FORM-FOCUSED INSTRUCTION

A glance through the last century of language-teaching practices reveals mixed opinions about the place of teaching language forms, depending on the method or era. The forms of language include the organizational components of language and systematic rules that govern their structure. Phonological, grammatical, and lexical forms occupy the three principle formal categories that typically appear in language curriculum. Since phonology was discussed in Chapter 17 in the forms of pronunciation teaching, out focus here will be on the place of grammar and vocabulary in language teaching.

THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR
Grammar is the system of rules governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of words in sentence. Technically, grammar refers to sentence-levels rules only, and not to governing the relationship among sentence.
Organizational competence is necessary for communication to take place, but not sufficient to account for all production and reception in language. Grammar gives us the forms or the structures of language. In other words, grammar tell us how to construct a sentence (word order, verb, and noun system, modifiers, phrases, clauses, etc)

TO TEACH OR NOT TO TEACH GRAMMAR
Reason, balance, the experience of teachers in recent CLT tells us that judicious attention to grammatical from the adult classroom is not only helpful, if appropriate techniques are used, but essential to a speedy learning process.
1. Age
Young children can profit from a focus on forms if attention to form is offered through structured input incidental. Adults with their intellectual capabilities can use grammatical pointers to advance their communicative abilities.
2. Proficiency level
Don’t give grammar very much in levels learner just focusing grammar in helpful as an occasional. At the advanced levels grammar is not necessary; the most important is communicative fluency.
3. Educational background
Students who have no formal education get difficulty in grammatical, but educated students are cognitively receptive to grammar and error correction.
4. Language skills
Grammar more effective in improving written English.
5. Style (Register)
Similarly, in writing, tolerance for errors is higher than in speaking.
6. Needs and goals
If learners are headed toward professional goals, they may need to stress formal accuracy more than learners at survival levels

ISSUES ABOUT HOW TO TEACH GRAMMAR
1. Should grammar be presented inductively or deductively?
In most contexts, an inductive is more appropriate because more in keeping with natural language acquisition, mare easily, allows student to get communicative, built more intrinsic motivation.
2. Should we use grammatical explanations and technical terminology in a CLT classroom?
In CLT grammatical explanation and terminology must be approached with care.
3. Should grammar be taught in separate “grammar only” classes?
Under the conditions, the grammar assumes its logical role as one of several supporting foundation stones for communication.
4. Should teachers correct grammatical errors?
Many student errors in speech and writing performance are grammatical. The treatment of grammatical errors in writing is different matter

GRAMMAR TECHNIQUES
1. Charts
2. Objects
3. Maps and Drawings
4. Dialogues
5. Written texts

GRAMMAR SEQUECING IN TEXTBOOKS AND CURRICULA
Grammatical sequencing received a great deal of attention in the 1950s and 60s when curricula and textbooks were organized around grammatical categories


A “WORD” ABOUT VOCABULARY TEACHING
1. Allocate specific class time to vocabulary learning
In the hustle and bustle of our interactive classrooms, sometimes we get so caught up in lively group work and meaningful communications.
2. Help student to learn vocabulary in context
The best internalization of vocabulary comes from encounters with word within the context of surrounding discourse.
3. Play down the role of bilingual dictionaries
A corollary to the above is to help student to resist the temptation to overuse their bilingual dictionaries.
4. Encourage students to develop strategies for determining the meaning of words
Included in the discussion of learning strategies are references to learning words
5. Engage in “unplanned” vocabulary teaching
Unfortunately, professional pendulums have a disturbing way of swinging too far one way or the other, and sometimes the only way we can get enough perspective to see these overly long arcs is thought hindsight. We now seem to have healthy respect for the place of from-focused instruction-attention to those basic of language in interactive curriculum.