Module 2, Task 11: Summary

 

Congratulations on the successful completion of Module 2!

 

Watch the video summarizing the main themes discussed in Module 2. Click HERE Download HEREto download the transcript.

Transcript:

Navigating the grammar boat

In this Module, we asked you to explore ways of staging memorable grammar encounters for your students and help them ‘grammar’ their way to accuracy and fluency. Now, at the end of Week 2, we want to summarize the main points and draw your attention to some issues which, in our opinion, deserve to be further explored in teaching practice.

Do you want your grammar presentations to make a permanent impression on your students? Your answer is probably ‘yes, of course’, if we manage to do that, we’ll pave the way to students’ success. So, how can it be done?

There is no single recipe or formula for immediate success. However, there are many factors that can help us make the right decision for an individual group of students learning English in a specific place at a specific time.

1. Economy. Quantity does not automatically bring about a better quality.
   • Input should always be shorter than output. Students need to use language in order to learn it; longer input leaves less time for them to engage in learning.
   • Don’t teach things that are easy.
   • Keep it simple first, then expand.
     
     

2. Include explanations, examples, exercises, but keep in mind that:
   • You can arrange them in any order depending on the structure you want to present, lesson objective, your students, etc.
   • It is crucial to vary your approach. If you always present new grammar structures following the same procedure, students are more likely to switch off and stop paying attention. Keep surprising them!
     
     
3. Make sure you target different senses and include multiple ‘hooks’: give examples in context, use visuals, use timelines, use formulas, use videos, mime, etc. Approach the same pattern from many different learning angles.
   
   
4. Beware of overburden. If you plan for a first encounter with a grammar structure, attend to its core meaning. When you meet someone you like, you don’t disclose your entire life straight away. Rather, you present information that you consider most relevant for that person. It’s the same with grammar: start from the most relevant point for your students. You don’t have to tell them the entire truth all at once!
   
   
5. Engage students.
   • Present grammar in context. Isolated, decontextualized examples are likely to be quickly forgotten.
   • Use catchy, memorable examples – they are more likely to stay in students’ short-term memory for a longer period of time, and allow them time to transfer them to their long-term memory. These examples are easier to recall!
   • Personalize – ask students to use the target structure to say something about themselves.
   • Involve students in explanations. Check what they know! You can always fill in the missing gaps.
   • Engage students in discovery. Start from easy things, make sure that they are successful. ‘Scaffold’ them with guiding Socratic questions that support their noticing.
   • Provide input and output opportunities for students that are beyond the sentence level—they need to encounter and use the language not only in context or a situation, but also within written and spoken discourse (paragraphs, stories, discussions, conversations).
     
     
6. Plan carefully for meaningful practice:
   • Learning a language is acquiring a new skill (therefore, practice is a crucial element of language learning process).
   • Practice needs to be consistent and slow.
   • Practice should be related to a clear goal, to have purpose.
   • Practice needs to be balanced and varied.
   • Practice tasks need to be scaffolded (to progress from simple ones to harder ones).
   • Good practice activities are engaging, personalized, meaningful and memorable to students.
   • Practice activities can be sequenced in many ways. Their sequencing will depend on many factors, such as the students’ proficiency level, the difficulty of a grammar point, when it is to be taught during the semester or course.

Since language learning is not linear, it means that the students will need several encounters with a grammar point before they are able to use it automatically. Don’t forget to make these subsequent encounters varied, engaging and more demanding that the initial ones.

We have chosen only six threads which we thought will help you navigate safely in the ocean of learning, steer you away from troubled waters, and huge underwater rocks. Please keep in mind that rocks are not necessarily dangerous and are not an obstacle for learning. Over time, the wind and the rain will break them into small pieces. These small pieces will settle in layers at the bottoms of rivers, lakes and oceans. Over time, these layers and layers are squeezed together to make new rocks - sedimentary rocks. That’s the ultimate aim of learning: rock-solid knowledge. We’re sure you’ll know how to help your learners get there!

 

To cite this page:

World Learning. (2019). Module 2 Summary. In “Teaching Grammar Communicatively” [MOOC].