The Evolution of Grammar Teaching in EFL

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It goes without saying that grammar teaching plays an essential role in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL). This opinion is based on the assumption that without a detailed knowledge of grammar, the language use will stall. Despite its importance, grammar teaching has gone through some debates for the decades. Before the 1970s, it was a common belief that grammar was a crucial part of the language teaching since no one would be able to reach the point where he/she communicates well without comprehending the grammatical rules of any language. This belief was then questioned by the conception that "knowledge of the grammatical system of the language was one of the main components which underlie the notion of communicative competence." …show more content…

The general consensus is that grammar should unmistakably take part in language teaching. The questions are: How should we teach grammar? Should we teach it deductively or inductively? Which grammar rule should we teach? In other words, the question is whether grammar should be taught by giving a formal presentation or giving natural expression. (Nassaji & Fortos, 2011). The continuous debate on the favourableness and the type of grammar teaching or instruction has led a lot of different methods and techniques of forming a grammar instruction to become known. Most notably, two completely different and opposing approaches are inductive and deductive. Although these methods are both beneficial for the learners, the inductive teaching is more acceptable or right for the students than the deductive teaching somehow. Deductive teaching also called deduction, from the verb ''deduce'' is a well-known technique which proceeds from …show more content…

The teacher first gives the grammar rules and vocabulary of the language. Then, the learners need complete tasks to practice those rules and vocabulary in activities.The

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