An Application Of Guided Discovery Method In Senior English Grammar Instruction

Grammar has always been a hot issue in the field of foreign language teaching and research. Each scholar may have his or her own definition. And one definition of grammar which is widely recognized is given by Larsen-Freeman. She argues that three dimensions should be considered in coping with the complexity of the grammar, that is, form, meaning and use. The “form” has been highly stressed in the teacher-oriented class. Students just take notes and don’t even have some interaction in class, much less attention to “use”. However, as the new National English Curriculum Standard puts forward the idea of implementing learner-centered instruction and changing the phenomenon of overemphasis on interpretation of “rules”, more and more researchers pay attention to teaching methods, strategies, or something else, in coping with the grammar effectively.This paper concerns a study on application of guided discovery method(GDM)in senior English grammar instruction. It adopts research methods like classroom observation and questionnaires to survey the current situation of grammar teaching in Baiyin No.1 Senior School, including the usual methods of grammar teaching, teachers’ attitudes and opinions about grammar teaching, and students’ demands and requirements towards the teaching methods. Participants in this study include 100 students from class 7 and class 13, grade one. This paper has six chapters:Chapter 1 serves as an introduction for setting the scene for this paper. It opens with a brief background into issues concerning views on grammar and grammar teaching. It also makes a brief introduction of the goal and framework of this paper. In second chapter, I made a review. It summarizes the concept of grammar, the development of grammar teaching and GDM in detail both at home and abroad. Chapter 3 focuses on the study of the theory base of GDM. It also analyzes the concept and teaching procedure of GDM. In Chapter 4, we make a survey about current situation of grammar teaching and learning in Baiyin No.1 Senior School. It aims at exploring the problems in grammar teaching and learning, identifying students’ needs in learning grammar by collecting and analyzing the survey results. Next chapter is applications of GDM and instructional design. Chapter 6 is the last chapter which focuses on the summary and proposal of this research. It is hoped that this research will be helpful for the classroom teachers and the would-be teachers.