Teaching Grammar in an Integrated-interactive Framework: Some Pedagogical Applications

Abstract

Communication always remains one of the central goals in ESL/EFL teaching. If communication is our major objective as language teachers, then interaction, i.e. reception and expression of messages, must be present from the first encounter with the language in the class. In the backdrop of Rivers' [1] premise, that "Communication derives essentially from interaction," this paper argues that grammar needs to be taught in an integrated-interactive framework through what Ellis [2] calls a natural developmental route in the theory of second language acquisition. This involves both instruction and natural exposure to target language and its use in communicative situations. In view of this, an attempt is made to illustrate some functional pedagogical applications of a grammar point of using conditionals in a contextual integrated framework.