Teaching Grammar: Explicit Vs Implicit

A conclusion in the Teacher's Course

So far one of the main discussion points in the Teacher's course has to do with the way of working with grammar within a class. On one side we have the explicit method, in which, we focus on the deduction of grammar rules. On the other hand, we have the implicit method, which fosters the inference of these rules within a context. The thing is that both styles are needed in a classroom. That is to say, explicit grammar and implicit grammar work well together if we take into account that our students have different learning styles, needs, and backgrounds.

This is an example of how to have a balance of the two above mentioned methods. Let's say that we want high-beginner students to be able to compare things. We may have a short warm-up using pictures, they can be related to places and landmarks. Then we have them braistorm some differences they see. After that, they are asked to work with a receptive activity which may either be a reading or a listening exercise, which contains information about these landmarks.

Students have to interact with the text, first in a guided way, this could be through a mechanical drill, then they may have semi-guided exercise, to move to freer exercises. In this stage, students can infer the grammar rule they use in order to compare two things using comparatives and superlatives. This way, students will have again some interaction with materials, but this time they will focus on the grammar point, which is still in context. Once having worked with this process, students can have some initial oral and written practice on this topic.