presenting & practicing grammar

Presenting Grammar (1)

• Imagine you are trying to learn how to use a new piece of computer software. Do you prefer:

– To be told how to do it?

– To be shown how to do it?

– To read about how to do it in the manual?

– To try using it and find out for yourself?

– A combination of these?

– Would you learn the grammar of another language following the same principles? Why/Why not?


• Which lesson did you prefer? Why?

• Which word(s) sum up the approach of each lesson?– Demonstration

– Personalisation

– Situation

– Examples

– Explanation

– Text


• Why do you think the teacher asks Do we know for sure?

• Why does the teacher highlight the spoken form before the written form?

• What is the teacher’s purpose in asking Tell me about the grammar of ‘left’. What is this?


• Involve learners in the process as much as possible

• Check that learners have understood the meaning

• Give a lecture about grammar• Always use the same presentation technique• Highlight the form• Remember that different learners may have

different preferences for how new language items are presented


• A good grammar presentation should…

Checking Understanding

• Do you understand?

• Do we say ‘used to’ when we talk about things we used to do or things we do now?

• Translate into the student’s mother tongue

• Concept checking

• Practice activities

Concept checking

• I’m going to Hong Kong by plane

• When I met Emily at the coffee shop, she said had broken up with Chris

• If I was president, I would be very happy


• Draw timelines for these sentences

– The business will have closed down by the end of the year

– I’ll still be lying here when you go back to work

– I’ve been working there for ages

– By the time I met her, she had broken up with Chris


• In what ways are the practice activities similar and in what ways are they different?

• In each activity, is the emphasis on practising the form, the meaning or both?

• What language skills (speaking, reading, writing, listening) are practised in each activity?


• What stages in the presentation can you identify?• Is the new language contextualised?• Is the meaning made clear?• Is the form highlighted?• Are there any practice activates that focus on the

form?• Are there any practice activities that focus on the

meaning?• Do you like the material?• Do you think the material is suitable for your leaners?

If not, in what ways could it be adapted?

Practising new language

• Do you think that either of these learning experiences compares the experience of learning a language? For example, what is the role of practice?

• In your own experience in learning an second language, what kinds of practice were helpful?


• Can you remember an instance of a choral drill (when all the class was drilled together)?

• Can you remember examples of individual drills?

• What was the purpose of the drills?

• Was all the new language drilled? Why/why not?

• How did you feel, being drilled?

• Make two lists: the pros of drilling, and the cons of drilling. Compare your lists with other pairs.

Write a sentence beginning with If for each of the following instructions

1. I was late for the interview. I didn't get the job

2. Wayne broke his foot. He didn’t play in the final

3. The police officer dropped hid gun. The prisoner escaped.


• Explain the possible advantages of a practice activity that is:

– repetitive

– contextualised

– interactive

– communicative

– personalised

– fun


• Why do learners need to practise language if they already know the rules?

• How would you respond if learners made errors in the sort of activities you have seen in this unit?

• As well as the sort of practice activities you have seen in this unit, what other types of practice activity would you need for a balanced lesson?

• Is there a correct order for sequencing practice activities? What factors might influence a teacher's decision as to which practice activities to use, and when?

presenting & practicing grammar

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