Task 3

1. What is form-focused instruction?

Focus on forms is the traditional approach, based on the assumption that language consists of a series of
grammatical forms that can be acquired sequentially and additively. It is problematic because it leads to
lessons which are dry and consist of teaching linguistic forms with little concern with communicative use.
There are several principles of Form-focused instruction: both form and meaning should be emphasised;
learners need to have the opportunity to practice forms in communicative tasks; there should be
stronger focus on forms that are problematic for learners; explicit grammar teaching is more effective at
intermediate to advanced levels than at beginning levels; both input-based (comprehension) and output-
based (production) grammar should be attended to; both deductive and inductive approaches can be
useful, depending on the context and purpose of instruction; incidental focus on form is valuable in that
it treats errors that occur while learners are engaged in meaningful communication; corrective feedback
can facilitate acquisition if it involves a mixture of implicit and explicit feedback.

2. How does teaching of grammar depend on learners’ variables such as age, proficiency level and
learners’ needs?
Teachers should devise different approaches for teaching grammar keeping learner variables in mind.
Some of the methods include focusing on the language through a situational presentation, text or
recording, test-teach-test sequence, teacher mini-lecture, or a guided discovery. The choice of
presentation method depends on the item itself, and on a number of learner-related factors, such as
age, proficiency level, learners’ needs. Mini lecture- In a low-proficiency class or monolingual the teacher
can use students’ own language to clarify some language points and give the translational equivalents of
some grammatical structures. Situational presentation is very effective, and works well with bigger
groups of students and younger learners who are more difficult to control or easily distracted when
working with the course book. If the teacher wants to narrow the focus and concentrate only on aspects
which are new and cause difficulties for the students, he/she can first test their knowledge of a particular
item and use the results to plan his or her instruction to target only the problematic areas. Grammar
teaching approaches that are often discussed are Focus on Form and Focus on Forms. Celce-Murcia and
Larsen-Freeman (1999) reasoned that teachers will better be prepared to meet students’ learning needs
when they have a firm grounding in the grammar of the language they teach.

3. How does The Lexical Approach differ from the traditional teaching of lexis and grammar?
The key principle of the Lexical Approach is that “language consists of grammaticalized lexis, not
lexicalized grammar. The lexical approach makes a distinction between vocabulary and lexis,
which includes not only the single words but also the word combinations that we store in our
mental lexicons. A lexical approach in language teaching refers to one derived from the belief
that the building blocks of language learning and communication are not grammar, functions,
notions, or some other unit of planning and teaching but lexis, that is, words and word
combinations. Lexical approaches in language teaching reflect a belief in the centrality of the
 lexicon to language structure, second language learning, and language use, and in particular to
multiword lexical units or “chunks” that are learned and used as single items. Lexis is central in
creating meaning, grammar plays a secondary role in managing meaning.

4. What are some of the ways of explaining lexical meaning without using translation?
The teacher can present the meaning through:
 Realia (real objects brought to class by teacher or students);
 Visuals – flash cards, pictures, photos, drawings, posters, etc.;
 Mimes and gestures;
 Definitions and descriptions;
 Guessing meaning in context;
 Synonyms, opposites, connotations

5. What would some appropriate concept checking questions (ccqs) for the sentence It’s high time you
found a job be?

What does the expression “It's (high) time+ past subjunctive(past verb form)“ mean?

Is he working now?
Are we talking about past, present, future?
Does he work every day?
Has he got a job?

6. Can you think of an appropriate context (situation) for introducing past perfect tense?

The function of the Past Perfect tense is to talk about an event or activity that was completed before
another event, activity or time in the past. There are several ways for introducing Past Perfect Tense:

 One of the best ways to practice Past Perfect tense is by looking back at history, either on a
grand scale or a personal one and create some timelines. A good one to start with is the
students’ birthdays. Some examples: When I Was Born…. Had the television been invented, Had a
new prime minister been nominated the year you were born?

Teacher can turn this into a guessing game in which each student is asked questions until the
class can guess which specific year (and month if he/she wants to make it really challenging) they
were born.

 Reported speech is one of the few ways that Past Perfect is used frequently. Examples: John had
called last night and he had asked me what time we should meet; He said that his aunt had
given him a present.

 The Third Conditional is basically the hypothetical past because we are talking about things that
never happened. Examples: If only I had been a better father.; If only I had studied harder for the
test.
7. What is your way of learning vocabulary? Has it always been the same?
My way of learning vocabulary has changed enormously over the years. When I was at school, I used to
learn single words. I used a dictionary for the meanings of unknown words quite a lot, In addition to
looking up the meaning of new words, I used a dictionary for synonyms and antonyms. I used to write
down every new word at least 20 times and it helped to build my writing skills. I practiced spelling as
well. Another way of learning was writing the new words in a complete sentence. I read a lot these days,
I also learn from real-life situations and this helps a lot to memorize the vocabulary. I now prefer learning
vocabulary through phrasal words, collocations, set phrases.

8. What are some of the benefits (if any) of the explicit teaching of grammar?
In explicit grammar teaching, teachers focus on language forms presentation, explain the grammar rules
and practice through drilling. Explicit grammar teaching can make students more profoundly understand
the grammatical items, and it has strong systemic. Besides, students will keep clear when studying the
grammar concepts. Explicit grammar teaching pays too much attention to language forms, which makes
that most students can make sentences grammatically accurate, but make errors when they try to use
the language in context and can not communicate with simple English.