GRAMMAR - to teach it or

not to teach it - A DEBATE

Adriana Lima

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Setting up the context

Teaching English
as a foreign language
to Brazilian students
(children, teens, adults)
at language schools.

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 Opinions about language
learning and teaching

• Learning grammar is first and foremost a question of learning

grammar.
•It is the language teachers’ responsibility to know as much as
possible about the language itself.
•Grammar is best learned deductively – that is, by studying rules
and then applying the rules to examples.
•Grammatical terminology is best avoided in the classroom.
•Giving learners complete rules, even if these are more
complicated, is better than giving them half-rules.
• language should always be studied in its typical contexts of
use, rather than in isolation.
•English doesn’t have very much grammar, compared to
some languages.
•The most important part of grammar is the verb system.

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 More questions

What is grammar?
Do you teach grammar? Why (not)?
Would you like to change the teaching
methodology you are using? How?
 What is grammar

The rules by which words

change their forms and are
recombined into sentences,
or the study of those rules.

(Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English)

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 What is grammar
Grammar is the backbone of the
language.
(a teacher from the ELTECS
discussion list)
Grammar describes the way language
is organised and patterned –
particularly at the level of the sentence
– in order to make meaning.
(Scott Thornbury)
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 What is grammar

Grammar is the search for powerful

patterns.
(Michael Lewis)

Grammar is a tool to help learners

acquire and develop a new language.
(Adriana Lima)

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 GRAMMAR, to teach it or
not to teach it: that is NOT
the question.

People now agree that grammar is

too important to be ignored, and that
without a good knowledge of
grammar, learners’ language
development will be severely
constrained.
Jack C. Richards
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The question is WHY (not) and HOW
Although there is
no best method of
teaching grammar
we do know what
constitutes sound
approaches to the
teaching of
grammar.

Jack C. Richards
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 Why not
•Grammar is not something like a car engine where a fault
in one component such as the ignition or the fuel supply
can cause a complete breakdown. (Michael Swan)
•The syllabus choice for teaching grammar does not follow
the natural order of acquisition.
•Knowing about the language is not knowing the language.
There are mountains of evidence that many learners are
unable to transfer good formal knowledge of grammar to
effective use.
•It is in the book.
•Learners are tired of grammar lessons at school or
college.
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 Why
•Doing too little grammar is, obviously, as damaging as
too much. (Michael Swan)
•Grammar distinguishes you as part of a group. In
some social contexts, serious deviance form native-
speaker norms can hinder integration and excite
prejudice.
•It works as a measure of language proficiency.
Potential employers and examiners may require a high
level of grammatical correctness.
•It is a way of reducing ambiguity
•Learners expect to learn some grammar and expect
their teachers to know it.
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 How – some possibilities
 Lexical approach
In arguing for a Lexical Approach I am
saying that emphasis must always lie upon
content. (Michael Lewis)

• Language awareness
Consciousness-raising emphasises
discovery learning, it is a supplement to
communication activities. (Rod Ellis)
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 How – some possibilities
 Task based learning
The advantages of such an approach are greater
fluency and the capacity to solve communication
problems. But such solutions do not lead them to
longer-term progress. (Jack C. Richards)
 Error correction
By responding to the errors that learners make in
attempts to communicate, you are more likely to
match each learner’s individual developmental
trajectory than by trying to pre-empt error
through pre-teaching. (Scott Thornbury)
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 How – some possibilities

 Text analysis
Students first step is to look carefully at the
language they meet and see what they can
learn from it. Grammar from texts is
contextualised and it shows what native
speakers really say (or write) rather than
what we would like them to say. (Dave
Willis)

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It is unlikely that any of the grammar you
teach will take hold if there are not frequent
opportunities for putting it to practical use.
It means using language creatively in
interaction.

Scott Thornbury

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 Conclusions
 Getting students more personally
involved in their grammar learning
will not magically make them fluent
bilinguals. But it will certainly help
them to learn more English, more
effectively, and more enjoyably.
And that is a good deal better than
nothing. (Michael Swan)

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 Conclusions
L2 learners make their mistakes
and correct them as rules are
assimilated subconsciously, some
formal grammar teaching may
speed this up, strengthening the
cognitive process and aiding
assimilation. (Fiona Mauchline)

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 Before we go back to our
classroom let’s remember two
very important points...

EFFICIENCY
AND
APPROPRIACY

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 Economy

EFFICIENCY

Ease Efficacy
5

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 experience + expectations
group size level
age
APPROPRIACY
needs
culture
4

interests
materials available
5
group constitution
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 References
 ELT Forum – Grammar. www.eltforum.com
 Lewis, Michael. The lexical approach – the
state of ELT and a way forward. LTP 1994.
 Mauchline, Fiona. Natural Language Learning
2. ETp issue 35, Nov 2004.
 Richards, Jack C. & Renandya, Willy A.
Methodology Language Teaching – an
Anthology of Current Practice. CUP 2002.
 Thornbury, Scott. Grammar. ETp issue 32,
May 2004.

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 Thank you for coming!!!

Adriana Lima

adrianamoreiradelima@hotmail.com

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