Ronel D. Cornella Prof. Rowena C.

Nuera
MEAL – I AL 115 Professor

Teaching Grammar: research, theory and practice

Penny Ur, University of Haifa, Israel

Methods and Activities for each Model

I. Consciousness-raising. Students are made aware of grammatical forms and

meanings; but the course is based predominantly on communicative tasks. There
is no focused grammar practice.

Method: Awareness Method

This method entails that a learner must notice and be aware of the forms
and meanings of a language. In order for the forms and meanings to be noticed, the
learner must be exposed to the language in a day to day basis. Exposure to practical
communication with the target language is highly recommended. Exposure to
communication would make the learner at first unconsciously incompetent to
consciously competent with the language.

Activity: Rule Making/Playing

 Level : Intermediate
 Grammar point: Present Progressive Tense (have/has)
 Function: Considering about the rules in using the present progressive tense
(when and how to use have and has).
 Materials: Manila paper or LCD Projector, index card

Read the following extract from the David Beckham interview and complete the tasks
with your partner.

David Beckham is captain of England and Manchester United. He was made

captain on Wednesday November 15, 2000, for the match against Italy in Turin.
“Being a captain has been very important to me,” he admitted. “Since I was given
the armband for England my performances have been a lot better than they were before,
and of course I have scored more goals. It has lifted my game there’s no doubt about
that.
“I love being captain of England, I absolutely adore it. But I have to say is has
been incredibly special to be captain at Old Trafford. Manchester United is a team I
have supported all my life and to be captain is a real honour.”

1.) How many times does the grammatical structure ‘has’ appeared in the article?
2.) How many times does the grammatical structure ‘have’ appeared in the article?
2.) Ask your partner 3 questions about the article using this structure.
3.) Make 5 sentences about your life using this structure.
4.) When do you use have/has?
6.) Try to create a language rule that explains the use of ‘has and have’ in your sentences
and questions.
7.) Share your questions and rule with your group and choose the best rule.

II. Form-focus. We relate reactively to grammatical issues as they arise in the course of
the communicative tasks: by correcting mistakes, for example, or by drawing
learners’ attention to potentially problematic points.

Method: Interactive Comprehension – Construction – Reconstruction Method

This method entails the students to be aware of the various forms of
language. The learner must be able to comprehend the language through interactive
listening. He must be aware of the various forms of the language as well as its meaning
and he/she must be able to analyze the meaning through comprehension, construction
and reconstruction of a given target language text and later on, the target language in
general.

Activity: Dictogloss
 Level : Intermediate
 Grammar point: Present Perfect and/or Past Simple Tense
 Function: Discerning the difference of the form and meaning when the present
perfect and past simple tense is used.
 Materials: Manila paper, Overhead or LCD Projector, Sound System (optional)

 Introduce the topic, key vocabulary, and a brief review of language focus
(optional)
 Read the entire passage while students listen
 Read it a 2nd time; students take notes (words, phrases)

MONIKA KOVAK
Tennis player

Monika Kovak is a tennis player. She is only 14 years old, but she already won /
has already won many tournaments in her life. She started / has started playing tennis
with her father when she was three years old. Two years ago she went / has gone to
America to a famous tennis school in California.
Monika and her father travelled / have travelled to many countries. Last month
they went / have gone to a tournament in Australia. Monika played / has played well,
but she didn't win / hasn't won. She didn't play / hasn't played at Wimbledon yet, but
she hopes to play there next year.

After reading, follow the next steps.

 Reconstruction - Students work in pairs or small groups, compare notes, and

reconstruct the text.
 Aim: retain meaning, grammatical accuracy, but not necessarily an exact
reproduction
 Groups compare reconstructions; a student scribe writes a class version on the
board.
 Comparison with original and discussion: Use a handout/overhead to show
students original text. Ask students to identify differences in form and meaning.
Are the alternate forms used acceptable or not? Why? Encourage questions and
discussion

III. Skill-mastery. Teacher teaches the rules systematically, deductively or inductively,

and then practices them in increasingly meaningful communicative tasks so as to
facilitate the automatisation of rule-application.

Method: Practical Communicative Method

This method entails that the learner should be able to learn the rules of a
target language and master it. The true test of mastery is that the learner should have a
good command of the language through series of practical communicative instances
wherein he/she can demonstrate the use of the language. He must be exposed and must
partake in practical communicative instances (going somewhere, buying something,
transacting business, etc) wherein the mastery of the command of the language would
be demonstrated

Activity: Tense Review - Sentence Match

 Level : High-intermediate through Advanced
 Grammar point: Verb Tenses (including timeframe and structures)
 Function: Students will recognize various verb tenses/aspects.
 Materials: flash cards, index card (optional)

Outline:
 Ask students to break up into groups of three or four and write down the names
of all the tenses they can remember including an example for each tense. You
may want to help them as this exercise is just a way of introducing structures that
they will be working on during your course.
 Talk quickly about the structures that are mentioned. You may also want to write
the names of the tenses on the board so that students can refresh their memories.
  Distribute one card per student. Students should walk around the room and find
the missing half of their sentence. Combinations must be grammatically correct
and logical. Remind students that they should pay attention to punctuation.
 Once students have found their match, ask each pair to read their sentence and
identify both the timeframe and the tense(s) used.
 If necessary, emphasize any tricky grammar structures. Students can then work
together as partners on the next activity.
 Make sure to point out that this exercise is intended to remind them of what sort
of elements go into using English (i.e. tenses in this case) and that you will be
taking your time going through all the points so quickly covered in this lesson.
 After you have finished the exercise, have a class discussion about the differences
between the first person I and third person he, she (i.e. 's' on third person
singular, etc.)

The Flashcards

(Multiple copies of the flashcards must be made, divide students into pairs or
groups, and give each pair/group a complete set of all the sentences to match.)

By the time my brother arrives, I'll have cleaned the whole house.

I didn't go out for dinner because I had already eaten.

They go to the movies every Friday night.

Don't call me after 12 o'clock-- I'll be sleeping.

His flight arrives tomorrow at five.

I've been to Spain four times.

When you get back to town, we'll have a party.

 I've been waiting here for almost an hour.

I stayed home last night and watched TV.

I was studying when the fire started.

I won't speak to him until he apologizes.

I will go if you will go.

References
Broadbridge, James (2000 – 2012). An Analysis and Example of Consciousness Raising
in the EFL Classroom. (available at Developing Teachers.com
Suter, Cristoph (2001). Discussing and Applying Grammatical Consciousness-Raising.
Heather, Lauren et al (2008) Focus on Form Handouts
Marinez, Karin (1999 – 2012). ESL Partyland.com