Http://www1.harenet.ne.jp/~waring/etj/
What do you think? Do you agree or not?
Grammar is the most important part of learning a foreign
language
There is a lot of grammar to teach
Grammar is the ‘heart’ of a language because it is the
framework upon which the vocabulary sits.
Grammar is easy to teach
Grammar is easy to learn
Students should worry about their grammar mistakes
High school teachers have to teach a lot of grammar because
that is what is tested on university entrance tests.
Vocabulary is more important than grammar and we should
spend more time on it.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 1/22
The task
In order to learn the language Japanese learners need:Grammar / syntax
The abstract patterns underlying how words go together.
Word order
Subject
John
+ verb
bought
+ object
a cake
Tenses
Subject
We
+have auxiliary
have
+past participle
won!
Words and their collocations
blonde hair
vs.
great surprise
vs.
renovate a building
vs.
make a mistake
vs.
yellow hair
large surprise
renew a building
do a mistake
Colligation
depend on someone
give something to someone
take something back from someone
The grey area
In a manner of speaking,
If only I’d ……
What I found most interesting was …
I know what you mean.
Not only …… but also ………..
It’s as good as new
I really shouldn’t tell you this, but …
Well, as I was saying …
To put it bluntly,…
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 2/22
Research into language tells us that …
1. Text books tend to treat each aspect of grammar as
somehow equal, but ….
 80% of tense use in English is either the present
simple tense or the past simple tense
 95% of the use of verbs in conversation are active, 5%
passive
 18% of verbs in academic text are passive
 The present perfect tense is 9 times more frequent
that the past perfect in conversation
 Simple tenses are 8-9 times more common than
progressive or perfect tenses in almost all genres.
2. Some grammar is late (or never) acquired
 Articles
 Third person ‘s’
3. Grammar which exists in Japanese will likely be learned
before grammar features that are not in Japanese.
4. Students pick up grammar slowly and incrementally (not all
at once).
5. A lot of grammar learning has a ‘delayed learning effect’
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 3/22
6. There are stages of learning of some grammar features. E.g.
the learning of negatives.
Where’s the book?
Beginner
…………..
No book.
Book. No!
- silence or gesture
No.
- no verb or subject
Me no book.
I no book
Him not book
- subject given (often wrongly)
but no verb
I no have book
Takeshi no has book
- no verb but use of ‘not’, often
wrong subject
He not have book.
He doesn’t book.
- verb used often incorrectly
I doesn’t have book.
Advan- He don’t have book.
ced
I don’t have the book.
- not plus incorrect verb
- often the wrong auxiliary
- correct form
There are similar patterns for forming questions, relative
clauses, passives, tenses etc.
The point is that the elements of the grammar are picked
up in pieces as each aspect is recognized, not as wholes.
It will take time to go through the stages.
When we test students we only test for ‘correct’ language.
Tests do not assess the movement / development between
stages.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 4/22
7. Students avoid tenses and verbs like the plague.
8. A lot of what is tested on Entrance tests is NOT ‘grammar’.
Note that it’s impossible to teach what is on an entrance test
because the students haven’t seen it yet. It’s a waste of time to
teach things that ‘may’ be on the test because there’s a very
good chance they won’t be. Spend time on preparing them to
communicate in English
9. Not all grammar is equal some is more useful that others
My brother is sick
If I had known ….
It is my brother that is sick.
Had it been that I had known ….
10. ‘Advanced grammar’ does not necessarily make you sound
‘better’ or more ‘native-like’
Never before had I seen such a beautiful girl
Had I not found my key I would not have arrived in time
Were I 10 years younger, I’d take up soccer again
11. Teach grammar ‘lexically’ sometimes
On my way to work I…
I’m afraid I don’t agree
I was in two minds
That’s just not true
By the end of the week
I’ll just get my……
It looks as if …….. is going to …….
I don’t suppose you’ve………, have you?
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 5/22
Vocabulary is not everything!
money, room, they, police, student, think, car, new, run
Add in word order
new, student, think, money, they, ran, police, car
Add definiteness, phrasal distribution patterning
The new student, think, the money, they, run, the police car
Add tense time and number
The new students, thought, the money, they ran, the police car
Add aspect and modality
The new students may have thought, the money, they ran, the
police car
Add location and direction etc.
The new students may have thought about the money they ran
to the police car.
Add clausal relations
The new students may have thought about the money while
they ran to the police car.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 6/22
What grammar do Japanese learners need?
Most important
Questions
Negatives
S/V agreement
Possessives
Conjunctions
Comparison
Count/non-count
Simple tenses
Imperatives
Tag forms
Singular/plural
Adjective order
Raise awareness of these (after the ones above are mastered)














Complex NPs
Appositives
Participle descriptors
Relative clauses
Extraposition (heavy NP
movement)
Complement clause
variation
Dummy IT subjects
Existential THERE
Passives
Modal uses and modality
Conditional clauses
Dative shift options
Use of articles
Use of prepositions
 Use of phrasal verbs
 Anaphora and referent
tracking
 Opening phrasal units
 Unraveling complex
sentences (identifying the
main clause)
 Recognizing definitions in
clauses
 Discourse organization
markers and transition
phrases
 Location and use of adverbs
and adverbial phrases
 Given and new patterns of
information
 Tense shifts and alternation
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 7/22
How easy is it to learn grammar?
The case of the present perfect tense
The government has created a new committee to …
He hasn’t seen her for a while.
Why haven’t you done your homework?
Have you seen Jane?
There’s been a big accident in Market street.
They’ve been building the stadium for a long time.
Have you got any brothers and sisters?
The present perfect tense varies by
 Subject: government, he, you, there etc.
 Object: committee, homework, Jane, him.
 Aspect: e.g.
present perfect for experience, - have you ever ….
present perfect for news A plane has crashed into….
 Active or passive:
The Reds have won …. Vs. The title has been captured
by …
 Question, negative and declarative forms:
Have you done…?
They haven’t tried …
I’ve just come back from Paris
 Simple or continuous?
I have lived in Japan for 10 years
I have been living in Japan for 10 years
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 8/22
The Cycle of Learning
Adding to the
language store
Looking,
noticing and
observing
new language
Try to fit it
into previous
knowledge
Feedback
Trying it out
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 9/22
Looking at Japanese student errors
The childs are playing in park
I like dog
I came from Japanese
He goed to Kobe yesterday
Last weekend I played with my friends
 Their mistakes are often consistent.
 Students seem to invent a ‘working grammar’ which
they use to speak English
 But students often consistently make the same kinds
of mistakes at the same level of development
 They have created a grammar which works for them,
which is not all English and not all Japanese, it’s a
‘between’ grammar. This is called interlanguage.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 10/22
Real letters
I am glad to state that my husband died yesterday. I will be
glad if you will get me a pension. If you don't hurry up with it I
will have to get public resistance,
Please send a man with clean tools to finish the job and
satisfy the wife.
I cannot get eternity benefit in spite of the fact that I saw the
assistance officer. I have eight children. What can I do about it?
I am enclosing my marriage certificate with three children. One
of them is a mistake as you will see when you look at it.
I saw a slow moving, sad faced old gentleman as he bounced
off the roof of my car.
Signs
(In a church). This is to announce the birth of David Alan
Belzer, the sin of Reverend and Mrs. Julius Belzer.
(Spotted in a safari park) Elephants, please stay in your car.
(In a Paris hotel elevator) Please leave your values at the
front desk.
(In a church) Ushers will eat latecomers.
(In a club) Next Friday we will be serving hot gods for lunch.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 11/22
Implications of the above for Japanese learners
 There is too much ‘grammar’ to learn
 They won’t learn all they need to know about a grammar
feature the first time you teach it
 They need to meet each feature hundreds, if not thousands,
of times to learn it
 Students forget
 We must make sure they meet the grammar very very
often
 We should not expect immediate production of anything
new we are teaching
 Teachers should be patient about allowing the students to
go through stages
 Because they don’t learn something does not mean you
are a bad teacher
 Students WILL make mistakes – its unavoidable
 Students will take time to get rid of their mistakes, we must
be patient
 Not every one will learn grammar at the same speed
 We must ensure the right balance of activities
 We must give them chances to move through the stages
(give them speaking and writing opportunities to allow
them to ‘push’ their learning.
 Knowing about a grammar feature is NOT THE SAME as
being able to use it
 Testing grammar is not the same as teaching it or learning
it.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 12/22
When should we start to teach grammar?
1. Grammar is difficult to ‘get’
2. Most first year Junior High School students’ brains are still
receptive to ‘child like learning’
3. The majority of JHS 1st year students are at least positive
about learning English
4. By the end of first year most are not and will remain so
forever
5. JHS 1st year students often are not able to think very
analytically and logically about abstract things e.g. word
order, tense formation
6. It’s best to avoid too much grammar early. Give them
vocabulary to fit into generative sentence patterns
I like …….
I like …ing
Do you want ….?
Have you ever ……-ed?
How many …….s do you have?
7. Avoid the use of too much terminology
8. Don’t make it feel like maths….
9. Ensure that grammar is taught in meaningful and useful
situations with the aim of helping them to say things, not to
pass tests.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 13/22
Section 2. Teaching grammar.
Important difference. Learning about grammar and learning to
use grammar communicatively.
Learning about grammar.
Learning to use grammar
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 14/22
Ways to present grammar
A. Checking understanding – concept questions
I used to play the piano.
Does he play the piano now?
No
Did he play the piano before?
Yes
Has he stopped playing the piano? Yes
Now you try. Think of concept questions for these.
John, can I borrow your pencil?
John, would you lend me your pencil?
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 15/22
B. Inductive vs deductive
Inductive (They have to find the rules for themselves)
Why do we use be going to or will?
A: Do you have any plans for the weekend?
B: Yes, I’m going to watch a movie with Keiko. How about you?
A: I haven’t decided, but maybe I’ll stay home.
Deductive. (Tell them what the rule is)
Going to is a way to talk about future time. We use the auxiliary verb be before
it and the base form after it.
1 Formation
STATEMENTS
QUESTIONS
be going to + BASE FORM
She is
going to
have a baby.
I'm really going to
try hard.
When are you going to
see him?
What were you going to
say?
Is he going to be at home tonight?
2 Use
a future intention
John says he's going to be an engineer when he grows up. (This is what he
wants to be.)
Are you going to watch the film this evening?
I'm going to speak to him about it. (I have already decided to do this.)
b near future prediction
He's going to have an accident if he's not careful. (He's driving very
dangerously now
Oh dear! I think I 'm going to be sick. (I feel a little ill already.)
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 16/22
C. Using timelines
1. I’m going to watch a movie with Keiko tonight
Talked with
Keiko
Past
talking
now
movie
Now
Tonight
2. I’ve been living in Japan for 14 years
Now
Arrived
1990
continuing to live
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 17/22
3a. The train left when he arrived
He arrived
The train left
Past
Now
3b. The train had left when he arrived
The train left
He arrived
Past
Now
Make a time line for these
I’m reading the latest Harry Potter book. (every night
before I go to sleep)
He was watching TV when the phone rang.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 18/22
Suggested timelines
I’m reading the latest Harry Potter book. (every night before I go
to sleep)
started
read
Past
continue to read
Now
Future
He was watching TV when the phone rang.
phone
was watching TV
Past
Now
Future
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 19/22
D. Mistakes as presentation
I have ever been to Tokyo
The government has been opening a new stadium
I have ever seen Disneyland
Best to deal with one kind of mistake rather than many at the
same time.
e.g. past tense formation mistakes
past perfect vs past simple
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 20/22
Written vs spoken grammar
Text sample 1: NEWS REPORT
Mr Ladislav Adamec, the Czechoslovak Prime Minister,
threatened to quit last night, as hard bargaining continued
for a second day with the opposition over the shape of the
new government.
Mr Adamec had talks with the opposition leader, Mr
Vaclav Havel, on the cabinet lineup. He later went on
national television to state that he would stand down
unless his new government gained public backing.
The opposition Civic Forum, which rejected the
Communist-dominated cabinet unveiled by Mr Adamec at
the weekend, is demanding a, more representative
government staffed mainly by experts.
Mr Adamec said that he was having trouble recruiting
such experts into the cabinet. The Prime Minister's threat
appeared to seek a weakening of the opposition demands,
but may also have been directed at hardline elements in
the Communist Party reluctant to yield any further to the
opposition.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 21/22
Text sample 2: CONVERSATION IN A BARBER SHOP
A1: I will put, I won't smile. – Tell me what would you like now?
B1: Erm — shortened up please Pete — erm — shaved a little
bit at the back and sides — and then just sort of brushed
back on the top a bit.
A2: Right, and when you say shaved a little bit
B2: Yeah yo- - you sort of just – got your thing and zazoom!
A3: Yeah but – is it that short really?
B3: Yeah to–, yeah and I
A4: <unclear> you want a number four?
B4: Yeah I think so.
<later in the same conversation>
A5: So yeah, I was well pleased, cos you remember the
time before I said I wasn't perfect.
B5: <unclear>
A6: That's right yeah – yeah – I mean I'm being honest.
B6: Yeah – mm.
A7: But I was well pleased with this one.
B7: Yeah.
A8: I was – I thought it looked good – and I thought, I was
quite confident that it would stay in very well, you
know? –
B8: Mm.
Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 22/22