Input reading 3
Warming-up discussion
Produce a list of your favorite and most successful techniques of teaching grammar
Types of grammar activities
Grammar activities can be of the following types: induction of the rules, deduction from the rules, structure-based substitution, completion and transformation drill, text-based drill, meaning-based drill, context-based drill, communication-game drill, simulation drill and testing. Induction of the rules (using examples and drawing generalities about grammar) as well as deduction from the rules (using rules to generate examples) are fairly traditional ways of instruction that are used according to the learners' cognitive style. Manipulations with grammar structures are also often used in course-books and lessons. Grammar activities can have the format of a "pen-and-paper" exercise.
Exploratory task 3.1
Pen-and-paper exercise can take the form of "writing from notes". You are facing a busy day, which is full of commitments. Write a brief summary of your obligations, choices and alternatives for the day looking at your notes (notes have been done for you). Subject: modal verbs "must", "have to", "can", "should", "ought to", "need", "be to". Reflect on the activity after you have done it with the peers.
Phone Richard. Very important. Lunch with the Browns. Boring
as usual. Buy a rail ticket. A day off tomorrow. Take Charlotte to
the airport. Courtesy gesture. Have dinner with my uncle. Did not
make it last time. Return home by six. Expect a telephone call.
|
Grammar drill
Grammar drill is a teaching/learning activity, which emphasizes rote learning, memorization and automation of language. Grammar drill does not necessarily have to be a meaningless mechanical task. An effective alternative is the "meaningful drill", in which the learners repeatedly use identical language in order to develop the necessary skill, but every time they use the structure, they convey a certain communicative message. E.g. the teaching task can be to organize a contrastive drilling activity of the structures "used to do something" and "are used to doing something". For this purpose the learners are given the pictures of the kitchen equipment in the eighteenth century and of the twentieth century. They produce phrases like "People used to grind meat in the meat grinders. Now people are used to buying minced meat at the supermarket" etc. The learners can elicit from the pictures about 10-12 identical phrases necessary to reinforce the required grammar skill.
Exploratory task 3.2
A drill can take the form of a cued activity, in which a teacher gives the learners a cue in order to elicit the necessary language. A cue can be just a word prompting the expected utterance. E.g. the purpose of teaching is to reinforce the Past Simple of the verbs. The teacher asks the learners to think of what caused the death of the dinosaurs. The teacher gives the cues and the learners make up phrases. Complete the list of words and do the activity with the peers. Reflect on the procedure.
Teacher |
Learners |
Etc |
|