Scott Thornbury's 6 Rules of Effective Grammar Teacher

Scott Thornbury's 6 Rules of Effective Grammar Teacher

1. The Rule of Context
2. The Rule of Use
3. The Rule of Economy
4. The Rule of Relevance
5. The Rule of Nurture
6. The Rule of Appropriacy

The Rule of Context

Teach grammar in context. If you must take an item out of context to focus on it, recontextualize it as soon as possible. Always associate grammar form with the  meaning of the speaker or author.

The Rule of Use

Teach grammar with the objective of improving  the learners’ understanding and use of  real language – never as an end in itself (remembering facts). Always provide opportunities for students to put the grammar to some communicative use:  practice, practice, practice!

The Rule of Economy

In order to obey Rule 2 (The Rule of Use) be economical. Minimize presentation and direct explanation time in order to provide maximum  practice time. By practicing, students think, communicate, experience learning and remember language.

The Rule of Relevance

Do not waste time on grammar items or rules that students already know or will soon forget  (e.g., every kind of question tag in one lesson or more than one or two contrastive examples). Allow Chinese to facilitate learning objectives, not to simplify or replace English.

The Rule of Nurture

The most difficult rule: teaching does not cause  learning. The right environment, conditions and  opportunity for learning do. Language learning is not only discovery learning. It is skill-based and time-consuming.

The Rule of Appropriacy

Consider all these rules according to the level,  needs, interests, expectations and learning  styles of the students. These rules may lead one teacher to focus on practicing much more and another teacher to focus on explicit grammar teaching a little more.