LECTURE 18
TEACHING GRAMMAR
1. Teaching grammar in the past:
· the grammar translation approach,
· the audiolingual approach,
· the natural approach (comprehension based - students are given a lot of comprehensive input; we don't have to teach grammar at all),
· the communicative language teaching (the grammar is taught but it's not the aim at itself).
2. There is NO one method:
o different learning styles,
o analytical learners (those who want to know why; student wants to know how language is created - rule learners),
o holistic learners (those who don't care about the rules; they learn through exposure/repetition).
3. When to correct?:
· accuracy vs. fluency (when our purpose is accuracy, we do correct a lot; if it is fluency oriented stage of the lesson - our correction should be limited),
· centrality to teaching focus (if we teach the Present Simple tense, we should correct students because this topic is in our teaching focus),
· comprehensibility (when there are errors which disturb comprehension, we should correct students),
· global errors (those which are affected the whole structure and we can't understand the meaning),
· local errors (if we understand the meaning of the sentence despite some errors, we shouldn't correct students).
4. Presenting a grammatical item:
Ø PRESENTATION - is introducing the students to the form, meaning and use of a new piece of language,
o should be clear - clear meaning and form,
o efficient,
o lively,
o memorable,
o interesting,
o appropriate (adjusted to your learners' possibilities),
o productive (leading to students' own production),
o a model which stands out clearly (to write a model sentence on the board - a lot of students are visual learners),
o checks of understanding,
o students' creativity and personalization:
Ø PERSONALISATION - the stage of our presentation/teaching when we encourage students to use the new structure to say something true about their lives,
o an explicit statement of rules.
5. Presentation by means of: (how can we explain grammar?):
· charts,
· dialogues (meaningful context),
· mini-situations,
· texts (reading which means discovering),
· visuals.
6. Function (use) vs. form (structure):
o Cooking can be a real pleasure.
o You can all read and write. the same form: can + infinitive; one form can have
o Can you switch on the lights? different functions; the teacher should think about what
o Can I help you with the dishes? function is he going to present to students.
7. Approaches to grammar presentation:
· deductive (starts with the presentation of a rule and is followed by examples in which the rule is applied - rule driven learning),
· inductive (starts with some examples from which a rule is inferred),
· guided discovery (there is no much difference between guided discovery and deductive way of teaching).
8. Discovery techniques: (examples of inductive teaching):
o preview,
o matching techniques,
o text study.
9. Grammar practice techniques:
· form is the most important,
· meaning and form dominate,
· communicative process/task.
10. Form:
o slot-fillers: He is .......... boy.,
o transformation: This is a woman. -> put it into plural: They are women.
11. Form and meaning:
· translation,
· slot filling or multiple choice based on meaning: He (works, is working, worked) at the moment.,
· slot filling with choice of answers not provided: Last night we .......... television.,
· matching: He is an animal.
I are soldiers.
She am a woman.
12. Production of meaning for some purpose:
o information gap (I know something that somebody has no idea about - giving people a reason to find out),
o communication techniques.
13. What makes grammar practice effective:
· pre-learning (successful presentation),
· volume and repetition,
· success orientation,
· heterogeneity (grammar practice is heterogeneous if it allows for answers at different levels of proficiency),
· teacher assistance.
14. Essential characteristics of a good language task:
o a clear objective (a purpose of an activity),
o active language use,
o interest,
o visual focus,
o open-endedness (= heterogeneity),
o based on information gap/opinion gap,
o personalization (the use of new structure to talk about yourself).
15. BACKSLIDING - instead of moving forward, some students go backward; instead of progressing, going back.
16. TEACHING GRAMMAR - means enabling language students to use linguistic forms accurately, meaningfully and appropriately.
17. Traditional grammar teaching has employed a structural syllabus (starting with grammar) and lessons composed of three phases:
· presentation,
· practice,
· production (or communication).
18. PRACTICE - accuracy oriented.
PRODUCTION - fluency oriented.
19. A more communicative oriented approach, starting with a communicative activity such as task- or content-based material. The grammar that is taught is not scheduled in advance as it is with a structural syllabus/PPP approach, but rather supports students in their completion of the communicative task or their making sense of a particular content area. Even if the grammar to be worked on is derivative rather than scheduled in advance, a teach must still decide how to address it.
20. INTERLANGUAGE - kind of language we speak at any moment of our linguistic development.
21. Grammar teaching: (what makes it):
o more effective:
Ø communicative activities,
Ø context embedded practice,
Ø text based exercises,
Ø cognitively demanding activity (something that makes you think),
Ø authentic materials (materials created for native speakers),
Ø interesting and motivating content,
o less effective:
Ø manipulative drills,
Ø context-free practice,
Ø sentence based exercises,
Ø cognitively undemanding activities,
Ø contrived materials (designed by the teachers for the learners),
Ø dull or neutral content.
22. The place of grammar: (in the modern classroom):
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