Presenting Grammar in English Lessons

When you teach English as a foreign language, you can show what the grammar actually looks like when, for example, you manipulate verb tenses in different ways. Here are some examples:

• Positive: He had written it.

• Negative: He had not written it.

• Question: Had he written it?

• Contraction: He’d written it.

Here are other useful points for presenting grammar:

• Pronunciation: Consider any features that you need to highlight and drill.

• Function: Demonstrate exactly when you use the grammar by putting it in context. Timelines help to represent this visually.

• Examples: Use realia (examples from everyday life) or pictures as well as sentences to explain.

• Concept check questions. Use questions to check that students understand what they are being taught.

• Comparison with other grammar if necessary. Use examples from what the students have already learned to help clarify new ideas.