TEACHER EDUCATION COURSE

TEACHING GRAMMAR

Deductive learning is an approach to language teaching in wich learners are taught rules and specific
information about a language. They then aplly these rules when they use the language. The GRAMMAR
TRANSLATION METHOD, which emphasizes the study of grammatical rules of a language, makes use of
the principle of deductive learning.

Inductive learning is an approach to language teaching in which learners are not taught grammatical or
other types of rules directly but are invited to discover or to induce rules from their experience of using
the language. The DIRECT METHOD, the COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH, and COUNSELLING LEARNING,
which emphasize use of the language rather than presentation of information about the language, make use
of principle of inductive learning.
Adapted From: Platt, John. Et al. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. (Longman,1992)

A. PREPARATION:
1) Identify the grammar point.
2) Anticipate problems of form, meaning, and pronunciation.
3) Check if the explanation in the book is clear and concise. Always create a frame with a summary of
the point to put on the board. Do not forget to ask your students to copy.
4) Decide if you want a deductive or inductive presentation.

B. PRESENTATION: Ways of working with grammar inductively

1) Use of visual Aids/Realia
a. Pictures e.g. FOOD. Separate what is countable from uncountable
b. Rods: Questions formation. Comparative/superlative
c. Cards: I ♥ you
d. Time lines
e. Frames: Prepositions
Place Time
at 898, Bela Cintra at 6:00 o'clock
on Bela Cintra on March, 2nd
in S.P., Brazil, South America in March, 1988, the XX Century

Rejoinders
+ AND + TOO Ann is married and her brother is too.
- AND - EITHER Ann doesn't have a car and her brother doesn't either.
+ BUT - Ann was born in Campinas, but her brother wasn't.

f. graphs:
always
usually 100%
sometimes 80% Adverbs of frequency
rarely 50%
never 10%
0%

2) contrasting: students work out the differences between paired sentences.

(use lots of examples)
He left when the police arrived.
He'd left when the police arrived.

3) using a text or a listening to focus on a grammar point.

4) Test ⇒ teach ⇒ test again

Why? - It's economic, and shows what the students do and do not know. The 'teach' stage can be based
on what they do not know. The teaching approach chosen might be inductive or deductive.
- This manner of working shows the students what they do not know and makes them more
amenable to revising something they feel they have already learned.

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