Research the grammatical structure you are planning to teach. Ask yourself these questions: Can I understand it myself and do I know how to use it? Is there a context for teaching it and is it appropriate? Is it similar to other structures my learners know? Can I relate it to what they have studied before?
If you are teaching a monolingual group, ask yourself: Is there a similar structure in my students’ own language? Is there a particular reason why they may find this difficult? How can I help them with that?
The purpose here is not to try to learn everything there is to know about the target structure, but to be prepared for the questions and problems that may arise in the lesson. As part of your preparation, you should also try to complete any coursebook exercises or tasks, check the answer key, read the Teacher’s Book notes, and make sure you can explain the correct and incorrect answers.
Asking your students to learn de-contextualized lists of rules and exceptions to those rules can be demotivating. If you allow the target structure to emerge from an interesting and meaningful context, learners are able to see not only what the language means, but also how it can be used communicatively.
A coursebook will usually help you with this, but if published materials are not available or if you want to supplement them, you will need to choose your context and examples carefully so that you do not inadvertently use examples which have many exceptions to the rule. Pictures, videos, texts, recordings, anecdotes, stories, and photographs can all be used to help provide a context for meaningful language use.
The advantage of providing a clear and natural context for students is that they are no longer just practising a grammar point; they are using it to communicate.
Don’t ask your students to repeat or practise a language point if they don’t understand it. There’s no benefit in having students do this if they don’t know what the language means. Meaning should come before form in the lesson, so an easily understood context is a vital starting point.
Check understanding of the language using different techniques. Concept checking questions (CCQs) are an effective way to do this. A good CCQ doesn’t use the language that you are checking, is simple to understand, and requires a short answer. Here is an example of some CCQs to check understanding of used to, using the context sentence He used to go to my local school.
Q Does he go to the school now?
A No.
Q Did he go there in the past?
A Yes.
Q Did he go there regularly?
A Yes.
Make sure that you check understanding with the whole class, and don’t just accept responses from quicker or more confident learners.
Questions such as Do you understand? or Is everyone OK with that? are often not very effective if you want to check understanding. Learners may be reluctant to admit in front of their peers that they don’t understand.
Concept checking questions can be used with other techniques, such as timelines, asking students to act something out, drawing a cline on the board to show a grade or scale, using visual aids, using discrimination questions (e.g. Is it X or Y?), and translation.
To help students remember new language, it is important to provide plenty of practice in the short term, and plenty of opportunities for review in the longer term. Repetition helps learners to retain new language, and whole-class drills or jazz chants are a safe way for learners to practise saying new structures. Guided tasks provide further support and practice. Freer activities, such as role-plays, surveys, interviews, and discussions allow students to incorporate all the language they have available to them in a productive stage, usually towards the end of the lesson.
You can also revisit previously presented grammar points in a new or different context. Quizzes, tests, workbook exercises, and homework can all help you to review and recycle important grammar points, thus increasing the likelihood that your students will remember and retain them.
Use examples that are relevant to your learners and their lives to help make the language more memorable. This may mean adapting your coursebook or teaching materials so that they are more meaningful and relevant for your learners. You could also encourage learners to use their notebooks to write down their own personalized grammar examples.
Keep explanations short. Learners can find grammar lessons boring if the teacher’s explanations are long or involved. Instead, expose your students directly to the language, ideally at a little above their level, and building on what they already know.
Grammar games can be an effective way to provide extra practice, and they can be enjoyable and motivating. Use a range of task types including visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic activities to engage your learners and make your lessons interesting. Using songs, mime, drama games, and Total Physical Response activities can be effective and memorable.
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