My Teaching Grammar Experience

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While it is essential for students to be able to

manipulate grammatical forms, this is not enough. Learners also need to understand the concepts expressed and the functions performed through a particular grammatical element Pronunciation topics are an integral part of a grammar lesson; pronunciation instruction relevant to grammatical forms will not be stopped since it falls outside the scope of this article.

TEFL Methodology

Current TEFL methodology seems to advocate a two-stage grammar lesson: presentation and practice. The practice stage comprises a sequence of activities/tasks ranging on a cline from controlled (focusing solely/mainly on form) to free (focusing only/mainly on meaning). Presentation is less clearly defined.
The framework which will be used in the evaluation will consist of presentation, awareness-raising, and (controlled to free) practice. I will now briefly outline the nature and content of each ‘stage’.

Presentation

In this stage the learners receive input. Given the multi-dimensional relation between form, concept and function, the time constraints, and the limited attention span of children, the aim of a ‘grammar lesson’ should be limited to dealing with a single form-concept-function combination. This combination should be demonstrated clearly through an appropriate context that distinguishes between situational and linguistic context. This fact argues that the former should be relevant to the learners’ experience, whereas the latter should be ‘‘free from unnecessary language items’’.