Transcript 3bGrammar

Teaching Grammar
WHAT IS YOUR “GUT REACTION”
…TO THE TERM “GRAMMAR”?
…TO THE PROSPECT OF “TEACHING GRAMMAR”?
…TO ANSWERING “GRAMMAR QUESTIONS”?
Answering
Grammar
questions…

“What’s better to use, a
gerund or an
infinitive?”
“Tell me how to use
prepositions.”
1.
2.
3.
If you don’t have a ready answer, or
you don’t know what they are talking
about, it’s not always your problem!
Many questions are confusing
because of vague or different or
wrong uses of grammar terminology,
or a mistaken expectation that one
easy rule will answer the question.
Ask for specific examples of
sentences containing the problem
structure.
Then, see if together you can see a
pattern.
If you are still stumped, offer to look
it up and get back to them – there are
many websites that can help.
 “If you do decide to do any
Find an:
Independent
clause
Dependent/
subordinate
clauses
Noun phrase
Verb phrase
Prepositional
phrase
Morphemes
formal, conscious teaching of
grammar, it is useful to have at
your fingertips the various
common terms that are used in
explanations of grammatical
structures.” (Ur, 1991)
Functional
sentence
analysis
Find the...
Subject
Verb
Object
Complement
Adverbial
 “We may also analyze the
sentence according to the
relationship between its
component phrases: these
are the parts of the
sentence.” (Ur, 1991)
 “If you do decide to do any
Identify parts
of speech
a noun
a verb
a preposition
an article
an adjective
an adverb
an auxiliary
verb
a pronoun
a gerund
an infinitive
formal, conscious teaching of
grammar, it is useful to have at
your fingertips the various
common terms that are used in
explanations of grammatical
structures.” (Ur, 1991)
 “We may also analyze the
sentence according to the
relationship between its
component phrases: these are
called the parts of the sentence.”
Does good grammar = communication?
 A grammatically correct utterance can have many
interpretations

Do you drink?
 One meaning can be conveyed with many different
grammatically correct utterances

How many ways can you suggest going out for supper?
 Meaning can be conveyed with grammatically
incorrect output:

She go Calgary next next week.
Usual Approach to teaching grammar?
 Learn the rule
 Apply the rule in structured (fill in the blank)
exercises
 Communicate in a grammatically correct fashion
 Students who have studied grammar rules can
usually complete structured exercises satisfactorily…
but often they seem to forget everything they’ve
learned when they are communicating.
 Why?
Possible reasons for the breakdown…
 Too many variables to deal with… too much to worry
about.
 In speaking, they need to consider pronunciation,
meaning, comprehension…PLUS grammar!
 In writing they need to consider content,
organization, spelling…PLUS grammar!
 But in traditional grammar instruction, practice is
usually very focused – only one variable to worry
about.
So...What’s the use of grammar teaching?
It can help learners…
 Make sense of things they hear and read
 Notice structures that previously “went over their
heads”
 Try out new structures; use more complex language
 Correct errors
To do…
 Cater to different learning styles
 Use a variety of approaches
 Use a “spiral” format… recycle material.
 Contextualize instruction – in a common error, or
a reading/song/task they need to complete.
 Language is an “all skill” challenge – contextualize
in a skill (RWLS)
 Remember, grammar does not equal language!
When designing a series of activities around a
particular structure, make sure…
 that the structure is brought into focus,
 that students use the structure to communicate
 and that students receive feedback on their
production
Following is a suggested series of activities for each
grammar lesson:
1. Raise awareness; elicit background
knowledge of the structure
That is, use the structure communicatively with
students:
 A reading with that structure
 A brainstorming activity
 A story which elicits the structure.
 A selection of student errors on BB
 Other…
Betty Azar’s website
 See the “Song Lessons”
http://www.azargrammar.com/materials/index.html
See YouTube videos of Grammar chants. (e.g.,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D9Gr8yh5ik )
For example (simple present vs progressive):
Have students write a sentence in each of the
following categories – then talk about the choices
they made regarding verb tense:
 Describe something that is happening now.
 Describe something that is happening in the present but
not at this moment.
 Describe something that regularly happens.
 Describe something that never, sometimes, always
happens.
 Describe a state that is permanent versus a state that is
temporary.
For example…“Seven day fool”
And on a Monday, I’m _____
____ you
And on a Tuesday, I’m _____
_____ you
And on a Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday,
Saturday, Sunday, _____
_____ you.
And on a Monday, I _____ your dirty
floor
And on a Tuesday, I ____ a whole lot
more,
And on a Wednesday, I ____ your dirty
clothes
To have a little loving till the weekend
goes.
I ____ for you baby, _____
my hands to the bone,
I _____ for you baby, till the
cows come home,
I ____ for you baby, for the
love that I _____,
I _____ for you baby, every
day of the week.
And I’__ ___ a seven day fool (x3)
Only because I really ____ you.
And on a Thursday, I _____ you oh so
kind,
And on a Friday, I _____ you out to dine,
And on a Saturday, I ____ double time
If you’d only say you’re mine.
 What two tenses are being used in the song?
 Why doesn’t she sing “I’m scrubbing your dirty
floor?”
 How would you need to change the verbs if the song
was written in the third person (“he/she”) instead of
in the first (“I”)?
Another example (simple present)
Tell me about Tina.
 Ask students questions about a particular person
that everyone in the class knows: Where is she from?
where does she live? what does she do? what is her
day like?
 Write the answers on the board.
 Later check… was the final “s” included?
2. Explanation:
 Prepare! you need to understand what is involved in
knowing the structure, and what is likely to cause
problems.
 Start with what they know, and move to what they
don’t.
 This should include the construction of the
function, as well as
 Its function in communication – i.e., what it means
and how/when it is used.
For example…Simple Present
 I/you/we/they/my friends/dogs + verb (live,
know, eat)
 He/she/it/the dog/my friend liveS, knowS, eatS
When is it used?
 To describe what regularly happens – routines
 To talk about facts (scientific, statements of fact…
She hates him, water expands when frozen)
 To show how often something happens (always,
often, usually, sometimes, rarely, seldom, never)
 With stative verbs (know, understand, live, like)
even with a situation that is in progress.
Sample sources
 Grammar Bytes:
http://www.chompchomp.com/menu.htm
 PowerPoint presentations:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/power
point.htm
 Azar Grammar:
http://www.azargrammar.com/materials/beg/BEG_
PowerPoint.html
 Engvid.com http://www.engvid.com/
3. Focused practice
Activities which allow students to focus primarily on
the structure in question:
 The stuff of “traditional” language teaching – fill in
the blank, multiple choice,
 Editing prepared texts for that particular structure
 Grammar games, communicative activities that focus
on only one structure.
e.g., Simple Present Cloze
 Sara ________ in Edmonton. She _________
ESL to students from many different countries. She
also sometimes ___________ others how to teach
ESL. Her kids ______ to Chinese bilingual schools
because she ________ it is important for them to
learn a second language.
“Seven Day Fool” example…
 Tell students their partner is convinced that their
spouse/partner doesn’t love them anymore. They
are to reword the song (changing only the pronouns
and verbs) and say it to their partner to convince
him/her that his/her spouse really loveS him/her.
Sample sources
 Azar Grammar: (worksheets)




http://www.azargrammar.com/materials/index.html
Guide to Grammar and writing:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm
Grammar Bytes: http://www.chompchomp.com/menu.htm
Grammar Quizzes.com http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/
Guide to Grammar and writing:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm
4. Communicative Practice
 Choose activities which will naturally require the use
of a particular structure.
 Tasks which are intrinsically repetitive.
 These activities should EXPAND students’ FOCUS –
i.e., students will need to pay attention to both
content and form.
For example...
 Interview a partner about his/her daily schedule
(elicit simple present without the “s”). Then report
on a partner’s daily schedule (elicits simple present
WITH the “s”)
 After Seven Day Fool activity, have students
discuss:
What chores do husbands/wives/kids usually do in your
country? (no “s”)
 What chores does your spouse/parent/kid generally do?
(“s”)
 Does this song describe true love? How does someone in
love usually act? (“s”)

Another example (simple present)
Animal riddles:
 Write the following verbs on the BB: live, eat, move, mate,
sleep, make, change, grow, die, give birth, lay eggs (etc.).
 Students choose (or are assigned) an animal and then write
a description of its habits without identifying the animal
(e.g., It lays eggs. It doesn’t fly very well.).
 Students mingle and then tell their “riddle” to 5 other
students, and keep track of how many guess correctly.
 Students should be encouraged to help each other to
remember the “s” at the end of the verb.
Communicative practice continued
 Design a writing assignment in which the structure
is used to communicate original ideas. (E.g.,
simple present: students write a letter home to
describe their roommate’s very strange habits.)
 Have learners focus on a structure when editing for
accuracy (e.g., check all the nouns in your first
paragraph – do you include articles where
necessary? Check all the verbs – can you explain
why you chose that particular tense? Look at each
sentence in your paragraph – does the verb agree
with the noun?
 See Fun with Grammar activities:
http://www.azargrammar.com/materials/FWG_TO
C.html
5. Correction and Feedback
 Traditional: quizzes, tests (tend to focus on only one
variable)
 Writing – focus primarily on the structures you’ve taught.
(e.g., after a lesson on articles– in the next writing you
collect, copy out article errors and put on the board.
Students help you correct them). (Also see Harmer
Example 15, p.227)
 Speaking – during a communicative activity, “listen in”
and take note of errors. Write on BB and have students
identify and correct.
 Have students monitor each other for the errors that are
likely to occur during a communication activity. For
instance…
 If students are interviewing each other about
their best friends, and if they are meant to be
focusing on the 3rd person singular “s” at the end
of the verb (e.g., She goes to work at 8), tell
students to monitor their partner’s output,
making sure that the “s” is not omitted. If the “s”
is omitted, the partner should say, “Excuse me?
What was that?” or waggle their eyebrows or give
some other predetermined hint.
 Similarly…have students peer edit each other’s
written work for a particular structure.
Apply
To do:
 Watch a grammar lesson
video from Engvid:
http://www.engvid.com/
 What parts of a grammar
lesson are included in this
video? What would you
need to add in?
A Grammar Lesson
 Raise awareness/elicit
background knowledge
 Explanation
 Focused practice
(traditional or
“communicative”)
 Communicative practice
(expanding focus)
 Feedback
Harmer Chapter 13 (p.210-224)
To do...
A Grammar Lesson
 Examine a selection of the
 Raise awareness/elicit
example activities from
the chapter (or Rolf and Elli
videos)
 Which parts of a grammar
lesson are included?
 Is the activity engaging?
Useful?
background knowledge
 Explanation
 Focused practice
(traditional or
“communicative”)
 Communicative practice
(using it – expanding
focus)
 Feedback
Sample Lesson: Passives
(adapted from Techniques and resources in teaching grammar” by Celce-Murcia and Hilles)
1. Raise Awareness:
 Arrange for someone to run to the classroom and
grab your wallet.
 “Last night, I was walking home from a friend’s
house when a terrible thing happened... “My
wallet was stolen!” (write on board).
 What happened to the thief? (elicit and write on
board sentences such as “he was chased all over
the city by the police. He was caught. He was
frisked. He was questioned. He was handcuffed.
He was taken to jail)
 What happened to my wallet? It was stolen…it
was emptied…it was returned to me (on board)
2. Explanation: passive voice…
 What is important to me? (wallet)…so I wouldn’t
say “A thief stole my wallet.”
 Look at the sentences on the board… what is the
pattern?
 Be+ past participle
When is passive used?
 When the doer is obvious or not important
 When the writer wants to sound objective
 For grammatical consistency
The “by-phrase” is usually not included, except…
 When the doer is a proper name, too important to
omit (The Mono Lisa was painted by da Vinci)
 The doer is new information or unexpected (Her
purse was snatched by a young man; this rug was
made by my sister, that rug was made by my mother)
Limit your explanation…
 There are lots of other details about the
passive…good to know, but depending on the level,
you may or may not want to cover all the details.
 E.g., only transitive verbs (ones followed by an
object) can be used in the passive – you can’t use
verbs such as happen, sleep, come, seem)
Elicit another story for group
writing…put it on the board.
 There was a young man who did something
wonderful for the city – perhaps he helped many
poor people. There was a ceremony in his honor.
What happened to the young man at that ceremony?
 (was congratulated, was given a medal, was given key
to the city…)
3. Focused practice
Dear Dad,
Last weekend I ____(invite) to a formal dinner with
the mayor! I ____(excite)! The dinner ____
(hold) in honor of Bill, a classmate who has helped
many people in this city. I ___ (invite) because I
am one of Bill’s closest friends. Bill and I ____
(pick up) in a limousine and ____ (take) to a
restaurant. We ____ (serve) a delicious meal.
Then a ceremony ___ (hold) in Bill’s honor. He
___ (congratulate) and ____(give) a medal. He
_____(also give) the key to the city. …
Love, Brenda
4. Communicative practice
 ½ the class leaves the room.
 Silly things are done to an aide (put a hat on him,
paint fingernail green, put a coat on him)
 Students return and pair up with those who were in
the room. Students tell their partners what
happened to the aide using passive voice.
More communicative practice
(may be done later... tie in to thematic content of class)
 Write “babies” “money” or “puppies” on board.
Students answer the question: What happens
to___?
 Explain what is likely to happen to someone in
your country in the following situations:
When they go for a checkup
 When they are arrested
 When they go to get their hair cut
 When they go to a traditional doctor for acupuncture…

Apply:
 Select a grammar topic, based on...

a grammar error?

a task?

a unit in text?
 Plan one activity for each phase of a grammar lesson.
 Share your plan with the group.
Sample problem areas…
 “I saw car. Car hit man. I called doctor.” (definite and







indefinite articles)
“buy some furnitures”; “get a bread” (articles and count
and non-count nouns)
“I am exciting”; “I am boring”
“I go to home. I go university.” (Prepositions) (can look at
prepositions of time, part of 2-3 word verbs, or following
adjectives)
“I lived in Canada since 2002.” (Tense: present perfect vs
past)
“Yesterday, I go to the mall.” (Simple past)
“I worked on homework when the phone rang.” (past
progressive)
Other?
Final Note:
 In 20 years of teaching, only once have I taught a
“grammar class” – meaning that the content of the
class was organized around grammatical structures.
 All my other classes have been organized around
themes, tasks, functions and skills. In those classes,
I taught grammar



to give students the tools they needed to complete the tasks (if
a particular structure is important to that theme/tasks…), or
to help them correct errors they were making.
to cover a textbook that was assigned.
Tomorrow
 Read Snow chapter 7 (Teaching towards
peacemaking and intercultural understanding)
 Read Harmer chapters 5, 6, and skim 15
 Mini-presentations (summarize the main issues
to do with culture that arise in the article; lead a
discussion on the ideas in the article):



A-G: Johnson, D. (2005).
H-R: Ilieva, R. (2001).
S-Z: Sauvé, V. (1996).
 4 Method sketches:
Audiolingual, LAMP, CLL, Silent Way
Reference
 Ur, P. (1991), A course in language teaching:
Practice and theory. Cambridge U.Press.