Jeanne McCarten, one of the authors of Touchstone, taught English in Sweden, France, Malaysia and UK before becoming an ELT writer, and is interested in applying insights from corpus research to language teaching. In this webinar, she discusses what teachers should look for in good teaching materials for teaching grammar.
Grammar teaching can often be problematic, especially when it comes to judging the results of it. While students can successfully learn and repeat grammar structures in class, they often have problems with grammar when they try to form sentences outside the classroom. This is why teachers need materials that will let them immediately see whether their teaching was successful or not.
In the following video, Jeanne discusses 7 criteria for teaching materials:
Context: choosing the right grammar structure depending on the context;
Connections: having a clear connection between the presentation and the learner;
Clarity: explaining grammar rules in a way students find clear and understandable;
Context (revisited): explaining the differences between written and spoken English;
Coherence: containing practice activities that follow from the presentation;
Communication: helping students move from practice to spontaneous expression;
Common errors: telling you what not to do as well as what to do.