1. Grammar and
Oral
Language
Development
(GOLD)
Elnie D. Tuyugon

2. What is Grammar?
Rules for language: the system of rules by which
words are formed and put together to make
sentences.
Encarta Dictionaries

3. Rationale and Objectives of
GOLD
 Encompasses the idea that students should be taught
skills in speaking and grammar based on the reading
selection as a springboard.
 The teaching of grammar skills is not a separate lesson
by itself but is a lesson that is built on the reading
selection.

4. Grammar and Its Dimension
Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999)
– define grammar as a way that accounts for both
the structure of the target language and its communicative
use.
- presented the three dimensions as form,
meaning and use (F-M-U)

6. Teaching Grammar
In addition to contributing to or knowledge concerning the
effectiveness of formal instruction, current studies being
conducted relative to the teaching of grammar have
enabled researchers to suggest preliminary guidelines
concerning the choice of grammatical structures to be
targeted by pedagogies intervention as well as the timing
and intensiveness of such intervention.

7. Traditional Grammar
Focuses on the analysis of the
parts of a well-formed
sentence, with emphasis on the
surface structure and not the
meaning.
Contemporary Linguistics
Collection of special areas and
theories designed to correct
problems with traditional
grammar (ex. Morphology,
syntax, semantics)
Prescriptive Grammar
Focuses on rules
governing grammar,
mechanics and usage.
Descriptive Grammar
Observes and records how
language is used in function and
advocates teaching the function
or use of grammatical structure.

8.  These theories significantly guide grammar instruction.
 It influence the approaches, strategies and activities
employed in the class.
 All these help in the learner’s communicative
competence

9. 3 Implications on Goal of Grammar:
1. Students need overt instruction that connects grammar
points with larger communication context.
2. Students do not need to master every aspect of each
grammar point.
3. Correction is not always the instructor’s first
responsibility.

10. Overt Grammar Instruction or
Direct Instruction
 Teaching the grammar point in the target language or the
student’s first language or both is a key to this.
 This is to facilitate understanding.
 Limiting the time teachers devote to grammar
explanations to ten minutes.

11. Another important part of grammar instruction is by
providing examples. It should be based on the following
principles:
 Accuracy and appropriateness of examples.
Examples must present the language appropriately, be
appropriate for the setting are and be straight to the point
of lesson.
o Examples as teaching tools. Examples should be
focused more on a particular topic. Examples should be
context-based.

12. Relevance of the Grammar
Lesson to its context
Teacher’s should teach grammar forms and
structures in relation to meaning and use for the
specific communication tasks that students need
to complete.

13. Fluency first before accuracy
Fluency (the ability to speak and write easily in English)
while
Accuracy (speaking and writing with correct grammar,
knowing when to use the simple past etc.)
They are both necessary in mastering English.

14. Think about it:
How can you
correct a
student
(accuracy) if
the student
can’t speak
(fluency)?

15. At the beginning of learning English, it’s the number
of words that you use to express yourself that gives a
sense of achievement and pride. As you want to sound
more like a native speaker, you will need to become more
accurate.

16. Tip to Increase your Fluency:
Practice using new vocabulary right
away in sentences.

17. Tip to Increase your Accuracy:
During a conversation in English, ask a native
speaker or an advanced ESL student to correct a
grammar mistake in one sentence. But only one. If you
expect them to constantly correct you, they won’t want to
speak to you very often.
When you’re corrected outside the lesson, you’ll
remember the correction better.

18. Oral Language Development
by MacDonald

19. Stages in Oral Language Development
Stage 1 Infant A child at this stage smiles socially, imitates facial expressions,
coos, cries, babbles, plays with sounds, develops intonation and
repeats syllables.
Stage 2 18
months
A child at this stage responds to specific songs, uses, two-word
sentences, depends on the intonation and gesture, understands
simple questions and points names objects in pictures.
Stage 3 2 – 3
years
old
A child at this stage begins to use pronouns and propositions, uses
“no”, remembers names of objects and generalizes.
Stage 4 3 – 4
years
old
A child at this stage communicates needs, asks questions, begins
to enjoy humour, has much better articulation , begins true
conversations, responds to directional commands, knows parts of
songs, can retell a story, speaks in 3 and 4 word sentences,
acquiring the rules of grammar and learns sophisticated words
heard in adult conversation.
Stage 5 4 – 5
years
old
A child at this stage has a tremendous vocabulary, uses irregular
noun and verb forms, talks with adults on adult level in 4 – 8 word
sentences, giggles over nonsense words, engages in imaginative
play using complex oral scripts, tell longer stories, recounts in
sequence the day’s events and uses silly and profane language to

20. Children learn the rules of the language at an
early age through use without formal instruction.
Children learn the specific variety of language
that significant people around them speak.
Children work through linguistic rules on their
own because they use forms that adults never
use.
Children seem born not just to speak, but also to
interact socially.

21. Components of Oral Language:
 Phonology
 Semantics
 Syntax
 Pragmatics

22. Phonological component
 involves the rules for combining sounds.

23. Morphological component
 is made up of morphemes. The smallest units
of meaning that may be combined with each
other to make up words.

24. Syntactic component
 consists of the rules that enable us to combine
morphemes into sentences. As soon as the child uses
two morphemes together, as in “more crackers”, he is
using a syntactic rule about how morphemes are
combined to convey meaning.

25. Pragmatics
 which deals with rules of language use.
 its rules are part of our communicative competence, our
ability to speak appropriately in different situations.
 Learning pragmatic rules is as important as learning the
rules of the other components of language since people
are perceived and judged based on both what they say
and how and when they say it.

26. Teaching Speaking
The goal of teaching speaking is communicative
competence.
Learners should make themselves understood by
others.

27. Experts suggest balanced
activities of these three domains
 Language input
 Structured output
 Communicative output

28. Language input
 Comes in the form of teacher talk, listening activities,
reading passages and the language heard and read
outside of class
 It gives learners the material they need to begin
producing language themselves.

29. It may be:
 Content-oriented – focuses on information, whether it is
a simple weather report or an extended lecture on an
academic topic.

30.  Form-oriented – focuses on ways of using the
language: guidance from the teacher or another source
on vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar; appropriate
things to say in specific contexts; expectations for the
rate of speech, pause, length, turn-taking, and other
social aspects of language use; and explicit instruction in
phrases to use to ask for clarification and repair
miscommunication.

31. Structured output
 Focuses on correct form.
 Students may have options for responses, but all of the
options require them to use the specific form or structure
that the teacher has just introduced.

32. Communicative output
 The learners’ main purpose is to complete a task such as
creating a video. To complete a task, they may use the
language that the instructor has just presented, but they
also may draw on any other vocabulary, grammar and
communication strategies.
 Accuracy is not a consideration unless the lack of it
interferes with the message.