Skills and grammar: how do they go

together? How can we teach them?

How can we assess them?Michael Carroll, Momoyama Gakuin University, Osaka

carroll@andrew.ac.jp

slides at http://www.slideshare.net/tokutaisei/Skills-and-Grammar

What this workshop is about

• When we learn a language should we begin by

teaching grammar rules and then practice using

those rules, or should we begin by

communicating in the language, and then teach

the grammar rules as the students need them?

• In this workshop we will try out the second way:

practical techniques for teaching form (grammar)

through communication skills.

Language = sound (words) +

grammar

• Of course, when we learn a language we need to

learn these sounds (words) and how to put the

words together (grammar).

• Sometimes we need to teach words and grammar

explicitly. (by explaining)

• We can also do it implicitly (indirectly, by

doing).

Can we teach beginners

indirectly?

• Some people think that for beginners, explicit

teaching of grammar rules is the only kind of

teaching we can do.

• However, even at the beginning stage, implicit

learning (doing) is as effective as explicit

learning (explaining). (Both are necessary, of

course.)

Speaking a language is a

practical skill

• Think of learning to ride a bicycle.

• Is it better to listen to a lecture about bicycle

riding, or is it better to get on the bicycle and try?

A lecture

• Mother: First sit on the bike, and to start off, push

the pedals with your feet. Keep pushing the

pedals round and the bike will go forward. When

you want to stop, stop pedaling, pull the brake

lever slowly and the bicycle will slow down and

stop.

Get on and try!

• Child: Mummy, why did I fall off?

• Mother: You put the brake on too quickly, and you

forgot to put your foot down. Next time, try and

brake more slowly, and put your foot down, like

this.

Learning a language is like

learning to ride a bicycle:

• it’s a practical skill and we learn most through

practice and experience. Riding a bicycle is about

moving your body; speaking a language is about

moving your mouth (and your body).

Speaking is something we do

for a reason: to communicate.

• We ride bicycles for a reason: to get from A to B.

We speak for a reason: to communicate our

ideas.

• If students speak in class in order to

communicate things they want to say, they will

want to speak, and will learn grammar and

vocabulary naturally, without thinking.

Dictogloss

• Choose a short text (3-5 sentences). Tell the

students the topic. Explain, and write on the

board, any difficult words, or names, in the text.

Read the text two or three times at natural

speaking speed. Give the students these

instructions:

Listen and write keywords

• The first time, students should just listen and try

to understand the meaning. After listening they

can write down any words they remember.

• The second time the students should write down

key words, as they listen.

• The third time they should check the words they

have written down, and correct them if necessary.

Reconstruct

• Then , in groups of 3-4 people, they should ‘re-

construct’ the text, using the keywords they wrote

down, and using the grammar in their own heads

to make good English sentences.

• The texts that the students re-construct should be

in correct English, but they do not have to be

exactly the same as the original text: the meaning

should be the same, but the grammar can be

different.

Here’s an example of a text that

you could use for Dictogloss.

• The text can be anything at all, but it must be at

the right level for it’s audience: not too difficult,

but challenging. This one’s for teachers teaching

a language that’s not their first. For students, of

course, you’d need to make an text that’s at their

level.

like this one, for elementary

students:

• Today we’re going to read pages twenty-seven

and twenty-eight of the textbook. First, please

look at the questions at the top of the page.

How do students learn

grammar from this?

Consider this sentence from the first text:

This one’s for teachers teaching a language that’s not

their first

• This one/that one

• NOUN + ~ing (teachers teaching/teachers who teach)

• NOUN that is (not) its/his/her/my/your/their +

SUPERLATIVE (a language that’s not their own)

or this one, from the elementary text:

Today we’re going to read pages twenty-seven and

twenty-eight of the textbook.

• ‘going to’ vs ‘will’ for future

• the ’s’ after ‘page’

• pages 28/29 vs 28/29 pages

Theatre journals

Excerpt from one student’s journal:

How the Boy Caught Ten Fish

(1) I went to the park yesterday. (2) It was very fun. (3)

I got 10 fish. (4) 5 was little big (5) 5 of them was big.

(6) I keep 5 of the little fish. (7) When I pell the fish up I

amost fell into the water but my dad gabblet my shert.

(11-12-98)

(From Ellen Lipp, 2001, “Building a Cross-Cultural Community of Learners and Writers

through Pen Pal Journals”, in Burton J and Carroll M (eds) Journal Writing TESOL

Publications. )

• Who did the boy go with?

• What was the weather like?

• What were the boy and his

father going to do at the park?

• What happened next?

• (1) I went to the park yesterday. (2)

It was very fun. (3) I got 10 fish. (4)

5 was little big (5) 5 of them was

big. (6) I keep 5 of the little fish. (7)

When I pell the fish up I amost fell

into the water but my dad gabblet

my shert. (11-12-98)

Expanded narrative:

(1) I went to the park yesterday

with my dad. It was a sunny

day. We were going to go

fishing. (2) It was very fun. (3) I

got 10 fish. (4) 5 was quite big

(5) 5 of them was very big. (6) I

kept 5 of the little fish. (7) When I

pulled the fish up I almost fell

into the water but my dad

grabbed my shirt. I didn’t fall

in. We went home.

(1) I went to the park yesterday. (2) It

was very fun. (3) I got 10 fish. (4) 5

was little big (5) 5 of them was big. (6)

I keep 5 of the little fish. (7) When I

pell the fish up I amost fell into the

water but my dad gabblet my shert.

(11-12-98)

How do students learn

grammar from this?

First, they learn, from the questions, that

communicating the meaning is more important

Second, they learn that some errors are more

important than others:

• pell ——> pulled

• gabblet ——-> grabbed

• little big ——-> quite big (vs very big)