Techniques for presenting grammar

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 The teacher nds a song, which has examples of the target language. She
does a lead-in and plays the song once for gist. She then does a second
listening with a task that focuses on the target language, e.g. a gap-ll.
A@er feeding back on the gap-ll the teacher then focuses learners on the
form and use through guided discovery, elicita.on techniques or by
Using a song
explaining.

If I had a million dollars by the Barenaked Ladies

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The teacher uses this to show how a tense is related to .me.


Using a .meline

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 The teacher uses pictures to set the context and
elicits the target language.


Using visuals

He used to live...
Now he lives...
He used to eat...
Now he eats...
He used to drink...
Now he drinks...
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 The teacher uses things already in the classroom or brings in things that can
be used to draw out the target language.
For example, the teacher puts a range of things under a towel, e.g. keys, a
pencil, pens, a mobile phone, etc. She tells the learners she is going to li@ the
towel for a few seconds and they should remember everything they can. In
teams they brainstorm a list. She elicits pencil but models and drills, Theres
a pencil and then does the same for There are some keys. Teams then take
Using realia

turns to add to the list of things un.l everything has been recalled but the
teacher only accepts correct sentences with There is a... and There are
some

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 The teacher provides some model sentences related to themselves
or their friends/family.
For example, in one lesson, everyone brings in some photos of
themselves and their family. The teacher begins by showing one of
her own photos and describes who is the oldest, the youngest, the
Personalising

hardest worker, the funniest, etc. She then re-elicits the sentences
onto the board and elicits and highlights the grammar.
Learners use their own photos to prepare sentences and then tell
each other about their families.

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 The teacher writes the form of the grammar point onto the board
and explains to the class its use. He adds some examples to
illustrate the grammar.
Explaining directly

[subject] has/have always [past participle]...

My friend Sumi has always lived in Tokyo.

He has always spoken English at home.
The neighbours have always made too much noise.

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Prac.sing then presen.ng
The teacher gives a very structured exercise such as a subs.tu.on
table and the learners work together to produce sentences/ques.ons
and answers.
In this example, the learners are familiar with the vocabulary but not
with the like + noun/gerund structure. He does some open class
examples before the learners start.

swimming?
Do you like... playing tennis? Yes, I do.
cooking?
enjoy... pop music? No, I dont.
reading magazines?
taking photos?
playing computer games?

The teacher then focuses the learners on the structure and elicits the form
onto the whiteboard. He checks the use.

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 The teacher uses a text to highlight the target language. For
example, the text includes examples of the grammar point in
context, and the teacher writes true or false ques.ons using the
grammar and the learners write short answers. The teacher then
elicits the language from the learners and checks the form and
meaning before moving on to a prac.ce ac.vity.
Using a text

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 The teacher draws the following on the board:

Name Book/read Film/see Person/call/ TV programme/ Sport/played
mobile watched
Ahmed basketball
Using a chart

Maria

Jose brother

Isabel

She asks learners ques.ons with the form What/Who was the last? and
writes short answers in the boxes.

Once she has asked about ve learners, she asks the class what ques.on
she was asking. She elicits it onto the whiteboard and then focuses on the
form and use. She rubs o the answers; learners copy the empty table and
then ask each other ques.ons.

A@er this ac.vity, learners write ve sentences in their notebooks

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 A bilingual teacher points out a dierence in sentence structure in
Comparing L1 and L2 Spanish and English.

Angelica es mi hija. We don t need to

include the subject
Escribio esta novela. if it is understood.

Angelica is my daughter. We always need to

include the subject.
She wrote this novel.

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 The learners are asked to look at some examples of the target language in
context, e.g. in a reading text. The learners answer ques.ons that guide them
to discovering the form and/or use of the target language for themselves.

The following example was designed to introduce was and were to a group of Egyp.an
Guided discovery
learners:

1. Quickly read these paragraphs about two famous men and write on the line who they are.

A. ________________________________
He was born in 1918. His father was a postman and his mother was a housewife. They were a poor family. A@er school
he went to military college and then he became a general in the army. Then, together with a group of army ocers he
formed the Free Ocers, a secret organisa.on. In 1952, they overthrew the King and formed a government. From
1954 to 1956, he was the Prime Minister. Then, in 1956, he became the second President of Egypt. He was Egypt's
leader un.l 1970. He was one of the most important Arab leaders of the twen.eth century and he was very popular
with the Egyp.an people. He was only 52 when he died.

B. _______________________________
He was born in 1918 in Monafeya. He went to military college and then became an ocer in the Egyp.an army. In the
1940s he was also a businessman and a journalist. He was one of the Free Ocers too. He became President in 1971.
He was very successful in the 1973 war against Israel but a@er that, his peace policies with Israel werent very popular
in the Arab world. He was killed in 1982.

Check with your partner. Do you have the same answers? Now talk about which of these men you like most and why.
Look at the readings again and underline all the examples of the verb to be (was and were).
Do was and were describe the present .me or past .me?
For which subjects (I, you...) do we use was and were?
What kind of words (nouns, verbs, adjec.ves, etc.) come a@er was and were?
Look at the paragraphs above for examples.

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 Dictogloss is a classroom dicta.on ac.vity where learners are required to
reconstruct a short text by listening and no.ng down keywords, which are
then used as a base for reconstruc.on. In the classroom dictogloss is o@en
regarded as a mul.ple skills and systems ac.vity. Learners prac.se
listening, wri.ng and speaking (by working in groups) and use vocabulary,
grammar and discourse systems in order to complete the task.
Dictogloss

Example:
The teacher writes or selects a short passage that includes one or more examples of the new
grammar. The rst .me he reads it he may only give a gist task. He then tells the learners he will
read it again and their task is to write down keywords and then they will work in groups to
reconstruct the text. He dictates the text but reads at normal speed. Learners have to focus on
both meaning and form to do these tasks. A@er they have reconstructed the text, the teacher
focuses on the target language.

Example text for introducing the passive:

pyramids are visited by millions of people every year. They were built thousands of years ago by the ancient
The
EgypFans, although some people believe aliens built them! The pyramids have been badly damaged over the

centuries. The Great Pyramid was once covered with limestone but it was all removed in the fourteenth century to
the mosque of Sultan Hassan. Some Egyptologists believe the pharaoh is sFll buried inside it, and at the moment
build
special
cameras are being developed to look inside his tomb.


There are several websites that give lesson plans for dictogloss:
e.g. Do a keyword search for dictogloss on www.onestopenglish.com
Also see Resource Books for Teachers: Grammar DictaFon, R. Wajnryb, Oxford University Press, 1990

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End of presentation