Teaching grammar to young learners Nelly Zafeiriadou ELT School Advisor, Thrace

What is grammar?’ is the kind of question that seems easy to answer until somebody asks it. Michael Swan

What is grammar? A-a system of rules and tools B -a process that lets you communicate with other people C -an important professional skill for teachers

Grammar is emotion… Grammar is very, very important for the children.  Grammar is such a waste of time, let’s get rid of it. 

What is grammar for? Ato learn about the system of English Bto communicate in English C to give me status as a teacher / to tell my students how English works

With the rise of communicative methodology in the late 1970s, the role of grammar instruction in second language leaning was downplayed, and it was even suggested that teaching grammar was not only unhelpful but might actually be detrimental. However, recent research has demonstrated the need for formal instruction for learners to attain high levels of accuracy.

Is there any grammar in this? ACoffee? BPlease. AMilk? Sugar? BNo milk. One sugar. Thanks. AToast? BNo thanks. AJuice? BMmm. Scott Thornbury, 2001 Would you like some coffee? BYes, I would like some of that coffee, please. ADo you take milk? BI don’t take milk. But I will take one sugar, please. Thanks. AWould you like some of this toast? BI’d prefer not to have any of that toast, thanks. (…)

Grammatical complexity Do you think you could open the door? Open the door. Would you mind opening the door? I wonder if you would be so kind as to open the door? Can you open the door? The door! I wonder if you would be so kind as to open the door? Would you mind opening the door? Do you think you could open the door? Can you open the door? Open the door. The door!

Is grammar less important for children than it is for adults? Is grammar only important for speaking and writing? Is grammar a thing or is it something that happens? Scott Thornbury So …

Form and function: process and product practice – strategy - skill

Krashen’s viewpoint to abandon grammar teaching … teaching grammar results in “learned” knowledge, only available for monitoring utterances that learners produce using their “acquired” knowledge (limited value) … teachers should concentrate on providing lots of comprehensible input so that learners can acquire a second language naturally like children acquiring their mother language.

Ellis ’ viewpoint To adapt grammar instruction to learners … students are often convinced that “learning” grammar is of value to them and, therefore, expect the teachers to teach grammar … Krashen’s claim that learners “acquire” grammar naturally is not entirely correct for second or foreign language learners. … we should find a way of teaching grammar that is compatible with how learners learn grammar.

Some research shows… Learners do not seem to master the grammar of a second language even when they get plenty of comprehensible input. Studies of learners in immersion classroom have shown that even after ample exposure to the target language learners continue to make a lot of grammatical errors.

With young learners… Tom Scovel We must prioritize and not attempt to teach all of the grammar E.g. past perfect tense infrequent in speaking or writing or science writing (except fiction) What is easy to hear, and easy to see, is easy to remember, is easy to learn. Listen for grammar

Aims of grammar with young learners strengthen grammatical accuracy in a fun and purposeful way teach learners to express themselves as clearly as possible with confidence increase grammar awareness among young learners meet learning styles wherever possible (Gordon Lewis, Hans Mol, 2009)

Ideally… we should find a way of teaching grammar that is compatible with how learners learn grammar.

Grammar presentation methods  The deductive method  The inductive method  The guided discovery method

The deductive method Reasoning Analysing Comparing

How is it done? The teacher… Draws attention to an example on the board or in the textbook. Explains the underlying rules regarding the forms and positions of certain structural words explanations often in student’s native language using grammatical terms. comparisons can be made between the native language and the target language or between the newly presented structure and previously learned structures. The students… Practise applying the rule to produce sentences with given prompts

Pros and cons of the deductive method It often teaches grammar in an isolated way Little attention is paid to meaning Practice is often mechanical It can save time if the students have the reasoning ability It can be useful if the aim is exam preparation It can make students have a sense of achievement

The inductive method  Observing  Reasoning  Learning

How does it work? The teacher … provides learners with authentic language in meaningful context … ensures learners can realise what the rules are without explicit explanation … believes that the rules will become evident if the students are given enough appropriate examples The students … study examples of language in use and draw their own conclusions about what is happening

The guided discovery method Observing Reasoning Analysing

How does it work? The students … are stimulated to discover rules by themselves The teacher … carefully guides the process of discovery and assists … elicits the rules … teaches the rules explicitly

How do you teach grammar? Work in groups of four. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the three methods of teaching grammar

Meaningful input – meaningful practise Requirements Pre-learning (noticed + short term memory) Volume and repetition Success orientation Heterogeneity Teacher assistance Interest

Grammar practice Mechanical practice Meaningful practice

Mechanical practice Substitution drills __________________ Substitute the underlined part with the proper forms of the given words green lawn/clean house/pretty garden/nice flowers Mrs. Green has the largest house in town.

Mechanical practice Transformation drills Change the following sentences into the past tense. Use the adverbs given in the brackets.: Now he lives in London. (last year, Paris) We have English and math today. ( yesterday, music and P.E.) He usually gets up at seven. ( this morning, eight)

Meaningful practice Using prompts for practice Using pictures prompts Using gesture prompts Using information sheets prompts Using key phrases or word prompts Using chained phrases for story telling Using created situations

Meaningful practice

Task types Input tasks: seeing or hearing examples Noticing tasks: focusing Awareness tasks: analysing examples or looking for differences Check-up tasks: questions or mini-tasks Game tasks: playing with grammar Experimentation tasks: trying it out Listening or reading to comprehend Listen or reading to notice Understanding Checking Trying Rod Ellis, 2002

Input tasks

Input task Practise, Noticing, Volume Repetition, Success, Heterogeneity, Interest

Noticing tasks: frequency, with variation

Awareness task A song A worksheet A video clip

Check-up tasks

Game tasks

Experimentation tasks

Practise Noticing Repetition Input Success Heterogenei ty Assistance Interest

Conclusion… The understanding of how to teach grammar is just as controversial as what people feel about the value of grammar in language teaching. We believe that teaching grammar is necessary for foreign language learners and the three ways of teaching we introduced all have their merits and drawbacks. The best way is to vary methods according to our specific teaching objectives, teaching contents, students’ ages and needs, and our teaching and learning context

With young learners… We shouldn't lose sight of the one thing children do best: have fun.

Think about: 1. Our students may not understand the rules only by organizing them doing activities. What can we do? 2. My class is large, about 30pupils. How can I know each students' learning >style and how can I organize activities? 3. We don't have enough time in class. If doing the activities, we can never finish >our textbook. What can we do? 4. If I organize too many activities, they will be very noisy. How can I control >them? 5. Where can I find grammar activities appropriate for their age?