TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

TEACHING GRAMMAR FORCOMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCEAE TEACHER’S CORNERWhen language learnersthink of grammar instruction,they often recall lectures oflengthy explanations aboutgrammar points; boringgrammar drills, andtranslation exercises.Perhaps no other aspect oflanguage learning has beenas controversial as teachinggrammar. For many years,researchers and teachershave argued over whether weImage by StockSnap from Pixabayshould even teach grammar.In spite of the long-standinggrammar debate, the fact remains that we do not use language without grammar.Perhaps, then, the problem is not grammar itself, but the ways that grammar has beentaught and learned.Early approaches to foreign language instruction, including the Grammar TranslationMethod (GTM), often taught grammar separate from the larger contexts in whichlanguage is used. While these approaches were often effective for developing areceptive (reading) knowledge of a language, they sometimes failed to provide studentswith the ability to use language communicatively in speaking and writing. As a result, anumber of approaches to language instruction since Audiolingualism (ALM) havefocused on developing communicative competence. Communicative competence doesnot mean an absence of grammar instruction but rather grammar instruction that leadsto the ability to communicate effectively. This month’s Teacher’s Corner focuses onteaching grammar communicatively, teaching grammar in large classes, and teachinggrammar in context.www.americanenglish.state.gov rs/

Teaching Grammar CommunicativelySo, what does “teachinggrammar communicatively”mean? It means that grammarinstruction and lessons are notlimited to introducing agrammar item or items, havinglearners do controlledexercises, and then laterassessing students on theirability to understand grammaritems. It means designinggrammar lessons to include acommunicative task or activity.A communicative grammarImage by PDPics from Pixabaylesson might start in very muchthe same way as a traditional approach with presentation of a grammar item andexamples, followed by controlled exercises to practice the grammar item.However, a communicative grammarlesson does not stop there.A communicative grammar lesson gives studentsFollowing the presentation andthe opportunity to practice the target grammar itempractice stages, a communicativethrough specific communicative tasks and activitiesgrammar lesson gives students theopportunity to practice the targetgrammar. The beginning stages of a communicative grammar lesson often focus onaccuracy while fluency becomes more important during practice stage. Communicativetasks are important because, as DeKeyser (1998) has described, they allow learners topractice the target grammar feature under “real operating conditions.” Communicativegrammar practice has often focused on speaking activities; however, writing activitiesare also an important and valid way to practice using grammar communicatively.Whether focused on writing or speaking, a communicative task should provide studentsthe opportunity to use language to communicate. Some of the activities that often takeplace in the communicative stageof a grammar lesson are games,A communicative task should provide students therole-plays, and discussionactivities. Games are an excellentopportunity to use language to communicate.method of communicativegrammar practice because theyallow students the opportunity to practice and develop language skills in an enjoyableand low-stress manner.www.americanenglish.state.gov rs/

Here are some resources to get started on using games for communicative grammar:“Grammar Games” on Teacher’s Corner focuses on using games for grammarpractice: rs-corner-grammar-games Activate: Games for Learning American English has many fun communicativegrammar games: te-gameslearning-american-english A great way to develop practical skills for teaching grammar communicatively isthrough the Teaching Grammar Communicatively MOOC: https://www.aeeteacher.org/MOOC.Teaching Grammar Communicatively in Large ClassesAs teachers, we ideally want our students to practice using language communicatively.In some large classes, however, communicative practice can be challenging; puttingstudents in pairs and groups andmonitoring their activity can beIn a large class, a teacher might not be able to do andifficult with many students. Withlarge classes, teachers should notentire communicative lesson but might be able to dofeel guilty if they cannot makeone or two interactive activities.each lesson a completelycommunicative experience; rather,they should focus on what they can do. For instance, in a large class, a teacher mightnot be able to do an entire communicative lesson but might be able to do one or twointeractive activities.Teachers can also find ways to set up situations for productive grammar practiceoutside the classroom. One way to give students more opportunities for communicativepractice is English clubs, where students meet regularly for communicative practice andother fun activities such as poetry contests or singing competitions. Here are someresources on English clubs: “English Clubs: Introducing English to Young Learners” in English TeachingForum h-teaching-forum-2006volume-44-number-2#child-676 “Community-based English Clubs: English Practice and Social Change Outsidethe Classroom” in English Teaching -2162The English Club Manual glish.state.gov rs/

Another way to provide students withmore opportunities for communicativepractice is to give them out-of-classassignments that require using thetarget grammar point. For instance, ifstudents are practicing the presentsimple for routines, they might practicethe grammar point in class and later,for homework, write a short paragraphabout their daily routine. If studentshave cell phones or other devices,they can record themselves producingImage by ludi from Pixabaythe target language either with anotherclassmate or on their own. Forexample, students might make interview questions based on the target grammar pointand interview a partner, or they might write a script using the target language andrecord themselves acting it out. For students with Internet access, there are numerouspossibilities for productive communicative practice. Students could correspond with epals,1 record podcasts, or write blogs. All of these activities can be carried out with afocus on target grammar points that relate to in-class lessons. With large classes,teachers might have to think a bit differently about how they plan classes, but there arestill many ways to provide students with opportunities for productive, communicativelanguage practice.Teaching Grammar in ContextTraditionally, language instruction has focused on teaching grammar at the sentencelevel. Sentence-level grammar refers to parts of speech, tenses, phrases, clauses, andword order. However, current teaching approaches recognize that it is important toinclude grammar in context. Inother words, it’s one thing toSentence-level grammar refers to parts of speech,understand a grammatical item intenses, phrases, clauses, and word order. Whilecertain examples or to be able togrammar instruction might start with sentence-levelchoose the right form in ainstruction, it should also incorporate grammar ingrammar exercise, but it’s anotherto see how a language item workscontext.within a conversation or piece ofwriting.1An e-pal is a friend you make by exchanging e-mails. An e-pal exchange is a fun way to practice languagewith speakers of other languages.www.americanenglish.state.gov rs/

Let’s look at an example that shows how context can influence grammar. Imagine thatyou are teaching students about classroom objects, and you want then to makesentences with the new vocabulary items. You teach them It’s a(n) . Yourstudents practice sentences such as It’s a pencil, It’s a book, and It’s a notebook. This isfine, but look what happens with article use in context: A boy put his book on the table.The book has an orange cover. In the first sentence, the first mention of boy, we usethe indefinite article a, but in the second mention, we use the. Without using context, wecould not show this relationship. This is just one example, but it serves to show howgrammar in context often functions differently from how it works in isolated examples.A grammar lesson might start witha context with the target grammaritem that students work tounderstand or explain. Forinstance, if your target grammaritem is the simple present forroutines, the lesson might startwith a paragraph of a daily routine.The teacher would then promptthe students to explain the verbtense in the example, providingguidance and explanations asneeded. However, a lesson thatImage by Wokingham Libraries from Pixabaymakes use of context does nothave to start with a context. It canstart with the rule and examples and then later show use of the grammar item incontext. Some teachers start with rules and later move to context, and other teachersstart context and more toward rules. Many teachers use both approaches. Whendeciding whether to present the context first or later in the lesson, consider students’proficiency levels and previous experience with the target grammar item as well as theirlearning preferences. For some grammar items, showing the context first might be thebest approach, and for other grammar items, starting with rules and examples might bea better choice.Teaching in context does notmean that you have to use anWhen teaching grammar in context, it’s important toauthentic text (any text, spokenconsider students’ proficiency levels as well as theiror written, not made for theprevious experience with the target grammar item.purpose of language teaching orlearning). When teachinggrammar in context, it’s important to consider students’ proficiency levels as well astheir previous experience with the target grammar item. Higher-level students can oftenbenefit from using authentic texts, but lower-proficiency students will often need a textspecifically prepared for the purpose of language learning. Many great examples ofwww.americanenglish.state.gov rs/