[HUE]

How much grammar should be taught? When teaching the relative clause, do students need to know the technical terms? Or can we simply give some basic grammar references and the pattern? Or how about a more difficult grammar point? If I said to students that we will be looking at non-defining relative clauses, and how quantifiers can be used in conjunction to provide additional information, I'm sure I would get a lot of blank stares. And rightly so.

When the class gets bogged down with grammar explanations, then this takes away from time to reinforce and use the language. I cover the form and meaning of a grammar point, make sure that students understand the pattern more than the technical terms and exceptions to the rules, and move on to drilling the new language. This seems most effective, and paves the way for free(r) use at the end of the lesson.

Some schools or classes teach grammar separately, almost as an extension to the regular curriculum. A lot of terms get covered, the ins and outs of the rules are explored, and so on. But if research is to be believed, this actually doesn't improve use of the language.