Teaching language construction

Studying structure and use

• Comprises:
• - The morphology of the forms
• - The syntax of phrases, clause ans sentences
• - Vocabulary, including the meaning of words, lexical grammar and collocation rules.
• - The meanings and functions that phrases and sentences can convey
• - Pronunciation
• - Spelling

Language study in lesson sequences

• The role of language study depends on why and when it occurs. It coud be the main focus of the lesson or just an element in the sequence.
• One approach is for Ss to study language in a variety of ways, explore a topic and then use the language to perform a task related to the topic. Another, study of language forms happens during a task-based sequence. Third option, study forms after the task. > language repair.
• Rather than focusing on study on straight arrows, we will often find "boomerang" and "patchwork" more suitable.
• Opportunistic study: making the most of opportunities arising which are impossible to ignore.
• Opportunistic teaching: studying language that suddenly comes up. > when used appropiately, the relevance and immediacy of opportunistic landguage study may make it the most memorable and effective kind of language teaching there is.

Choosing study activities

• Folowing planning principles: Think about the activites coming before and after. Varied diet of exercises. Bear in mind learning preferences. Sustain motivation.
• Assessing a language study activity for use in class: TITO (Time in time out). Achives the aim and is efficacious.
• Evaluating a study activity after use: Formally or informally keep a record of our classes. Action research. Evaluate > efficacy, economy, appropiacy. > How might we modify the activity next time we use it.
• Known or unknown language
• Ss will almost always have some degree of linguistic knowledge and ability in English. They also learn at different speeds and in different ways. > Mixed ability classes.
• Many times, it is nearly impossible to know if the forms are new or not for individual students. > find out this information. > avoid teaching what they already know or assuming a knowledge they do not have.
• Have the students perform tasks and see how well they use the forms in question.
• Attempt to elicit > if unsuccessful we can treat the language as genuinely new.

Explain and practice

• Deductive approach. > PPP and straight arrows.
• Explain things
• In the explanation stage we will demonstrate both meaning and language construction.
• Explaining meaning: Show it. Mime, gesture. Explain past / future. facial expressions and body language. Pictures. Diagrams. Defining a word. synonyms and antonyms., what kind of thing a word is. List of vocabulary items to explain concepts (caring professions - doctor, nurse...). Check (or concept) questions - think of hypothetical conditional. We can use one or a mixture, check questions are specially important to determine if the expleantion has been successful.
• Explaining language construction: model sentences and phrases before isolating items. Modify one of the isolated fragments and focus on its construction.
• T models> Isolation > (Modification) > T returens to isolated element > T models.

Practice (accurate reproduction)

• Repetition: choral or individual. First choral and conducted by the tecacher > increasingly free until individual.
• Not nominating ss in a predictable way > keep them on their toes.
• Mumbling > practicin first to themselves. > how it feels to say the new language.
• Drills: Ss have done enough repetition. cue-response session > controlled practice. Cues can be verbal or non-verbal. > pair work.
• Meet, need, and practice
• Sometimes language study happens almost by accident and it often provides the best context for learning. Allow students to bring language to the classroom > interest is a powerful contributor to the possibility of remembering new language. > Community language leaning. They will, however, still need opportunities to practice, review and recycle.

Discover and practice

• inductive apporach > examples of language and try to work out how it is put together. > boomerang - especially apropiate where language study arises out of skills work or reading/listening tasks.
• Dicovery activities
• Many people think that the language they understand in this way is more powerfully learnt. Not all students feel confortable wih this approach. A lot will depend on their level. > more appropiate for ss who already have certain amount of language available to them for the first activation stage.
• Useful when ss are looking at the construction of specific language for the second or third time. > detective work intended to expand and deepn their knowledge and revise things they are already familiar with.

Research and practice

• Consult a dictionary, looking up both the verb and the various parts of the body to see if they appear to collocate. > use a seacrch engine to see if collocations work.
• When ss research language, they are far more likely to remember what they find out than if they sit passively and are given words.
• Ask them to use tha language they have discovered> Avoid over-drilling.
• Review and recycle
• Just because the ss have met some new language in a lesson, this does not mean they have learnt it. If their affect is positivewhen they see new language, they are certainly more likely to remember the language for a time. But only for a time.
• For language to make the transition from the short-term memory to the long-term memory, ss need to encounter it repeatedly. > Spaced out repetition.
• Review sections where language is recycled in this way. keep a record of what has been lerant. Provide opportunities for ss to see and use it in subsequnt lessons and tasks. > Students need to be reminded frequently of things they have studied.