Brown's chapter 22 and Kuma chapter 7 seem to go hand in hand with the idea of when to explicitly bring attention to grammar (or other concepts in the classroom) and when not to. Sometimes it can be tricky as teachers to decide whether we want to spend time going over a grammar point in great detail, or do we wan the students to use inductive reasoning and recognize the patterns themselves. This concept also ties into the issue of over correcting students during class which in turn takes away from time that could be spent teaching/learning.
A major struggle within this topic is the battle between naturalistic acquisition and form focused instruction. While most teachers strive to provide the most authentic and natural experience as possible, some students need the concepts written out explicitly in order to fully comprehend them. Many schools also require that teachers follow the textbook which can also interfere with naturalistic acquisition because textbooks are typically form focused. Sometimes grammar concepts are also very difficult for students to understand therefore teachers must spend much more time than predicted on these topics leaving little to no time for a natural learning process. I liked how Brown phrased the new views on grammar teaching on pg. 419, "Current views of second language classroom methodology are almost universally in agreement on the importance of some form focused instruction within the communicative framework, ranging from explicit treatment of rules to noticing and consciousness-raising techniques for structuring input to learners." I liked how he used the terms "noticing" and "conscious-raising" because I believe there is a way to present grammar concepts in a brief and simple way that satisfies the curiosity of the learners without getting off track. His quote suggests there must be a balance between the techniques to help students learn in different manners while still understanding grammar points on different levels.
Grammar in a second language can be very difficult to master due to its new set of rules, exceptions, irregularities, and patterns. At a beginning level, students need much more explicit teaching, rather than inductive, because they have no or little previous knowledge of the grammar. They won't be able to analyze a sentence and understand why the verbs are conjugated differently because they simply don't have the knowledge. We must also keep in mind that introducing a new pattern accidentally may throw off students and take the class in another direction. Because of this, teachers must carefully plan out what texts they will use to keep students on track and use a "zoom lens" to help them focus on one grammar point at a time. For example, when teaching kids the future tense in Spanish you typically start out by using "ir + a + infinitive". You use this because IR is one of the first verbs they learn and it will be easy for them to construct this sentence. Later on they learn the actual future tense which has its own endings and irregulars. If you confuse them early on, they may lose motivation to try to understand the material later.
At the end of Kuma chapter 7, he presents microstrategies for fostering language awareness which are to be utilized by the teacher in these instances. Some of the strategies I thought were helpful were: have students list useful terms, discuss in groups, compare/contrast their answers, lead a detailed discussion, help them reflect, anticipate possible student responses to better prepare how to lead discussion, think about difficulties they may face, etc. Every time a teacher plans out their lessons or week long plan, they should constantly be asking themselves questions from the student's perspective. How will they respond to this activity? Is it too difficult for them? It relates back to the three p's of post method pedagogy: particularity, possibility, practicality. By asking these questions, lessons will be better constructed to aid students' understanding.
How can we create a balance between form based instruction and a more naturalistic approach? If we must sacrifice one and focus on the other, which is more important? Can we create a naturalistic learning environment at the beginner level? Will students be able to comprehend the material or will it be too overwhelming?
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