LAS Input Session 8: Grammar – Research, Presentation & Practice

Research Options

A

Checking the grammar reference section at the back of a coursebook.

B

Looking it up in a grammar book.

C

Googling it

Grammar- Research, Presentation & Practice: Task 1

What are the benefits and drawbacks of each option?

Compare by reference to the following criteria.

The amount of information
The clarity and simplicity of the information
Any other information included
Any examples or exercises provided
A

Checking the grammar reference section at the back of a coursebook.

A coursebook will often provide a grammar explanation at the appropriate level for the student and, similarly, will often include examples the student might be expected to understand.

B

Looking it up in a grammar book.

A grammar book might also provide suitable explanations and examples, but the explanations and examples might need to be adapted to the level of the student.

C

Googling it

Some webpages are not aimed at teachers and learners (perhaps aimed at linguists looking for much more in-depth info with technical terminology or simply just too much info).

Some websites are designed for learners (or even by learners) and are perhaps not so accurate.

Some websites might be personal blogs and we don’t know who is producing the content or how informed they are.

Presentation

Before we know how we’re going to present or analyse the language, we need to consider…

Level

Students / Group

Lesson Structure

Aims & Objectives

Context

Presentation Formats

Teachers need to decide how to present/introduce/analyse the grammar – inductive (discovery learning) or deductive (presented with rules)

PPP

(Presentation, Practice, Production)

TTT

(Test, Teach, Test)

ESA

(Engage, Study, Activate)

TBL

(Task-Based Learning)

Ideas for Ways to Introduce, Present or Analyse Grammar

  • situation

  • story

  • dialogue

  • text

  • dictogloss

  • audio

  • video

  • flashcards

  • picture

  • object

  • mime

  • gesture

  • discovery

  • puzzle

  • research

  • L1 use …

Practice

Ideas for Controlled Practice

  • sentence completion

  • picture prompt

  • information gap

  • running/shouted dictation

  • dictogloss,

  • matching

  • similarities and differences

  • error correction

  • sentence transformation

  • sentence jumble

  • quiz

  • describe and draw,

  • game

Ideas for Freer Practice

  • role-play

  • drama

  • discussion

  • debate

  • comparing

  • creative writing

  • story chain

  • mingle questions

  • interviews

  • game

Effective Practice

Effective Practice …

… is meaningful (and/or personalised)
… is communicative (requiring interaction)
… involves a degree of repetition
… is language-rich (using/producing a lot of language)
… allows creativity and risk-taking (with support)
… can push learners to the limits of their competence
… provides opportunities for feedback

-Scott Thornbury (The New A-Z of ELT)

Scott Thornbury

Laugh a Little

Delve Deeper

Grammar as a Communicative Resource

Jack C. Richards

Watch this short video by Jack C. Richards on grammar as a communicative resource.