Meta-language and teaching

Language Knowledge: Analysis of the English Language

Prof. Ricardo Valderrama
rvalderrama@utalca.cl
Before we start…
Let’s define the following words:
Adjective
Noun
Adverb
Interrogative sentences
Auxiliary verbs
Subject
Verb
Tense
Past participle
Negative sentence
US$1,000,000

• What would you do if you had that

money in your Bank account but you only
had one month to spend it all?
 •would buy a new house with a lot of rooms and a big pool.
If I had US$1,000,000, •would travel to different countries.
I… •would feed as much stray dogs as I could.
•would acquire a big truck to travel across Chile.
•would move to New York.
•…
•I would buy a new house with a lot of rooms and a big pool
•I would travel to different countries
•I would feed as much stray dogs as I could If I had US$1,000,000.
•I would acquire a big truck to travel across Chile
•I would move to New York
If I had time next week,

That car is not very reliable. If I were you,

I’d run as fast as posible

Would you come to New York

I wouldn’t need to work

The children have started school holidays. If I

didn’t have children

Do you like this dress? Would you wear it

You wouldn’t feel so tired

If I didn’t have to get up early tomorrow,

What would you if you were the
president?
Take some minutes and provide one sentence.
Second Conditional Sentences
• They are used for unreal situations

If + Subject + Past simple + Complement, subject + would + infinitive + complement

Or
Subject + would + infinitive + complement + if + subject + past simple + complement

* Were is always used for verb to be

In the following sentences, what elements are
highlighted?

• If I were a dog, I would be naked all day long

• I wouldn’t do excercise even if I had the time
• She would go to the party if she didn’t have a broken leg
Metalanguage and teaching?
What do you think of explicit metalanguage in the classroom?
Let’s find it out
• You will be divided into teams. One will use only the CLT while the
other will use explicit metalanguage to teach a brief lesson.
• a) CLT b)Meta-language

T1: Simple Present (every day actions)

T2: Superlative adjectives (comparision)