Techniques for presenting grammar

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 The  teacher  finds  a  song,  which  has  examples  of  the  target  language.  She  
does  a  lead-­‐in  and  plays  the  song  once  for  gist.  She  then  does  a  second  
listening  with  a  task  that  focuses  on  the  target  language,  e.g.  a  gap-­‐fill.  
A@er  feeding  back  on  the  gap-­‐fill  the  teacher  then  focuses  learners  on  the  
form  and  use  through  guided  discovery,  elicita.on  techniques  or  by  
Using  a  song      
explaining.    
 

“If  I  had  a  million  dollars”  by  the  Barenaked  Ladies  

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The  teacher  uses  this  to  show  how  a  tense  is  related  to  .me.    
 
 
Using  a  .meline  

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 The  teacher  uses  pictures  to  set  the  context  and    
elicits  the  target  language.    
 
 
Using  visuals  

He used to live...
Now he lives...
He used to eat...
Now he eats...
He used to drink...
Now he drinks...
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 The  teacher  uses  things  already  in  the  classroom  or  brings  in  things  that  can  
be  used  to  draw  out  the  target  language.    
For  example,  the  teacher  puts  a  range  of  things  under  a  towel,  e.g.  keys,  a  
pencil,  pens,  a  mobile  phone,  etc.  She  tells  the  learners  she  is  going  to  li@  the  
towel  for  a  few  seconds  and  they  should  remember  everything  they  can.  In  
teams  they  brainstorm  a  list.  She  elicits  pencil  but  models  and  drills,  There’s  
a  pencil  and  then  does  the  same  for  There  are  some  keys.  Teams  then  take  
Using  realia  

turns  to  add  to  the  list  of  things  un.l  everything  has  been  recalled  but  the  
teacher  only  accepts  correct  sentences  with  There  is  a...  and  There  are  
some…  
 

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 The  teacher  provides  some  model  sentences  related  to  themselves  
or  their  friends/family.    
For  example,  in  one  lesson,  everyone  brings  in  some  photos  of  
themselves  and  their  family.  The  teacher  begins  by  showing  one  of  
her  own  photos  and  describes  who  is  the  oldest,  the  youngest,  the  
Personalising  

hardest  worker,  the  funniest,  etc.  She  then  re-­‐elicits  the  sentences  
onto  the  board  and  elicits  and  highlights  the  grammar.    
Learners  use  their  own  photos  to  prepare  sentences  and  then  tell  
each  other  about  their  families.  

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 The  teacher  writes  the  form  of  the  grammar  point  onto  the  board  
and  explains  to  the  class  its  use.  He  adds  some  examples  to  
illustrate  the  grammar.    
Explaining  directly  

[subject] has/have always [past participle]...

My friend Sumi has always lived in Tokyo.

He has always spoken English at home.
The neighbours have always made too much noise.

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Prac.sing  then  presen.ng  
The  teacher  gives  a  very  structured  exercise  such  as  a  subs.tu.on  
table  and  the  learners  work  together  to  produce  sentences/ques.ons  
and  answers.    
In  this  example,  the  learners  are  familiar  with  the  vocabulary  but  not  
with  the  like  +  noun/gerund  structure.  He  does  some  open  class  
examples  before  the  learners  start.  

      …swimming?    
Do  you…   like...   …playing  tennis?   Yes,  I  do.  
    …cooking?    
  enjoy...   …pop  music?   No,  I  don’t.  
…reading  magazines?  
…taking  photos?  
…playing  computer  games?    

The  teacher  then  focuses  the  learners  on  the  structure  and  elicits  the  form  
onto  the  whiteboard.  He  checks  the  use.    
 

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 The  teacher  uses  a  text  to  highlight  the  target  language.  For  
example,  the  text  includes  examples  of  the  grammar  point  in  
context,  and  the  teacher  writes  true  or  false  ques.ons  using  the  
grammar  and  the  learners  write  short  answers.  The  teacher  then  
elicits  the  language  from  the  learners  and  checks  the  form  and  
meaning  before  moving  on  to  a  prac.ce  ac.vity.    
Using  a  text  

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 The  teacher  draws  the  following  on  the  board:  
   
Name   Book/read   Film/see   Person/call/ TV  programme/ Sport/played  
mobile   watched  
Ahmed   basketball  
Using  a  chart  

Maria  

Jose   brother  

Isabel  

She  asks  learners  ques.ons  with  the  form  What/Who  was  the  last…?  and  
writes  short  answers  in  the  boxes.    
 
Once  she  has  asked  about  five  learners,  she  asks  the  class  what  ques.on  
she  was  asking.  She  elicits  it  onto  the  whiteboard  and  then  focuses  on  the  
form  and  use.  She  rubs  off  the  answers;  learners  copy  the  empty  table  and  
then  ask  each  other  ques.ons.    
 
A@er  this  ac.vity,  learners  write  five  sentences  in  their  notebooks    
 

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 A  bilingual  teacher  points  out  a  difference  in  sentence  structure  in  
Comparing  L1  and  L2   Spanish  and  English.  

Angelica es mi hija. We don t need to

include the subject
Escribio esta novela. if it is understood.

Angelica is my daughter. We always need to

include the subject.
She wrote this novel.

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 The  learners  are  asked  to  look  at  some  examples  of  the  target  language  in  
context,  e.g.  in  a  reading  text.  The  learners  answer  ques.ons  that  guide  them  
to  discovering  the  form  and/or  use  of  the  target  language  for  themselves.  
   
The  following  example  was  designed  to  introduce  was  and  were  to  a  group  of  Egyp.an  
Guided  discovery  
learners:  
 
1.  Quickly  read  these  paragraphs  about  two  famous  men  and  write  on  the  line  who  they  are.  
 
A.  ________________________________  
He  was  born  in  1918.  His  father  was  a  postman  and  his  mother  was  a  housewife.  They  were  a  poor  family.  A@er  school  
he  went  to  military  college  and  then  he  became  a  general  in  the  army.  Then,  together  with  a  group  of  army  officers  he  
formed  the  Free  Officers,  a  secret  organisa.on.  In  1952,  they  overthrew  the  King  and  formed  a  government.  From  
1954  to  1956,  he  was  the  Prime  Minister.  Then,  in  1956,  he  became  the  second  President  of  Egypt.  He  was  Egypt's  
leader  un.l  1970.  He  was  one  of  the  most  important  Arab  leaders  of  the  twen.eth  century  and  he  was  very  popular  
with  the  Egyp.an  people.  He  was  only  52  when  he  died.  
 
B.  _______________________________  
He  was  born  in  1918  in  Monafeya.  He  went  to  military  college  and  then  became  an  officer  in  the  Egyp.an  army.  In  the  
1940s  he  was  also  a  businessman  and  a  journalist.  He  was  one  of  the  Free  Officers  too.  He  became  President  in  1971.  
He  was  very  successful  in  the  1973  war  against  Israel  but  a@er  that,  his  peace  policies  with  Israel  weren’t  very  popular  
in  the  Arab  world.  He  was  killed  in  1982.  
 
• Check  with  your  partner.  Do  you  have  the  same  answers?  Now  talk  about  which  of  these  men  you  like  most  and  why.  
• Look  at  the  readings  again  and  underline  all  the  examples  of  the  verb  to  be  (was  and  were).  
• Do  ‘was’  and  ‘were’  describe  the  present  .me  or  past  .me?  
• For  which  subjects  (I,  you...)  do  we  use  was  and  were?                
• What  kind  of  words  (nouns,  verbs,  adjec.ves,  etc.)  come  a@er  was  and  were?  
• Look  at  the  paragraphs  above  for  examples.  
         
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 Dictogloss  is  a  classroom  dicta.on  ac.vity  where  learners  are  required  to  
reconstruct  a  short  text  by  listening  and  no.ng  down  keywords,  which  are  
then  used  as  a  base  for  reconstruc.on.  In  the  classroom  dictogloss  is  o@en  
regarded  as  a  mul.ple  skills  and  systems  ac.vity.  Learners  prac.se  
listening,  wri.ng  and  speaking  (by  working  in  groups)  and  use  vocabulary,  
grammar  and  discourse  systems  in  order  to  complete  the  task.  
Dictogloss  

Example:  
The  teacher  writes  or  selects  a  short  passage  that  includes  one  or  more  examples  of  the  new  
grammar.  The  first  .me  he  reads  it  he  may  only  give  a  gist  task.  He  then  tells  the  learners  he  will  
read  it  again  and  their  task  is  to  write  down  keywords  and  then  they  will  work  in  groups  to  
reconstruct  the  text.  He  dictates  the  text  but  reads  at  normal  speed.  Learners  have  to  focus  on  
both  meaning  and  form  to  do  these  tasks.  A@er  they  have  reconstructed  the  text,  the  teacher  
focuses  on  the  target  language.  
 
Example  text  for  introducing  the  passive:  
   
  pyramids  are  visited  by  millions  of  people  every  year.  They  were  built  thousands  of  years  ago  by  the  ancient  
The  
EgypFans,  although  some  people  believe  aliens  built  them!  The  pyramids  have  been  badly  damaged  over  the  
 
centuries.  The  Great  Pyramid  was  once  covered  with  limestone  but  it  was  all  removed  in  the  fourteenth  century  to  
  the  mosque  of  Sultan  Hassan.  Some  Egyptologists  believe  the  pharaoh  is  sFll  buried  inside  it,  and  at  the  moment  
build  
special  
  cameras  are  being  developed  to  look  inside  his  tomb.  
 
 
There  are  several  websites  that  give  lesson  plans  for  dictogloss:    
e.g.  Do  a  keyword  search  for  ‘dictogloss’  on  www.onestopenglish.com    
Also  see  Resource  Books  for  Teachers:  Grammar  DictaFon,  R.  Wajnryb,  Oxford  University  Press,  1990    

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