A second language research
INTEGRATING GRAMMAR FOR COMMUNICATIVE
LANGUAGE
August 2015
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
On completion of this research, we are gratefully indebted to my colleagues Ms.
Tran Thi Ha, Ms. Tran Thi Hong and Ms. Dinh Thi Nga their enthusiasm, valuable
suggestions, advice and correction during the course of our writing.
We also wish to express our sincere thanks to teachers of English and students at
Le Hong Phong Gifted High School for their passionate participation in the process of the
research. Without their contribution, this research would never be completed.
Finally, we would like to thank our family, who always motivated and gave us
valuable support during the time the research was conducted.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Part A: Introduction ………………………………………………………
p. 4
Part B: Development
I. Literature review
1. Teaching English grammar ……………………………… ……….
1.1.
Definition of grammar
1.2.
The role of grammar in foreign language teaching
1.3.
An overview on methods in teaching grammar
2. Communicative language teaching (CLT) ……………………..…
2.1.
Characteristics of CLT
2.2.
Communicative Competence
2.3.
Advantages of CLT
2.4.
Disadvantages of CLT
3. Application of Communicative language in grammar teaching …
3.1.
The importance of Grammar in CLT
3.2.
Teaching grammar in the light of CLT.
3.3.
Ways of teaching grammar
p. 5
p.9
p.12
II. Methodology
……………………………………………...
p. 14
……………………………………………………..…
p. 14
…………………………………..……….
p. 15
1. Subjects of the study
2. Instruments
3. Data analysis procedure
III.
Findings and discussion
…………………………………… …
p. 16
2. Difficulties in teaching grammar communicatively ………………
p. 18
3. Solutions to teach grammar communicatively …………………….
P. 20
1. Facts of grammar teaching
3
Part C: Conclusion …………………………………………………………..
p. 26
Part A: Introduction
English is regarded as the most popular and important language which is used
and learned by people from various countries in the world. Vietnam is not an
exception in this increasing tendency. It can be clearly seen that English is selected to
be an essential subject for Vietnamese students at educating institutions and a
compulsory part in the General Certificate of Secondary Education.
Considerable efforts have been invested into this subject; however, there has
expressed an enormous concern about the effectiveness of teaching and learning
English as a second language. As a matter of fact, the traditional methods of teaching
language are still applied, which fails to attract students’ involvement in the lessons,
especially in grammar ones. This has resulted in several profound corollaries. For
instance, almost students learn grammar merely because they are required. Moreover,
a proportion of students can gain high marks in grammar exercises but commit
numerous grammatical errors in the process of communication.
The solutions to motivate students in the grammar lessons have become a
challenging question for language educators in general and English teachers in
particular. Recent practical experience reveals that students are more stimulated in the
grammar lessons when their teachers use games, songs, pictures, and other
communicative activities to present new issues. For the above reasons, this article
entitled
“Integrating
grammar
for
Communicative
Language
Teaching” was
conducted. The study is an attempt to investigate the matter applying Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT) is into teaching grammar.
It is believed that the insights
into this area will contribute to the efficiency of teaching and learning English at
schools, universities and foreign language centers as well.
To achieve the aims of the thesis, the following questions were proposed:
1. What are the facts of teaching grammar at high schools?
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2. What are the difficulties when applying CLT into teaching grammar?
3. What are the solutions to apply CLT into teaching grammar effectively?
Part B: Development
I.
Literature review
1. Teaching English grammar
1.1.
Definition of grammar
According to Douglas H. Brown (1997, p.347), grammar is defined as “a system of
rules governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of words in a sentence”.
Nevertheless, Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freeman (1999) redefine that
“Grammar is not merely a collection of forms but rather involves the three dimensions of
what linguists refer to as syntax, semantics, and pragmatics” (p.4). In other words, if
students know a grammatical form, they should understand the structure, rule, and usage
of the form in communication. For effective grammar teaching, we should address these
three dimensions:
Form: our interest is how a particular structure is formed
Meaning: what meaning is expressed through a structure
Use: the reason why a particular structure, but not any others, is selected by the
speaker
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The Three Dimensions of Teaching Grammar (Celce-Murcia and Freeman)
1.2.
The role of grammar in foreign language teaching
No other issue has so preoccupied theorists and practitioners as the grammar
debate, and the history of language teaching is essen tially the history of the claims
and counterclaims for and against the teaching of grammar. Differences in
attitude to the role of grammar underpin differences between methods, between
teachers, and between learners. (Thornbury, 1999, p. 14)
Grammar teaching in the foreign language classroom has constituted a major and
debated issue for a long period. The history of language teaching has witnessed a number
of linguistic theories and methodologies in which the role of grammar has been
addressed. As a result, there existed controversial viewpoints about the place of grammar
in the teaching of foreign languages.
The first primary current stresses the dominant role of grammar in language
teaching. Regarding the linguistic competence and language form accuracy as the most
important for language teaching and learning, the followers of the structural approach
attempt to teach their learners as much grammar of the target language as possible. The
new grammatical item with the rule and the explanation of form and meaning is
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explained by teachers. It is highlighted that mastering a language cannot be separated
from knowing these rules.
There is also an opposite perspective according to which teaching grammar is
undervalued. Commentators under the influence of Natural Approaches ascribe no
grammar role in language learning. They assume that grammar should not be taught
because learners will be unable to integrate it within communication processes. The
teaching of grammar might even be harmful for communicative competence since
learners pay excessive attention to obey grammatical rules in their conversations.
The followers of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) moderate the
teaching of grammar. They think that learners need to learn how to make meanings with
real contexts and how to create longer units of language than single sentences for
successful communication. Consequently, grammar can be taught without interrupting
the communicative mood; in fact, grammar can even help to enhance that communicative
mood. Undoubtedly, this is the useful way that grammar teaching is performed.
1.3.
An overview on methods in teaching grammar
The Grammar – Translation method (GTM)
The Grammar-Translation method dominated from the late 19 th century to the
early 20 th century and although it has been generally acknowledged as the least effective
teaching methodology, the method is still widely used in many countries including
Vietnam.
The users of foreign language wanted simply to note things of their interest in the
literature of foreign languages. Therefore, this method focuses on reading and writing
and has developed techniques which facilitate more or less the learning of reading and
writing only. As a result, there is not usually any listening or speaking practice, and very
little attention is placed on pronunciation or any communicative aspects of the language.
Grammar-translation classes are usually conducted in the students’ native language.
Grammar rules are presented and explained by the teachers; students learn grammar and
practice the rules by doing grammar drills and translating sentences to and from the
target language.
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Obviously, the best point of this method is that it helps learners become good
translators and use English accurately. In addition, it requires few recourses and it is also
easy to apply and cheap to administer. That is why the method is still used in many
classrooms where there is a great shortage of teaching and learning facilities and
equipment aids, where the class is large of about 30 students, and where the teachers’
inadequate speaking skill are accustomed to teaching procedures and where the exams
still emphasize knowledge of grammar.
Nevertheless, the biggest disadvantage of this method is the learners find it
difficult to communicate in real-life situations, or their utterances are correct but
inappropriate. This is the result of the process of learning form and usage, but not use,
and learning about the language, not using the language to learn through authentic tasks.
Furthermore, this method makes the learners really passive in the process of getting
knowledge. They just listen to the teacher’s explanation and do not participate in the
exploration of new knowledge.
The Direct method (DM)
Though there is a development in students’ thoughts in the target language, it has
two-sided effect. Students may develop inaccuracies if they are not properly guided.
This is the result if their trying to express themselves in the target language with
insufficient knowledge about the language. Because all statements they learn are
confined to be used only in the classroom. Any connection with real life was expected to
come later and was not the business of the school. The graduation and sequences of
materials is not based on realistic spoken speech but artificial connected sentences.
The pure form of the DM has some weakness because it is insufficient for
systematic practice and requesting-practice of structures in a coherent sequence. As a
result, students often have vague idea of their aim, and they make haphazard progress.
The Audio-Lingual method (AM)
The initial and most successful feature of this method is to develop students’
listening comprehension and fluency in speaking in the target language. Students are
encouraged by the sense of being able to use what they have learnt in the very early
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period of their study. In addition, the study is reinforced by repetition, so the students
have good repetition and this is suitable for learners of different capacities. Another
advantage of this method is the provision a good systematic progression of the materials.
However, there still remain some problems. The success or failure of this method
depends largely on the qualities of the teachers and the availability of resources. That is
why Brumfit (1983) comments “the objective is generally the mastery of sentence
patterns rather than creative or communicative use of language” (p.8).
Presentation-Practice-Production (PPP) Model
According to Rintaro Sato (2012, p. 189), the PPP model refers to presenting a
form, practicing the form, and producing the form in communication.
In the presenting stage, a teacher introduces a new grammatical rule through a
text, a dialogue, or a story which consist of the structure. The teacher explains the new
grammatical rules in a sentence level grammar explanation of so that the students become
familiar with the new grammatical points.
Subsequently, the students are required to practice multiple “written and spoken
exercises to repeat, manipulate, or reproduce the new forms” in the second stage. The
activities in this stage are mainly “controlled practices that focus learners’ attention on
specific structures” (Nassaji, p. 4)
Finally, in the producing stage, the opportunity for communication is provided for
the students. The purpose of the last stage is to entirely master the new form by enabling
learners to acquire the rules and use them automatically through communication
activities.
However the PPP model is criticized since it takes time for learners to absorb the
rules and use a form automatically in conversation. Izumi (2012) states that if a teacher
intends to make students use a certain form in communication, it does not lead to natural
communication (p. 71-73). Moreover, due to the time limitation of a class, producing the
form stage appears be ignored or shortened. In other words, the PPP model is a limited
way of teaching grammar and communication owing to time insufficiency. Thus, PPP
Model does not produce positive results for students’ language competency.
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2. Communicative language teaching (CLT)
The 1960s witnessed a growing dissatisfaction among applied linguists and
foreign language teachers with the language theories and teaching methods. In this
period, Communicative Approach brought the new highly appreciated trend in language
teaching and learning. Initially, the Communicative approach excluded explicit grammar
instruction in order to mirror the way how people learn their first language. To solve the
unbalance between fluency and accuracy in the language classroom, the language
teachers did not return to traditional methods in which grammar was taught in isolation
but they developed techniques that help learners to register grammar consciously.
Brindley (1986, p.1) indicated that: “the 1970s and 1980s could be regarded as the era of
communicative teaching.” CLT is probably regarded as the most widely used approach
the approach most presently.
2.1.
Characteristics of CLT
Li (1998, p. 679) reviews characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching based on
the work of previous researchers as follows:
A focus on communicative functions.
A focus on meaningful task rather than on language form.
Efforts to make tasks and language relevant to a target group of learners through
an analysis of genuine, realistic situations.
The use of authentic, from life materials.
The use of group activities.
The attempt to create a secure, non-threatening atmosphere.
2.2.
Communicative Competence
Communicative competence is now recognized as the primary goal of language
teaching. Communicative competence means that a speaker needs to know how to
communicate effectively in cultural or social settings. Canale and Swain (1980) classified
the language competence into four categories as following:
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Grammatical competence includes a comprehension of linguistic code, the ability to
recognize the lexical, morphological, syntactic and phonological features of a
language and to manipulate these features to form words and sentences.
Sociolinguistic competence is the best described through appropriateness, the degree
to which one person understands the social context in which language is used: the
roles of participants, the information they share, the functions of interaction.
Discourse competence indicates the ability to interpret series of sentences or
utterances to form a meaningful whole and to achieve a coherent text that is relevant
to a given context.
Strategic competence includes the strategies a person uses to compensate for
imperfect knowledge of rules or limiting factors in their application such as fatigue,
distraction, inattention, etc. These strategies include paraphrasing, circumlocution,
repletion, hesitation, avoidance, guessing and shifts in register and style.
2.3.
Advantages of CLT
According to Harmer (1991) CLT has a positive influence on second language
acquisition (SLA). Learners are exposed to considerable materials which are based on
real life contexts that reflect how language is frequently used by native speakers.
Additionally, students will have sufficient opportunities to communicate regardless of
their current linguistic competence; therefore, students can improve their fluency by
focusing on the meaning they want to convey rather than the linguistic form (p. 84-85).
Particularly, learners
will
“participate
more in learning processes” as active
communicators and problem solvers, and improve their communicative competence by
attempting tasks which reflect the intrinsic goals of learning the second language.
Students can learn how to “use language forms appropriately in a variety of contexts and
for a variety of purposes” when they are exposed to plentiful and meaningful input based
on real life contexts (Harmer, p. 84).
1.4. Disadvantages of CLT
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Nevertheless, CLT still has some drawbacks when it is employed in certain
settings. This section will only focus on the situation in which a student has low accuracy
in communication.
In CLT, meaning and fluency are focused rather than form and accuracy. For this
reason, learners may have problems with linguistic accuracy and complexity. Especially,
students occasionally cannot understand the content of an English class or fully express
their intention due to the lack of grammatical explanation in CLT. Moreover, the
students’ grammatical errors cannot be corrected naturally due to their insufficient input
both in quantity and quality. Izumi Shinichi (2012) asserts that the biggest disadvantage
is that students are likely to ignore function words such as articles, prepositions, or
auxiliary verbs which may not be critical to convey a basic meaning, but are important to
make their meaning clear and persuasive (p.196-199).
Although the students’ fluency in communication was significantly high, the
communicative language classes are assumed to achieve minor effect in improving their
accuracy in communication. For these reasons, the stipulation to teach grammar has been
proposed as a solution to learners who has low accuracy in communication
3. Application of Communicative language in grammar teaching
3.1.
The importance of Grammar in CLT
Many linguists and researchers have supported grammar instruction in language
teaching and learning. One person cannot master a language without the understanding of
its grammar. Thanks to grammar language partly can function as a means of
communication, especially in written language. In speaking, although grammatical errors
are occasionally acceptable, good grammar causes better and more attractive speech,
especially in formal situations.
3.2.
Teaching grammar in the light of CLT.
At present, teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) are still challenged
with the crucial issue of choosing the most efficient approach to improve their students'
grammatical accuracy. It cannot be denied that there has been a lot of progress in English
language teaching since the introduction of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).
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Obviously, applying CLT to grammar teaching is necessary in order to deal with the
disadvantages of Grammar Translation method when being used to teach grammar such
as the learners’ inappropriate utterances and passive learning style. While grammar
played a dominant role in traditional classroom, it was just of marginal importance in
earlier communicative classrooms, which focuses merely on meaning rather than form.
Unlike in traditional approaches, where grammatical mastery was ultimate learning
objective, grammar now is important but just as a means to the end and hence, is always
put into context and learned for the sakes of social functions. Communicative language
classrooms, which focus on both form and meaning, truly reflect the view of learning
grammar as both processes and products.
3.3.
Ways of teaching grammar
In general, the teaching of grammar can be done in two main ways: deductive and
inductive.
Deductive
Generalization (or Rule)
Specific examples or activities
Inductive
Specific examples or activities
Generalization (or Rule)
Deductive method:
Traditional deductive approaches are teacher-centred system in which individual
grammatical structures are presented independently of context. Characteristically,
scripted materials are used, and rules are often explained in mother tongue. Grammar is
practiced through pattern drill, rote dialogues, rule-reciting or translation.
The deductive approach addresses cognitive skills, which develop towards abstract
thinking around the age of eleven. Thus, its benefits are restricted to older or more
advanced learners who are familiar with language structure. It is also suitable for learners
with prior experience of prescriptive grammar.
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A considerable disadvantage of deductive approach is their disregard of learners'
activeness. What students need to do is following teachers’ instruction and handling
exercises. Therefore, students may have neither chance to contribute to the lesson nor
opportunity to express their viewpoints.
Inductive method
In contrast with the deductive method, inductive instruction makes use of student’s
cognition. Instead of explaining a given concept and following this explanation with
examples, the teacher presents students with many instances in which the concept is used.
The purpose is for students to infer, through the examples, how the concept works. As a
conclusion to the activity, the teacher can ask the students to explain the grammar rule as
a final check that they understand the concept.
II. Methodology
1. Subjects of the study
The research was conducted with the participation of 100 students and 10 teachers
at Le Hong Phong Gifted High School.
The students who were selected randomly from 5 classes at are non-English
majors. Their age varies from 16 to 18. These students of non-English majors have learnt
English from 6 to 8 years. The ration of male to female students is 42/100 (42%
compared to 58%).
There were10 teachers involved in the survey. They aged from 24 to 40, and their
experience in teaching English varies from 2 to 16 years. Of these teachers, 5 are master
holders, the rest graduated from other university. All of these teachers have ever applied
communicative grammar teaching into their class.
2.
Instruments
This study employed the quantitative method which involves a variety of research
instruments and sources of data: Questionnaires, interview and articles.
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2.1. Questionnaires
Two types of questionnaires were designed to aim at both students and teachers.
Some open-ended questions were also provided so that the respondents could have
opportunities to express their opinions about the items raised in the questionnaires. The
questionnaires are enclosed in the appendices.
The former questionnaire has 3 main parts. The first part is about learners’ personal
information. The second part is to obtain information about the facts of teaching and
learning grammar in classroom. The last part wishes to find out students’ difficulties in
learning English communicatively and their desire in the subject.
The latter questionnaire which was delivered to teachers includes 4 sectors. One of
the purposes of this questionnaire is to determine the facts on grammar teaching. Besides,
there are questions about obstacles that teachers have to face and their suggested
solutions to the problems.
2.2.
Interview
Teachers would be respondents to the researcher’s interview to discuss for further
information to have depth understanding and find out solutions to increase the
effectiveness of teaching grammar through CLT. The questions for the interviews are
included in the Appendices.
2.3.
Article analysis
The research also employed some valuable data from articles on English teaching
methodology by various scholars. The content which was used in this paper was all cited
with clear resource.
3. Data analysis procedure
The survey questionnaires were delivered to both teachers and students. When
delivering the questionnaires, the teacher was with the students to give any explanations
if necessary. The students were given 30 minutes which is sufficient to finish their
answers carefully. These questionnaires were subsequently collected by the teacher. The
information collected from two types of questionnaires were categorized, analyzed and
presented in forms of tables and figures. Results of the survey can be either directly or
indirectly presented in the Findings and Discussion part.
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Moreover, the information gained through interviews was added to support the
interpretation, making the collected information more reliable and valid.
III. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
1. Facts of grammar teaching
1.1. Purpose of learning grammar
12%
10%
52%
26%
Communication
Interest
Required content
Test & exam
According to the results of the questionnaire, students frequently learn grammar
because of the following reasons. Initially, only a minority of learners with 10 percent
realize the roles of grammar in communication. This proportion wants to be proficient in
grammar in order that they can interact accurately with other people in English.
Secondly, an approximate number of students find grammar interesting (with 12 percent).
These students may possibly indulge in acquiring grammatical rules which can bring
them pure enjoyment. Thirdly, there are 26 percent of students who simply study
grammar since it is the content of the subject. Ultimately, the majority of students (with
52 percent) admit that there are numerous English tests and examinations in which
grammar plays a principal role. Mastering grammar, therefore, will increase the
opportunity to obtain high marks.
These above figures clearly indicate learners’ erroneous cognition in determining
the purpose of grammar studying. It is emphasized that the primary aim of learning
English is to communicate effectively. Grammar which is a part of the language should
be acquired to be used in real communication not for examinations. Hence, modifications
in teaching techniques and teaching materials are in urgent demand.
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1.2.
Teaching techniques
The analysis of both questionnaire for students and interview with teachers of
English has demonstrated such characteristics of grammar teaching at high schools.
Generally, grammar is deductively taught in the lessons. To be more precise,
direct instruction from teacher is still extremely common. It is teachers that, in most case,
formulate the grammar rules. Students attempt to remember the rules which will be
subsequently applied to exercises. However, grammar rules will obviously be clearer and
easier to be remembered when being inductively formulated by students themselves.
Despite its undeniable advantages, inductive grammar teaching is not regularly
conducted.
In addition, grammar practice is not recurrently integrated into the four skills but
introduced in isolation. Each unit in the English textbook is divided into five main parts
including Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language focus. Grammar which is
chiefly inserted into the ultimate part is taught and learnt separately.
Last but not least, contextual instructional techniques are of little care by teachers.
Due to several certain reasons, teachers have a tendency to focus students on determining
signals and inferring the correct answer. As a consequence, exercises in the books can
probably be answered. Nevertheless, grammatical issues are not placed in real life
context. Students, consequently, have an enormous difficulty turning correct answers on
the paper into fluent conversation in the second language.
1.3.
Teaching materials
It can apparently be seen that there exist the lack of authentic materials in teaching
grammar. While people are attracted by new items as a natural instinct, grammar is stable
for a long period. Grammar books published many years ago are still used as reference in
teaching. Although there is not any error in these materials, a student may find them
unappealing. For instance, when learning about Verb Tense students are required to
practice with the fairy tale about Red Riding Hood – a story that they all know. This story
will undoubtedly less attractive than a biography of a living celebrity that students all
admire.
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2. Difficulties in teaching grammar communicatively
Data analysis of questionnaire for both teachers and students at the school show
difficulties faced by the students in learning grammar and difficulties faced by the
teachers in teaching grammar communicatively. The results are presented as follow.
2.1.
Difficulties faced by the students in learning grammar
Generally, students may complain about having to remember a large number of
grammar rules. Although they spend a great deal of time learning by heart the rules
instructed by teachers, they will later forget most of these grammar points. Furthermore,
they confront with problems such as lack of opportunity to apply the grammar point they
have learnt into communication. They are usually afraid of making grammar mistakes
when speaking English. Learners pay so much attention to grammar that they are not
confident enough to communicate in the second language.
2.2.
Difficulties faced by the teachers in teaching grammar communicatively
Large class size
Large class size is also a big problem that all the teachers have to deal with.
Normally, classes contain from 35 to 45 students, which is unprofitable interpersonal
interaction. With big classes, the teachers find it very difficult to manage when using
CLT because they were afraid of the noise from students during class activities. In
addition, it is not possible for the teacher to give each of them individual attention and to
be sure that they are on task. As a consequence, designing and controlling the
communicative activities become a hard task for teachers.
Multi- level classes
Multi- level classes are considered a constraint in implementing CLT. In general,
there is a wide range of students in each class so it is difficult to have cooperation among
them. An activity which is apposite to a group of students may be complicated to weak
students or effortless to excellent ones. In pair- work, a good English proficiency student
may suffer from boredom when working with a weak student. In group-work, a student
can dominate his group when other members pay little attention or stay quiet.
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Consequently, designing activities for such class appears to be an intricate task.
Influence of traditional method:
Teaching grammar traditionally through remembering rules and completing isolating
examples has existed for a long time. Although this method doesn’t focus on students’
ability to communicate orally in foreign language, it is used regularly in teaching
because students’ language ability is not assessed verbally but literally on the paper.
Lack of materials and retraining in CLT
To renovate their teaching procedure, teachers are in need of essential conditions
such as reference materials and training courses. However, modern and informative
instructions about methodology are not always easy to approach. Likewise, only a minor
part of language teachers has the opportunity to attend effective workshops and seminars
regularly.
Deficiency in strategic and sociolinguistic competence in English
This is a limit for teachers to use CLT. A communicative class demands teachers’
strategic and sociolinguistic competence more than in a traditional grammar-focused one.
Therefore, the teachers may not feel competent and self-confident enough to organize
and control a communicative class in which questions are given more than in traditional
one. Moreover, except questions that are relating to grammar, the teachers can
occasionally get confused when answering questions relating to the sociolinguistic
competence. Commonly, it is believed that a teacher is supposed to know the entire
knowledge and to be always correct. If a teacher cannot answer all the students’
questions, she/ he will be thought not to be a qualified one. For this reason, choosing to
stick to the traditional teaching methods such as grammar- centered, text- centered etc. is
a good way for the teachers to keep their face.
Students ’ lack of positive attitudes to learning grammar
All the teachers believed that the students’ lack of right attitudes towards learning
grammar has influence on teaching. It can be shown clearly in the results o f questionnaire
for students that most of the students regard grammar as a compulsory content in the
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examination. Thus, a proportion of students learn grammar because they are required to
not because they are inspired.
Students use Vietnamese in group-work
Students’ preference of speaking Vietnamese during group- work causes
difficulties for the teaching process. When students are asked to have a discussion, they
often discuss in Vietnamese instead of English. Besides, when learners join
communicative activities, they only use English when being reminded by the teacher.
Low English proficiency also makes students feel awkward to express themselves in
English than in their mother tongue. To some extent, work- group appears to become an
opportunity for them to chat with each other in Vietnamese.
Students’ low English proficiency
Students’ low English proficiency is also another constraint for the teachers. On
the whole scale, learners are better at grammar and vocabulary than listening and
speaking. This causes great difficulties for them to express their viewpoints as well as
listen to their teachers’ explanation in English.
3. Solutions to teach grammar communicatively
3.1.
Principle to integrate grammar into CLT
3.1.1. Integrate both inductive and deductive methods into your teaching.
Inductive teaching requires greater mental effort and results in effective learning
in the long run. However, it takes more time for learners to come to an understanding
than deductive teaching. The choice between two then depends on the grammar point
being taught and learners’ learning styles.
3.1.2. Motivate students by authentic materials
Authentic material: Authentic texts are texts that are not produced artificially for
the purpose of language teaching, but are used for genuine purposes in the real world,
like newspaper articles and recipes. In other words, these texts are communicatively
complete themselves. Their focus is on conveying real meaning rather than on form.
Teachers are advised to select the material whose topic receives great care f rom the
students. For instance, a report about a recent fascinating football match can be adapted
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