About grammar!

Some tips provided by NCLRC in their article: The essential of grammar teaching are:

1. Limit the time you devote to grammar explanations to 10 minutes, especially for lower level students whose ability to sustain attention can be limited.

2. Present grammar points in written and oral ways to address the needs of students with different learning styles.

3. Be sure the examples are accurate and appropriate. They must present the language appropriately, be culturally appropriate for the setting in which they are used, and be to the point of the lesson.

4. Use the examples as teaching tools. Focus examples on a particular theme or topic so that students have more contact with specific information and vocabulary.

Notice how this article recommends only 10-minute explanation. That is because, as María Ortíz pointed out, students tend to get bored.
Another point was to present grammar in both written and oral form. This is quite important; as you know, some students have the visual learning style more developed than the rest, some others have the auditory channel ready to learn while others the kinesthetic one, so you should give as many options as possible. Another reason is that while having grammar in written and oral form, the students are connecting information and their brains are working actively, that helps them memorize grammar easier.

Giving examples when explaining grammar is pivotal. But when giving them we should consider the cultural context. (i.e. if you are teaching English to religious people in a religious school, you should avoid the use of taboo)

The last point is integrating grammar with vocabulary. This point has been mentioned by Edelsy, Ivon, Ninoska and María Milagros Amodío. As we have discussed in class, grammar per se is just a waste of time so we have to adapt the examples and activities to as real-like situations in order to promote meaningful learning.

Teaching grammar, how?

* Use songs (María Ortiz's suggestion)
* Use a video (Ninoska's suggestions)

A proposal:

1st you expose your students to the structure in a natural way. (playing a video, some people talking and using the structure)
2nd you ask them questions about the video and use ocassionally the structure
3rd you ask your students if they know the structure they already saw in the video and heard from you and themselves.
4th you write on the board the structure and give a brief explanation (no longer than 10minutes)
5th you propose an activity to your students to put in practice the structure in oral and written form (The activities should be as real as possible)