Jeremy Harmer's "How to Teach English"

Below are a few resources to help you in your reading and studying of Jeremy Harmer's How to Teach English.   I will continue to add to this list as we move through the course.

• Jeremey Harmer talks a little bit about the revised edition of "How to Teach English."
  
• Ch 1: Reading Guide
• Ch 1 & 2: Review Question Cards
• Ch 4: BBC Link to E|S|A Lesson Planning 
• Ch 4: Supplemental - Ordering a Lesson
• NEW! Ch 7: Reading Guide (Also Nunan Chapter 4)
• Ch 9: Supplemental -
  (1) 5-minute Mysteries 
  (2) Information Gap Activities (PPT)
  (3) Making the Most out of Dialogs (Materials)
• Ch 11: Omit, Replace, Add, Adapt

Various Approaches to Teaching Grammar

Tell me and I forget.

Teach me and I remember.

Involve me and I learn.

--Benjamin Franklin
(paraphrasing Confucius)

The quote above sums up my own feelings regarding the teaching of grammar in an EFL classroom.  I have found that telling students about grammar merely gives them an introduction to a form without giving them understanding.  Teaching grammar to students, in a traditional sense, may result in students understanding and perhaps "remembering" the grammar rules and forms, but this type of teaching often seems to fail to enable students to use these grammatical structures effectively.  Involving students in the learning process has, in my experience, been both more successful and more fun for teacher and student alike.

Below you will find a number of links to articles and polls in which teachers describe and discuss their opinions of matters related to the teaching of grammar.

• This TeachingEnglish.com article briefly defines and explains the differences between deductive and inductive approaches to grammar instruction.  The author then describes how to plan a deductive grammar lesson using the PPP method.
  
  
• Another great article on the TeachingEnglish site describes ways to "jazz up" grammar lessons (which means to make them more exciting).  Unfortunately, the author doesn't provide many specific exciting activities, but the general principles provided are good ones.
  
  
• This longer article by Indonesian Handoyo Puji Widodo also discusses the inductive vs deductive debate.  The tables describing the pros and cons of each I found concise and helpful (pp. 6 & 7).
  
  
• The TeachingEnglish site also conducted and posted the results to a survey inviting teachers to vote on whether they prefer to use a deductive or inductive approach.  The comments made by teachers below the survery results are certainly more useful than the poll results themselves.
  
  
• Finally, the article "Changing Approaches to Teaching Grammar" provides some excellent suggestions and clear examples for some creative grammar instruction techniques, including ways to use stories, personalization, and authentic texts.  (You'll have to follow the "read more" link on this page.  And as it's a PDF file, it may take a little time to download, so be patient!)

Metaphors for Teaching/Learning a Language

What metaphors for language learning and teaching appeal to you?  That was the question posed to students as the topic for their personal essays.  

In my classes, I often talk about how I find language teaching to be similar in many regards to coaching a basketball team.  In both, teaching the fundamentals is of course important, but equally important is giving students/players time to practice.  Both coaches and teachers must know when to work their players/students hard and when to encourage them gently.  They must be good motivators, and they must set good examples for their learners by modeling good skills themselves.   

I could go on, but I'd rather let you read what my students have to say.  I like to encourage students to find their own metaphors to explore, based on their own interests and teaching/learning styles.  

I'm always amazed by their creative metaphors.  Over the years, I've had students compare language teaching and learning to everything from tending a garden to learning how to tango.  And this semester my students have not disappointed:

• In the first metaphor essay, Evening B Class student So-Yeon humorously and creatively explores the similarities between English teachers and a coffeeshop baristas.  When I first read the title, I have to admit I was a little skeptical, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised by all of the clever connections she manages to draw between these two seemingly dissimilar professions.  
  
  
• The second metaphor essay comes from Alicia, also from the Evening B Class.  In it she beautifully draws parallels between the courtship and commitment of sweethearts and the relationship of a dedicated teacher to her students.   Her insight into both roles would suggest that she  must be good at both.  Enjoy!