Pedagogical Grammar2nd task

Group 1:Carla Danielle Silva Vieira  

Iran Felipe Alvarenga E Gomes Thiago Tofani De Vasconcelos Caetano  

Vanessa Cristiane Rodrigues Bohn

Site analysis :English club.com

Index:

1. How is the grammar site organized? 2. What do the site sections focus on? (skill development,

function learning, linguistic item learning ….)3. Is there a separate grammar section? Is it related to the

rest of the unit? 4. Is grammar treated inductively or deductively? 5. Is the grammar topic addressed a “fact” or a “pattern”? 6.   Are the semantic distinctions addressed? Which ones?

How? 7. Are there references to the “communicative meaning’? Of

the structures? If yes,how is this done?8. Are “general rules” presented? How? What about

“grammar facts”? 9. Give suggestions on how to explain the grammar topic in

site section you chose. Justify your answer relating it to some concepts developed by Lewis.

1.How is the grammar site organized?

     The site is divided into 4 sections: Learning Centre, ESL Clubhouse, Teacher Lounge, ESL Resources, and ESL World.

There is a separate grammar section which divided into Meaning of Grammar (a brief explanation what grammar is), English Grammar Terms (so that learner can get familiarized with some technical terms), and Parts of Speech (8 speeches are dealt in the section: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, verbs, articles, pronouns, conjunctions, and interjections). 

Figure 1 – Main links (sections)

2.What do the site sections focus on?

The focus is, for sure, on form an accessibility, considering that the explanations are quite simplified and many other possible sentences have been excluded.

Eg.:Phrasal VerbsPhrasal verbs are a group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus another word or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. On these pages we make a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. On this page we look at phrasal verbs proper.

3. Is there a separate grammar section? Is it related to the rest of the unit?

As it was presented previously (slide 4),there is only one section with several divisions that are strictly related.

Click on the image to go to the grammar page

 4. Is grammar treated inductively or

deductively? The way that the site explains the grammar aspects guide the student to learn from induction.

Click on the image to go to the page.

For example,the explanations in the section about modal verbs.

5.Is the grammar topic addressed a “fact” or a

“pattern”?

Depending on the topic it addressed as fact or a pattern. For instance, explanation about Pronouns can be considered as a “fact”. On the other hand, the grammar topic can be a pattern,because in all topics there are explanations about the rules and students will be able to perceive the structures.

6. Are the semantic distinctions addressed? Which ones?How?

Not really! The site is totally focus on form. Grammar presented on the segmental level.

7. Are there references to the “communicative meaning” of the structures? If yes, how is this

done?

No, as it has been said, the grammar section is focused on form.

8. Are “general rules” presented? How? What about “grammar facts”?

No, general rules can always be applied. If the rules presented in the grammar section were analyzed carefully, a number of exceptions would be found. “Sometimes rules are not rules” (The English Verb, page 22). See the section about Adjectives explaining determiners.

 9. Give suggestions on how to explain the grammar topic in site section you chose. Justify your answer

relating it to some concepts developed by Lewis.

According to Lewis to have a good comprehension of language and learn it the student need to be in touch with simple explanations and real examples. To have a good learning of English it’s necessary combine these two therefore the student will be able to use well the grammar aspects in natural conversation. Suggestion:

The website should have video files, so that students could see how to apply the topics in a real situation. Because if learners do not see the communicative purpose of certain topic, they will not produce them in a real oral language.