The grammar teaching toolbox : a resource for U.S. secondary school foreign language teachers

Abstract

This Report presents a variety of grammar teaching options for secondary school foreign language teachers in the U.S. Grammar teaching forms a large, and, in my opinion, important part of the foreign language curriculum in U.S. secondary schools. This Report presents grammar teaching methods in the form of a “grammar teaching toolbox” to encourage a variety-based teaching approach and allow teachers to enrich their pedagogical repertoires. All methods discussed in this Report involve explicit discussion of form and take place at the presentation or input/intake stage of grammar teaching. Sample lesson plans and helpful references for each methodology are presented. The first chapters of the Report present a discussion of the intended context, a brief history of grammar teaching, an analysis of the central issues in the debate over form-focused instruction and an outline for incorporating grammar into the contemporary communicative classroom.