WHY GRAMMAR?WHAT

GRAMMAR?Teachers’ Workshop, 11 March 2015Aladdin A. Baset, Ph.D., Exeter, UK.

Why grammar?

• Vital to avoid misunderstandings

• Slows down communication

• Makes speakers shy or hesitant

• Make text seem as if written by uneducated person

• The more grammar, the more choices e.g. active/passive

Questions

• What are the objectives of a grammar class?

– Exam preparation– Improving SS’ English for business purposes– SS preparing for a TOEFL Exam – Improving SS’ English for general purposes

How much grammar to be taught

• What type of learning background do learners have?

– Are SS at school? – Have they studied for a number of

years? – Are they familiar with grammar

terminology?

• What kind of learning style does each student have?

Does learner work better with listening?Mixed learning styles → different methods

Methods of teaching grammar:

• The deductive method

• The inductive methods

• The eclectic method

• No grammar teaching at all:– Harmful– See enough samples of natural language– SS learn grammar as they did mother tongue

The deductive method:

• Write example on board/refer to it in textbook

• Explain rule (maybe in MT)• SS practise orally and in writing

The deductive methodExample:Present perfect

The present perfect is made up of auxiliary verb 'have' plus past participle. Used to express action which has begun in the past and continues into the present.

Aux. Have + PP

e.g. I’ve seen them twiceshe has finished the report

The inductive method:

• No grammar explanation• Attention to meaning• Give enough examples using realia • SS work out rule• Explanations may be elicited from SS• SS practise and write more examples

Using realiae.g. Demonstrate: This is a book these are books

• A book books • A book is books are• This these

Now do these:• bag• pencil

The inductive method

Example:• A reading comprehension with a number of sentences describing

what a person has done up to a certain period in time.

• After reading, T asks: – How long has he done that?– Has he ever been to Paris?

• And then follow with – When did he go to Paris?

• To understand difference between simple past and present perfect:

– Which questions spoke about a definite time in the past? – Which questions asked about the person's general experience? etc.

The eclectic method (a middle path):

Deductive:– Difficult grammar– Concept not in MT– Time short– Preferred by those interested in how

language works– Suitable for written language exams– Little attention paid to message

Inductive:– Involving SS– Better for regularities

Discuss the following statements in your group.Agree or disagree and justify your opinion.

1. Easy grammar points are only easy because they are easily explained.

2. Grammar can be taught effectively and enjoyably.3. It is confusing to see uses of tenses contrasted.4. Some grammar is not useful.5. Ts’ use of grammar not known to SS gives SS valuable

exposure to real life practice. 6. Speaking has no grammar of its own.7. SS do not need to know words like “auxiliary’ or “gerund”8. Structure and grammar are synonymous.9. Teaching the apostrophe and the present simple s-suffix is

simple. Yet, it may take years to sink.10. Teaching grammar points in a reading text is not a good idea.

What Grammar?Examples of grammar teaching

Introducing tenses:

• Visual rather than verbal representation

• (esp tenses not in MT)

• Time line across the board_______________________

past time ↓ future This moment (now)

• X = single event• ……… = action that lasted or will last

• Examples:

• He used to smoke.________________________

↓ ………….

• She works in the market________________________

↓ ….….………………………..

• He got up at six.________________________

↓ X

Use a time scale to show concepts like:

For 2 months• J F M A M J J A S O N D

________________________↓

….. (past) ….. (future)

Since April• J F M A M J J A S O N D

________________________↓

………….

From April to June• J F M A M J J A S O N D

________________________↓

……….

Exercise: Now do the following sentences.

1. She’s having her lunch.2. I’ve been teaching English for a long time.3. We’re traveling by plane.4. It’s 9 o’clock now. By10 I will have finished.5. By the time I arrived, the bank had closed.

1. She’s having her lunch.________________________

↓ …..

2. I’ve been teaching English for a long time.________________________

↓ ……………….

3. We’re traveling by plane.________________________

↓ …………

4. It’s 9 o’clock now. By10 I will have finished.________________________

↓ X

5. By the time I arrived, the bank had closed.________________________

↓ X X

Present continuous

1. Describing live actions:

• T to Magda: Magda, go and touch the wall, then write your name onthe board.

(Magda does so)

• T to class:Look, Magda is walking towards the wall. She is touching it.Now she is writing her name on the board. Well done, Magda.Now, who’s next?

2. Describing a picture scene:

• Make a dozen flashcard drawings of verbs studied e.g. They are playing/watching.

• SS ask Qs using the form “Are they ….. ing?

• Write the structure on board

• Shuffle the cards

• Hold one so SS don’t see it.

• SS make guesses in turn until the right answer is reached:– S: Are they watching TV?– T: No, they aren’t watching TV.

3. Miming:

• T mimes e.g. open a can and SS guess – Are you peeling a potato

T goes on until right answer is reached

The present simple:

• Ask SS to work in pairs or groups and ask their friends how they spend their Friday:

Name morning afternoon evening1. Omar Qur’an jogging friends2. Hala internet cooking reading3.4.

T: Tell me how Hala spends her Friday.S:

Simple past

Action!

• Form a circle to practice simple past verbs • Grab a small ball and say a verb out loud• Toss ball to a student who will say its past form

• S tosses ball back to you/peer and so on • If S makes a mistake, they leave circle. • Last student left standing gets a reward.

• Can be adapted to any grammar point: – affirmative – question, affirmative – negative etc.

Simple Past & Present Perfect

Celebrity Profiles

• Practice verb tenses through biographies of celebrities.

• Find a short biography or write one summarizing a celebrity's main achievements.

• Read bio with SS and check they understand the differences between simple past and present perfect.

• Point out examples that clearly illustrate this:

• “He starred in his first hit film in 1985. But he has worked in 20 hit films throughout his career.” 

Comparatives

Introduce adjectives

Big biggerSmall smallerYoungyounger

• Show pics of two items to be contrasted and SS provide sentence:

Buses are bigger than cars

A tennis ball is lighter than a basketball

Jazz is louder than pop music Pop music is nicer than jazz

Superlatives (same as comparatives)

• Use the superlative form of the adjectives in brackets.

• Where are the (nice) beaches in your country?• What's the (dangerous) animal in the world?• She bought the (big) cake in the shop.• Who is the (famous) singer in your country?• My mum is the (good) cook in the world.

Celebrity Photos

• Cut out celebrity pics from magazines to teach comparatives and superlatives:

• Shakira is more talented than Ricky Martin.

• Tome Cruise is the shortest of the three.

• You may use comparative adverbs: • Shakira dances better than Ricky.

 

Articles A or An:

• Cut up list of words that take “a”/“an” and mix them up.

• For young learners, you may use pics instead.

• Divide SS into groups, and have them put the words in two piles, depending on the article.

• Once they have their piles ready, ask them if they can figure out the rule by themselves.

• Grammar can be taught through use of either realia or real life contexts.

• Tell SS why they are learning the form e.g. passives.

• Modals expressing concepts such as

– Ability (can/could)– Permission (can/could/may/might)– Obligation (should/must)– Possibility (can/could/may/might)– Prediction (shall/will/would)– Speculation (may/might/could/must)– Certainty (must)

Scenario:

• A friend of mine was supposed to come on the 9 o’clock train from Cairo.

• He asked me to meet him at the station.

• I waited but he was not on the train.

• I wonder what happened.

S 1: he must have missed the train.

T: Yes, of course. But why?

S2: He may have changed his mind.

T: I don’t think so.

S3: He might have caught the next train.

T: He didn’t. I waited for that too.

S4: He might have decided to come by bus.

T: You may be right. He must have decided to come by bus. He must be on the way now.

Grammar Lesson Outline

• Use inductive method and begin with exercise e.g. listening, introducing the grammar concept

• Ask SS Qs that will help them identify the grammar concept

• Follow with another exercise e.g. reading with Qs in the structure taught

• Check responses, ask students to explain the grammar concept introduced

• Introduce explanations as a way of clearing up misunderstandings

• Provide exercise with construction of grammar point e.g. gap-filling, cloze

• Ask SS to explain concept once again

Instructions • Assess SS before you teach any grammar. If they already know

what a noun and verb is, you don't need to waste class time teaching them and doing exercises where everyone is getting 100 percent.

• Plan mini-lessons to address SS’s problems with grammar. If SS can't remember to capitalize the word "I“, ask them to write a personal narrative where they use the word so many times.

• Teach grammar points while you are working on reading. Real authors can be amazing tools to use to teach about contractions, noun/verb agreement etc. Some picture books do this.