Finding a Balance Between Grammar-Based and Content-Based Teaching

Which approach will you take as a language teacher? This can be a hard decision, as well as finding a good balance between the two in your classroom. Here you will find different techniques, activities, and resources to help you find that balance, and what works for you and your classroom. 

 

Techniques

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• English Grammar: If you are struggling to incorporate grammar into the classroom, something I noticed students at my school struggle with right now are basic grammar concepts in English; maybe define some terms and grammar concepts in English that are important to explaining the grammar of the target language as well before beginning to use these so that they can follow your explanations later on

• Grammar Days: I also like the idea of doing Grammar Fridays or Grammar Wednesdays; choosing a day to specifically focus on grammar; maybe a specific grammar concept you are dealing with in the content right now; this is also a great time to clear up any confusion and answer any questions about the grammar of the target language that they may have. You may also want to do most of this day in English so that they understand the grammar fully

• Here is an article on what you can use as authentic resources in your classroom that may help you include content better:

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Activities

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• The following websites contain grammar activities to incorporate grammar more into your classroom as well as making it enjoyable for the students 

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  Dice Game:                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Card Game:

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Spinner Game:                                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Powerpoint Game:

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Resources

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• This article was written by and for ESL teachers but a lot of the exact same concepts can be applied to learning/teaching any other language as a second language. There are a lot of great techniques and activities to use to incorporate grammar more into the classroom

  • ​https://minnetesoljournal.org/journal-archive/mtj-2019-1/bringing-a-focus-on-grammar-to-a-content-based-lesson/

• The last 3 articles include authentic resources to use in the classroom to help tie in as much culture content as possible, while also learning to understand and produce the language

  • https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator/authentic-materials-in-language-teaching/ 

  • https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator/authentic-materials-in-language-teaching-2/

  • https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Learning-in-Ohio/Foreign-Language/World-Languages-Model-Curriculum/Model-Curriculum-for-World-Languages-and-Cultures/Instructional-Authentic-Resources