Teaching English Grammar 
1.2.4 Situational approach
Pupils learn a grammar item
used in situations. For example, the Possessive Case may be effectively
introduced in classroom situations. The teacher takes or simply touches various
things and says This is Nina’s pen; That is Sasha’s exercise-book, and so on.
Rule for the teacher:
The teacher should select the
situations for the particular grammar item he is going to present. He should
look through the textbook and other teaching materials and find those
situations which can ensure comprehension and the usage of the item.
1.2.5 Different approach
Grammar items pupils need for
conversation are taught by the oral approach, i.e., pupils aud them, perform
various oral exercises, finally see them printed, and write sentences using
them.
For example, pupils need the
Present Progressive for conversation. They listen to sentences with the verbs
in the Present Progressive spoken by the teacher or the speaker (when a tape
recorder is used) and relate them to the situations suggested. Then pupils use
the verbs in the Present Progressive in various oral sentences in which the
Present Progressive is used. Grammar items necessary for reading are taught
through reading.
Rule for the teachers:
If the grammar item the
teacher is going to present belongs to those pupils need for conversation, he
should select the oral approach method for teaching.
If pupils need the grammar
item for reading, the teacher should start with reading and writing sentences
in which the grammar item occurs.
While preparing for the
lesson at which a new grammar item should be introduced, the teacher must
realize the difficulties pupils will meet in assimilating this new element of
the English grammar. They may be of three kinds: difficulties in form, meaning,
and usage. The teacher thinks of the ways to overcome these difficulties: how
to convey the meaning of the grammar item either through situations or with the
help of the mother tongue; what rule should be used; what exercises should be
done; their types and number. Then he thinks of the sequence in which pupils
should work to overcome these difficulties, i.e., , from observation and
comprehension through conscious imitation to usage in conversation
(communicative exercises). Then the teacher considers the form in which he
presents the grammar item – orally, in writing, or in reading. And, finally,
the teacher plans pupils’ activity while they are learning this grammar item
(point): their individual work, mass work, work in unison, and work in pairs,
always bearing in mind that for assimilation pupils need examples of the
sentence pattern in which this grammar item occurs.
PART 3 FURTHER POINTS FOR
CONCIDERATION
1.1 Introduction of new
Material
1.1.1 Introducing new
language structure
We will consider ways in
which children can be introduced to new language structure.
When we
present grammar through structural patterns we tend to give students tidy
pieces of language to work with We introduce grammar, which can easily be
explained and presented. There are many different ways of doing this, which do
not (only) involve the transmission of grammar rules.
It is
certainly possible to teach aspects of grammar - indeed that is what language
teachers have been doing for centuries - but language is a difficult business
and it is often used very inventively by its speakers, In other words real
language use is often very untidy and cannot be automatically reduced to simple
grammar patterns. Students need to be aware of this, just as they need to be aware of all
language possibilities. Such awareness does not mean that they have to be
taught each variation and linguistic twist, however. It just means that they
have to be aware of language and how it is used. That is why reading and
listening are so important, and that is why discovery activities are so
valuable since by asking students to discover ways in which language is used we
help to raise their awareness about the creative use of grammar - amongst other
things.
As
teachers we should be prepared to use a variety of techniques to help our
students learn and acquire grammar. Sometimes this involves teaching grammar
rules; sometimes it means allowing students to discover the rules for
themselves.
What do we introduce? Our job at this stage of the lesson
is to present the pupils with clear information about the language they are
learning. We
must also show them what the language means and how it is used; we must also
show them what the grammatical form of the new language is, and how it is said
and/or written.
What we are suggesting
here is that students need to get an idea of how his new language is used by
native speakers and the best way of doing this is to present language in context.
The context for
introducing new language should have a number of characteristics.It should show
what the new language means and how it is used, for example. That is why many
useful contexts have the new language being used in a written text or
dialogue.
A good context should be
interesting for the children. This doesn't mean that all the subject matter we
use for presentation should be wildly funny or inventive all of the time. But
the pupils should at least want to see or hear the information.
Lastly, a good context
will provide the background for a lot of language use so that students can use
the information not only for the repetition of model sentences but also for
making their own sentences.
Often the textbook will
have all the characteristics mentioned here and the teacher can confidently
rely on the material for the presentation. But the textbook is not always so
appropriate: for a number of reasons the information in the book may not be
right for our students in such cases we will want to create our own contexts
for language use.
1.1.2 Types of context
Context means the situation or body of
information, which causes language to be used. There are a number of different
context types, but for our purposes we will concentrate on three, the
students' world, the outside world and formulated information.
The students' world can
be a major source of contexts for language presentation. There are two kinds of
students' world. Clearly we can use the physical surroundings that the
students are in - the classroom, school or institution. But classrooms and
their physical properties (tables, chairs, windows, etc.) are limited. The students'
lives are not constrained in the same way, however, and we can use facts
about them, their families, friends and experiences.
The outside world
provides us with rich contexts for presentation For example, there is an almost
infinite number of stories we can use to present different lenses. We
can also create situations where people speak because they are in those situations,
or where the writer describes some special information. This is especially
useful for the practice of functional language, for example.
We can ask students to
look at examples of language which show the new language in operation,
though this last category can sometimes have no context. These three
sub-categories, story, situation or language, can be simulated or real.
Most teachers are familiar with 'made-up' stones which arc often useful for
classwork: real stories work well too, of course. In the same way we can create
the simulation of an invitation dialogue, for example. But here again we could
also show students a real invitation dialogue. In general we can say that real
contexts are better simply because they are real, but they may have complexities
of language and comprehensibility which can be avoided by simulated contexts -
life-like but clearly mode-up to some extent.
Formulated information refers to all that information which
is presented in the form of timetables, notes, charts etc. Once again we can
use real charts and timetables, growth statistics, etc. or we can design our
own which will be just right for our students.
1.1.3 The presentation
of structural form
One of the teacher's jobs
is to show how the new language is formed - how the grammar works and how it is
put together. One way of doing this is to explain the grammar in detail,
using grammatical terminology and giving a mini-lecture on the subject. This seems
problematical, though, for two reasons; firstly many pupils may find
grammatical concepts difficult, secondly- such explanations for beginners will
be almost impossible.
A more effective - and
less frightening - way of presenting form is to let the students see and/or
hear the new language, drawing their attention in a number of different ways to
the grammatical elements of which it is made. For whilst advanced students may
profit from grammatical explanations to a certain extent, at lower levels we must
usually find simpler and more transparent ways of giving students grammatical
information.
1.1.4 A general model
for introducing new language
The model has five
components: lead-in, elicitation, explanation, accurate reproduction,
and immediate creativity.
During the lead-in
the context is introduced and the meaning or use of the new language is
demonstrated. This is the stage at which students may hear or see some language
(including the new language) and during which students may become aware of certain
key concepts. The key concepts are those pieces of information about the
context that are vital if students are to understand the context and thus the
meaning and use of the new language.
During the lead-in stage,
then, we introduce our context (making sure that key concepts are understood)
and show the new language in use.
During the elicitation
stage the teacher tries to see if the students can produce the new language. If
they can it would clearly be wasteful and de-motivating for them if a lot of time
was spent practicing the language that they already know. At the elicitation
stage - depending on how well (and if) the students can produce the new
language - the teacher can decide which of the stages to go to next. If the
students can't produce the new language at all, for example, we will move to
the explanation stage. If they can, hut with minor mistakes, we may move to the
accurate reproduction stage to clear up those problems. If they know the new
language but need a bit more controlled practice in producing it we may move
directly to the immediate creativity stage Elicitation is vitally important for
it gives the teacher information upon which to act: it is also motivating for
the students and actively involves their learning abilities.
During the explanation
stage the teacher shows how the new language is formed. It is here that we may
give a listening drill or explain something in the students' own language; we
may demonstrate grammatical form on the blackboard. In other words, this is
where the students learn how the new language is constructed.
During the accurate
reproduction stage students are asked to repeat and practise a certain
number of models. The emphasis here will be on the accuracy of what the
students say rather than meaning or use. Here the teacher makes sure that the
students can form the new language correctly, getting the grammar right and
perfecting their pronunciation as far as is necessary.
1.2 Teaching grammar
patterns
We’ll examine
"Teaching Grammatical Patterns" by Robert Lado (Chapter 10 "From
Sentences to Patterns")
Robert Lado thinks that
even children who have never studied the rules grammar make use of the grammar
of the language. This is seen in the mistakes they make. When a child says, He
goed, he is forming a "regular" preterite on the pattern: showed,
weighed, served: "goed." His error reveals the fact that he has
been applying the pattern even though he is not able to describe it.
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Patterns and
Sentences
A grammatical pattern is
an arrangement of parts having linguistic significance beyond the sum of its
parts. The parts of a pattern are expressed by words or classes of words so
that different sentences often express the same pattern. All the sentences of a
language are cast in its patterns.
John telephoned, The
boy studied.
We understood different
sentences are expressing the same statement pattern in English.
A pattern is not a
sentence, however. Sentences express patterns. Each sentence illustrates a
pattern. To memorize a sentence does not imply that a pattern has been
memorized. There can be countless sentences, each unique, yet all constructed
on the same pattern.
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Patterns and
Grammar
Children learn the
grammatical patterns of their language before they study grammar in school.
When a child says goed instead of went or knowed instead
of knew, he is applying the regular preterite pattern on the analogy,
open: opened = go:
goed
Patterns are learned in
childhood. Adults no longer have to learn new patterns; they learn new words
that are used in old patterns. That the old patterns are alive is shown by
putting unknown words and phrases into them.
And what is the role of
the native language in learning the patterns of a foreign language?
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Native Language Factor
The most important factor
determining ease and difficulty in learning the patterns of a foreign language
is their similarity to or difference from the patterns of the native language.
When the pattern in the target language is parallel to one in the native
language, the student merely learns new words which he puts into what amounts
to an extended use of his native pattern. Since his word learning capacity is
not lost, he makes rapid progress. When, however, the native language pattern
does not parallel that of the target language, the student tends to revert to
his native language patterns through habit.
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Grading the
Patterns
There is no single
grading scale for teaching the patterns of a foreign language. Any systematic
cumulative progression, taking into account the structures that are difficult,
would be satisfactory from a linguistic point of view.
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Pattern-practice
Approach The
mimicry-memorization exercise tends to give the same amounts of practice to
easy as well as difficult problems. It also concentrates unduly on the
memorization of specific sentences, and not enough on the manipulation of the
patterns of sentences in a variety of content situations. For those patterns
that are functionally parallel to the native language, very little work needs
to be done, and very little or no explanation is necessary. On the other hand,
for those patterns that are not parallel in the two languages, more specific
understanding of the grammatical structure points at issue is needed while the
sentences are learned and not before or after. And more practice with the
pattern is necessary before it is learned, that is, used without attention to
its structure.
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Basic sentences
The memorization of sample sentences
that contain the grammatical problems to he mastered is common to both pattern
practice and mimicry-memorization. For this practice there is ample
justification in linguistics and in psychology. The utterances have to become
readily available if the student is to use them in the rapid sequence of
conversation.
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Teaching the
patterns
A sentence can be learned
as a single unstructured unit like a word, but this is only the beginning. The
student must acquire the habit of constructing sentences in the patterns of
the target language. For this he must be able to put words almost automatically
into a pattern without changing it, or to change it by making the necessary
adjustments.
Teaching a problem
pattern begins with teaching the specific structure points where a formal
change in the pattern is crucial and where the student is not able to
manipulate the required changes. The steps in teaching problem patterns are (1)
attention pointer, usually a single sentence calling the students'
attention to the point at issue; (2) examples, usually minimally
contrastive examples showing a pair of sentences that differ only on the point
or points being made; (3) repetition by the class and presentation of additional
examples of the same contrast; (4) comments or generalization
elicited inductively from the students and confirmed by the teacher; (5) practice,
with attention on the problem being taught.
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