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Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > Teaching Grammar through Writing or Writing through Grammar?? Which Do You Follow?
Teaching Grammar through Writing or Writing through Grammar?? Which Do You Follow?
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Nebal
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Teaching Grammar through Writing or Writing through Grammar?? Which Do You Follow?
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Hello wonderful collegues,
Many English books implement writing exercises and activities to apply grammar rules. For instance, when teaching the simple past, we may ask our students to write about past experiences or about past events, using the simple past.
Have you ever thought of teaching grammar the other way around? Well, you can introduce your sts. to a new writing topic , and ask them to write their first drafts. Then, when checking te first drafts, you teach them all possible grammatical issues that would pass in such writings. After that, you ask ur students to devise their second drafts where they apply the taught grammatical issues, and this thing recurs as long as your students need it.
Actually, I �ve been taught this method lately, and was advised not to use the former one ( writing through grammar). Why? Because we would be limiting our students , as when we ask them to write a story using the simple past. The students would think that they can never use but this tense in such writings; however, they can use the past continuous and present perfect.
What do you think about this issue? Which do you think is more suitable or more teacheable?
Your opinions matter a lot!!!
Thanks in advance.
Nebal |
12 Jun 2010
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anitarobi
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Hello, dear. I don �t have time for a long reply, so here �s just the gist of my opinion...
As always, it depends - on the age and knowledge level of your sts, on the time you have at hand, on the topic you �re dealing with, on the group itself (there are groups that function better on the grammar level and those who function better on a creative level), and how you create the whole lesson plan. I have tried both methods, and, being a creative freak myself, I prefer teaching grammar from the needed situation, i. e. writing/speaking... However, sometimes it helps more to preteach the rules of a grammar item and then implement. Just like with everything in life, there is never only one correct answer, and the key thing is finding the balance of all methods and possibilities. Ideally, I would ask the sts to recognise a grammar pattern in a finished reading text, recognise how it is formed and used from the situation in the text, then clarify by explaining rules, try a few examples, then do the writing. But sometimes you �re dealing with a pretty self-explanatory thing and it �s more fun and more effective to implement it at once, while writing - e. g. teaching intermediate teenagers Going-to-Future, which is so simple and they already have a feel for it, because it came to them naturally in everyday usage. |
12 Jun 2010
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ELOJOLIE274
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in France, and in many european countries, the 5 skills (reading, writing, listening, speech, conversation) are more important than grammar/phonetics/vocabulary...
so when we ask our students to read a text, they must concentrate on understanding the text, then we can eventually work on a specific grammar point, same thing when we ask them to write: the most important is to convey the message, not to use the past (to give an example)
i �m not saying grammar is not important, because it is, so are phonetics... but we mustn�t choose a text because it is written in the past or because it contains a lot of modals but because the message it conveys will be useful in the final task we want to do with our pupils...
edit: example of final task = write a biography of (someone famous) - we will use texts who will help the pupils write the biography, and obviously they will be written in the past, but the most important is the task, not grammar...
am I making myself clear???
take care
Elodie
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12 Jun 2010
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Lindax
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As I currently teach only adults whose primary goal is to understand and� explain themselves, I always teach grammar as a way of saying things, always trying to avoid specific terms. �A lot of my Ss can`t tell a noun from a verb in their mother tongue. Besides, as I`m mostly time-constrained, �I choose to preteach grammar rules within approximately 1 min. I tell them it`s so easy, English grammar is very logical, unlike your own language grammar. This technique always gets their full attention. Then I let them practice the target language in different activities. And I always choose the activities with a plot! I don`t like odd, disconnected, irrelevant sentences! And then, after practicing the target grammar in whatever amusing games I can find or design, I ask them to write smth like a postcard, etc. So I totally agree with you! Speaking should be the primary goal, grammar should be secondary. Have a great day! |
12 Jun 2010
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Nebal
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Anita, we usually pre-teach grammar, and then implement in worksheets, games, speaking situations, and writing. We always go for grammar as a first step, a matter that I don �t agree upon all the time.
Elodie, yes , you are right. Grammar must be taught to serve reading and writing, and thus through them. I do focus on the texts � messages rather than grammar. But, when my students are done with the reading message, they move to the secondary level that embraces grammar, for example.
Lindax, well, yes, I agree that there �s no need for students to know the grammatical terms in details. Grammar is taught to be used in different situations. Speaking should have its own share in the teaching-learning process , just like writing. But, as I understood from what you �ve said , you agree that grammar should come a step before writing, not the contrary.
Waiting for more responses.
Thanks Anita, Elodie, and Lindax.
Nebal |
12 Jun 2010
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aliciapc
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Dear Nebal,
I guess unless you teach L2 deductively, grammar shouldn �t be taught through clear explanations and reasoning. With children,I don �t teach it before working with grammar in a text but use the text and try to ellicit grammar structures in an inductive way. Adults, on the other hand, need clear explanations, or at least that �s what �s happened to me over the last 15 years ! They usually want to know the how, when and why of grammar... and then apply it to exercises and see it they �ve understood what you �ve explained.
But then again, it depends the time you have for classes, the age of students, the target you �re aiming at ( e.g. fluency when speaking or correct writing ), what works best for them,etc. I �d say there is no one way of teaching grammar correctly, rather, there are many right ways if it suits your students � needs ! But then , this is just me!  |
12 Jun 2010
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serene
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Hi, Nebal!
My students are sometimes asked to do a writing activity to consolidate recently taught grammar, e.g. a narrative (past tenses), or an informal letter about their holiday plans and arrangements (future tenses). Most of the times, however, they are asked to produce a piece of writing as a follow up activity, usually at the end of a unit, and emphasis is given to the students � overall ability to express their ideas effectively rather than to the correct use of a single grammatical point.
Enjoy your weekend!
serene
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12 Jun 2010
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Montypython
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In France we �re supposed to study texts & to teach grammar through those, in context.
grammar is just a means. The mai naim is to communicate.
Hope it helps!!! :)
Cheers |
12 Jun 2010
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