OOY – TEACHING GRAMMAR

In the first week, we touched on some grammar presentation techniques,

their advantages and possible problems that we can encounter while using these
techniques. Using a song text: It is a motivating and fun technique that
provides authentic texts, helps Ss to see grammar in context in the song, creates
a non-threatening atmosphere for nervous students. However, Ss may have
difficulty in getting the lyrics, focus of lesson may not be clear and slang may not
be appropriate; so, as teachers, we should select the song properly and carefully.
Using a time line: It is a good reminder that demonstrates tenses clearly; but it
doesn’t provide any context. Reading: It provides authentic use of language
items and helps the teacher to elicit information. It is good preparation for
independent study. But it may be boring, difficult and uninteresting, and may not
include all items. Using a picture: It is helpful for Ss to remember easily and to
get involved into eliciting process. However, Ss may have difficulty in making
sentences and this technique may not be appropriate for all grammar subjects.
Using realia: As the real life materials are often more interesting, using realia
helps Ss to remember grammar items better, shows meaning clearly, generates
interest and involves Ss. With the help of realia, learning becomes easier and
more memorable. But we may not find realia related to the all subjects.
Personalising: Learning is directly related to teacher’s and Ss’ own lives and Ss
use the tense themselves, generally Ss like talking about themselves, but some
students may not want to talk about their life so it may be a problem. Actually,
this technique makes the language more memorable and obviously useful.
Explaining directly: It makes the form and rules clear and it is helpful for those
that use left brain dominantly. However, it doesn’t involve the Ss, so it may not
be permanent. Practising and presenting: It uses Ss’ real lives, clear
explanations are given and Ss learn the use firstly, and then the form. But it may
be difficult for Ss to understand the questions. Discovering: Ss are led to the
grammar and then they discover meaning for themselves. It surprises them with
what they already know and helps them to feel that they have managed
something. By using this technique, we learn more about their knowledge and
abilities eliciting information from them rather than telling things to them, so
learning becomes more permanent. However, the text may be difficult and
problematic if Ss guess wrongly, so we should be careful about it. Using a chart:
It involves Ss from the start and helps them to practise themselves, and
demonstrates the text. But it may be confusing so it should be prepared properly.
Eliciting: Actually, elicitation is not a technique but a must. As teachers, instead
of giving rules directly, we should “ELICIT” information by guiding questions; but
we shouldn’t forget that Ss need good elicitation questions. Ss are exposed to
useful incidental language during elicitation which can mean more student
talking time. Therefore, by taking these advantages into consideration, we should
try to get all the language and answers from the students before giving them the
solutions, rules or answers. Comparing L1 and L2: It is a useful technique for
monolingual class but not possible with multilingual class.

In the second week, firstly, we talked about the stages of a grammar

lesson. The first step is to do warm-up activities as we do in other lessons. The
second step is to ask context questions in order to get the sentence which we will
deal with from the students and to write it on the board. Next step is
“ELICITATION”. After asking context questions, we should ask questions for
meaning-concept questions- in order to make sure that the students have
understood the meaning of the sentence. Then we should ask questions for form
and function. Next step is to do restricted and authentic use activities. Finally, we
should finish the lesson with a good wrap-up.

Secondly, we touched many points about teaching grammar. One of them

is that we do not need to know all the grammar or grammar rules in order to
teach it; the more we teach, the more we learn; the more we prepare for the
lesson, the more we feel comfortable. In addition, in order to give our students
practice of specific language points, we should do restricted use activities which
focus on accuracy rather than fluency such as oral drills, written exercises,
elicited dialogues, grammar practice activities and games. Besides, we should do
authentic use activities which require the students to use the language and to
produce something. We should ask questions for meaning, form and function. In
order to understand that our learners are clear about meaning, we should ask
concept questions. Then we should ask structure questions in order to help
learners to make the form and rules clear. Finally, we should ask questions for
function in order to show how, when and where we use the language.

We also touched on some effective eliciting techniques such as remaining

silently when a learner is still thinking, asking another student if a learner cannot
answer, asking good and effective questions, using encouraging language, not
giving the answer immediately, using intonation to show which part of a sentence
is correct or incorrect…

Other points I learnt in this week are that if we have a listening text, we
can write the whole sentence that we will deal with on the board because Ss may
miss some points, some words and some sentences while listening; however, if
we have a reading text, we can get the sentence from Ss by asking context
questions. In addition to this, we should teach one thing, one function at a time
while teaching grammar.

Munise ÖZTÜRK