Pedagogical Grammar Pro. Penny Ur Teaching the First Conditional A presentation by Shulamit Bar-Ilan June 22

Why teach the 1 st conditional explicitly? Corpus findings- Longman “Grammar of spoken and written English” has found that conditional clauses are most common in conversations. (Less so in academic use) The conditionals play an important part in developing arguments and in specifying the conditions under which these hold. Think of your own experience as parents, teachers, friends…. Don’t we all use them too often?!

Introduction Ask Shaked Shaked Bitton answers Dana’s questions about sport in her weekly column. This week's topic is Exercise. Q: My brother and I want to start an exercise program, but I've heard that exercising will make us eat more. What should we do? A: If you exercise in moderation, you won't have a problem. Q: My brother is only 12 years old. Will he get big muscles if he exercises? Will I get big muscles like a man? A: Men have far more testosterone than women, so if he exercises he will get big muscles, whereas if you do, you will not. Q: I've been exercising regularly for ten minutes twice a week. Why don't I see any results? A: Unless you do at least 15 minutes or three to four days, you will not see changes.

Let’s pay attention to the colored clauses A: { If you exercise in moderation }, { you won't have a problem. } Q: My brother is only 12 years old. { Will he get } big muscles { if he exercises } ? Will I get big muscles like a man? A: Men have far more testosterone than women, so { if he exercises } { he will get big muscles }, whereas { if you do }, { you will not } Q: I've been exercising regularly for ten minutes twice a week. Why don't I see any results? A: { Unless you exercise at least 15 minutes or three to four days }, { you will not see changes }.

The Rules: The realization of the suggestions is probable and refers to the Future. The sentences include two parts/clauses each: a condition and a result. In the conditional part (If/ unless)– The Present Simple In the result part – The Future simple / a modal

The parallel Conditional in Hebrew אם תתאמני בצורה מתונה, לא תהיה לך בעיה. האם יהיו לו שרירים גדולים אם הוא יתאמן ? אם הוא יתאמן, יהיו לו שרירים גדולים, אם את - לא. אם לא תתאמני למשך 15 דקות או שלוש או ארבע פעמים בשבוע, לא תראי שינויים.

How different is the Hebrew conditional from the English conditional? In English- The future simple or a modal is used in the conditional part, whereas in Hebrew- The future is used in both parts.

Therefore, Hebrew speakers should pay attention not to use the future in the conditional part when they speak English. Although, it is acceptable to use the future in the conditional part, it is considered incorrect in standard English.

Practice activity Pair work: Use the first conditional to tell your friend about your plans for the future and the conditions to realize them. Use different persons. e.g. If my mother helps me get private lessons, I will succeed in my studies. Plans for the future: succeed in studies, date a handsome/beautiful man/woman, join the army, go abroad, make money, go on a tour around the world, buy a car….(Add you own plans) The above are conditioned by: working hard, saving money, healthily fit, taking care of one’s appearance…(Add your own conditions)

Theories underlying this teaching methodology The Interaction Theory: (in pairs, groups or discussion) the students are given the feedback they need to modify their linguistic performance. The Output Theory: The students need to use certain language structures they learnt. Noticing: Teacher emphasizes the importance of noticing an isolated linguistic phenomenon. The Teachability Theory: Taking into consideration the stage of language acquisition of the students.

Theories underlying this teaching methodology- Con. Focus on Form: Picking a grammatical aspect to focus on, but the general emphasis is on communication. Skill Theory: Providing the students with opportunities to practice the learnt structure. Explicit teaching of the conditional to enable implicit use.

My reflection:... The text is natural and authentic and of interest to the students. I find juxtaposing of structures in Hebrew and in English especially efficient when teaching grammar, and so do the students. The students must master the tenses involved before teaching the conditional.

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