During my grammar TESL course we were asked to reflect on two approaches to teaching - deductive and inductive.
Here are my thoughts on main differences between them...
"...a deductive approach,, where the learner is first given the rule, and alter asked to apply in various exercises" (Sikorzynska, A. Discover it yourself, p.82)
"...inductive approach, where the learner is presented with some authentic language material and expected to discover the grammatical rule on his/her own." (Sikorzynska, A. Discover it yourself, p.9)
Inductive approach is student centred and uses authentic materials to help students discover the rule. The concept is presented in a specific context, which can have some flexibility to allow the learners develop their own conclusions about the meaning and the form. This approach might be more suitable for more experienced teachers as it requires some adaptations to adjust to students' different capabilities. One of the drawbacks of the inductive approach is that there's always a chance that the student doesn't get the concept and will start making mistakes. . That's why it is crucial for the teacher to closely monitor students' progress and immediately correct their misunderstandings.
I, myself, love using inductive approach and it works perfectly for many of my adult students. I like observing my students discovering things on their own and their aha moments.
The deductive approach is more teacher driven and is based on teaching the grammar rules. The teacher introduces the rules and students are asked to complete controlled written exercises that focus on form, not the meaning of the structure (Thornbury, 1999, p.32) One of the benefits that Ii enjoy in this kind of approach is that it's less time-consuming and puts less pressure on the instructor.
I remember in my school teachers were only using the deductive approach and it worked fine for us, elementary and middle school students. I remember a lot f us were very shy and always afraid to make a mistake, so I don't think many of my classmates would feel comfortable guessing the answers.
A lot of you would probably agree that it's not realistic to use only deductive or inductive approach in your lessons, it works best for both -students and teachers, when it is a combination of both. We obviously need to consider students' level of language proficiency, there age, class size and other factors.
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