Module

2, Task 3 - Transcript for Grammar Presentations

Andy: I was thinking about my journey as a grammar teacher after you mentioned we might be having
this conversation.

Radmila: What was that journey like?

Andy: As a beginning English teacher at a small language school in Japan, I certainly fell into the trap of
telling the whole truth, as Michael Swan says. The textbook I was using for upper intermediate students
always started a new unit with the grammar. So that’s how I taught it, with whiteboards filled with
examples and explanations and formulas, so many details that the essence was lost as what my students
actually needed to learn to make some measured improvement in the ability to speak accurately with
that grammar point. And I would also reach the end of our allotted time without substantial practice
time—it had all been input. I remember being surprised when they came back the next week in need of
further “instruction.” I filled those whiteboards right up again.

Radmila: That sounds like a pretty typical presentation style. A lot of teachers I have worked with are
surprised when students make mistakes after the grammar was explained. What happened from
there? How did your journey continue?

Andy: Along the way, I realized that student learning was not being served by my explanations. From
there I read, took courses, experimented with new ideas and reflected on how these ideas were helping
my students learn. I think reading people like Diane Larson-Freeman, Michael Swan and Scott Thornbury
was really crucial for me. It led me to seeing that output, or production, was essential for students to
learn the grammar. Allowing students to wrestle with the language, make mistakes and receive
feedback was where the learning really took place.

Radmila: Output is important. Michael Swan promotes 25% of a grammar lesson on input with 75% as
output. What do your presentations look like now?

Andy: My presentation practices now? Radically different. The grammar I choose to present to my
whole class will come from two places: first, I notice which grammar patterns students are struggling
with, from their writing or careful note-taking of their speaking. Next, we do a listening or reading
activity in which the grammar pattern be found. We do noticing activities to see how the pattern is
functioning in the context. Students, working in small groups will then try to create a rule for how that
grammar is formed and used, which they can present to the rest of the class in jigsaws or mini-
presentations or posters.

© 2017 by World Learning. MOOC Task 2.3_Transcript for Grammar Presentations for the AE E-Teacher Program, sponsored by
the U.S. Department of State and administered by FHI 360. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
License, except where noted. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State

administered by FHI 360 and delivered by World Learning

Radmila: Do you always have time to make such lessons?

Andy: If I feel that I need to do quicker interventions, I can quickly create worksheets that include the
students actual output using the grammar, both accurately and inaccurately. Or I will write the
examples, using my students’ names and details I know about their lives. Both of these ideas add an
element of affective engagement and relevancy to the grammar that textbooks have a really hard time
providing. I think there is a misconception that grammar presentations need to by dry. But if they are,
students lose focus and engagement and learning opportunities are lost. By having the grammar come
from a context they know, examples using their information or their actual language use, I’ve found that
students are excited to be encountering the grammar and much more willing to work with it.

Radmila: So, in your opinion, what are the characteristics of a good grammar presentation?

Andy: Context—explanations come from something. After some examples, scenarios or student work

Give the students something to look at. The form of the grammar should be clearly on the board at
some point. Help students notice the pattern by using diagrams, timelines, different colors, underlining
key components

Form, Meaning, Use—these elements need to be addressed, but it will depend on where students are in
learning the grammar pattern. They might be comfortable with the form, but using it in the wrong
situation. Or they might know the meaning but have serious problems with form. It will depend.

Don’t tell the whole truth. Focus on the most important issues.

Engage students in the explanation. Students lose focus if they are forced to sit and listen. Have them
do the thinking.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State

administered by FHI 360 and delivered by World Learning