BEST PRACTICES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR

Best practices in teaching  grammar.

1. Examine your own knowledge and attitudes to the multiple aspects of grammar.
Specifically, reflect and come to terms with your stance towards "proper English," a
standard grammar, and a grammar standard. Develop your own professional knowledge
of grammar.
2. Use meaningful language as contexts for instruction, so that instruction is informal,
needs-based and significant to students. Process writing, literature study and research
projects provide meaningful frameworks for students to learn grammar. Traditional
methods such as sentence combining are much more effective in these contexts. Expand
your teaching of grammar to grammars. Design research projects for students focusing
on grammars in their world--in their personal lives, classroom, communities and the texts
they read. Use these projects to support students' critical thinking about grammars.
3. Use instructional methods that facilitate students' own generation of grammar
conventions such as sorting activities and peer teaching. Teacher-librarians can be
primary players in students' grammar development by being aware of and acting on the
importance of regular discussion about language and frequent and extended time to read
and write.