NATECLA 2013 - Getting creative with grammar teaching

Getting creative with
grammar practice
Jo Gakonga

Why does
teaching
grammar get a
bad press?

Illustrations from Jan, J.M. & Ollúa, R. (1950) El Inglés Práctico;
Comercio, Exámenes y Viajes, Buenos Aires: Academias Pitman.

Do we need to
teach grammar
at all?

http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2011/sites/iatefl/files/session
/documents/walter_grammar_iatefl2011_handout.pdf
Catherine Walter
IATEFL Plenary 2011
Should we be planning to teach grammar?

Should we forget
grammar and only
teach vocabulary?
Vocabulary is arguably more important
..but do they get enough exposure?

Krashen's Input Hypothesis (1982)

Canadian immersion studies
(Swain 1985; Genesee 1987).

Conscious
knowledge of
grammar is seen to
help at different
stages.
Ellis 1994

Proponents of task-based
teaching all argue for a
place for pre-planned
grammar instruction in a
TBI framework.
Skehan, 2003; Willis & Willis, 2007; Ellis,
2006

In a skills approach conscious
knowledge is seen to serve as
a ‘crutch’ until language use
becomes proceduralised
(usable without conscious
effort).
Johnson, 1996, DeKeyser, 1998

Norris and
Ortega (2000)
meta-analysis

Gass and
Selinker (2008)
meta-analysis

Spada and
Tomita (2010)
meta-analysis

Do we need to
teach grammar
at all?
YES

If we teach
grammar, how
should we do it?

Creative Automaticity
Gatbonton, E. and Segalowitz, N. (1988) ‘Creative automatization: Principles for
promoting fluency within a communicative framework’, TESOL Quarterly, 22, 3.
‘The techniques for this approach are designed to
provide students with ample opportunities for
repetition and practice within a wholly communicative
context, without the shortcomings usually characteristic
of pattern drills or other more traditional methods’
http://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/?s=A+is+for

What isn’t so helpful...
• Teacher: I found the book.
• Students: I found the book.
• Teacher: Pen.
• Students: I found the pen.
• Teacher: Bought.
• Students: I bought the pen.

Example of a mindless gap fill..
Use the present perfect to complete these sentences:
1. I _______ ________ (see) the Eiffel Tower.
2. She ________ _________ (eat) snake.
3. They ________ __________ (swim) in the sea.
4. We ________ _________ (fill) in too many of these gap-fill
exercises………

Activities that promote creative
automaticity should be …
• genuinely communicative
• focused
• formulaic
• inherently repetitive

Some common examples…
• A class photo…
• Find someone who…
• What’s my line?
• What kind of animal am I? (“Do you have four legs?
Can you fly? Do you lay eggs?” etc).

Jill Hadfield’s ‘Creativity in the
language classroom’
Modern English Teacher
January 2012

When I am old…
When I’m an old woman, I will wear purple
And a red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me
And I will spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
and candles, and say we have no money for butter.
I will sit down on the pavement when I am tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I will go out in slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr1RU4SM2L8

I’ll definitely
I’ll
probably
I might
I’ll
I definitely won’t
I probably won’t
I might not
I won’t

When I am old, I won’t be quiet and I’ll bother
my neighbours. I might have a toy-boy.

When we are old we will definitely do many
crazy and dangerous things,
We will wear full make up from morning and we
will spend our money for a face lift.

When I am old, I’ll be a honarable person.
I’ll definitely lede the people and I’ll be self-
confident.

• genuinely communicative
• focused
• formulaic
• inherently repetitive

Present Perfect for experience
I’ve never been to India,
I’ve never been to France
I’ve never eaten frog’s legs
And I’ve never learnt to dance.
I’ve always lived in Birmingham
I’ve never been abroad
I’ve always lived at home
I’m getting rather bored.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbqXAwpAtLY

I've never been in Ireland.
But I've been in love with Irish man.
He had a huge talant to gain women's favor, but he was so mean.
He inculcated in me a taste for art and love for adventure.
Our love story was bright and unforgettable, but it finished with
a phrase "I'm sorry".
At parting he gave me a kiss with an fragrant of Irish legend.
I've never been in Italy.
But I've been in love with Italian.
He's been very clever, he's known many languages, but he's been
so nervous and so fault-finding person.
Well, we let as part friends.
He gave me gave me as a keepsake the 33 recipes for Italian
pasta and one recipe for happiness.

Alan Marsh’s article…
English Teaching Professional
March 2012
The Door to Spontaneity

Simple past tense questions..
Dates game – Did you / Were you..
1952 1989
1999 2011

Thrill Drills
Milada Krejewska’s blog
http://miladakrajewska.wordpress.com/

A picture paints a
thousand words….
few

What is inside?
There is…
There are…

It could be…
It might be..
It definitely isn’t…

It looks like ….
..he has…
..he is -ing….

It looks like ….
..it has… ..it is -ing….

It looks like ….
..it has…
..it is -ing….

It looks like ….
..they have…
..they are -ing….

Using odd pictures
How did this happen?

Thank you!
jo.gakonga@elt-training.com

NATECLA 2013 - Getting creative with grammar teaching

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