Many teachers when they get started teaching really find teaching grammar quite difficult because most of us have not really LEARNED grammar in our school days. This page hopes to give you some guidance to teaching grammar by pointing you to some resources both online and offline that will help steer you through the first few grammar lessons that you may have to face.
*These resources may change from time to time as others become available and current ones become out of date.
News
Guardian Newspaper reports: “ESL teachers to drop grammar?” February 4th, 2005.
Recommended By Our Readers
- The Grammar Exchange (click)
Karen Stanley writes in Forums_TESOLTeachers: “In addition to the excellent grammar resources on Kenneth’s webpage, let me recommend Longman’s (free) Grammar Exchange. http://www.longman.com/ae/azar/grammar_ex/index.html
Officially the companion website to the Azar grammar series, it goes far beyond that. You can participate in the Grammar Questions & Answers Forum, a well designed and maintained bulletin board (and searchable archive) of grammar questions and answers.
You can download grammar lessons designed by teachers (organized to match up with the Azar series, but useful in many different classroom situations).” — Thanks a lot, Karen! (February 28th, 2005)
Readings
Prize winning essay in the Martinet Grammar Contest
In The role of grammar in the modern classroom by Yu-hsin Tsai. The writer considers the role and place of grammar teaching in the modern classroom.
1. Chien-Yu Chen examines the role of grammar in the EFL classroom in her paper. She looks at the history of grammar teaching, she then defends the importance of grammar and examines what place grammar teaching has in the new paradigm of Communicative Language Teaching. >>>> Formal Grammar Instruction And the Role of Grammar in the EFL Classroom
2. Dr. Yu-Hsin Tsai also looks at the ever important role of grammar in the classroom in his prize winning short essay. He then reflects on its importance in his own career and highlights five important areas. >>>> The Role of Grammar in the Modern Classroom
3. Francis Noonan describes a great technique to help students acquire grammar in a practical and functional way. >>>> Teaching ESL Students to “Notice” Grammar
4. An alternative view of the limitations of grammar teaching is provided here by Richard Bradford. >>>> Grammar is by statisticians, language is by humans
Discussions
To discuss questions of grammar, you can visit this forum and ask your question there or contribute to the discussions. >>>> Tongue-Tied Teachers >>>> How can I teach grammar and essay writing? >>>> Forums@TESOLTeachers: Yahoo! Groups
Activities
1. In the paper, Using Simple Poems to Teach Grammar, Hawanum Hussein discusses using simple poems as a way to teach grammar to students.
2. Communicative Grammar describes an activity to get students to practise grammar previously taught in class in a way that emphasizes communication.
3. Bryan Murphy and Michaela Borova look at grammar that learners have acquired but are unable to put into practice. >>>> Passive Grammar
4. Costas Gabrielatos describes how he handles grammar teaching by using and adapting a textbook. >>>> Materials Evaluation & Adaptation: A case study of grammar teaching
Standard ESL grammar books
Or try this general search of grammar books.
Online Grammar References
Visit The American Heritage® Book of English Usage for help on grammar problems.
Online Grammar Activities
There are many activities for students to try out at a4esl.org. Lots of worksheets can be found at the Azar Grammar Exchange. Share your own thoughts by emailing me.
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Version 1.02 uploaded at 8pm on February 26th, 2005.
