Grammar Presentation & Practice made easy and enjoyable in the classroom.

1. Presenting & Practicing Grammar
Prepared & Presented by:
Mohamed Ramadan
ELT Supervisor

2. Presenting & Practicing Grammar
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Main Ideas to be discussed
What is grammar in ELT
The importance of teaching grammar
Methods of presenting grammar
Grammar practice

3. What is grammar in ELT
• the study of the classes of words, their inflections,
and their functions and relations in the sentence
• a system of rules that defines the grammatical
structure of the language.
• a set of principles or rules that define the structure
of speech or writing.

4. The importance of teaching grammar
• People use English for their day-to-day ordinary needs of
speaking and writing. They may want to know how to take
part in a conversation in English, or how to write a letter, or
fill an application form. Such people need the plan
(grammar) of English, though not perhaps as deeply as
someone like the grammarian.
• So grammar helps to know the plan of the language. You
will have greater control of the language when learning
grammar.

5. Grammar Presentation
It refers to how the teacher introduces the
meaning & form of a certain grammatical
structure

6. Grammar Presentation
There are two main methods for
presenting grammatical
structures:
•The deductive method and
•The inductive method

7. The deductive method
Explicit presentation
• teaching through rules (the rule is provided
followed by the provision of examples in
which the rule is applied)..
The teacher presents and explains the rule
clearly, then gives examples to apply the
rule

8. The disadvantages of deductive method
• Grammar is taught in an isolated way;
• Little attention is paid to meaning;
• The practice is often mechanical.

9. The advantages of deductive method
• It could be very successful with selected
and motivated students.
• It could save time when students are
confronted with a grammar rule which is
complex but which has to be learned.
• It may help to increase pupil’s confidence
in those examinations which are written
with accuracy as the main criterion of
success.

10. The inductive method
implicit presentation
• teaching through examples (students are
provided with several examples from which
a rule is inferred)..
The teacher gives many examples including
the rule, then asks students to derive the
rule from the examples

11. The inductive method
• In the inductive method, the teacher
encourages the learners to realise grammar
rules without any form of explicit explanation.
• It is believed that the rules will become clear if
the students are given enough appropriate
examples.
• It is believed that the inductive method is more
effective because students discover the
grammar rules themselves while engaged in
language use.

12. Presenting grammar inductively
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Use actions
Set up situations
Make dialogues
Ask students to listen to a dialogue, and then
answer questions highlight the target structure
• Ask students to read a text, and then answer
questions highlight the target structure

13. Grammar practice
• Practice is defined as any kind of learners’
use of the language with the objective of
consolidating learning

14. Six factors contribute to successful practice:
1. Pre-learning. Learners benefit from clear
perception and short-term memory of the new
language.
2. Volume and repetition. The more exposure to or
production of language the learners have, the more
likely they are to learn.
3. Success-orientation. Practice is most effective
when based on successful guide.

15. 4. Heterogeneity. Practice should be able to
elicit different sentences and generate different
levels of answers from different learners.
5. Teacher assistance. The teacher should
provide suggestions, hints and prompts.
6. Interest. an essential feature that is closely
related to concentration

16. Two Categories of Practice:
Mechanical practice and
Meaningful practice

17. Mechanical practice
Mechanical practice involves activities
that are aimed at achieving accuracy.
e.g.
• Substitution, and
• Transformation drills:

18. Substitution
Substitute the underlined part with the proper
forms of the given words:
green lawn
clean house
pretty garden
nice flowers
Mrs Green has the largest house in town.

19. Transformation
Change the following sentences into the past
tense. Use the adverbs given in the brackets.
• Now he lives in London. (last year, Paris)
• We have English and maths today.
(yesterday, music and P.E.)

20. Meaningful practice
• In meaningful practice the focus is on the
production, comprehension or exchange
of meaning, though the students “keep an
eye on” the way newly learned structures
are used in the process.
e.g. After the presentation and mechanical
practice of adjective comparatives and
superlatives:

21. Pair work:
Look at the table below. Rank the items on the
left column according to the criteria listed on
the top.
Cheap
Water
Healthy
Important
√
√
√
×
×
×
Fruit
Cigarettes
Alcohol
Milk

22. The students may come up with:
• I think water is healthier than fruit.
• No, no, I think fruit is healthier than
water.

23. Examples of Grammar Practice

24. 1- Using chain of events
Teacher: Now lets play a game. The first
student starts a sentence with a second
conditional clause. The next student takes
the result of the sentence, reforms it into
another condition and suggests a further
result.
For example, the first student says “If I had
a million dollars, I would buy a yacht”. The
second students says “If I bought a yacht, I
would go for a sail”. …

25. The students may come up with:
• If I went for a sail, there might be a
storm.
• If there were a storm, my yacht would
sink.
• If my yacht sank, I would die.
• If I died, my parents would cry.
•…

26. 2- Using prompts
Practice based on prompts is usually meaningful
practice.
• Using picture prompts.
• Using mime or gestures as prompts.
• Using information sheet as prompts.
• Using key phrase or key words as prompts.
• Using chained phrases for story telling.
• Using created situations.

27. Using information sheet as prompts
Names
Favourite
subjects
Favourite
sports
Favourite
food
Hobbies
Lily
Maths
basketball
pork
music
Susan
Chinese
Ping-pong
eggs
reading
David
English
football
ice-cream
collecting
stamps
Teacher: What about you? Tell your neighbour.

28. Using created situations:
for simulative communication
• You are a stranger in this town. You want to
buy some fruit, you want to post a letter, and
you also want to see a movie at night. Ask
about the places.

29. • There was a robbery yesterday in the
neighbourhood. A policeman is asking
some questions to three of the neighbours,
A, B, and C. Write the questions
A: at work; came back at 6:30 p.m.; did not
see anybody.
B: a student; came back at 4:30 p.m.; saw a
young man going upstairs…
C: an old man; stayed at home; heard some
strange noise at 5:00 p.m.; came out to find
a tall young man…

30. Some suggestions about teaching grammar
1. Teach only those rules that are simple and
typical.
2. Teach useful and important grammar points.
3. Teach grammar in context.
4. Use visible instruments such as charts, tables,
diagrams, maps, drawings, and realia to aid
understanding;
5. Avoid difficult grammatical terminologies as
much as possible.
6. Allow enough opportunities for practice.
7. Live with the students’ mistakes and errors.

31. A task for you
• Suppose you have just presented the
simple past tense to pupils in the prep.
school. Design a meaningful practice
activity.

32. For further reading
You may start with any of these pages.
•
•
English Grammar Blog
English Grammar - What it is and How Much it Covers
•
Understanding English Sentences

33. End of Presentation
Thank you!