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Comments 
Proponents of the various kinds of commu
methods because it teaches students to u
fluency. Critics comment that it does not prepare the stud
ance the situations for wh
Critics also comment that the approach requires students to memorize a great deal of material w
shown the systematic aspects of that material. The grammatical aspects of the phrase "You hav
number" may be too complex to b
the telephone. They are to memorize it in its entirety, with
saves them a lot of grammatical bother, it requires them
been demonstrated to be much more difficult than remembering pa
Ramifications 
If you find yourself with a communicative textbook, an
chances are that they will initially be uncomfortable with not knowing about the grammatical aspects o
components of a sentence. You will either have to help them overcome those feelings or explain
structure of 
 Sequencing 
A notion that winds through the various approac
teach English, is the problem of what to teach before what e
should be taught before more complex things and that if you are teaching
have taught X first. 
 Grammatical sequencing 
In grammar studies, some sentences are simpler, and therefore easier, than others. You dealt with this 
notion in your English classes in school when you studied simple vs. compound or complex sentences. The 
imple sentence "This is a 
s
stuck together any old which way with chewing gum, this would be a book." 
The various approaches to teaching English deal with the problem of sequencing (arranging items from 
easier to harder) in various ways. Textbooks within the Grammar Translation Method, Direct Method, and 
udiolingual Meth
A
g
n the two example grammar 
I
the first sentence type presented. From there, the textbook for Japanese junior high school students uses 
the following sequence: 
This is a hat.
This is my hat.
I have a hat.
These are hats.
This is an egg.

---

Is this a hat?
This is Mr. West.
He is a tailor. etc. 
English for Today, on the other hand, sequences as follows: 
book.
That is a door.
Is this/that a book or a chair? It's a chair. 
in each textbook progresses from simple to more complex, but in different 
irections. 
exist, and that sequencing determined solely by grammar 
roduces uninteresting, irrelevant lessons. These texts do not completely abandon grammatical sequencing, 
owever. A great many post-Audiolingual textbooks (like ExpressWays, Figures 7.8-7.10) sequence loosely 
cording to verb tense. Such sequencing often goes as follows: 
present tense of "be" 
"Is
This is a 
What's this/that? It's a hook.
The book is yellow.
Is the book yellow'? Yes, it is./No, it's not.
What color is it? It's green. 
Is it green or blue? It's blue. etc. 
You can see how the sequence
d
Approaches to language teaching developed after the Audiolingual Method reject the notion of such rigid 
sequencing as is illustrated above. Proponents of these newer approaches argue that more important 
aspects of language than grammatical structure
p
h
ac
this 3287178? No, it isn't." 
present progressive tense 
"This bus is going downtown." 
simple present 
“This bus goes to Westville." 
Imperatives 
"Go down to the corner." 
he sequencing of other grammatical features-nouns, prepositions, question forms, etc.-is determined by the 
ontent of the conversations. 
ther parameters 
hile sequencing according to grammatical complexity is of great concern to EFL/ESL textbook authors, 
ey consider other parameters as well. 
s you can see from the ExpressWays example, the usefulness to the student of words and phrases is very 
portant. It's a very rare textbook, for example, that doesn't teach "Hello. How are you?" "Fine, thanks" 
arly on, simply because English speakers use these phrases time and time again during a day. The authors 
f English For Today chose to teach the question pattern "What's this?" in the first lesson because it allows 
e student to ask for vocabulary items-something the authors considered of use to the language student. 
ase of explanation is another parameter, especially important in approaches (and classrooms!) where the 
tudent's native language is not used. Sentence types that are put into the first few lessons have to have 
eanings which can be demonstrated or pantomimed. You might explain the difference in meaning between 
his" and "that" in this way: 
"This is a book." point to a book in front of you 
“That's a book." point to a book across the room 
T
c
 
 O
W
th
A
im
e
o
th
E
s
m
"t

---

After the first lessons, sentences must be explainable in language the student can understand. For example, 
e standard way to explain "must have" is to set up a context: 
I went to the drugstore. I bought a paper. I paid for the paper with money from my wallet. I came here 
from the drug store. I don't have my wallet now. I must have
th
left my wallet in the drug store. 
nother parameter is a progression from things the student knows to things the student doesn't know. It is 
tandard practice, for example, to start out with the verb "be" in simple sentences, because they are easily 
dard practice to go from "be" sentences to 
ings, that tense uses 
ent has already learned. 
wn sequence, taking materials from several books. Others follow the 
particular tex
scribed syllabus (which means simply that they teach the lessons in the 
or syllabus), and amplify the lessons with material from other sources. You 
om 
icky instances, you can easily tell when a sentence is correct and when it has mistakes in it. You know, for 
exa
know how to correct the sentence: to "This is a book" if only one book is under consideration, and "These 
re
than one book is. 
judgment, and therefore don't have to check with grammar 
legitimately set yourself up as an authority in questions of 
atical. Your intuitions can save you endless arguments and 
question "Why do you say it that way?" The answer is "Because English 
hapter and several helpful reference grammars are annotated at the end of the chapter. 
 
 Th
A
s
demonstrated and occur with alarming frequency. It is also stan
e present progressive ("I am going," "you are going," etc.) because, among other th
th
the forms of "be' the stud
 
 Practical choices 
s you can gather from the previous discussion, the sequencing of materials to be taught is a complex 
A
issue. Some teachers make up their o
t or pre
sequencing of a 
order they are given in the book
will probably prefer the latter course, feeling that your energies are better devoted to classroom matters than 
to wrestling with the problems of sequencing. 
If you are required to teach from a book that is hopelessly chaotic in sequencing-that is, if you can't yourself 
perceive a pattern to the sequencing-it is probably worth your while to find a book whose sequencing you 
like and teach according to that sequence. You can still use your required book. You merely skip around in it 
hile following the order of your preferred book. 
w