Grammar in the English Language Classroom : Teachers’ perspectives on grammar knowledge and instruction

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this work is to examine the teaching methods secondary and upper secondary teachers apply to teach grammar in the EFL classroom, as well as their perceptions about the benefits of having grammar knowledge and its benefits to students’ writing. Previous research reveals that grammar teaching is an integral part of language teaching; explicit and implicit methods along with deductive and inductive instruction are the main practices teachers use to transfer knowledge to their students. Apart from that, it is beneficial when teachers have good grammarknowledge; hence students can develop good metalinguistic awareness and writing ability. The theoretical framework is based on teacher cognition theory, as teachers’ personal experiences and knowledge affect their decisions about grammar practices in the classroom environment. A qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with six secondary and upper secondary teachers who teach English as a foreign language in different schools and municipalities in the whole of Sweden are used to conduct the current study. The results demonstrate that indeed grammar teaching is needed to teach a new language. However, factors such as age and type of groupinfluence teachers’ decisions. Above all else, teachers’ highest goal is to help students become good language users.