Teaching grammar better!

1
Teaching grammar better!

• Hugh Dellar
• The University of Westminster
• Heinle Cengage

2
The tyranny of PPP - Present, Practise, Produce
- grammar teaching! Ive broken my leg!
3
(No Transcript)
4

• PPP is seductive for several reasons
• It makes you feel in control.
• It limits the questions you get asked.
• It creates a sense of progress.
• Its tightly structured, but still has space for
  you to be creative.
• It provides us with a knowledge base.

5
And yet - it doesnt work. At least not as well
as wed like it to! Why? 1. Students learn to
talk about English - not talk in English!
6

1. The current system creates grammar fear and
   grammar dependency!
2. Focusing on structures in isolation distorts the
   reality of usage. It also means students dont
   get to see how conversations develop.

7

• Once is never enough!
• The separation of grammar and vocabulary makes
  life harder for students - and asks much more of
  them!
• So how can we move things forward?

8
Keep it real! What John lost was the
keys! Teach grammar in real-world
situations. Dont over-stretch structures
lexically. Keep things true to what you say and
hear.
9
Conversations - and the way they develop - have
to start being given priority over the study of
structures in isolation. Whatre you doing
tonight? Why did you decide to do that,
then? Have you been to see a doctor about it?
10
Whatre you studying? Im going out with a couple
of friends tonight. Crime is getting worse and
worse at the moment. Im doing an extra shift at
work tonight to cover for someone. My boss is
breathing down my neck about it. Theyre denying
him access to a lawyer. They certainly are
stepping up their campaign. Shes not pulling her
weight.
11
Form I am You are He / She / It is -ing We
are They are
12

• Function
• To talk about an action happening around now, one
  that has already started but has not yet
  finished.
• To talk about an arrangement with other people in
  the future.

13
Students need repeated exposure to the most
common grammatical patterns Students need to do
different things on different days to the same
structures.
14
Starting from thinking about how conversations
work ensures repeated exposure to
grammar. More conversations in class means
more recycling and encourages more noticing.
15
Dont teach single words - teach words with the
grammar they typically go with. Think about the
examples you write up on the board.
16
He started out as an office boy and then slowly
worked his up. Now hes the managing
director! I started out working in private
language schools, and got my lucky b about ten
years ago when I moved to the university.
17
My parents are really strict. They never let me .
. . And they always make me . . .
18
Students need to know different things about
different grammar at different levels. Low
levels need plenty of grammar-as-lexis. Higher
levels need to practise grammaticalising - and
to briefly explore more obscure grammar in clear
contexts.
19
Theres more to life than tenses! Just because
Im single it doesnt mean Im desperately
lonely! Do you fancy going out somewhere
tonight? In all probability, Ill be there
sometime around 9. It was so hot I could hardly
breathe!
20
Follow us on facebook www.facebook.com/ hughdella
randrewwalkley