WHY GRAMMAR?
WHAT GRAMMAR?
Teachers’ Workshop, 11 March 2015
Aladdin 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 method
Example:
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 twice
she 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 realia
e.g. Demonstrate: This is a book
• A book
• A book is
• This
Now do these:
• bag
• pencil
books
books are
these
these are books
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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
She’s having her lunch.
I’ve been teaching English for a long time.
We’re traveling by plane.
It’s 9 o’clock now. By10 I will have finished.
By the time I arrived, the bank had closed.
1.
She’s having her lunch.
________________________
↓
…..
2.
3.
4.
5.
I’ve been teaching English for a long time.
________________________
↓
……………….
We’re traveling by plane.
________________________
↓
…………
It’s 9 o’clock now. By10 I will have finished.
________________________
↓
X
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 on
the 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
1. Omar
2. Hala
3.
4.
morning
Qur’an
internet
afternoon
jogging
cooking
T: Tell me how Hala spends her Friday.
S:
evening
friends
reading
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
Small
Young
bigger
smaller
younger
• 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.