METHODS AND APPROACHES FOR GRAMMAR

UNIT 1
A history of teaching approaches
People have been learning additional languages through formal education for a long
time, and the methods and approaches used have changed many times over the years,
especially in the last century.

What is it that has an impact on these changes? Well, people know more now about
the psychology of learning than before.

Basic assumptions about how and why people learn have been developed and adapted,
and this affects the way languages are taught.

Read about four different language-teaching approaches made popular in the last century,
answering the two questions that follow each approach.

Approach 1. Audio-lingual method

The theory behind this is that learning a language means learning habits.

The new language is heard and drilled repeatedly before the learner sees it in its written form.

Learners mimic, repeat and memorise set phrases and grammar structures.

The audio-lingual method is all about repetition and memorisation of words and phrases until
the learners produce the language spontaneously. There is no explanation of grammar.

The teacher gives the example language in context, and the learners repeat the language. If
they are correct, they get praised, and if they are wrong, they get negative feedback.

Approach 2. Direct method

The theory behind this method is that second-language learning is similar to how we learn
our first language in terms of the order of skills.

All teaching is done in the target language, and the learner is not allowed to use his or her
own language.

When children learn their first language, they speak first. The direct method follows this
theory, and so the focus is on speaking and oral interaction.

Grammar is taught indirectly through examples and situations. Pictures, objects and
association are used to teach vocabulary.
 Approach 3. Communicative language teaching

This method focuses on helping learners to communicate well and appropriately in different
real-life situations.

There is a focus on all skills, grammar and vocabulary.

In this approach, the focus is on meaning and helping learners to produce language that suits
their own contexts.

In this method, the focus is on helping learners communicate in real-life situations, which
means developing fluency as well as accuracy.

Approach 4. Grammar translation method

This comes from the classical method of language learning, which used to be associated with
learning Latin and Greek.

The aim of this method was to produce learners who could read literature in Latin and Greek.

In this method, learners study the grammatical rule then apply the rule by translating from
one language into the target language.

This method focuses on reading rather than speaking.

PPP
Over the years a number of popular approaches have emerged. You'll look at some of these in
this unit and in Unit 2.

PPP

The first approach you'll look at is called the PPP approach. Do you know what PPP
stands for?

 Presentation: This is the first stage. The teacher builds context and elicits/highlights
meaning, form and pronunciation.
 Practice: This stage consists of controlled practice time. The learners practise the
target language with drills and controlled activities, focusing on accuracy.
 Production: This is a freer practice stage. The learners personalise the language and
use it in a less controlled activity, focusing on fluency.

Look at the table summarising the PPP approach, then answer the questions.

Stage and description Suggested timing

Presentation
Input – the teacher builds context and elicits/highlights meaning, form and About 15 minutes
pronunciation. Realia, flashcards or short stories can be used.
Practice
Controlled practice – the learners practise the target language through drills
and restricted-use activities, focusing on accuracy.
About 20 minutes
Examples include gap-fills, substitution drills, split sentences, picture
dictations, matching exercises.

Teacher corrects phonological and grammatical mistakes.

Production
Free practice – the learners try to personalise and use the language in a freer About 25 minutes
activity, focusing on fluency.

Most time should be spent on the final stage – production. This is where learners can practise
and personalise the new language.

Usually the teacher shows the learners the rules first, then they do some practice using
sentence starters or prompts.

 Advantages

PPP is more suitable for lower-level learners. The benefits for the teacher are that it's an easy
approach to set up, formulaic and highly structured.

Teachers also feel confident that they have done their job, i.e. presented the language to all
the learners (although this doesn't mean that all the learners understand or are able to use it).

Learners know what to expect because there is a clear structure to the lesson.

 Disadvantages

The negatives are that it's a top-down approach, teacher-led and predictable. Some learners
may find this approach too boring or too passive and 'switch off'.

Language structures tend to be isolated and unnatural. This can be problematic for learners
trying to relate the grammar to the language they already know.

Inductive and deductive approaches

You saw that the PPP approach is teacher-led, with the teacher explaining the grammar rules.

Another approach is to help learners discover the rules themselves.

These two approaches are:

 deductive approach: teacher tells learners the rules

 inductive approach: teacher helps learners discover the rules.

Open the headings to look at the differences between deductive and inductive teaching and
learning.
  Deductive approach

With a deductive approach, there's very little exploration done by the learners. It's
quite teacher-centred.

Some learners really do prefer it, maybe because they're more familiar with it or
sometimes because it's less work for them.

The deductive approach is definitely time-saving and allows more time for practising
the language items, which means it's an effective approach with lower-level learners.

 Inductive approach

An inductive approach to teaching, on the other hand, involves asking learners to work
to discover language.

It's more beneficial for learners who already have a base in the language, as it
encourages them to use their existing knowledge to work things out.

A teacher in an inductive lesson may be heard saying some of the following things:

Is this correct or not?

Why did you use that tense?

Is this formal or informal?

Check with your partner.

Learners are working out rules together and so are more active in an inductive type lesson.

Deductive lessons often follow a pattern and are therefore easier for the teacher to plan.

Even though the PPP approach is generally considered a deductive approach, there are still
ways to make it as learner-centred as possible, for example using real contexts, checking
comprehension regularly throughout the lesson and giving learners opportunities to ask
questions.

Jim Scrivener, in Learning Teaching (2011), suggests that all grammar teaching and
clarification falls on a continuum from explanation to guided discovery to self-directed
discovery.

Where do you think PPP falls on the continuum? Think about it, then open the heading to
check your answer.

 The more the teacher talks and explains, the farther left it is. The more opportunities you
give learners for discovering and exploring language, the farther right your approach is.

As you look at more approaches in the rest of this module, try to keep this continuum in
mind. As always, think about how this is relevant to your own teaching.
 Task-based learning
A task-based approach to learning (TBL) offers an alternative to PPP for language teachers.

A task-based lesson is usually based around the completion of a task.

The teacher doesn't decide what language will be studied and used.

The language comes from what happens while the learners complete a task.

What is a task?

Tasks in a TBL approach aren't like those you find in coursebooks, such as Fill in the gaps or
Match these words and pictures.

True TBL tasks should be things you do in real life, like planning a journey, finding out about
a subject to give a presentation or writing a leaflet.

Many teachers learn about the TBL approach through the books and websites by Dave and
Jane Willis.

Willis and Willis offer the following criteria in the form of questions. The more confidently
you can answer 'yes' to each of these questions, the more your activity is like a task.

•Will the activity engage learners' interest?

•Is there a primary focus on meaning?

•Is there a goal or an outcome?

•Is success judged in terms of outcome?

•Is completion a priority?

•Does the activity relate to real-world activities?

Task-based learning generally follows three stages:

1. Pre-task activities

2. The task cycle: completing the task and planning a report

3. Reporting, analysing language and post-task activities.

Sometimes TBL tasks can take a whole lesson or even a series of lessons, such as planning a
journey, finding out about a subject to give a presentation or writing a leaflet. But they can
also be short and simple.

Look at this next task and think about your answers to the questions.

Task

With a partner, brainstorm all animals you can see in a zoo.

 Agree and list the most popular five animals.

Give reasons for why you included them, and be prepared to justify your decisions to
others.

Does this task fulfil the list of criteria from Willis and Willis? Remember that the more
confidently you can answer 'yes' to the questions, the more the activity is like a task.

Select the questions where the answer is 'yes'.

Will the activity engage learners' interest?

Is there a primary focus on meaning?

Is there a goal or an outcome?

Is success judged in terms of outcome?

Is completion a priority?

Does the activity relate to real-world activities?

 Feedback

 The answer is 'yes' to all the questions. It's engaging because the learners are working
with a partner, talking about animals, as well as debating and justifying.
 The primary focus is on meaning, it's not on learning particular structures or
vocabulary, but on learners getting the meaning of their sentences across to each other.
 The outcome is to present their justifications to others and explain why. The teacher
needs to manage the lesson so that the task is completed.
 People compose lists, discuss and justify their choices regularly in daily life so there is
a real-world connection.

Look at the real-life language skills which can be developed through doing tasks like this
one:

•generating ideas

•forming opinions

•narrowing ideas for a specific goal

•committing to an opinion

•defending choices.

Can you think of instructions you could give in the zoo task to help develop these skills?

For example, an instruction like Choose the most popular five helps learners develop skills of
narrowing down ideas for a specific goal.
Now look at the example instruction and decide which of the real-life language skills it helps
to reinforce.

With a partner, Agree and list Give reasons Be prepared to

brainstorm why justify

Generating ideas Forming opinions Committing to an Defending

opinion choices

You've just looked at some of the language skills that learners develop when you give them
particular tasks.

Tasks also provide an opportunity to develop other real-life skills, such as:

•problem solving

•ordering/classifying

•brainstorming

•comparing

•being creative

•sharing personal experiences.

When planning lessons, you may find it helpful to think of these types of skills and include
tasks to help your learners develop those skills. Remember, tasks can be simple, regular parts
of your lessons.

Read the three examples of tasks and decide which real-life skill is being developed.

1. Which task develops the skill of comparing?

Learners draw their own family tree and talk about it in small groups.

In groups, learners look at each other's families and write sentences about the similarities
and differences. 

In groups or pairs, learners look at a series of pictures. They then write a story based on the
pictures.

 Looking at similarities and differences helps develop skills of comparison.

2. Which task develops skills of creativity?

Learners draw their own family tree and talk about it in small groups.

In groups, learners look at each other's families and write sentences about the similarities
and differences.

In groups or pairs, learners look at a series of pictures. They then write a story based on
 the pictures.

 Writing a story based on pictures helps develop learners' skills of creativity.

The family tree task helps learners to share personal experiences.

3. Which task develops skills of ordering/classifying?

The teacher draws a chart or table on the board and asks the learners to help her put the
vocabulary in the correct columns. 

Learners list all the people in a family. This gives learners thinking time, and the teacher
can see what learners know and don't know.

The learners listen to a story about a family. They imagine how they're related to each
other. They listen again, fill in the family tree, then check in groups.

 Using columns, grouping or ordering from most important to least important are ways of
classifying words.

 Advantages
 A TBL approach develops real-life skills through completing a task. The language
comes from doing the task, which makes the language more meaningful and useful for
learners outside the classroom.
 Learners can use whatever vocabulary and grammar they know and therefore can learn
from each other.

 Disadvantages
 It takes longer to prepare for the teacher. This includes designing the task as well as
thinking about the language level the learners need to do the task.
 Often the tasks take longer to complete, and sometimes can take two or more lessons.
It takes time for the learners to understand the task.
 Task-based learning can be more difficult for lower levels.

 In a TBL approach, the teacher does not explain grammar rules. The learners explore the
language themselves, and so this approach is inductive.

UNIT 1 REVIEW

1. In the last stage of a PPP lesson (the production stage), the teacher should let the
learners speak freely and not give feedback.  False

Although the aim of the production stage is to get learners talking fluently, it's still
important to monitor and make a note of errors.
This way you can build in class feedback and error analysis at the end of the lesson.

2. Providing all the necessary information in the presentation stage of a PPP lesson
means the teacher can be confident that the learners know it. ?  False

Teaching all the content is not the same as learning it.

Learners learn at different rates, so concepts may need to be checked and reviewed at later
stages in the lesson.

3. Tasks in a TBL approach include exercises like multiple choice and gap-fill activities.
 False
TBL tasks should be meaningful, with relevance to real-life activities, for example
planning a journey or making a poster.

Do you remember the types of skills developed in TBL tasks? They're skills like generating
ideas, forming opinions, defending choices, etc.

4. An inductive approach is more learner-centred than a deductive approach.  True

In an inductive approach, the teacher helps learners discover the rules and features of
language, so it's more learner-centred.

However, there are ways to make deductive approaches learner-centred too.

5. Inductive approaches are better for learners with no experience of the language. 
False

Inductive approaches are better for learners who already have some knowledge of the
language.

UNIT 2
 Test, teach, test
Another alternative to the traditional PPP approach is the test, teach, test (TTT) approach.

In a TTT lesson, learners produce language first, before learning the related language.

The teacher asks them to do a particular task (like a role play or a written task). Then, based
on the problems seen, the teacher plans and presents the target language. Then the learners do
another task to practise the new language.

An example

Learners who haven't studied phrasal verbs are given a text and asked to find examples
of phrasal verbs.

They're able to do this but not to deduce meaning. The teacher plans a lesson to help
learners develop this and then asks them to do a similar activity.

TTT is a useful approach, as it enables teachers to identify and address the specific needs of
learners concerning a language area.

It can be particularly useful at intermediate levels and above, where learners may have seen
language before but have specific problems with it, and also in mixed-level classes, when it
can help identify objectives for each individual.

Read this task from a general English course in which learners sign up for a course at BEST
Language School, using a registration form.

Lesson notes: Registering at a language school

1. The teacher hands out the language course forms and asks the learners to make
questions in pairs and do a role play asking for information (e.g. What is your
surname?)
2. The learners have difficulties doing the task and cannot make correct questions
(e.g. When do you want to start?).
3. The teacher notes the language problems and after the activity models and drills
the correct questions.
4. The learners do drills and language practice activities.
5. Then the teacher asks the learners to make their own language course form.
6. The learners do the role play again.

Note taking
 Imagine you are teaching this lesson. What would you do in the following situations?

1. During the first role play, all the learners show that they know the language and do the
role play very well. There are no major language problems.

2. During the first role play, about half of the learners have difficulties with the language,
but the other half do not.

What kinds of ideas did you come up with? Compare your ideas with those below.

1. If the learners show that they know the language and do the role play very well, you can
simply move on to another topic!

2. If some of the learners perform well, you can encourage peer teaching and communicating
by asking those who did well to 'teach' those who did less well.

You can have group leaders, or a 'temporary teacher' at the board. This creates a sense of
collaboration and has good communicative value.

Advantages and disadvantages

Let's talk about some of the good points of TTT first.

I like that it creates a collaborative atmosphere. Learners need to discover and problem solve.

Secondly, it can really save time if the learners already know the material.

Have you ever taught a lesson and felt that it was unnecessary because they already were
confident with the language structure you're teaching? TTT helps avoid that problem.

Next, I find that many learners like the challenge of showing what they know.

To be honest, many of them think they know more than they do and surprise themselves, but
that's not bad. This helps them realise they really do need the lesson.

OK, some of the disadvantages of TTT.

Well, I mentioned it can really save time if learners already know the target grammar or
vocabulary.

But if they don't know it, that first 'test' stage of the lesson can really use up valuable time. So
although you might save time using TTT, sometimes you might also lose it!

Another possible problem is that some learners don't believe their classmates actually know
the answer, so when they have to do the first stage, there are some arguments.

The last disadvantage is that it can be quite difficult to prepare a TTT lesson.
You have to know your learners really well and be quite accurate in predicting what language
they will need to learn, otherwise you'll plan for lessons you don't need, or not be prepared
for lessons they do need.

Using the TTT approach is a good way to find out what the learners know or can
remember. It's a good review strategy and is useful when preparing for an assessment or
end-of-unit review.

During feedback learners check each other's work – this encourages peer teaching.

However, it takes a skilled planner to make a TTT lesson work well.

Guided discovery
You'll take the role of the learner for the first part of this section.

Topic: Learner characteristics

Look at this table of adjectives. Separate them into positive, negative or both.

loud easy slow

good quiet kind
stern cheerful bad
strict rude fast

Positive Negative Both

good bad quiet
easy stern loud
cheerful strict fast
kind rude slow
A teacher describes their learners

In a moment, you'll read a transcript of a teacher talking about characteristics of good and bad
learners.

Before you read, what adjectives do you think you will hear? Mark them on your list.

When you're ready, continue to read what the teacher says.

Transcript

TEACHER: I have about 30 learners in my class, and they are all so different! Some are
very hard-working, while others are a bit more relaxed about their learning. One learner is
very kind and often helps the other learners when they struggle.

I have one group who are very quiet and not very talkative. They are very easy to work
 with and cheerful too.

One learner in the group is very stern, but I think it's just a look because he's also very
friendly and waits patiently for his group to finish their work. He works fast.

Another learner is very loud and enthusiastic. He brings a lot of energy to the class.

I love having all the different personalities in my class. It makes teaching fun and
interesting.

1. Why is guided discovery an important approach?

It encourages participation and develops learner independence and critical thinking.

2. Why can learners remember the rules?

The learners are engaged and an active part of the learning. They're personally involved in
working out the rules.

3. Why do you think some learners don't like this approach?

They aren't used to it, as this is a non-traditional way of doing things. They may believe
it's the teacher's job to tell them. They may also feel insecure about being asked to work
the rules out themselves or afraid of getting it wrong.

What do you think the order of the stages of a guided discovery lesson usually are?

Stage 1

The teacher creates a context to show the meaning of the language, using pictures,
storytelling, reading or listening, etc.

Stage 2

The teacher uses questions and activities, e.g. matching activities, to guide learners. Learners
analyse and co-operate as they develop their understanding of the language.

Stage 3

The teacher elicits the rules from learners and may get them to complete a gap-fill about the
rules.

Teaching tip

You can apply a guided discovery approach to any lesson you teach.

The main thing to remember with guided discovery is to ask good questions – ones that
encourage the learners to notice language and think about it.

You may ask these questions in class or have them on a worksheet that guides your learners
 in making conclusions.

Lead your learners to discovery – that's the key!

Flipped learning
Flipped learning is a relatively newer approach to teaching compared to the approaches
you've read about so far in this module.

Flipped learning is when learners look at part of the learning material before class.

During class, the time is used to practise the language, answer questions and do more group
work.

The term comes from taking a traditional approach to teaching and turning it upside down,
flipping the model.

Read the text to find out more about flipped learning.

How did flipped learning start?

It all started in 2006 with two chemistry teachers at a US secondary school.

They had a lot of learners who often missed class. The teachers were frustrated because they
had to repeat a lot of lessons and information. They decided to record their lessons.

They put their lessons online, and the learners watched the recordings before class.

The learners could watch at home, on their phones or on laptops at school in their breaks.
They could watch the lessons when they were ready and in their own time.

This helped solve some of the issues of learners missing class

Advantages

Using a flipped learning approach means that class time is used to help learners use the
language.

In a flipped classroom, the learners come ready for the topic, with an understanding of the
grammar, so there is more time for meaningful practice. There is more learner talking time,
which is motivating for learners.

Disadvantages

It can be time-consuming to find and prepare materials for learners.

If using online materials or storing materials online, you also need to find a place to do this.

UNIT 2 REVIEW

1. TTT is a useful approach, as it enables teachers to identify the specific needs of learners
concerning a language area and address this need appropriately.  TRUE

When you 'test' learners in a language area, you can determine if they need more instruction
and practice in a particular part of that language focus.

2. Guided discovery is an inductive approach.  TRUE

Remember the continuum? When a teacher uses guided discovery, they help learners
discover the language, and that's inductive.

3. Tell each other what action verbs you wrote down from watching the sports video at
home.

Which approach is this teacher using?  FLIPPED LEARNING

The teacher is asking learners to summarise their pre-class work. Doing exercises before
class is part of flipped learning.

4. Well, that wasn't done badly at all. Good work! There were some problems with the
phrasal verbs for the role plays, so that's what we're going to work on now.

Which approach is this teacher using?  TTT

This teacher has 'tested' the learners using a role play and is now going to work on the
language area they had trouble with.

5. Which of the following activities can be done before class?  Read an article, Listen to
a short broadcast, Watch a short video

Role plays are best done in class because the teacher can guide and correct. Role plays need
more than one person, and this is easier in a class.

UNIT 3
 Personal experiences
Part 1: Chris shares his thoughts on teaching grammar

[TEXT ON SCREEN: What areas of English grammar do your learners often find
difficult?]

[TEXT ON SCREEN: Chris Thorn, teacher]

CHRIS [talking to the camera]: So I think the individual areas of grammar that learners
might find more difficult will often depend upon their first language and maybe the
additional languages they have.

If they have equivalent grammatical forms or ideas in those languages, then they'll be able
to understand them a little bit easier when encountering them in English, compared with,
you know, if it's the first time they've sort of encountered this. So that can make a big
difference.

[TEXT ON SCREEN: Why do you think these areas tend to be difficult?]

CHRIS: I think a big reason behind why people might struggle with recognising different
grammar, you know, in listening is just the amount of, you know, practice and focused
practice they have with it in the classroom.

[TEXT ON SCREEN: What areas of grammar did you find difficult when you were
learning English or another foreign language?]

CHRIS: Knowing whether French words are masculine or feminine. We spent lots of time
on this at school. I didn't get it. I didn't understand why, why that was. Why? Why do we
need this? Can I just say the words? And even if I got it wrong, wouldn't, wouldn't people
understand anyway?

[TEXT ON SCREEN: Who, in your opinion, has more problems learning grammar,
children, teenagers or adults?]

CHRIS: Yeah. I think these different groups are all very, very capable of learning English
grammar, but they might do so in slightly different ways.

So it's really important to think about who our learners are in, you know, in our classrooms
and think about the approaches that are going to be most useful and appropriate for them.

Part 2: Chris shares his thoughts on teaching grammar

[TEXT ON SCREEN: Do you need to know grammar rules to communicate effectively?

Why? Why not?]

CHRIS [talking to the camera]: It's possible to be a very effective communicator without
having grammatical accuracy. If you can get your ideas across in a way that other people
 will understand, then you are an effective communicator.

So grammatical accuracy and effective communication are separate things. That's one
point.

Another point that's worth thinking about is that it's possible for people to develop a degree
of grammatical accuracy without knowing grammatical rules at all.

All that being said, I think for a lot of language learners, especially people, you know, sort
of adults who have learned various languages before, they might find grammar rules useful.
They might expect to know them.

They might have an understanding of grammar rules in other languages which they could
then quickly apply to English if they knew these rules, and so be able to make a bit more
sense out of it. And so that might actually aid that communication.

[TEXT ON SCREEN: Are native speakers (who aren't teachers) good at explaining
grammar rules? Why? Why not?]

CHRIS: I'm generalising massively here, but I would say most English native speakers who
are not language teachers I think can be quite awful at being able to explain grammar rules.

I think that's firstly because of a lack of awareness, maybe not even really knowing what
they are, just having an intuitive sense of what's correct and what isn't correct, but not
knowing why that is, not really knowing what the patterns are and how far you can apply
those patterns. I think that's one thing.

Another thing is maybe not having so much experience of explaining grammar and
language to other people and being able to empathise with them as language learners and,
you know, sort of drawing upon their experiences of having learned those rules themselves.

There are lots of different experiences and opinions when it comes to teaching grammar and
using grammar rules.

Imagine you're teaching a lesson on multiword or phrasal verbs. You notice that learners are
having a lot of difficulty, so you stop the lesson and ask them to tell you where the
difficulties lie. You might get a range of responses, like these:

'In my language, we don't have phrasal verbs.'

'I don't see any patterns to forming them – can you show me some patterns?'

'I don't really understand the meaning of some of these. I'd like to see them used in context.'

'The word combinations don't feel natural to me. I just need to practise it.'

'It's all just too complicated.'

 Think back to some of your own earlier English learning and read the quotes again.
Would you have said something similar when you were learning English? Perhaps you can
relate to the comments even now.

Many teachers feel they don't want to focus on rules all the time because:

 there are usually exceptions

 rules themselves can add to complexity.

You might have your own preferences of how to teach grammar or you may have learned
grammar in a particular way at school.

As you go through this unit, think about your learners and how you can best help them learn
grammar.

Presenting and practising grammar

Learning a new skill

Think about something new you've learned as an adult: maybe cooking a new type of cuisine,
perhaps playing a musical instrument or trying a new sport.

Feedback

Probably not. You'd be eager to try it yourself and have the teacher (or video, book, etc.) as a
guide to help you when you get stuck.

A teaching challenge

So one of the challenges in teaching English is to present language in a way that gets learners
eager to try it themselves, and then you can get out of the way while they make their efforts.

In this unit you'll look at a lot of ways to present and practise grammar with your learners.

You've already looked at deductive and inductive approaches to presenting grammar. Other
terms are 'explanation' or 'self-discovery'.

Here's a summary of the two approaches.

Deductive (or explanation)

1. Give learners rules.

2. Give examples.

3. Learners practise.

Example: Form and use of the third conditional is explained to learners, then they have a
gap-fill exercise to complete, then they prepare their own examples.

Inductive (or self-discovery)

 1. Give learners examples of the target language.

2. Ask learners to find rules to explain them.

The inductive approach is more learner-centred because it gives learners opportunities to play
with and discover language and create rules based on what they hear and read.

By working to figure things out, learners are more engaged and remember more.

Approaches in the classroom