CIED 5543 Structures of American English Dr. Freddie Bowles fbowles@uark.edu 479-575-3035 Peabody Hall 312 Chapters Two & Three O What’s in a word? O Grammatical Terms O To Teach or Not To Teach O Teaching Grammar Let’s Draw! O Phrase Structure Diagram O aka “Tree Diagrams” O Try this one: “A feisty dog followed the young boy to his house.” O Hint: Some abbreviations—S, NP, VP, PP, Art, Adj, PD O Hint: Label the sentence elements first. Tree Diagram Answer A feisty dog followed the young boy to his house. S NP Art The VP Adj N V NP feisty dog followed Art Adj N the young boy PP Prep to NP PD his N house Chapter Two: Terms Matching Activity O In your groups, match the terms with the definitions. O Be prepared to give an example. Matching Answers Head element of a noun phrase Noun, Pronoun, or Gerund General names for people, places, and things divided into two classes Common Nouns Nouns that can be made into Count Nouns plurals Nouns that do not have a plural form Noncount Nouns Matching Answers A present participle that can function as a noun Gerund A type of determiner showing definiteness or indefiniteness Articles A type of determiner used to indicate distance Demonstrative Determiner A function of a noun phrase used as the “agent” or “doer” in a sentence Subject Matching Answers A function of a noun phrase that is affected by the action indicated by a verb Direct Object A function of a noun phrase that follows Predicate Nominals the form of the verb “be” and refers to the subject of a sentence A function of a noun phrase that defines a NP that it follows Appositive Another term for Verb Phrase Predicate Matching Answers Endings added to verbs to indicate person, number, and tense Inflections The term used to indicate whether the action of the verb is in progress, repetitive, or complete Aspect A class of auxiliary verbs that indicate possibility, probability, obligation, ability, or necessity A class of verbs in which the subject is affected by the verb itself Modal Verbs Ergative Verbs Matching Answers A lexical aspect of a verb indicating a state rather than an action Stative Verbs Verbal structures consisting of a verb Phrasal Verbs plus one or two other elements that functions as a single unit The term used when two independent clauses are joined together Coordinate Sentence Matching Answers A type of subordinate clause introduced by a relative pronoun Relative Clause A type of subordinate clause providing information to complete the meaning of the verb Complement Chapter Three: Teaching Grammar Why teach grammar to adults? O L2 learning is fundamentally different from L1 learning. O Language learning is time sensitive and vanishes as Ls reach adulthood. O L2 acquisition has varying degrees of success. O L2 learners experience stabilized grammar. O L2 success is influenced by affective factors. To teach or not to teach grammar? O NOT!—Krashen (1970s) Input Hypothesis O Acquisition comes from comprehensible input (the Natural Approach—Krashen & Terrell, 1983) O No empirical research to support Krashen’s theory O Yes!—Empirical studies to support grammar instruction including production of past tense forms, relative clauses, accuracy, effect of oral and written tasks, for example. How to teach grammar? O Explicit vs. Implicit O Explicit: Rules are explained O Implicit: No overt reference is made to rules or forms O Explicit teaching produces better and longer- lasting learning. How to teach grammar? Deductive vs. Inductive O Deductive: Focus on Forms (FonFs, Long, 1997) O Different structures are presented and practiced in different kinds of exercises including memorizing dialogues, reading simplified texts, doing transformation exercises, and receiving negative feedback O Teaches more than learner needs to know O Does not present a realistic model of language use O Ignores research finding that show learning is not a one-time categorical event O Ignores the role of development stages in learning How to teach grammar? O Inductive—Focus on Form (FonF) O Students formulate rules from natural language O Students reflect on nature of grammatical rules O Students use rules in meaningful conversations in realistic contexts Approaches to Teaching Grammar 1. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) O Developed in the 1970s and 80s O Savignon originated the term “communicative competence” (1972) O Two goals: Ss learn to use feedback to judge the success of their attempts to communicate, and Ss use appropriate linguistic forms in social contexts O Limited grammatical competence O Adaptation: A more eclectic approach to teaching Approaches to Teaching Grammar Grammar in Context (Nunan, 1998) O Advocates an “organic” approach O Learners become active explorer of language O Learners develop understanding of relationships O O O O O between grammar and discourse Exposure to authentic language Opportunity to use language in new ways Relies heavily on collaborative Emphasizes implicit grammar instruction Provides opportunities to revise Approaches to Teaching Grammar Task-Based Language Teaching (Long, 1997) Relevant to advanced learners who need proficiency for academic, occupational, or vocation purposes O Uses realistic tasks in teaching O Elaborates on input given to Ss O Supplements authentic texts O Provides rich input O Respects and encourages learner syllabi O Promotes cooperative learning Approaches to Teaching Grammar 2. Processing Instruction (VanPatten, 1996) Focus on a “form-meaning” connection (intake) Input must be noticed and comprehended to become intake (input processing) 1. Ss given explicit description of a structure 2. Ss informed about input process that might interfere with form-meaning connection 3. Ss given structured input to assist in correct processing of structure What’s missing? Output! VanPatten believed richer input produced better output. Approaches to Teaching Grammar 3. Output Hypothesis (Swain, 1985; Gass, 1997) O Swain found that Ss had good comprehension but limited productive skills. O Gass suggested that production requires more attention to L2 grammar and input processing. O Gass—L2 Output accuracy involves a focus on grammar rules utilizing the interlanguage, the evolving grammatical system. O DeKeyser & Sokalski (2001) found that PI is better for comprehension skills and output practice is better for productive skills Classroom Applications O CLT activities—interactive and collaborative: games, puzzle solving, role-playing, storytelling. O Grammar in Context Activities—comparative activities to explore connection of grammar to discourse: compare textbook activity to authentic conversation; “information packaging”—combining sentences to create paragraphs Classroom Applications O Task-Based Language Teaching: closed tasks (one answer) or open-tasks (multiple answers) O Tasks should elicit a specific grammar structure O Enhancing Input: Input flooding to introduce multiple uses of grammatical structure (PI)—stories, instruction, classroom language O Textual Enhancement: typographically highlighting a particular grammar structure in a written passage O Output Practice: Pushed Output encourages students to produce language slightly beyond their current ability—dictogloss.