Teaching Grammar

Goals and Techniques for Teaching Grammar

The goal of grammar instruction is to enable students to carry out their communication purposes. This goal has three implications:

  • Students need overt instruction that connects grammar points with larger communication contexts.
  • Students do not need to master every aspect of each grammar point, only those that are relevant to the immediate communication task.
  • Error correction is not always the instructor's first responsibility.

Overt Grammar Instruction

Adult students appreciate and benefit from direct instruction that allows them to apply critical thinking skills to language learning. Instructors can take advantage of this by providing explanations that give students a descriptive understanding (declarative knowledge) of each point of grammar.

  • Teach the grammar point in the target language or the students' first language or both. The goal is to facilitate understanding.
  • Limit the time you devote to grammar explanations to 10 minutes, especially for lower level students whose ability to sustain attention can be limited.
  • Present grammar points in written and oral ways to address the needs of students with different learning styles.

An important part of grammar instruction is providing examples. Teachers need to plan their examples carefully around two basic principles:

  • Be sure the examples are accurate and appropriate. They must present the language appropriately, be culturally appropriate for the setting in which they are used, and be to the point of the lesson.
  • Use the examples as teaching tools. Focus examples on a particular theme or topic so that students have more contact with specific information and vocabulary.

Relevance of Grammar Instruction

In the communicative competence model, the purpose of learning grammar is to learn the language of which the grammar is a part. Instructors therefore teach grammar forms and structures in relation to meaning and use for the specific communication tasks that students need to complete.

Compare the traditional model and the communicative competence model for teaching the English past tense:

Traditional: grammar for grammar's sake

  • Teach the regular -ed form with its two pronunciation variants
  • Teach the doubling rule for verbs that end in d (for example, wed-wedded)
  • Hand out a list of irregular verbs that students must memorize
  • Do pattern practice drills for -ed
  • Do substitution drills for irregular verbs

Communicative competence: grammar for communication's sake

  • Distribute two short narratives about recent experiences or events, each one to half of the class
  • Teach the regular -ed form, using verbs that occur in the texts as examples. Teach the pronunciation and doubling rules if those forms occur in the texts.
  • Teach the irregular verbs that occur in the texts.
  • Students read the narratives, ask questions about points they don't understand.
  • Students work in pairs in which one member has read Story A and the other Story B. Students interview one another; using the information from the interview, they then write up or orally repeat the story they have not read.

Error Correction

At all proficiency levels, learners produce language that is not exactly the language used by native speakers. Some of the differences are grammatical, while others involve vocabulary selection and mistakes in the selection of language appropriate for different contexts.

In responding to student communication, teachers need to be careful not to focus on error correction to the detriment of communication and confidence building. Teachers need to let students know when they are making errors so that they can work on improving. Teachers also need to build students' confidence in their ability to use the language by focusing on the content of their communication rather than the grammatical form.

Teachers can use error correction to support language acquisition, and avoid using it in ways that undermine students' desire to communicate in the language, by taking cues from context.

  • When students are doing structured output activities that focus on development of new language skills, use error correction to guide them.

Example: 
Student (in class): I buy a new car yesterday. 
Teacher: You bought a new car yesterday. Remember, the past tense of buy is bought.

  • When students are engaged in communicative activities, correct errors only if they interfere with comprehensibility. Respond using correct forms, but without stressing them.

Example: 
Student (greeting teacher) : I buy a new car yesterday! 
Teacher: You bought a new car? That's exciting! What kind?


Key Rules

1. Use Active Voice

Every human language starts an active sentence with the subject, or the "doer." In English, the verb (what's being done) follows the subject. If there is an object (the receiver of the action), it comes after the verb. The formula looks like this:

S+V+O. This rule is the foundation of the English language.

Here are some examples:

  • Mary walked the dog.
  • The dog liked Mary.
  • I did not like the dog.

2. Link Ideas with a Conjunction

Sometimes you want to link two ideas with a second S+V+O combination. When you do, you need a coordinating conjunction. The new formula looks like this:

S+V+O, COORDINATING CONJUNCTION+S+V+O

Coordinating conjunctions are easy to remember with an acronymic mnemonic device:

FANBOYS

  • For
  • And
  • Nor
  • But
  • Or
  • Yet
  • So

3. Use a Comma to Connect Two Ideas As One

FANBOYS are used when connecting two ideas as one in a single sentence, but don't forget the comma.

For example:

  • I do not walk Mary's dog, nor do I wash him.
  • Mary fed her dog, and I drank tea.
  • Mary feeds and walks her dog every day, but the dog is still hyperactive.

4. Use a Serial Comma in a List

The serial, or Oxford, comma is a controversial rule of grammar. Some want to eliminate it altogether while others just don't know how to use it. The serial comma is the last comma in a list, usually appearing before "and." The serial comma comes after "dog" in this sentence:

Pets R Us has lizards, dogs, and birds.

Commas separate units in a list. In the above case, each unit only has one part, so it's easy. Where people get confused is when the units are bigger, but the rule still applies:

Pets R Us has lizards and frogs, dogs and cats, and parakeets and macaws.

Notice that the serial comma comes before "and" but not the last "and" in the sentence. The "and" that follows the comma is only there because it sounds better. Grammatically, "and" is irrelevant. Only units matter.

5. Use the Semicolon to Join Two Ideas

A list of grammar rules has to include the scariest of punctuation marks. It might look funny, but don't be afraid of the semicolon; it's the easiest thing in the world to use! Say you want to join two ideas but can't figure out or can't be bothered to use a coordinating conjunction. The two ideas can be separate sentences, but you think that they are so closely connected; they really should be one. Use a semicolon.

  • Mary's dog is hyperactive; it won't stop barking or sit still.
  • My heart is like a cup of Lapsang Souchong tea; it's bitter and smoky.
  • Mary has to walk her dog every day; it is the most hyperactive dog anyone has ever seen.

6. Use the Simple Present Tense for Habitual Actions

The simple present is the tense you use for any habitual action. The things you always do or do every Tuesday are described with the simple present, which just means you pick the first form of any verb.

  • Mary likes dogs.
  • I don't walk Mary's dog.
  • Mary and I drink tea every Tuesday together.

7. Use the Present Progressive Tense for Current Action

The present progressive tense is for anything that is happening right now. All of the progressive tenses are easy to spot because their verbs always end with "-ing" and get a helping verb. A helping verb is just so we know who and when we're talking about. In the present progressive, the helping verbs are the present tense conjugations of "to be."

  • I am drinking Lapsang Souchong tea.
  • The barking dogs outside are driving me crazy.
  • Mary is playing with her hyperactive dog.

8. Add "ed" to verbs for the Past Tense

When we talk about the past, we have to add an "-ed" to regular verbs to make the second form. Irregular verbs are tricky and have their own sets of rules. Drink, for example, turns to "drank." Most of the time, though, "-ed" will do.

  • I drank a lot of Lapsang Souchong tea yesterday, but Mary didn't.
  • The dogs stopped barking two seconds ago, and I am feeling better.
  • Mary played fetch with her hyperactive dog.

9-11. Use Perfect Tenses

Practice makes perfect with the perfect tenses. Here are three rules to finish the 11 rules of grammar. If you remember these, you'll be well on your way to perfection.

9. Use Present Perfect for the Unfinished Past

The present perfect can be confusing for some, but it is one of the most important rules of grammar. When people talk about things that have already happened but consider the time in which they occurred to be unfinished, they use the third form of the verb with a helping verb. The helping verb for the present perfect is the present tense conjugation of "to have."

  • I have drunk three cups of Lapsang Souchong tea today.
  • Mary's hyperactive cur dog has bitten me three times so far.
  • Mary has walked her hyperactive poodle 100 times this week.

Unfortunately, the only way to know the third forms of verbs is to remember them.

10. Use Present Perfect Progressive for Unfinished Action and Past

When the action as well as the time is considered unfinished, the verb loads up on third form helping verbs ("to be" and "to have") and changes to the progressive form.

  • Western countries have been waging wars in the Middle East for thousands of years.
  • I have been drinking tea all day.
  • Mary's dog has been barking like crazy since it was born.

11. Use Past Perfect for the First of Two Past Actions

When two things happen in the past, we have to mark which one happened first. The one that happened first changes to third form and gets the helping verb, "had."

  • By the time I drank one cup of Lapsang Souchong, Mary's dog had barked a million times.
  • I had not yet eaten breakfast when Mary walked her dog.
  • He could not pay for lunch because he had lost his wallet.

How to Write Correct Sentences
Basic English Grammar Help

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If you are unsure where to put full stops you need some basic English grammar help. You should always keep in mind that writing is about communication. Keeping your written work clear and simple will make it easier for the reader to understand.



Where do full stops go?

You need to understand what a complete sentence is in order to know where to put the full stops. For any sentence to be grammatically correct it must have, two things, a subject and a verb.


What is a subject, and what is a verb?

The subject is the person or thing you are writing about. It can be:

  • You
  • Me
  • Him
  • Her
  • John
  • Sarah

Etc.

It can also be things like:

  • A house
  • A tree
  • A guitar

Therefore the subject of a sentence can be almost anything.


What is a verb?

The verb is what the subject is doing.

For example:

John is driving.

This is an example of a very short sentence. It is grammatically correct because it includes both john (the subject) and driving (the verb).

Therefore a verb is something you do. It could be:

  • Walking
  • Running
  • Sitting
  • Cutting
  • Talking

Etc.

Basically any word you can add ‘ing’ to the end of.



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Verbs of being:

Existing and just being alive is something we are all constantly doing. Therefore it is a verb.

For example:

I am Brendan.

This is a grammatically correct sentence because it has both the ‘I’ (the subject) and ‘am’ (the verb). The sentence is simply saying that I exist as a person called Brendan. I’ve been doing it all my life and will continue to do it till the day I die. That is why it is called a verb of being.

Other examples include:

  • You are mad.
  • She is tall.
  • The wall is thick.

Therefore whenever a person or thing exists in time and space it is doing something, it is existing.

The point is, you must make sure a sentence always has, both, a subject and a verb before you give it a full stop.

A good way to think about it is, if a sentence you have written seems too long try breaking it into two pieces. If both parts have a subject and verb you’ve got two sentences.


Conclusion:

I Hope you found this basic English grammar help useful. You should now have a clearer idea of how to break your writing down into sentences, and understand where to put full stops.