Teaching

MARIA JUAN maria.juan@uib.eu

(based on various sources)
What is grammar?
 What is grammar?
1. Grammar is the study of how words are used in
sentences, and how they change in different situations.
It is the study of sentence structure.
2. The structure and system of a language, usually
consisting of syntax (the arrangement of words and
phrases to create well-formed sentences in a
language)& morphology (the study of words, how they
are formed, and their relationship with other words in
the same language)
 Is grammar necessary in primary?

´ Arguments in favour
´…
´…
´…
´ Arguments against
´…
´…
´…
What kind of grammar? 1

´Implicit (e.g. she lives around the

corner)
´…
´…
´Explicit (e.g. it/he/she lives, but
I/you/we/they live)
´…
´…
´…
 What kind of grammar? 2

´ Actually both are useful

´ Which will be more helpful
for SS to learn the 3rd
person ‘s’?
´ Explicit attention maybe
needed
´ We can focus on 3rd p –s
so that SS ‘notice’
 What kind of grammar? 3
´ A deductive approach to grammar (rule-
driven) starts with the presentation of a rule
followed by examples in which the rule is
applied
Deductive = From the rules to the examples
EXAMPLE
RULE
Future Simple: will + base form of the verb

EXERCICE
Fill-in the gaps in the following sentences:

• I will go to the cinema tonight

• My parents _will_ buy a new car next year
 What kind of grammar? 3
´An inductive approach to grammar (rule-
discovery) starts with some examples from
which learners can discover the rule
Inductive = From the examples to the rule

EXAMPLE
You can present to the students a few sentences like the next ones
Afirmative sentence:
• You like eating icecreams in summer
Interrogative sentence
• Do you like eating icecreams in summer?

RULE
Ask the students to explain how do they make a question in English
What kind of grammar? 4

´COMPARATIVES: bigger than, busier than,

more intelligent than, less interesting than…
´What is the rule? Try to figure it out if you do
not remember
What kind of grammar 4

´COMPARATIVES: bigger than, busier than,

more intelligent than, less interesting than…
´What is the rule? Try to figure it out if you do
not remember
´Use adj + -er + than with 1-syllable adjectives
& 2-syllable adjectives ending in –y
´e.g. texting is faster than making a phone call
´Use more/less + adj + than with adjectives
with 2 or more syllables
´e.g. I think math is more difficult than history
Reading
leading
to
speaking
Ask & answer Qs about an
information gap task /about your
friends
 Helping SS to combine words

´Words are chained together in a particular

order (SVO is the basic order in English)

1 2 3 4 5

We are (not) at home

They are (not) at work

Dad is (not) in hospital

I am (not) in bed
What is being practised?
What is being practised

How old are you?

What do you look like?

What are you wearing?

What do you like doing?

What do you want to be?

Compare & contrast
Compare & contrast

Grandad is older than Granny

Mum is shorter than Dad

Grandad is the oldest

Fred is the youngest

167 131
175 178 140 Dad is the tallest
Word order
 Word order

He looks at the Internet to find pictures of comets.

They share ideas to write their blogs.

We use our silver key to open our secret box.

You use your mobile phone to phone your parents.

She goes to the museum to see a real spaceship.

Write adding extra elements
 Write adding extra elements

They use a password TO play computer games.

She useS an avatar TO stay safe online.

He useS HIS headphones TO listen to music.

Alice and Robert use a chat room TO talk about music.

Robert useS a mobile phone TO take photos.

Comparatives 1
Comparatives 2

less frightening
less crowded
more crowded
more historical
less historical
 Comparatives 3
READ AND CIRCLE THE MISTAKES
1. At the be beginning, Ben is the least confident than skier.
_______________________________________________________
2. At the end, Ben is the confidentiest skier.
_______________________________________________________
3. The most fast skier has to buy mugs of hot chocolate.
_______________________________________________________
4. At the end of the race, Sophie is the most embarrassest skier.
_______________________________________________________
5. Polly Snow is the famosiest skier.
_______________________________________________________
6. At the café, Ben is the most kind brother
 Comparatives 4

At the end, Ben is the most confident skier.

The fastest skier has to buy mugs of hot chocolate

At the end of the race, Sophie is the most embarrassed skier.

Polly Snow is the most famous skier.

At the café, Ben is the kindest brother

In this unit we have seen….
´ What is grammar, including syntax and morphology
´ We have talked about the relevance of grammar in
primary
´ We have discussed two types of grammar: Implicit and
explicit, with the former being preferred as far as possible
´ We have talked about the deductive (rule-driven) and
inductive (rule-discovery) approaches to grammar
´ We have exemplified work on grammar through the
comparatives. You figured out the rule, although it is
probably easier to simply learn it implicitly
´ We saw a reading leading to speaking
´ We looked at a table that can help SS to build sentences
´ We looked at various activities regarding comparatives,
word order and the addition of extra elements