Grammar teaching can be trying for even the best of us. We’re sharing Scott Thornbury’s popular talk from IATEFL 2019, on how to answer learners’ grammar questions.
Scott shares his personal experiences with learner’s grammar questions and presents ways of tackling them. He begins by drawing on research that “in most ESL classrooms a major part of classroom interaction is generated by the teacher asking questions” (Tsui, A. B. M., 1995) and that “learners typically ask few questions in teacher-fronted lessons” (Markee, N. 2000).
His talk highlights some of the types of questions that learners’ are likely to ask and how they are framed – social, procedural and pedagogical – with a stronger focus on the pedagogical questions. There is also discussion on teachers’ typical responses to unsolicited learner-initiated questions such as; avoidance, postponing, asking for more information or throwing it open to the class. You’ll also learn about suggested strategies that teachers can adopt when confronted by student questions, as well as how to encourage learner-initiated questions as a positive learning strategy.
Watch the full video below to see Scott Thornbury share his tips on how to answer learners’ grammar questions, with some added humour.
For a detailed look at addressing many of these questions, learn more about Scott Thornbury’s 101 Grammar Questions.
If you’re interested in hearing more from our IATEFL experts, check out Greg Archer’s talk Functional. Not Functional: Rethinking IELTS writing.