Teaching English Grammar: What to Teach and How to Teach It

Abstract

Oh no. Not yet another book telling us how we should teach grammar, can I hear you say? So many books have been published over the last 20 years on the subject that we might reasonably conclude that all that could be said about it has already been said. Many of these books have been descriptive; they have pondered what grammar is and why we should actually want to teach it, before going on to consider an assortment of philosophies and approaches applauding or decrying it. Most have included sample lessons by way of illustration but coverage has generally been patchy. This is what makes Jim Scrivener's latest book so novel and refreshing. Here at last there is extensive coverage of individual grammar points brought together with all the key stages of presentation and practical teaching tips. CELTA trainers will immediately recognize all the elements of a typical session on presenting new language: setting an appropriate context, attempting to elicit form, and recording it on the board for clarification before modelling, drilling, highlighting, and so on. This is exactly the formula reiterated so many times in the training room and precisely what trainers hope to see their trainees doing in teaching practice by the end of their course.