You start talking, “Today’s grammar lesson will be about…” Your EFL students groan loudly interrupting you. “Oh no, grammar again?” they sing, almost in unison. You’re not exactly that excited, but what can you do? It’s on the show.
Grammar teaching is almost always in demand and often difficult to tackle. In the article, “Three Fun Ideas for Teaching Grammar to TEFL Students”, we discuss using aids such as games, movie clips, radio and CD/DVDs to generate fun and engaging grammar teaching activities. But let’s not stop there. Another useful source for creating grammar reinforcement activities that students will love comes from the heat of the language itself: literature. “All the world’s a stage” if you have access to all the contemporary novels or classic literature. Here are some ideas for using literature to get out of a depression. We will start with contemporary novels.
contemporary novels
From Harry Potter to Kinsey Millhone to Jack Ryan, there is a treasure trove of characters waiting to teach your language learners English grammar. Since these and many other characters are so willing, why should you? If you’re like me, let Harry, Kinsey, or Jack do the work for you. They don’t even ask for part of your salary. Now isn’t that nice of them?
This is what you do. Choose a page or a passage. Work the grammar on it. Turn it into dialogues, scenes, and plays. Practice it out loud. Change it. Re-write it. Have fun with it. By the way, use props, real objects, costumes, sound effects, and sets if you can. They do not need to be elaborate to be effective. A cape, a hat, a cane, a telephone, a doll, a flashlight, a bag or a bottle can work wonders in a simple dialogue. By all means make a “production” of this. Your students will not only not object, but will probably ask, “Can we do this again, teacher?” Your answer, of course, will be…
Classic literature
Everybody loves Shakespeare. “Romeo and Juliet” has been repeated in the theme countless times. The question, “Can I have more, sir?” begins a series of events that has given rise to films, documentaries, children’s versions, plays and idealism that has intrigued millions for centuries. The list of great books is more than enough to generate dozens of ideas and opportunities for productive grammar work with your students. Let Alice and her friends, Shakespearean characters, and fairy tales give her the helping hand she needs to convey grammar in context to her students. You or your students can create a dialogue between Hansel and Gretel, the three little pigs and the wolf, Cinderella and her stepmother, or the Prince. The list could go on and on. You will see? “It is elementary, my dear Watson.”
By the way, if you don’t know who Harry Potter is, what planet have you been living on? Kinsey Millone? She is the fiercely independent detective created by Sue Grafton. Author Tom Clancy produced CIA agent Jack Ryan, who wanders, sometimes rather recklessly, through several of his novels. Let these and many other characters provide the fodder for dialogue your students will enjoy. Leave that dry textbook stuff for the blades.
