Grammar Presentation & Practice

Dr Desmond Thomas,University of Essex

Issues to consider in teaching grammar (based on 1000s of written articles/books)

1. Presentation (1st time) vs ‘re-presentation’2. Presentation vs practice3. Types of presentation4. Types of practice 5. How much grammar to include/exclude6. How to simplify complex grammar items7. Grammar in isolation vs grammar in context8. Teaching grammar vs testing grammar

Presenting ‘new’ grammar items

• THE FORM: what part of speech/regular or irregular/spelling/pronunciation/word order

• THE MEANING: “the exact meaning you are concentrating on” (Gower et al. 2005)

• THE USE: in what contexts/by which people/ on what occasions

• POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: different from L1, many variants etc.

3 basic approaches

• DEDUCTIVE• INDUCTIVE• A mix of Deductive and Inductive

Which teaching methods are associated?Is one approach better than another?It depends on …………… ?Advantages and disadvantages of each?

Contextualizing grammar presentation

• Pictures or video (eliciting or oral presenting)• Mime or drama (eliciting)• Texts (oral or written)• Short dialogues (oral or written)

The grammar is presented in context: students learn inductively and work out the rules

IS THIS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA?

Teaching the rules

Recommended when:• The meaning of the item is easy to understand

but the structure is complex. Example: comparatives and superlatives (Gower 2005)

• The students have reached a level when they can talk about language in this way

• Learners prefer itA GOOD or a BAD IDEA?

Troubleshooting

• Students don’t understand the form SOLUTIONS ?• Students don’t understand the meaning SOLUTIONS?• Students don’t understand use (cf K. essay) SOLUTIONS?• Students understand but motivation is low SOLUTIONS?

Some words of advice

• The aim of each presentation must be clear• Instructions must be clear (In English? In L1?)• The amount of new language must right• The context must be meaningful• Materials must be user-friendly/stimulating• The whiteboard, visuals and miming can help• The classroom atmosphere and the teacher's

management should encourage participation

Indicated Reading (books)

• Gower, R. et al. 2005, Teaching Practice: a Handbook for Teachers in Training, Macmillan

• Hall, N. & Shepheard, J. 1991, The Anti-grammar Grammar Book, Longman

• Rinvolucri, M. 1984, Grammar Games, CUP• Seymour, D. & Popova, M. 2003, 700 Classroom

Activities, Macmillan• Ur, P. 1993, Grammar Practice Activities, CUP• Ur, P. 1996, A Course in Grammar Teaching, CUP

Indicated Reading (articles)

• Ellis, R. 2002, ‘Grammar Teaching – Practice or Consciousness-Raising’. In Richards, J. (ed.), Methodology in Language Teaching, C.U. P.

• Nitta, R. & Gardner, S., 2005, ‘Consciousness-raising and practice in ELT coursebooks’, ELT Journal 59/1

• Nunan, D. 1998, ‘Teaching Grammar in Context’, ELT Journal 52/2

• Swan, M. 2002, ‘Seven Bad Reasons for Teaching Grammar’. In Richards, J. & Renandya, W. (eds.) , Methodology in Language Teaching, C.U.P.

Grammar practice: what is it?

• The learner manipulates and tries out the new language by producing different examples

• 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(Penny Ur 1993)

“By and large these assumptions go unchallenged and have become part of the mythology of language teaching” (Ellis 2005)

What is ‘Consciousness-raising’?

• In CR there is an attempt to isolate grammar• Learners are supplied with data which

illustrates the grammar and maybe a rule• Learners use intellectual effort to understand

the target language• The main aim is “to develop explicit

knowledge of grammar” but not ‘metalingual knowledge’. (Ellis 2005).

Principle 1: Volume & Opportunities

• “The more language learners are exposed to or produce, the more they are likely to learn: this means devoting plenty of time to practice sessions and exploiting that time effectively" (Penny Ur)

• Priorities in language learning (or any skill learning): Practice, practice, practice.

Principle 2: Drills & Repetition

• Important to get learners to perceive or practise examples over and over again, whether by drilling with the whole group, individuals repeating etc.

• Repetition for pronunciation is important at this stage ...... let learners get used to the sounds as well

Principle 3: Dealing with Errors

• This is the stage to monitor for errors and to intervene where necessary and correct.

• It is also important to allow learners extra practice after they have perceived the errors

Awareness of a structure does not mean that its form, meaning and use have been learnt

Principle 4: Supporting Learners

• Teachers do not only correct; they also support, assist and encourage by giving extra time to think, paraphrasing or simplifying, suggesting hints, giving prompts

• They also motivate. Practice shouldn't be purely mechanical. Grammar activities needn't be boring, they can be challenging. Examples?

Principle 5: Teacher Control

Very controlled & controlled activities

• Likes & dislikes: “Do you like fish?” “Yes, I do”, “No, I don’t” “I love/hate fish” “Does he ….?”

• Sentence building: each student becomes a word in a sentence

• Sentence jigsaws: students manipulate the language of a dialogue in groups

• Grammar + intonation: “He came yesterday, didn’t he?”, “She will do the shopping, …….”

Guided activities (Seymour & Popova)

• Dictation (p.67)• Dictation of sentence endings (p.79)• ‘Arriving late’ pairwork (p.91)• ‘So’ and ‘such’ (p.114)

Guided or semi-controlled activities provide a clear framework for practice with some room for creativity

Communicative practice (Seymour & Popova)

• Fishy stories (p.88)• Newspaper headlines for past continuous +

past simple (p.89)• Values board game (Keep Talking, F.Klippel)

Freer activities that focus on communicative aims rather than specific language items.