a fresh look at teaching grammar
DESCRIPTION
This presentation works in tandem with a face-to-face workshop and hopes to challenge teachers' views on teaching grammar in the TEFL classroom.TRANSCRIPT
A Fresh Look at Teaching Grammar
David FayDirector, Regional English Language Office
[email protected]://reloandes.com
http://lima.usembassy.gov/relo2.html
A Fresh Look at Teaching Grammar
What is grammar?Why teach grammar?How can we teach
grammar… better?
What is grammar? What do you think of when
you think of GRAMMAR?What do you think of
when you think of COMMUNICATION?
Rules Parts of speech Structures, forms Word order Memorizing Red ink Drills Boring
Dynamic understanding Four skills Meaning Interacting Establishing relationships Small group activities Fun
(From Diane Larsen Freeman’s Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring)
What is grammar?
Sound Words Sentence Paragraph Text
Phonology Morphology Syntax Discourse Discourse/Genre
Larsen-Freeman’s Grammaring Model
He’s playing soccer.
“Where’s Ivan?” “He’s playing soccer.”Tomorrow afternoon he’ll be in the office, but in the
evening he’s playing soccer.He never wears his tie when he’s playing soccer.He’s playing soccer a lot these days. Do you think
he’s upset about something?There’s this colleague of ours, Ivan. He’s playing
soccer one day. Suddenly he…
Activity Samples
Substitution The boy drinks milk every morning.1. (-): 2. A banana: 3. The women: 4. (?):
Passive Voice 1. She is holding a mirror in
her hand.2. The teacher allowed
nobody to go out.3. Has anyone used my
telephone?4. Do you bite your nails
when you are nervous?
Dog Attack
Jessica is self-employed and her business was affected while she was sick. Also, the trousers and shoes she’d been wearing at the time of the attack were ruined by bloodstains, and had to be thrown away.
Jessica told us, “I’m now trying to get compensation from the owners of the dog.”
Jessica Johnson was out walking with her husband when she was attacked by an unsupervised Alsatian dog. Jessica’s leg was bitten, and she had to have stitches in two wounds. Two days later, because the wounds had become infected, Jessica was admitted to the hospital. Even after she was discharged, she needed further treatment from her doctor – and she was told to rest for two weeks.
From Thornbury’s How to Teach Grammar
To sum up, grammar lessons…
Should be linked to meaning Should be based on engaging, authentic
material Should get students to think Should consider students situation: learning
styles, age, expectations, etc. Should limit use of metalanguage
Teachers Talk:“My students’ language ability is always fluctuating. Some days
they speak very well, and other days they are horrible.”“I teach lots of grammar in the first week of my course, to get it
out of the way early so we can spend more time practicing.”“The simple past is considerably more difficult so we must wait
a while before we teach it.”“The articles system is easy and common, so I teach them first.
But even after months of practice they still make mistakes!”“My students know a lot, they just can’t talk.”
A Fresh Look at Teaching Grammar
David FayDirector, Regional English Language Office
[email protected]://reloandes.com
http://lima.usembassy.gov/relo2.html