A practical starting guide for teachers, with A1–A2 learner examples and two clear routes: inductive and deductive.
This is a practical starting guide for teachers new to grammar teaching, with examples for beginner EAL learners. A1–A2 learners may be beginners in English while already being experienced thinkers and language users. Keep the topic age-appropriate and the thinking worthwhile.
Teach a small, useful language point in a clear situation. Help learners understand it, hear and say it, recognise its pattern, practise it with support, then use it for a purpose. Grammar terminology can help a teacher analyse a sentence, but it is not the learning goal by itself.
For example: learners can describe another person’s daily routine using familiar verbs. Avoid trying to teach every present-simple spelling rule, question form and negative in the same first lesson.
| Term | Plain meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | A word for a person, place, thing or idea. | teacher, school, water, happiness |
| Verb | A word used to express an action, event or state. | walk, happen, know, be |
| Adjective | A word that describes a noun. | a cold day; the day is cold |
| Subject | The person or thing the clause is about; often the part before the verb in a statement. | She walks to school. |
| Object | A noun phrase affected by or involved in the action of some verbs. | He reads a book. |
| Pronoun | A word used in place of, or to refer to, a noun phrase. | I, you, he, she, it, we, they |
| Tense and time | Tense is part of the verb’s grammatical form; the time a sentence refers to also depends on context and other words. | I walk every day; I walked yesterday. |
These are starting descriptions, not complete definitions of every use. Analyse the actual examples you will teach and check a reliable grammar reference when uncertain.
For She walks to school every day, the message is a repeated routine, not an action happening only at this moment.
In the target pattern, he/she/it is followed by the present-simple verb form: she walks; he plays. Teach the spelling changes relevant to the examples, rather than an unqualified add s rule.
The ending in walks is /s/, in plays it is /z/, and in watches it is /ɪz/. For a beginner lesson, model and practise the actual words in the task without demanding phonemic terminology from learners.
Use the sentence to describe a routine. Compare it with She is walking to school now only when learners are ready for that contrast.
| Inductive / guided discovery | Deductive / explicit presentation | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Examples in context, followed by questions that help learners notice and work out a pattern. | A clear explanation or rule, demonstrated through examples and checked in context. |
| Teacher’s job | Select useful examples, guide the noticing and clarify the learner’s conclusion. | Keep the explanation short, make meaning visible and check understanding. |
| Possible benefit | Learners actively examine the language and explain what they notice. | Learners receive a clear starting point without a long search for a pattern. |
| Watch for | A guessing exercise with too little evidence or questions harder than the grammar. | A long lecture followed by mechanical answers that do not reveal understanding. |
| Good decision | Use manageable examples and accessible questions; give help when needed. | Use accessible language and examples; leave time for meaningful practice. |
Neither route is automatically better for every class. You can combine them: learners notice a pattern, then the teacher gives a concise clarification. Decide from the target language, learner familiarity, time and evidence of understanding.
Goal: learners describe another person’s routine using familiar third-person present-simple verbs. Context: a fictional classmate’s week. Model: Maya walks to school. She plays football. She watches TV after dinner. Adapt the examples to your learners’ lives.
Begin with a picture sequence and short sentences. Let learners investigate one manageable contrast.
Begin with the same meaningful context, then explain the pattern clearly before learners practise it.
What to assess in both routes: Does the learner communicate a routine? Is the subject–verb form appropriate? Can they produce a fresh example without copying the model? If not, identify whether the barrier is meaning, form, sound, vocabulary or task instructions.
A concept-checking question tests the meaning of the target language. Keep the question simpler than the language being taught.
An instruction-checking question checks the task, not the grammar. For a pair task: Are you writing or speaking? How many sentences?
Use a short task in which the target form is constrained: match a picture to a sentence, choose a subject, or complete a familiar verb.
Provide a word bank or picture sequence, but let learners choose the content of their sentences.
Give learners a reason to exchange information, describe a person, compare routines or make a decision. Do not force one structure into an unnatural task.
Decide whether the moment calls for a quick correction or later feedback. During fluent communication, avoid interrupting every error.
| Communicative purpose | Example | Teaching focus |
|---|---|---|
| Identify and describe | I am a student. The room is quiet. | Forms of be, subject pronouns and a meaningful description. |
| Describe routines | She walks to school. | Present-simple statements with familiar verbs. |
| Describe location | The book is on the table. | Spatial meaning shown with real objects and contrasting positions. |
| Say what exists | There is a library. There are two shops. | Singular/plural meaning and the relevant forms. |
| Express ability | I can swim. I cannot drive. | Ability meaning and can + base verb. |
| Describe a completed event | I visited the museum yesterday. | A clear past-time context and a small, useful set of verbs. |
| Compare | This room is warmer than that room. | A comparison supported by pictures or measurements. |
This is a starting menu, not an official CEFR syllabus or a fixed sequence. Choose from the learner’s needs and your course, and check prerequisite vocabulary and concepts.
Connect grammar to what learners need to do in a subject task: compare values, describe a process, explain a cause or report an observation.
Let learners compare meanings or organise an idea using languages they know, then bridge into the required English pattern.
Use the guide to practise language analysis, planning, classroom checking and reflective teaching. It is independent professional-development material, not an official qualification handbook or assessment specification.
Official information: Cambridge teaching qualifications and courses ↗.
Choose a route, then fill the fields. Start with a useful meaning and one manageable target. This planning tool saves your draft in this browser where storage is available.
Further reading: Inductive approach · Deductive approach · Concept checking · Presenting new language (British Council TeachingEnglish).