Teaching Language Sub-Skills

IF language Learning were a tree,

the roots would be ………. &……

the trunk would be ……. &………

fruits would be ………. &…….…..

Teaching Grammar

&Vocabulary

Agree or Disagree

-Vocabulary can not be separated from the learning of the grammar of the language.

-Thematic units help students learn words and groups of words.

-Vocabulary has been widely overlooked recently on the expense of grammar in the EFL classrooms.

-Linguistically Without grammar, little can be conveyed , but without vocabulary nothing can be.

-Certain grammar structures lend themselves to a study of

words and phrases.. any examples? any examples?

Which is which?

Teaching Vocabulary

Teaching words should be based on context and meaning, not rote learning.

why?

Why Do We Teach English?

My Goal

To help students

CommunicateBy:?

The Professional Development Project for English Language Supervisors and Teachers

As teachers, it’s our responsibility As teachers, it’s our responsibility to prepare the students to prepare the students

to communicate to communicate

using English in the real world. using English in the real world.

The Professional Development Project for English Language Supervisors and Teachers

Teaching Vocabulary needs?

Which Vocabulary To Teach?

Planning FilterPlanning Filter

Not more than oneNot more than one unknown word inunknown word in every 50 running every 50 running

words words

Learning a word for productive use requires more learning than for receptive use.

Therefore when planning , the teacher needs to - prepare activities that enrich the learning of known words and improve the access to them.  

Suggested ActivitiesRole play, Retelling, Ranking , Same or Different , Kim’s game ,

Remember the pictures , The paraphrasing strategy , Communicative crosswords , twenty questions,

describe it! , beating the odds , split information problems , headlines , where should the prison be built ,

4/3/2

Teaching Vocabulary

Teaching Stage

Teaching Vocabulary Through

a-Deliberate Teaching &Learning

b-Intensive Reading

c- Strategy Training

ButButWhat need to be taught about a word

MeaningFormUse

Form and meaningConcepts and referents

Associations

Spoken form Written formWord parts

Grammatical functionsCollocations

Constraints on use

Is the word a loan word in L1?

Is there an L1 word with roughly the same meaning?Does the word fall into the same structure as an L1

word with a similar meaning?

Can the learners repeat the word accurately when they

hear it?Can the learners write the

word correctly when they hear it?

Can the learners identify known affixes in the word?

Does the word fit into predictable grammar patterns?Does the word have the same collocations as an L1 word of

similar meaning?Does the word have the same restrictions on its use as an L1 word of similar meaning? 100

1. Deliberate Teaching &Learning

The direct teaching approach guidelines: 1.If the word is a high frequency word or one that will be of continuing importance for the learners, a)give it attention, preferably focusing on its learning burden. b) make sure the learners will come back to it again.

If the word is a low frequency word, pass over it without comment or give some brief attention to it focusing on what is needed in that instance.

Language Focused Learning

2. Keep it clear and simple. Rely on repeated meetings to develop an understanding of the complexities of a word.

Don’t try to deal with the complexities by intensive

teaching.

What should be done?

2. Strategy Training

The Most important strategies:guessing from context, using word cards. using word parts. using a dictionary.

It takes a few months and several minutes each week for learners to get really good at using each strategy. A strategy is Not

Learned in one training session

Some Ideas for teaching target vocabulary

Word It makes me think of

Meaning Opposite

4 Square Vocab. Grid 4 Square Vocab. Grid

Students look up difficult wordsGrids should be kept in the portfolio

Frayer ModelFrayer Model

-Students look up the difficult

words then present their maps to class if time allows.

3. Fluency Development

Help students become more proficient with words

they already know.

A Fluency Task should

- focus on meaning

-have no unknown vocabulary.

- push Ss to go faster

- have Quantity of practice

e.g 4/3/2 activity, linked skills activities, 10 minute

writing.

Give Repeated Attention to Vocabulary

Why?Why?

What Color is TheSlide?

Give Target Vocabulary Repeated Attention How? 1.Spend time on a word by dealing with several aspects of the word, such as spelling, pronunciation, parts, derivatives, meaning, collocations, grammar, and restrictions on its usage.

2.Get learners to do graded reading and listening to stories at the appropriate level.

3.Get learners to do prepared activities that involve testing and teaching vocabulary, such as same or different, find the difference, word and picture matching.

4. Set aside time each week for word by word revision of the vocabulary that occurred previously.

Repeated Attention How? 5. List the words on the board and do the following:

a. Go around the class getting each learner to say one of the

words.

b. Get learners to break the words into parts and label the

meanings

of the parts

c. Get learners to suggest collocations for the words

d. Get learners to recall the sentence where the word occurred

and suggest another context.

e. Get learners to look at derived forms of the words.

A good vocabulary exercise does the following:1 -focuses on useful words, preferably high frequency words that

students are familiar with.

2-focuses on a useful aspect of the learning task. That is, it has a useful

learning goal.

3-gets learners to meet or use the word in ways that establish new

mental connections for the word. It sets up useful conditions involving

generative use.

4-involves the learners in actively searching for and evaluating the

target words in the exercise.

5-does not bring related unknown or partly known words together. It

avoids interference .

How to Deal with ……… (worksheet)

Reference

-Teaching Vocabulary: Strategies and Techniquesby Paul Nation. Heinle, Cengage Learning. 2008

Teaching Grammar

Why Do We Teach English?

My Goal

To help students

Communicate.So Teaching grammar is a

…..….

In other words,

Effective language teaching leads students to use their

knowledge of the form of the language to develop skills for

talking and listening to each other, reading and writing to

each other. Language teaching includes both grammar and

people interacting in meaningful ways. It is a balance between

correct grammar and using language to communicate.

What 3 things you would like to see

when observing a grammar lesson

and what 3 things you don’t like to see?

Look at the word ‘work’ in the following sentences. What changes are

made to this word and the words around it? What do these changes do

to the meaning of ‘work’? Why?

Imad works in a bank.

Aris worked in a restaurant in Abha last summer.

I’ve been out of work for nearly two months now.

I’ll work in the library if you want to use the office.

Anna’s been working all weekend, so she’s exhausted.

Grammar Use and Usage

Form or Function!!!

Forms of a language deal with the internal grammatical structure of words .

Language function refers to the purpose for which speech or writing is being used.

Same Form , Different Same Form , Different functionsfunctions

Same Function, Different FormsSame Function, Different Forms

Why don’t we watch a film?Let’s watch a film!Shall we watch the film?We could watch a film!

Development of Language Functionand Structure

Dealing with functions & formsDealing with functions & forms

Book mapBook map

conversationconversation

listeninglistening

speakingspeaking

Look th

em up in

Teach th

em through

Ss hear t

hem during

SS Practi

ce th

em

while

Types of Grammar Activities

1 .RECEPTIVE OR PRODUCTIVE?RECEPTIVE TASKS: where learners have only to recognise lexical or grammaticalitems, e.g. Choose verbs from the box and fill in the gaps; Match the words in columnA with the definitions in column B, etc.PRODUCTIVE TASKS: where learners have to produce (recall/use and/or manipulateforms) the words/grammatical items, e.g. Complete the sentences with anappropriate phrase or expression; Put the correct form of the verbs in the gaps in thetext; Rewrite the sentence in such a way that the meaning remains the same; etc.

2 .FOCUS ON ACCURACY OR FLUENCY?ACCURACY FOCUS: where learners are required to produce correct forms (grammar,vocabulary, pronunciation) but do not necessarily have to think about the meaningof what they say/write.FLUENCY FOCUS: where learners are asked to concentrate on getting theirmessage/meaning across, and not to be too concerned about errors ofform/accuracy.

3 .CONTROLLED OR FREE?CONTROLLED TASKS: where the teacher and/or materials dictate what language thelearners will produce, i.e. the language produced is ‘controlled’ or restricted to theforms being focused on in the lesson.

SEMI-CONTROLLED / GUIDED TASKS: these are half-way between controlled andfree(r) tasks, i.e. the language produced by the learners is partly restricted by thematerials/task, but learners also have to produce part of the language required usingtheir own ideas/language choice. For example, in a grammar lesson, the task mayrequire learners to produce the form but can use any vocabulary items they think

are appropriate. E.g. Talk about food you like. Use I like ..... or I don’t like... .

FREE(R) TASKS: where learners are asked to produce language appropriate to thetask/context in order to get their meaning across. The learners can choose anyappropriate language they have at their disposal, and are encouraged to includelanguage they have focused on in the lesson.

Teaching Model

Assessing Grammar

Questions should highlight the function e.g:

1.Complete the sentences about Ahmad daily routine using the verbs in brackets:

2. Correct the verbs in the following suggestions.

3. Write suitable advice to the following complaints .