Inductive and deductive approaches

Deductive (or explanation)

1. Give learners rules.
2. Give examples.
3. Learners practise.

Example: Form and use of the third conditional is explained to learners, then they have a gap-fill exercise to complete, then they prepare their own examples.

Inductive (or self-discovery)

1. Give learners examples of the target language.

2. Ask learners to find rules to explain them.

The inductive approach is more learner-centred because it gives learners opportunities to play with and discover language and create rules based on what they hear and read.

By working to figure things out, learners are more engaged and remember more.

Example 1 (Inductive)

A group of your learners decide they want to learn more slang expressions in English, so you bring an English film to school and they watch it at break time to pick up and discuss new expressions.

Example 2 (deductive)

You tell a story about your childhood. Each time you use a past tense verb, you hold up a card with that verb.

At the end, you have the learners write 'past simple' in their notebooks and copy all the verbs. You explain that you used the past simple because it happened in the past.

The learners write up a dialogue and perform it for you, and you give them some feedback.

Example 3 (inductive)

You put two timelines for different tenses on the board. Learners work in pairs to interpret them and try to make example sentences. You walk around and give help as needed.

Example 4 (Deductive)

On the board you write examples of past perfect sentences and a breakdown of the form, and ask learners to copy it down in their book and make some more sentences.

Example 5 (Inductive)

You hand out a copy of two pages out of a comic book. Learners find examples of three different forms about the future. Hand out another comic page with empty speech bubbles. Learners use the forms in their own comic.

Example 6 (Inductive)

You hand out a list of ten sentences using the conditional. You ask learners to work in pairs and write up a set of 'rules' for sentences with if.

Approaches in the classroom

Coursebook example

Listen to your teacher's story.

Your teacher used some of these verbs in her story. Tick the form you heard (positive, negative or question).

I got into trouble.

I didn't get into trouble.

Why did you get into trouble?

I did it.

I didn't do it.

Did you do it?

I was upset.

I wasn't upset.

Were you upset?

She could wash it.

She couldn't wash it.

Could she wash it?

I had written on the wall.

I hadn't written on the wall.

Why had you written on the wall?

She had found it.

My sister hadn't seen it before.

Had she seen it?

The teacher's story

When I was about six I got into trouble with my mum. She had found my sister's name written on the wall in the lounge, behind the sofa.

My mum was angry about the writing on the wall as it was in pen and she couldn't wash it off. It needed painting over!

But she was even more angry because she had already blamed my sister and discovered that I had written my sister's name on purpose to get my sister into trouble...

This made her mad. I tried to explain that I hadn't done it to get her into trouble; it's just that I hadn't written my own name to save me from getting into trouble!

My mum sort of believed me, but I wasn't allowed out to play with my friends for three days.

Next, you'll see how two teachers taught this lesson and identify whether they use a deductive or an inductive approach.

Read the first lesson plan and answer the three questions.

Presenting the language in context

1. Tell a childhood story about a time you got into trouble. Each time you use a past tense verb, you hold up a card with that verb.

Meaning and use

2. After the story, learners write 'past simple' and 'past perfect' in their notebooks and copy all the verbs.

3. Draw a timeline and explain you used the past simple because it happened in the past, and you used past perfect when an action further in the past was linked to an action in the past.

4. Give learners the positive, negative and question forms of past simple and past perfect.

Practice

5. Learners practise completing sentences in either past simple or past perfect.

6. Learners then choose five of the same verbs to tell a story about a time when they got into trouble.

7. Learners tell their stories. Partners ask three questions about the story.

8. In pairs, learners write one of their stories together.

Feedback

9. Give feedback on use of the forms.

Now read how a second teacher planned a lesson around the story, and answer the question.

Presenting the language in context

1. Tell a childhood story about a time you got into trouble with gist questions: When did it happen?, What did I do wrong?, etc.

Meaning and use

2. Give learners the text of the story – with past simple verbs highlighted in yellow and past perfect highlighted in blue.

3. Ask learners what the difference is between the two colours and which tenses are highlighted. They then complete a timeline with the events and colour the events yellow or blue to match the text.

4. Ask learners to work out when the past perfect is used and why.

5. In groups, learners should compare and agree on their ideas when it is used and why.

Practice

6. Individually, learners prepare a story about a time they got into trouble (you can provide some pictures if necessary for those with no ideas).