Breaking the Grammar Myth with Hélène Collinet

In episode 98 of Growing with Proficiency The Podcast, I sat down with Hélène Colinet to discuss why and how we need to break the myth of grammar teaching and the importance of leading our classes with comprehensible input. This post will highlight our discussion, but to hear Hélène’s wealth of knowledge and insight into second language acquisition, along with practical strategies and inspiration you can use in your classroom right away, click above or here to listen to the whole episode. 

I started the episode by first asking Hélène to tell us a little bit about herself and how she started with TPRS. Hélène lives in Spain but is originally from France. She is a teacher and a trainer of language educators. We both started with traditional methods but soon discovered they weren’t leading our students to proficiency. That’s when Hélène started learning about TPRS and Second Language Acquisition. Now, she has trained over 2,000 language educators to do the same.

Grammar Myth: Language is like all other subjects

Hélène and I agree that training and teacher development are sometimes meant for all the subjects, but we can’t treat the language as just another subject. It is not the same as teaching math, biology, or history.

Grammar Myth: Relying on Grammar for Language Learning

Many teachers, myself included, feel frustrated by relying too much on grammar in language education, in addition to feeling that it’s not effective in getting students to use the language. Hélène and I discussed how language educators need to shift their focus to more practical, authentic language use in the classroom.

There are limitations to language learning methods that focus on memorization and grammar rules. I asked Hélène what teachers can do to combat this. Hélène suggested that, first, teachers must have the feeling of being “messy” when teaching a new language. What this means is that when you are starting something new, you are in an exploration zone.

You’re going to fail and you’re going to make some mistakes when you’re trying new things. So, you’re not going to feel very confident with what you’re doing, but you’re experimenting. This is all normal when you apply the science to your teaching. 

Grammar Myth: Teach Like the Next Person

Hélène emphasized that you can’t teach like the other teachers you’ve seen and learned from. I think it’s normal for teachers to do this at the beginning, but you have to have your own style and find your way of teaching.

Here are are some ideas to try:

• Focus on frequent language use to build linguistic capital.
• Focus on meaningful communication, not imitation of others.
• Use the language to talk about things that matter to your students.
• Personalized questions and answers can implicitly teach grammar.
• Teach grammar in context, rather than as a separate entity.

These techniques make language learning more engaging and effective, helping students use the language naturally and confidently. Listen to episode 98 to hear all of the details Hélène and I talk about regarding the myth of grammar.