LAS Input Session 5: Working with Grammar
“Grammar isn’t about rules- grammar is about meaning. Help students compare and contrast and feel the differences in meaning, not just in form. There’s no point in being able to form a tense if you don’t really know what it means.”
“There is strong evidence from educational research that learners are more likely to learn what we are teaching if we make our intentions clear at the start of the lesson.”
Preparing to Teach Grammar
Before you can go into class and teach a grammar point there are several things you need to do:
Research Your Grammar
Plan Your Lesson
Prepare Your Material
Providing Context for Grammar
Working with Grammar: Task 1
Look at the three following reading tasks. Which would you give and why?
- Read the text and underline any comparative adjectives you find.
- Read the text and find five differences between London and Paris.
- Read the text and decide which of the two cities you would like to live in and why.
Suggestions for Providing Context
Using audio or video
Using the classroom as a context
Telling a story
Using images
Analysing Grammar
Ways of Analysing Grammar
Discovery learning worksheet
Word order flashcards
L1 use
Matching activities
Practising Grammar
Skill learning theory indicates that two stages to practice are necessary:
Controlled practice and Freer practice (production)
Controlled Practice of Grammar
- Gap-fill activity
- Error correction activity
- Sentence transformation activities
- Spoken transformation drills
- Controlled writing activities
- Matching activities
- Sentence jumbles
Freer Practice of Grammar
- Role-plays
- Information gap activities
- Discussions and debates
- Creative writing
- Mingle questions
