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Review: Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar. Marianne Celce-

Murcia and Sharon Hilles.

Article  in  TESOL Quarterly · September 1990

DOI: 10.2307/3587240

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Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar. Marianne Celce-Murcia
and Sharon Hilles. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Pp. 189.

In their introduction the authors present a carefully constructed case for

the necessity of teaching grammar to certain second language learners.
The first chapter counters the current antigrammar stance by citing the
profile of students who show a pattern of high vocabulary but fossilized
inaccurate grammar arrived at through “street learning or through ‘com-
munication first’ programs” and who are “unsuccessful at increasing their
linguistic ability” (Higgs & Clifford, 1982, cited in Celce-Murcia & Hilles,
p. 3). The authors proceed to outline a framework for teaching grammar
based on three aspects of language: social roles and communicative
functions (e.g., politeness), semantic notions expressed through
grammatical structures (e.g., prepositions), and discourse factors (e.g.,
word order and topic continuity). To these aspects they link the teaching
techniques of dramatizing, responding to realia, and manipulating texts.
The teacher new to ESL will find a wealth of concrete ideas for teaching
grammar. However, while the practicality of the text is beyond question,
there is an overly structuralist tone in many of the chapters despite the
interweaving of communicative classroom techniques. The primary
justification given for this is that “we are more often obliged to teach
district- or school-prescribed syllabuses, which usually are structurally
based” (p. 23). This is a disappointing caveat for those who believe that
grammar must play an integral part in the communicative classroom. It
would have been preferable for the authors to have derived the
grammatical syllabus from actual student errors, and to have described the
teaching of grammar in the context of teaching the other ESL skills,
particularly reading and writing.
Interwoven with the teaching examples are numerous comments
concerning classroom management, such as the benefits of cooperative
learning and the strict use of English in the classroom. One problem is that
no mention is made of the differences that might arise in an EFL situation
where, for example, the practicality of using the students’ native language
may at times be justified. A weakness of the book is the unstated
assumption that the readers will be teaching ESL classes in an adult school
setting.
Despite these problems, the text serves well as an introduction to the
teaching of grammar. It provides many examples of simple, practical
techniques that make use of everyday materials, from classroom furniture
to pop songs to magazine pictures. The authors emphasize the fact that

514 TESOL QUARTERLY

 their ideas are only suggestions to encourage the teacher to find innovative
ways to contextualized grammar instruction. Through example, the book
demonstrates how a teacher’s creative approaches can help ESL students
gain maximum benefit from instruction in grammar.

PETER MASTER
California State University, Fresno

BOOK NOTICES 515

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