The English grammar
The English grammar
Unit
one: What is grammar?
Question
1. Can you formulate a definition of ‘grammar’? Compare your definition with a
dictionary’s.
Question
2. Think of two languages you know. Can you suggest an example of a structure
that exists in one but not in the other? How difficult is the structure to
learn for the speaker of the other language?
Question
3. Choose a structure in your own native language. How would you explain its
meaning to learners? How would you get them to understand when this particular
structure would be used rather than others with slightly different meanings?
Unit
Two: The place o grammar teaching
Opinions
about the teaching of grammar
Extract
1
The
important point is that the study of grammar as such is neither necessary nor
sufficient for learning to use a language.
(from
L. Newmark, ‘How not to interfere with ‘language learning’ in Brumfit, C.J. and
Johnson, K. (eds.) The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching,
Oxford University Press. 99, p. 65)
Extract
2
The
student’s craving for explicit formulization of generalizations can usually be
met better by textbooks and grammars that he reads outside class than by discussion
in class. (ibid.)
Extract
3
The
language teacher’s view of what constitutes knowledge of a language is a
knowledge of the syntactic structure of sentences The assumption that the
language teacher appears to make is that once this basis is provided, then the
learner will have no difficulty in dealing with the actual use of language.
There
is a good deal of evidence to suggest that this assumption is of very doubtful
validity indeed.
(from
H.G. Widdowson, ‘Directions in the teaching of discourse’ in Brimful, C. J. and
Johnson, K. (eds.) The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching,
Oxford University Press, 1979, pp. 49-0)
Extract
4
The
evidence seems to show beyond doubt that though it is by communicative use in
real ‘speech acts’ that the new language ‘sticks’ in the learner’s mind,
insight into pattern is an equal partner with communicative use in what language
teachers now see as the dual process of acquisition / learning. Grammar, approached
as a voyage of discovery into the patterns of language rather than the learning
o prescriptive rules, is no longer a bogey word.
(from
Eric Hawkins, Awareness of Language: An Introduction, Cambridge
University Press, 1984, pp. 150-1)
Task Critical
reading
Read
the extracts and discuss your reactions.
Unit
Three: Grammatical terms
Question
Look at a text in a course book you know and try to find two or more examples of
each of the sentence components listed below.
The
sentence is a set o words standing on their own as a sense unit, its conclusion
marked by a full stop or equivalent (question mark, exclamation mark). In many
languages sentences begin with a capital letter, and include a verb.
The
clause is a kind of mini-sentence: a set o words which make a sense
unit, but may not be concluded by a full stop. A sentence may have two or more
clauses (She left because it was late and she was tired.) or only one (She
was tired.).
The
phrase is a shorter unit within the clause, of one or more words, but fulfilling
the same sort of function as a single word. A verb phrase, for example, functions
the same way as a single-word verb, a noun phrase like a one –word noun or pronoun:
was going, a long table.
The
word is the minimum normally separable form: in writing, it appears as a
stretch of letters with a space either side.
The
morpheme is a bit of a word which can be perceived as a distinct component:
within the word passed, for example, are the two morphemes pass,
and –ed. A word may consist of a single morpheme (book).
Question
Using a sentence from a course book you know, find at least one of each of
these categories: subject, verb, object, complement and adverbial.
Parts
of speech
The
main parts of speech are:
-
nouns (such as horse, Syria)
-
verbs (such as swim, remain)
-
adjectives (such as black, serious)
-
adverbs (such as quickly, perhaps)
-
pronouns (such as he, those)
-
auxiliary verbs (such as is, do before a main verb)
-
modal verbs (such as can, must)
-
determiners (such as the, some)
-
prepositions (such as in, before)
Question
Open a newspaper. Can you find and underline examples of some or all of the categories?
Unit
four: Presenting and explaining grammar
Task Classroom
or peer-teaching
Stage
1: Presentation
Present
and explain a grammatical structure to a class; the presentation should not
take longer than five minutes.
The
presentation should be recorded in some way; you might tape-record it or ask
another participant to observe and take notes. If neither of these is possible,
then write down as accurate an account as possible immediately after the
lesson.
Stage
2 (optional)
If
you did not do so before, look up a grammar book to check your explanation: was
there anything important you omitted or misrepresented?
Stage
3: Feedback.
Ask
another participant or student to tell you immediately afterwards how clear
they thought your presentation was, and if they have any particular comments.
You
may find it useful to use the questions in Box 2 as points of reference.
Stage
4
In
the light of critical discussion of your presentation, write out for yourself a
set of guidelines for presenting and explaining grammar.
Box
2. Questions on grammar presentations.
1.
The structure itself. Was the structure presented in both
speech and writing, both form and meaning?
2.
Examples. Were enough examples provided of the structure
in a meaningful context? Are you sure the students understood their meanings?
3.
Terminology. Did you call the structure by its
(grammar-book) name? If so, was this helpful? If not, would it have helped if
you had? What other grammatical terminology was (would have been) useful?
4.
Language. Was the structure explained in the students’
mother tongue, or in the target language, or in a combination of the two? Was
this effective?
5.
Explanation. Was the information given about the structure
at the right level: reasonably accurate but not too detailed? Did you use
comparison with the students’ mother tongue (if known)? Was this/would this
have been useful?
6.
Delivery. Were you speaking (and writing) clearly and at
an appropriate speed?
7.
Rules. Was an explicit rule given? Why / Why not? If
so, did you explain it yourself or did you elicit it from the students? Was
this the best way to do it?
Unit
Five: Grammar practice activities
Application Look at the
grammar exercises in a locally-used foreign language course book, and classify
them roughly according to the types listed in Box 3. Many course books provide
plenty of exercises that suit the descriptions of Types 2-3, but tend to
neglect the others. Is this true of the book you are looking at?
Box
3. Types of grammar practice: from accuracy to fluency
Type
1: Awareness
After
the learners have been introduced to the structure (see Unit four above)? They
are given opportunities to encounter it within some kind of discourse, and do a
task that focuses their attention on its form and/or meaning.
Example:
Learners are given extracts from newspaper articles and asked to underline all
the examples of the past tense that they can find.
Type
2: Controlled drills
Learners
produce examples of the structure: these examples are, however, predetermined
by the teacher or textbook, and have to conform to very clear, closed-ended
cues.
Example:
Write or say statements about John, modeled on the following example:
a)
like: ice cream/cakeb) speak: English/Italianc) enjoy: playing football/playing
chess
Type
3: Meaningful drills
Again
the responses are very controlled, but the learner can make a limited choice.
Example:
In order to practice forms of the present simple tense:
Choose
someone you know very well, and write down their name. Now compose true statements
about them according to the following model:
He/She
likes ice cream; OR He/She doesn’t like ice cream.
a)
enjoy: playing tennisb) drink: winec) speak: Polish
Type
4: Guided, meaningful practice
The
learners form sentences of their own according to a set pattern; but exactly
what vocabulary they use is up to them.
Example:
Practising conditional clauses, learners are given the cue If I had a
million dollars, and suggest, in speech or writing, what they would
do.
Type
5: (Structure-based) free sentence composition
Learners
are provided with a visual or situational clue, and invited to compose their
own responses; they are directed to use the structure.
Example:
A picture showing a number of people doing different things is shown to the
class; they describe it using the appropriate tense.
Type
6: (Structured-based) discourse composition
Learners
hold a discussion or write a passage according to a given task; they are
directed to use at least some examples of the structure within the discourse.
Example:
The class is given a dilemma situation (‘You have seen a good friend cheating
in an important test’) and asked to recommend a solution. They are directed to
include modals (might, should, must, can, could, etc.) in their
speech/writing.
Type
7: Free discourse
As
in Type 6, but the learners are given no specific direction to use the structure,
however, the task situation is such that instances of it are likely to appear.
Example:
As in Type 6, but without the final direction.
Unit
Six: Grammatical mistakes
Inquiry Learner
errors
Stage
1: Gathering samples
Gather
a few samples of learners’ writing that does not consist of answers to grammar
exercise: answers to comprehension questions, essays, letters, short
paragraphs. Alternatively, record foreign learners speaking.
Stage
2: Classifying
Go
through the samples you have collected, noting mistakes. Can you categorize
them into types? What are the most common ones?
Stage
3: Ordering
Together
with other participants, make a list of the most common mistakes, in rough
order of frequency.
Stage
4: Reordering
There
are, of course, all sorts of other factors, besides frequency, which may affect
the level of importance you attach to an error. It may be, for example, less
urgent to correct one which is very common but which does not actually affect
comprehensibility than one that does. In English, learners commonly omit the
third-person –s suffix in the present simple, and slightly less commonly
substitute a present verb form when they mean the past; on the whole, the
second mistake is more likely to lead to misunderstanding than the first and
therefore is more important to correct. Another error may be considered less
important because a lot of very proficient, or native, speakers often make it.
And so on.
Rearrange
your list of errors, if necessary, so that they are in order of importance of
correction.
Chapter
6Presenting and practising language
1
Structures; grammar and functions126
2
Vocabulary142
3
Pronunciation153
One
of the teacher’s main roles is to introduce, or ‘present’, and practice new
language and to revise language that the students have met before. Presentation
and practice techniques are particularly useful at lower level where much of
the language that students come across is new. Of course some of this new language
will be acquired naturally through exposure to native speaker discourse, but
learners also need and want important areas of language to be highlighted by
the teacher: to be explored or illustrated in terms of meaning and form
(including spelling and pronunciation), and then practised. The relative amount
and the type of presentation and practice depend on a number of factors which
are explored in the rest of this chapter under the following headings: 1
Structures: grammar and functions, 2 Vocabulary, and 3 Pronunciation.
It
is convenient to categorize language under these three headings, but it must be
noted that the principles behind the presentation of language items (as opposed
to the development of skills as discussed in Chapter 5) apply – whether we are
dealing with structures, vocabulary or pronunciation. So there are many areas
of commonality and overlap in the approaches and techniques described in these
three sections.
Structures:
grammar and functions
Although
it is recognized that people learn languages in different ways, it seems that
many people can learn a language more easily if they can perceive regularities
or patterns. Many of the patterns that students learn are particular grammatical
items: verb forms such as the past simple, modal verbs such as will or could,
particular combinations such as the first conditional (for example: If she
gets the job she’ll move to London). A list of grammatical items which are
regularly focused on in language classes can be found in the contents list of
any good learner’s grammar book such as An A-Z of English Grammar and Usage
by Leech (Nelson), Practical English Usage by Swan (OUP) or The
Heinemann English Grammar by Beaumont and Granger (Heinemann).
Language
can not only be seen in terms of grammatical form; it can also be seen in terms
of ‘what it does’ or its ‘function’ in communication. Often, one language item
can be used to perform more than one function in communication: for example, Can
for both requesting –Can you pass the salt? – and expressing ability -Can
you swim? And one function can often be performed by using more than one
grammatical structure: for example, Let’s … What about …? How about …?
All perform the function of suggesting. (There is no definitive list of
functions as there is for grammatical structures.)
Many
coursebooks aim to have an integrated syllabus – one which combines
certain grammatical structures with the functions thought most useful for
students at a particular level. So at beginner level the present simple is
introduced with the function of describing ‘facts’: My name’s Marta. I’m 18
and I live in Mexico City. I have three brothers. At intermediate level the
same verb form can be introduced with a different use – timetabled events in
the future: The plane leaves at 10.00 am. We arrive at Orly Airport
at noon. From there we go straight to the hotel. Then at advanced level we
may want to introduce the use of the present simple to tell stories and
anecdotes about past events: So there I am, in the café, when up
comes Jeff. He picks up my drink and he pours it all over my head.
Some
books may be designed with particular groups of people in mind, and introduce
structures with functions thought most useful for the students’ special needs
and situation. For example, books targeted at business people usually focus on
the language needed for making introductions, for arranging meetings, for negotiating,
and other business-oriented functions.
What aspects of a structure should you consider?
When
focusing on a structure, either for the first time or for revision, the
following can be considered:
1
The form
o
The parts of speech. For example, is it made up of a verb plus a
preposition (to put off)?
o
Whether it is regular or irregular. For example, a regular simple
past ends in –ed (listened), irregular verbs have different forms (heard,
spoke, read, wrote);
o
The spelling;
o
the pronunciation. For example, does the structure contain contractions
(I’m, haven’t, should’ve)?
o
the word order and whether the item follows or is followed by any
particular words or structures. For example, does the verb usually have to be
followed by a noun (I bought the car)?
You
need also to decide how many aspects of the form you want to focus on at any
one time: for example, when presenting a new verb form, you probably wouldn’t
want to introduce the affirmative, the question forms, the negative, short
answers and question tags all in the same lesson!
The
meaning
The
exact meaning(s) you are concentrating on. This is particularly important to
consider if a structure can be used to perform more than one function. For
example, the past simple tense can be used to talk about the past (Last year
I was in China), to ask a question politely (What was it you wanted?),
to report what someone has said (Mary said it was her birthday tomorrow).
2
The use
How
and when the language item is appropriately used: in what contexts, by which
people, on which occasions? Is the structure widely used in a range of contexts
and situations or does it have a more restricted use? For example, compare Would
you like to come to the cinema on Saturday? (an invitation) and Would
you come with me? (an instruction).
3
Potential problems
o
Are there any special difficulties related to the structure’s form
or meaning? An example of a difficult form is should not have had,
as in I shouldn’t have had that third piece of cake – with its number of
‘parts’ and the double name. There may be difficulties of pronunciation,
depending on the first language of your students. Structures which contain
problematic sounds such as /ə/ or /θ/ will need special attention. An
example of a difficulty of meaning is needn’t have + past participle,
especially when confused with didn’t need to: or I used to do …
and I was used to doing…
o
Can the language structure be confused with any other item in English,
or with an item in the students’ mother tongue?
How do you decide what approach to take?
Once
you have decided what structure to teach, the way you aid the students’ understanding
and practice the language can depend on a number of factors:
o
Whether the structure is completely new, is familiar to at least
some of the students but has not been focused on before, or has been presented
before and is now being revised. Generally, the less familiar the language item
the more controlled practice you need;
o
the nature of the language: for example, whether it is the meaning
and use or the form which is complex. The use of the present perfect is
difficult to grasp for man students (I’ve been here since 3 o‘clock –
where in many languages it would be I am here since 3 o’clock). On the
other hand, it is the complexity of the form rather than the meaning of the
third conditional, with its many ‘parts’, which generally causes difficulty (If
my alarm clock hadn’t been broken I wouldn’t have been late for the lecture);
o
Whether the structure is more likely to be written or spoken. Some
structures are mainly found in the written form and do not lend themselves to
spoken practice activities – for example, this sentence from a formal letter: I
enclose ((the invoice/brochure/estimate). On the other hand, the students
need practice in saying such utterances as It’s a great (party/day/show),
isn’t it?
o
the student:
-
their level;
-
their age;
-
whether you can or want to use their mother tongue for
explanation;
-
the attitude of the group – how confident the students are,
whether they feel they already ‘know’ the language item, etc;
-
their language-learning background and expectations of how
language is presented – whether, for example, they expect ‘traditional’
teacher-centered approach;
-
Their preferred language-learning style – for example, some
students like to study grammar in an overt way while others (particularly
children) are not interested in talking about the language and using such
labels as gerund or demonstrative adjective.
What approaches can be used to present or revise language
structure?
Visual/oral
contexts
Pictures,
mime and realia can be used to illustrate the meaning and to establish a context
in which the target structure is set. Often the context is built up orally by
the teacher with the help of visual aids and elicitation from the students.
Example
To
present:
Structure: past simple
– some irregular verbs: went, had, fell, broke, took, was/were
Function/use: telling a
story/anecdote (about a skiing accident)
Visual
aids: a postcard of a ski resort and a series of hand-drawn pictures
showing ‘me’, the teacher (I went skiing/I fell/ I broke my leg/ They took
me to hospital/ I was in hospital for Christmas) and the scar on the
teacher’s leg!
The
teacher can introduce the topic by showing the postcard and asking if any of
the students know the resort, etc, and by establishing that this happened in
the past – last year, just before Christmas.
By
showing the pictures and by mime the teacher elicits any words the students
know, tells the story and introduces the target language (i.e. the past simple
of irregular verbs). After the context has been established the verbs are
highlighted and practised. (For a further example of this type of lesson, see What
are the possible stages in a lesson using he inductive approach? on p.
136.)
When is it useful to present language through a visual/oral
context?
The
introduction of structures in this way is often used:
·
if the students are at a low level and the teacher wants to keep
extraneous language to a minimum;
·
if the students are young and would not be so interested in an
overt focus on the grammar rules of the language item;
·
if the meaning and use of the language is complex and so clear,
simple, but generative context is needed: you can create a context which
provides a number of examples of the target language, which allows students to
have plenty of controlled practice;
·
if a single language item is being introduced;
·
if you want to create a context that the students can relate to:
if the situation is personalized in some way it will be more interesting and
memorable to the students;
·
if you want the situation to be unambiguous (unless there is a
good reason to be ambiguous).
What are the disadvantages of this approach?
o
The language can be contrived and artificial.
o
It can be time-consuming to set up a new context for each
new language item (although often ‘mini-contexts’ can be set up to illustrate
the meaning of two or three words – see Section 2: Vocabulary).
o
It is quite teacher-centered, as the teacher is ‘up-front’ at the
beginning of the lesson.
o
It demands a lot from the teacher by way of a ‘performance’.
o
Higher level and/or older students may feel this approach is ‘less
serious’ than one which explains the ‘rule’ at the start, as described below.
Texts
As
was pointed out in Chapter 5, as well as providing a means of practising
listening and reading skills, texts can provide a natural context for language
exploration and a pool from which particular language items and structures can
be drawn, analyzed and practised. The texts can be very varied: reading texts
such as newspaper and magazine articles, stories, biographies, information
leaflets and booklets, letters, reports, notices, etc; listening texts such as
conversations, interviews, short talks, radio or television programmes, songs,
etc. Texts which are intrinsically interesting and which give the students
something to communicate about are especially useful as a vehicle for introducing
and practising language.
Clearly,
written texts provide a more suitable context for language which is mostly
found in the written form: for example, I look forward to … (your reply/our
meeting/ receiving your estimate) – as in a formal letter. And listening
texts are more useful for introducing language which is generally spoken, for example:
See you …(later, soon, tomorrow, net week, etc).
When is it useful to present language through texts?
The
presentation of language in this way is often used:
o
when students are of intermediate level and above. Because the
texts from which the language is taken are often authentic or adapted from authentic
material, this way is especially suitable for students who already have some
language.Authentic texts give exposure to language as a whole and not just grammatical
structures in isolation, providing opportunities for natural acquisition of
less familiar language as well as learning/studying of the focus language area;
o
if the meaning and use of the structure is complex and the meaning
of the new item is clearly illustrated by the context present in the text;
o
if the new structure is being introduced in contrast with language
which is already familiar and which is also present in the text;
o
if a number of items are being introduced – perhaps several
exponents of a function (for example, several ways of giving advice in a
conversation between friends);
o
if the structure has been encountered before. A way of revising
language is to take it from a new and interesting context. Texts can always
contain new vocabulary, even if the structures have been met before. This helps
get over the ‘not the past simple again!’. Problem – i. e. when students need
revision of areas that they have practised before and feel they are not making
progress;
o
if you want the presentation and practice of a particular structure
to be integrated naturally into skills work. The language item can be drawn
from a reading or listening text, isolated and focused upon, and then practised
naturally in, for example, a speaking or writing tasks where the structure can
get used more freely;
o
when you use the students’ coursebook. Many modern coursebooks
contain texts chosen (or adapted) from authentic material to illustrate particular
structures which fit into the structural syllabus of the course.
Are there any problems in using texts for presenting language?
If
they are not available in the coursebook it isn’t always easy to find authentic
texts or to create texts which contain natural examples of the structure you
want to introduce, particularly if the surrounding language is to be of the
‘right’ level, i. e. ‘comprehensible’. For this reason it’s not so easy to
introduce language through texts to lower level students. Texts which are
specially written to illustrate the target language and which are simple enough
for the students to cope with are often very contrived and unnatural.
However,
this approach should not be ruled out. If they are well chosen, there is no
reason why short authentic, or at least ‘semi-authentic’ or simplified texts.
Should not be used with low-level students. You may have to adapt a reading
text or construct a semi-authentic listening text by getting someone (perhaps
another trainee or a teacher) to record a monologue using the structures you
want to illustrate. If you give the person some notes to work with but let him
or her speak spontaneously, you can get a more authentic – sounding listening
text.
It
does take a relatively long time to use this kind of material. The overall
meaning of the text must be within the grasp of the students before individual
language items are picked out; the text may contain language which has to be
dealt with before you can concentrate on the target language. This is
only all right if the lesson is seen as consisting of skills work leading on to
a focus on particular language items, and time is allowed for these stages.
If
you choose a text for skills work the structures it illustrates well may not be
the ones that fit into the structural syllabus of the course the students are
following. Bear in mind that particular text-types lend themselves to the
presentation of particular structures: for example, simple stories contain the
simple past, and a text of someone talking about his or her personal
experiences will usually contain natural instances of the present perfect.
Another
disadvantage with authentic texts is that they often don’t give you enough
examples of the target structure.
Short
dialogues
Dialogues
are a type of text – a spoken text which we listen to, although for teaching
and learning purposes we also look at them in their written or transcribed
form. Although they are a type of text, it is worth considering them separately
from reading and other listening texts as they are often used as a model for
speaking practice of structures.
Dialogues
are often used as an alternative, or in addition, to introducing language
through visual means, especially with lower level students.
Example
This
dialogue could be used with low-level students to introduce the question form
and the short answer of the verb to be in the present simple. It also revises Sorry?
as a way of asking for repetition.
At
the airport Customs
Customs
officer:Is this our bag?
Woman
traveler: Sorry?
Customs
officer:Is this our bag?
Woman
traveler:Yes, it is.
Usually
the teacher introduces the characters and the situation through pictures/board
drawings and elicitation – Who’s this? Where are they? etc. The
understanding of the new language is checked (see p. 138). The students repeat
the lines of the dialogue after the teacher and then take turns to play the
roles, perhaps in open pairs first, then in closed pairs. It is a generative
situation in that new vocabulary items can then be introduced (in this
dialogue, for example, suitcase, camera, handbag, etc) and more
sentences containing the same structures can be elicited and practised: Is
this your suitcase? etc.
When are dialogues useful?
Dialogues
are useful from time to time, particularly at elementary level, mainly for the
following reasons:
o
You can write the dialogue so that it focuses on the language you
want to introduce and doesn’t include distractions such as unknown vocabulary.
o
You can make the language vivid and memorable, with a clear
situation and location, and sharply distinguished characters, often aided by
pictures and props.
o
Dialogues provide a controlled setting for language items and
conversational features.
o
They are very useful for introducing language functions. For
example, asking the way, at lower levels.
o
Dialogues can be used to generate a number of practice sentences.
For example, with the dialogue above, the teacher, by using picture prompts,
can elicit these questions from students: Is this your suitcase? Is this
your camera? and get the same replies from ‘the woman’.
o
It is easy to introduce pairwork practice, as the dialogues naturally
have two parts. Pairwork practice often begins with repetition/imitation of the
‘model’ dialogue, but often this controlled practice can be followed by freer,
more ‘meaningful’ communication. Dialogues lend themselves to information gap
activities in which each student in the pair has access to different information
which he or she can feed into the dialogue.
o
They can be a springboard for more improvised language practice.
If the practice tasks can be made more creative and open-ended the students
have some degree of choice over what they say. For example, the last sentence
of a dialogue can be left open.
Example
This
dialogue practises language for making suggestions:
It’s
Rosie’s birthday next week. What shall we get her?/What about… (the
students choose). That’s a good idea because… or No, because…
A
dialogue can often lead into a cued roleplay, such as the one in Task 3 on p.
43. See also Setting up activities on p. 44. Dialogues can also be used to illustrate
the different social identity and the relationship between the speakers, and
the kind of language they would use. For example, the way you ask a close
friend to lend you enough money to buy a cup of coffee would be different from
the way you ask a bank manager for a large loan.
What are the disadvantages of using dialogues?
o
If dialogues are uncommunicative, predictable and not mixed in
with other approaches to presentation they can be boring.
o
They are rarely useful of students above elementary level, who
benefit from seeing language within a wider context, no in isolated chunks.
o
Because they are idealized, they don’t prepare students for the
unexpected – in real life people don’t always play their part as set down in
the dialogue practised in class! For example, the Customs Officer in the
dialogue on p. 132 is just as likely to say Your bag, is it? as he is to
say Is this your bag?
o
It is not always easy to find or create a dialogue which is naturally
generative, and in order to make them generative the dialogues can often be
rather artificial and repetitive.
In
this way of presenting a structure, the teacher explains the rules or patterns
of form and use and maybe, in a monolingual group, translates the structure
into the students’ mother tongue. You can start the lesson by telling them
explicitly what language you are going to deal with: for example, Today we
are going to look at how we use the third conditional: of example – If you’d
woken me on time I wouldn’t have been late. Then you can go on to give the
rules of grammar and use then set up some practice.
Alternatively,
you can give some example sentences containing the structure and encourage the
students to work out or suggest the rules for themselves. For example, a number
of paired sentences can be given and the students encouraged to say when for
and when since is used with the present perfect:
aI’ve been here
of six hours.bI’ve been here since 3 o’clock.
aThey’ve lived
in this country for ten months.bThey’ve lived in this country since October.
The
‘rule’ can be elicited and then practice can be given. This approach is
sometimes referred to as guided discovery and is particularly useful if
you think the students have some familiarity with the target structure or if
you want to revise the structure.
When is it useful to give or to elicit the ‘rule’?
Giving
or eliciting the ‘rule’ is useful:
o
if the meaning of the item is easy to understand (perhaps it is
very similar to the students’ first language) but the structure is complex from
a ‘form’ point of view: for example, the comparative and superlative forms of
adjectives: difficult, more difficult, the most difficult compared
with easy, easier, the easiest;
o
if different aspect of, say, a verb form is being presented after
a stage in which the tense has already been introduced, perhaps via a text or a
visual/oral context. For example, if you have introduced the affirmative and
question forms of the regular past simple it is quicker, and often more
efficient, simply to elicit or give the rules for the formation and use of the
negative before going on to practise using it;
o
if the students come from a very traditional educational
background and expect a grammar/translation approach;
o
if the students are at a higher level and can more easily cope
with a discussion about language.
Are there any problems with this approach?
o
It can seem dry and uninteresting, especially to younger learners.
o
It is not so suitable for low-level multilingual groups where the
students may not have enough language to understand the explanation, or the language
to express it themselves.
o
It isn’t so suitable for language which is complex in meaning and
use: it may be that there is no clear ‘rule’ to discover! For example, it is
difficult to explain why such nouns as fruit, money, information and
news are uncountable in English but countable in man other languages.
Test-teach-test
In
this approach the teacher sets a communicative activity for the students which
is designed to find out how well the can understand and use a particular area
of language; it can be a creative activity in a role-play or writing a story.
The teacher monitors and evaluates the activity in order to assess whether the
language structure he or she wants to focus on is being used correctly and
appropriately or not. It is also important to note if the students seem to be
avoiding the structure. If the students have no problem with the structure the
teacher can then go on to something else. If they are having problems or
avoiding it altogether then the teacher can revise the target language.
Practice activities which consolidate the students’ ability to use the language
can follow until the teacher is happy with the students’ performance.
The
first phase is the ‘test’ where the teacher finds out what the students can and
cannot already do; ‘teach’ is the second phase when the language is revised,
and the second ‘test’ is when practice activities are done to see if the
students can use the language better than in the first phase.
What are the advantages of this approach?
This
approach is particularly useful:
o
at higher levels where very few, if any, language structures are
new to the students:
o
with confident (over-confident?) students who claim to ‘know’ the
target language;
o
with classes when you are not sure what the students have done
previously and what they already know;
o
when you want to focus on more than one structure – perhaps a
number of exponents of a function, or the different forms of a tense;
o
if you want to compare and contrast structures.
What are the disadvantages?
This
type of approach, if it is done in one lesson, requires a considerable degree
of flexibility on the part of the teacher. He or she has to respond instantly
and appropriately to the first stage – giving feedback and picking out aspects
of language to revise and consolidate. However, it may be possible to do the
first phase on one day and the revision and practice activities, if it is
thought necessary, on another day. In this way the teacher has time to evaluate
what the students need and can plan accordingly.
If,
during the first phase, the students show that they can use the target language
competently, then the teacher has to have alternative activities and materials
planned to replace the revision and consolidation phase.
Student-based
research
Here
the students are encouraged to do their own research into language areas using
grammar reference books; they then report back to the class. The research can
be done in or out of class time, individually or in groups. The report can take
a number of forms: an oral presentation, a written report, a poster, etc. The
students may also teach the structure to their fellow students and/or provide
practice activities; in other words, the students ‘present’ the language. This
approach puts much more of the responsibility for their own learning on the
shoulders of the students.
When is student-based research useful?
This
approach is particularly useful:
o
if the students are at a high level where few, if any, structures
are new;
o
if they have been encouraged to be independent learners – capable
of using reference books for their own research (see Chapter 5 Section 6: Learner
development and study skills);
o
if individual students have difficulty with particular structures.
In this way the teacher need on focus in class on language most of the students
in the class have on trouble with.
What are the disadvantages?
o
This approach depends on having students of a high enough level,
with good reference skills and a strong motivation and interest.
o
The students have to have access to reference materials.
o
You also need to have the class over a period of time.
For
these reasons this approach is not always practicable in the TP situation.
‘Inductive’
and ‘deductive’ approaches
Two
of the basic approaches to the presentation of language items are sometimes
referred to as inductive and deductive.
When
an inductive approach is used, a context is established first from which
the target structure is drawn. So, the approaches described under Visual/oral
contexts (p. 129), Texts (p. 130) and Short dialogues (p. 131) could
be called inductive. When a deductive approach is used an example of a
structure and the grammatical rule is given first and then the language is
practised, as described under Giving or working out the ‘rule’ on p.
133.
What are the possible stages in a lesson using the inductive
approach?
As
noted above there are a number of variations on a theme, but this is an example
of one way to proceed:
1
Create the context – with a text which has already been used for
skills practice, with a dialogue, or with a short visual/oral context.
Example
This
is an extract from a lesson introducing comparative adjectives via a visual
context (pictures or drawings) to a class of low-level students:
The
teacher shows a picture of a tall, thin man labelled Sam, and indicates
by hand gesture that Sam is tall and elicits Sam’s tall. The teacher
shows a second picture of an even taller, even thinner man labeled Tom
and elicits Tom’s tall. The teacher then puts the two pictures side by
side and says Sam’s tall and Tom’s tall, but Tom’s taller than Sam. The
teacher can do the same for thin and introduce more pictures and
adjectives – fat, short, etc.
If
you set up the context through a picture or short dialogue, rather than using a
text, you may want to ask some simple questions to make sure than the students
have a general understanding of the context. In the example dialogue given on
p. 132, for example, the teacher would need to check that the students
understand that the people are at an airport, that one is the Customs Officer
and the other is a traveler.
2
The situation should lead naturally to a sentence using the
language to be taught – the model or target sentence.
Example
In
the lesson presenting comparative adjectives above, the target sentence is Tom’s
taller than Sam and other sentences can be generated using the pattern X’s
…er than Y. You can then say the target language and/or write it on the
board.
3
Check that the students have grasped the meaning of the structure.
(See How can you check students have understood what is being presented?
on p. 138.)
4
Practice saying the target language. Concentrate on the
pronunciation. (See Section 3: Pronunciation.) Let the students repeat
after you or from a model provided on cassette. They can do this together and
then individually. (If the structure is one that is usually written but not spoken,
this stage can be omitted.)
5
Give further practice. This is usually less controlled than the
repetition practice and can involve pair work or group work.
6
Then write up* the language structure. At this stage a
clear record of what has gone on before is given. Try to make the record the
students copy from the board as memorable and integrated as possible (not just
a list of unrelated sentences). Whenever possible elicit from the students the
language you write on the board. This serves as a further check that they
understand and remember what you have presented. Name the structure/function
using clear headings, and give information about the form and/or use where
appropriate.
For
example:
o
note whether the words in the structure are nouns, adjectives, pronouns,
etc;
o
mark the sentence stress and intonation and note any contractions
(see Section 3: Pronunciation);
o
give the grammar rule (in this lesson: to make comparative
adjectives of words of one syllable, add –er);
o
note any special features of the spelling (if the word ends in a
single consonant letter, double it: for example, fat à fatter, thin à thinner).
If
you are using translation with a monolingual group you can also write up the
translation, if appropriate. Give examples of the language item in sentences,
perhaps in the form of a substitution table. If possible, try to make
the examples personal and memorable for the students.
Example
I am (I’m)
|
|
Sonja.
|
You are
(You’re)
|
|
Tomas.
|
Rick is
(He’s)
|
taller than
|
We are
(We’re)
|
|
our parents
|
On average
Americans are (They’re)
|
|
Mexicans
|
Other
means of helping to understanding to understand and remember the meaning can be
added - by using ‘time-lines’, for example (see p. 138). Give the students time
to copy the information in their note books or to make a note of where the
information is recorded in their course book.
Whether
you want to do more than this depends on the language item and the class.
Further practice may be needed in the form of guided and/or freer practice,
integrated into skills work – as part of the same lesson or on another day. You
may also want to set some homework to practice the new language. In the lessons
that follow you can try to build in activities that will re-activate the
language item. Often students need a little time for the new item to ‘sink in’
– they may recognize it, but often delay putting it into active use.
What are the possible stages in a lesson using the deductive
approach?
Again,
there is no one way of presenting a structure using a deductive approach. However,
one possible way of staging such a lesson is as follows:
1
Present the structure and explain the ‘rule’ in a way that
involves the students.
Examples
In
order to compare ways of talking about the future you could put two sentences
on the board: I’m seeing her tomorrow and OK, I’ll see her tomorrow
and ask the students to discuss the difference in the situation and the
meaning.
With
a function you could give the students a number of exponents and ask them to
group them – perhaps according to degree of formality – and then discuss when
and with which people you would use such expressions. For example, with
requests – Open the window. Can you open the window? Open the window, would
you? Do you think you could open the window? Would you like to open the window?
I don’t suppose you could open the window for me, could you? etc.
2
Write up the language structure(s). (See Stage 6 in the inductive
lesson above.)
3
Set up some activities so that the students can practice using the
language in a meaningful context – perhaps in a role-play, a discussion or in a
piece of writing. The practice can often be integrated into skills work.
How
can you check students have understood what is being presented?
There
are a number of ways you can check that the students have understood the meaning
of a language item and the way it is used. It makes sense to check their
understanding before any controlled practice – otherwise they may just
be repeating parrot-fashion!
Visuals
In
addition to illustrating meaning, visuals can be used to check
understanding.
Examples
Students
can be asked to choose the picture that best illustrates the meaning of a
particular word or sentence; to put pictures in order to show a sequence of
events; or to match pictures and sentences, as in his example which compares
the past simple and the past perfect.
Which
sentence goes with which picture?
They
started the meeting when she arrived.
They’d
started the meeting when she arrived.
Time-lines are graphic
ways of illustrating the use of tenses. For example:
for
six months
now
OctoberApril
We
arrived
for
a period of time
We’ve
been here for six months.
sincenow
OctoberApril
We
arrived
since
a point in time
We’ve
been here since October.
now
pastI
rememberedI sent
then
I
remembered to send him a birthday card.
now
pastI
sentI remember
then
I
remember sending him a birthday card.
You
can check students’ understanding by asking them to select the correct
time-line, to label or even draw time-lines.
Concept
questions
Concept
questions are questions you ask students to check whether they understand the
meaning of a language item. If you consider the concept questions when thinking
about the language you’re going to teach this should help you get the meaning
clear in your own mind. Until you have had considerable experience you will
need to write the questions in your lesson plan and have them to hand at the
appropriate stage of the lesson.
They
should be:
o
simple and short. The language level should be below that of the
students and certainly simpler than the language item you are focusing on. Try
to design questions which only require a yes/no or a one-word answer
from the students. One-word questions, for example – Past? and gestures
such as a thumb over the shoulder to indicate the past together with a
questioning expression are not only acceptable, they are preferable;
o
in language that does not include the language being checked in
either the question or in the answer. If students don’t understand what you are
checking, then your question will be meaningless and will not guide the
students towards understanding;
o
varied and numerous. Often more than one question is needed for
each aspect so that more than one student can be asked without the others
picking up the ‘right’ answer from the first student. However, concept checking
must be done efficiently – you’ve got to find a balance between asking too many
questions and asking enough to satisfy yourself that the meaning has been
grasped;
o
asked often and spread around the class. It is not usually
possible to ask all the students in the class, but if you make sure you ask at
least one of the slower students, their answers should give you a good indication
of how well you have managed to get the meaning across.
Examples
1
Past perfect to indicate an action that took place before another
action in the past:
They
had started the meeting when she arrived.
Was
she there at the beginning of the meeting? (No)
Did
they start the meeting before or after she arrived? (Before)
Did
she miss the start of the meeting? (Yes)
Did
she miss the meeting? (No, not all of it, just the beginning)
Was
she late for the meeting? (Yes)
2
A polite request – a young man to a woman who is sitting near him
in a restaurant:
Would
you mind if I smoked?
Does
the man want a cigarette? (Yes)
Does
the man know the woman very well? (No)
Why
does he ask her? (He is polite. He doesn’t want to upset her)
Does
everyone like smoking? (No)
Is
he asking before or after he has the cigarette? (Before)
How
would you ask a friend the same question? (Is it OK if I smoke?
etc)
(See
also Section 2: Vocabulary for examples of ‘concept’ questions used to
check the understanding of vocabulary items.)
Translation
This
is only possible with monolingual groups but it can cut down on lengthy,
laborious explanations – particularly at lower levels. You can check the students’
understanding by asking them to translate words or sentences. However, it is
dangerous for students to assume that a word-for–word translation is always
available. Often the connotation of a word which is looked up in a dictionary
is not fully appreciated and consequently the word is used inappropriately.
Also, you may not want students to get into the habit of translating every
language item they meet.
Aim
To
give practice in drawing ‘time-lines’ to illustrate the meaning of structures.
Procedures
1
Draw time-lines to illustrate the meaning of the following
structures:
a)
I’ve been here since four o’clock.
b)
He was going round the corner when he lost control of the car.
c)
This time next week we’ll be lying on the beach in Florida.
d)
I’m using this office while mine is being decorated.
2
If possible, show your time-lines to a colleague, a high-level
student, your supervisor, someone not in EFL for their comments.
Comment
Of
the people who were shown your time-lines, who understood them easily, who had
the most difficulty/ Why do you think this was?
Task
2
Aim
To
give practice in writing questions to check that students understand new
language.
Procedure A
1Write concept
questions to check the understanding of particular language items. For example:
aI wish they’d
come.
bHe used to go
fishing every week.
cShe must have
gone out.
2Swap questions
around and get each set modified or developed by others in your group.
3Discuss.
Procedure B
1
Write concept questions for a particular structure.
2
Ask colleagues to try to guess what is being checked.
Procedure C
1
Get each person in your group to prepare concept questions for
different items.
2
Shuffle the items and questions.
3
Get the whole group to match them.
Task
3
Aim
To
consider the most suitable approach to use when presenting and practising a
structure.
Procedure
1
Think about a class you are familiar with – perhaps your TP group
or a class you are observing.
2
Which approach would you use – inductive or deductive – to present
or revise the following structures? How would you illustrate and check the students’
understanding of the meaning of the structures?
aThe present
perfect to talk about experience of events before ‘now’: for example, I’ve
seen ‘Cats’ six times.
bWays of
expressing likes and dislikes: for example, I really like…, I hate …, I
absolutely adore …, I can’t stand …, etc.
cA comparison
of the uses of so and such: for example, He’s such a good
dancer. He’s so good. We had such good weather. The weather was so good. That’s
such good news.
3Compare your
ideas with a colleague.
Comment
1
You may, of course, consider that these structures are not suitable
for your class or that you would choose different examples to illustrate the language.
2
You may be able to try out your ideas in a lesson with the class.
* When you write the language up on the board depends to some
extent on the students – some feel more secure if they can see the target
language written up as soon as it is focused on. You can put the target or
model sentence on the board (in Step 2 above) and then add to it after oral
practice (in Step 6). Or you can write up the sentence but rub it off before
oral practice. In this way the students are listening to, rather than reading,
the sentence and their own pronunciation is likely to be better as a result.