Teaching Grammar Agenda • Explaining and guided discovery • Other ways of exploring grammar • Practice • Production Arguments for Grammar Instruction: • Without explicit instruction learners’ interlanguage often fossilizes. • Grammar instruction may help learners to notice features of language when they are ready. • Learning finite rules can help to simplify an otherwise complex langauge by organizing it into neat categories. • Older students’ expectation about language learning often includes grammar instruction. (Lightbown & Spada, 1990, pp. 429-448) What should be taught? How is it formed? form/structure What does it mean? meaning/semantics use/pragmatics When/Why is it used? Larsen-Freeman (2001) Explaining Grammar • When explaining grammar, you need to…Discuss and fix these. Talk about why you think so. • • • • • • • Talk a lot Talk fast Use technical language Give E_________ Don’t ask questions Use V_________ Don’t c________ understanding Guided Discovery • Activities that allow learners to find their own discoveries and explanations. • Prompts that help learners to see the key points. • Your role here is to: – Choose helpful tasks – Give clear instructions, explanations and feedback – Keep learners engaged Examples of Guided Discovery Ideas • Questions about form – What word goes in this space? How do you spell that? • Questions about function – Is this formal or informal? • Sentence analysis – Mark all of the prepositions • Reflection on use – Why did you use that tense? • Hypothesizing rules – Why is that wrong? • Problems and puzzles – Put the words in the right order. Change this to past tense. GRAMMAR PRACTICE Grammar practice: what is it? • The learner manipulates and tries out the new language by producing different examples • The focus is on using the language correctly. This is where you will correct errors. • The teacher begins by exercising a lot of control which is gradually relaxed • Learning is consolidated by committing new material to the learner's long-term memory • For example: various drills, gap fills, sentence correction, sentence completion, dialogue practice etc. Focus on meaning, but controlled form Find someone who... Choose the Dialogue A: How are you doing today? A: What can I help you with today? B: I need to check out this book. B: Great. Thanks. A: What can I help you with? A: Do you have your library card? B: I would like to open a bank account. B: I don't have one. A: What kind would you like to open? A: Would you like to apply for one right now? B: I need a checking account. B: That's fine. A: Would you also like to open a savings account? A: I'm going to need you to fill out the application. A: In order to open these accounts, you need to deposit a minimum of $50. A: All right, now please sign the back of the card. B: All right. All done. B: That's fine. Try this B: Okay. I've signed it. B: I want to deposit $300. B: Great. Now can I check out this book? B: Make sure to put $150 in each account. Practice: Guessing Jobs What does he/she do? She may/ might/ could be a … Table for S1 Names Favourite subjects Lily Favourite sports Favourit e food basketball Susan Chinese David English Hobbies music eggs reading Favourit e food Hobbies football Table for S2 Names Favourite subjects Lily Math Susan David Favourite sports pork Ping-pong icecream collecting stamps GAMES TO PRACTICE STRUCTURES Games • Board Races • With flyswatter • Write sentences and fill in gaps or make corrections • Rock/ scissors/ paper board race • Hot seat • Try to get your team member to say the funny phrase but don’t use any of the words in the phrase. • More fun ideas at: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzX1j3h7X4k How’s the weather? It’s… Hot seat • One morning I sang to an elephant in my pajamas. Hot seat • Yesterday I saw a zombie shake hands with a lizard. Hot seat • My Mom tries to be cool like me. Hot seat • A shiny gem is not enough. Communicative Activities (Production) • Freer activities that focus on communicative aims rather than specific language items. • Focus on fluency (no correction). • Try to personalize the language. – What sports do you like to play? • Students use the language in a realistic way. • Students have the chance to interact and communicate more. Today is picture B. What has happened since yesterday (picture A)? 24 Today is picture B. What has happened since yesterday (picture A)? 25 A: Remember the details of these pictures. You can make a sketch (don’t show B) B: Remember the details of these pictures. You can make a sketch (don’t show A) Accuracy/ fluency continuum Practice Production form-focused -------------------------------------- meaning-focused ‘make sure it’s correct’ -------------------------------------- ‘make sure you communicate’ controlled -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- free decontextualized contextualized