Introduction

As a teacher it is your duty to lead students, both as individuals and as a

group. You will interact with students both formally and informally,
depending on your chosen position. Your tasks will be varied, but your
aim will always be to help students develop their understanding of new
ideas.

Teaching is an ever-changing job, based on interaction with your

students. You will need to understand and influence the group dynamic.
How you influence the group is the key to a successful classroom.
Classrooms are made up of different relationships: between students and
the teacher, between students and other students, and between
individuals. Learning how to best respond to your students needs is your
goal: this will make you a respected and well-liked leader.

We must always remember, we are dealing with people;

we all have good & bad days.

A Harmonious Classroom
When harmony is achieved we learn best. When the politics of the
classroom are put aside and trust is built, we can learn anything. Your
goal is to create a harmonious classroom, where students want to put
aside distractions and learn together. In your classroom the students are
happy, because they find learning easy and fun.
To achieve this, a teacher needs to create and manage classroom order,
based on students needs and the teachers wants. When this is achieved
students will naturally focus on their work, learning as groups and
individuals. Mostly importantly everyone, including you, will enjoy
your lessons.
This first video looks at some techniques used by a first year teacher to
effectively manage a classroom and offers further advice on how you
could improve trouble areas. Watch and take note of techniques used
that you can apply as a TEFL instructor.
THE NATURAL APPROACH

The NA was developed by

Based on Language Acquisition Theory (AQT)

Native language should never be used.
Vocabulary should have visual representation
A lot of Activities

The NA is for beginners based on observation and interpretation to monitor how a

person develops first language acquisition. It is not based on grammar but is based on
communication. It comprised meaning and useful comprehensive activities rather than
formation of grammatically structured sentences.
This theory appeared in 1983 in a book by Terrell and Krashen called the “The NA”.
The approach is based on the use of language for communication without the use of
the native language of the students. Focus is on exposure and input.
The approach is communication. Communication is a vehicle to communicating
meaning and messages
Acquisition Learning Hypothesis
Acquisition and Learning, Meaningful Communication
Monitor Hypothesis
Conscious Learning is not enough. Acquisition works better
Natural Order Hypothesis
Some grammatical features are learned before others, Present Tense is learned
before the Past and Future
Input Hypothesis
Learners increase acquisitions through input
Affect Filter Hypothesis
Emotional Sate Attitudes
Adjustable Filter; Low Anxiety, Motivation, Self Confidence
Recommendations
Comprehensive Imputs Use Visual Aids
Use of Plenty of Vocabulary Listening and Reading
Meaningful Communication
BEHAVIOR TOP 10 MANAGEMENT
1. ESTABLISH TRUST AND RAPPORT
a) PACE AND MANAGE ACTIVITIES SEAMLESSLY
b) CLEAR AND SMOOTH TRANSITIONS
2. BELLRINGER ACTIVITIES: STUDENT TASJ TO DO IMMEDIATELY
a) END OF CLASS ACTIVITY: STUDENT CLASS RECAP
3. CIRCULATE CONSTANTLY AMONG YOUR STUDENTS
4. SEATING CHARTS - ASSIGNED SEATINGS
a) DIFFERENT SEATING ARRANGEMENT FOR DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES
5. INCENTIVES TO BEHAVE
6. SET BEHAVIORAL GOALS FOR THE CLASS
a) WRITE BEHAVIORAL GOALS ON BOARD
7. LOGIVAL NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES
8. ADDRESS INDIVIS=DUAL ISSUES INDIVIDUALLY
9. TURN RINGLEADERS IN CLASS READERS
10. STAY CLOSED TO PROBLEM SPOTS
VIEWS AND TECHNIQUES FROM EXPERIENCED TEACHERS

1. Classroom Management Quiz

Question 1
Select all that apply
In the second video, Catherine made the point that it is important to establish trust and rapport
with your students. Which of the following were suggested by Catherine as ways of establishing
trust and rapport with your language students? (Select all correct answers).

 Discuss common interests you share with the students

 Show your students that you will meet their needs
 Let your students know that you are capable and know what you're doing
 Have your students over for dinner and cook them a meal typical to your home town
 Take your students out to party and have fun

Question 2
Select all that apply
Which of the following best describes a well-prepared TEFL teacher?

 My classroom is like a well oiled machine. I'm an expert in classroom management. Students
are responsible for tailoring themselves to my techniques. If they fail it is their fault.
 I have some effective classroom management techniques prepared for the first day of
school, sure. But I'm also keen to draw on techniques used by my colleagues so that our
students can spend more time learning English skills and less time learning how
 Classroom management is all about leadership, right? Well I'm a natural born leader.
Techniques are all well and good, but every student is different. I use my instinct and natural
charm to guide my students. Why would I prepare techniques?

Question 3
Select all that apply
Physical presence throughout the room is a common technique to effectively manage the
classroom. Which of the following are benefits of moving around the room as you lead your
class? (Select all correct answers).

 Being able to review the progress of every student

 Your students may have difficulty perfecting their pronunciation as some can't see the way
you are forming words
 You can provide individual help and feedback to students in a timely manner
 Your presence can deter misbehaviour and disruptive clusters of students

Question 4
Select all that apply
Which of the following would describe a professional teachers approach to classroom
management? (select all that apply).

 Students can mange themselves

 Students need to be treated as a class, collective punishments and peer pressure will regulate
the conduct of students
 Each student is different, learning about and tailoring approaches to students needs is
essential.
 Managing a classroom is essential to allow everyone to learn, and it makes it easier to do
my job.
Question 5
Select all that apply
Managing a classroom requires varied skills and approaches. Which of the following are not
appropriate.

 Praising individual students

 Rewarding with prizes
 Corporal punishment
 Ridicule
 Yelling at students

2. Learning Strategies
Making Learning Fun
Learning is best, when learning is fun. Knowing your students interests,
needs, goals and motivations will help you plan lessons. The more you
know about your students and the more they trust you, the more creative, 
exciting and enjoy your lessons will be. Finding the correct strategies and
tactics for your students is your challenge. This comes over time as mutual
trust builds. As your skills develop and your personal-confidence grows.
You will become a more confident teacher and a better educator.

Challenges faced by ELL students

1. Different degree of overlap between oral and written language
2. Not yet internalized schemataliteracy or may need to be altered
3. Vernal ablities may not match what they actually know
4. May be reluctant to express themselves

Specific challenges faced by ELL students when studying languages

1. Amount of unfamiliar vocabulary
2. Word order and sentence structure which may be different
3. Imagery and symbolism in different language are difficult
4. Difficulty in drawing conclusions with characterss and predicting outcomes
5. Literary developments may not be understood due to language differences
6. Story beginning and enfing are hard to understand
7. Unfamiliar with different meaning of our words
8. Prominent Synonyms are difficult to comprehend

Challenges faced by teachers of ELL students

1. Prepare a students to work with a print different to what they are used to
2. Different overlap between native languages and English language
3. Students may bot be able to verbalize what they understand
Research
Lisa Delpit Methods
1. Main thinking of the students
2. Ensure access to strategies, conventions, ideas
3. Empower students to challenges racial views
4. Recognize and build on their strengths
5. Use familiar methaphoras familiar with their forces
6. Create a senxe of family and caring for these students
7. Monitor and assess needs for learning strategies

Michael Kamil
1. Monarch’s Butterfly technique. Make a chart with common English words
2. Use 20% role
3. Give ELL students plenty of time to understand and familiaize with
concepts
4. Involve pare and caretakers to support the child’s learning
5. Use of all available people resources
6. Use non fiction material
7. Use alternative assessment strategies including multiple ways of a child
understanding

MODULE 7 - LEARNING STRATEGIES

1. Create autonomous learners
2. Learning communication strategies
3. Cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies

Definitions
1. Cognition = knowing or learning
2. Meta-cognition = self-monitor learning
3. Note: overlap between strategies

Teachers can help students

1. to identify their learning strategies
2. to understand best strategies
3. to assist the students to develop a set of strategies

No.1 Viewpoint
Language learning communication strategies
1. Self directed language learners are motivated to communicate
2. Willing to take risk and make mistakes
3. Recognize language and communication patterns
4. Use guessing and prediction strategies
5. Pay attention to meaning
6. Monitor and self correct their own speeches
7. Practice with language
8. Think and dream in English
WATCH-ANALYZE-INFER
Class Example
1. What kinds of strategies are builtin this class?
2. How do you know from the things she said and you observe?
A. Language specific skills
B. Cognition and Meta-cognition
C. Affective Factors

2. Learning Strategies Review Quiz

Question 1
Select all that apply
English is a versatile and open language, which influences and has been influenced by many
languages spoken in the world today. As such you are likely to find some common areas of
expression between English and your students’ native language. Drawing on this overlap applies
which learning strategy concepts?

 Drawing on existing schema of language

 Use of partnered learning and discussion
 Use of graphics and multimedia to assist memory retention
 Creative, free form engagement around topics
 Use of background knowledge

Question 2
Select all that apply
Which of the following are challenges your students may be facing as part of their development of
English language skills?

 An incomplete or contradictory schemata of literacy

 Differing levels of ability between their literacy (reading/writing) skills and
conversational (speaking/listening) skills
 Limited ability to express the true breadth and depth of their knowledge
 Shyness or a fear of failure that manifests as a reluctance to engage with the class

Question 3
Select all that apply
Being an effective language teacher often requires you to be an affective teacher. Thinking about
the class of English language learners in the University of Oregon video, which of the following
skills and strategies were applied by the teacher to get the most from her class?

 Social learning interactions as pairs and as a class

 Doleman theory of learning strategies
 Positive response to humour
 Students were free to contribute further to their own report and others
 Students were helped to draw on personal experience and knowledge from other
classes
 Students were kept on task through strict discipline
Question 4
Select all that apply
Which is most likely to describe a professional teacher

 I know which way is best, students should understand that and follow my way
 Every student has their own way, I need to tailor my course to each individual student
 Finding a happy medium between the schools needs, students’ needs and my wants is
best.
 Your students are everything, anything that works for them works for you, who cares
about the textbook, let’s just chat.

3. Teaching Methods
1. Flexible and Adaptive Teaching
 Every student learns in their own unique way.
 Your students will respond to you in their own unique ways.
 What worked yesterday, might not work tomorrow.
 What made students laugh this morning, might not be funny in the
afternoon.
 Learning how best to understand each class's and each student's
learning style is key to developing the correct student-teacher balance.
 You can learn the basics, but to truly manage a classroom requires
constant changes, adaptability and flexibility.

2. Balancinga Focus on Students

 A good teacher doesn't just focus on the best or worse students.
 Being a good teacher is about balance, between the extremes of the
classroom.
 Focusing too much on the higher/lower students will lose you the
middle’s attention.
 Focus on the middle and misbehaviour begins as bored students look
for entertainment. 
 Your best bet is to structure your lesson in such as way as to give
yourself time to interact across the spectrum of students, with
activities that combine and challenge the individual energy and
enthusiasm of each of your students in the same direction.

3. Balancing
Difficulty of Tasks
 When presented with a class of mixed ability, look for activities that can
be adjusted to different levels.
 The same material (particularly AV material) can be used to teach
students 4-60 if prepared well and the teacher is confident.
 Be ready to adjust the level of the activity up or down, depending on the
class and the individual students’ needs.
 Start with something simple and increase the difficulty as the class as
a whole begins to understand.
 When students fall behind the class, extend individual help as much as
possible, whilst balancing the needs of the whole class.

Balancing Interests
 Finding what interests your students can be a really good way to
explain material but also build bonds of trust.
 Students whom see their teacher is trying (however successfully) to
tailor the material to them, will reward you with diligence.
 Often the cross-cultural barrier is the problem rather than the material:
its not what you are saying but how you are saying it, this is especially
true when teaching in different cultures, countries, or age groups.
 Open activities can work really well, allowing students to express and
expand on their own interests, they will be much more motivated when
speaking about their favourite/preferred topics than by simply copying
the textbook.
 Think about using activities where students use structures rather than
examples, this allows students to fill the structures with their own
interests and creativity.

Balancing Motivation of Students

 Every student is motivated in their own way: motivation is a deeply
personal and often private part of our character.
 Understanding individual and group motivations is our first step in
understanding what really drives your students.
 Students will naturally compare themselves to their peer group,
whether that be their friends, class, and even you.
 Ensuring that you correctly contextualise and modify student
perception of their skills, relative to their goals is the ideal technique.
 When you understand their goals and motivations and, move towards
those goals together, you achieve much more.
 Motivations vary greatly with age. As you were and will be motivated by
different things at different stages in your life so are your students.
 For younger students often the goal is to simply express basic ideas in
order to gain the respect or acclamation of their teacher.
 Whilst older adult learners can be extremely focused, wanting to learn
business themed English for a particular context: such as presenting
their companies product during a pitch in an English-speaking country.
 Other again might seek to be passing a university entrance
examination, or be interested in nothing more than learning be fluent
and enjoy conversations in a new language.
 Correctly identifying the goals of students enables you to teach what
they need, in the way they want.
 Making your context focused on the students goals and your examples
relevant to those goals is key.

Approaches to Language Teaching: Foundations

Video Length: Approximately 8 Minutes– Notes to the Trainer – For
best results, have participants go through the readings for this
module prior to viewing the video.
As you work through this module, try to use pairs and group work
whenever that might be effective.
After each group activity, debrief the answers and use them for
further discussion.
Refer back to the main points when appropriate. It is important that
teachers apply the concepts in the module to their own classrooms and
situations.
The goals for this module are;
1. to create an understanding of the need for contextualizing
language and
2. to suggest ideas for realizing those concepts in the language
classroom.–
See Appendix A for additional handouts that can be used for general
observation and discussion tasks with any of the modules.–
Before Viewing– Work as a whole class or in pairs or groups.
Read out loud or copy and distribute the following information to
trainees.
Trainees can respond verbally or write their answers down and use
them for discussion.
The following is adapted from National Geographic’s web site
Xpeditions Activities, Ancient Greece, .
For activities on other topics, see .–
Imagine this: You’re a construction worker digging a hole in the
ground for a new subway system, when you suddenly come across a
beautiful painted bowl.
It is obviously very old and probably very valuable.
You have never seen anything like it before!
What would you think?
What would you say?
Would you take it home for a decoration?
Would you tell the media?
What’s a bowl doing down there, anyway?–
Something similar happened several years ago in Athens, Greece. While
digging a new subway system, construction workers found 2,500-year-
old items and works of art. As they dug, they also uncovered ancient
roads, shops, baths, and water systems.–
Would you like to be involved in this exciting discovery?– Here’s
the task: The city of Athens has selected you to design a new subway
station, and to include a museum where travelers can enjoy the long
lost wonders of their underground ancient city.
Decide what artifacts, artworks, and architectural ruins you might
include. Then draw a floor plan of the subway station, showing where
you will place everything
Extension Ideas–
• Have students write a dialogue between themselves and one or more
of the other construction workers at the time of the discovery. Or,
between the archaeologist on the dig and a newspaper reporter.–
• Have students act out the discovery. What are the events and
actions? How will characters resolve the ethical question of whether
or not to keep the bowl?–
Debrief–
Ask and discuss with students:
 What kind of language skills did you use in this context in order
to complete the task?
 Was it formal or informal language?
 Did you find yourself seeking particular vocabulary?
 What verb tenses did you need in order to express your discovery?
 To explain your plans for the future?

This, in essence, is an example of language in context. It is

communicative. It engages learners in real-world scenarios. It draws
on integrated language that is meaningful in that context.
Preview Vocabulary–
Terms– Definitions–
Background knowledge– What each individual knows about the world as
a result of his or her own experience.
Chant– Words or phrases that are repeated again and again, in a
rhythm
Constructing language–Deciding what language to use for what purpose
in a given situation to meet particular social needs
Context; contextualization– The situation or environment in which
language is used.
Content-based Instruction–The use of content to structure curriculum
or lessons around central themes or topics
Genetic testing– Examining a person’s DNA (genetic code) for an
abnormality that shows a disease or disorder.–
Integrated skills– Language skills (reading, writing, speaking,
etc.) used together for communication.–
Motivate– To make someone want to do or achieve something and be
willing to work harder in order to do so.Motivation (n.).–
Put on your thinking caps.”– Teacher talk” to instruct students to
quietly think and reflect for a moment on a particular problem or
point.–
Rain forest; rain forest canopy– A dense evergreen forest in a
tropical region, with an annual rainfall of at least 2.5 meters. The
canopy is the upper levels.–
Real world”– The world in which we live—outside the classroom
Themes; topics–Main ideas or subjects around which a curriculum can
be organized. Language instruction is directly related to the context
and content of that theme or topic.
Now start the video. Listen to the introduction. Complete the guided
observation and reflection tasks for each of the video segments. The
next part of the manual is for trainees and is available on separate
pages for ease of copying

Module 1, Contextualizing Language–

Introduction, Expanded Narrative– Contextualization is the
meaningful use of language for real communicative purposes. It helps
students understand how language users construct language in a given
context. Language learning in context in the classroom can be
expressed in such ways as:– • Working with real or simulated
situations.– • Paying attention to the physical setting of
exchange.– • Knowing the purpose of the exchange.– • Using language
that accounts for the roles of the participants.– • Using socially
acceptable norms of interaction.– • Paying attention to medium,
tone, genre, and register.–
Teachers can contextualize language instruction by organizing the
content of the language curriculum according to themes or topics.
These themes or topics work best when they are threaded throughout
the course of study.–
For an interesting online example of theme-based instruction on the
topic of the first people in the
New World, see the Journey to a New Land Web Site
<http://www.sfu.museum/journey/>. You can choose your journey by
clicking on the primary level, elementary level, middle school level,
secondary level, or post-secondary level buttons.–
Module Focus–
Here are some reasons for using contextualized language:–
• Language is constructed through a blend of purpose, situation, and
social needs. Classroom learning experiences that incorporate these
dimensions are more likely to lead to better learning outcomes.–
• A contextualized approach to instruction also supports the use of
integrated skills, and pair and group work.–
• It can foster a deeper level of use of the language, especially
when the themes and topics are high-interest and motivate students.–
Video Segment #1, Classroom Techniques: Observation Guide [Read
before viewing.]– You will see several short examples from
classrooms that use contextualized language and themes.
Look for examples of these kinds of activities:–
• Games and interactive activities.–
• Storytelling, dramatization, or the acting out of language (may
also involve singing or chanting).–
• Student presentations.–
Use the following Observation Guide to help identify the four
different classroom activities and themes.
The first class example, with body parts as a topic and the song
“Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” as an activity, is filled out as
a model.
Fill in the missing parts for the other three classes.
Some class scenes may contain multiple topics or sub-topics, and / or
more than one activity type.
Make your description as detailed as possible. The scenes are short
but rich in information. Watch the video as many times as necessary
in order to complete the task.
Observation Guide–
Type of Activity– Topic / Theme– Language Level / Materials Used
Focus–

• Song– • • Body parts– • Low-level (No extra materials

Prescribed learners– • New needed)–
vocabula
movements–

• Warm-up or
transition
activity–

Rain forest– •
Animals; monkeys–

• Dramatization,
skit– •
Presentation–

Advanced-level
learners– • Oral
skills– •
Reporting on
research–

• Vocabulary;
defining key
concepts–
Reflection– [Read and answer after viewing.]–
For each of the four classrooms, also ask yourself the following:–
1. How were you able to identify the language context (topics,
themes, situations)?– What did you pay attention to in order to do
this?–
2. How are the activities that you saw related to each of the
contexts (the content areas)?–
3. What kind of language naturally evolved as an extension of the
activities and context?–
4. How might the activities be adapted for different ages? Different
topic areas? Levels?

Now You Try It—An Action Plan–

1. Step 1– Think again about your own class(es).
a) What are some themes or topics already in your curriculum that
your students enjoy and are motivated to know more about?
b) Can you identify, or ask your students to help identify, some
related or new themes or topics?–
You can read some of the articles on the topic of contextualizing
language (see the Module 1 Reading and the List of Additional
Readings and Resources below).
Using the video, you have seen a few examples and ideas from other
teachers’ classes.
Now, using the themes and topics you have identified from your own
curriculum, think of some ways you can accomplish these goals:–
• Introduce some authentic tasks and activities in your lessons.–
• Motivate students to get engaged in a role play, a project, a
problem-solving task, a puzzle, or an imaginary setting.–
• Review lesson content (stories, characters, vocabulary) in a new
way through a game, a song, or aperformance of some kind.– Talk
about your ideas with your group.–
Step 2– By yourself or with a peer, design a portion (for example, a
15-minute segment) of a lesson that includes the use of some of the
techniques and activities you listed.–
Step 3– Share your plan with your group. Explain what activities
would come before and after your segment. Get ideas and feedback from
your group.–
Step 4– Rewrite your design. Try it with your class. Share your
results with others, as applicable. If you are not teaching, ask the
trainer or another experienced teacher for feedback. Think about how
you will revisit key content and language concepts in later lessons.
Answer Key to Module 1,
Contextualizing Language–
Observation Guide, Answer Key–
Following are some suggested answers for the observation guide task.
Viewers may have additional details and observations on their
charts.–
Type of Topic / Language Level / Materials Used;
Activity– Theme; Focus;
• Song– • Body • Low-level (No extra
parts– learners– materials
• Prescribed– needed)–
• New vocabulary–
movements–
• Warm-up or
transition
activity–
• Song– Rain forest– • Mixed-level Large yellow
learners– parts-of-speech
• Spontaneous • Animals; chart at front
movements– monkeys– • Parts of speech– of class;
• Enactment • Sentence • Rain forest
based on structure– effects around
previous the class
sentence • Integrated skills
(group animal
pattern and names; paper
writing rain forest
activity canopy, etc.)–
• • Television Intermediate-level– (No extra
Dramatization, viewing • Speaking– materials
skit– habits– needed)–
• Listening–
• • Problems
Presentation– and
solutions–
Presentation– Genetic • Advanced-level– • Overhead
research, projector–
testing– • Integrated
skills– • Research
• Ethics– materials
• Reporting on
research– (articles,
books,
 • Vocabulary; Internet,
defining key newspaper,
concepts– etc.)

Module 1, Video Segment #1, Classroom Techniques–

Here are some suggested directions for answers to the questions for
this module. Actual answers may vary depending on local context and
the kinds of experience that viewers bring to the task of
interpreting and applying video and text concepts.–
1. Some clues to the content and context included teacher
instructions or behavior;
a) student speech and performance;
b) materials in the classroom,
i. on the walls,
ii. on the overhead projector,
iii. in students’ hands,
iv. on the blackboard, etc.–
2. The activities in each case were directly related to each of the
contexts (the content areas).
a) In the first class, students touched their body parts as they
said the words and sang the song. Movement combined with
speech, singing, or chanting can provide a strong
reinforcement for remembering vocabulary or concepts. Physical
movement activities can be done standing in place and help
release extra energy. They are good for warm-up and transition
points in the lesson.–
b) In the second class, the students were immersed in the rain
forest concept. They were in groups and had chosen rain forest
animals as their group identifiers (serpents, toucans,
monkeys). There was a paper rain forest built in one corner of
the room. The teacher was teaching parts of speech using rain
forest animals and actions. Students had fun creating wild
sentences about the rain forest and animals. We saw a song
about one student’s humorous sentence on “poisonous
monkeys.” The teacher noted that this was “fiction,” as
monkeys (unlike snakes or some insects) are not generally
poisonous. Note that the teacher used a form of “teacher
talk” when she asked students to help her. This is a way to
get students to join in solving a problem or making a point
about an item.–
c) In the third class, students were exploring some of the issues
around mass media, and television viewing habits in
particular. They acted out situations and came up with their
own solutions to the problems. We saw a skit in which the
students played the roles of a son, mother, father, and
friend. The son gives up his television viewing “addiction”
 and makes the healthier choice to play soccer with his friends
instead. He feels happier because of this change in
lifestyle.– In the last class, students presented their
interpretations of concepts around the topic of genetic
testing. They looked at scientific and ethical angles. We saw
a student “teaching” at the front of the class with an
overhead transparency that her group had prepared. The topic
was one that interested them and they had varying opinions
about the pros and the cons. The students were sharing
realworld information with each other and the teaching was
authentic. That fact that it came from them, and not only from
the teacher, made the students more motivated to learn and
listen to one another.;
3. Language in the lower-level classes was naturally more limited to
concrete concepts and objects. In the more advanced classes, students
were able to express more abstract ideas and use a wider range of
grammatical constructions.–
4. Younger, lower-level students can do role plays effectively as
well.
a) They may need more practice and more preparation with key
vocabulary and language constructions.
b) Simple props (clothing, hats, food, household items, masks,
etc.) can enliven improvisations and simulations.–
c) Likewise, older and more advanced students may enjoy
activities with a physical dimension.
d) Instead of a song, this might mean building something, leading
a how-to session, or standing up and moving around as part of
an all-class game or activity.
e) As for topics, with a little imagination, nearly anything is
possible
Module 1: Contextualizing Language;
Here are some additional techniques for contextualizing language:–
• Reading and/or listening to authentic text (e.g. fiction,
documentaries, films, news, radio broadcasts, lectures, dramatic
enactments).–
• Written and/or oral storytelling.–
• Problem solving tasks, riddles, role-plays.–
• Games (bingo, hangman, spelling bees, word recognition
“concentration” style games, games that follow the formats of
familiar TV game shows, scavenger or treasure hunts).–
• Projects (bulletin boards, models, community events, research and
presentation projects, performances, etc.).– • Use of realia and
authentic materials.– For more ideas on creative lesson plan ideas,
see the w
3. Teaching Methods Quiz
Question 1
Select all that apply
Contextualised teaching is effective for students because it draws on the nature of language, which
is itself formed organically through a blend of _______ , _______ and _______ . Contextualised teaching
which draws on these three factors thus helps students evolve their knowledge and ability in
English.

 Purpose, situation and technology

 Purpose, situation and social need
 Literacy, technology and purpose
 Situation, technology and literacy
 Social situation, technology and literary need

Question 2
Select all that apply
Themes or topics as a means of teaching English language skills, work best when they…

 Incorporate attractive characters

 Vary often throughout the course of study
 Are threaded throughout the course of study
 Follow the cultural and social norms of English speaking nations such as the US, UK and
Australia

Question 3
Select all that apply
Which of the following are effective teaching methods that can be used to draw on contextual
approach?

 Games and interactive activities

 Student presentations and projects
 Storytelling, dramatisation and singing
 Themes or topics built in to activities

Question 4
Select all that apply
The main focus of a lesson should be?

 Teaching vocabulary
 Teaching culture & improving manners
 Teaching useful phrases
 Getting students to engage and adopt the new words and ideas
2. Learning Strategies
Making Learning Fun
Learning is best, when learning is fun. Knowing your students interests,
needs, goals and motivations will help you plan lessons. The more you
know about your students and the more they trust you, the more creative, 
exciting and enjoy your lessons will be.

Finding the correct strategies and tactics for your students is your
challenge. This comes over time as mutual trust builds. As your skills
develop and your personal-confidence grows. You will become a more
confident teacher and a better educator.

University of Oregon
The following video from the University of Oregon demonstrates theory and
application of learning strategies for teaching English as a second
language. 

To assist with your learning, you may find it beneficial to review this
PDF before viewing.

Challenges of English Language Learners

1. Different degree of overlap between oral and written language

2. Not yet internalized schemata about literacy or may need to be altered

Question 1
Select all that apply
English is a versatile and open language, which influences and has been influenced by many
languages spoken in the world today. As such you are likely to find some common areas of
expression between English and your students’ native language. Drawing on this overlap applies
which learning strategy concepts?

 Drawing on existing schema of language

 Use of partnered learning and discussion
 Use of graphics and multimedia to assist memory retention
 Creative, free form engagement around topics
 Use of background knowledge

Question 2
Select all that apply
Which of the following are challenges your students may be facing as part of their development of
English language skills?
 An incomplete or contradictory schemata of literacy
 Differing levels of ability between their literacy (reading/writing) skills and
conversational (speaking/listening) skills
 Limited ability to express the true breadth and depth of their knowledge
 Shyness or a fear of failure that manifests as a reluctance to engage with the class

Question 3
Select all that apply
Being an effective language teacher often requires you to be an affective teacher. Thinking about
the class of English language learners in the University of Oregon video, which of the following
skills and strategies were applied by the teacher to get the most from her class?

 Social learning interactions as pairs and as a class

 Doleman theory of learning strategies
 Positive response to humour
 Students were free to contribute further to their own report and others
 Students were helped to draw on personal experience and knowledge from other
classes
 Students were kept on task through strict discipline

Question 4
Select all that apply
Which is most likely to describe a professional teacher

 I know which way is best, students should understand that and follow my way
 Every student has their own way, I need to tailor my course to each individual student
 Finding a happy medium between the schools needs, students’ needs and my wants is
best.
 Your students are everything, anything that works for them works for you, who cares
about the textbook, let’s just chat.
4. Lesson Planning
No victory was ever won without a plan.
1. Planning a lesson and integrating that lesson into a course is essential when
teaching.
2. This is based on understanding and monitoring the key goals of students and
school.
3. Once you have identified the goals of the students and school through
consultation you can begin to make your course.
4. Your goal is to arrive at each lesson with clear simple goals, all the material you
need, simple games/activities, extensions, handouts/homework, revision
activities, and a few tricks and treats.
The Purpose of a Lesson Plan
5. Your lesson plans are a cooperative exercise.
6. Your plans must integrate the wishes and parameters of the school, the needs and
wants of the students, your interests and aspirations, other teachers’ experience
and advice.
7. Most important is to not ‘over-think’ it, a clear simple goal broken down into its
basic parts will generate better results than an extremely detailed and regimented
plan.
8. Plans need to suit the students\, not just the teachers.
How to Create a Lesson Plan
1. Title – Subject, Connection, Organised.
1. Clear and Simple, with any additional details
2. Numbers work well, to classify your plans as part of a series
3. You will be making many of these a good title allows you to be better
organised.
2. Objectives – Learning, Revision, Primary, Secondary.
1) What is your goal for this lesson?
2) What do you want your students to have learnt?
3) What do you want your students to have revised?
4) What do you want your students to have completed?
Breaking these down into Primary and Secondary Objectives can be useful.
More advanced students can be challenged to progress further after achieving
primary objects.
3. Timings – Schedule, Activities, Goals, Contingencies.
1) How long would you like each activity to take?
2) How long will each activity take?
 Timings are a tricky thing, not everyone learns at the same pace.
 Be prepared to be flexible – prepare more than you think you need and be ready
to change your plan as needed.
 A common problem with new teachers is to rush an activity, in order to stick to
their plan.
 Relax! Step back and give students time to learn and build confidence.
 Whilst unprepared or jaded teachers can sometimes let activities run too long.
 This will result in a loss of motivation and energy as students become bored and
give up.
 Learn about your students, try, fail, plan better next time.
 Planning a lesson is an art form not a science. Repeat what works, ask for advice
and plan better next time.
4. Physical Materials List
1) What do you need to bring?
2) What do you need to prepare?
3) How will you integrate your material into lessons?
 Having a physical example, prop or realia can make a huge difference to your
lessons. T
 rying to explain, an apple by waving hands and shouting the word apple can only
take you so far.
 Flashcards, pictures or even the apple itself means less time explaining what you
are trying to teach and more time teaching.
 Plus it is fun for both the student at teachers to interact with something as they
both learn and share ideas.
5. Setup – Mental warm-up, Prepare, Vocabulary & Ideas, Connections.
a) What are you teaching today?
b) How is it connected to previous studies?
c) How is it related to their goals?
 Introduce your topic; this prepares the students by thinking about the subject in
their own way.
 Once your students understand the topic friction will be reduced, as students
begin searching their own vocabulary and ideas related to the subject, from
previous lessons.
 Taking a few minutes to explain the goals of the lesson to students makes a world
of difference.
 When goals are clear, students and teachers move forward in the same direction.
6. Teaching – Break-down, Explain, Demonstrate, Inspire.
1. What will you teach?
2. How can it be broken down; can you break it down further?
3. How will you explain it to various levels of students?
4. How will you connect the abstract teaching to practical examples?
5. How will you motivate students to use it?
 Your goal is to break down your teaching objective in a very clear and simple
way.
 The smaller the bite the better we digest. Small parts individually understood
and synthesised together by the students are the best, as they enable a sense
of achievement in all students.
 This also enables you to isolate and follow-up individual sections of the
teaching to troubleshoot with students whom struggle.
 Once all the parts are understood and put together the students can take the
lead by themselves.
7. Activities – Class, Group, Pairs, Individual, Co-operative, Competitive.
1) How will the students practice, without you?
2) How can you make the practice more interesting?
 3) How can you use practice to develop other skills?
 Activities are the backbone of students’ application.
 It is in activities that students develop confidence with the new material and have
their first attempt to apply it in a useful manner.
 Think of creative ways to get students to use the target-language.
 This is your best chance for troubleshooting with struggling students and pushing
more advanced students. Use the opportunity: Circulate!
 Devise a mixture of activities that incorporate different motivations.
 Some students thrive on competition, whilst other prefer quite co-operation with
partner.
 Include a mix of activities based on the students wants and their needs/goals.
 A balance must be struck, based on your students interests and attitudes.
 There are no cookie-cutter solutions, but there are definitely some popular
favourites.
8. Summary – Re-cap, Summarize, Conclude
1. What did you do today?
2. What were your goals?
3. How were the goals achieved?
4. How much praise and feedback can you give?
5. How can today’s lesson be used?
 
 Providing a summary is a great way to ensure the new material was correctly
understood, in-case some student s became side-tracked during activities.
 This also provides you tithe opportunity to highlight common mistakes you have
identified during circulation.
 Most importantly it’s your chance to give encouragement, usage advice and build
the confidence of students.
 Considering praising publicly on those whom have worked-hard and those whom
need encouragement, an acclamation from a teacher is worth a million gold stars.
9. Evaluation – Test, Identify, Feedback, Revise.
1. What did you teach?
2. How well did you teach it?
3. How much was learnt?
 
 Testing is often seen as a negative aspect of teaching.
 If not well handled, testing can sever the delicate social bonds between teachers
and students.
 Your best option is not to view testing as a final crescendo to the course but
rather, as a useful tool integrated within your teaching.
 Testing is an opportunity to check what is and isn’t working for the class and
individual students.
 Integrate little tests in the correct manner into your classes to create feedback
loops that identify weakness and in your teaching and the students understanding.
 Fix these problems and testing becomes a rewarding and worthwhile aspect.
10. Risk Assessment – Problems, Solutions, Precaution
1) What could go wrong?
2) How can you prevent it?
 3) Do you have a back-up plan?
 
"Everything in war is very simple, but even the simplest things are difficult”  C. von
Clausewitz, Friction of War.
 Much the same may be said about teaching. Things go wrong!
 We would be foolish to expect anything else.
 Being prepared and ready to handle anything can be a challenge for a new
teacher, but eventually you will grow in confidence and be able to handle any
situation in a clam, graceful and professional way.
 Until such a time plan and prepare based on the likelihood of things going wrong.
 Your school ought to help you plan for safety and security contingencies.
 Your goal ought to be on your teaching and ensuring a quality outcome.
 What will you do if your projector is broken?
 How will you cope if the students have not bought their books? What is your plan
for a class who refuses to talk?
 A few moments spent thinking and preparing yourself for these situations can
make an incredible difference to your performance under pressure.
11. Post Lesson Analysis – Successes, Defeats, Challenges.
1) What worked?
2) What didn't?
3) How can you make it better next time?

Why lesson planning is important?

1. For preparing coherent and effective lessons

2. How is a specific unit best divided
3. What are the objectives?
4. What activities are most effective?
5. What materials are needed?
6. When an activity should be carried out and for how long?

What happens if you do not plan a lesson?

1. Students can easily gets distracted

2. You do not achieve your objects
3. Behavior problems
4. Your lessons are not connected
5. Frustration

When you plan your lessons

1. Objectives are generally achieved

2. Materials can be used in following lessons
3. Help reflecting on teaching methods

In order to make a good lesson plan you need to consider the followings:
1. Level of the students
2. Students’ background
3. Aims
a) Ie. Present the use of present simple with the function to talk about
routines
b) Ie. To review the simple past tense
c) Ie. Present vocabulary connected to food
d) Identify the meaning of the underline words
e) Differentiate between “at” and “in”
f) Practice reading/listening comprehension
g) Role play a situation at the groceries
4. Assumptions
5. Anticipated problems and solutions
6. Duration of the Lesson
7. Method or Approach
8. Types of Activities
9. Aids: role cards, pictures, realia, texts, handouts, magazines, and boards

4. Lesson Planning Quiz

Question 1
Select all that apply
How should you conduct a risk assessment in your lesson plan?

 Consider potential areas where the lesson may go off track and devise strategies to
minimise negative impacts
 Create a risk matrix along with worst case and best scenarios
 Re-plan your class until there is zero risk

Question 2
Select all that apply
Which of the following are likely outcomes of unplanned or incompletely planned lessons?

 Behaviour problems with your students

 Students feel unguided and get easily distracted
 Frustration for you and your students
 You don't achieve your lessons objectives

Question 3
Select all that apply
Which of the following are elements of a lesson plan?

 The instructional component

 Peer evaluation
 The intersectional component
 List of objectives
5. English Grammar
Introduction to Grammar
English Grammar is the structure of the language. The Connection and Modification
of ideas is seen and transliterated through: the structure, the phrasing, the use of
clauses, and the formation of sentences. This is especially important in the English
language.
English is a diverse language, from a plethora of areas, cultures and histories. We
must recognize that though English is one language, it contains differences in the use
of both spoken and written grammar. Here we will consider standardised forms of
English grammar appropriate for public discourse. Standardised English is used in
Media & Communications, Government & Service, Business & Education; and
appropriately suite both formal and informal speaking. We must recognise there exists
differences in the, Lexicon & Pronunciation of different forms of English: American,
British and Antipodean. However linguistic differences are much smaller in the use of
grammar.

Phrases and Word Classification

The English Lexicon may be broken into eight categories, based on different uses or
parts of speech. These eight categories are Adjectives, Adverbs, Conjunctions,
Determiners, Prepositions, Pronouns, and Verbs. Of these we must note; Determiners
can be considered to be a form of adjectives, and Interjections, which do not form
sentences and clauses, in normal usage.
The label Open-Class, is used to denote word categorises which are ‘open’, to new
words. This allows English flexibility to respond the new ideas and create abstractions
of ideas, transferring ideas from the zeitgeist into lexicon tools. Consider the
example Corny being modified into Cronyism. The change addition of the suffix ‘-
ism’ serves to modify the idea, from one person  to an entire system of socio-political
power. Additionally we create verbs, often replications of colloquial spoken English:
‘Working 365’.
Words may be classified in multiple classes, walk maybe used as both noun and a
verb. Thus identifying word class for learners of English can prove difficult. Words
may also cross classes as they are changed in modern usage. Ensuring you are fully
aware of these feature of the English language will help you explain them better to
you students. often this can prove difficult for teachers, as we learn our native
language as much from listening than from textbooks. Native speakers develop an
intuitive understanding which can be hard to effectively communicate.
A combination of words is, a phrase. Phrases can be categorised similarly to words
based on their central idea. The phrase, ‘your very tall father Chris’ can be
categorised as a noun phrase. A noun phrase would be used in a sentence in the place
of a noun the same may be said about adverbs/adverb
phrases and adjectives/adjective phrases. However there is a distinct shift in category
terminology. We may consider the following examples; a verb phrase requires the
grouping of a verb together with an object(s) and dependent(s), a phrase consisting of
a preposition and its complement is labelled as a prepositional phrase.
 Nouns
The largest category of words in the English language is, Nouns. Nouns, naming
words, can be modified and used as a suffix: Adage (-age), and Comradeship (-ship).
Nouns are mostly used in base form: apple, fish, tree, Australia. New Nouns can be
created by the conversion of verbs and adjectives, this is often a notable feature of
modern language use.
Unlike French and other languages; English, does not assign gender grammatically.
Engendering is replaced with specialised nouns, used to specifically refer to a
gendered subject: daughter, son, cow, rooster. Nouns are sub-categorised in the
following categories: proper (Henry, Russia), common (rabbit, juice), sensory (look,
touch) and abstract nouns (anger, cowardice). A further distinction is made between
countable (apples, T-shirts) and unaccountable nouns (milk, hay). There also exists a
crossover, nouns which are both countable and uncountable (that was a bad dinner, I
like a healthy dinner)
Countable nouns are made into plurals, most often, by the addition of –[e]s (drums,
ditches ). Another method is used for Irregular forms (man/men, box/boxes).
Occasionally nouns will use the same form for both singular and plural (deer, fish)
Nouns can in some cases be used with plural verbs to refer to a different level of the
words idea. Take for example: The persons were... (Here persons is used to refer to
several legal persons in a trial). This for is often associated with British English.
Nouns in the English language take the Possessive Form to show ownership. This is
achieved by the addition of: -´s (Tom’s, people’s). Multiplicity of ownership is
indicated by the addition of the apostrophe after the word (cats’ owners).  Possession
can be shown in two common ways; as the determiner (Tom’s cat), and also as
a noun phrase (Chris’s is the red car).

Noun phrases
In the same way we use nouns in a sentence we can use a noun phrase within a
sentence. Most often we will see the noun at beginning of the noun phrase; these are
often the subject/object of a verb.
A simple sentence structure, which you could find useful both for your study and
teaching is:

Noun Phrase Elements

Noun Phrase Examples

This example we can note the following:

Determiner: could be an  article or similar (a, an, the). Nouns sometimes require a
determiner to be included in the noun phrase.
Pre-modifiers: could be one or more; adjectives (yellow, quite good), adjectival
modifiers, noun adjuncts (university  in the phrase the university)

A complement or postmodifier may be a prepositional phrase (… of London), a relative

clause (like …which we saw yesterday), certain adjective or participial phrases
(… sitting on the beach), or a dependent clause or infinitive phrase appropriate to the
noun (like … that the world is round after a noun such as fact or statement, or … to
travel widely after a noun such as desire).

An example of a noun phrase that includes all of the above-mentioned elements is that
rather attractive young college student that you were talking to. Here that is the
determiner, rather attractive and young are adjectival pre-modifiers, college is a noun
adjunct, student is the noun serving as the head of the phrase, and that you were talking
to is a post-modifier (a relative clause in this case). Notice the order of the pre-modifiers;
the determiner that must come first and the noun adjunct college must come after the
adjectival modifiers.

Coordinating conjunctions such as and, or, and but can be used at various levels in noun

phrases, as in John, Paul, and Mary; the matching green coat and hat; a dangerous but
exciting ride; a person sitting down or standing up. See Conjunctions below for more
explanation.

Noun phrases can also be placed in apposition (where two consecutive phrases refer to
the same thing), as in that president, Abraham Lincoln, … (where that
president and Abraham Lincoln are in apposition). In some contexts the same can be
expressed by a prepositional phrase, as in the twin curses of famine and
pestilence (meaning “the twin curses” that are “famine and pestilence”).

Particular forms of noun phrases include:

Phrases formed by the determiner the with an adjective, as in the homeless, the

English(these are plural phrases referring to homeless people or English people in
general);

 Phrases with a pronoun rather than a noun as the head (see below);
 Phrases consisting just of a possessive;
 Infinitive and gerund phrases, in certain positions;
 Certain clauses, such as that clauses and relative clauses like what he said, in
certain positions.

Determiners
Determiners (such as: a, an, the, and sometimes some) are a small class. Other examples
of determiners are some demonstrative/interrogative words (which, this that), and
possessive words (whose, you). We may also cite; possessive nouns (Tom’s, the boys),
qualifying nouns (much, several, all) along with numbers (ten, nine, eight). Phrase can
also be considered determiners (a pair of). Some determiners (such as much Determiners
are used in the formation of noun phrases (see above). Many words that serve as
determiners can also be used as pronouns (this, that, many, etc.)

Determiners can be used in certain combinations, such as all the water and the

many problems.

In many contexts, it is required for a noun phrase to be completed with an article or some
other determiner. It is not grammatical to say just cat sat on table; one must say my cat
sat on the table. The most common situations in which a complete noun phrase can be
formed without a determiner are when it refers generally to a whole class or concept (as
in dogs are dangerous and beauty is subjective) and when it is a name (Jane, Spain, etc.)
This is discussed in more detail at English articles and Zero article in English.

Pronouns
Pronouns are a relatively small, closed class of words that function in the place of nouns
or noun phrases. They include personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, relative
pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and some others, mainly indefinite pronouns.

Personal pronouns
The personal pronouns of modern standard English, and the
corresponding possessive forms, are as follows:

r 1st 2nd person, 3rd 1st 3rd person,

You
person, Singular/Plural person, person, Plural
Singula Singular Plural
r
Nominativ I You He, She, We They
e It
Oblique Me You Him,Her Us Them
, it
Reflexive Myself Yourself/Yourselve Himself, Ourselve Themselve
s Herself, s s
Itself
Possessive Mine Your/Yours His, Her, Our Their
Detrminer Its
Possessive Mine Yours His, Ours Theirs
Pronouns Hers, Its
The second-person forms such as you are used with both singular and plural reference.

(An archaic set of pronouns used for singular reference is thou, thee, thyself, thy, thine.) 

You  can also be used as an indefinite pronoun, referring to a person in general

(see generic you) compared to the more formal alternative, one (reflexive oneself,
possessive one’s).

The third-person singular forms are differentiated according to the sex of the referent.

For example, she can be used to refer to a female person, sometimes a female animal,

and sometimes an object to which female characteristics are attributed, such as a ship or
a country.

A male person, and sometimes a male animal, is referred to using he. In other

cases it can be used. (See Gender in English.) The word it can also be used as a dummy
subject, in sentences like It is going to be sunny this afternoon.

The third-person plural forms such as they are sometimes used with singular reference,
as a gender-neutral pronoun, as in each employee should ensure they tidy their desk. This
usage is sometimes considered ungrammatical. (See singular they.)

The possessive determiners such as my are used as determiners together with nouns, as
in my old man, some of his friends.

The second possessive forms like mine are used when they do not qualify a noun: as
pronouns, as in mine is bigger than yours, and as predicates, as in this one is mine. Note
also the construction a friend of mine (meaning “someone who is my friend”).
See English possessive for more details.

Demonstrative and interrogative pronouns

The demonstrative pronouns of English are this (plural these), and that (plural those), as
in these are good, I like that.

Note that all four words can also be used as determiners (followed by a noun), as
in those cars. They can also then form the alternative pronominal expressions this/that
one, these/those ones.

The interrogative pronouns are who, what, and which (all of them can take the suffix -

ever for emphasis).

The pronoun who refers to a person or people; it has an oblique form whom(though in

informal contexts this is usually replaced by who), and a possessive form (pronoun or
determiner) whose. The pronoun what refers to things or abstracts.
The word which is used to ask about alternatives from what is seen as a closed set: which
(of the books) do you like best? (It can also be an interrogative determiner: which book?;
this can form the alternative pronominal expressions which one and which
ones.) Which, who, and what can be either singular or plural,
although who and what often take a singular verb regardless of any supposed number.

For more information see who.

All the interrogative pronouns can also be used as relative pronouns; see below for more
details.

Relative pronouns
The main relative pronouns in English are who (with its derived
forms whom and whose), which, and that. 

The relative pronoun which refers to things rather than persons, as in the shirt, which
used to be red, is faded. For persons, who is used (the man who saw me was tall).
The oblique case form of who is whom, as in the man whom I saw was tall, although in
informal registers who is commonly used in place of whom.

The possessive form of who is whose (the man whose car is missing …); however the
use of whose is not restricted to persons (one can say an idea whose time has come).

The word that as a relative pronoun is normally found only in restrictive relative

clauses (unlike which and who, which can be used in both restrictive and unrestrictive
clauses).

It can refer to either persons or things, and cannot follow a preposition. For example, one
can say the song that [or which] I listened to yesterday, but the song to which [not to
that] I listened yesterday.

The relative pronoun that is usually pronounced with a reduced vowel (schwa), and
hence differently from the demonstrative that(see Weak and strong forms in English).
If that is not the subject of the relative clause, it can be omitted (the song I listened to
yesterday).

The word what can be used to form a free relative clause – one that has no antecedent
and that serves as a complete noun phrase in itself, as in I like what he likes.

The words whatever and whichever can be used similarly, in the role of either pronouns

(whatever he likes) or determiners (whatever book he likes). When referring to
persons, who(ever) (and whom(ever)) can be used in a similar way (but not as
determiners).

There as pronoun
The word there is used as a pronoun in some sentences, playing the role of a dummy
subject, normally of an intransitive verb. The “logical subject” of the verb then appears
as a complement after the verb.

This use of there occurs most commonly with forms of the verb be in existential clauses,
to refer to the presence or existence of something.

For example: There is a heaven; There are two cups on the table; There have been a lot
of problems lately. It can also be used with other verbs: There exist two major
variants; There occurred a very strange incident.

The dummy subject takes the number (singular or plural) of the logical subject

(complement), hence it takes a plural verb if the complement is plural.

In colloquial English, however, the contraction there’s is often used where there

are would be expected.

The dummy subject can undergo inversion, Is there a test today? and Never has there
been a man such as this. 

It can also appear without a corresponding logical subject, in short sentences

and question tags: There wasn’t a discussion, was there? There was.

The word there in such sentences has sometimes been analyzed as an adverb, or as a

dummy predicate, rather than as a pronoun. However, its identification as a pronoun is
most consistent with its behaviour in inverted sentences and question tags as described
above.

Because the word there can also be a deictic adverb (meaning “at/to that place”), a

sentence like There is a river could have either of two meanings: “a river exists”
(with there as a pronoun), and “a river is in that place” (with there as an adverb).

In speech, the adverbial there would be given stress, while the pronoun would not – in

fact the pronoun is often pronounced as a weak form, /ðə(r)/.

Other pronouns
Other pronouns in English are often identical in form to determiners (especially
quantifiers), such as many, a little, etc.

Sometimes the pronoun form is different, as with none(corresponding to the

determiner no), nothing, everyone, somebody, etc. Many examples are listed at Indefinite
pronoun.

Verbs
Verbs form the second largest word class after nouns.
The basic form of an English verb is not generally marked by any ending, although there
are certain suffixes that are frequently used to form verbs, such as -ate (formulate), -
fy (electrify), and -ise/ize(realise/realize). 

Many verbs also contain prefixes, such un- (unmask), out- (outlast), over-(overtake),

andunder- (undervalue).

Verbs can also be formed from nouns and adjectives by conversion, as with the
verbs snare, nose, dry, and calm.

Most verbs have three or four inflected forms: a third-person singular present tense form
in -(e)s (writes, botches), a present participle and gerund form in -ing (writing), a past
tense (wrote), and – though often identical to the past tense form – a past
participle (written).

Regular verbs have identical past tense and past participle forms in -ed, but there are 100
or soirregular English verbs with different forms (see list).

The verbs have, do and say also have irregular third-person present tense forms

(has, does /dʌz/, says /sɛz/).

The verb be has the largest number of irregular forms (am, is, are in the present
tense, was, were in the past tense, been for the past participle).

Most of what are often referred to as verb tenses (or sometimes aspects) in English are

formed using auxiliary verbs.

Apart from what are called

the simple present (write, writes) and

simple past (wrote),

there are also continuous (progressive) forms (am/is/are/was/were writing), 

perfect forms (have/has/had written, and

the perfect continuous have/has/had been writing), 

future forms (will write, will be writing, will have written, will have been writing), and 

conditionals (also called “future in the past”) with would in place of will.

The auxiliariesshall and should sometimes replace will and would in the first person. For

the uses of these various verb forms, see English verbs and English clause syntax.
The infinitive is the basic form of the verb (be, write, play), although there is also a “to-
infinitive” (to be, to write, to play) used in many syntactical constructions.

There are also infinitives corresponding to other aspects: (to) have written, (to) be

writing, (to) have been writing.

The second-person imperative is identical to the (basic) infinitive; other imperative

forms may be made with let (let us go, or let’s go; let them eat cake).

A form identical to the infinitive can be used as a present subjunctive in certain

contexts: 

It is important that he follow them or … that he be committed to the cause.

There is also a past subjunctive (distinct from the simple past only in the possible use
of were instead of was), used in some conditional sentences and similar: if I
were (or was) rich …; were he to arrive now …; I wish she were (or was) here. For
details see English subjunctive.

The passive voice is formed using the verb be (in the appropriate tense or form) with the
past participle of the verb in question: cars are driven, he was killed, I am being tickled,
it is nice to be pampered, etc.

The performer of the action may be introduced in a prepositional phrase with by (as

in they were killed by the invaders).

The English modal verbs consist of the core modals 

can, could, 

may, might, must, 

shall, should, 

will, would, as well as ought (to), had better,

and in some uses dare and need. 

These do not inflect for person or number, and do not have infinitive or participle forms
(except synonyms, as with be/being/been able (to) for the modals can/could).

The modals are used with the basic infinitive form of a verb (I can swim, he may be
killed, we dare not move, need they go?), except for ought, which takes to (you ought to
go).
The copula be, along with the modal verbs and the other auxiliaries, form a distinct class,
sometimes called “special verbs” or simply “auxiliaries”. 

These have different syntax from ordinary lexical verbs, especially in that they make
their interrogative forms by plain inversion with the subject, and their negative forms by
adding not after the verb (could I  …? I could not …).

Apart from those already mentioned, this class may also include used to (although the
forms did he use to? and he didn’t use to are also found), and sometimes haveeven when
not an auxiliary (forms like have you a sister? and he hadn’t a clue are possible, though
becoming less common).

It also includes the auxiliary do (does, did); this is used with the basic infinitive of other
verbs (those not belonging to the “special verbs” class) to make their question and
negation forms, as well as emphatic forms (do I like you?; he doesn’t speak English; we
did close the fridge).

For more details of this, see do-support.

Some forms of the copula and auxiliaries often appear as contractions, as in I’m for I
am, you’d for you would or you had, and John’s for John is.

Their negated forms with followingnot are also often contracted (see Negation below).

For detail see English auxiliaries and contractions.

Verb phrases
A verb together with its dependents, excluding its subject, may be identified as a verb
phrase (although this concept is not acknowledged in all theories of grammar).

A verb phrase headed by a finite verb may also be called a predicate. The dependents
may be objects, complements, and modifiers (adverbs or adverbial phrases).

In English, objects and complements nearly always come after the verb; a direct
object precedes other complements such as prepositional phrases, but if there is
an indirect object as well, expressed without a preposition, then that precedes the direct
object: give me the book, but give the book to me.

Adverbial modifiers generally follow objects, although other positions are possible (see
under Adverbs below). Certain verb–modifier combinations, particularly when they have
independent meaning (such as take on and get up), are known as “phrasal verbs”.

For details of possible patterns, see English clause syntax. See the Non-finite

clauses section of that article for verb phrases headed by non-finite verb forms, such as
infinitives and participles.

Adjectives
English adjectives, as with other word classes, cannot in general be identified as such by
their form, although many of them are formed from nouns or other words by the addition
of a suffix, such as -al (habitual), -ful (blissful), -ic (atomic), -ish (impish, youngish), -
ous(hazardous), etc.; or from other adjectives using a
prefix: disloyal, irredeemable, unforeseen, overtired.

Adjectives may be used attributively, as part of a noun phrase (nearly always preceding

the noun they modify), as in the big house, or predicatively, as in the house is big.

Certain adjectives are restricted to one or other use; for example, drunken is attributive
(a drunken sailor), while drunk is usually predicative (the sailor was drunk).

Comparison
Many adjectives have comparative and superlative forms in -er and -est, such
as fasterand fastest (from the positive form fast). Spelling rules which maintain
pronunciation apply to suffixing adjectives just as they do for similar treatment
of regular past tense formation; these cover consonant doubling (as
in bigger and biggest, from big) and the change of yto iafter consonants (as
in happier and happiest, from happy).

The adjectives good and bad have the irregular forms better, best and worse, worst;

also far becomes farther, farthest or further, furthest.

The adjective old (for which the regular olderand oldest are usual) also has the irregular
forms elder and eldest, these generally being restricted to use in comparing siblings and
in certain independent uses. For the comparison of adverbs, see Adverbs below.

Many adjectives, however, particularly those that are longer and less common, do not
have inflected comparative and superlative forms. Instead, they can be qualified
with moreandmost, as in beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful (this construction is
also sometimes used even for adjectives for which inflected forms do exist).

Certain adjectives are classed as ungradable. 

These represent properties that cannot be compared on a scale; they simply apply or do
not, as with pregnant, dead, unique.

Consequently, comparative and superlative forms of such adjectives are not normally
used, except in a figurative, humorous or imprecise context.

Similarly, such adjectives are not normally qualified with modifiers of degree such
as very and fairly, although with some of them it is idiomatic to use adverbs such
as completely.
Another type of adjectives sometimes considered ungradable is those that represent an
extreme degree of some property, such as delicious and terrified; the same point about
modifiers applies to these, although it is not rare to find them in comparative or
superlative form.

Adjective phrases
An adjective phrase is a group of words that plays the role of an adjective in a sentence.
It usually has a single adjective as its head, to which modifiers and complements may be
added.

Adjectives can be modified by a preceding adverb or adverb phrase, as in very

warm, truly imposing, more than a little excited. Some can also be preceded by a noun or
quantitative phrase, as in fat-free, two-metre-long.

Complements following the adjective may include:

 prepositional phrases: proud of him, angry at the screen, keen on breeding toads;

 infinitive phrases: anxious to solve the problem, easy to pick up;
 content clauses, i.e. that clauses and certain others: certain that he was
right, unsure where they are;
 after comparatives, phrases or clauses with than: better than you, smaller than I
had imagined.
An adjective phrase may include both modifiers before the adjective and a complement
after it, as in very difficult to put away.

Adjective phrases containing complements after the adjective cannot normally be used as
attributive adjectives before a noun.

Sometimes they are used attributively after the noun, as in a woman proud of being a
midwife (where they may be converted into relative clauses: a woman who is proud of
being a midwife), but it is wrong to say *a proud of being a midwife woman.

Exceptions include very brief and often established phrases such as easy-to-use. (Certain
complements can be moved to after the noun, leaving the adjective before the noun, as
in a better man than you, a hard nut to crack.)

Certain attributive adjective phrases are formed from other parts of speech, without any
adjective as their head, as in a two-bedroom house, a no-jeans policy.

Adverbs
Adverbs perform a wide range of functions, typically

modifying verbs (or verb phrases),

adjectives (or adjective phrases), or other adverbs (or adverb phrases), 

although they also sometimes qualify noun phrases (only the boss, quite a lovely place),

pronouns and determiners (almost all) and

prepositional phrases (halfway through the movie),

indicate an attitude or comment on a whole sentence (frankly, I don’t believe you), or

indicate the relation between clauses or sentences (he died, and consequently I inherited
the estate).

Many English adverbs are formed from adjectives, by adding the ending -ly, as in

 hopefully, widely, theoretically (for details of spelling and etymology, see -ly).

Certain words can be used as both adjectives and adverbs, such as 

fast, straight, and hard.

The adverb corresponding to the adjective good is well (note that bad forms the

regular badly, although ill is occasionally used in some phrases).

There are also a large number of adverbs that are not derived from adjectives, including

adverbs of time (today, soon, then),

of place (here, there, everywhere),

of degree (very,much, quite, so, too), and

with other meanings (only, just, however, therefore).

Some suffixes that are fairly commonly used to form adverbs from nouns are -
ward[s] (as inhomeward[s]) and -wise (as in lengthwise).

A few adverbs retain irregular inflection for comparative and superlative forms: 

much, more, most; 

A little, less, least; 

soon, sooner, soonest; 

well, better, best; 
badly, worse, worst;

far, further (farther), furthest (farthest); or

follow the regular adjectival inflection: fast, faster, fastest, etc.

However most adverbs form comparatives and superlatives by modification with 

more and most: 

often, more often, most often; 

smoothly, more smoothly, most smoothly (see also comparison of adjectives, above).

Adverbs indicating the manner of an action are most usually placed after the verb and its
objects (We considered the proposal carefully), although other positions are often
possible.

Many adverbs of frequency, degree, certainty, etc. (such as 

often, always, almost, probably, and various others such as just) tend to be placed before

the verb (they usually have chips),

although if there is an auxiliary or other “special verb” (see Verbs above), then the

normal position for such adverbs is after the special verb (or after the first of them, if
there is more than one): 

I have just finished the crossword, 

she can usually manage a pint, 

we are never late, 

you might possibly have been unconscious.

Adverbs that provide a connection with previous information (such

as next, then, however), and those that provide a context (such as time or place) for the
sentence, often come at the start of the sentence: Yesterday we went on a shopping
expedition.

A special type of adverb is the adverbial particle used to form phrasal verbs (such

as up in pick up, on in get on, etc.) If such a verb also has an object, then the particle may
precede or follow the object, although it will normally follow the object if the object is a
pronoun (pick the pen up or pick up the pen, but pick it up).
Adverb phrases
An adverb phrase is a phrase that acts as an adverb within a sentence. An adverb phrase
may have an adverb as its head, together with any modifiers (other adverbs or adverb
phrases) and complements, analogously to the adjective phrases described above.

For example: very sleepily, all too suddenly, oddly enough, perhaps shockingly for us.

Another very common type of adverb phrase is the prepositional phrase, which consists
of a preposition and its object: in the pool, after two years, for the sake of harmony.

Prepositions
Prepositions form a closed word class, although there are also certain phrases that serve
as prepositions, such as in front of. A single preposition may have a variety of meanings,
often including temporal, spatial and abstract.

Many words that are prepositions can also serve as adverbs.

Examples of common English prepositions (including phrasal instances)

are of, in, on, over, under, to, from, with, in front
of, behind, opposite, by, before, after, during, through, in spite
of or despite, between, among, etc.

A preposition is usually used with a noun phrase as its complement. A preposition

together with its complement is called a prepositional phrase. 

Examples are in England, under the table, after six pleasant weeks, between the land
and the sea.

A prepositional phrase can be used as a complement or post-modifier of a noun in a noun

phrase, as in the man in the car, the start of the fight; as a complement of a verb or
adjective, as in deal with the problem, proud of oneself; or generally as an adverb phrase
(see above).

English allows the use of “stranded” prepositions.

This can occur in interrogative and relative clauses, where the interrogative or relative
pronoun that is the preposition’s complement is moved to the start (fronted), leaving the
preposition in place.

This kind of structure is avoided in some kinds of formal English. For example:

 What are you talking about? (Possible alternative version: About what are you
talking?)
 The song that you were listening to … (more formal: The song to which you were
listening …)
Notice that in the second example the relative pronoun that could be omitted.

Stranded prepositions can also arise in passive voice constructions and other uses of
passive past participial phrases, where the complement in a prepositional phrase can
becomezero in the same way that a verb’s direct object would: it was looked at; I will be
operated on; get your teeth seen to. The same can happen in certain uses
of infinitive phrases: he is nice to talk to; this is the page to make copies of.

Conjunctions
Conjunctions express a variety of logical relations between items, phrases, clauses and
sentences. 

The principal coordinating conjunctions in English are and, or, and but, as well

as nor, so, yet and for.

These can be used in many grammatical contexts to link two or more items of equal
grammatical status, for example:

 Noun phrases combined into a longer noun phrase, such as John, Eric, and Jill, the
red coat or the blue one. When and is used, the resulting noun phrase is plural.
 A determiner does not need to be repeated with the individual elements: the cat,
the dog, and the mouse and the cat, dog, and mouse are both correct.
 The same applies to other modifiers. (The word but can be used here in the sense
of “except”: nobody but you.)
 Adjective or adverb phrases combined into a longer adjective or adverb
phrase: tired but happy, over the fields and far away.·
 Verbs or verb phrases combined as in he washed, peeled, and diced the
turnips (verbs conjoined, object shared); he washed the turnips, peeled them, and
diced them (full verb phrases, including objects, conjoined).
 Other equivalent items linked, such as prefixes linked in pre- and post-test
counselling,[20] numerals as in two or three buildings, etc.·
 Clauses or sentences linked, as in We came but they wouldn’t let us in. They
wouldn’t let us in, nor would they explain what we had done wrong.
There are also correlative conjunctions, where as well as the basic conjunction, an
additional element appears before the first of the items being linked. The common
correlatives in English are:

 either  … or (either a man or a woman);

 neither  … nor (neither clever nor funny);
 both … and (they both punished and rewarded them);
 not … but, particularly in not only  … but also (not exhausted but exhilarated, not
only football but also many other sports).
Subordinating conjunctions make relations between clauses, making the clause in which
they appear into a subordinate clause.[21] Some common subordinating conjunctions in
English are:
  conjunctions of time, including after, before, since, until, when, while;
 conjunctions of cause and effect, including because, since, now that, as, in order
that, so;
 conjunctions of opposition or concession, such as although, though, even
though, whereas, while;
 conjunctions of condition: such as if, unless, only if, whether or not, even if, in case
(that);
 the conjunction that, which produces content clauses, as well as words that produce
interrogative content clauses: whether, where, when, how, etc.
A subordinating conjunction generally comes at the very start of its clause, although
many of them can be preceded by qualifying adverbs, as in probably
because …, especially if  …. The conjunction that can be omitted after certain verbs, as
in she told us (that) she was ready. (For the use of that in relative clauses, see Relative
pronouns above.)

Negation
As noted above under Verbs, a finite indicative verb (or its clause) is negated by placing
the word not after an auxiliary, modal or other “special” verb such as do, can or be.

For example, the clause I go is negated with the appearance of the auxiliary do, as I do
not go(see do-support).

When the affirmative already uses auxiliary verbs (I am going), no other auxiliary verbs
are added to negate the clause (I am not going). (Until the period of early Modern
English, negation was effected without additional auxiliary verbs: I go not.)

Most combinations of auxiliary verbs etc. with not have contracted

forms: don’t, can’t, isn’t, etc. (Also the uncontracted negated form of can is written as a
single word cannot.)

On inversion of subject and verb (such as in questions; see below), the subject may be
placed after a contracted negated form: Should he not pay? or Shouldn’t he pay?

Other elements, such as noun phrases, adjectives, adverbs, infinitive and participial
phrases, etc., can be negated by placing the word not before them: not the right
answer, not interesting, not to enter, not noticing the train, etc.

When other negating words such as never, nobody, etc. appear in a sentence, the
negating not is omitted (unlike its equivalents in many languages): 

I saw nothing or I didn’t see anything, but not (except in non-standard speech)

*I didn’t see nothing.

Sometimes, multiple negations are used for humorous purposes, and are understood to
follow the rules of multiplying negative numbers in math: an even number of negations,
including zero, means a positive, while an odd number means a negative.

For example, There is not no cow over there is understood to mean there is at least one
cow, which is positive. He didn’t never not bow after a performance is understood to
mean there has been at least one instance of him not bowing, which is negative.

Clause and sentence structure

A typical sentence contains one independent clause and possibly one or more dependent
clauses, although it is also possible to link together sentences of this form into longer
sentences, using coordinating conjunctions (see above).

A clause typically contains a subject (a noun phrase) and a predicate (a verb phrase in the
terminology used above; that is, a verb together with its objects and complements).

A dependent clause also normally contains a subordinating conjunction (or in the case of
relative clauses, a relative pronoun or phrase containing one).

English syntax is essentially of SVO (subject–verb–object) type; the verb precedes its
object in the verb phrase, and the subject of the clause precedes the verb.

Questions
Like many other Western European languages, English historically allowed questions to
be asked by inverting the positions of verb and subject.

Modern English requires the use of the auxiliary verb do, along with inversion of the
word order, to form a question from a simple (one-word) affirmative (I go → Do I
go?, Where do I go?), apart from when the main verb is “be” (I am here → Am I
here?, Why am I here?). When the affirmative verb is compound, a question is formed
by inverting the auxiliary verb with the subject (John is going → Is John going?).

Combining the formation of a question with negation involves both insertion of do, if the
verb is not already compound, and inversion of the auxiliary verb with the subject: John
is going → Is John not going?; John goes → Does John not go?. However, the
word not can optionally (especially in informal English) be contracted with the auxiliary
verb, in which case the word order is further changed: Isn’t John going?, Doesn’t John
go?.

Dependent clauses
The syntax of a dependent clause is generally the same as that of an independent clause,
except that the dependent clause usually begins with a subordinating conjunction or
relative pronoun (or phrase containing such). In some situations (as already described)
the conjunction or relative pronoun that can be omitted. Another type of dependent
clause with no subordinating conjunction is the conditional clause formed by inversion
(see below).

Other uses of inversion

The clause structure with inverted subject and verb, used to form questions as described
above, is also used in certain types of declarative sentence. This occurs mainly when the
sentence begins with an adverbial or other phrase that is essentially negative or contains
words such as only, hardly, etc.: Never have I known someone so stupid; Only in France
can such food be tasted.

In elliptical sentences (see below), inversion takes place after so (meaning “also”) as

well as after the negative neither: so do I, neither does she.

Inversion can also be used to form conditional clauses, beginning

with should, were(subjunctive), or had, in the following ways:

 should I win the race (equivalent to if I win the race);

 were he a soldier (equivalent to if he were a soldier);
 were he to win the race (equivalent to if he were to win the race, i.e. if he won the
race);
 had he won the race (equivalent to if he had won the race).
 

Other similar forms sometimes appear, but are less common. There is also a construction
with subjunctive be, as in be he alive or dead (meaning “no matter whether he is alive or
dead”).

Use of inversion to express a third-person imperative is now mostly confined to the

expression long live X, meaning “let X live long”.

Imperatives
In an imperative sentence (one giving an order), there is usually no subject in the
independent clause: Go away until I call you. It is possible, however, to include you as
the subject for emphasis: You stay away from me.

Elliptical constructions
Many types of elliptical construction are possible in English, resulting in sentences that
omit certain redundant elements. Various examples are given in the article on Ellipsis.

Some notable elliptical forms found in English include:

 Short statements of the form I can, he isn’t, we mustn’t. Here the verb phrase
(understood from the context) is reduced to a single auxiliary or other “special”
 verb, negated if appropriate. If there is no special verb in the original verb phrase,
it is replaced by do/does/did: he does, they didn’t.
 Clauses that omit the verb, in particular those like me too, nor me, me neither. The
latter forms are used after negative statements. (Equivalents including the verb: I
do too or so do I; I don’t either or neither do I.)
 Tag questions, formed with a special verb and pronoun subject: isn’t it?; were
there?; am I not?
The complexity and nuance of English grammar is often drawn upon in humour and
word play. This classic skit by comedy duo Abbott and Costello draws on nouns as an
open class to frustrate a conversation between two native English speakers.

7 Ways of Looking at Grammar video of 1 hour and 4 minutes

5. Contemporary Issues In English
Language
New Words
Vape,
Selfie,
Bitcoin,
Sharknado,
Binge-Wathcing,
Twerk,
Truthiness,
Plutoed,
Superprime,
Hashtag,
Doppelgänger,
Nom,
The 99%,
YOLO,
Flog,
Y2K,
WMD,
Cluster-, C
catfish,
Job-Creators,
Cloud, -
Shaming,
Gleek,
Dogging,  
Maverick,
W00t,
Chav,
Credit Crunch,
Omnishambles.

New words’enter the English Language lexicon everyday.

Not all hold-up to the same ‘high-standards’ of diction and common decency our
grandparents would have hoped.
But this is one of the key strengths of the English Language.
New words give voice to new ideas; new ideas reflect the changing world and give
the language a true global vibrancy. 
Unlike other languages English has not central governing authority and seems to be
ready to accept new and useful word/ideas into its lexicon rapidly.
New words and ideas come not only from the English world, but  from all the cultures
of the world which interact and offer useful turns of phrase, idioms or just plain
useful/fun words.
As society and technology develop, adapt and modernise, so too does our language.
Telephone was once a new word which was said with all the brightness, optimism and
scepticism of the new age.
These days it is commonly replaced with more common usages: phone, cell, iPhone,
android.
In a changing world we can struggle to truly pin-down what is the “correct” English?
Certainly we can look to hallowed institutions such as the Oxford Dictionary and
Queens-English to guide use.
However we must balance this against new more open and adaptable institutions in
lexiconic definition such as urban-dictionary and google define.
There remains a chasm of grey between ‘new words’ and their admission into official
sources such as dictionaries, for better or worse.
The variations and differences between different styles of the English language cans
seem daunting, confusing and redundant to learners.
Consider for example the different usages and spelling of words in American and
British English. Both stem for the same origin but through separation, isolation and
different interactions have evolved is quite different ways.
These factors have produced simultaneously divergent and unified languages.
Selecting the correct spelling, usage, structures, meanings and pronunciations is a
challenge for students.
It will be your task to ensure your students develop the language skills suited to their
goals and become aware of the issues and change in modern English.
 Due to the spread and popularity of American popular-culture students are often more
familiarly with American spoken English.
This can be evidenced by American, style expre3ssions and turns of phrase.
More specifically a teacher will notice the use of idiosyncratic speech patterns based
on their chosen form of media and the adoption of non-native idioms.
Being aware of your own diction is important. ensure you teach ‘Standard English’
and point about differences and deviations worthy of note.
Be aware of your students’ goals.
Where and when will they use the language?
Why are they studying?
What specific vocabulary do they need?
Ensure you take the time, especially with older students, to discuss their goals and
intended purpose of study.
Tailor your teaching to suit their goals and expected outcomes.
There is little point in teach American English to students intending to study in
Britain.

Learning English Video 24 minutes

Question 1
Select all that apply
Considering an inclusive view of English language, which of the following are correct past
simple/past participle verbs?

 Learning
 Learnt
 Learned
 Spelt
 Spelled
 Spelling

Question 2
Select all that apply
When teaching areas of English with conflicting structures or issues, it is best practice to..

 Teach students the style of your native tongue as this will be the most accurate
 Facilitate students to understand all areas of the conflict thoroughly and encourage
them to utilise all available structures and spellings indiscriminately
 Help students be aware of the conflict and focus on developing a consistent style most
appropriate for the goals of your students
 Teach students the fundamentals of the conflict and instruct them in a consistent style
most appropriate to your own language use
7. Teaching Grammar Quiz
Teaching Grammar

Presentation Stage
Model sentence
Concept check
Board Summary
Controlled Practice
Freer Practice
Grammar is critical to the English language, it forms the basis the English language,
influences the tone and shapes ideas.
Most importantly for your studentsof English it is a key marker of mastery.
Being able to master the complexities and subtleties of English grammar, has been the
headache of many a student.
Mastery of grammar will see you students grow in confidence and encourage them to
practice independently.
Understanding Grammar
In the following video from The NEW School in New York, we look at 7 ways of
understanding grammar as TEFL teachers.
Following the clip are two further videos in which TEFL instructors demonstrate their
methods of teaching English grammar.
Use these as a comparison point and consider how they fit the theories presented by
The NEW School and how they could be improved.
Informative video content on the above video from The NEW School commences at
9min 32sec

Question 1
Select all that apply
Which of the following are reasons why visual materials can be helpful in teaching grammar?

 Visual images don't assist in the learning of grammar structures, but students like them
 By supporting students' vocabulary they allow students to focus on the structure
 Visual cues can trigger short term memory while the students build long term
associations
 Without visual images to focus on students will always become easily distracted by their
classmates

Question 2
Select all that apply
Which of the following are effective ways to teach grammar?

 Explain a more complex structure by breaking it down into simple components

 Engage the class as a group and individuals in using the structure
 Create examples of the structure using familiar vocabulary
 Using games and allowing students to experiment with the structure

Question 3
Select all that apply
Which of the following are shortcomings of teaching grammar as rules?

 The psychological reality of the rules for the learners

 The capacity or learners to recall and apply the many rules in real life
 Rules were made to be broken
 Rules and their exceptions are too complex, even gifted learners cannot consciously
apply them day to day
 Rote learning of rules through uncontextualised repetition is an inefficient learning
method
 Infinite rules will never completely encompass a language