GOOD LUCK?
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
The time and energy spent in working out rules may mislead students into
believing that rules are the objective of language learning, rather than a means.
The time taken to work out a rule may be at the expense of time spent in putting
the rule to some sort of productive practice.
Students may hypothesise the wrong rule, or their version of the rule may be
either too broad or too narrow in its application.
However carefully organised the data is, many language areas such as aspect and
modality resist easy rule formulation.
Grammar is best
taught and
practised in
context.
Language can be
presented in one context
(e.g. a dialogue) but then
the context may change
for accurate reproduction
(i.e. practice) or
CONTEXT 1 CONTEXT 2 CONTEXT 3 immediate creativity (i.e.
PRESENTATION PRODUCTION
production).
PRACTICE
Changing contexts and the PPP model: Overusing a context
3. RECONTEXTUALISATION:
PRACTICE & PRODUCTION
1. CONTEXTUALISATION:
TEXT PRESENTATION
2. DECONTEXTUALISATION:
ISOLATION & EXPLANATION
3. RECONTEXTUALISATION:
PRACTICE & PRODUCTION
2. DECONTEXTUALISATION:
ISOLATION & EXPLANATION
3. RECONTEXTUALISATION:
PRACTICE & PRODUCTION
1. CONTEXTUALISATION:
TEXT PRESENTATION
PRACTISING GRAMMAR
PRESENTATION
PRACTICE
PRODUCTION
BALANCING PRESENTATION AND PRACTICE
Which of these two lesson structures seems likely to be more useful to the
learners?
structured
activities promoting autonomous
interaction
noticing, self- (pseudo-
interaction (translating
discovery, memory communicative personal meanings into
practice) language)
from language
to
communication
from
communication
to language
Language teaching: Two broad approaches
achieving
fluency
accuracy
THE PPP MODEL
accuracy fluency
controlled free
CLARIFICATION
RESTRICTED OUTPUT
AUTHENTIC OUTPUT
The ARC Model (Authentic-Restricted-Clarification): Planning
effective lessons
Most lessons involving work on grammar are built from three basic
components:
Step 1: Students are put into 4 groups and discuss what we celebrate in Slovenia
throughout the year. They list all the holidays they can think of. The board layout is as follows:
Step 2: Feedback. One student from each group comes to the board and puts the
holidays under their heading. The teacher corrects sparingly (focus on fluency).
31 Oct
27 April 15 August Reformation Day
1 & 2 Jan Resistance Day Assumption Day
New Year 1 Nov All Saints
Spring Easter 17 August Day
8 Feb Day of Sunday & Monday Prekmurje Union
Slovene Day 25 Dec Christmas
Culture, etc. May Labour Day
15 Sep Littoral 26 Dec
25 June Independence Day
Union Day
Statehood Day
Celebration Year in Slovenia
FESTIVAL
How /
celebrated? When /
celebrated?
Step 4: Feedback.
Students from each group
publicly present their festival (a
mini talk / report).
Integrating grammar into a skills-based lesson
Task
From the following skeleton lesson outline
(i.e. chronological list of activities that
appeared in a lesson), try to deduce the
teaching models used.
Integrating grammar into a skills-based lesson
The teaching model(s) used
1. What do people collect? - Brainstorming (whole class;
ideas put on board mind map).
2. Why do people collect things? What do you collect?
How/Where do they get those objects?
pre-
3. Picture on p. 104. What does the lady collect? What
do these objects have in common? (royal
memorabilia) while-
4. Are you interested in the Royal Family? Listening T
75a. [10 while-listening comprehension questions
on a handout]
5. Eliciting / explaining some new vocabulary
6. Listening T 75a once more.
post-
7. Checking the answers.
8. Study the answer No. 5 on the answer sheet
(compound nouns).
9. T underlines compound nouns in the mind map on
board.
10. OHP transparency: explained that compound nouns
are written in 3 different ways; an exercise: two lists
of nouns, Ss combine them (e.g. pocket money)
11. Ss do exercise in textbook (p. 103).
12. Setting homework.
How NOT to teach grammar