Controlled vs. Freer Practice Activities: The Power of Freer Practice in Grammar Instruction

Even though grammar is an essential part of any language, teaching and learning it can sometimes be a challenge. 

However, a grammar lesson doesn’t have to be dry and tedious. In fact, with the right approach, it can become a great opportunity for learners to show their creativity, experiment with language, express themselves, and develop fluency. 

Knowing features and different types of practice activities can help you make a grammar lesson more meaningful and show the students that the language they learned can be used not only in gap-filling tasks or other controlled practice exercises but also in real-time communication, which will lead to a deeper understanding of grammar in context and make the language more memorable for learners.

After presenting a particular grammar topic to learners, we need to practice the target language and allow students to use it in different contexts. However, we should distinguish a few types of activities for practicing: controlled, semi-controlled, and freer.

Controlled practice includes exercises and activities designed to practice and reinforce specific structures with the main focus on accuracy. There is only one correct answer to each question or item of the task and error correction is often done during the activity so students don’t continue repeating incorrect language. 

Controlled practice activities don’t have a communicative purpose and are not interactive, but they make learners consolidate their understanding and memory of meaning and form. These are gap-fill, multiple choice, matching, sentence transformation activities, etc., which focus on form, meaning, use, or combination.

Semi-controlled practice still focuses on accuracy, but there can be a range of correct answers to each question or item. These activities are not really interactive, but students are given more freedom, so they have the chance to personalize the language. This increases the level of communicative challenge slightly.

Freer practice aims to practice the target language in an unrestricted manner and meaningful contexts. Freer practice activities are said to be fluency-focused as they should prepare the learner and recreate conditions of real-time language use.

There are no correct answers in such tasks, and the emphasis is on meaningful communication and learners` confidence in using the target language rather than on perfect accuracy. Accuracy is still an important aspect, so the teacher might want to do some delayed error correction without interrupting the flow of the practice activity.

Freer practice activities are role plays, group discussions, debates, etc., where students are given the chance to use the target language and their existing language knowledge more flexibly.

As for the specific features of freer practice tasks that every ESL teacher has to know, they are the following:

Additionally, the following features might be added to the list:

For instance:
The teacher shows the learners the form and use of present continuous for future arrangements. Then students use the target language completing gapped sentences, which is controlled practice, to consolidate their understanding of the form. Later students use the target language more freely by describing their plans and schedule for the next week in order to personalize language and have meaningful communication with other students in the group using the target language.

• Role-playing and simulations: Creating scenarios where students can practice using the target grammar structure is an effective way to prepare them for real-life situations. 

• Debates and discussions: Encourage students to use the target grammar to express their opinions and argue their points in debates or discussions.

• Questionnaires and surveys: these can be created by a teacher or students can be asked to create a list of their own questions using the target language. The first part of the activity is reasonably controlled, but in the next stage students will ask and answer the questions, so they’ll have a choice in how they respond.

• Storytelling: story-building activities are excellent for practicing past simple or other narrative tenses and can be a lot of fun when the story turns out unpredictably amusing, imaginative, or even a bit crazy.

Information gap: one student has access to some information not held by the other ones, who must ask about this information to complete a task successfully. The game can be played in pairs or in small groups, where all members of the group have some pieces of information.

Sentences true for you: Provide prompts that require students to use the target grammar in sentences about themselves. To make it more communicative, ask students to add more details or ask their partner follow-up questions. 

• Two true, one false: it’s a very similar activity that can be done more interactively than the previous one by simply asking students to include one false fact when completing the gaps in the prompts. When comparing the statements, the other students will need to guess which sentences are false about their partners by asking follow-up questions.

• Memory test or find the differences: these types of activities are great for practicing Present Continuous in an interactive way. Students work with the pictures describing what is happening in each.

• Card games, bingo, board games, etc: to provide a small break from traditional lesson structure, try using different board games and related games to reinforce grammar structures as well as encourage students to have some fun, which in turn will reduce stress. Just use a template that you can find on the Internet and add different sentences or questions to the squares, which will require students to use the target language.

As a teacher, you should clearly define learning objectives and make sure that each activity has a specific grammar focus. Freer practice should encourage students to use the target language.

As well as this, don`t forget about feedback and reflection. Provide your students with constructive feedback on both content and language and encourage students to reflect on their learning. Make them analyze what language was used correctly and what should be improved.

Freer practice activities move beyond controlled exercises, giving students the freedom to explore, experiment, and internalize grammar naturally. By fostering creativity, collaboration, and meaningful understanding, we can turn grammar from a dreaded subject into a springboard for confident communication. 

Try experimenting and personalizing freer practice activities so that they  will boost engagement, motivation, and ultimately, your students’ language proficiency.