How to make grammar interesting

[bingo]

Hi everyone. I'm currently teaching English in high school. Appreciate getting tips on how to teach grammar and make it interesting.

Thanks

[Susan]

Do you want to tell us more about what aspect of grammar you are teaching? You're more likely to get an answer if we know what you're planning to teach.

[Rusmeister]

I call it "teaching 'stupid' English".
It involves applying the grammatical meaning to mistakes literally to show why they are mistakes, and when "a rule" can be broken because that is literally what you are trying to say.
"I have been knowing (loving) this woman for three weeks." (Watch out for the Biblical meaning of "know" while you're at it!)

"I have been to an Eiffel Tower". ("Oh yeah? Which one?")

"Help! My car just ran out of gas!" "I am going to help you." (What, you already had a plan to help me? Are you a criminal pervert?)

And so on. So when students make mistakes, see if you can draw a literal meaning out of the mistake. The sillier, the better. "Stupid English" helps teach good English, and provides laughs along the way.

[EnglishClick]

This is a very interesting topic. I have often wondered how to make grammar interesting.

Whenever you mention that you are about to go into a grammar section students' faces just drop and you see the worry begin to set in.

I'd also love to know if there are any good games or lesson ideas that can spark enthusiasm amongst students with regards to grammar.

Look forward to reading your posts

[Elissa]

It really does depend on the grammar function itself and also the age/ability level of the students.

Most students hate learning grammar, the best way I've found around it is by teaching it to them without them knowing what they're doing. For instance, when teaching propositions with young learners, I have them make a drawing of some treasure and hide it in the room, then they have to guide me to where they've hidden it using the target language 'It's under the desk' 'It's behind the chair' and so on. Once they have that down I usually have them follow up the activity by writing the rule down in their notebooks.

For older learners, I do things like set up situations and give each student a specific role within a discussion, a personality trait or a task. The learners then incorporate the target structure in to their 'character' and I let the role-playing begin. If it's a more complex structure, I usually make a handout prior to class that outlines the rule and gives examples that I give to the students. After they've read it and created their own example sentences, I move them in to a game or activity that uses the structure so they are practicing it in a more fun and digestible way.

But again, if you give us an idea of what grammar structure you're trying to spice up, I'm sure we could be of more help!

[Alex Case]

Hopefully I'm allowed this shameless plug because these things are actually on TEFL.net...

My own worksheets and articles on the topic are mainly supposed to be fun:
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/worksheets/grammar/
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/about/by-t ... g-grammar/