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Mat Wright
Grammar 1 Noticing
www.britishcouncil.org/teachingenglish
Grammar 1 Noticing
Trainer notes
Overview
The best way to teach grammar is a controversial topic. Views range from the belief that a focus
on grammar is detrimental to developing learners communicative competence, to concerns that
without an overt focus on form the target language can never be learnt effectively. Indeed some
of the language involved in talking about grammar seems to be dominated by opposites: product
v process; grammar translation v communicative methodology; inductive v deductive; accuracy
v uency and so on. So how can teachers decide which approach is best particularly, as is often
the case, they may be constrained by the approach in their textbook or the expectations of their
schools, learners or learners parents. In this workshop we will explore how grammar teaching can
be effective in all teaching contexts by developing learners noticing skills and integrating noticing
tasks with existing resources and approaches.
The materials are suitable for teachers with a minimum B1 level, working in any educational context
primary, secondary, tertiary, adults.
This is the rst of three workshops. This workshop should take approximately 1.5 hours.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this workshop participants will be able to:
Discuss teachers approaches to teaching grammar.
Dene what is involved in noticing.
Distinguish between tasks which practice grammatical structures and tasks which encourage
noticing them.
Modify typical textbook grammar exercises to provide practice in developing noticing skills.
Present ideas for modifying tasks to peers.
Reect on learning from this workshop.
Grammar 1 Noticing
Trainer notes
Procedure
1 Whats the best way to teach grammar?
For this task, participants discuss quotations from teachers who answered this question.
NB If teachers are likely to have difculty understanding the concepts mentioned by the teachers,
there is a matching task (see below) which they can complete prior to watching the lm clip or
following the alternative procedure. This does not appear in the participant worksheets, so would
need to be put on the board or photocopied and cut up.
Ask participants to reect for a couple of minutes on how they teach grammar.
Next, ask participants to look at the quotations from teachers who answered this question:
Communicative way rst practice, then rule.
Deductive and inductive.
Test teach test.
Errors help them notice the gap between their current language ability and the standard forms.
Creating situations for practice.
Understanding meaning from context.
Teachers need to present the rules.
Asking concept questions.
Presentation, practice, production.
Get learners to notice grammar.
Participants work in groups to answer the discussion questions:
How close are the views of the teachers to yours?
Which ones are new ideas for you?
Which ones do you agree with the most?
What do you think is the best way to teach grammar?
Feedback
Elicit responses on what they think is the best way to teach grammar. Write up their
suggestions, and explain that this will be returned to later in the workshop for reection.
Grammar 1 Noticing
Trainer notes
2 Noticing
This activity introduces participants to the concept of noticing.
Feedback
There are two aspects to noticing:
a) Paying attention to grammar as it occurs in different contexts, for example, grammar input
in lessons, structures in texts and listening material, language practice activities and spoken
interactions.
b) Noticing the gap learners becoming aware of differences in their performance and L1
competence. For example, you read something, or hear something about a grammar item
which seems to be new to you and sticks in your mind. In fact, it is probably not new, but
you are noticing it for the rst time. Having noticed it you will see it or hear it regularly and
wonder how you could have failed to notice it before.
Noticing, (as described in (a) above), whilst on its own does not lead to mastery, is arguably the
most important. It is this aspect which will be focused on in this workshop.
Scott Thornbury, Uncovering Grammar, MacMillan
Grammar 1 Noticing
Trainer notes
Feedback
Highlight to participants the similarities and differences between the examples. The use
of comparisons and layout to organize and help learners notice patterns, use of questions
instead of rules etc. All of the exercises involve drawing learners attention to the grammar
items. Example 2 is more explicit, whereas the others invite learners to discover the rules
for themselves. Example 1 species the tenses to help learners focus on use and meaning.
Example 3 provides no clues, though arguably this gives learners an opportunity to really use
noticing skills. Example 4 guides learners, though encourages them to discover the rules for
themselves from the examples given. All of these types of exercises are valid depending on
the teaching context and the level and ability of the learners.
Trainer notes
Grammar 1 Noticing
Participant worksheet Noticing grammar with your textbook or exercises from participants
own textbooks
Trainer notes Noticing grammar with your textbook examples 2 4
Focus on the questions in the participant worksheet and do Exercise 1 together as an example
the focus is on the present simple and continuous forms. Learners have to choose the correct
form. There are no real opportunities for noticing it is like a test to see if they understand when
to use the forms. Discuss how the exercise could be modied, for example:
Ask learners to give reasons for their choices.
Re-do the exercise, including some mistakes in it. Ask learners to identify and underline the
mistakes and suggest the reasons for them.
Ask learners to write the rules for the use of the grammar.
Instead of asking learners to choose the correct forms, leave the sentences intact and ask learners
to underline and explain why the tenses are used.
Divide participants into groups and assign a grammar task to each group (see trainer notes).
If you have a lot of groups, get two groups to work on the same task.
Go over the instructions ensuring they understand that they can modify the task in any way they
like, so long as it helps to develop learners noticing skills .
When they have done made their modications, ask them to prepare to present their exercise to
the whole group. They should show how they have improved it and how it encourages noticing.
Each group presents their modied tasks to the whole group.
After each group has given their presentation, ask the other participants to comment on how
effective they think the new versions are and whether they can suggest any other ways of
modifying the exercises.
Feedback
Some ideas for modifying the exercises:
Exercise 2: As above give learners the correct version of the conditionals and ask them to
say how they are formed and what their rules of use are; give completed sentences which are
incorrect. Ask them to nd the mistakes and explain why the wrong forms are not possible.
Exercise 3: Separate into three boxes, eg,
Get on a bus
Get on a plane
Get on a train
Get in a car
Get in a taxi
Get on a horse
Get on a bike
Ask participants questions to see if they can work out why in and on are used with different
kinds of transport. As a follow-up, ask them to write the opposites get off a bus etc.
Exercise 4: Provide the whole text with gaps completed. Underline the tenses and ask
participants to analyse why the writer uses them and why he switches from one to the other.
Grammar 1 Noticing
Trainer notes
5 Reection
Participants return to the lead-in question about the best way to teach grammar and reect on how
their responses may have changed since completing the workshop.
Feedback
Elicit a few responses to the reection questions. It is important that teachers try noticing
activities with their learners and monitor how (or if) it helps learners to develop grammatical
competency.
Trainer notes
Grammar 1 Noticing
Additional task for participants who have difculty understanding the quotes
from teachers.
Divide participants into groups. Make one copy of the table below for each group. Cut the table up
into a set of cards and shufe Groups match each concept to its denition
Concept
Meaning
Grammar 1 Noticing
Exercise 3
Complete the gaps with in or on
Get ____ a bus
Get ____ a car
Get ____ a plane
Get ____ a boat
Get ____ a train
Get ____ a horse
Get ____ a taxi
Get ____ a tram
Get ____ a bike
Get ____ a motor-bike
Trainer notes
Trainer notes
Grammar 1 Noticing
had
taught
has helped
lived
gave up
have managed
had
found
worked
died
have sold
Grammar 1 Noticing
Trainer notes
Trainer notes
Grammar 1 Noticing
Reported speech
Grammar 1 Noticing
Trainer notes
Grammar 1 Noticing
Trainer notes
Example 4 (continued)
Must and must have
Now complete the following conversations by using must or must have and making any changes
necessary to the words in italics. The rst one is completed as an example.
You/Tired
You
must be very
tired.
____________
____________
____________ ____________ ____________
Do well/exams
____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
A lot of trafc
____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
They only met 3 months ago, but they are getting married next week!
The following link discusses noticing and provides a sample lesson plan
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/top-stories/teaching-esl-students-notice-grammar
Participant worksheets
Mat Wright
Grammar 1 Noticing
www.britishcouncil.org/teachingenglish
Grammar 1 Noticing
Participant worksheets
Grammar 1 Noticing
Noticing
One of the teachers mentions Get learners to notice grammar.
What does this mean?
Now look at this quotation
Noticing is a pre-requisite for learning, attention is a pre-requisite for noticing.
Do you agree?
Think about a time when you were a language learner.
What kind of things did you notice?
What kind of things helped you to notice?
How can teachers help their learners develop noticing skills?
Participant worksheets
Participant worksheets
Grammar 1 Noticing
Sara
2.
Jane
3.
Sara
4.
Jane
4.
Sara
Oh, thats a good idea. Listen, I need to get t. Ill come with you.
6.
Jane
7.
Sara
In lines 14 and 6, Sara and Jane use the present continuous form. Why?
In lines 5 and 7 Sara uses the will form. Why?
Is it possible to reverse this, ie, use will in lines 14 and 6 and use the present continuous in
lines 57? What would the effect be?
Your trainer will give you another example. Work in groups using the same questions as above, ie:
How does the exercise help learners to notice grammar?
What kind of support is given in the exercise?
Is it effective? Why/why not?
Grammar 1 Noticing
Participant worksheets
Exercise 1
Complete the following sentences by choosing the present simple or present continuous
She (look) for a job with EU in Brussels. She (speak) 5 different European languages so I (think)
theyll be interested in her.
I (travel) to work by car, but I (want) to be more eco-friendly, so I (consider) other ways.
I (read) a book about psychology in everyday life, but its very dull.
Now look at the task your trainer gives you. Work together to modify the task in any way you like, so
that it helps to develop learners noticing skills.
When you have made your modications, decide how you will present your modied task to the
other participants.
What was the focus of the original exercise?
What changes have you made?
How will your changes help learners to develop noticing skills?
Listen to the other groups presentations. How effective do you think their modied versions are?
Can you suggest any other ways of modifying the exercises?
Grammar 1 Noticing
Participant worksheets
Reection
Work in pairs or small groups. Discuss the following:
Think back to your discussion on the best way to teach grammar at the start of this workshop.
How would you answer that question now?
Compare the suggestions you made earlier for helping learners develop noticing skills with your
experience of modifying exercises. Are they similar? Are they different? How?
What changes will you make to your approach to teaching grammar as a result of the workshop?