Grammar Presentation &
Practice
Dr Desmond Thomas,
University of Essex
Issues to consider in teaching grammar
(based on 1000s of written articles/books)
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Presentation (1st time) vs ‘re-presentation’
Presentation vs practice
Types of presentation
Types of practice
How much grammar to include/exclude
How to simplify complex grammar items
Grammar in isolation vs grammar in context
Teaching grammar vs testing grammar
Presenting ‘new’ grammar items
• THE FORM: what part of speech/regular or
irregular/spelling/pronunciation/word order
• THE MEANING: “the exact meaning you are
concentrating on” (Gower et al. 2005)
• THE USE: in what contexts/by which people/
on what occasions
• POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: different from L1,
many variants etc.
3 basic approaches
• DEDUCTIVE
• INDUCTIVE
• A mix of Deductive and Inductive
Which teaching methods are associated?
Is one approach better than another?
It depends on …………… ?
Advantages and disadvantages of each?
Contextualizing grammar presentation
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Pictures or video (eliciting or oral presenting)
Mime or drama (eliciting)
Texts (oral or written)
Short dialogues (oral or written)
The grammar is presented in context: students
learn inductively and work out the rules
IS THIS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA?
Teaching the rules
Recommended when:
• The meaning of the item is easy to understand
but the structure is complex. Example:
comparatives and superlatives (Gower 2005)
• The students have reached a level when they
can talk about language in this way
• Learners prefer it
A GOOD or a BAD IDEA?
Troubleshooting
• Students don’t understand the form
SOLUTIONS ?
• Students don’t understand the meaning
SOLUTIONS?
• Students don’t understand use (cf K. essay)
SOLUTIONS?
• Students understand but motivation is low
SOLUTIONS?
Some words of advice
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The aim of each presentation must be clear
Instructions must be clear (In English? In L1?)
The amount of new language must right
The context must be meaningful
Materials must be user-friendly/stimulating
The whiteboard, visuals and miming can help
The classroom atmosphere and the teacher's
management should encourage participation
Indicated Reading (books)
• Gower, R. et al. 2005, Teaching Practice: a Handbook
for Teachers in Training, Macmillan
• Hall, N. & Shepheard, J. 1991, The Anti-grammar
Grammar Book, Longman
• Rinvolucri, M. 1984, Grammar Games, CUP
• Seymour, D. & Popova, M. 2003, 700 Classroom
Activities, Macmillan
• Ur, P. 1993, Grammar Practice Activities, CUP
• Ur, P. 1996, A Course in Grammar Teaching, CUP
Indicated Reading (articles)
• Ellis, R. 2002, ‘Grammar Teaching – Practice or
Consciousness-Raising’. In Richards, J. (ed.),
Methodology in Language Teaching, C.U. P.
• Nitta, R. & Gardner, S., 2005, ‘Consciousness-raising
and practice in ELT coursebooks’, ELT Journal 59/1
• Nunan, D. 1998, ‘Teaching Grammar in Context’, ELT
Journal 52/2
• Swan, M. 2002, ‘Seven Bad Reasons for Teaching
Grammar’. In Richards, J. & Renandya, W. (eds.) ,
Methodology in Language Teaching, C.U.P.
Grammar practice: what is it?
• The learner manipulates and tries out the new
language by producing different examples
• The teacher begins by exercising a lot of control
which is gradually relaxed
• Learning is consolidated by committing new material
to the learner's long-term memory(Penny Ur 1993)
“By and large these assumptions go unchallenged and
have become part of the mythology of language
teaching” (Ellis 2005)
What is ‘Consciousness-raising’?
• In CR there is an attempt to isolate grammar
• Learners are supplied with data which
illustrates the grammar and maybe a rule
• Learners use intellectual effort to understand
the target language
• The main aim is “to develop explicit
knowledge of grammar” but not ‘metalingual
knowledge’. (Ellis 2005).
Principle 1: Volume & Opportunities
• “The more language learners are exposed to
or produce, the more they are likely to learn:
this means devoting plenty of time to practice
sessions and exploiting that time effectively"
(Penny Ur)
• Priorities in language learning (or any skill
learning): Practice, practice, practice.
Principle 2: Drills & Repetition
• Important to get learners to perceive or
practise examples over and over again,
whether by drilling with the whole group,
individuals repeating etc.
• Repetition for pronunciation is important at
this stage ...... let learners get used to the
sounds as well
Principle 3: Dealing with Errors
• This is the stage to monitor for errors and to
intervene where necessary and correct.
• It is also important to allow learners extra
practice after they have perceived the errors
Awareness of a structure does not mean that
its form, meaning and use have been learnt
Principle 4: Supporting Learners
• Teachers do not only correct; they also
support, assist and encourage by giving extra
time to think, paraphrasing or simplifying,
suggesting hints, giving prompts
• They also motivate. Practice shouldn't be
purely mechanical. Grammar activities needn't
be boring, they can be challenging. Examples?
Principle 5: Teacher Control
Very controlled
practice
Controlled
practice
Guided practice
Communicative
practice
Very controlled & controlled activities
• Likes & dislikes: “Do you like fish?” “Yes, I do”,
“No, I don’t” “I love/hate fish” “Does he ….?”
• Sentence building: each student becomes a
word in a sentence
• Sentence jigsaws: students manipulate the
language of a dialogue in groups
• Grammar + intonation: “He came yesterday,
didn’t he?”, “She will do the shopping, …….”
Guided activities (Seymour & Popova)
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Dictation (p.67)
Dictation of sentence endings (p.79)
‘Arriving late’ pairwork (p.91)
‘So’ and ‘such’ (p.114)
Guided or semi-controlled activities provide a
clear framework for practice with some room
for creativity
Communicative practice (Seymour & Popova)
• Fishy stories (p.88)
• Newspaper headlines for past continuous +
past simple (p.89)
• Values board game (Keep Talking, F.Klippel)
Freer activities that focus on communicative
aims rather than specific language items.