Some possible grammar focuses (there may be more)

In all of these you have to find some patterns to analyse - you can’t just list things. Listing is not enough,
you need to be saying how something works - where there are similarities and differences, what it adds
to someone’s language etc etc. Bullet points are focuses (possible assignment titles) we think can work
(the tutors helped me brainstorm this list), the bolded headings are only areas (not assignment titles).

Questions
find tendencies - narrow further in some way, what’s the same about some area of questions
Titles that might work are ...
● How yes / no are similar to / differ from Wh- questions
● Wh questions might work alone as a focus because you have the subject / object questions and
things like the difference between what / which
● Question tags
● Indirect questions - again you need to find patterns and reasons for use.

Determiners
Again, you can’t just present a long list of rules - you need to find a system that you can break down, find
patterns in … determiners entire is too big for one assignment, but within that some areas sound as
though they will work (I told someone possessives didn’t sound great as there wasn’t enough in it, but
they persisted and produced a really good assignment - it turns out I just didn’t know much about
possessives). Other areas of determiners seem too narrow (I can’t see how someone could make an
assignment out of demonstratives or numbers for example, but I have been proved wrong on things like
this before, so if you think you can find enough ideas … try it).
● The definite article
● Zero article
● Possessives
● Quantifiers (you would have to name some or narrow further in some way and again you would
need to find similarities / differences / patterns, you can’t just list them all).
Some areas (e.g. pronouns) sound as though there is a lot of information, but I can’t see where you can
find patterns (e.g. there are personal, possessive, reflexive, reciprocal etc etc, but there aren’t rules to be
drawn out of this or things you can compare and contrast easily, just lists).

Text features
● Nominalisation
If you are teaching academic writing, look in the EAP books in the library - this is something that
will help your learners score better.

Agreement
● The fact that nouns can be singular / plural / group and the impact that has on all the other things
in a sentence.

Comparison
doing either comparatives or superlatives is enough. If you try and fit them both in one assignment you
will end up having to be very superficial.
● Comparatives
● Double comparatives (e.g. The more the merrier.)
● Superlatives
● Structures to talk about similarities (and/or) differences (so things like as … as, name the
structures you are including)

Reporting
● Reported speech
If you look at the meanings of different reporting verbs you are definitely in a lexis assignment but you
should be able to make quite a good assignment about reported speech generally.

Relative clauses
● Restrictive relative clauses (these might make an assignment on their own as they include most
of the complications like omitting pronouns)
● Non-restrictive relative clauses (probably not enough on their own - probably you have to do just
relative clauses, though happy to be proved wrong on that).

complement clauses
● That clauses
There were also rumors that Ford had now taken its stake up to the maximum 15 per cent
allowed.
I was told that both the new right and those who support the government's view had been
excluded
● To clauses (though it might be too big - you might need to narrow further)

● Participle clauses

Conditional clauses
● Real conditional clauses
● Unreal conditional clauses
You could also do one of the ‘numbered’ conditionals, though if you do that you need a lot more
supplementary information (about the different verbs / patterns you can put in both parts).
● The first conditional
● The second conditional
● The third conditional
● Mixed conditionals

Verb patterns
● -ing versus to infinitive
Word order
● Fronting
● Inversion
● Existential there clauses
● Clefts

Time, aspect, tense and function

A lot of what you could do in here could be done in several different ways.
If you want to present some element of the present progressive to learners and you are reasonably sure
it is the first time the group has seen it used for this function you could look at all the uses of the present
progressive, you could look at the progressive aspect or you could look at the function and present the
different structures that are used to achieve it. So …
● The present progressive
● The progressive (talk about what is the same about the progressive in any time frame)
● Making future arrangements
So you could also do …
● The past simple
● The past progressive
● The perfect
● The past perfect
● The present perfect
● Narrative tenses
If you want to do a lesson where you are helping learners think about the difference between say the
present perfect and the past simple, you could state the functional area you are focusing on in the
background e.g.
● Talking about experience
If you do a focus where you are including more than one structure, the key thing is to compare and
contrast, not list the structures one after the other. Make the form and phonology sections as short as
you can as the most important element will be helping learners choose between things.
● Prediction
● Past habits
There are probably more I haven’t thought of here.

Other ways of manipulating verbs

● The passive (you can do it if you rule out ‘extra’ things like ‘get passive’).
● Causatives (e.g. have something done)
● The imperative

Modals
● Modals of deduction
● Modals of speculation
● Modals of obligation
● Modals of regret
The list isn’t exhaustive - think functionally

Discourse crossover topics (you could call these grammar or discourse)

● Ellipsis
● Substitution

Functional areas that have a couple of grammar structures associated with them
● Expressing purpose

Spoken grammar
● Heads and tails

Lexis
Stance adverbials
Circumstance adverbials
Linking adverbials
 ● Adverbs of degree

Countability (as a concept)

Compound nouns