Teaching Grammar
Communicatively
Dynamic English - April 2019
Approaches to Teaching Grammar
Communicative Approach:
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Goal = communication
Function & Form Integrated
Interaction, Repeated exposure
Intrinsic Motivation
Meaningful contexts
What’s the rule?
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Prescriptive Grammar = what does the grammar book say?
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Descriptive Grammar = what do people actually say?
Natural progression/Built-in Syllabus
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L1 influence/comparison = similar or not?
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Linguistic complexity = how complex are the rules/lack of rules?
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Semantic transparency = is the function apparent?
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Salience = do students notice it?
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Frequency of input = how often have they used it?
To Consider...
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Noticing Hypothesis (Schmidt 1990)
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Real life application
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Learners need to have a meaningful, real life application
ZPD (Zone of proximal development)
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Learners need to notice a concept in order to acquire it
Is the student ready for the item?
At level, and just out of reach
Building blocks & scaffolding
Review, repeat, recycle
Other-regulation to self-regulation
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Teach self-correction
Meaningful feedback
Again, if a student notices it, they will be more able to self-regulate
Phrasal Verbs
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Treat as vocabulary
Group by topic or by common verbs
10+ a week, integrated into lessons
All levels
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Infinitives vs Gerunds
Confusing Verb Pairs
Transition/Connector Words
Prepositions
https://www.cambridge.org/grammarandbeyond/communicative-activities
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Adjectives
Pronouns
Conditionals
Articles & Count/Non-count Nouns
perfect /perfect continuous
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Simple Tenses
Continuous Tenses
Adverbs
Questions & Question Tags