Methods of Teaching Grammar in the 'English As a Second and Foreign Language' Classrooms

The role of grammar needs to be demythisized inHow Should Teaching Grammar Be Done?
today's ESL/EFL classroom. There is too muchStrong grammarians don't necessarily make better
speculation that pupils will gain a new grammaticalteachers. Personally, I don't make a big thing out of
structure simply by noticing it and writing down its rules.grammar lessons in terms of teaching them as a set
Learning to understand its complexity is part of theof rules. However the neat order of rules and forms
problem. The other part is how to go about teaching it.gives students something to hold unto, and they feel
What is Your Purpose Teaching Grammar?that they are actually learning a language. But, learning
Depending on the level of the class, teaching grammara bunch of grammatical rules is not learning English.
can either be an inductive or deductive experience.The approach behind your teaching is communicative.
Depending on the class, sometimes I elicit the rules andMemorizing rules will not necessarily help.
forms and uses after showing the students a fewIt is always easy to teach students a nice neat set of
examples. This is inductive teaching where studentsrules. However it is much more difficult to encourage
come up with the rules and uses on their own. In otherthem to use forms to communicate. The grammar
instances, I provide students with the rule and explain itdebate is an ongoing one that faces ESL/EFL
step by step using a few examples. This is deductiveclassrooms that needs rethinking and restructuring as
teaching.the globalization of English continues.