Learning new vocabulary
Why not take a student-centred approach to presenting new vocabulary? Let students decide which vocabulary items they don’t know first, and give them time to work out the meaning from pictures, context, or examples. If they’ve tried to work out the meaning for themselves, they’re more likely to remember vocabulary than when they’re passively told it.
Guided discovery for grammar
You can try a guided discovery approach with grammar too. Asking students to try to work out the rules of meaning and form themselves will help them remember those rules later on. This way, you avoid long teacher-led grammar lectures, and encourage student independence. Checking their answers also gives students a genuine reason to read the language summary section of the textbook.
Controlled vocabulary practice
Make controlled speaking practice more communicative and meaningful by personalising exercises so that students talk about themselves, people they know, and their own experiences. Take practice sentences from the textbook and get students to discuss whether or not they agree with them; ask them to choose sentences that are true for them, and then to work in pairs, asking each other questions.