Strand 3: Making grammar interesting (or at least less boring)

Grammar does not have to be boring (but it often is)

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My students hate grammar so I find it difficult to teach it to them.

There are undoubtedly some learners who enjoy the challenge of learning grammar and unravelling the systems of a foreign language. These learners look forward to grammar lessons with bated breath. They are not, thankfully or unfortunately, depending on your taste, in the majority.

"Today we are going to look at the past simple passive"

Starting a lesson with words like that is not going to have everyone sitting up and begging for more. Can you think of a slightly more involving way to introduce the focus?
Click here when you have.

Something like
    Today we are going to look at the terrible things that happened to me on my holiday
perhaps?
The topic might be exactly the same and contain language such as
    My wallet was stolen
    I was given an awful bedroom
    My complaint wasn't listened to
    I was ignored by the police
etc.
Those are all in the past simple passive but the learners don't have to focus on that. They have to focus on how to express their meanings.

The point here is that it is unwise to tell students who 'don't like grammar' that the lesson they are about to endure is focused on it. You need to imagine ways of using the grammar to make meaning rather than learning the grammar and then using it.

Try these and click on the table when you have filled in the right-hand column on a piece of paper or in your head:

alternatives

It's easy once you get practised at it. You aren't smuggling the grammar in, by the way, you are focusing on making meaning rather than making sentences.

Mind the gap

Which is the more interesting task?

more interesting

It is sometimes actually easier to write an exercise which gets the learners to say something about themselves which is true and mildly interesting than to write a gap-fill task which is dull, unmotivating and doesn't lead to any kind of communication.

Using visuals

Human beings make meaning from pictures so using them is a good way to connect grammar and meaning. What's more, the more impressive or touching an image is, the more memorable will be the form connected to it. Here are some examples but if you search the web for 'fascinating pictures' or 'emotional pictures' you'll find a huge range to pick from.

Image	Examples of forms to elicit / practise
	How is he feeling? What happened to make him so angry? How will you apologise? point at, shout at, be upset about, rave about, shout about, accuse, threaten etc.
	wh-questions going to has just done speculation modal auxiliary verbs: might / may / could
	frightened of / afraid of / terrified by enjoy / hate / love watching etc. can't bear / can't stand intensifying adverbs / gradability (utterly terrified, very scared etc.)
	Past tenses Present perfect Passives
	I was on my way to ... when ... I was driving to ... when ... While I was ... Because ... Suddenly, Unexpectedly, Stupidly he ... Subordinating conjunctions (because, although) Conjuncts (however, nevertheless etc.) Reporting the facts in present perfect / past simple Narrative tenses Modal auxiliary verbs of speculation Modal auxiliary verbs of obligation

	Present perfect been vs. gone expressing emotion

In addition to single pictures, if you can assemble a set of images and force them into a narrative, that's a useful way to present and practise tense forms.

You have, of course, an ever-changing and useful image in your classroom. It's called a window. Using the facts of what is happening outside the window is a way of practising:

Articles: What can you see?
I can see a police officer.
What's the police officer doing?
He's writing down the number of a car.
Where is the car parked?
etc.
Present tenses: Obviously.
Relative pronoun clauses: I can see a house which is ...
There is a man who is ...
etc.
Adjective order and epithets vs. classifiers: There's a large, blue saloon car parked on the corner.
and so on. Only your and the learners' imagination is the limiter.

Gauging progress

There's a separate guide in this section of the site to gauging and measuring progress in your development. Go there for more ideas.

One simple way to gauge whether presenting and practising grammar in more imaginative ways is to ask your learners what they thought they were practising at the end of a lesson. If they thought that the focus was on accidents but they were actually practising the interrupted past progressive, you can feel well satisfied.

Even if they spot the grammar, they may feel that they are using it more purposefully and it means more to them.

The other way, of course, is to note whether they look less bored by grammar.