Inductive and Deductive Approaches to Teaching Grammar for Young Learners at Elementary School in East Lombok: A Teacher’s Perspective and Practice

Abstract

Teaching grammar to young learners is considered quite challenging for English teachers. Different characteristics between young learners and adult learners make teachers and academics less certain about how grammar should be presented, whether deductively or inductively. The purpose of this study was to gather information about the strategy of teaching grammar in three different elementary schools and how the teacher implements the strategy in the classroom. To this extent, interviews and classroom observation were used to obtain all the data required for the study. The result confirmed that 2 out of 3 English teachers teach grammar implicitly through fun activities because they believe that young learners learn the grammar better when they notice the rules themselves through fun activities. Meanwhile, the other one teaches grammar explicitly by giving simple grammar exercises. This study encouraged teachers to consider an inductive implicit grammar approach to maximize language acquisition, and it is also important for teachers to constantly check on learners’ progress to help them achieve learning objectives on time.