2. Should we use grammatical explanations and technical terminology in a CLT classroom? In CLT classes now, the use of grammatical explanation and terminology must be approached with care. Following a few simple rules of thumb will enhance any grammatical explanations you undertake:
(a) Keep your explanations brief and simple. Use the mother tongue if students cannot follow an explanation in English.
(b) Use charts and other visuals whenever possible to graphically depict grammatical relationships.
(c) Illustrate with clear, unambiguous examples.
(d) Try to account for varying cognitive styles among your students (for example, analytical learners will have an easier time picking up on grammatical explanations than will wholistic learners).
(e) Do not get yourself (and students!) tied up in knots over so-called "exceptions" to rules.
3. Should grammar be taught in separate "grammar only" classes? The collective experience of the last two decades or so of CLT practice combined with the research on the effectiveness of grammatical instruction indicates the advisability of embedding grammatical techniques into general language courses, rather than singling grammar out as a discrete "skill" and treating it in a separate course. Grammatical information, whether consciously or subconsciously learned, is an enabling system, a component of communicative competence like phonology, discourse, the lexicon, etc. Therefore, as courses help students to pursue relevant language goals, grammar is best brought into the picture as a contributor toward those goals.
4. Should teachers correct grammatical errors? Many student errors in speech and writing performance are grammatical. Interestingly, we have no research evidence that specifically shows that overt grammatical correction by teachers in the classroom is of any consequence in improving learners' language. But we do have evidence that various other forms of attention to and treatment of grammatical errors have an impact on learners. Therefore, it is prudent for you to engage in such treatment, as long as you adhere to principles of maintaining communicative flow, of maximizing student self-correction, and of sensitively considering the affective and linguistic place the learner is in.
