Harmers Teaching Grammar

Written by: Kin Susansi

In teaching grammar, the techniques of delivery (of the

lesson) and material content will be different depending on the
students level. Teaching beginner students, we may need
pictures to attract students attention. We can imitate Harmer
ways like guessing the job activity. However, we should adjust the
situation with what happen around us not purely imitate the
coursebook. We better make our own presentation based on the
coursebook and modify rather than just copy and paste. The
students will hardly understand since the pictures on the book
using unfamiliar descriptions. So we make an adjustment. For
example, we change the name with Indonesian name, use familiar
activities and pictures that students feel engage to them. Like
when we introduce nurse as a job, we make it a typical Indonesian
nurses with white uniform that students familiar with.
Meanwhile, in teaching adolescents we may need fun and
engaging materials with the students lives because teenage
students are easily bored and unfocused. Like when Harmer gives
the example of Girls night out we may want to change the
places with the most visited places in the city or in the country.
Another strategy, we can use prominent figures to engage them
to the lesson, domestic or international celebrity that popular
among students like movie stars or singers. Like Harmer says that
to make students understand what we are talking about, to
engage and interested, it is the most important thing (Harmer,
2007; p. 215). To make it fun, we may need variety of class
activities. One time, we bring pictures to the class or use video
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and another time we can play games or role play with them.
Sometime, we make pairwork, and in different time we make
groupwork.
Practicing is the key of mastering the grammar. So, we try to
make them study not only in the classroom but also at home. Like
when they learn simple past tense, as a home work, we can ask
them to make sentences that relates to their hobbies. Another
way, we can ask them to find the sentences from English
magazine, comics, or story book borrowed from library or bought
from secondhand book stall. The point is, we make them active
and discover the language as creative as possible and create their
own experience in learning grammar.
Harmer, J. (2007). Teaching Grammar, 210-228. The Practice of
English language teaching. 4th ed. Harlow: Pearson Longman.