RULES OF TEACHING GRAMMAR

TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT

OF GRAMMAR
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 The Rule of Context 04 The Rule of Relevance

The Rule of Nurture
02 The Rule of Use 05

03 The Rule of 06 The Rule of Appropriacy

Economy
 THE RULE OF CONTEXT
• Teach grammar in context.
⚬ If you have to take an item out of context in order to
draw attention to it, ensure that it is re-contextualized
as soon as possible.
⚬ Similarly, teach grammatical forms in association with
their meanings.
• The choice of one grammatical form over another is always
determined by the meaning the speaker or writer wishes
to convey.
 THE RULE OF USE
• Teach grammar in order to facilitate the
learners' comprehension and production of
real language, rather than as an end in itself.
⚬ Always provide opportunities for learners
to put the grammar to some
communicative use.
 THE RULE OF ECONOMY
• To fulfill the rule of use, be economical.
⚬ This means economizing on
presentation time in order to provide
maximum practice time. With
grammar, a little can go a long way.
 THE RULE OF RELEVANCE
• Teach only the grammar that students have
problems with.
⚬ This means, start off by finding out what they
already know.
⚬ And don't assume that the grammar of English is a
wholly different system from the learner's mother
tongue.
⚬ Exploit the common ground.
 THE RULE OF NURTURE
• Teaching doesn't necessarily cause
learning - not in any direct way.
⚬ Instead of teaching grammar,
therefore, try to provide the right
conditions for grammar learning.
 THE RULE OF NURTURE
• Some conditions on the Rule of Nurture:
⚬ The input the learners get
￭ The lesson content about grammar
should be taught and presented in a way
that it would be engaging so that it would
facilitate the grammar learning process
of the students.
 THE RULE OF NURTURE
• Some conditions on the Rule of Nurture:
⚬ Their output
￭ Their outputs should be of sufficient
quality/quantity to ensure that they have
developed both accuracy and fluency.
 THE RULE OF NURTURE
• Some conditions on the Rule of Nurture:
⚬ The feedback they get
￭ We must ensure as teachers that our
students get as much valuable feedback
on their grammar learning process so
that they could attend to it immediately
during the learning process.
 THE RULE OF NURTURE
• Some conditions on the Rule of Nurture:
⚬ Their motivation
￭ The design of the lesson should be
showcased in such way that it would
motivate the students to absorb inputs,
produce optimal outputs, and consider the
feedbacks they receive from the teachers.
 THE RULE OF APPROPRIACY
• Interpret/Teach all the above rules according to the
level, needs, interests, expectations and learning
styles of the students.
⚬ This may mean giving a lot of prominence to
grammar, or it may mean never actually teaching
grammar at all - in any up-front way.
⚬ But either way, it is your responsibility as a teacher
to know your grammar inside out.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!
DOMINGO S. SAGNIP JR., Ph.D.
Professor