This document discusses various approaches to teaching grammar in schools. It notes that grammar was popular in certain decades but is making a modest comeback. It considers whether grammar should be taught explicitly or discovered by students. The document also examines typical grammar problems students have, debates whether grammar matters, and presents a three-stage model for teaching it. It suggests grammar be integrated into other language skills and explored within authentic texts. The discussion considers challenges teachers face and how grammar could be taught at a particular school.

1. How do we teach grammar?
The understanding of grammar,
and the challenges teachers meet.

2. Grammar
- a fashion victim
• Popular in the 1920s and 30s, 60s and 70s
• Lately making a modest comeback
• Rules or no rules?
• Be taught or discovered by student?
• Seperate teaching or integrated?

3. What is grammar?
• Definitions include:
Rules, form, part of language, organise, how we
combine, principles...
Agreement:
The term does not only refer to form, but also to
meaning.

4. Should grammar be taught?
• Krashen: students learn grammar as part of the
acquisition process, formal instruction does not
play an important role
• He has been questioned by many grammarians!
• Studies show that very few teachers think that
grammar teaching is unnecessary

5. Typical problems
Examples:
• Subject-verbal concord
• Use of irregular verbs
The INERT knowledge problem

6. Does grammar matter?
• Sometimes gives wrong meaning
• Politeness
• Attention away from message
• Wrong impression
• Native and non-native errors

7. Three-stage model by Rob Batstone
• Stage 1: Noticing grammar patterns
• Stage 2: Controlled practice of the structure
• Stage 3: Proceduralisation, express themselves
in a more natural way, spontaneous use of
grammatical forms.

8. Grammar- a separate part?
• Ingredients when teaching:
Listening, reading, speaking, writing
AND exploring the system of language.
• Meaning as well as form
• Lack of confidence teach grammar as
separate part
More effective to target grammar topics that
spring directly from needs pupils have in
connection with texts they read or write.

9. A communicative approach
• Instead of the teacher covering grammar, the
students should discover grammar (Thompson, 1996)
• Use of authentic material as the basis for
exploring grammar
• Search the text for specific grammar
For example as pre-read

10. Stages

11. Post-read

12. Some other ideas
• Languaging= talking about mistakes they have
made and the feedback they have received
Language awareness
• Improving texts that are purposely produced
with flaws
• Dictogloss (listen, notes, recreate). Attend to
form as well as meaning

13. Pete Hamill: Going Home
• Example of using authentic text.
The young people began discussing him, trying to
imagine his life. Perhaps he was a sailor; maybe
he had run away from his wife. He could be an
old soldier going home or a lonely, old bachelor.
Which words tell us that this is what the young
people imagine rather than the truth about Vingo?

14. Some guidelines:
• Integrate grammar with other activities
• Make the relations between grammar and
meaning, the focus of grammar teaching
• Know what you are talking about
• Be unafraid to say what you do not know
• Make it easy to talk about, use labels
• Teaching grammar is not the same as drilling

15. References
• Barra, C. G. (2013), The grammar dilemma, English
Teaching professional, Issue 88
• Flognfeldt, M. E., Lund, R.E. (2016) Grammar in
the Classroom, English for teachers and Learners,
Cappelen, Oslo
• Harmer, J. (1998) Teaching grammar, English
Teaching professional, Issue 6
• Hasselgård, H. (2001) Grammar in communicative
English teaching, Språk og språkundervisning.

16. Discuss
• What challenges do we meet as teachers?
• How do we teach grammar in Askim Lower
Secondary school?