Teacher Development Pack

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Grammar
For some of these questions you will have your own ideas and suggestions. If you
would like to discuss any of these, you can leave a message in the Forum, join in
the scheduled live chats or look at the transcripts from previous sessions.
Part 1
The case for grammar from How to Teach Grammar by Scott Thornbury, Pearson
education 1999.
In your own words (and as economically as possible) explain the following terms as they
are used in the extract:
Advance organiser: grammar teaching means that when you then come across the
grammar later you notice it because you have been primed.
Discrete item: because language is so huge and complex it helps to separate it out into
little bits (discrete items) which can then be sequenced for optimal learning.
Fine-tuning: grammar teaching helps students to refine their language so that they can do
away with the ambiguity which sloppy language use creates.
Fossilisation: students who pick up languages as they go along reach a point where they
cant get any further. Grammar instruction helps them get beyond this.
Learner expectations: based, especially, on past learning experience, students expect
systematic formal grammar instruction.
Rule of law: some students feel very comfortable in a word where rules, order and
discipline are transmitted by the teacher.
The sentence-making machine: learning grammar rules means that students can then
create an infinite number of sentences by using different vocabulary; grammar structures
are language generators.

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Part 2
The case against grammar from How to Teach Grammar by Scott Thornbury.
Pearson Education 1999.
In your own words (and as economically as possible) explain the following terms as they
are used in the extract:
Acquisition: children acquire language without grammar teaching so why shouldnt we?
Naturally acquired language works better than language that is formally learnt.
Communication: language is best learnt when it is put to communicative use either when it
has been learnt or, more radically, it is communication which is the basis for learning.
knowledge how: you learn by doing, learning how, not what.
learner expectations: after years of grammar instruction many adult learners want to learn
how t put it to use. They want to talk not learn even more grammar.
lexical chunks: rather than discrete grammar items, language groups itself into lexical
chunks phrases and clusters. It is is by learning (how to use) these rather than learning
formal grammar rules, that we acquire a language.
natural order since, according to some people, learners acquire language in a predetermined order whoever they are, sticking to a pre-determined grammar syllabus wont
have any effect.
Without looking back at the two extracts, complete the following chart in note form
according to the authors exposition.
The case for grammar

The case against grammar

Sentence-making machine
Fine-tuning
Fossilisation
Advance-organiser
Discrete item
Rule of law
Learner expectation

Knowledge how
Communication
Acquisition
Natural order
Lexical chunks
Learner expectations

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Part 3
Why study language by Jeremy Harmer. English Teaching Professional 12, 1999.
How does the author define study?
to focus on something in order to understand it better whether this is controlled practice,
analysing discourse, noticing language features, or working on pronunciation.
Match the authors on the left with the concepts on the right
a ii, b iv, c vi, d vii, e iii, f v, g I
Summarise the authors answer to the question Why study language?
Possible summary: While it is true that drilling (especially if overused) is not the only route
to learning and may not even do what its adherents suggest, nevertheless some forms of
language study seems desirable for most students (after puberty) some of the time.

ELT Forum Grammar Suggested Answers 2001 Pearson Education Ltd.

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ELT Forum Grammar Suggested Answers 2001 Pearson Education Ltd.

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Teacher Development Pack

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Part 4
Presentation, practice & production from the Practice of English Language
rd
Teaching. 3 edition by Jeremy Harmer. Pearson Education Ltd. 2001.
What is PPP a variation of?
PPP is a variation of/on audiolingualism.
What do you understand by the following terms?
Accurate reproduction: this is where students repeat model sentences chorally or
individually, and practise cue-response drills.
Cue-response drills: these are drills where the teacher gives a word or visual cue and
nominates a student who then responds to the cue.
Immediate creativity: students use the language theyve just been studying to make
sentences of their own.
Summarise the criticisms of PPP
PPP was criticised because, apart from being very teacher-centred, it seemed to suggest
only one learning route (e.g. straight lines) even though learning probably isnt like this. It is
based on sentence grammar and language isnt just about that. And PPP is restrictive
because it only describes one kind of learning.
In what way(s) were Keith Johnson and Donn Byrnes modifications of PPP similar?
Both Johnson and Byrne take the basic elements of PPP and suggest that they can be reordered.
Complete the following chart.
Initials

Suggested by

Which stand for

PPP

Not sure

ARC

Jim Scrivener

OHE

Michael Lewis

III

Michael McCarthy &

Ron Carter
Jeremy Harmer

Presentation, Practice &

production
Authentic use, restricted use,
clarification
Observe, hypothesise,
experiment
Illustration, interaction,
induction
Engage, study, activate

ESA

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Part 5
Basic principles and Rules of thumb from How to Teach Grammar by Scott
Thornbury. Pearson Education Ltd. 1999.
You have to explain the E-Factor and the A-factor to a group of fellow teachers. Design a
diagram which you can put on the board or an overhead transparency which will help them
remember all of the concepts mentioned here.
One possible diagram

economy

The E-Factor

The A-Factor

(Efficiency)

(Appropriacy)

ease

efficiency

Age
level
size of group
mono/multilingual
learners interest
materials and resources
previous learning
experience
cultural factors
educational context

Which rules of thumb did the following teachers break?

a
b
c
d
e
f

The rule of nurture

The rule of appropriacy
The rule of use
The rule of relevance
The rule of context
The rule of economy

What do you understand by the following terms? What is their relevance to the rule of
nurture?
The rule of nurture suggests conditions for successful language learning. These conditions
are:
Input: it should engage the students.
Output: there should be enough output to help students develop accuracy and fluency.
Feedback: at least some of the students attention should be directed at form through
feedback.
Motivation: the lesson content should be motivating enough to make students pay attention
to input, output and feedback

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Part 6
Write a grammar by Tatiana Kazaritsaya. IATEFL Newsletter 142. 1998.
What does the author mean when she tells her students that there isnt all that much I can
teach you about grammar?
She means that students have to take responsibility for their own learning and not just
expect the teacher to give them everything.
Describe the students that the author usually teaches. How different are they from your
students?
The authors students at the Moscow State Linguistic University are on an advanced
training course for translators and interpreters. They are in their early twenties and thirties.
How does the author suggest that learner independence might best be achieved?
The author says that in her situation learner independence is best achieved by having a
learning to learn training course together with meticulous attention to grammar in
language classes.
What does the author say about the following:
Grammar and relevance
Coursebook use and
grammar
Linguistic competence
and rules
Grammar and
communicative potential
Grammar and individual
pocketbooks
Grammar and the L1
Grammar and tests
Concentrating on one
grammar item only

Students as teachers

Of course grammar is relevant. Grammar

teachers arent power-hungry, they are realists.
You dont have to teach all the grammar in the
book in the order it is given. Coursebook use
does not mean blindly following everything in it.
Linguistic competence involves producing
language in accordance with the rules of that
language, says the Council of Europe.
Grammar blueprints help develop speech skills,
and thus enable greater communicative
potential.
Students should write their own grammar rules
in their own pocketbooks, but only when theyve
had some time to experience and process the
language.
Analyse the L1 first in order to then change it
into the L2.
Teacher and students should discuss tests
immediately after completing them (rather than
later).
Concentrating on one item for some time
enables students to see the language in many
contexts, to really understand the item, to
understand their mistakes by analysing them, to
learn how to look at grammar in general, and to
notice pragmatic use.
Students can act as teachers, writing classroom
materials. This forces them to really look at the
grammar.

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Part 7
Extract from Creative grammar Practice by Gnter Gerngross and Herbert Puchta.
Pilgrims Longman resource Books. Longman. 1992.
True or false?
a False. The authors say that some students do like explicit rules, but that evidence
suggests this is not true for all of them. Many younger learners (and adults too) prefer a
more holistic approach.
b True.
c True. The work of Michael grinder, especially, shows that different stduents prefer
visual, auditory or kinesthetic stimuli and they all need to be catered for at different times.
d False. On the contrary, memorable texts (which are often funny, full of metaphor etc)
help students to remember the language in them.
e False. The authors do not say there always has to be a slient time, though they point
out that their students have always commented favourably on a time to get in touch with
their poetic selves before starting reading.
g True. Good reading aloud needs teacher-led rehearsal.
h False. Errors are unavoidable when students write. However, in the editing stage
students are keen to write as accurately as possible.
i False. Students can edit each others texts. The teacher will also have to decide
whether to corret everything or whether to be more gentle and just point out problems.
j True. It means finding ways of getting grammar points really stuck into the stduents
minds.
Without looking back at the extract, how would you describe the authors approach to
grammar practice in your own words?
Possible description: the authors believe that a holistic approach to grammar, based on the
students meeting and recreating texts, before writing and sharing their own, is appropriate.
They emphasise the need top cater for different learning styles and suggest the need for
memorable texts. The techniques they put forward (including reading aloud etc) are
designed to anchor the language in the students brains. They stress the role of correction
as an editing (rather than a judging) tool.

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Part 8
Grammar a textual approach by Dave Willis. English Teaching Professional 17.
2000.
What does the author have to say about the following topics?
Noticing important
features of language
Comprehension

Dependence on the
teacher
Ready-made context

Decontextualised
sentences
Recycling language
Self-reliant learners
Complicated rules
Memorising

Students coming to
terms with real
language
The occasional
lesson

Students who study texts (for grammar) have to notice

important features of the language and then make
sense of what they have noticed (by coming up with
generalisations).
Although there is no intention to focus on
comprehension in a textual approach, it is nevertheless
important to be sure that students understand the
meaning/message before moving on to study grammar.
This is a feature of made-up examples of grammar
since the teacher gives out the language the students
have to hang on his/her every word instead of doing
things for themselves.
If students are familiar with the (meaning of) the text
they have a ready-made context for the grammar they
are going to work with and context is vitally important
for understanding how grammar works.
These (e.g. made-up examples) are not typical of
everyday use.
Recycling is important for effective learning to take
place it helps fix important words and phrases in
students brains.
We want students to be self-reliant. In other words we
want them to think for themselves.
Most grammar rules are fairly complicated and difficult
to explain to students.
Memorising is an important part of language learning.
When students remember target structures (and this
will be easier if they meet grammar in a memorable
context), they will be able to use them.
The only way that students can really get on with
meeting real language is if they learn for themselves
(are self-reliant).
If you prepare the occasional lesson like this, you
gradually build up a store of such material.

In a short paragraph (and without looking back at the article, explain, in your own words,
what the author means by a textual approach to grammar
Suggested paragraph: The author says that an alternative to the teacher giving out madeup grammar examples (which encourages dependence upon the teacher), is an approach
based on texts. Texts give students context for their learning, and if we encourage them to
look through the texts, noticing language features for themselves (with our
encouragement) they will not only really see how language works, but also develop selfreliance. We can give them tasks to help them understand what they find and memorise it.

ELT Forum Grammar Suggested Answers 2001 Pearson Education Ltd.

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