This book recommends that language teachers incorporate an awareness of discourse and pragmatics in their teaching if they truly wish to implement a communicative approach in their classrooms. After two introductory chapters on discourse and pragmatics, the authors show how a discourse perspective can enhance the teaching of traditional areas of linguistic knowledge (pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary) and the teaching of language processing skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking). This awareness of discourse is then carried over to curriculum development, assessment, and classroom research. With discussion questions and activities at the end of each chapter, this book can be used in methods courses or in-service training programs.

The first two chapters of this book address general questions of grammar in ESL theory and classroom practice. These are followed by ideas for the creative teaching of grammar. Included are specific suggestions for teaching most of the common, beginning-level structures, which are listed separately in a grammar index for easy reference.