Roach, K.

AUT Scholarly Commons

Pedagogical Options for Teaching Grammar 
Kevin Roach 
Auckland University of Technology 
 
To teach grammar or not to teach grammar? That is the question. Strictly speaking, 
however, this was the question. It would be fair to say that, 20 years ago, with the 
advent of Communicative Language Teaching, grammar instruction became less of a 
concern than facilitating communicative activities in the classroom through pair and 
group work. Of course, some English language teachers continued to explicitly teach 
grammar. And on the face of it, many so-called communicative activities were merely 
dressed up to disguise the fact that grammar was still a focus. But, undeniably, the 
thinking of the time was that students would somehow pick up the grammar given 
opportunities to become immersed in meaningful language practice.  
 
Arguably, the pendaulum has once again swung in favour of explicit grammar 
teaching. But gone are traditional grammar syllabuses. Grammar is now best 
incorporated into a more meaningful focus. It is recognized that form, meaning and 
use are inextricably entwined and that grammar is, after all, one of the resources, 
along with adequate vocabulary and knowledge of cultural and discourse conventions, 
our learners need in order to communicate effectively. This is as true of written 
language as it is for spoken language. ‘Grammar in context’ is now a buzzword. And 
so it should be. And, although there are still questions over the actual nature of 
linguistic knowledge, research has indicated that second language learners do benefit 
from formal grammar instruction, but only if they are “ready” to do so; that is, if the 
structure is compatible with their developmental level. 
 
Insights from applied linguistics, however, often fall short of concrete suggestions for 
classroom practice.1 Simon Borg, an English language teacher and applied linguist 
with an interest in grammar teaching and teacher beliefs, has gone as far as to say that, 
in the absence of any clear guidance, ‘teachers create their own pedagogical maps’. It 
                                                 
1  Much of the discussion in this Password article relates to classroom practice. It is recognized, 
however, that all classroom contexts differ and that, for example, teaching grammar in adult migrant 
ESOL may well have a different focus to that of ESOL programs in NZ secondary schools. For Home 
Tutors, I recommend a reading of Peter Wilburg’s invaluable One-to-One: A teachers handbook to 
provide useful ideas of how to incorporate grammar instruction into one-on-one contexts. 
is true that recent publications aimed at teachers have been helpful, such as New 
Ways in Teaching Grammar and Scott Thornbury’s How to Teach Grammar. So also 
have recent methodology textbooks, such as Tricia Hedge’s Teaching and Learning in 
the Language Classroom. For teachers wanting a comprehensive reference text, The 
Grammar Book, by Marianne Celce-Murcia and Dianne Larsen-Freeman, is an 
invaluable resource. A clear, state-of-the-art overview is provided by Dianne 
Freeman’s Teaching Language: From grammar to grammaring. But, ultimately, as 
Simon Borg suggests, in the classroom, teachers perhaps need to chart their own 
territory. 
 
In the remainder of this Password article I would like to offer some practical 
suggestions for teaching grammar, suggestions I hope can provide some guidance in 
what is recognized as an ill-defined area of pedagogy. These suggestions originate 
from what prominent applied linguist, Rod Ellis, has termed pedagogical options. 
These options stem from research on the learning of grammar, but also are framed in 
terms easily recognized by English language teachers. I will illustrate these 
pedagogical options by focusing on the simple past tense. Other structures, however, 
could equally be the focus. It is also important to recognize that such pedagogical 
options need not be distinct, stand alone options; indeed, in practice they are 
combined. Teachers frequently do this, for example, by providing an explanation, 
followed by controlled and free practice. Practice is also often combined with 
corrective feedback. The only ‘rule’ is receptive language before productive language. 
Pedagogical Options for Teaching Grammar 
 
Option Examples 
Explicit Instruction 
Involves the teaching of rules, 
patterns, etc. 
♦ Provision of a regular / irregular chart (often contained in the appendices of student grammar texts) 
♦ Chalk and talk explanation of regular / irregular past tense forms (perhaps in conjunction with a written explanation from a 
grammar textbook of a suitable level) 
♦ Chalk and talk explanation of rules governing pronunciation of regular past tense 
Noticing 
Involves drawing attention to the 
structure: recognition only 
♦ Teacher reads out a list of regular past tense verbs; students identify whether ending with /d/, /t/ or /Id/ 
♦ Students read a recount text (first for meaning) and highlight all the past tense verbs, categorizing into regular and irregular. If you 
cannot find a suitable recount in a textbook, write your own (eg. the weekend, a day out, a barbeque party, a childhood memory).  
♦ Students read or listen to a (taped) recount and answer comprehension questions that require an understanding of the past tense. 
Practice 
Can be both oral and written 
Can be either at sentence level or 
discourse level. 
Oral: 
♦ Monday morning recount of weekend activities 
♦ A mock job interview, where students answer questions about past work experience 
Written: 
♦ Gap-fill exercises (exemplified in student grammar textbooks) 
♦ Students write a recount (eg. the weekend, a day out, a party). Best to provide models prior to asking students to write 
Corrective feedback 
Involves correcting students’ 
errors, in both oral and written 
language 
Oral: 
Teacher corrects students’ oral language, drawing attention to errors, in (i) contexts where the past tense is an explicit focus (ii) where-
ever possible in other contexts, taking into account affective issues. There are different ways of achieving this: eg, asking for 
clarification, reformulation, and repetition with emphasis, shaking one’s head. 
Written: 
Teacher corrects students’ writing, drawing attention to errors. Again, there are various ways of doing this. 
References 
 
Borg, S (1998). Teachers’ pedagogical systems and grammar teaching: A qualitative 
 study. TESOL Quarterly 32, 1: 9-37. 
Celce-Murcia, M & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The Grammar Book: An ESL / EFL 
 Teacher’s Course, 2nd Edition. Heinle & Heinle. 
Ellis, R. (1998). Teaching and research: Options in grammar teaching. TESOL 
 Quarterly 32, 1: 39-60. 
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford 
 University Press. 
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2003). Teaching Language: From grammar to grammaring. 
 Heinle & Heinle. 
Pennington, M. (ed) (1995). New Ways in Teaching Grammar (New Ways series). 
 Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. 
Thornbury, S. (1999). How to Teach Grammar. Longman 
Wilberg, P. (1987). One-to-One: A Teacher’s Handbook. Language Teaching 
 Publications 


Pedagogical options for teaching grammar

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