Teaching grammar: an essential guide

Why do we teach grammar?

There are teachers who will tell you, with a straight face, that what English language teaching is, or should be, about is teaching people to communicate rather than teaching the grammar of English so they don't do it. It is as if they believe that the two can be separated or that we can separate teaching people new words from helping learners to communicate better. The assumption is that learners will absorb the grammar by exposure and the need to communicate their ideas.
That is not the line taken here. In this guide we start from the premise that:

... language learning is essentially learning how grammar functions in the achievement of meaning and it is a mistake to suppose otherwise. .... A communicative approach does not involve the rejection of grammar. On the contrary, it involves a recognition of its central mediating role in the use of and learning of language.
(Widdowson, 1990: 97/8)

and

... we are still too ignorant about the basic processes of language learning to be able to state dogmatically what can and cannot contribute to them.
(Littlewood, 1981: 9)

That's still true, unfortunately.

Task: Can you think of two good reasons for teaching grammar?
Click here when you have.

If Widdowson is right, grammar cannot be separated from the ability to communicate effectively.
If I say, e.g.,
I had my car washed at the service station
instead of:
I had washed my car at the service station
I will convey the wrong meaning purely because I am ignorant of the grammar.
There are many times when accurate grammar is socially required.
If I say, e.g.,
I didn't can came to the party
then a sympathetic listener may well mentally correct the sentence to
She's telling me she couldn't come to the party
and extract the meaning (possibly).
However, three things follow:
1. the speaker is placing unreasonable strain on the listener
2. a less sympathetic, imaginative or tolerant listener may actually not understand the message
3. the speaker may appear ignorant. As teachers, we expect mistakes and may see them as a natural part of the learning process. Most of us are not teachers and may take a less sympathetic view.

There are probably more bad reasons for teaching grammar and they include, e.g.:
    Because that's how I learned the language
    Because I can test it
    Because it's a nice tidy system (even though it isn't, really)
and so on.

How do we teach grammar?

Some learners 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, however, in the majority.
Most learners want to do things with the language, not study it as another subject at school like history or physics.

Task: What are the implications of all this?
Think for a moment and then click here.

Implication #1:
Grammar must be set in context and be seen to be doing something useful.
Implication #2:
A lesson which only focuses on manipulating the form of the language is unlikely to inspire your learners or help them be better users of English.
Implication #3:
Learners of the language need to see the importance of accurate grammar in allowing them to say something important and personal.

"Today we are going to look at the uses of the past simple"

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
    I lost my wallet
    I had an awful bedroom
    I complained to the manager
    I went to the police
etc.
Those are all in the past simple but the learners don't have to focus on that. They have to focus on how to express their meanings about a finished, past event.

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.

Focusing on meaning

A simple way to do this is to start the lesson with meanings. Here's an example of an introduction to a lesson.

Click here when you have determined what the grammar focus of the lesson might be. There are a number of possibilities.

The obvious one is tense form we use for plans such as going to:
    I'm going to have a holiday
    I'm going to visit New York
    We're going to ski in France
    He's going to have a horse-riding holiday
etc.
This might be combined with or an alternative to the present progressive for fixed plans (tickets booked, hotel arranged etc.):
We're going bird watching, riding, skiing, hiking
We're visiting friends in New York
etc.
Verbs followed by the to-infinitive:
    I hope to go to New York
    I plan to have a beach holiday
    I want to go horse-riding in Wales
    I intend to learn to ski
etc.
The grammar of comparison is also a possibility:
I'd prefer to have a beach holiday but my wife wants to go skiing
She likes active holidays more than visiting cities
and so on.
A focus on memories of holidays using past forms is another possibility.

You may have thought of other possibilities.

Other ways

You don't need to use visuals to present grammar point of course, although they are very helpful.

Using reading texts

Depending on the level and the targets, you can find or invent a reading text which helps the learners to notice the grammar point.
For example:

Hi,
We are taking a short break in the country next week and wondering if you would like to come. We've rented a cottage and are staying for 3 days. The cottage is really too big just for us (there are three bedrooms) so you will have space to yourself. While we're there, I'm going to do some fishing and the boys want to go walking and bird watching. Mary is probably just going to sit around and read as usual.
Think about it. If you like we'll pick you up and we'll all go together in my car. Or you can come separately. You'll find the place easily so you won't get lost (I hope!). I'll give you a call next week and we'll talk about it. OK?
Best wishes,
Helen.

Look at the words in red. Is Helen:

sure about the future?
telling her friend about her current plans?
writing about what she and other people intend to do?
offering and showing willingness?
predicting the future?

Using listening or video texts

These can work in the same way and dialogues are just as useful when presenting concepts. The idea above can be turned into a dialogue and recorded:

Hi, John?
Yes, hello Helen. What can I do for you?
Well, we are taking a short break in the country next week and wondering if you would like to come. We've rented a cottage and are staying for 3 days.
Sounds nice but I expect I'll be in your way.
Not at all. The cottage is really too big just for us (there are three bedrooms) so you will have space to yourself.
OK. What's the plan?
While we're there, I'm going to do some fishing and the boys want to go walking and bird watching. Mary is probably just going to sit around and read as usual.
I'll think about it. How are you getting there?
If you like we'll pick you up and we'll all go together in my car. Or you can come separately. You'll find the place easily so you won't get lost (I hope!). I'll give you a call next week and we'll talk about it. OK?
OK. But I'm working away on Tuesday and Wednesday but I'll probably be at home on Thursday.
OK. Talk later. Bye.
Bye.

Look at the words in red. Are the speakers:

sure about the future?
telling someone about current plans?
writing about what they and other people intend to do?
offering and showing willingness?
predicting the future?

The important point here is that the context and intentions of people are firmly set up in terms of meaning before you look at the grammar we use to express those meanings.

Checking concepts

Presenting grammar by putting meaning first is only half the story. As you present a model such as:

I'm going to New York next week

you need persistently and consistently to check that your learners have grasped the essence of the meaning implied:

Is she talking about now?
Does she already have a plan in his head?
Has she bought the flight tickets?
Is she sure he's going?

Answers to questions like this do two things: they reinforce the concept and they tell you whether the learners have got it.
For more on concept checking see the guide to checking learning.

Mind the gap

Gap-fill tasks are often a good way of giving learners controlled practice of the form but they aren't the only way.

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 for practice

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 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: The earthquake struck at ... Present perfect passive: The buildings have been destroyed
	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/progressive: He's had a terrible accident. He was driving home when ... Modal auxiliary verbs of speculation: He might have He could have

	Present perfect for very recent events: She has just come back from ...

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: There's an interesting ...
The tree's growing next to ...
The house over the road has a ...
Relative pronoun clauses: I can see a house which is ...
I can see a man who is ...
etc.
Adjective order: There's a large, blue car parked on the corner.
Prepositions:: It's near, behind, next to, opposite, in the corner of etc.
and so on. Only your and the learners' imagination is the limiter.

Related guides
development section	for the guides to teaching grammar in that section of the site
theory of teaching grammar	to see how theories affect practice in this area
testing grammar	this is a more technical guide in the in-service section but, sooner or later, you need tyo know how to test what you think you've taught
checking learning	for a guide to how to make sure that input has resulted in uptake
activity types	for a guide to the three essential forms of activities and what they do

References:
Littlewood, W, 1981, Communicative Language Teaching, An introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Swan M, 2002, Seven bad reasons for teaching grammar - and two good reasons for teaching some, in Methodology in Language Teaching, Richards and Renandya (Eds.), CUP 2002, pp.148–152 also available at http://www.mikeswan.co.uk/elt-applied-linguistics/seven-bad-reasons.htm
Widdowson, H, 1990, Aspects of Language Teaching, Oxford: Oxford University Press