Week 4:

The importance of contexts and authentic texts in teaching grammar

Very often, grammar is presented out of context, in isolated sentences. Learners learn
grammar by repeating, manipulating, and transforming grammatical structures without any
chances to explore these grammatical structures in context. As a result, they could not see
the systematic relationships between the three dimensions of grammar: form, meaning, and
use; in addition, they do not know “how and why alternative forms exist to express different
communicative meanings” (Nunan, 1998, p. 102).
My experience of both a learner and teacher of language convinces me that context and
authentic texts are very important in teaching grammar. We know that only some
grammatical rules are free from context, as teachers thus, we should provide learners with
grammatical structures in relationship with their discourse context. Learners should know that
different forms enable them to express different meanings, and that grammatical forms are
used not only to report the events but also to communicate. In other words, communicative
values should be made clear to learners why there are many alternative forms exist.
We should also provide learners with opportunities to explore grammatical and discoursal
relationship in authentic texts. Non-authentic texts are easier to understand but they are
unvarying structures. “Authentic text is considered an ideal starting point for analyzing
targeting structures and the meanings they encode” (Kettel, 1996, p. 18) because it shows
how grammatical forms operate in the real world. However, written texts or dialogue still have
their place in grammar teaching. Learners need a balance between exercises for the grasp of
grammatical forms, and tasks for exploring the use of these forms to communicate
effectively.
References:
Brandl, K. (2008). Communicative language teaching in action: Putting principles to work.
New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Kettel, M. (1996). Teaching grammar: Rethinking the approach. TESOL in Context, 6(1), 13-
19.
Nunan, D. (1998). Teaching grammar in context. ELT Journal, 52(2), 101-109.