Transcript Review: Unit 1 – “What is grammar?”

Schedule – Week 3 (March 19th)
1. Review Week 1 – “What is grammar?” and “Why teach grammar?”
2. Discuss “How to teach grammar from rules”
3. Overview of PPP (Presentation > Practice > Production)
4. PPP example lessons (x2)
Review: Unit 1 – “What is grammar?”
 Syntax (order of words > chains)
 Morphology (formation of words > slots)
 Grammar: study of syntax (chains) and morphology (slots)
 L2 errors result from: overgeneralizing rules
 Grammar communicates: meanings
 Language operates at: lexical level; rule of thumb: more context,
less grammar (grammar makes meaning clear when context is
lacking)
 Learners need to learn: forms and meanings
 Meanings grammatical forms convey: representational (way we
perceive the world) and interpersonal (to get things done)
 When processing language: form (words/grammar) and function
Review: Unit 1 – “What is grammar?”
 Need to successfully match form and function
 Spoken vs. written grammar – mutual intelligibility: neutral English
 Syllabus: itinerary (preplanned/itemized > to be covered + order)
 Syllabus grading criteria: complexity, learnability, teachability
 Syllabus organizing principles: meaning, functions, tasks, topics, genre
 Prescriptive (structure of a language as certain people think it should be
used – socially proper, standard language, effective communication) vs.
descriptive (structure of a language as it is actually used by speakers and
writers in a speech community – how it is, not how it ought to be)
 Pedagogic rules: how to use the grammar of a language to communicate
(example textbook – “Grammar in Use”)
 Rules of use: heavily dependent on contextual factors
Review: Unit 2 – “Why teach grammar?”
Seven arguments in favor of grammar teaching:
 Sentence-machine (description of regularities in language)
 Fine-tuning (corrective to ambiguity in spoken/written language)
 Fossilization (the more instruction, the slower the fossilization)
 Advanced-organizer (notice and acquire in natural communication)
 Discrete item (categorizing language into digestible bits)
 Rule-of-law (system of learnable rules)
 Learner expectations (fixed ideas about what will happen in class)
Review: Unit 2 – “Why teach grammar?”
Six arguments opposed to grammar teaching:
 Knowledge-how (learn by doing – not studying)
 Communication (grammar is just one component of
communicative competence)
 Acquisition (acquisition is a natural process)
 Natural order (universal principles of grammar; ‘hard wired’)
 Lexical chunks (later unpack into component parts)
 Learner expectations (talk/communicate vs. study grammar)
Review: Unit 2 – “Why teach grammar?”
 Two grammar design decisions: Should the method adhere to a
grammar syllabus? Should the rules of grammar be made explicit?
 Basic principles for teaching grammar: E-Factor (efficiency, ease,
efficacy) and A-Factor (appropriacy)
1. What is the difference between a deductive
approach and an inductive approach? (p.29)
A deductive (rule-driven) approach starts with the
presentation of a rule and is followed by examples
in which the rule is applied. An inductive (discovery)
approach starts with some examples from which a
rule is inferred.
2. What are some disadvantages of a deductive
approach? (p.30)
Inadequate metalanguage or inability to understand
the concepts
Teacher-fronted, transmission-style vs. student
involvement and interaction
Explanation vs. demonstration (show/model)
Too much emphasis on learning rules when trying to
learn a language
3. What are some advantages of a deductive
approach? (p.30)
It gets straight to the point; time-saving – rules can be
more simply and quickly explained than elicited from
examples, allowing more time for practice and
application
Respects the intelligence and maturity of students and
acknowledges the role of cognitive processes in
language acquisition
Confirms many students’ expectations about classroom
learning
Allows the teacher to deal with language points as they
come up, rather than having to anticipate them and
prepare for them in advance
4. According to Michael Swan, what makes a good
rule? (p.32)
Truth (Is the rule true?)
Limitation (Is it clear what the rule covers and what it
doesn’t?)
Clarity (Is it clearly expressed; free of ambiguity or
obscure terminology?)
Simplicity (Is it uncluttered with sub-rules and
exceptions?)
Familiarity (Does it use concepts that the students are
familiar with?)
Relevance (Is it a rule that reflects students’ specific
needs and problems?)
5. What is the point in each step in sample lesson 1
– rule explanation to teach question formation?
(p.37)
Step 1: Establish the terminology necessary to explain the difference
between subject (the president) and object (the Queen) questions
Step 2: Establishes a contrast between two grammatical forms –
subject questions (Who phoned) and object questions (Who did)
Step 3: The teacher explains the language point (inversion)
Step 4: Test the learners’ grasp of the rule and prepare them for
independent practice (4 pictures of famous people)
Step 5: Greater freedom and creativity; opportunities for
personalization; focus on meaning as much as form (pair > class)
6. What is a trap-setting technique? (p.40)
Anticipate an error that students will make and
deliberately have them do something in order to
make a point about grammar (e.g. overgeneralize
the common ground between soler and used to in
order to make a point about the fact that used to
has no present tense form)
7. What is sample lesson 3 based on? (p.43)
The belief that learners can teach each other
through collaboration and exchange of information
(by adopting the principles of the classic jigsaw
activity and creating an information gap)
8. What are common types of materials in most
self-study texts? (p.46)
Gap-filling tasks, ordering tasks (e.g. correcting the
order of words in a sentence), expansion tasks
(which involve producing whole sentences or texts
from prompt words), and transformation tasks (e.g.
transforming direct speech into reported speech or
active into passive sentences) – all of which are
designed to help the learners help themselves
Application – Week 3
Deductive lesson framework:
PPP (Presentation > Practice > Production)
Application – Week 4
Inductive lesson framework:
EIF (Encounter > Internalize > Fluency)
Overview
There are two main approaches to teaching grammar. These are the
deductive and the inductive approach.
A deductive approach is when the rule is presented and the language is
produced based on the rule (i.e. the teacher gives the rule).
An inductive approach is when the rule is inferred through some form of
guided discovery (i.e. the teacher gives the students a means to discover the
rule for themselves).
In other words, deductive is more teacher-centered and inductive is more
learner-centered. Both approaches have their advantages and
disadvantages. The deductive approach is undoubtedly time saving and
allows more time for practicing the language items, making it an effective
approach with lower level students. The inductive approach, on the other
hand, is often more beneficial to students who already have a base in the
language as it encourages them to work things out for themselves based on
their existing knowledge.
Presentation, practice, production (PPP)
A deductive approach often fits into a lesson structure known as PPP
(Presentation, Practice, Production). The teacher presents the target
language and then gives students the opportunity to practice it
through very controlled activities. The final stage of the lesson gives
the students the opportunity to practice the target language in freer
activities that bring in other language elements.
The PPP model works well as it can be used for most isolated
grammatical items. It also allows the teacher to time each stage of
the lesson fairly accurately and to anticipate and be prepared for the
problems students may encounter. It is less workable at higher levels
when students need to compare and contrast several grammatical
items at the same time, and when their linguistic abilities are far less
uniform (i.e. in mixed ability classrooms).
Presentation
In this stage the teacher presents the target language in a
meaningful context and elicits language from the students
with cues to see what they already know. Building up
stories on the board, using realia or flashcards, and miming
are fun ways to present the language.
Practice
In this stage the students practice the target language via
one to three activities, which progress from very controlled
– providing little possibility for error – to less-controlled as
the students master the material. There are numerous
activities which can be used for this stage including gap fill
exercises, substitution drills, sentence transformations, split
sentences, picture dictations, class questionnaires,
reordering sentences and matching sentences to pictures.
Production
In this stage the students take the target language and
freely use it in conversations they ideally create and
structure (i.e. they should be provided with opportunities
to experiment with the target language). Again there are
numerous activities for this stage and what you choose will
depend on the language you are teaching and on the level
of your students. However, information gaps, role plays,
interviews, simulations, spot the differences between two
pictures, picture cues, problem solving, personalization
activities and board games are all meaningful activities
which give students the opportunity to practice the
language more freely.
Tip
Begin with the end (production) in mind (i.e. do backwards
planning). The goal of your lesson is to enable your
students to be able to freely produce the target language of
your lesson in a meaningful context. Therefore, you need to
determine what it is that you want them to produce first.
Once you know the target language for your lesson and
have production activities for students to freely practice
that language, you will be better able to prepare the
presentation and practice stages of your lesson. This is
because you will be aware of what the students need to
know and be able to successfully communicate in order to
complete the lesson.
Conclusion
When teaching grammar, there are several factors we need
to take into consideration and the following are some of the
questions we should ask ourselves:
 How useful and relevant is the language?
 What other language do my students need to know in
order to learn the new structure effectively?
 What problems might my students face when learning
the new language?
 How can I make the lesson fun, meaningful, and
memorable?
Application – Week 3
Deductive lessons – PPP
1. Simple past tense – Scott
2. Second conditional – Scott
3. Superlative adjectives – Your turn 
Large diary sheet
Last weekend
Saturday and Sunday
(get dressed, go to school, study hard, play soccer, run a
race, talk on the telephone, cook food, walk my dog, take a
bath, go to bed)
Individual diary sheet
“What did you do last weekend?”
Name
Activities
Letter
“What did you do last summer?”
Place you went
Things you did
People you were with
 *All in the past tense! 
Ask students (whole class)
If you won the lottery, what would you do?
Ask students (whole class)
If I won the lottery, I would buy a big apartment.
Focus on form (ask students)
What do we use after the if clause?
(*for statements)
Focus on form
What do we use after the if clause?
(subject + would/modal auxiliary verb + verb)
Focus on meaning (ask students)
Do I have lots of money?
What am I doing?
Focus on meaning
Do I have lots of money?
(No)
What am I doing?
(Imagining)
Second conditional
Thinking about a condition in the future
Thinking about the result of this condition
No real possibility that this condition will happen
Like a dream – not very real
If condition (past simple) result (“would” + base verb)
If I won the lottery, I would buy a big apartment.
If he learned how to cook, he would make his wife
happy.
If she took the test, she would get a high score.
If they traveled to Europe, they would have a good
time.
If condition (past simple) result (“would” + base verb)
We are thinking about a future condition
We use the simple past tense to talk about the future
condition
We use “would” + base verb to talk about the future
result
Sometimes we use “should,” “could,” or “might”
instead of “would”
Practice
Practice target language via controlled activities
(3-4 different activities is useful for this stage)
Practice
Split sentences [match beginning and endings]
(If I had a lot of money/I would buy a sports car and a big house.)
Gap fill exercises [fill in the blanks]
( ___ I ___ a lot of money, I ___ ___ a sports car and a big house.)
Substitution drills [substitute words]
(If I had a lot of money, I would buy . . . a yacht/an island/an airplane.)
Sentence transformations [take information and rewrite]
(A sports car and a big house is something I would buy if I won the
lottery. > If I had a lot of money, I would buy a sports car and a big
house.)
Practice
Picture dictation [describe and draw]
(If I had a lot of money, I would buy a sports car and a big house.
Students draw a sports car and a big house.)
Questionnaires [survey]
(If you won the lottery, what would you do?)
Reordering sentences [unscramble]
(you/lottery/do/the/what/if/you/would/won/?)
Matching sentences to pictures [draw lines between two columns]
(If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world.  Globe)
Split sentences
If I had a lot of money
If I had a big house
If there were no more wars
If I lived in Mexico
If was the president
If I had a chance to do it again
If I lived in the country
If I had more free time
If there were fewer cars on the road
If I knew his phone number
I would start a new hobby
I would call him
I would ban firearms
there would be less pollution
I would fill it with furniture
I would eat burritos every day
there would be peace on earth
I would do it differently
I would buy an airplane
I would work on a farm
Substitution drills
If I had a lot of money, I would buy . . .
a big apartment
a yacht
an island
an airplane
a building
If I had a lot of money, I would . . .
open . . .
learn . . .
try . . .
stop . . .
start . . .
Sentence transformations
A sports car is something I would buy if I had a lot of money.
A second car is something we would need if we lived in the country.
The beach is a place we could go if the weather was nicer.
Traveling more often is something we would do if we had more money.
Throwing a big party is something I would do if I get promoted.
They would let us know if they were thinking about coming over.
Learning French is something I would do if I had more free time.
Production
Freer (less controlled) practice of the target language
(2-3 different activities is useful for this stage)
Teacher monitors and makes notes of errors –
for feedback at the end of the lesson
Production
Personalization [give students a list of question prompts]
(If you had to change one thing in the world right now, what would you alter?/ If you
had to lose one of your five senses, what would you give up?)
Role plays [put yourself in a fictional situation]
(Imagine that you and your partner two presidential candidates, each with opposing
views on the following three issues . . . Take some time to prepare your responses.
Begin each one with “If I were president, I would . . .”)
Interviews [ask classmates/people questions]
(Ask five non-Koreans what they would do if they were Psy and wanted to avoid
being a one-hit wonder.  “If you were Psy, how would you avoid being a one-hit
wonder?” Record each interview with your cell phone, camera, or video recorder.)
Simulations [do a large scale role play]
(What would you do if you were a group of survivors of a plane crash in northern
Canada in the middle of winter in a mountain region without a map and the
following ten things to aid your chances of survival . . . ?)
Production
“Find someone who” [find classmates who have done things]
(If you could travel the world for one year and money was not an
issue, would you like to . . . go on a safari/trek in the Himalayas/hike
through the jungle/scuba dive with sharks/stay in five-star hotels . . .)
Problem solving [find a solution]
(If North Korea suddenly started a war with South Korea tomorrow,
how would you help protect your family and friends?)
Board game [create a game]
(Similar to “Talkopoly” on the next slide. Replace text in each square
with “if” questions.)
Personalization
If you had to change one thing in the world right now, what would you
alter?
Simulation
What would you do if North Korea attacked South Korea next month?
Make a list of ten important things you would do (to include writing in
complete sentences).
PPP review
1 Presentation: Explicitly present the target language
2 Practice: Do 3-4 controlled practice activities (accuracy)
3 Production: Do 2-3 less controlled practice activities (fluency/assess)
*This is a deductive approach for teaching grammar. By contrast, EIF is
an inductive approach for teaching grammar.