Grammar, grammar and something else...

How are you? I genuinely hope you're OK. I visited a friend this week who's isn't well and I'm reminded that health is a bit of a lottery. So if you have it, enjoy it and if you don't, I really hope you're on the mend soon.

A bit of an unusual start to my weekly missive, but I write to you more than I write to most other people, so you're bound to get something more personal from time to time. Don't go though- I DO have lots of material that's more relevant to English teaching for you too....

Last week we looked at vocabulary, so I thought I'd focus on grammar today. Buckle up- we’re off...

Something old

Here's a question for you. How confident are you about your knowledge of grammar? It's an important part of teaching- I'm not the only one who thinks so:

"If language is partly grammar, then teaching a language necessarily involves teaching grammar. It also means that if we are to teach it effectively, we need to know a lot about grammar."

— Scott Thornbury, An A-Z of ELT(2006)

You might be thinking 'BUT BUT BUT...' and I'd be the last person to say that you should go into the classroom armed with 'Today we're going to learn the past continuous'. As Tony Wright says: ‘One great danger of acquiring specialist knowledge is the possible desire to show learners that you have this knowledge.’ (I'm invoking all the Big Guns today!)

As a language teacher though, you DO need a good knowledge of your subject so that you can help your learners understand how it all fits together. So I repeat my question: How confident are you about your knowledge of grammar?

How about this:

'Teacher, teacher, what's the difference between 'yet' and 'already?'

What would YOUR answer be?

During the pandemic, I started playing around, making some 'Grammar Quirk' videos about some of the trickier parts of the English language... and this was one of the ones I made. See if what I say corresponds to YOUR answer. You might be surprised.

If you're feeling that your knowledge of grammar isn't as well rounded as it could be and you'd like to be more confident in the classroom when your learners ask questions, my Grammar for Language Teachers course has helped thousands of trainees and teachers to get to grips with this. And don't feel embarrassed if you've been teaching a while and still feel this is a weak point for you. It was for me too for quite some time, but it's fascinating when you start to delve into it!

Try the free course sample unit to see if it's for you.

Something new

So I've said that the teacher knowing grammar is important- and it is - and partly this is so that you can make informed decisions about WHAT to teach, because it's certainly true that some grammar is more important than other grammar. So (another Big Question)... What should we focus on? That's the topic of this week's new video. Consider what YOUR answer to the question is (go on!) and then see if it accords with mine.

Something borrowed

Let's change the record for this final part. I discovered this week that Pavilion ELT, who publish a range of great ELT books, have free webinars too. Nice!

If you're a teacher trainer or give feedback to other teachers in your role (or think that's something you'd like to do in the future), there's one that you should definitely sign up for on Wednesday 23rd. It's by the brilliant Anna Hasper and is about managing emotions during feedback.

If this isn't your bag (and even if it is), there's a recording of another one you might like by Kirsten Holt with a range of practical activities in it - hope it's helpful.

OK, that's your lot for today. Have a great week and I'll see you next Sunday

Best

PS. You can view all my resources for CELTA here and for teachers here .