MFL SCITT App
GRAMMAR
Page 1 : what I’m aiming for
Page 2 : self-evaluation and self-diagnosis
Page 3: coaching questions
Page 4 : further resources
Page 1 What I’m aiming for
The teaching of grammar has been a thorny area for the past 20 years or so. Some teachers have
seen the need for communicative competence as outweighing a need for total accuracy. Many of
these teachers felt that previous teaching of foreign languages focused too much on language forms,
i.e. manipulating words / sentences and ensuring correct endings.
Clearly without a sufficient command of grammar, pupils are unable to communicate clearly (for
example they may be unable to communicate clearly in the desired tense). Thus grammar needs to
be explicitly taught. However the teaching of grammar must be within the context of the overall aim
of learning a language, namely the pupils’ ability to communicate in the target language
independently and for their own purposes. Whilst knowing grammatical vocabulary can help, this
should not be the main focus of teaching grammar. The focus should rather be that pupils can use
(independently and for their own purposes) the grammatical structures you teach them.
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Core (OFSTED 2, 2/3)
You identify the grammatical structures
pupils need to master for that particular
class (Y7, Y8, Y9 etc.). You ensure productive
practice in lessons (sp, wr) which enables
pupils to use the structures accurately and
fluently.
You contextualise appropriately
/imaginatively the practice of the
grammatical structure(s) e.g. ‘I would like X’
in a shopping / café situation; future tense
discussing future plans [career, marriage
etc]; conditional tense discussing ideal
schools, ideal partners etc.
You ensure suitable variety of grammatical
structures in a lesson (e.g. very limited
variety in early Y7, wide variety in top set
Y11)
Pupils internalise and embed the
‘grammatical rules’, either deducing them
for themselves from prior language practice
or learning to apply a rule you’ve previously
explained / demonstrated.
Pupils’ spoken and written accuracy during
productive tasks is quite good, especially
regarding elements crucial to clear
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Extension (OFSTED 1)
You find ways of teaching some grammar
points (e.g. tenses) without resorting to
English; this can include visuals and the use
of cognates ( esp. in French / Spanish for
parts of speech)
You encourage abler pupils to apply
grammatical structures to new contexts i.e.
you promote their ability to use language
more ‘creatively’
Pupils’ spoken and written accuracy during
productive tasks is noticeably good, not only
regarding elements crucial to clear
communication (e.g. tense endings, rather
than adjectival endings)
You identify grammatical structures where
pupils’ productive command (wr, sp) needs
to be strong and those where receptive
command (li, re) is sufficient.
communication (e.g. tense endings, rather
than adjectival endings)
Page 2 Self-evaluation
1. Do you try to use the target language as much as possible in the lessons, especially for routine
elements like starting the lesson, opening and closing books, managing pairwork ? Have you
planned what you will say at such routine points, in order to be consistent (a) from lesson to
lesson (b) to align yourself with pupils’ experience in other classes (you may be taking in Y9 a
colleague’s current Y8 pupils, or vice versa and so consistency of practice will be important to
assist pupils’ learning) ?
Page 3 Self coaching (but could also usefully be done with the support of your mentor)
1. What feedback are you looking for to assess how well pupils are taking your ‘maximum use of
the target language’ in lessons (e.g. informal feedback [body language etc] or more formal
evaluation) ?
Page 4 Possible further resources
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Learning to Teach Foreign Languages in the Secondary School: A companion to school
experience Norbert Pachler, Michael Evans, Ana Redondo