The choice of inductive or deductive mode of teaching grammar in an online afterschool English context

Abstract

There has been a constant discussion for many years whether grammar structures should be directly explained and then practiced through numerous examples, or whether it is efficient for students to be exposed to a foreign language and based on context and everyday situations to induce the grammar structures by themselves. Thus, the current study attempted to investigate the attitudes and practices of teachers and students towards inductive and deductive approaches to teaching grammar of English as a foreign language in the remote learning context of one of the after-school language programs in an Armenian setting. The study tried to fill out a particular knowledge gap as there is a lack of research addressing those perceptions, attitudes and practices in order to build a better remote teaching-learning environment. The study was carried out in one of the after-school language programs in Yerevan and included about thirty-eight student-participants and four teachers. This is an action research with mixed method approach. This approach which includes observations, a teacher interview and online survey questionnaires, would overcome the weakness of using single instruments to examine both teachers’ and students’ preferences and experiences in choosing inductive or deductive approaches to grammar teaching. Teachers and students were selected based on a non-probability purposive sampling. Descriptive statistics was applied (frequencies and percentages) to demonstrate the quantitative data collected through online surveys. The results of the surveys were analyzed by using five-point Likert scales of agreement. Teacher interview was analyzed inductively looking for similar patterns through comparison. Practical implications were also articulated. The results of the study indicated that the teachers’ and the students’ preferences and experiences about grammar teaching are in harmony. They both give preference to both approaches. The results also indicated that the teachers’ classroom practices don’t match with their preferences about grammar teaching. It was also revealed that the teachers assume that they are using inductive approach, in fact they are teaching grammar deductively.