Should grammar be taught explicitly or implicitly?
Is grammar important for effective communication?
13 answers from our tutors
Best answer
Implicitly. The way I see it is that we excel more at copying and deducing than following direct instructions. So when we expose students to listening recordings or real-life texts, and just point out and make them notice a certain grammatical rule. This way, the next time they need to apply this rule, they will more easily imitate what they took notice of rather than apply what has been said rigidly.
- Aliya SiddiqueI am an online English Language Instructor and a Content Writer.
Grammar teaching should be implicit By providing grammar in context, in an implicit manner, we can expose students to substantial doses of grammar study without alienating them to the learning of English or other foreign language.
Hi Grammar is a good start but non only! So I think you should focus on it but not not only ! Some references occur Best Regards
Check your English level for free
Take our quick and free test to find out your current level of English
Start test
It can depend on students level on how grammar can be taught.
Explicitly to adults Implicitly to kids
I think it all depends on students goals for learning English. It is also best to teach grammar explicitly if the student has basic knowledge because it can cause confusion for a beginner.
I think it depends on the way the teacher is more comfortable teaching and the students preference too.
- Erieny HabibCertified CELTA holder IELTS teacher
I believe it works both ways. I have taught it both ways with varying success each time. It depends on the learner's preferred learning style. Some learners enjoy having the grammar rules written out in front of them, they work and think analytically. Some learners just understand it implicitly in a sentence or get used to it and utilize their English sense.
Although, fluency in a language is totally independent of grammar yet it must be taught explicitly.
In my opinion, the two methods are important. Since explicit teaching helps the students master the roles of grammar and implicit teaching helps students communicate fluently.
Grammar should be taught explicitly because it's something that needs to be taught in detail to be fully understood.
