Alternative ways of teaching grammar

Grammar can be fun! Alternative ways of teaching grammarBy Liliana Nederita

Do you like to teach grammar?

Do your students like the grammar topics?

How do you make teaching grammar fun?

March, 4th is World Grammar Day!

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Mention the word "grammar" and students will cringe. In fact, most teachers will cringe, too. Claudia Pesce

Is Grammar Really Important for a Second Language Learner?

Grammar is the backbone of a language Grammar provides you with the structure you need in order to organize and put your messages and ideas across.

It is the railway through which your messages will be transported. Without it, in the same way as a train cannot move without railways, you wont be able to convey your ideas to their full extension without a good command of the underlying grammar patterns and structures of the language10

Teaching grammar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn_eBrIDUuc

Our primary goal as second language teachers must be to create users of the language, not linguists!

How to teach grammar?

Traditional Way

Multiple Intelligence Theory Howard Gardner

Alternative Ways

Make it an authentic taskIntroduce the formFind all the Passive Voice structures in the given newspaper article.Breaking News! Create and shoot your own news! (use PV)

Using HumourGrammar fails

Gamesverb adverb charadeshttp://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/04/lp334-02.shtml

Pair Editing

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/TM/WS_lp334-04b-download.pdf

Get your sentences in orderFor younger childrenthe A swims on duck pond. Write on individual slips of paper, get Ss to put the words in the correct order

VariationUse movement put words around the room, make it a race.

hot potato, musical chairsMaking up sentencesSaying statements with a certain grammar structure: I have got a ...

Stick under the chair a personal pronoun, whoever gets the hot potato when the music stops has to take the pronoun and give a possessive (for e.g.)

Grammar Riddles John has been speaking on the phone for 2 hours. Alice has spoken on the phone.Ann is always speaking on the phone.Drew usually speaks on the phone.

Who is not necessarily on the phone now? Whose action annoys the writer? Who is actually on the phone now?

Grammar Riddles1. John is going to see a doctor about his liver problems. 2. Alice is seeing a doctor about her pregnancy.3. Ann said I will see a doctor as soon as the problem occurs again.4. Drew is always seeing doctors.

Who actually made an appointment with the doctor?

When John came home at 8 pm the apartment had already been ransacked by the burglars.Alice was on her way when the apartment was being ransacked by the burglars.Ann would have been home if she hadnt been held in traffic.Drew will have got home by 8 pm.

Who had the highest chance of finding the burglars in the apartment.

John has been working on painting the house for 3 years.Alice had painted the house before Christmas holidays.Ann has painted the house.Drew is painting the house blue; he has already bought the paint.

Who didnt even start painting the house?

TaskSolve the given riddles

Contribute - Make your own

Share - Present it to the audience

Using timelines

Timeline online toolsTIMELINEhttp://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/timeline-30007.html

timeglider https://timeglider.com/

Task:

Make a timeline

Speak about inventions using Past Perfect (6th Form), Past Perfect Continuous (7th form)

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/71/da/9d/71da9d6240e2855bde2c26808b2614d0.jpgdiscovery technique

Example

New Headway 4th Edition (Elementary)

Task:Work in groupsFill in the list

Mad Libs teaching parts of speech

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f7/7b/49/f77b492883b5eba4ad64b3ed02a51964.jpg

Board Games So whats the question? (5th form)Personal Questions

Public Place Questions

Playing Cards

Task:Work in groups of 4-5

Play cards

Practice the Do you ? question form and the short answers

Tense tentsTo help your child understand verb tenses, draw some tense tents on pieces of paper. Write down some verbs in their various tenses present (e.g. play), past (played), future (will play), future continuous (will be playing) and so on and get your child to move the verbs into the correct tent.

Bob ObeeThe Grammar Activity BookP. 22

Spontaneous/on spot games no preparation neededPracticing short answersAre you? Yes, I amNo, I am notDo you?Yes, I doNo, I dontWhat is it? Is it a? Yes it is. No it isnt

Using SongsStructures (especially modals and conditionals) and tenses are often repeated in the song. Blank these out as reinforcement of the grammar.

Videos

Advertisements, news, announcement etc.Passive Voice

Conversation GamesCorrupt a wishStudent 1: I wish I were taller.Student 2: If you were taller, then you would hit your head on many things. (Second Conditional)

Task:Everyone makes a wish

Take each wish that has been stated and corrupt it

Chain GamesConditional sentencesThe teacher begins with a sentence, for example If I meet Jack I will invite him to the conference. The next student must use the end of the previous sentence to begin their own sentence. Eg S1If I invite him to the conference, he will be pleased. S2 If he is pleased he might invite me to his party S3 If he invites me to his party I will meet his sister

Past ContinuousS1 At 5 oclock last night I was taking a shower.S2 While he was taking a shower, I was playing cards.

Celebrity biographiesTo see the difference between past simple, past perfect, present perfect use

Do and donts in teaching grammar

1. real language and real situations in context

2. Initial focus on gist, not form

3. Focus on more specific meaning

4. focus on very specific meaning

5. Analysis and systematization - learn how to use it

6. exercises to practice the new structure

7. homework - to revise

8. opportunities to practice - in REAL or REALISTIC communicative situations

9. Recycle and mention the topic again as many times as necessary

DontSpend your entire class period lecturing your students.

DontBe afraid to drift from your lesson plans

DontFail to offer variety

Dont Get stuck in a routine

Online tools for fun grammarNoRedLink https://www.noredink.com/teach/tour

http://www.funenglishgames.com/grammargames.html

ReferencesJulio Foppoli Is Grammar Really Important for a Second Language Learner? retrieved from http://www.eslbase.com/teaching/grammar-important-second-language-learnerImportance of Teaching English Grammar, retrieved from http://www.wordsworthelt.com/blog/importance-of-teaching-english-grammar/The Grammar Gorillashttps://www.funbrain.com/grammar/index.htmlGrammar Byteshttp://www.chompchomp.com/menu.htmClassroom Songs 16 Creative Wayshttp://busyteacher.org/2728-classroom-songs-16-creative-ways.htmlby Andrei ZakhareuskiHow to Make Your Grammar Lessons a Little More Interestinghttp://busyteacher.org/7765-how-to-make-grammar-lessons-more-interesting.htmlhttps://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/conditional-chain-game