Teaching by Principles: Chapter 20
Form-Focused Instruction
The Place of Grammar
-Grammar is the system of rules
governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of words in a sentence.
-“Words”
are “morphemes” such as prefixes, suffixes, roots, verb and noun endings, etc.
-Technically,
grammar refers to sentence-level rules only, and not to rules governing the
relationship among sentences, which we refer to as discourse rules.
-Grammatical
competence occupies a prominent position as a major component of communicative
competence. (PLLT, P.249)
-Organizational competence is an
intricate, complex array of rules, some of which govern the sentence (grammar),
while others govern how we string sentences together (discourse).
-Grammar
gives us the form or the structure of language, but those are literally
meaningless without a second dimension, that of semantics (meaning), and a third dimension, pragmatics.
-Grammar
tells us how to construct a sentence (word order, verb and noun systems,
modifiers, phrases, clauses, etc.) and discourse rules tell us how to string
those sentences together.
-Semantics
tells us something about meaning(s) of words and strings of words.
-Pragmatics
tells us about which of several meanings to assign given the context of an
utterance or written text.
˙who the speaker/writer
is,
˙who the audience is,
˙where the
communication takes place,
˙what the communication
takes place before and after a sentence in question,
˙implied vs. literal
meanings,
˙styles and registers
˙the alternative forms
among which a producer can choose.
To Teach or Not to Teach Grammar
-Judicious
attention to grammatical form in the adult classroom is not only helpful, if
appropriate techniques are used, but essential to a speedy learning process.
-Appropriate
grammar-focusing techniques
˙are embedded in
meaningful, communicative contexts,
˙contribute positively
to communicative goals,
˙promote accuracy
within fluent, communicative language,
˙do not overwhelm
students with linguistic terminology,
˙are as lively and
intrinsically motivating as possible.
-For
adults, the question is not so much whether to teach grammar, but rather, what
the optimal conditions for overt teaching of grammar are.
1.
Age
-Young
children can profit from a focus on form if attention to form is offered
through structured input and incidental, indirect error treatment.
-Somewhat
older children may benefit as well from very simple generalizations and
concrete illustrations.
-Adults,
with their abstract intellectual capabilities, can use grammatical pointers to
advance their communicative abilities.
2.
Proficiency level
-Not
too much grammar focus on beginning level learners.
-At
the advanced level, grammar is not necessarily “more important”; it depends on
the accuracy already achieved by learners.
3.
Educational background
-Highly
educated students care cognitively more receptive to grammar focus and may
insist on error correction to help refine their already fluent skills.
4.
Language skills
-Grammar
focus may be more effective in improving written English than speaking,
reading, and writing.
5.
Style (register)
-Informal
contexts often make fewer demands on a learner’s grammatical accuracy.
6.
Needs and goals
-If
learners are headed toward professional goals, they may need to stress formal
accuracy more than learners at the survival level.
Issues about how to Teach Grammar
1.
Should grammar be presented inductively
or deductively?
-In
most contexts, an inductive approach is more appropriate because
˙it is more in keeping with
natural language acquisition
˙it conforms more easily to the
concept of interlanguage development in which learners progress , on variable
timetables, through stages of rule acquisition.
˙it allows students to get a
communicative “feel” for some aspect of language before possibly being
overwhelmed by grammatical explanations.
˙it builds more intrinsic
motivation by allowing students to discover rules rather than being told them.
2.
Should we use grammatical explanations
and technical terminology in a CLT classroom?
-In
CLT classes, the use of grammatical explanation and terminology must be
approached with care.
-Adults
can benefit from occasional explanations.
˙Brief and simple explanations.
Use of mother tongue if necessary.
˙Charts and visual aids.
˙Clear, unambiguous examples.
˙Try to account for varying
cognitive styles among students.
˙Do not get yourself (and
students!) tied up in knots over so-called “exceptions” to rules.
˙Do not risk giving false information
when you don’t know how to explain something.
3.
Should grammar be taught in separate “grammar
only” classes?
-It
is advisable to embed grammatical techniques into general language courses,
rather than to signal grammar out as a discrete “skill” and treating it in a
separate course.
-In
certain conditions, the grammar instruction can provide a useful function,
especially for high intermediate to advanced learners, where a modicum of
fluency is already in place. (situations, p.367)
4.
Should teachers correct grammatical errors?
-Little
research evidence shows that overt grammatical correction by teachers in the
classroom is of any consequences in improving learners’ language.
-Various
other forms of attention to and treatment of grammatical errors have an impact
on learners.
-It
is prudent for teachers to engage in such treatment, as long as they adhere to
principles of maintaining communicative flow, of maximizing student
self-correction, and of sensitively considering the affective and linguistic
place the learner is in.
-In
process writing approaches, overt attention to local grammatical and rhetorical (discourse) errors is normally
delayed until learners have completed one or two drafts of a paper.
-Global errors that impede meaning must
of course be attended to earlier in the process.
Grammar Techniques
1. Charts
2. Objects
3. Maps and Drawings
4. Dialogues
5. Written Texts
Grammar Sequencing in Textbooks
and Curricula
-In
recent years, grammar is seen as one of several organizational aspects of
communicative competence, all of which should be considered in programming a
textbook or a curriculum.
-Optimal
sequence of grammatical structures
˙grammatical categories are one of
several considerations in curricular sequencing.
˙a curriculum usually manifests a
logical sequence of basic grammatical structures, but such a sequence may be
more a factor of frequency and usefulness than of clearly identified degrees of
linguistics difficulty.
˙beyond those basic structures, a
few permutations here and there will make little difference in the eventual
success of students, as long as language is being learned in the context of a communicative
curriculum.
-Learners’
success in a course seems to be more a factor of (a) clear, unambiguous
presentation of material and (b) opportunity for meaningful, interactive
practice, rather than a factor of a grammar point presented a week earlier or later.
A “Word” about Vocabulary
Teaching
-Ranging
from very explicit focus, such as that found in Lexical Approach, to more
indirect approaches in which vocabulary is incorporated into communicative
tasks, attention to lexical forms is now more central to the development of
language curricula.
-Rather
than viewing vocabulary items as a long and boring list of words to be defined
and memorized, lexical forms are seen in their central role in contextualized,
meaningful language.
1. Allocate specific class time
to vocabulary learning.
-If
we’re interested in being communicative, words are among the first priorities.
2. Help students to learn
vocabulary in context.
-The
best internalization of vocabulary comes from encounters (comprehension or
production) with words within the context of surrounding discourse.
3. Play down the role of
bilingual dictionaries.
4. Encourage students to develop
strategies for determining the meaning of words.
-A
number of “clues” are available to learners to develop “word attack”
strategies.
5. Engage in “unplanned”
vocabulary teaching.
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