LANGUAGE, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

How do we prepare our future teachers to teach English?

When does an error become a feature of Philippine English?

American English and British English are not now the sole standard because we need to acknowledge
diversity.

K-12 curriculum is very silenced about the standard of English.

GRAMMAR-It is the description of the ways in which words can change their forms and can be
combined into sentences in that language.

Spoken and Written Grammar-The grammar of speech has its own constructional
principles(Biber et.al, 1999) ; it is organized differently from writing. Spoken English has its own
discourse markers.

Example:

Frequent non-clausal units( Mmmm, No, Uh huh, Yeah)

A variety of tags not found in written style, such as questions

Interjections (ah, oh, wow)

Hesitators (umm, ermm)

Problems with grammar rules- Easiest rules: the use of the s morpheme on the third person of
the present simple.

Example: She likes to travel.

Modal verbs (must, can, will, should, etc)

More complex rules: Difference between descriptive and pedagogic.

Rule: Some is used with affirmative while any is with questions and negative sentences.

Descriptive: I’ve got some sweets.

I haven’t got any money.

Pedagogic: Would you like some tea?

I refuse to accept any responsibility.

I would not mind some beer.

Michael Swan, 1994

Simplicity- we have seen how this may cause

problems.

Truth- some rules are more true than others

Clarity- rules that are unclear help nobody.

Relevance-some things which a teacher or a

student probably does not really need

to know.

The Present Perfect Tense

1.To describe actions beginning in the past and continuing up to the present moment.

Example: I’ve planted fourteen rose bushes so far this morning.

2. To refer to actions occurring or not occurring at an unspecified time

in the past with some kind of connection to the present.

Example: Have you passed your driving test?