to teach

not to teach the past perfect

t11 Some caveats

This chapter will be short because a) there ;trc very niany more options for
teaching grammar well than there are tOr teaching it badly, and b) it should
be de:;cr by now what this book considers to be incffecti·vc grammar
teaching, so a lengthy rehearsal of the arguments is probably unnecessary.
This chapter, then, will stand as a short summary of what has gone hd(ne,
and will attempt to ar1S\vcr the question implled in the tide, that is: H(lw do
you teach gr•tmmar?
First of all, let's look at a lesson. Tlw teacher is teaching a group of
in!·ermediate lew! tcen~lgcrs;

Sample lesson Lesson: How not to teach the past perfect (fntermedi<:lte)
Step 1
The teacher introduces the lesson by telling the class th:~t they arc g-oing to
have a grammar lesson, He writes on the hoard 'past perlcct'. He then
explains the rules of formation and use of the past perfecr (as in !1c' !hid
q;.•ork.cd '"),including how the past perfCct is used to ncfcr to a t\tT\e anterior
to an established past reference, and how the pa~t pcriCn is abo usn! in
reported speech to transf(mn direct speech instances of the past simple and
the present perfect. l-Je also points out th:n the paq pcriCct fimction' ill
conditional clauses to refer to hypothetical past time (;1~ in{// !'a,/ l!Jo·;~'ll
you1.::cre rommg ... ).

Step 2
lie asks if the class understands, and then distribmes :ln cscr.:i~c. \\·hl,-h
im·olves com·erting past sirnplc :md present pcrf{~ct qructurcs into the p.t~t
p~erfcct, as:

I went to the beach --+ I had gone to the beach.

She has seen the movie_... She had seen the movie.
The students work on this indi\·iduall;- :tnd then Pkc l\il'll' ttl rud 1heir
ans\\"Cf~ out aloud, The H~~1chcr ('(lncct" ~lll.\" crro:-~.

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How to Teach Grammar

Step 3
ln the remaining ten minutes of the lesson, the teacher sets up a game of
'Hangman', the \'Ocabulary game in which the class are aUmvcd several
guesses at the gapped-out lettt~rs of a \Vord.

Discussion and cvahation

First of all, let's be generous to the te>lcher ;md allow llim tJ]e benefit of the
doubt - it probably \vasn't his decision to include the past perfect as an
isolated itcrn in the syllabus. Nncrthdess, the past perfCct is rarely if ever
found in isolation, but imtcad co-exists with other tenses, and ±Unctions so
as to avoid ambiguity, as in marking the difference between:
When we arrived at the party the other guests left.
2 When we arrived at the party the other guests had left.
1t is therefore dilllcult, if not impossible, to establish this fi.mction without
rcfcn:nce to a text or a context. Relying simply on explanation, without
examples, places considerable Ctith in the learners' C<lpacity to create their
own contexts. \Vhat's more, the teacher compounds the cognitin~ load by
introducing sc\Traiuscs of the past perfect at the same time, again without
much in the way of cxunpLitlcation and using hirly ditTtcult metalanguage
to do it with. The only check of the students' understanding is the question
Do you under.rtand? ·-hardly a reliable means of gauging the success or not
uf the prcscnt<ltinn.
The fH'<\tticc activity involves a mechanical munipulation, but, in the
ab::ence again of much context, there is no way the students could work out
what effCct unmeaning the transformation entails, unless they already knew
bcforeh·.tnd. The fact that the practice acti\'ity is done inclividu,ltly allmvs no
opportunity f()r coUaburativc (earning. Xor does the open c!ass check
pro\'ide student~ with a high \'O!ume of speaking practice. Finally, by
switdting- to an unrebtcd word game, the teacher misses an opportunity to
set up some kind of more bnglwgc-productive, interactive activity, as a
means, for example, of personali~ing the language. For example:

Use this pattern to write five true sentences about yourself:

Before I I had never

For example:
Before I went to Brussels, I had never met a Belgian.'

Exchange your sentences with your partner's. and ask each other questions
about them. For examp,:e:
What were you doing in Brussels?
VVas it like you expected it would be?
etc

1n :.h1HT, the1!.'~son earns lull' marks /(Jr both E- ;tnd A- t:t~·tors. \ Vhik it \L(~
rdatin:l:, easy ill!· the tc:tcher, in that it im'okcd littk ur no J.Hcp~nation, the
f.tiimc to u~c the time ;\\';liLlhle produ~.·ri>·L·ly to <'ngnge the learners, \lf t\l

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 10 ~ How NOT to teach grammar

provide the minimal conditions fix learner understanding, means that the
economy and efHcacy of the Jesson ::ue less than optim.<.tL The
predominantly teacher~fronted approach, plus the lack of any content -
such as a text- to stimulate the students' interest, or of any •tctivin' that
might involve them in real communication, runs counter t~) the n~cd to
provide a motivating classroom environment. This is especially important
fOr learners of this age group (i.e. teenagers), who may have no spcciiic
motive for learning English, but who genemlly respond positively to
purposefl.rl, interactive tasks.
In short, the teacher has adopted a teaching;~is~transtnisslon approach to
the teaching of grammar. In other words, the lesson is based on the belief
that simply by explaining the rules of gramm~H the)' will magically be
internalised. The evidence seems to nm counter to this view.

Some rul~s \Vhat conclusions, then, are to be dra\vn about the teaching of gramfnar:
I--I ere are some rules of thumb:
The Rute of Context: Teach gr<u11nnr In cont~xt. If you h·c..w to t·,\ke ·c..n
item out of context in order to draw attention to it, ensure that it is rc~
contextualised as soon as possible. Simllarly, teach grammatical f(.mns in
association with their me~mlngs, The choice of one gmmmatical form
O\'Cf another is always determined by the meaning the speaker or writer
wishes to convey.
The Rule of Use: Teach grammar in order to f.~eilitate the learners'
comprehension and production of rcctllanguagc, rather than as an end in
itself. Ahvays provide oppon-unltles for learners to pllt the grammar to
some communicative use.
The Rule of Economy: To fUHll the rule of usc, be economical. This
means economising on presentation time in order to pnwide m~L'-itnum
practice time. \Vith grammar, a little can go a long way.
The Rule of Relevance: Teach only the grammar rh;tt sru,knts lun:
problems with. This mc;J.ns, start otT by fi.nding out what they aln:;tdy
know. And don't assume that the grammar of English is a wlwll!·
different system from the learner's morher tong-ue. Exploit the common
ground.
The Rule of~urture:Teaching doesn't necessarily cau~c le;lm'tng- rh_lt in
any direct way. Rather than occurring as fh,he~ of in~ight, Lmg;u~1ge
learning is more often th~m not a process of gr~Hlual ~lppruxim;ttion.
Instead of te~Khing gr;1mnur, thercf(n:, try to pnwidc the right
conditions for grammar learning.
The Rule of Appropriacy: Interpret aU the ;tboYC m\cs :~c:~on\ing hl tht
lc\'Cl, need~, interests, cxpect~ltions :md lcunir1g styles nt the student~.
This may mean gi,·ing a lot of prominen~·t to gT,\!ll!ll;tl-, or it m~l}' mc1n
never :1cnwlly tc:Jching gramrmr :It all- in ~;n_r up"fl"lJllt w.1~·. But either
\1'<1!', it is your respumibiliry :1~ :l IL":lchu- td knuw your gr.unmar insi,lc
OUL

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 How to Teach Grammar

Some The Rule of Nurture argues for providing the conditions for grammar
conditions learning. \Vhat are thes<~ conditions? If the answer to this much disputed
question could be reduced to a handft1l of essentials, they would probably be
these:
The input learners get: will it be presented in such a >.vay that the learners
are likely to engage with it, thus ensuring a reasonable chance of it
becoming intake?
Their output: will it he of sufficient quantit.Y :md/or quality to ensure that
they have opportunities to develop both accuracy and tluency?
The feedback they get: will it be of the tyJ)C and quantity to ensure that
some of their attention is directed at form?
Their m()tivation: will the content and design of the lesson be such that
learners are motivated to attend ro the input, produce optimal output,
and take account of the feedback?

Some caveats Finally, the teacher - whether new or experienced - is advised to be

extremely \vary of methodological fashions. Te<tching methods come and
teaching methods go. And, quite often, they come round again. These shifts
in C1shion are often powered by dubious theoretical claims that seem to
touch a common chord, but which have a sheH:.life of a decade or so at best.
Teachers' intuirions, on the other hand, that arc developed and fine-tuned
by years of thoughtful classroom experience, tend to outlive these swings
;md pendulums. This is not meant to be an invitation to complacency. As
professionals, language teachers have a duty to keep themselves abreast of
de\·elopments in ~econd language acquisition research, in applied lingustics,
in educational theory and practice~ both inside and outside the domain of
language teaching- in fact in any held that has a bearing on language and
on learning.
lt is reassuring, perhaps, to read the advice opposite, from an Engli~h
course (lc.~rwlti..-!1 E.'ll!,H5/J.f0r Fordgn Stut!mts, Book Two by C.E. Eckersley)
that was first published half a century ago, and to realise what little, in fact,
has dunged.

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 1D ~ 1-iovv \~OTto teach grammar

LESSON 5

Parts of Speech

MR. PRIESTLEY: There is a difference between" learn-

ing English" and "learning about English."
Now I \Vant you to learn English, and I believe
the best way to learn to speak English is by
speaking it; and that is why in our meetings,
instead of talking to you about English gnunmar,
I try to get .vou to talk about all kinds of things.
PEDRO: Excuse me, sir 1 but haven't there been some
new ideas in English grammar teaching about
'' stnicturcs '' and ''sentence patterns'' ~
M~. PRIESTLEY: Yes, there has been quite a lot of work
done) b0th here and in America, on the Rtructurc
of English, and next year I'm going to introduce
you to those ideas. Some teachers get rather
c-arried tnvay by any new idea and think it is the
answer to all their difiicultics. In language teach-
ing I don 1t think this is ever true. A friend once
said to me, "You can learn to talk by sentence
patterns and 'structure', but you can't learn to
write without studying grammar "~and I agree
with him; so I'm going to give you from time to
time some ordinary straightforward English
grammar.

155