unit 7 teaching grammar

Unit7TeachingGrammarAimsoftheunit:1.TheroleofgrammarinELT2.Grammarpresentationmethods3.Grammarpractice7.1TheroleofgrammarinELTThevalueofgrammarinforeignlanguageteachinghasbeenafocusofdebatefordecades,andnoconclusionisinsight.Theanswertowhethergrammarshouldbetaughtandtowhatextentgrammarshouldbetaughtdependsonsomevariablesinthelanguageteaching/learningcontext,suchaslearnervariablesandinstructionalvariables.ItisgenerallybelievedthatGrammarteachingislessimportantforchildrenthanforadults;Grammarteachingislessimportantinlisteningandreadingthaninwriting.Grammarteachingcanbeseeninmostformalclassroomlanguageteaching.7.2GrammarpresentationmethodsThedeductivemethodTheinductivemethodTheguideddiscoverymethodTeachinggrammarusinglisteningasinputThesynthesisapproachThedeductivemethod(p.104)Thedeductivemethodreliesonreasoning,analysingandcomparing.Presentationofanexample→explanation(comparisonmaybedonebetweenthetargetlanguageandthenativelanguage)→Ss’spractice(producingsentences)withgivenpromptsThedeductivemethodiscriticizedbecause:Grammaristaughtinanisolatedway;Littleattentionispaidtomeaning;Thepracticeisoftenmechanical.However,thedeductivemethodisnotwithoutmerits.Itcouldbeverysuccessfulwithselectedandmotivatedstudents.Itcouldsavetimewhenstudentsareconfrontedwithagrammarrulewhichiscomplexbutwhichhastobelearned.Itmayhelptoincreasestudent’confidenceinthoseexaminationswhicharewrittenwithaccuracyasthemaincriterionofsuccess.Theinductivemethod(p.105)Intheinductivemethod,theteacherinducesthelearnerstorealisegrammarruleswithoutanyformofexplicitexplanation.Itisbelievedthattheruleswillbecomeevidentifthestudentsaregivenenoughappropriateexamples.TheguideddiscoverymethodTheguideddiscoverymethodissimilartotheinductivemethodinthatthestudentsareinducedtodiscoverrulesbythemselvesbutdifferentinthattheprocessofthediscoveryiscarefullyguidedandassistedbytheteacherandtherulesarethenelicitedandtaughtexplicitly.Therearetwokeytheoreticalissuesrelatedtothismethod:theroleofexplicitknowledgeinlanguagelearningandthevalueofdiscoveryasageneralmethodoflearning(Ellis,2002a)Intheguideddiscoverymethod,studentsarepresentedwithcontextualizedscenariosillustratingaspecificstructure.Studentsarethenguidedtodiscovertheunderlyingruleofthestructureaswellasitsmeaningincontextfollowedbyexplicitteachingandlearningofthetargetedstructure.Forexample,inteachingthe“too…to…”structure,theteacherholdsapictureofaheavyboxlabeled200kgandaskstheclasstolookatthepicture.T:Whatcanyouseeinthepicture,class?Ss:Wecanseeabox,abigbox.T:Isitheavy?Ss:Yes,it’sveryheavy.Itis200kg.T:CanIcarryit?Ss:No,youcan’t.T:Youareright.Ican’tcarryit.Why?Becauseitistooheavytocarry.Havingsaidthis,theteacherwritesthewholesentenceontheblackboard.Thentheteachercontinueswithmorecontextualisedexamples.Moresentencesarewrittenontheblackboard.Withthenextfewexamples,theteachercanpausetowaitforthestudentstoproducethetargetstructureandwritethemagainontheblackboard.Afterthis,theteacherdrawsstudents’attentiontothestructureandletstudentsdiscovertherulesofthekeystructureaswellasitsmeaning.Theteacherthenhighlightsthestructurewithcoloredchalksontheblackboardfollowedbystudents’practiceofitwithsomepromptsprovided.TeachinggrammarusinglisteningasinputEllis(2002b)suggeststhefollowingproceduresforteachinggrammarusinglisteningasinput.(p.106)SynthesisapproachPennington(2002)(p.107)proposesasynthesisapproachtogrammarpedagogy.Grammarteachingshouldbe“collocational,constructive,contextualandcontrastive”,whichcanserveasusefulguidelinesforteachinggrammar.(PP.107-108)Inpractice,thedistinctionbetweenthedeductivemethodandtheinductivemethodisnotalwaysapparent.7.3GrammarpracticeAccordingtoUr,“practicemaybedefinedasanykindofengagingwiththelanguageonthepartofthelearner,usuallyundertheteachersupervision,whoseprimaryobjectiveistoconsolidatelearning”.(Ur,1988:11)(p.108)7.3.1Urpredictsthatthefollowing6factorscontributetosuccessfulpractice:Pre-learning.Learnersbenefitfromclearperceptionandshort-termmemoryofthenewlanguage.Volumeandrepetition.Themoreexposuretoorproductionoflanguagethelearnershave,themorelikelytheyaretolearn.Success-orientation.Practiceismosteffectivewhenbasedonsuccessfulpractice.Heterogeneity.Practiceshouldbeabletoelicitdifferentsentencesandgeneratedifferentlevelsofanswersfromdifferentlearners.Teacherassistance.Theteachershouldprovidesuggestions,hintsandprompts.Interest:anessentialfeaturethatiscloselyrelatedtoconcentration7.3.2Twocategoriesofpractice:MechanicalpracticeandmeaningfulpracticeMechanicalpracticeMechanicalpracticeinvolvesactivitiesthatareaimedatformaccuracy.e.g.Substitutiondrills:Transformationdrills:Substitutetheunderlinedpartwiththeproperformsofthegivenwords:greenlawncleanhouseprettygardenniceflowersMrsGreenhasthelargesthouseintown.Changethefollowingsentencesintothepasttense.Usetheadverbsgiveninthebrackets.NowhelivesinLondon.(lastyear,Paris)WehaveEnglishandmathstoday.(yesterday,musicandP.E.)Heusuallygetsupatseven.(thismorning,eight)QuestionsfordiscussionWhatisthepurposeofmechanical