Page 198 - Beyond Methods

186 Activating intuitive heuristics
(Dirven, 1990, pp. 7–8). Thus, the inductive teaching of grammar has the potential to activate the learners’ intuitive heuristics and stim- ulate their working hypotheses not only about a grammatical sub- system but also about the L2 system as a whole.
It is then fair to assume that learning through self-discovery rather than learning from teacher explanation will favorably affect grammar learning in particular and language learning in general. If the teach- ers have the ability to devise creative exercises and if the learners have the ability to derive probable generalizations based on the pre- sented data and classroom interaction, then the inductive method will prove to be highly beneficial. After all, learners will be able to comprehend and retain better if they themselves discover the gram- matical rules.
The emphasis on the inductive mode of presentation is not meant to prohibit the use of explicit explanation through form-focused ac- tivities. Instead, what needs to be seriously considered is whether the presentation of definitions and rules should be preceded by the pres- entation of relevant data, promotion of negotiated interaction, and fostering of language awareness; and, whether a judicious combi- nation of the inductive and deductive methods of teaching will be more effective. Developments in research on L2 grammar learning and teaching indicate that with suitable instructional modifications, teachers can strike a balance along the inductive-deductive contin- uum. I shall discuss these developments under the rubric input en- hancement and intuitive heuristics.
Reflective task 8.5
What difficulties do you anticipate if you wish to follow the inductive method of grammar teaching? Consider factors such as your own teacher prepara- tion, textbooks, learner attitudes, etc. How would you overcome some of the difficulties you’ve identified?
Input Enhancement and Intuitive Heuristics
Input enhancement can be considered to encompass two interrelated acts of consciousness-raising and noticing the gap, both of which have a direct bearing on activating learners’ intuitive heuristics. Al-