1. CIED 5543 Structures of American English
Dr. Freddie Bowles
Peabody Hall 312

2. Chapters Two & Three What’s in a word? Grammatical Terms
To Teach or Not To Teach
Teaching Grammar

3. Let’s Draw! Phrase Structure Diagram aka “Tree Diagrams”
Try this one: “A feisty dog followed the young boy to his house.”
Hint: Some abbreviations—S, NP, VP, PP, Art, Adj, PD
Hint: Label the sentence elements first.

4. Tree Diagram Answer A feisty dog followed the young boy to his house.
NP VP
Art Adj N V NP PP
The feisty dog followed
Art Adj N Prep NP the young boy to
PD N his house

5. Chapter Two: Terms
Matching Activity
In your groups, match the terms with the definitions.
Be prepared to give an example.

6. Matching Answers Head element of a noun phrase
Noun, Pronoun, or Gerund
General names for people, places, and things divided into two classes
Common Nouns
Nouns that can be made into plurals
Count Nouns
Nouns that do not have a plural form
Noncount Nouns

7. Matching Answers A present participle that can function as a noun
Gerund
A type of determiner showing definiteness or indefiniteness
Articles
A type of determiner
used to indicate distance
Demonstrative Determiner
A function of a noun phrase used as the “agent” or “doer” in a sentence
Subject

8. Matching Answers
A function of a noun phrase that is affected by the action indicated by a verb
Direct Object
A function of a noun phrase that follows the form of the verb “be” and refers to the subject of a sentence
Predicate Nominals
A function of a noun phrase that defines
a NP that it follows
Appositive
Another term for Verb Phrase
Predicate

9. Matching Answers
Endings added to verbs to indicate person, number, and tense
Inflections
The term used to indicate whether the action
of the verb is in progress, repetitive,
or complete
Aspect
A class of auxiliary verbs that indicate possibility, probability, obligation, ability,
or necessity
Modal Verbs
A class of verbs in which the subject is affected by the verb itself
Ergative Verbs

10. Matching Answers
A lexical aspect of a verb indicating a state rather than an action
Stative Verbs
Verbal structures consisting of a verb plus one or two other elements that functions as a single unit
Phrasal Verbs
The term used when two independent clauses are joined together
Coordinate Sentence

11. Matching Answers
A type of subordinate clause introduced by a relative pronoun
Relative Clause
A type of subordinate clause providing information to complete the meaning of the verb
Complement

12. Chapter Three: Teaching Grammar
Why teach grammar to adults?
L2 learning is fundamentally different from L1 learning.
Language learning is time sensitive and vanishes as Ls reach adulthood.
L2 acquisition has varying degrees of success.
L2 learners experience stabilized grammar.
L2 success is influenced by affective factors.

13. To teach or not to teach grammar?
NOT!—Krashen (1970s) Input Hypothesis
Acquisition comes from comprehensible input (the Natural Approach—Krashen & Terrell, 1983)
No empirical research to support Krashen’s theory
Yes!—Empirical studies to support grammar instruction including production of past tense forms, relative clauses, accuracy, effect of oral and written tasks, for example.

14. How to teach grammar? Explicit vs. Implicit
Explicit: Rules are explained
Implicit: No overt reference is made to rules or forms
Explicit teaching produces better and longer-lasting learning.

15. How to teach grammar? Deductive vs. Inductive
Deductive: Focus on Forms (FonFs, Long, 1997)
Different structures are presented and practiced in different kinds of exercises including memorizing dialogues, reading simplified texts, doing transformation exercises, and receiving negative feedback
Teaches more than learner needs to know
Does not present a realistic model of language use
Ignores research finding that show learning is not a one-time categorical event
Ignores the role of development stages in learning

16. How to teach grammar? Inductive—Focus on Form (FonF)
Students formulate rules from natural language
Students reflect on nature of grammatical rules
Students use rules in meaningful conversations in realistic contexts

17. Approaches to Teaching Grammar
1. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Developed in the 1970s and 80s
Savignon originated the term “communicative competence” (1972)
Two goals: Ss learn to use feedback to judge the success of their attempts to communicate, and Ss use appropriate linguistic forms in social contexts
Limited grammatical competence
Adaptation: A more eclectic approach to teaching

18. Approaches to Teaching Grammar
Grammar in Context (Nunan, 1998)
Advocates an “organic” approach
Learners become active explorer of language
Learners develop understanding of relationships between grammar and discourse
Exposure to authentic language
Opportunity to use language in new ways
Relies heavily on collaborative
Emphasizes implicit grammar instruction
Provides opportunities to revise

19. Approaches to Teaching Grammar
Task-Based Language Teaching (Long, 1997)
Relevant to advanced learners who need proficiency for academic, occupational, or vocation purposes
Uses realistic tasks in teaching
Elaborates on input given to Ss
Supplements authentic texts
Provides rich input
Respects and encourages learner syllabi
Promotes cooperative learning

20. Approaches to Teaching Grammar
2. Processing Instruction (VanPatten, 1996)
Focus on a “form-meaning” connection (intake)
Input must be noticed and comprehended to become intake (input processing)
Ss given explicit description of a structure
Ss informed about input process that might interfere with form-meaning connection
Ss given structured input to assist in correct processing of structure
What’s missing? Output! VanPatten believed richer input produced better output.

21. Approaches to Teaching Grammar
3. Output Hypothesis (Swain, 1985; Gass, 1997)
Swain found that Ss had good comprehension but limited productive skills.
Gass suggested that production requires more attention to L2 grammar and input processing.
Gass—L2 Output accuracy involves a focus on grammar rules utilizing the interlanguage, the evolving grammatical system.
DeKeyser & Sokalski (2001) found that PI is better for comprehension skills and output practice is better for productive skills

22. Classroom Applications
CLT activities—interactive and collaborative: games, puzzle solving, role-playing, storytelling.
Grammar in Context Activities—comparative activities to explore connection of grammar to discourse: compare textbook activity to authentic conversation; “information packaging”—combining sentences to create paragraphs

23. Classroom Applications
Task-Based Language Teaching: closed tasks (one answer) or open-tasks (multiple answers)
Tasks should elicit a specific grammar structure
Enhancing Input: Input flooding to introduce multiple uses of grammatical structure (PI)—stories, instruction, classroom language
Textual Enhancement: typographically highlighting a particular grammar structure in a written passage
Output Practice: Pushed Output encourages students to produce language slightly beyond their current ability—dictogloss.