Why teaching grammar in context?
 And for what?
Reasons
Helping students to understand the grammar items better because it’s easier to understand the grammar items in context
Helping students to remember the rules of the grammar items better because it’s easier to remember the rules of the grammar items in context
Help students to learn faster to use the grammar items correctly and appropriately because it’s easier to learn to use the grammar items in context

Purposes
Making teaching grammar more effective
Making teaching grammar more efficient

What is the context?
Context: Hymes’s View
Hymes and his followers suggest that context is SPEAKING:
             S - situation 场境
             P – participants参加者
             E – ends 目的与结果
             A – act  行为
             K – key 语气
              I – instrumentalities 手段方式
            N – norms 规范
            G – genres 体裁
Context: He Zhaoxiong’s View
He Zhaoxiong (何兆熊) suggests that context is the following:
                                对所使用语言的掌握
           语言知识       对语言交际上文的了解
                                                   百科全书式的知识（常识）
语境                        背景知识      特定文化的社会规范
                                                    特定文化的会话规则
                                                   交际的时间、地点
         语言外知识                        交际的主题
                                情景知识    交际的正式程度
                                                   交际的参与者的相互关系
                                相互知识
Context: Suo Zhenyu’s View
 Suo Zhenyu(索振羽，汉语语言学家) suggests that context is the following:
                                             口语的前言后语
                上下文语境       书面语的上下文
                                       时间
                                       地点
                                       场合
                 情景语境                               身份
    语境                                                    职业
                                      交际参与者       思想
                                                               修养
                                                               心态
                                                       历史文化背景
                 民族文化传统语境         社会规范和习俗
                                                       价值观

How to design a contextualized activity for teaching grammar

Analysing
Analyse how the grammar item is used in the real-life world
 
Example: simple past
   Talk about something happened in the past
   Describe features of a person or a place in
       the past
    … … … …
Designing the scenario
 Design a real-life context which you have to use the grammar item：
    who, for what, when, why, where…

Simple past:
   I, play football, 8, in my hometown
Focusing on use
When teaching grammar in context, please focus on a clear pragmatic purpose: focus on use in the real-life world.
Simple past:
       Tell others the reasons why I can play football so well
An example
Friend: Goallllll! You are good at playing football!
I: Yes. When I was only 8, I often watched football games in my hometown because there was a football match every weekend at the city stadium. Later, I loved football games. Then, I learned to play football every weekend. Soon, I became a football player in our school team.
Friend: Ah, I see.