One of them ran
o, climbed ____ tree and hid in ____ branches.
There wasnt room in _____ small tree for his
friend. ____ friend knew he could not ght
_____ bear by himself, and so he lay down in
____ eld and pretended to be dead.

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CommunicaJve AcJviJes

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Ac9vity 1: The Three Approaches to Teaching

Grammar
Make notes on the three approaches to
presenJng grammar items discussed in the
textbook, Chitravelu et. al. (2005).
The three approaches discussed are:
1. DidacJc (page 207-8)
2. Discovery (page 209)
3. Comic story (page 210)
You may be asked quesJons on these
approaches in the Tutorial session this week.
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Ac9vity 2: Presen9ng and Providing

Prac9ce in Grammar Items
Refer to ELT Methodology: Principles and Prac=ce,
pages 212 228.
Work in three groups and each group should study
and complete the notes on these three types of
grammar acJviJes:
1. PresentaJon techniques
2. Focused pracJce
3. CommunicaJve pracJce
Present your work in the Tutorial session this week.
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Presenta9on Techniques
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Using ashcards
_______________
Using wall charts
_______________
Using sliding sentence strips
_______________________

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Focused Prac9ce
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Drills
______
Jazz chants
__________
Gap lling exercises
______________
Recombining acJviJes
_________________

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Communica9ve Prac9ce
1. Problem solving
2. _____________
3. Using songs and rhymes
4. ___________________
5. Games
6. ___________
7. Poems
8. ______________
9. Role play
10. ______________
11. EdiJng and reformulaJon
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TUTORIAL ACTIVITIES

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ACTIVITY 1
How much grammar should a primary
school teacher know?

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How to answer this ques9on?

S: Teacher, I wrote Did you went to SiJ Nilans
party yesterday. You have marked it as
wrong and made a comment, Tense
agreement, but I dont understand what you
mean.
T: .

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Ac9vity 1: Work in your group and decide how to

explain the grammar errors to students? (15 mins.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

He is not like chocolate.*

Did you went to Rahims party.*
My parents will visit me on June.*
I came in a bus.*
There are many new furniture in my house.*
Can you bring me to your house?*
The students will used plasJc bags to decorate
their classroom.*
8. I like this two types of chicken preparaJons.*
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How to Explain the Errors to Students?

9. You can live here without no restricJons.*
10.But you will have to worked hard to live here.*
11.If he works hard he can gets sick.*
12.For an example, he may get fever.*
13.It usually occur whenever there is a weather
change.*
14.Tea with biscuits are my favourite drink.*
15.When I looked for children, they was not there.*
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Ac9vity 2: Group Work

Work in groups of 4-5 students (5 groups).
Think of as many ways as you can of teaching any
two of the following KSSR grammar topics:
1. Word order
PosiJve and negaJve statements
PosiJve and negaJves quesJons and responses
Wh- quesJons and responses (What, Where, When,
How, Why, Who, Whose, Which)
Making requests
Giving instrucJons
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Group Work contd.

2. Connectors
ConjuncJons, e.g. and, but, so, while, therefore,
either or, neither . nor
Sequence connectors, e.g. rst, next, before, aCer

3. Verbs

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Simple present tense

Simple past tense
Simple future tense
Present conJnuous tense
Past conJnuous tense
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Group Work contd.

4. ArJcles
5. PreposiJons, e.g. in, on, out, under, beside
etc.
6. Nouns and pronouns
7. Modiers
AdjecJves and adverbs

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