Teaching

Grammar
as Product

The main goal of grammar teaching is

to enable learners to achieve linguistic
competence;
learners use grammar as a tool or
resource for comprehension,
creation of oral and written discourse
efficiently, effectively, and appropriately

Product Teaching
Teaching grammar as product can help
to give learners a clear and explicit
framework about the language;
learners notice and structure the
language.
But teaching grammar as product may
not help the learner to use the language

Product teaching promotes two key stages

in the learning process: noticing and
restructuring.
Noticing is the conscious, reportable
detection of elements of the input to which
the learner is exposed
the more frequent a form, the more likely
grammar is to be noticed and then become
enough
Learners have to act on what they have
noticed and put it into their working
hypothesis about how grammar is
structured

Restructuring is the process of

amending mental hypotheses about
how language is structured
Noticing and structuring, when they
occur, are rapid and immediately
available to sustain improved
performance in the language

Process Teaching
Process teaching emphasizes the use
of language by the learner.
It aims at developing the skills and
strategies and construct tasks for
learners to use to communicate more
effectively in the real discourse process.
learners are given the opportunity to be
creative with the language and therefore
to develop fluency or automaticity.

It emphasizes language use and helps

learners reorganize their knowledge of
language.
Fluency and automaticity are two main
focuses of language teaching and
learning.
fluency is to be regarded as natural
language use, whether or not it results
in native-speaker-like language
comprehension or production

Automaticity is a stage in which learners

can use the language effectively and
with a focus on meaning.
Process teaching aims at helping
learners to reach the stage of
automaticity by engaging them in
language use,
learners may formulate their own
meanings in a context over which they
have considerable control; and in doing
so, learners draw on grammar as an
ongoing resource

Practice:
Classroom Activities

Underline all the past verbs in the dialogue.

Look at these pictures. Order them in any way you
like, then make up a story and tell it to the rest of the
class. Can they give you the correct order of your
pictures?
Rewrite each of the following sentences using the
passive.
Find two things which your partner likes to eat but
you do not, and two things which you both like.
The most important thing in life is your family. Do
you agree? Divide into two groups for and against
and have a debate.
How many mistakes are there in the following
passage? See if you can spot them.

Approach:
Product/Process

Teaching Grammar as skill

In order for learners to move from the

careful control of grammar as product to
the effective use of grammar as process;
Thus, learner is required to pay attention
to the grammar while working on tasks
which retain an emphasis on language
use;
Teaching grammar as skill means striking
a balance between product teaching and
process teaching.

These three comprehensive form a good

basis for effective grammar teaching:
teaching grammar as product helps learners to notice
and to structure by focusing on specified forms and
meanings
teaching grammar as process give learners practice in
the skills of language use, allowing them to organised
their knowledge
teaching grammar as skill carefully guides learners to
utilise grammar for their communication

Grammar, Context And Choice

Unlike real-life situations, where learners choose

what and how they say things in contexts, in
grammar teaching, however, this presents the view
of grammar as an object of study, detached from
the movement and transformation which is typical
of grammar in language use;
Grammar is a resource that provides us with
options from which we choose in order to express
our meanings effectively and appropriately;
By giving learners some responsibility for the
choices they make, the teacher can assist by
increasing their active engagement with grammar
as a functional and meaningful device;

Noticing for the learner

Learners are presented
with explicitly formulated
information about forms
and their functions.

Noticing by the learner

Learners are guided to
work out for
themselves information
about forms
and their functions

Example: Substitution
Tables

Example: Problem solving

activities

Practice:
Classroom Activities

Approach:
Product/Process

Underline all the past verbs in the dialogue.

Product

Look at these pictures. Order them in any way you

like, then make up a story and tell it to the rest of the
class. Can they give you the correct order of your
pictures?

Process

Rewrite each of the following sentences using the

passive.

Product

Find two things which your partner likes to eat but

you do not, and two things which you both like.

Process

The most important thing in life is your family. Do

you agree? Divide into two groups for and against
and have a debate.

Process

How many mistakes are there in the following

passage? See if you can spot them.

Product