Teaching Grammar: Different

Approaches
Different Approaches
Deductive Approach

• The teacher gives the rule of the

grammar point.

Inductive Approach

• The student works out the rules of the

grammar point.
Deductive Approach
The teacher starts with the presentation of a rule, and it
is followed by examples in which the rule is applied.
(rule-driven)
Deductive Approach
Inductive Approach
The teacher starts with some examples from which a rule is
inferred. (discovery learning)
Inductive Approach
 Inductive Approach
Sam and Jennifer travelled to La Serena.

Sam is back in the UK after three- Jennifer is still in her three-week

week holiday in La Serena holiday in La Serena.

(The teacher is having a three-way conversation with Sam and Jennifer)

T: Sam, did you visit the lighthouse?
S: Yes!
T: Jennifer, have you been to the beach yet?
J: Yes!
T: Sam, did you eat papayas?
S: Yes!
T: What about you Jennifer, have you eaten papayas?
J: Yes!
 Inductive Approach
Sam and Jennifer travelled to La Serena.

Sam is back in the UK after three- Jennifer is still in her three-week

week holiday in La Serena holiday in La Serena.

T: Who am I speaking to- Sam or Jennifer?

This is what the teacher says:
 Did you climb “El Cerro Grande? (Sam)
 Have you been to “Isla Damas” yet? (Jennifer)
 Have you visited “La Recova”? (Jennifer)
 Did you learn any Spanish? (Sam)
 Did you meet “El Tata afila”? (Sam)
Some key notions to introduce grammar
inductively

Introduce grammar in context:

Simple, easy-to-convey situations, scenes or stories that
will help to clarify the meaning or use of a language
item.
You can create the context by:
 drawing pictures on the board,
 holding up flashcards of photos or sketches or by
 creating a mini-situation.
 using students to act out simple roles.
Eliciting
After creating a context, you might elicit language from the
students to see if they already have any idea about the target
language. If they don’t, it allows you to model the new
language yourself.
You elicit by giving cues (asking a question, miming,
showing a picture, giving a keyword, etc) that encourage the
students to say something themselves in order to draw out
their ideas or to see what they know of the target language.
This may help to involve students in a lesson, as they will be
doing more than simply listening to you speaking.
Eliciting can help to reduce the amount of unnecessary
teacher talk in class.
Modelling

You model by saying something aloud once or a

number of times because you want the class to hear a
well-pronounced example of a language item.
This can help students notice, focus on and improve
pronunciation.
1. When you started learning English, did you prefer to
be taught grammar in a deductive or inductive way?
Why?

2. What approach would you use for teaching

grammar? Why?