Teaching Grammar for Writing : Understanding Teachers’ Views on Implicit and Explicit Approaches

Abstract: The role of grammar instruction when teaching writing has a long history of debate, and the views on the role of explicit versus implicit approaches vary. This study investigates how practicing teachers view this topic and how effective they perceive their teaching methods are when teaching grammar for writing. The study adopts a semi-structured interview with four practicing teachers, and their data is analyzed and discussed. The analysis indicates differences in views among the teachers, and although the results also indicate that both explicit and implicit approaches to teaching grammar are perceived by the teachers to be effective, they mostly favor an explicit approach. The study is significant for both practicing teachers and future teachers since gaining insight and potentially investigating this topic further can enhance our understanding of how practicing teachers perceive effective teaching methods.