MODULE 6: TECHNIQUES & STRATEGIES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR

A. Grammar-based Teaching
The teachers, through grammar, can help students use the language
correctly and appropriately. The teacher should help the students
understand the different tenses and how to use them. In English, there are
so many present, past, future, past participle, present progressive etc., and
also gerunds which can act as nouns. Drawing out a timeline and giving
examples with specific times work the best in teaching tenses. The teacher
should constantly remind the students to use proper verb conjugation and
make a list of all the exceptions (e.g.
everyone/someone/everybody/somebody ‘is’, not ‘are’). English prepositions
are a problem. Too many prepositions should not be taught at one time. The
teacher should help the student to put the prepositions in context (in a
situation where the use is natural). Using prepositions can also be very
difficult for ESL students, so it is best to have a list of what each preposition
is usually used for and practice fill in the blank ones (e.g. in July, at 8.00
a.m., on 6th September, etc.,).
Teaching Grammar and Topics Integrated
Grammar-based teaching is the teaching of a language built-around
the linguistic components of the language (e.g. past tense, gerund etc.,)
English treated this way is put as a subject, rather than a skill. It is taught
and learned as parts, not as a whole. So, the problem associated with
grammar-based teaching is that language items taught are given in isolation,
not in context.
So, if topic-based teaching is integrated into grammar teaching, it will
be of much use. Topic-based teaching is teaching built around topics. What is
taught is topics, not linguistic components. While the teacher teaches a
linguistic form, he has to think of a good topic (eg. childhood experiences,
values, family etc.,) to serve as the context in which the form is going to be
used. This method covers both grammar and topic integrated with each
other.
While teaching past tense, ask the students to describe the past
events by using past forms such as “Past ‘be’ forms: was, were, past modals:
could, would etc., past verbs: regular-ed forms: walked, played etc., irregular
forms: sang, wrote etc.,”
E.g. When I was 5, I could sing very well.
I would sing a lot at school.
I would sing in the bathroom too.
I used to participate in singing contests and I won most of them.
My parents were very happy.

B. Diagramming Sentences
In the past, memorization-based techniques that relied on repetition
slowly gave way to more creative methods. One of the older forms of
teaching grammar, diagramming sentences, involves visually mapping the
structures of and relationships between different aspects of a sentence.
Example

C. Learning through Writing

The method of learning through writing encourages the students to
explore language through creative writing and reading, picking up correct
grammar usage along the way. An emphasis is placed upon language
acquisition over language learning, as learning grammar by memorization
only does not work well and that students are better able to recognize and
understand grammatical rules when lessons are more interactive (i.e., they
have to apply these rules in their own writing). Repeated practice is also
important and easily achieved through creative or personal writing exercises.
D. Interactive Teaching
Another method of teaching grammar is to incorporate interactivity
into lessons-using games to teach grammar not only engages students but
also helps them to remember what they have learned. This method allows
the teachers to prepare their lessons to the different learning styles of
students. For instance, each student can be given a large flash card with a
word on it and the students must physically arrange themselves into a
proper sentence. Other games include word puzzles, picture stories,
expanding texts etc.
E. The Language Experience Approach
The language experience approach, as pointed out by Larsen Freeman,
is a technique in which the learners dictate to the instructor, in English,
something they would like to be able to say. The instructor then writes
students’ messages in correct, grammatical English and gives them to the
students. For example, a student might say or write, “I late the work for the
bad traffic”. The teacher would write the sentence as “I was late for work
because the traffic was bad”. With the corrected text in hand, students have
the opportunity to compare what they said or wrote with the correct form of
the messages they wished to convey, ask questions and learn. In English,
word order is more important. Very often ESL students produce sentences
that sound strange to the native’s ear because the order of the words in the
sentences is wrong. Teachers should help the students to rearrange words to
form meaningful sentences and the teachers should also encourage students
to speak and write about their daily events freely.

F. Structure-based Task
Structure-based task is a strategy in which the students are asked to
compare two cities. A pair of students should tell each other about the
features of familiar cities and record the information on task sheets. They are
then instructed to write sentences comparing the cities according to the
features they had described (e.g. Chennai is bigger than Madurai). Students
are not explicitly taught comparative structures at any point during the task,
but they have to use comparative forms to complete it. Afterwards, the
teacher should teach a lesson on comparatives and students should rewrite
incorrect sentences, do more exercises and then read stories that contain
frequent instances of the comparative form.
G. Communicative Competence Model
In the communicative competence model, the purpose of learning
grammar is to learn the language of which grammar is a part. The teachers
therefore teach grammar forms and structures in relation to meaning and
use for the specific communication tasks that students need to complete. For
example, while teaching the past tense in English, the teachers could
distribute a short narrative about recent experiences or events and teach the
regular-‘ed’ form, using verbs that occur in the text as examples. Then the
teachers should teach the pronunciation and doubling rules if those forms
occur in the texts and then teach the irregular verbs that occur in the texts.
H. The Discovery Technique
The discovery technique is a method of teaching in which students are
not directly presented with a target-grammatical structure or rule. Instead
students are given consent in which the target structure is used. Students
then discover the grammatical rule or figure out the pattern for themselves.
The teacher’s role is to guide students to their own discovery, not to give
students the information on the grammar rule. The discovery technique may
seem a lot like task based learning, but the task based learning puts a
communication exercise before students and does not stress the grammar
necessary for this task. The discovery technique, on the other hand, focuses
on a particular grammar point, and the goal of the lesson is to learn that
point and to elicit a grammar rule from the students and not complete a
communication task. With the discovery technique, there is a greater
emphasis on implicit knowledge, which gives students language in context
and then challenges them to figure out the grammar on their own. Students
tend to remember the rules of grammar better because they have played a
part in discovering them.
I. Using Realia
Bringing objects into the classroom or using the objects you find in the
classroom can help bring a grammar point to life and create a physical
memory hook. Realia can be used to create a context for the target
language. For example, we suggest using such things as a bag of rice, a
glass of water, a balloon and a tea bag to introduce the concept of countable
and uncountable nouns. It can also provide further practice. Objects that the
students have brought to class provide a talking point to present and
practise possessive structures.
J. Dialogue building
This collaborative technique involves setting a scene and, with the
students’ help, writing a dialogue on the board including the language you
want to focus on. Example, the teacher provides a framework for a dialogue
between waiters and customers in a restaurant. This is a familiar situation in
which the indefinite pronouns something, anything and nothing occur
naturally. Students then either practice the dialogue in pairs as it is or with
variations (eg different choices of food and drink, a different type of
restaurant). A great way to push students towards memorizing the language
is to gradually erase the text, word by word, until the students are repeating
the dialogue from memory.
K. Dictogloss
In a dictogloss, the teacher has a text prepared to dictate to the class,
but instead of dictating it slowly to ensure students write a faithful copy, they
read it at a more natural speed two or more times. Prepare a text of no more
than 100 words (fewer for lower-level students). Read it out first for content,
and check comprehension. Then tell students to write down keywords, such
as nouns and verbs, as you read it out again. Explain that even though they
will not be able to write every word, they should keep writing as much as
possible. Using their notes, students in pairs or small groups reconstruct the
text in complete sentences. The idea is not to reproduce the text verbatim,
but to focus in on certain aspects of the language used. For example, a
dictogloss activity focusing on the use of would to talk about past habits.
L. Error correction
Students want and expect correction from their teacher. Choosing
which mistakes to correct, when to do so and how, are complex questions.
It’s important, however, to remember that students who need the most
correction may not be those that make the most or biggest mistakes. Lower-
level or quiet, shy students may benefit from less correction so that they are
not discouraged from using English, however imperfectly. We correct
students in the hope that they won’t keep making those mistakes. To
encourage them to think about their errors, let them try out new language,
listening out for errors of use. Then point out the errors and show them the
corrections. Finally, let them do the activity again, this time with those
common errors fresh in their minds. In a shopping role play, for example,
students can perform the role play first, you correct any errors, then they
swap roles and try again.

References
Strategies in Teaching English Grammar by Meenadevi (2017)

https://www.myetpedia.com/techniques-for-teaching-english-grammar

https://www.inklyo.com/methods-of-teaching-grammar/
https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/sentences/diagramming-sentences.html