EL 9 - COMPLETE NOTES

MODULE 1. Grammar

 Language is a way for us to share our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and experiences with each other.
 Grammar is seen as the machine that puts that vehicle in motion.
 Language theory, or grammar, is the investigation of how words and phrases fit together to form whole
sentences.

 Grammar is the study of the structure of a language and how linguistic components such as words and
phrases are joined to form sentences.
 It examines the meanings and roles of sentences within the language's overall structure.
 Grammar, as a fundamental component of language and an essential component of linguistic
competence, plays a critical role in shaping learners' language abilities and communicative competence.

WHY IS TEACHING GRAMMAR IMPORTANT?

 Grammar is the foundation of the English language.

 It has a significant and practical impact on all four language learning abilities is slowly being
acknowledged.
 Improved verbal capabilities allow for a strong degree of grammatical consistency.
 Communicative skill includes the understanding and implementation of grammar and the usage of
sufficient language terminology to express concepts in a socially acceptable manner.

FOUR TYPES OF GRAMMAR

1. Prescriptive
A prescriptive grammar is a set of rules based on how people think language should be used, distinguishing
between right and wrong language use. It's also known as normative grammar or prescriptivism. Prescriptive
grammarians dictate how people should write or speak, much like a doctor prescribes medication, giving
directions on how language should be used.

2. Descriptive
Descriptive grammar outlines how language is actually used, without judgments of right or wrong. It analyzes
the principles and patterns behind language use. Descriptive grammarists focus on language as it is spoken or
written, rather than enforcing rules on how it should be used, as seen in linguistics.

3. Functional
Functional grammar, based on systemic linguistics, emphasizes how language operates in various social
contexts. It looks at how words function together to create meaning and structures texts beyond sentence
level. Functional grammar is "natural" because everything in it is explained by how language is used in real-life
contexts, as noted by Halliday (1994).

4. Pedagogic
Pedagogical grammar refers to the grammar content taught to language learners, focusing on improving
fluency and accuracy rather than providing a theoretical understanding. It's intended for teaching and learning,
helping learners improve academic writing accuracy.
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FOUR METHODS OF TEACHING GRAMMAR:

1. Inductive Teaching: Involves presenting examples that illustrate a grammar concept without prior
explanation. Students are expected to notice the rules naturally through their reading and writing, leading to
better retention of the concept due to contextual learning.

2. Deductive Teaching: Focuses on instruction before practice. Teachers provide an in-depth explanation of a
grammar concept, followed by mechanical practice through worksheets and exercises. While common, this
method is criticized for driving students away from writing due to its rote nature.

3. Interactive Teaching: Incorporates games and activities into lessons, engaging students and aiding
retention. This method caters to different learning styles, such as having students physically arrange
themselves into sentences or using word puzzles and quizzes.

4. Diagramming Sentences: An older method that visually maps sentence structures to show grammatical
relationships between words. Though helpful for visual learners, it has mostly disappeared from modern
teaching. Various systems, like Reed-Kellogg, have been used for sentence diagramming.

TECHNIQUES IN PRESENTING GRAMMAR

1. Direct Explaining (Explicit Approach)

- Explain grammar directly using the students' mother tongue or in English, depending on what works best.
- This has the advantage of allowing students to contrast an item of grammar in English with an item of
grammar in the student’s own language.

2. Discovering the Grammar (Implicit Approach)

- Have students discover the grammar by analyzing examples in a text.
- Do this by choosing a text which contains lots of examples of the target grammar.

3. Using Pictures or Drawings (Illustrating Grammar Points)

- A quick sketch on the board can illustrate a grammar point very quickly.

4. Drawing Timelines (Teaching Tenses)

- Are useful for teaching grammar structures that refer to aspects of time. Simple and visual way to clarify the
actions and events described in a sentence. Used by teachers for presenting the meaning of verb tenses in
English.
- The basic form of a timeline shows a horizontal line with a point in the middle indicating NOW or the moment
of speaking. Before that point is the past and after it is the future. Some teachers also write the words PAST
and FUTURE along the line. You can indicate single actions with an X and periods of time with an arrow.
Continuous actions are often indicated with a wavy line.

5. Asking Concept Questions (Checking Understanding)

- Write a sentence on the board containing the grammar structure.
- Ask yes/no questions to check students' understanding of the grammar.
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6. Using Tables (Showing the Form)

- Use tables to display the form of a grammar structure on the board.

7. Using Objects (Presenting the Meaning)

- Use objects to present meaning, especially for comparative forms and prepositions.

8. Contrasting Structures (Showing the Difference in Meaning)

- With higher-level grammar, it’s useful to ask students to contrast two grammar structures which are similar in
certain ways, but which have an important difference in meaning.

9. Choosing the Correct Sentence (Correcting Common Grammatical Mistakes)

- You give students two sentences, but one sentence has a mistake related to grammar. You write them on the
board and get students to say which they think has the mistake and why.

STRATEGIES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR

Eight strategies or activities that can be used to enhance student’s knowledge of grammar:

1. Daily Oral Language

 Daily oral language is a quick, effective way to teach and reinforce grammar and punctuation.
 Simply write one or two sentences on the board in which there are grammar or punctuation errors. Then
ask volunteers to come up and correct an error.
 Students should correct only one error and then explain why they made their correction. This allows others
to hear their thinking and enables you to conduct quick grammar and punctuation mini-lessons. DOL
should be kept fairly fast-paced.

2. Sentence Combining
 Sentence combining is a method of teaching grammar intuitively.
 Combining the sentences while keeping the same ideas.
 The goal is not to make a longer sentence, rather, to develop more effective sentences. The resulting
sentence must be a complete sentence and use as few words as possible.
 This is a naturalistic approach to grammar as students naturally look for nouns, verbs, propositions, and
connecting words to construct new sentences.

Sentence combing invites students to experiment with word choice and order. They begin to realize that there
are many ways to build sentence. This provides a more authentic context in which to talk about nouns, verbs,
capital letters, and periods.

 Sentence Creation: Write two (or three for advanced students) unrelated sentences on the board that are
relevant to students’ lives or studies.
 Combining Sentences: Have students combine the sentences into one, using journals or scratch paper.
They can work individually, in pairs, or small groups to discuss their ideas.
 Analysis and Discussion: Share a combined sentence (either your own or a student’s) and analyze it
with the class. Discuss the types of words used (nouns, verbs, adjectives) and review connecting words
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(and, or, unless, because, also, etc.). Emphasize that a sentence is a complete idea that makes sense by
itself and encourage students to read their sentences aloud for clarity.

3. Sentence Elaboration
 Students are given a sentence with the direction to make it better or more interesting.
 This allows students to see the basic structure of a sentence while using propositions, adjectives, verbs,
and other types of words and sentence parts to make it more interesting.
 Creativity and humor should be encouraged. For example, you might ask students to make the sentence
more mysterious, funny, efficient, fancy, exciting, boring, scary, loud, bizarre, silly, funny, pig-like, old, new,
happy, sad, expensive, etc.

4. Grammar as Inquiry
 Inquiry is when students ask a question and then use data to answer the question. In this case, the
question is: How many nouns are in this text? What type of nouns is found in this story? Look for different
types of nouns, adjectives, or verbs.

5. Word Sort
 Ask students to identify a specific number of a certain type of words. For example, list 30 verbs found in
this story. Then, have students examine the group and arrange the verbs (or some other type of word) into
groups or categories.
 A table or bar graph can be used to record the results. This would enable you to compare the types of
verbs found in different story.

6. Grammar Treasure Hunt

 Ask students to go on a grammar treasure hunt to find various grammatical elements. Using a book or
textbook in which they are familiar, students use a graphic organizer to collect and organize data.

7. Peer Editing
 Peer editing can also be used for developing grammar skills. Here you would identify three to five specific
grammatical elements upon which to focus. You can use a checklist to create an evaluation.

8. Wide Reading
 This isn’t a specific strategy, but voluntary self-selected, enjoyable reading is the cure for almost
everything. Wide reading provides students with a very implicit sense of the structure of the language.

MODULE 2. Developing Grammar Activities

Traditional approach to teaching grammar

- present the rules of grammar first, followed by a number of mechanical and monotonous exercises.
- emphasis was on teaching formal grammar.

Formal grammar
- refers to theoretical grammar in which all the grammatical rules are taught regardless of whether they have
wider application or not.
- emphasis is laid on learning definitions and acquiring terminology.
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Functional grammar
- is the study of that portion of grammar that helps the learner speak and write correct English.
- the emphasis is on helping the learner acquire the language incidentally by imitation or consciously by
observation and deduction.

 Language is better learned through its use rather than through learning rules of grammar.

Grammar teaching is thus covert and not overt. Changes have been introduced with specific reference to two
major issues:
• Making grammar learning enjoyable.
• Making grammar helps learners to read and write better

Grammar Games
 Grammar games are similar to the play-way method of teaching. Practice in important areas of grammar is
provided through games. So, while students are just playing a game, they are unconsciously getting
practice in a particular grammatical structure.

Grammar Practice
 Grammar Practice Activities, as the term implies, provide practice in grammar. The practice is made
exciting and not mechanical like traditional exercises. Further, these activities provide opportunities for
learners to use language for communication.

The GGs and GPAs help learners engage in active language use. While learners produce a structure that they
should practice, they are also actively involved in communication. They listen, speak, understand, and
interpret,
which improves their communicative competence.

Using Texts to Teach Grammar

How to teach grammar through texts?

A lesson that aims at teaching grammar through texts may follow the following pattern:
• Lead-in and warm-up
• Reading the text and a short comprehension task
• Awareness-raising where students’ attention is drawn to notice the target structure and the
recurrent patterns.
• Discovering the grammar rules
• Controlled practice Free practice

Tips to choose texts to teach grammar

If you are interested in using texts to teach grammar, you may want to consider the following tips:
• Make sure the text is short and fairly simple. The main focus is grammar, not reading.
• The text should contain at least a few different examples of the target language so that when you ask them
later in the lesson to identify the target structure, you can help the students notice patterns in meaning and
form.
• If you decide to bring an authentic text instead of a fabricated one, ensure it is easy enough.
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• A potentially difficult text can be tweaked to fine-tune it to the level of the students, but it may lose some of its
authenticity.
• There are different genres of text: letters, emails, dialogues, reports, essays, songs, etc. Any of these genres
can be used to teach grammar structures.
• Start with a meaning-focused activity to make sure that students have a general understanding of the text.
This shouldn’t take too much time.

Using Stories to Teach Grammar

Stories can be a powerful tool in and out of the classroom. In addition to teaching us and helping us remember
information, stories can connect us to new ideas and new people. When stories reflect ou own experiences
and backgrounds, they can make us feel recognized and heard. When stories are inspirational, they can
motivate and empower us.

Incorporating stories into grammar practice is particularly effective because students can
(1) see how grammar is used in authentic contexts,
(2) remember the grammar more easily than with discrete sentences on unrelated topics,
(3) develop their creativity,
(4) learn about important people and events, both past and present,
(5) feel recognized and empowered when classroom stories mirror or—or even are about–their own
experiences, and
(6) be inspired to learn more or to take action on a subject of particular importance to them.

Using Songs and Rhymes to Teach Grammar

Songs
 Using songs in language classrooms enhances learning and engagement.
 Songs offer a break from routine activities and help students develop listening, speaking, reading, and
writing skills.
 They can also teach language elements such as vocabulary, pronunciation, and sentence patterns.
 Provide insights into the target culture and motivate students through authentic texts.
 Songs can benefit all phases of teaching grammar, encouraging extensive listening and creativity.

Poems
 Poems, like songs, can effectively teach grammar by providing meaningful practice.
 Repeating and reflecting on a poem helps students internalize grammatical structures.
 Poetry engages multiple senses (sight, sound, speech) and is often easier to memorize because of its
rhythm, making it a valuable teaching tool.
 Poems also provide authenticity and cultural context, making them both educational and enjoyable.

However, there are challenges in using poetry, including linguistic (complex words and sentence structure),
cultural (imagery and references), and intellectual (students’ ability to grasp the theme). These barriers
can be overcome by selecting poems that match students' age, level, and interests.

When choosing a poem, teachers should focus on:

1. The grammatical structure being taught.
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2. The students’ level and age.
3. The theme, length, and relevance to learning objectives. 20th-century poems are usually easier and more
suitable for language learners than older ones because of simpler language and more relatable themes.

MODULE 3. Testing Grammar Discretely

Backwash:
 The process of explicitly testing grammar often leads to teachers and learners paying more attention to its
teaching and being more consistent and discerning about the items they focus on.
 Backwash, also known as washback, refers to the influence that a test has on teaching and learning.
 When grammar is tested separately, it encourages focused teaching and learning of grammatical
structures.
 This backwash effect ensures that learners pay attention to the specific rules and forms of grammar, which
can improve their overall accuracy and understanding of language structure.
 Backwash may also have an effect on the learners. If they know that grammar is going to be tested
separately, they may well be motivated to review what they have encountered in terms of tense forms,
transitivity, discourse, and much more, and may take better notes in order to prepare.

Face Validity:
 "Face validity" refers to the extent to which a test seems to measure what it claims to measure at first
glance.
 Emphasizes that the focus is on knowledge of the rules of grammar, making the test seem more valid.
 Being grammatically accurate is an important skill, even though it may not always be crucial for
communication. If we don't test grammar in a clear and specific way, learners may not feel that their
abilities are being assessed fairly.

Depth vs. Breadth:

 Testing grammar incidentally, alongside other test types, may provide a broad measure of learners'
grammatical knowledge but lacks the precision needed to assess the depth of their grammar knowledge
and their ability to apply the rules. Therefore, it is essential to test grammar separately in terms of
understanding and production to estimate how well items are known, rather than just how many are
recognized.
 Discrete grammar testing allows for both depth (a detailed examination of specific grammatical rules)
and breadth (a wide coverage of different grammar points). This ensures that learners are tested not only
on isolated rules but also on their ability to apply a variety of grammatical structures. This comprehensive
approach can provide a more accurate assessment of their grammar skills.

Learning grammar is more than just remembering items:

 The grammar of any language is a rule-based system that can be learned.
 Essentially, learning other parts of the language relies more on remembering items and patterns rather
than rules.

Revision and Review:

 Learning grammar involves more than just memorizing rules. It's also about consistently applying the rules
without much conscious thought to the vocabulary of the language.
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 Practice is essential to automate the rules to some extent. Testing grammar provides practice and
feedback from a test offers a valuable opportunity to review, reinforce, and solidify learners' knowledge.

The Centrality of Grammar:

 Grammar plays a central role in language learning. Testing it discretely acknowledges its importance as
the foundation of language structure.
 By isolating grammar, learners can see how mastering grammatical rules supports other skills like reading,
writing, speaking, and listening. This focus on grammar as an essential building block of language
enhances its central role in language development.

 We need get away from the assumption that teaching and testing grammar are unnecessary in a
communicative classroom. Here are two opinions to consider:

"Language learning is essentially about understanding how grammar functions to convey meaning, and it's a
mistake to think otherwise. A communicative approach does not mean rejecting grammar. On the contrary, it
involves recognizing its central role in using and learning a language." (Widdowson, 1990: 97/8)

And

Understanding how to construct and utilize specific structures enables effective communication of common
types of meaning. Without these structures, forming coherent sentences becomes challenging. Thus, it is
essential to recognize these structures and teach them effectively. (Swan in Richards and Renandya, 2002)

The key lies in evaluating how well we are teaching the grammar of the language and how well it is being
learned. For that, of course, we need assessment and testing routines.