Having a good grasp of language and a thorough understanding of grammar is absolutely essential. These important skills never lose their relevance, and situations where they’re called for crop up regularly throughout life. It can, however, be an extremely dry topic to teach if approached in the wrong way. Here are some methods to help you make grammar more accessible for your students.
Encourage reading whenever and wherever possible. Reading well-written texts forms excellent foundations for a pupil’s own grammar, as it embeds correct constructions in their minds. This helps good grammar to come naturally to people, becoming a part of everyday life.
Whilst a little more tedious for some, it’s still important to teach grammar and sentence construction to students. Many have very inquisitive minds and will want to be able to understand how and why everything works as it does. It will be an enlightening process for many, and if they’re not quite sure of how to write something in future, they can apply logic to the situation, think it through and work out the correct answer for themselves. You don’t have to bombard them immediately – chipping away at grammar on a regular basis allows it to sink in properly.
Include reading, writing and speaking tasks in all areas of the curriculum wherever possible and appropriate. As students get more practice, correct grammar will become normalised and will be incorporated into their wider vocabulary and writing. Offering a combination of tasks which allows pupils to hear, see and produce correct grammar gives everybody the best possible opportunity to develop their skills.