1. Grammar Presentation & Practice
Dr Desmond Thomas,
University of Essex

2. Issues to consider in teaching grammar (based on 1000s of written articles/books)
Presentation (1st time) vs ‘re-presentation’
Presentation vs practice
Types of presentation
Types of practice
How much grammar to include/exclude
How to simplify complex grammar items
Grammar in isolation vs grammar in context
Teaching grammar vs testing grammar

3. Presenting ‘new’ grammar items
THE FORM: what part of speech/regular or irregular/spelling/pronunciation/word order
THE MEANING: “the exact meaning you are concentrating on” (Gower et al. 2005)
THE USE: in what contexts/by which people/ on what occasions
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: different from L1, many variants etc.

4. 3 basic approaches DEDUCTIVE INDUCTIVE
A mix of Deductive and Inductive
Which teaching methods are associated?
Is one approach better than another?
It depends on …………… ?
Advantages and disadvantages of each?

5. Contextualizing grammar presentation
Pictures or video (eliciting or oral presenting)
Mime or drama (eliciting)
Texts (oral or written)
Short dialogues (oral or written)
The grammar is presented in context: students learn inductively and work out the rules
IS THIS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA?

6. Teaching the rules Recommended when:
The meaning of the item is easy to understand but the structure is complex. Example: comparatives and superlatives (Gower 2005)
The students have reached a level when they can talk about language in this way
Learners prefer it
A GOOD or a BAD IDEA?

7. Troubleshooting Students don’t understand the form SOLUTIONS ?
Students don’t understand the meaning
SOLUTIONS?
Students don’t understand use (cf K. essay)
Students understand but motivation is low

8. Some words of advice The aim of each presentation must be clear
Instructions must be clear (In English? In L1?)
The amount of new language must right
The context must be meaningful
Materials must be user-friendly/stimulating
The whiteboard, visuals and miming can help
The classroom atmosphere and the teacher's management should encourage participation

9. Indicated Reading (books)
Gower, R. et al. 2005, Teaching Practice: a Handbook for Teachers in Training, Macmillan
Hall, N. & Shepheard, J. 1991, The Anti-grammar Grammar Book, Longman
Rinvolucri, M. 1984, Grammar Games, CUP
Seymour, D. & Popova, M. 2003, 700 Classroom Activities, Macmillan
Ur, P. 1993, Grammar Practice Activities, CUP
Ur, P. 1996, A Course in Grammar Teaching, CUP

10. Indicated Reading (articles)
Ellis, R. 2002, ‘Grammar Teaching – Practice or Consciousness-Raising’. In Richards, J. (ed.), Methodology in Language Teaching, C.U. P.
Nitta, R. & Gardner, S., 2005, ‘Consciousness-raising and practice in ELT coursebooks’, ELT Journal 59/1
Nunan, D. 1998, ‘Teaching Grammar in Context’, ELT Journal 52/2
Swan, M. 2002, ‘Seven Bad Reasons for Teaching Grammar’. In Richards, J. & Renandya, W. (eds.) , Methodology in Language Teaching, C.U.P.

11. Grammar practice: what is it?
The learner manipulates and tries out the new language by producing different examples
The teacher begins by exercising a lot of control which is gradually relaxed
Learning is consolidated by committing new material to the learner's long-term memory(Penny Ur 1993)
“By and large these assumptions go unchallenged and have become part of the mythology of language teaching” (Ellis 2005)

12. What is ‘Consciousness-raising’?
In CR there is an attempt to isolate grammar
Learners are supplied with data which illustrates the grammar and maybe a rule
Learners use intellectual effort to understand the target language
The main aim is “to develop explicit knowledge of grammar” but not ‘metalingual knowledge’. (Ellis 2005).

13. Principle 1: Volume & Opportunities
“The more language learners are exposed to or produce, the more they are likely to learn: this means devoting plenty of time to practice sessions and exploiting that time effectively" (Penny Ur)
Priorities in language learning (or any skill learning): Practice, practice, practice.

14. Principle 2: Drills & Repetition
Important to get learners to perceive or practise examples over and over again, whether by drilling with the whole group, individuals repeating etc.
Repetition for pronunciation is important at this stage let learners get used to the sounds as well

15. Principle 3: Dealing with Errors
This is the stage to monitor for errors and to intervene where necessary and correct.
It is also important to allow learners extra practice after they have perceived the errors
Awareness of a structure does not mean that its form, meaning and use have been learnt

16. Principle 4: Supporting Learners
Teachers do not only correct; they also support, assist and encourage by giving extra time to think, paraphrasing or simplifying, suggesting hints, giving prompts
They also motivate. Practice shouldn't be purely mechanical. Grammar activities needn't be boring, they can be challenging. Examples?

17. Principle 5: Teacher Control
Very controlled practice
Controlled practice
Guided practice
Communicative practice

18. Very controlled & controlled activities
Likes & dislikes: “Do you like fish?” “Yes, I do”, “No, I don’t” “I love/hate fish” “Does he ….?”
Sentence building: each student becomes a word in a sentence
Sentence jigsaws: students manipulate the language of a dialogue in groups
Grammar + intonation: “He came yesterday, didn’t he?”, “She will do the shopping, …….”

19. Guided activities (Seymour & Popova)
Dictation (p.67)
Dictation of sentence endings (p.79)
‘Arriving late’ pairwork (p.91)
‘So’ and ‘such’ (p.114)
Guided or semi-controlled activities provide a clear framework for practice with some room for creativity

20. Communicative practice (Seymour & Popova)
Fishy stories (p.88)
Newspaper headlines for past continuous + past simple (p.89)
Values board game (Keep Talking, F.Klippel)
Freer activities that focus on communicative aims rather than specific language items.