This book aims to help teachers to develop their knowledge of grammar, provide a source of grammar lessons and instigate new ways of planning and organising lessons.

Recent SLA research recognizes the necessity of attention to grammar and demonstrates that form-focused instruction is especially effective when it is incorporated into a meaningful communicative context. Designed specifically for second-language teachers, this text identifies and explores the various options for integrating a focus on grammar and a focus on communication in classroom contexts and offers concrete examples of teaching activities for each option. Each chapter includes a description of the option, its theoretical and empirical background, examples of activities illustrating in a non-technical manner how it can be implemented in the classroom, questions for reflection, and a list of useful resources that teachers can consult for further information.

This book aims to help teachers to develop their knowledge of grammar, provide a source of grammar lessons and instigate new ways of planning and organising lessons.

If you want to start an argument in a teachers' lounge, bring up the topic of how best to teach grammar. There is a wide spectrum of opinion. Traditionalists claim that we must explicitly teach grammar. Students drill the basics and diagram sentences. Sometimes their study and drills take the place of writing, but these teachers claim that good writing demands good grammar. At the opposite end of the spectrum are teachers who claim that the best way to learn grammar is to write, thereby being forced to use grammar in writing and editing. They reason that students will learn grammar in the context of actually using it, without all the drills and worksheets. They trust the writing process to instill an appreciation for grammar, instead of actually teaching it. Teachers on the write-to-learn-grammar side claim that students who are only taught grammar rules might pass tests, but since they didn't learn in the context of writing, they typically don't apply the rules when they write. Grammar traditionalists say students in writing classes never learn grammar at all, because it is not explicitly taught. In Tools, Not Rules, authors Tommy Thomason and Geoff Ward take the middle-ground position that grammar should be taught as part of the writing process. Tommy Thomason is a veteran journalist and university journalism professor at TCU. Geoff Ward is a well-known Australian professor and associate dean from James Cook University in Townsville. Both have written several books and work extensively with American teachers. Publisher's website: http: //www.eloquentbooks.com/ ToolsNotRules-TeachingGrammarInTheWritingClassroom.html

The author examines the topic of grammar, suggesting ways of teaching grammar rules that should never be broken, and identifying what he calls "myth rules" that are commonly taught but infrequently followed, and that can hinder students' interest in writing.

Teaching Grammar Creatively is a practical new resource book that offers a variety of lessons and activities for everyday use in English language classes. It aims to stimulate students' imagination, humour and creativity and increase the effectiveness of grammar practice. The book offers more than 50 complete lessons covering a wide range of grammar structures, learner levels, and age groups. Each lesson is divided into two main sections: Language Awareness Activities and Creative Grammar Practice. The Language Awareness Activities are designed to introduce and provide initial practice of items that may still be unfamiliar to students. The Creative Grammar Practice section provides ideas for a deeper and more personalised familiarisation with these items, always with an element of individual creativity. Each lesson ends with the creation of a learner text - a permanent and original record of the grammar, in the form of a story or a poem for example.