The aim of this present study is to identify the problems which a Romanian learner of English as a secondary language may encounter when learning… [310742]
CONTENTS
The Introduction
The aim of this present study is to identify the problems which a Romanian learner of English as a [anonimizat], and to devise solutions which should facilitate the learning of the complex constructions.
Many textbooks for intermediate learners of English do not provide detailed information regarding complex constructions. They also lack relevant exercises.
My aim is to devise a set of exercises that should be used in the English classes in order to exploit the multiple meanings of complex constructions.
This paper tries to answer the following issues;
[anonimizat]-[anonimizat], and some of which appear to overlap with others. I [anonimizat] – Practice – Production, Test–Teach–[anonimizat]. [anonimizat], [anonimizat].
Using the traditional method learners use the form fluently and spontaneously. [anonimizat] a most unlikely outcome. It is extremely difficult for learners to incorporate new language and make it part of their system in a short space of time. We see this all the time in the classroom. Even a [anonimizat] –s on the present simple form (he runs; she thinks etc) takes a long time before it is a natural part of learner language. The difficult part is not understanding the rule or relating a form and a meaning, the real difficulty is in making it a natural part of one’s language system.
[anonimizat]. First we allow learners to make use of the language they already have. [anonimizat]. Their grammar is far from complete and they make lots of errors.
[anonimizat].
Task-based learning offers the student: [anonimizat], they are free to use any language they want. Playing a game, solving a [anonimizat].
They need to be resourceful and to stretch their language to meet new demands. The best language learners are those who can make good use of limited resources. Once they begin to do this their language will develop rapidly. Secondly we create a context for learning.
The advantage of the modern method is that we are encouraging learners to think for themselves. If we tell them what to say and explain things to them carefully we are inhibiting their independence. Clear explanation and demonstration is certainly part of the teacher’s role, but only after learners have first tried to work things out for themselves. We cannot teach the whole language. There is too much of it and we do not understand it well enough. The best thing we can do for learners is provide them with the opportunity and the motivation to learn for themselves.
The paper is organised as follows:
In chapter 1, I focus on verbs grammatical categories.
Chapter 2 deals with non finite forms of the verb.
Chapter 3 deals with Complex construction.
I discuss the methodology of teaching Complex constructions to Romanian learners of English in chapter 4. This chapter also includes the experiment of using PPP and TBL methods in teaching complex constructions to the intermediate students.
In my research I used the experiment as a method and then I analyzed the results and drew the conclusions which are to be found after the experiment.
The paper also contains annexes that comprise a lesson plan, examples of games and activities.
Each theoretical aspect is accompanied by a plethora of examples to illustrate and emphasize how the structures work.
The last part of the paper is the bibliography.
Chapter 1 – The English Verb
1.1. Definition
A complete definition of a verb should take into consideration three criteria; morphological, syntactic and semantic.
Morphologically, the verb assumes certain forms to express various grammatical categories; the category of person, number, and the specific categories of tense, aspect, voice and mood.
A finite verb discharges the syntactic function of predicate in the sentence.
From the semantic point of view (i.e. from the point of view of their meaning) the class of verbs includes words expressing actions or states perceived as processes.
1.2. Classification of verbs
Verbs may be classified in accordance with several criteria; their form, lexical meaning, complementation. (Ioana Murar, The English Verb, 2010: 12)
1.2.1 Classification of verbs according to their form.
1.2.1 .1. One –word verbs represented by;
simple verbs; verbs that cannot be further subdivided into morphological elements, e.g. go, eat, sit;
compound verbs; verbs formed of two or more morphological elements written together, e.g. broadcast, underline, blackmail;
derivative verbs; i.e. verbs formed by means of affixes; mislead, symbolize , discover, etc.
1.2.1.2 Multi-word verbs, represented by; phrasal verbs ( a phrasal verb consists of a verb and an Adverbial Particle e.g take up, turn off, give up, etc), prepositional verbs( a verb may also make a combination with a preposition e.g. look forward to, take after, etc), idiomatic expressions( combinations of verb+ other parts of speech, especially nouns, e.g. make fun of =ridicule, make haste=hurry).
1.2.2. Classification of verbs in accordance with their derivation.
Verbs can be derived from other parts of speech through affixation and conversion.
-Affixation is the device by means of which a verb can be derived from other parts of speech through suffixes and prefixes.
Some of the most productive verb-forming suffixes are;
-ize; analyze, recognize, modernize, characterize;
-ify; certify, simplify, clarify, magnify;
-en; it is a very productive suffix added to adjectives or nouns. It has the causative meaning e.g broaden, deafen, soften, widen, shorten, strengthen, lengthen, heighten.
-Prefixes are used to a lesser extent to form verbs from other parts of speech. Nevertheless, one of the most productive verb-forming prefixes is en- added to adjectives or nouns; enlarge, enable, ensure, enrich, encircle, encourage, entrust, endanger, enjoy.
– Conversion refers to the derivational process by which a word belonging to a part of speech is changed into another part of speech , without the addition of an affix.
Quite a large number of nouns can be converted to verbs;
To paper ( the walls), to floor (somebody with a punch),to iron( the shirts), to water( the plants),to head (an expedition), to chair ( a meeting), to elbow( one’s way through the crowd), to eye ( somebody with suspicion).
Adjectives may be converted to verbs; to dirty, to empty, to blue, to brown.
1.2.3. Classification of verbs in accordance with their base (inflectional) forms.
-the base form is given in dictionaries;
a) the Infinitive
b) the Imperative (2nd person singular)
c) the Subjunctive ( Present Synthetic)
d) Simple Present Tense (all persons except 3rd person sg.)
e.g. work, read, play.
-the Past Tense form (V-ed),
-the Past Participle form,
-the –es form (added to the base form of the verb in the 3rd person sg.)
-the –ing form, also called the form for the Present Participle. It is formed by adding-ing to the base; working, writing, cutting, traveling.
Regular verbs. Regular means that we can state all the verb forms of the English verb once we know the base form. Thus, we can predict their Past and Past Participle form according to a rule, namely by adding –ed to the base. The vast majority of English verbs are regular.
Irregular verbs. For an irregular verb, we have to learn the three forms (the base form, the Past Tense and the Past Participle) individually. The irregular verbs form a small but very important group of verbs.
1.2.4 Classification of verbs according to their lexical meaning; main verbs and auxiliaries.
A main verb has a meaning of its own and can form the predicate by itself.
It is used as the main verb in a Verb Phrase; He works hard; He has worked.
An auxiliary verb has no independent meaning of its own. It does not make up a Verb Phrase on its own but must be accompanied by a following main verb. Auxiliary verbs are used together with main verbs to help them express particular grammatical functions or meanings.
There are two types of auxiliary verbs;
Primary auxiliary verbs; be, have, do.
Modal auxiliary verbs; can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, would. Unlike the primary verbs, the modal auxiliaries are never used as main verbs. They have no –(e)s in the 3rd person singular, no Infinitives, no Participles.
1.2.5 Classification of verbs according to their complementation.
According to Complementation, verbs may be classified into; intransitive, transitive and linking.
1.2.5.1. Transitive verbs.
A transitive verb (in the Active Voice) requires a Noun Phrase Object to complete its meaning; First, some verbs require an object to complete their meaning: "She gave _____ ?" Gave what? She gave money to the church. These verbs are called transitive. Verbs that are intransitive do not require objects: "The building collapsed." In English, you cannot tell the difference between a transitive and intransitive verb by its form; you have to see how the verb is functioning within the sentence. In fact, a verb can be both transitive and intransitive: "The monster collapsed the building by sitting on it."
1.2.5.2. Intransitive verbs
An intransitive verb is a verb that is not followed by an Object or by a complement.
The sun shines. The birds are singing. Intransitive verbs are sometimes followed by adverbials.
We were singing aloud. He arrived yesterday.
A ditransitive verb — such as cause or give — is one that can take a direct object and an indirect object at the same time: "That horrid music gave me a headache." Ditransitive verbs are slightly different, then, from factitive verbs, in that the latter take two objects.
Factitive verbs
Verbs like make, choose, judge, elect, select, name. are called factitive verbs. These transitive verbs can take two objects, or seem to:
They judged Philbert's dog Best of Show. (where "dog" is the direct object and "Best of Show" is the second complement).
The faculty elected Daniel the new Academic Dean. (where Daniel is the direct object and "Academic Dean" is the second complement).
U.S. News and World Report named our college the best in the northeast. (where "our college" is the direct object and "the best" is the second complement).
Some verbs can be both transitive or intransitive.
She smokes (intransitive).
She smokes 10 cigarettes a day (transitive).
1.2.5.3. Linking verbs or Copulas.
A linking verb links the Subject of a sentence to the Subject Complement (or Predicative).The most typical link verb is Be which is practically devoid of meaning and only serves to connect the subject with the subject complement;
He is happy/ He is a student.
There are two types of linking verbs;
-state verbs; be, look, feel, seem, appear, taste, smell, sound;
He looked sad.
-resulting verbs ( verbs of becoming).
Children grow tired easily,
Her hair has turned grey.
A handful of verbs that reflect a change in state of being are sometimes called resulting copulas. They, too, link a subject to a predicate adjective:
His face turned purple.
She became older.
The dogs ran wild.
1.2.6 Other classifications of the verbs
Verbs are also classified as either finite or non-finite. A finite verb makes an assertion or expresses a state of being and can stand by itself as the main verb of a sentence.
The truck demolished the restaurant.
The leaves were yellow and sickly.
Non-finite verbs (think "unfinished") cannot, by themselves, be main verbs:
The broken window . . .
The wheezing gentleman . . .
Another, more useful term for non-finite verb is verbal (infinitives, gerunds, and participles).
1.2.6.1. Normal verbs
Most verbs are "Normal Verbs." These verbs are usually physical actions which you can see somebody doing. These verbs can be used in all tenses.
Normal Verbs: to run, to walk, to eat, to fly, to go, to say, to touch, etc.
Examples:
I eat dinner every day.
I am eating dinner now.
1.2.6.2. Non-Continuous Verbs
These verbs are usually things you cannot see somebody doing. These verbs are rarely used in continuous tenses. They include:
1.2.6.3. Abstract Verbs
to be, to want, to cost, to seem, to need, to care, to contain, to owe, to exist…
1.2.6.4. Possession Verbs
to possess, to own, to belong…
1.2.6.5. Emotion Verbs
to like, to love, to hate, to dislike, to fear, to envy, to mind…
Examples:
He is needing help now. Not Correct
He needs help now. Correct
He is wanting a drink now. Not Correct
He wants a drink now. Correct
1.2.6.6. Mixed Verbs
These verbs have more than one meaning. In a way, each meaning is a unique verb. Some meanings behave like "Non-Continuous Verbs," while other meanings behave like "Normal Verbs."
Mixed Verbs
to appear, to feel, to have, to hear, to look, to see, to weigh…
List of Mixed Verbs with Examples and Definitions:
to appear:
Donna appears confused. Non-Continuous Verb
Donna seems confused.
My favorite singer is appearing at the jazz club tonight. Normal Verb
My favorite singer is giving a performance at the jazz club tonight.
to have:
I have a dollar now. Non-Continuous Verb
I possess a dollar.
I am having fun now. Normal Verb
I am experiencing fun now.
to hear:
She hears the music. Non-Continuous Verb
She hears the music with her ears.
She is hearing voices. Normal Verb
She hears something others cannot hear. She is hearing voices in her mind.
to look:
Nancy looks tired. Non-Continuous Verb
She seems tired.
Farah is looking at the pictures. Normal Verb
She is looking with her eyes.
to miss:
John misses Sally. Non-Continuous Verb
He is sad because she is not there.
Debbie is missing her favorite TV program. Normal Verb
She is not there to see her favorite program.
to see:
I see her. Non-Continuous Verb
I see her with my eyes.
I am seeing the doctor. Normal Verb
I am visiting or consulting with a doctor. (Also used with dentist and lawyer.)
I am seeing her. Normal Verb
I am having a relationship with her.
He is seeing ghosts at night. Normal Verb
He sees something others cannot see. For example ghosts, aura, a vision of the future, etc.
to smell:
The coffee smells good. Non-Continuous Verb
The coffee has a good smell.
I am smelling the flowers. Normal Verb
I am sniffing the flowers to see what their smell is like.
to taste:
The coffee tastes good. Non-Continuous Verb
The coffee has a good taste.
I am tasting the cake. Normal Verb
I am trying the cake to see what it tastes like.
to think:
He thinks the test is easy. Non-Continuous Verb
He considers the test to be easy.
She is thinking about the question. Normal Verb
She is pondering the question, going over it in her mind.
to weigh:
The table weighs a lot. Non-Continuous Verb
The table is heavy.
She is weighing herself. Normal Verb
She is determining her weight.
Some Verbs Can Be Especially Confusing:
to be:
Joe is American. Non-Continuous Verb
Joe is an American citizen.
Joe is being very American. Normal Verb
Joe is behaving like a stereotypical American.
Joe is being very rude. Normal Verb
Joe is behaving very rudely. Usually he is not rude.
Joe is being very formal. Normal Verb
Joe is behaving very formally. Usually he is not formal.
NOTICE: Only rarely is "to be" used in a continuous form. This is most commonly done when a person is temporarily behaving badly or stereotypically. It can also be used when someone's behavior is noticeably different.
to feel:
The massage feels great. Non-Continuous Verb
The massage has a pleasing feeling.
I don't feel well today. Sometimes used as Non-Continuous Verb
I am a little sick.
I am not feeling well today. Sometimes used as Normal Verb
I am a little sick.
NOTICE: The second meaning of "feel" is very flexible and there is no real difference in meaning between "I don't feel well today" and "I am not feeling well today."
1.2.6.7. Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and another word or phrase, usually a preposition. The resulting combination creates what amounts to a new verb, whose meaning can sometimes be puzzling to non-native speakers. Phrasal verbs often arise from casual uses of the language and eventually work themselves into the mainstream of language use. Phrasal verbs can be both intransitive (The children were sitting around, doing nothing. The witness finally broke down on the stand.) and transitive in meaning (Our boss called off the meeting. She looked up her old boyfriend.) The word that is joined with a verb in this construction (often a preposition) is called a particle.
The problem with phrasal verbs is that their meaning is often, at first, obscure, and they often mean several different things. To make out, for instance, can mean to perceive or to see something; it can also mean to engage in light sexual play. If someone chooses to turn up the street that is a combination of a verb and a preposition, but it is not a phrasal verb. On the other hand, if your neighbors unexpectedly turn up (appear) at a party or your brother turns up his radio, those are phrasal verbs. To come out, we are told, has eighteen different meanings.
Verbs can be combined with different prepositions and other words, sometimes with dizzying effect: stand out, stand up, stand in, stand off, stand by, stand fast, stand pat, stand down, stand against, stand for. Further, the verb and the word or phrase it connects to are not always contiguous: "Fill this out," we would say, but then we would say, "Fill out this form."
1.2.6.8. Causative verbs
Causative verbs designate the action necessary to cause another action to happen. In "The devil made me do it." the verb "made" causes the "do" to happen. Here is a brief list of causative verbs, in no particular order: let, help, allow, have, require, allow, motivate, get, make, convince, hire, assist, encourage, permit, employ, force. Most of them are followed by an object (noun or pronoun) followed by an infinitive: "She allows her pet cockatiel to perch on the windowsill. She hired a carpenter to build a new birdcage."
Three causative verbs are exceptions to the pattern described above. Instead of being followed by a noun/pronoun and an infinitive, the causative verbs have, make and let are followed by a noun/pronoun and the base form of the verb (which is actually an infinitive with the "to" left off).
Professor Villa had her students read four short novels in one week.
She also made them read five plays in one week.
However, she let them skip the final exam.
1.2.6.9. Irregular verbs
Most verbs in English form their various tenses consistently: add -ed to the base of a verb to create the simple past and past participle: he walked; he has walked. There are, however, a number of so-called irregular verbs, (including, unfortunately, some very common verbs such as to be and to have) whose various forms must be memorized.
1.3. The Grammatical Categories of the Verb (Ioana Murar, The English Verb, 2010: 36 – 40)
The English verb has grammatical forms determined by its categories of person, number, tense, aspect, mood, voice.
Depending on the presence or absence of the first three categories (person, number, tense) the verbal forms are divided into finite and non-finite.
A finite form of the verb displays contrasts in person, number, tense, mood; it can occur on its own in a sentence forming its predicate. A finite verb Phrase is a Verb phrase which contains a finite verb form; He studies English.
In a more complex finite Verb Phrase the first verb is the only one that is finite the others are non-finite;
He is studying English. ( is =finite verb form; studying=non-finite verb form).
The non-finite forms are represented by the Infinitive, The –ing forms (Present Participle, Gerund) and –ed forms (Past Participle).The non-finite forms lack person, number, tense contrasts. They cannot form the predicate in a sentence by themselves; they occur on their own only in subordinate/ dependent clauses (termed Non-finite clauses i.e. clauses without a finite verb);
Being tired, he went to bed early (As he was tired, he went to bed early) (being=non-finite verb; went=finite verb)
1.3.1. The categories of person and number.
The English verb has only one formal indicator (inflection/ending) to mark these categories, namely the –s for the 3rd person singular Present Tense, Indicative Mood. Because of the scarcity of specific endings in the verbs, These two categories ( of person, number) are usually identified by means of the Subject( unlike Romanian where the category of person can be identified by means of specific endings; lucrez, lucrezi, lucreaza, lucram).
E.g.
I /you work; the category of person, namely 1st person vs 2nd person is identified by means of the subject I vs you.
I/we work; the category of number, 1st person singular vs 1st person plural is identified by means of the subjects I/ we.
1.3.2. Voice
Verbs are also said to be either active (The executive committee approved the new policy) or passive (The new policy was approved by the executive committee) in voice. In the active voice, the subject and verb relationship is straightforward: the subject is a be-er or a do-er and the verb moves the sentence along. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is neither a do-er or a be-er, but is acted upon by some other agent or by something unnamed.
1.3.3. Tenses
Tense shows the time of a verb's action or being. There are three inflected forms reflected by changes in the endings of verbs. The present tense indicates that something is happening or being now: "She is a student. She drives a new car." The simple past tense indicates that something happened in the past: "She was a student. She drove a new car." And the past participle form is combined with auxiliary verbs to indicate that something happened in the past prior to another action: "She has been a student. She had driven a new car."
Unlike most other languages, English does not have inflected forms for the future tense. Instead, English future forms are created with the use of auxiliaries: "She will be a student. She is going to drive a new car." English can even create the future by using the present tense, "The bus arrives later this afternoon," or the present progressive, "He is relocating to Portland later next month."
Four Verb Forms
The inflections (endings) of English verb forms are not difficult to remember. There are only four basic forms. Instead of forming complex tense forms with endings, English uses auxiliary verb forms. English does not even have a proper ending for future forms; instead, we use auxiliaries such as "I am going to read this afternoon." or "I will read." or even "I am reading this book tomorrow." It would be useful, however, to learn these four basic forms of verb construction.
1.3.4. Aspect
BE + VERB-ING
The continuous aspect is expressed with the auxiliary be and the (present participle) -ing form of the verb. Depending on the time of the action, we use the past (was, were), present (am, are, is) or modal + infinitive (e.g. will be) form of be.
The continuous aspect focuses on the duration of an event. It expresses that the action was, is or will be in progress at a specific point of time or over a period of time. The point of time may be defined by a time expression (now, at 5 o'clock yesterday, this time tomorrow) or a clause (when I came home, when I come home). For the period of time we can also use a time expression (all day yesterday) or a clause (while she was reading).
Examples of the continuous aspect:
Are you enjoying yourself? (now)
At 5 o'clock I was sitting on the bus.
When I came home she was sleeping.
She must be waiting for me. (now)
Johnny was playing computer games all day yesterday.
While she was reading, George was doing the dishes.
In January, I'll be living at my brother's
1.3.5. Mood
Mood in verbs refers to one of three attitudes that a writer or speaker has to what is being written or spoken. The indicative mood, which describes most sentences on this page, is used to make a statement or ask a question. The imperative mood is used when we're feeling sort of bossish and want to give a directive, strong suggestion, or order:
Get your homework done before you watch television tonight.
Please include cash payment with your order form.
Get out of town!
Notice that there is no subject in these imperative sentences. The pronoun you (singular or plural, depending on context) is the "understood subject" in imperative sentences. Virtually all imperative sentences, then, have a second person (singular or plural) subject. The sole exception is the first person construction, which includes an objective form as subject: "Let's (or Let us) work on these things together."
The subjunctive mood is used in dependent clauses that do the following: 1) express a wish; 2) begin with if and express a condition that does not exist (is contrary to fact); 3) begin with as if and as though when such clauses describe a speculation or condition contrary to fact; and 4) begin with that and express a demand, requirement, request, or suggestion. A new section on the uses of the Conditional should help you understand the subjunctive.
She wishes her boyfriend were here.
If Juan were more aggressive, he'd be a better hockey player.
We would have passed if we had studied harder.
He acted as if he were guilty.
I requested that he be present at the hearing.
The present tense of the subjunctive uses only the base form of the verb.
He demanded that his students use two-inch margins.
She suggested that we be on time tomorrow.
The past tense of the subjunctive has the same forms as the indicative except (unfortunately) for the verb to be, which uses were regardless of the number of the subject.
If I were seven feet tall, I'd be a great basketball player.
He wishes he were a better student.
If you were rich, we wouldn't be in this mess.
If they were faster, we could have won that race.
Chapter 2 – Non-finite Verb Forms
In English, we call non-finite verb forms verbals. The types of verbals are infinitives, participles and gerunds. (I. Murar, The English Verb, 2010: 178 – 227)
The difference between a finite verb and a verbal (non-finite verb form) is that a finite verb is completely inflected. In English, verbs are inflected according to five aspects
Person: first, second, or third
Number: singular or plural
Tense: past, present, future, or any of the other tenses
Mood: indicative, imperative, or subjunctive
Voice: active or passive
The reason verbs thus inflected are called finite is that these inflections limit the verb. A nonfinite verb form has not been completely limited by inflection, in the same way that a blank sheet of paper has all sorts of possibilities that a paper with writing or drawing on it no longer has.
A clause can only have as its predicate a finite verb, or if it has a verb phrase for a predicate, the auxiliary (helping) verb must be finite.
An infinitive is the uninflected, or plain, form of the verb. In English we usually use the particle "to" when talking or writing about infinitives: to run, to jump, to see, to think, to be. A participle acts as an adjective running shoes; broken vase; lost child; unread book), or as the main verb in a verb phrase (the last verb in the series of words that make up a verb phrase: to have run; am walking; had bought; would be thinking). A participle can be either present tense or past tense, but will not have any of the other four inflections found in finite verbs.
A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun. The gerund form of a verb looks exactly like the present participle, but they function differently in a sentence. The gerund will be the subject, direct object, object of preposition, but the participle will be either an adjective or part of a verb phrase:
Running is good exercise. (gerund)
Are those new running shoes? (participle)
He is running his last race today. (participle)
Don't even think about buying that dress! (gerund)
This is the new buying guide for used cars. (participle)
I won't be buying a new car until I can save up a decent down payment. (participle)
None of these non-finite verb forms can act alone as the predicate of a clause. You cannot say any of the following things;
I to be late for work.
I being late for work.
I been late for work.
You can only say something like:
I was late for work.
I am late for work.
I will be late for work.
I have been late for work.
In all of these cases, the predicate is either a finite verb or a finite verb phrase, in which the nonfinite verb form(verbal) is supported by a finite (fully inflected) auxiliary verb.
2.1 The Infinitive
Recognize an infinitive when you see one.
To sneeze, to smash, to cry, to shriek, to jump, to dunk, to read, to eat, to slurp—all of these are infinitives. An infinitive will almost always begin with to followed by the simple form of the verb, like this:
TO + VERB = INFINITIVE
Important Note: Because an infinitive is not a verb, you cannot add s, es, ed, or ing to the end.
Infinitives can be used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Look at these examples:
To sleep is the only thing Eli wants after his double shift waiting tables at the neighborhood café.
To sleep functions as a noun because it is the subject of the sentence.
No matter how fascinating the biology dissection is, Emanuel turns his head and refuses to look.
To look functions as a noun because it is the direct object for the verb refuses.
Wherever Melissa goes, she always brings a book to read in case conversation lags or she has a long wait.
To read functions as an adjective because it modifies book.
Richard braved the icy rain to throw the smelly squid eyeball stew into the apartment dumpster.
To throw functions as an adverb because it explains why Richard braved the inclement weather.
Recognize an infinitive even when it is missing the to.
An infinitive will almost always begin with to. Exceptions do occur, however. An infinitive will lose its to when it follows certain verbs. These verbs are feel, hear, help, let, make, see, and watch.
The pattern looks like this:
special verb + direct object + infinitive – to
Here are some examples:
As soon as Theodore felt the rain splatter on his hot, dusty skin, he knew that he had a good excuse to return the lawn mower to the garage.
Felt = special verb; rain = direct object; splatter = infinitive minus the to.
When Danny heard the alarm clock buzz, he slapped the snooze button and burrowed under the covers for ten more minutes of sleep.
Heard = special verb; alarm clock = direct object; buzz = infinitive minus the to.
Although Dr. Richard spent an extra class period helping us understand logarithms, we still bombed the test.
Helping = special verb; us = direct object; understand = infinitive minus the to.
Because Freddie had never touched a snake, I removed the cover of the cage and let him pet Squeeze, my seven-foot python.
Let = special verb; him = direct object; pet = infinitive minus the to.
Since Jose had destroyed Sylvia's spotless kitchen while baking chocolate-broccoli muffins, she made him take her out for an expensive dinner.
Made = special verb; him = direct object; take = infinitive minus the to.
I said a prayer when I saw my friends mount the Kumba, a frightening roller coaster that twists and rolls like a giant sea serpent.
Saw = special verb; my friends = direct object; mount = infinitive minus the to.
Hoping to lose her fear of flying, Rachel went to the airport to watch passenger planes take off and land, but even this exercise did not convince her that jets were safe.
Watch = special verb; passenger planes = direct object; take, land = infinitives minus the to.
To split or not to split?
The general rule is that no word should separate the to of an infinitive from the simple form of the verb that follows. If a word does come between these two components, a split infinitive results. Look at the example that follows:
Wrong: Sara hopes to quickly finish her chemistry homework so that she can return to the more interesting Stephen King novel she had to abandon.
Right: Sara hopes to finish her chemistry homework quickly so that she can return to the more interesting Stephen King novel she had to abandon.
When we are making the decision to split or not to split, we consider our audience. If the piece of writing is very formal and we can maneuver the words to avoid splitting the infinitive, then we should do so. If we like the infinitive split and know that its presence will not hurt the effectiveness of our writing, we leave it alone.
2.2. The Participle
A verb form acting as an adjective. The running dog chased the fluttering moth. A present participle (like running or fluttering) describes a present condition; a past participle describes something that has happened: "The completely rotted tooth finally fell out of his mouth." The distinction can be important to the meaning of a sentence; there is a huge difference between a confusing student and a confused student.
A confusing student is somebody who confuses people; a confused student is somebody who is confused.
Recognize a participle when you see one. Participles come in two varieties: past and present. They are two of the five forms or principal parts that every verb has. Each present participle ends in ing. On the other hand, past participles do not have a consistent ending. The past participles of all regular verbs end in ed; the past participles of irregular verbs, however, vary considerably. If we look at bring and sing, for example, we'll see that their past participles—brought and sung—do not follow the same pattern. Know the functions of participles.
Participles have three functions in sentences. They can be components of multipart verbs, or they can function as adjectives or nouns.
Participles in Multipart Verbs A verb can have as many as four parts. When you form multipart verbs, you use a combination of auxiliary verbs and participles. Look at the examples below:
Our pet alligator ate Mrs. Olsen's poodle.
Ate = simple past tense [no participle].
With a broom, Mrs. Olsen was beating our alligator over the head in an attempt to retrieve her poodle.
Was = auxiliary verb; beating = present participle.
Our pet alligator has been stalking neighborhood pets because my brother Billy forgets to feed the poor reptile.
Has = auxiliary verb; been = past participle; stalking = present participle.
Our pet alligator should have been eating Gator Chow, crunchy nuggets that Billy leaves for him in a bowl.
Should, have = auxiliary verbs; been = past participle; eating = present participle.
2.2.1. Participles as Adjectives
Past and present participles often function as adjectives that describe nouns. Here are some examples:
The crying baby drew a long breath and sucked in a spider crouching in the corner of the crib.
Which baby? The crying baby. Which spider? The one that was crouching in the corner.
The mangled pair of sunglasses, bruised face, broken arm, and bleeding knees meant Genette had taken another spill on her mountain bike.
Which pair of sunglasses? The mangled pair. Which face? The bruised one. Which arm? The broken one. Which knees? The bleeding ones.
2.2.2. Participles as Nouns
Present participles can function as nouns—the subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions, and subject complements in sentences. Whenever a present participle functions as a noun, you call it a gerund.
Take a look at these examples:
Sneezing exhausts Steve, who requires eight tissues and twenty-seven Gesundheits before he is done.
Sneezing = the subject of the verb exhausts.
Valerie hates cooking because scraping burnt gook out of pans always undermines her enjoyment of the food.
Cooking = the direct object of the verb hates.
We gave bungee jumping a chance.
Bungee jumping = indirect object of the verb gave.
Joelle bit her tongue instead of criticizing her prom date's powder blue tuxedo.
Criticizing = object of the preposition instead of.
2.3. The Gerund
A verb form, ending in -ing, which acts as a noun. Running in the park after dark can be dangerous. Gerunds are frequently accompanied by other associated words making up a gerund phrase ("running in the park after dark").
Because gerunds and gerund phrases are nouns, they can be used in any way that a noun can be used:
as subject: Being king can be dangerous for your health.
as object of the verb: He didn't particularly like being king.
as object of a preposition: He wrote a book about being king.
Recognize a gerund when you see one.
Every gerund, without exception, ends in ing. Gerunds are not, however, all that easy to identify. The problem is that all present participles also end in ing. What is the difference?
Gerunds function as nouns. Thus, gerunds will be subjects, subject complements, direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.
Present participles, on the other hand, complete progressive verbs or act as modifiers.
Read these examples of gerunds:
Since Francisco was five years old, swimming has been his passion.
Swimming = subject of the verb has been.
Francisco's first love is swimming.
Swimming = subject complement of the verb is.
Francisco enjoys swimming more than spending time with his girlfriend Diana.
Swimming = direct object of the verb enjoys.
Francisco gives swimming all of his energy and time.
Swimming = indirect object of the verb gives.
When Francisco wore dive fins to class, everyone knew that he was devoted to swimming.
Swimming = object of the preposition to.
These ing words are examples of present participles:
One day last summer, Francisco and his coach were swimming at Daytona Beach.
Swimming = present participle completing the past progressive verb were swimming.
A Great White shark ate Francisco's swimming coach.
Swimming = present participle modifying coach.
Now Francisco practices his sport in safe swimming pools.
Swimming = present participle modifying pools.
2.4. Infinitives, Gerunds and Participles – differences in meaning
Infinitive: the root of a verb plus the word to; to sleep, to dream. A present infinitive describes a present condition: "I like to sleep." The perfect infinitive describes a time earlier than that of the verb: "I would like to have won that game."
Although they are not, strictly speaking, verbs, infinitives and gerunds carry within them the idea of action. Combined with auxiliary verb forms, like verbs, they also express various shades of time.
Simple forms; We had planned to watch all the events of the Olympics
Seeing those athletes perform is always a great thrill.
Perfective forms; The women's hockey team hoped to have won a gold medal before they were done.
We were thrilled about their having been in contention in the world championships before.
Passive forms; To be chosen as an olympian must be the biggest thrill in any athlete's life.
Being chosen, however, is probably not enough.
Perfective Passive Forms; The women did not seem satisfied simply to have been selected as players.
Having been honored this way, they went out and earned it by winning the gold.
Perfective Progressive Infinitive; To have been competing at that level, at their age already, was quite an accomplishment.
Actual and Potential Meanings
Although a gerund and an infinitive will often have practically the same meaning ("Running in the park after dark can be dangerous" and "To run in the park after dark can be dangerous"), there can be a difference in meaning. Gerunds are used to describe an "actual, vivid, or fulfilled action" whereas infinitives are better used to describe "potential, hypothetical, or future events". This is especially true with three kinds of verbs: verbs of emotion, verbs of completion/incompletion, and verbs of remembering.
Chapter 3 -Complex Constructions
3.1. Definition
The term of complex constructions refers to the infinitival, participial and gerundial constructions which are usually used to reduce subordinate clauses to secondary parts of sentence.
These constructions are:
The Accusative with
the Infinitive ( I want you to deliver the speech),
the Present Participle ( I saw her crossing the street).
the Past Participle ( I want this filled in immediately).
The For-To Infinitive
The Nominative with
the Infinitive ( She was advised to continue the treatment)
the Present Participle( He was seen stealing from the supermarket)
The absolute Nominative with
the Infinitive (He sent a post card first, the parcel to post later)
the Present Participle ( Having prepared dinner, I took a nap before my guests arrived/ Not having read the book myself, I found it difficult to comment). A participle construction modifies the subject.
the Past Participle ( His work done, he left the office.)
Gerundial constructions.
3.2. Characteristics of the Complex Constructions (I. Murar, C. Pisoschi, A.M. Trantescu, Essentials of English Syntax, 2008: 111 – 121)
3.2.1 Complex constructions have a predicative character, because there is an implicit predicative relation between the two members of the construction: the nominal group (NP), i.e. an Accusative or a Nominative and the verbal group (VP), represented by an Infinitive, an -ing form or a Past Participle.
The non-finite form of the verb function as a predicate of the nominal element, but this function as a predicate of the nominal element, but this function is considered to be implicit, not explicit, because the non-finite forms of the verb do not have the grammatical category of person. The predicative character of the report verb between the two elements is obvious because the function of these constructions is to substitute or to reduce elements containing a predicate:
People consider him to be a responsible man. = People consider that he is a responsible man.
3.2.2 In the Infinitival Constructions we are interested in the action itself and consider it finished; They heard her sing. ( = that she sang).
In the Present Participial Constructions the action is seen in progress; They heard her singing. (=that she was singing).
In the Past Participial Constructions the action is seen as a result; We found the room neglected.
3.2.3. These constructions discharge the following functions;
A) Complex Direct Object (Accusative Constructions)
e.g I noticed her peeping. I want this done immediately.
B) Complex Subject (Nominative Constructions)
e.g. She is thought to be honest
He was seen speeding up.
C) Adverbial (The Absolute Nominative)
e.g. Weather permitting, we will go for a walk.
Company fined, they had to retort to a new scheme.
3.3. Accusative constructions
Accusative Constructions are formed with a noun or pronoun in the Accusative and a verb in the Infinitive or in the Participle (Present or Past).
3.3.1. The accusative with the Infinitive
This construction is required by the following transitive verbs expressing:
a)inert perception: feel, hear, notice, observe, perceive, see, watch:
e.g. Did u notice her come?
b)cognition ( mental activities): believe, consider, expect, fancy, imagine, know, suppose, think, understand.
e.g. I expected him to be punctual
I thought him to have graduated in late 80’.
c) intention or wish: desire, intent, mean, want, wish.
e.g.I meant her to leave the room.
I want you to finish the report on time.
d) feelings: dislike, hate, like, love, prefer.
e.g.I prefer them to return early.
They love me to come first.
e) an order or permission: allow, command, compel, force, order, request.
e.g. They allowed Mary to go on the trip.
The officer ordered the soldiers to march for hours.
f)declarative verbs: declare, pronounce, report, name, usually with [+ animate] subject.
e.g.I name this ship “HOPE”.
They declared her to be the winner.
g) causative verbs: cause, get, have, induce, let, make.
e.g. They let me do whatever I like.
I made her do her homework.
h) some prepositional verbs: count on, depend on, hope for, wait for, etc.
e.g. I depend on her to help me with the project.
They hope for Mike to support them.
The verbs of perception (except for perceive), the verbs let, make and have are followed by Short Infinitive:
e.g. I saw her dance.
They let him stay out until midnight.
I make my students learn.
She has us obey the orders.
The verb help is usually followed by the Long Infinitive in BE and the Short Infinitive in AE;
e.g. Can you help me (to) mend the roof?
Some verbs (except for want) can be also followed by That Clauses. But there are some differences between the use of a subordinate clause and of an Infinitival Construction;
e.g. He requested John to do the tough job. (John [+ animate])
He requested that the tough job should be done by John. ( the tough job[-animate])
I wish Mike to spend more time reading.
I wish that Mike should spend more time reading. (I do not think he will)
I think him to be the richest person in our town. (formal English)
I think that he is the richest person in our town. (spoken English)
The Accusative with the Infinitives is used after verbs expressing cognition especially in formal English.
We believe Niky to work nightshifts.
These verbs are usually followed by a Direct Object Clause in spoken English;
We believe that Niky works nightshifts.
Passive structures.
Many of the verbs listed above can be used in Passive structures with infinitives. The normal structure is subject + passive verb+ infinitive.
e.g. We were advised to come early.
We are expected to start work at 8 every morning.
However, some verbs can be used with infinitives in active structures but not passives- for example like, dislike, love, hate, prefer, wish and verbs with similar meaning.
She likes people to be happy.
I prefer you to call me by first name.
3.3.2 The Accusative with the Present Participle.
The Infinitive considers the action to be completed, while the Present Participle presents the action in progress;
e.g. I saw them sing.(=that means they have sung)
I saw them singing. (I saw them while they were singing.)
The Accusative with the Present Participle is used after;
a)verbs of inert perception; feel, hear, observe, notice, see, watch.
eg. I noticed them crossing the street.
I heard them talking.
b)find, leave, set, catch , send;
e.g. I caught him cheating.
3.3.3 The Accusative with the Past Participle.
This construction is used after;
1) verbs of perception;
e.g.I saw my shoes polished.
2) verbs that express an order;
e.g. I wanted it finished.
3) the causative verbs have and get;
e.g. You must gave your hair cut.
3.3.4 The For-To Infinitive
An Accusative with the Infinitive can be also used after an adjective or noun, being preceded by the preposition for;
e.g. It was imperious for him to be there.
It was crazy for him to tie the knot.
There are some verbs followed by for which can be used with the For-To Infinitive; arrange, ask, hope, long, plan, pray, provide, ring, send, wait etc.
e.g. I have arranged for them to be put up over the night.
They pray for her to come to her senses.
The For-To Infinitive construction is formed with the preposition for followed by a noun or a pronoun in the Accusative and by a Long Infinitive.
e.g. It was important for them to hand in the papers in due time.
This construction is used after;
adjectives;(it is/was) advisable, difficult, easy, imperative impossible, necessary;
nouns; idea, problem, subject
some transitive and intransitive verbs
The For-To Infinitive is used to reduce some subordinate clauses to parts of sentence;
1.Real subjects introduced by anticipatory it;
e.g. It is advisable for you to cope with the new environment.
2.Predicative
e.g. The best thing is for them to move house.
3. Direct Object;
e.g.He wished for the roof to be fixed at once.
4. Prepositional Object
e.g. I would be delighted for her to go to university.
5. Adverbial Modifier of Purpose
e.g. I took my kids to the Zoo for them to have a great time.
6. Adverbial Modifier of Result.
e.g.This task is too complex for me to do.
3.4 Nominative Constructions
These constructions are formed with a pronoun in the Nominative and a verb in the Infinitive or in the Present Participle. A finite form of the verb is between them;
e.g. They seem to be good neighbours.
She was noticed coming.
3.4.1 The Nominative with the Infinitive is used after the following types of verbs;
a)intransitive verbs; seem, appear, happen,
Chance, prove, turn out, which are synonymic pairs;
e.g. They appear to be please with the results.
She proved to be a good cook.
b)declarative verbs in the Passive Voice; say, declare, report, announce.
e.g. He was reported to have left the place.
c)the copulative verb to be and one of the adjectives; likely, unlikely, sure, certain.
e.g. The train is likely to be late.
Some constructions with the accusative are transformed into Nominative constructions( passivization). Thus, the Nominative + the Infinitive occurs after transitive verbs which can be followed by the Accusative + the Infinitive in the Active Voice (except for those expressing wish or intention)
a)verbs of perception; She was seen to hand in the paper.( Nominative + Long Infinitive)
b)verbs of mental activity; think, know, expect, consider, understand, believe, suppose, etc.
e.g. Whales are thought to be both intelligent and friendly.
c)verbs which express an order or permission; command, order, allow, let, etc
e.g. She was allowed to use the calculator during the exam.
d)verbs like ;cause, make, have, force, compel;
e.g. She was compelled to spend all day indoors.
3.4.2 The Nominative with the Present Participle.
This construction is similar to the Nominative + the Infinitive construction with a difference concerning the aspect (the action is seen in progress);
e.g. The were seen picking fruit.
The Nominative with the Present participle is used after those verbs followed by the Accusative + the Present Participle in the Active Voice (see, hear, leave, catch, find, etc );
e.g. He was found lying on the floor unconscious.
3.5. The Absolute Nominative Construction
The absolute Nominative is used when the Infinitival or Participial construction and the sentence containing a predicative verb have different subjects.
This complex construction is formed with a noun in the Nominative and a verb in the Infinitive or Participle (Present and Past).
e.g. They gave her the books, the invoice to be send by e-mail.
The weather being rainy, they decided to go to the cinema.
The paper corrected, she put them away.
The subject of the Absolute Nominative with the present Participle can be anticipated by It or There;
e.g. There being nothing else to do , they went for a walk.
These constructions are used to reduce secondary clauses to Adverbial Modifiers;
Adverbial Modifiers of Time;
e.g. Lunch being ready, her family sat down round the table. ( = When lunch was ready…)
b) Adverbial Modifier of Reason
e.g. The weather being unsettled , we decided to leave the place.( = as the weather was unsettled…)
c) Adverbial Modifier of Condition;
e.g. Weather permitting, we’ll go hiking tomorrow. (If the weather permits….).
This type of construction is not common in spoken English, being specific to formal language.
3.6. Gerund Constructions
The Gerund can be part of a complex construction together with a noun or a pronoun. There is a predicative report between the two elements of the construction;
e.g. His denying attending the course puzzled everyone.
The noun can be;
a)in the Synthetic Genitive;
e.g.I was surprised at Mike’s arriving so early.
b) in the Accusative case;
e.g. Do you mind her/ Mary doing the project?
The Accusative is used;
a)with both animate and inanimate nouns;
e.g. I could feel the smell spreading the whole house.
b) when the noun is followed by an Attribute;
e.g. I remember a friend of mine trying to change that.
c) in spoken English for persons, for animate and inanimate nouns.
If the nominal part of the construction is expressed by a pronoun, this can be a possessive adjective, or a pronoun in the Accusative in spoken English;
e.g. I couldn’t understand his/him acting like that.
I remember their/them trying to solve that.
The gerundial construction is required after the same words which require a Gerund form.
This construction can replace;
a)Subject clauses ;
e.g. Your trying to tell the truth was obvious = That you tried to tell the truth was obvious.
b) Direct Object Clauses;
e.g. I do not like his visiting us so often = I do not like that he visits us so often.
c) Adverbial Clauses;
e.g. Mary being absent, nothing could be done. = As Mary was absent, nothing could be done.
Chapter 4 – The Methodology of Teaching Complex Constructions to Romanian Learners of English. Approaches. Methods. Techniques
An approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching and learning. An approach is axiomatic (clear, does not need to be proved). It describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught.
A method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language material, no part or which contradicts, and all of which is based upon, the selected approach. An approach is axiomatic, a method is procedural.
Language teaching methods include several approaches to language teaching that will be presented in this chapter. How a method is manifest in the classroom will depend heavily on the individual teacher’s interpretation of its principles. Some teachers prefer to practise one of the methods to the exclusion of others. Other teachers prefer to pick and choose in a principled way among the methodological options that exist, creating their own unique blend.
According to St. Krashen (Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition, 1982), each method will be evaluated using the following criteria:
i. requirements for optimal input
ii. comprehensible
iii. interesting/relevant
iv. not grammatically sequenced
v. quantity
vi. low filter level: researchers believe that language learners all possess an affective filter
which affects language acquisition. If a student possesses a high filter they are less likely
to engage in language learning because of shyness, concern for grammar or other factors.
Students possessing a lower affective filter will be more likely to engage in language
learning because they are less likely to be impeded by other factors. The affective filter is
an important component of second language learning.
vii. provides tools for conversational management.
It is considered that language acquisition/learning contexts should be shaped by 12 principles (Richards & Renandya, 2002: 11):
i. Automaticity – control of a relatively infinite number of language forms.
ii. Meaningful learning, as opposed to rote learning, grounded in long-term learning strategies.
iii. The anticipation of reward – tangible or intangible, short- or long-term. Extrinsic motivation is more likely to create short-term rewards, whereas the intrinsic one envisages long-term satisfaction.
iv. Intrinsic motivation – not dependent on the present of the teacher or tutor, potentially more rewarding.
v. Strategic investment – the learner perceives his or her efforts to be directed to the attainment of some future goal.
vi. Language ego contributing to the fully-rounding of the learner’s personality.
vii. Self-confidence: – the learning of a foreign language boosts self-esteem and self-confidence. Besides, it is commonly believed that success engenders success.
viii. Risk taking: successful language learners are tolerant to ambiguity, beyond absolute certainty.
ix. The language – culture connection: language and culture are inextricably related. Teaching the cultural load becomes a must as most communication breakdowns are caused by cultural, not by linguistic misunderstandings.
x. The native language effect: the learner’s mother tongue will serve as a reference point to predict the foreign language system. In this respect, literature speaks of positive transfers and negative ones (interference).
xi. Interlanguage: the learner passes through several developmental stages until mastering the foreign language.
xii. Communicative competence as the end goal of language learning, understood as the ability to apply knowledge in unrehearsed real-life situations (a question of use rather than usage).
4.1 Approaches of language teaching
This chapter provides a brief listing of the salient features of the methods used in language teaching, grouped in four sections: The humanistic approach (Grammar Translation, The Silent Way, Community Language Learning, Total Physical Response, Suggestopedia); Behaviourism (The Audio-Lingual Method); Cognitivism (The structural situational approach); The socio-cultural turn (Communicative language teaching)
HUMANISTIC APPROACHES
A humanistic approach to language learning allows for personal growth orientation and for the development of learners’ responsibility; the learners are encouraged to use discovery techniques, being no longer spoon-fed by the teacher.
GRAMMAR TRANSLATION
This approach said to have a humanistic grounding (Grenfell and Harris, 1999), although other scholars claim that it is not based on any approach (notably Morgan and Neil, 2001). Furthermore, it can be said to emphasize knowledge for knowledge’s sake. It is heavily indebted to the teaching of classical languages and it prevailed from the end of the 19th century to the 1940s. Richards and Rogers (1986) list several tenets of the Grammar Translation, as follows:
i. The main goal of learning the language is to read the literature of the foreign language and refine intellectually; secondly, learners are expected to develop a greater understanding of L1; thirdly, students will be able to cope with difficult learning materials and situations;
ii. Reading and writing are taught to the detriment of listening and speaking;
iii. Teaching vocabulary is reduced to the words encountered in the literary texts; vocabulary items are listed and students are asked to learn their translations;
iv. Translation skills, alongside reading and writing, are taught using the literary texts;
v. Grammar is taught deductively, the presentation stage, consisting of long explanations or rules and exceptions to the rules, is followed by practice; learners follow the prescribed route to the technicalities of syntax. The structures to be translated are presented in a disconnected way, the learners being asked to identify the grammar items used in the text and state the rule(s);
vi. English language teaching is done through English.
We will enlarge on these tenets in the sections below:
The Grammar-Translation Method focuses on developing students’ appreciation of the target language’s literature as well as teaching the language. Students are presented with target language reading passages and answer questions that follow. Other activities include translating literary passages from one language into the other, memorizing grammar rules, and memorizing native language equivalents of target language vocabulary. Class work is highly structured, with the teacher controlling all activities.
Features of the Grammar-Translation Method
Goals: to be able to read literature in target language; learn grammar rules and vocabulary; develop mental acuity.
Roles: Teacher has authority; students follow instructions to learn what teacher knows.
Teaching/learning process: Students learn by translating from one language to the other, often translating reading passages in the target language from the native language.
Grammar is usually learned deductively on the basis of grammar rules and examples. Students memorize the rules, then apply them to other examples. They learn paradigms such as verb conjugations, and they learn the native language equivalents of vocabulary words.
Interaction: Student-Teacher & Student-Student: most interaction is teacher to student; student-initiated interaction and student-student interaction is minimal.
Dealing with Feelings: n/a (not available, not applicable)
Aspects of Language the Grammar-Translation Approach Emphasizes:
Vocabulary; grammar; reading, writing are primary skills; pronunciation and other speaking/listening skills not emphasized
Role of Students’ Native Language: native language provides key to meanings in the target language; native language is used freely in class.
Means for Evaluation: tests require translation from native to target and target to native language; applying grammar rules, answering questions about foreign culture.
Response to Students’ Errors: heavy emphasis placed on correct answers; Teacher supplies correct answers when students cannot.
According to St. Krashen (1981), Grammar-translation usually consists of an explanation of a grammatical rule, with some example sentences, a bilingual vocabulary list, a reading section exemplifying the grammatical rule and incorporating the vocabulary, and exercises to practice using the grammar and vocabulary. Most of these classes are taught in the student’s first language. The grammar-translation method provides little opportunity for acquisition and relies too heavily on learning.
St. Krashen (1982) also made a distinction between acquiring a language and learning a language: the acquisition of a language is a natural process, whereas learning a language is a conscious one. In the former (acquisition of a language) the student needs to participate in natural communicative situations. Children acquire language through a subconscious process during which they are unaware of grammatical rules. This is similar to the way they acquire their first language. In order to acquire language, the learner needs a source of natural communication.
In the latter (learning a language), on the other hand, language learning is not communicative. It is the result of direct instruction in the grammatical rules of language – the study of grammatical rules is isolated from natural language; error correct is also present.
THE SILENT WAY
‘The teacher keeps his/her talking time at a minimum (keeps silent), yet, directing and controlling the learners. The input provided by the teacher is reduced to model sentences that the teacher utters only once and the learners are asked to repeat. Information transmission and feedback are given through visual aids.’(1972:102) A well known technique includes Cuisenaire Rods, enabling the learners to deduce meanings or forms: a set of coloured rods, wall charts and a pointer. The teacher takes a rod and says “a rod” to the students. Next, by using mime the teacher induces the students to repeat the name of the object. The teacher combines the names of colours to the object saying “a red rod”, “a blue rod”, etc. The students are eventually expected to say “a red rod”, “a blue rod”, etc. without the teacher’s model. With reference to the wall charts, the students are made to form strings of words using the words they have learnt orally by pointing to a series of words that then they read in the order indicated.
The theoretical basis of Gattegno’s Silent Way is the idea that teaching must be subordinated to learning and thus students must develop their own inner criteria for correctness. All four skills – reading, writing, speaking and listening – are taught from the beginning. Students’ errors are expected as a normal part of learning: the teacher’s silence helps foster self-reliance and student initiative. The teacher is active in setting up situations, while the students do most of the talking and interacting.
Goals: to use language for self-expression: to develop independence from the teacher, to develop inner criteria for correctness.
Roles: Teaching should be subordinated to learning. Teachers should give students only what they absolutely need to promote their learning. Learners are responsible for their own learning.
Teaching/learning process: Students begin with sounds, introduced through association of sounds in native language to a sound-colour chart. Teacher then sets up situations, often using Cuisenaire rods, to focus students’ attention on structures. Students interact as the situation requires. Teachers see students’ errors as clues to where the target language is unclear, and they adjust instruction accordingly. Students are urged to take responsibility for their learning. Additional learning is thought to take place during sleep.
Interaction: Student-Teacher & Student-Student: The teacher is silent much of the time, but very active setting up situations, listening to students, speaking only to give clues, not to mode speech. Student-student interaction is encouraged.
Dealing with Feelings: Teachers monitor students’ feelings and actively try to prevent their feelings from interfering with their learning. Students express their feelings during feedback sessions after class.
View of Language, Culture: Language and culture are inseparable, and each language is seen to be unique despite similarities in structure with other languages.
Aspects of Language the Approach Emphasizes:
All four skills areas worked on from beginning (reading, writing, speaking, listening); pronunciation especially, because sounds are basic and carry the melody of the language. Structural patterns are practiced in meaningful interactions. Reading and writing exercises reinforce oral learning.
Role of Students’ Native Language: Although translation is not used at all, the native language is considered a resource because of the overlap that is bound to exist between the two languages. The teacher should take into account what the students already know.
Means for Evaluation: Assessment is continual; but only to determine continually changing learning needs. Teachers observe students’ ability to transfer what they have learned to new contexts. To encourage the development of inner criteria, neither praise nor criticism is offered. Students are expected to learn at different rates, and to make progress, not necessarily speak perfectly in the beginning.
Response to Students’ Errors: Errors are inevitable, a natural, indispensable part of learning.
COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING/COUNSELING LEARNING
Teaching languages is paralleled to psychotherapeutic counseling, where there is concern with removing tension and negative feelings. Admittedly, the teacher is the counselor/knower and the learner is the client. They gradually build a trusting or maximum security relationship compared to the growth of the individual from childhood dependence through adolescent rebellion and self-assertion to adult independence. There is a high degree of flexibility in the syllabus design, which virtually develops as the teaching unfolds.
TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR) (Harold Palmer, James Asher)
Physical action and learning are linked in language teaching. Production is delayed until learners feel confident (comprehension skills are developed first). J. Roberts (1998: 35) states that “learners execute teacher’s commands for about 120 hours before conversation is encouraged” (1998:35)
Imperative forms (commands) are used by the teacher to elicit learners’ action. The teacher plays a traditional role (controller) and the syllabus is grammar-based.
TPR is a method developed by James Asher, professor of psychology, to aid learning second languages. Asher’s approach begins by placing primary importance on listening comprehension, emulating the early stage of mother tongue acquisition, and then moving to speaking, reading, and writing. Students demonstrate their comprehension by acting out commands issued by the teacher; teachers provide novel and often humorous variations of the commands. Activities are designed to be fun and to allow students to assume active learning roles. Activities eventually include games and skits (= short performances).
Features of the Total Physical Response
Goals: to provide an enjoyable learning experience, having a minimum of the stress that typically accompanies learning a foreign language.
Roles: at first the teacher gives commands and students follow them. Once students are “ready to speak”, they take on directing roles.
Teaching/learning process: Lessons begin with commands by the teacher; students demonstrate their understanding by acting these out; teacher recombines their instructions in novel and often humorous ways; eventually students follow suit. Activities later include games and skits.
Interaction: Student-Teacher & Student-Student: Teacher interacts with individual students and with the group, starting with the teacher speaking and the students responding nonverbally. Later this is reversed; students issue commands to teacher as well as to each other.
Dealing with Feelings: The method was developed principally to reduce the stress associated with language learning; students are not forced to speak before they are ready and learning is made as enjoyable as possible, stimulating feelings of success and low anxiety.
View of Language, Culture: Oral modality is primary; Culture is the lifestyle of native speakers of the target language.
Aspects of Language the Approach Emphasizes: Grammatical structures and vocabulary are emphasized, embedded in imperatives. Understanding precedes production; spoken language precedes the written word.
Role of Students’ Native Language: method is introduced in students’ native language, but rarely used later in course. Meaning is made clear through actions.
Means for Evaluation: Teachers can evaluate students through simple observation of their actions. Formal evaluation is achieved by commanding a student to perform a series of actions.
Response to Students’ Errors: Students are expected to make errors once they begin speaking. Teachers only correct major errors, and do this unobtrusively. ”Fine tuning” occurs later.
According to St. Krashen (1981), Total Physical Response involves the students listening and responding to commands given by the teacher such as “sit down” and “walk”, with the complexity of the commands growing over time as the class acquires more language. Student speech is delayed, and once students indicate a willingness to talk, they initially give commands to other students. Theory predicts that TPR should result in substantial language acquisition. Its content may not be always interesting and relevant for the students, but should produce better results than the audio-lingual and grammar-translation methods.
SUGGESTOPEDIA ‘Learning takes place in a tension-free atmosphere, special attention being paid to furniture and surroundings. Music is played (Baroque instrumental music) to enhance learning. The typical scenario (“the concert”) runs as follows: students sit comfortably while the teacher reads a lengthy dialogue. Students are provided with the text and the L1 translation. Slow movement music is played. After the interval (no smoking and no drinking), the teacher re-reads the dialogue while students listen without reading the text this time.’ Thus, learners are supposed to remember best from the teacher playing an authoritative role.
Lozanov’s method seeks to help learners eliminate psychological barriers to learning. The learning environment is relaxed and subdued, with low lighting and soft music in the background. Students choose a name and character in the target language and culture, and imagine that person. Dialogues are presented to the accompaniment of music. Students just relax and listen to them being read and later playfully practice the language during an “activation” phase.
Features of the method
Goals: to learn, at accelerated pace, a foreign language for everyday communication by tapping mental powers, overcoming psychological barriers.
Roles: Teacher has authority, commands trust and respect of students; teacher “desuggests” negative feelings and limits to learning; if teacher succeeds in assuming this role, students assume childlike role, spontaneous and uninhibited.
Teaching/learning process: Students learn in a relaxing environment. They choose a new identity (name, occupation) in the target language and culture. They use texts of dialogues accompanied by translations and notes in their native language. Each dialogue is presented during two musical concerts; once with the teacher matching his or her voice to the rhythm and pitch of the music while students follow along. The second time, the teacher reads normally and students relax and listen. At night and on waking, the students read it over. Then students gain facility with the new material through activities such as dramatizations, games, songs, and question-to-answer sessions.
Interaction: Student-Teacher & Student-Student: At first, teacher initiates all interaction and students respond only nonverbally or with a few words in target language that they have practiced. Eventually students initiate interaction. Students interact with each other throughout, as directed by teacher.
Dealing with Feelings: Great importance is placed on students’ feelings, in making them feel confident and relaxed, in “desuggesting” their psychological barriers.
View of Language, Culture: Language is one plane; nonverbal parts of messages are another. Culture includes everyday life and fine arts.
Aspects of Language the Approach Emphasizes: Vocabulary emphasized, some explicit grammar. Students focus on communicative use rather than form; reading, writing also have place.
Role of Students’ Native Language: Translation clarifies dialogue’s meaning; Teacher uses native language, more at first than later, when necessary.
Means for Evaluation: Students’ normal in-class performance is evaluated. There are no tests, which would threaten relaxed environment.
Response to Students’ Errors: Errors are not immediately corrected; teacher models correct forms later during class.
According to St. Krashen (1981), Suggestopedia classes are small and intensive, and focus on providing a very low-stress, attractive environment (partly involving active and passive “séances” complete with music and meditation) in which acquisition can occur. Some of the students’ first language is used at the beginning, but most in the target language. The role of the teacher is very important in creating the right atmosphere and in acting out the dialogues that form the core of the content. Suggestopedia seems to provide close to optimal input while not giving too much emphasis on grammar.
THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD / THE AURAL-ORAL METHOD
The approach is based on stimulus (eliciting behaviour) and Response (triggered by a stimulus), endorsing habit formation through frequent exposure (reinforcement, marking the response as appropriate or inappropriate). In linguistics, it emerged in the 1930s: language acquisition (mechanical nature) is another form of human behaviour. The corresponding method is AUDIOLINGUALISM /THE AURAL- ORAL METHOD (highly popular in the 1960s), being complemented by the AUDIO-VISUAL METHOD. In relation to linguistic developments, the Audio-Lingual method is said to be fed by phonetics.
i. Language learners are exposed to stock phrases presented in the hierarchical order of difficulty (on tape or read by the teacher). The principle is called incrementalism;
ii. Learners have to assimilate the language items (dialogues) via imitation or repetition drills (individually and in chorus), with the teacher modeling the learners (habit formation through repetition);
iii. The teacher provides immediate feedback on pronunciation, intonation and fluency;
iv. Primacy is given to the spoken language over the written form, yet spoken language samples do not draw on colloquial language in authentic situations.
v. The degree of creativity allowed for students is reduced to the changes of certain key words / phrases.
vi. There is separation of the four language skills – reading and writing are developed in follow-up activities.
vii. Grammar is taught inductively after the selection of grammar structures and the provision of minimal grammatical explanation.
viii. Error occurrence is eliminated through further controlled practice.
ix. It contains, in embryo, many techniques later developed by the Communicative Approach.
Behaviourism: in psychology, b. is a theory that presents behaviour as the product of heredity and environment, and in particular of a process of conditioning in which certain stimuli promote certain responses. I. Pavlov, was a forerunner, and F. Skinner was a major proponent of the theory. It influenced ESL teaching from the mid-1950s to the late 1980s, especially in the US, part of an association of structural linguistics, behavioural psychology, and language teaching promoted by L. Bloomfield. This led in the 1950s to the audio-lingual method, in which human learning was compared to that of rats in laboratory mazes and pigeons taught to play table tennis. Language learning was seen as a process of habit formation. In 1959, Noam Chomsky challenged both behaviourism and structuralism in a critique of Skinner’s work, as a result of which the use of teaching techniques and materials based on behaviourism had by 1980 greatly declined. The audio-lingual method is based on the behaviourist belief that language learning is the acquisition of a set of correct language habits. The learner repeats patterns until able to produce them spontaneously. Once a given pattern, for example, subject – verb – prepositional phrase – is learned, the speaker can substitute to make novel sentences. The teacher directs and controls students’ behaviour, provides a model, and reinforces correct responses.
Features of the audio-lingual method
Goals: uses the target language communicatively, overlearn it, so as to be able to use it automatically by forming new habits in the target language and overcoming native language habits.
Roles: Teacher directs, controls students’ language behaviour, provides good model for imitation; students repeat, respond as quickly and accurately as possible.
Teaching/learning process: new vocabulary, structures presented through dialogues, which are learned through imitation, repetition. The drills are based on patterns in dialogue. Students’ correct responses are positively reinforced; grammar is induced from models. Cultural information is contextualized in the dialogues or presented by the teacher. Reading, writing tasks are based on oral work.
Interaction: Student-Teacher & Student-Student: Students interact during chain drills or when taking roles in dialogues, all at teacher’s direction. Most interaction is between teacher and student, initiated by the teacher.
Dealing with Feelings: n/a (not available, not applicable)
View of Language, Culture: descriptive linguistics influence: every language seen as having its own unique system of phonological, morphological and syntactic patterns. The method emphasizes speech and uses a graded syllabus from simple to difficult linguistic structures. Culture comprises everyday language and behaviour.
Aspects of Language the Approach Emphasizes: language structures emphasized; vocabulary contextualized in dialogues but is limited because syntactic patterns are foremost; natural priority of skills – listening, speaking, reading, writing with emphasis on the first two; pronunciation taught from beginning, often with language lab work and minimal pair drills.
Role of Students’ Native Language: Students’ native language habits are considered as interfering, thus native language is not used in classroom. Contrastive analysis is considered helpful for determining points of interference.
Means for Evaluation: Discrete-point tests in which students distinguish between words or provide an appropriate verb for a sentence, etc.
Response to Students’ Errors: Teachers strive to prevent student errors by predicting trouble spots and tightly controlling what they teach students to say.
According to St. Krashen (1981), an audio-lingual lesson usually begins with a dialogue which contains the grammar and vocabulary to be focused on the lesson. The students mimic the dialogue and eventually memorize it. After the dialogue comes pattern drills, in which the grammatical structure introduced in the dialogue is reinforced, with these drills focusing on simple repetition, substitution, transformation and translation.
While the audio-lingual method provides opportunity for some acquisition to occur, it cannot measure up to newer methods which provide much more comprehensible input in a low-filter environment.
COGNITIVISM/ MENTALISM
THE STRUCTURAL SITUATIONAL APPROACH
The Chomskyan revolution discredits the development of linguistic competence via the stimulus-response-reinforcement cycle as creativity is part of this process: speakers are able to generate an infinite number of novel sentences (performance, i.e. actual use of the language) starting from a finite number of rules that they have internalized (competence, i.e. knowledge about the language system). He advocates the existence of universal grammar, i.e. of mental blueprints or a mindset specific to human beings (innate competence as opposed to skill-based behaviorism). Language competence is somehow idealised, being linked to nativeness and perfect knowledge of the language.
Chomsky presents the ideal speaker-hearer in a completely homogenous speech community, who knows his language perfectly and is unaffected by such grammatically irrelevant conditions as memory limitations, distractions, shifts of attention or interests, or errors (random or characteristic) in applying his knowledge of the language in actual performance (Chomsky, 1965: 48). Chomsky’s ideal speaker-hearer is unaffected by limitations of memory, distractions, shifts of attention, etc.
Chomsky’s notion of competence refers to language as a merely abstract entity. Every speaker is believed to be able to generate language through the absorption of examples (Language Acquisition Device – LAD). What Chomsky does not put into this equation is the socialising function of language, i.e. there is no reference to socio-cultural embeddedness.
The Structural-Situational Approach/ Situational Language Teaching has the following features:
i. It is a far-reaching 3-stage lesson template, labelled the P-P-P cycle, consisting of presentation, practice and production.
ii. Grammar is central to language teaching (grammar-based methodology).
iii. During the presentation stage, the teacher presents the new grammar items, based on conversation or a short text. The identification of the grammar structures is followed by the teacher’s explanation and checking of students’ comprehension.
iv. The practice stage involves the use of drills (controlled or mechanical practice).
v. There is smooth progress from semi-controlled/meaningful practice to free/communicative practice.
The P-P-P cycle was seriously criticized as “fundamentally disabling, not enabling Johnson (1982) had already suggested the deep-end strategy as an alternative: students are pushed into immediate production (the deep end) and the teacher decides to return to presentation or practice according to the students’ performance.
Harmer (2007: 65 ff) endorses the ESA sequence: Engage → Study → Activate. During the Engage stage, learners are engaged emotionally in the process. The second stage corresponds to Presentation and Practice, while Activation overlaps with Production. The model is flexible enough to allow for the re-ordering of stages: E → A → S (a “boomerang” procedure”), E → A → S → A → E → S (“patchwork lesson”). The author concludes that the approach is “extremely useful in focus-on-form lessons” with beginners, and “irrelevant in a skills lesson”.
THE SOCIO-CULTURAL TURN: THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH/
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT)
The positivist view in social sciences is replaced by an ethnographia mundi concern in the 1960s. There is a shift of emphasis from language per se to its instrumentalization (language as a means of communication in social contexts) and to a more naturalistic view. From a linguistic perspective, CLT draws on the Speech act Theory (J. Searle, 1969), shifting attention to the relationship between language and its users, from habit formation to the real intended meaning.
R. Mitchell (1994: 38-39) points out some of the best features of the CLT:
i. Classroom activities should maximize opportunities for learners to use the target language for meaningful purposes, with their attention on the messages they are creating and the tasks they are completing, rather than on the correctness of language and language structure.
ii. Learners trying their best to use the target language creatively and unpredictably are bound to make errors; this is a normal part of language learning, and constant correction is unnecessary, and even counterproductive.
iii. Language analysis and grammar explanation may help some learners, but extensive experience of target language use helps everyone.
iv. Effective language teaching is responsive to the needs and interests of the individual learner.
v. Effective language learning is an active process, in which the learner takes increasing responsibility for his or her progress.
vi. The effective teacher aims to facilitate, not control, the language learning process.
According to Grenfell and Harris (1999: 21), the popularity of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) lies in:
i. the status of the foreign language in the classroom, i.e. the extent to which it is used in the instruction process.
ii. attitude to error: what, when and how to correct? In the traditional model, error was seen as a heavy impairment, being sanctioned immediately and error correction was the teacher’s central pedagogic tool. In CLT, there is tolerance to error, which is understood as a natural stage in the learner’s linguistic development.
iii. authenticity of language: a wide range of authentic or real life materials (realia) is used in the classroom. Besides exposing learners to real life situational language, these materials also immerse them in the foreign language culture and raise the learners’ motivation for learning the language of the other speech community.
iv. spoken and written language are treated as separate entities, requiring different teaching techniques.
v. practice vs. real language: even if, to some extent, the learners still perceive the
classroom environment as not genuine, there is meaningful interaction in and through the foreign language, relating back to the intention to mean and legitimacy of tasks.
THE POST-COMMUNICATIVE TURN
Jacobs and Farrell (2003) advocate a paradigm shift, which led to 8 major changes in ELT:
i. Learner autonomy: learners are given a higher degree of autonomy with respect to the learning content and process. Thus, they are encouraged to develop self-assessment skills and the ability to prioritize their language learning.
ii. The social nature of learning: there is no value-free knowledge, but only knowledge serving individual and collective needs or goals.
iii. Curricular integration: English is given a place in a coherent whole, being connected to other subjects in the curriculum. For instance, project work in English classes requires knowledge acquisition from other subjects or from the real world (encyclopedic knowledge).
iv. Focus on meaning: meaningful content is of paramount importance, being the driving force of learning.
v. Diversity: the teachers should be aware of the learners’ profile (age, personality, type of motivation, learning styles, linguistic proficiency, etc.) and try to cater to this diversity of needs and interests.
vi. Thinking skills: language learning should foster critical and creative thinking skills (cognitive development). For example, learners should be able to select relevant information from a text.
vii. Alternative assessment: there is need for complementing traditional forms of assessment (M/C, Reading comprehension questions, Error correction exercises, etc.) by forms that assess higher-order skills (e.g. portfolios, observation sheets, interviews, etc).
viii. Teachers as co-learners: teachers accrue experience (learning by doing) and capitalize expertise, while also pursuing professional development.
Communicative language teaching is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. Communicative language teaching began in Britain in the 1960s as a replacement to the earlier structural method(s). This was partly in response to Chomsky’s criticisms of structural theories of language and partly based on the theories of British functional linguists, such as J.R. Firth and M.A.K. Halliday, as well as American sociologists, such as D. Hymes, J. Gumperz and W. Labov, and the writings of J. Austin and J. Searle on speech acts. Some of the areas of linguistic research in this view of language are: functional grammar, sociolinguistics, pragmatics, semantics.
Functional grammar: describes any approach in which the notion of ‘function’ is central. Functional grammar (M.A.K. Halliday, An Introduction to Functional Grammar, 1994) was devised as an alternative to the abstract view of language presented by transformational grammar. Based on the pragmatic view of language as social interaction, it focuses on the rules governing the linguistic expressions that are used as instruments of this activity. In foreign language teaching, a functional syllabus is one where the syllabus content is organized in terms of language functions, such as requesting, persuading, inviting, etc.
Sociolinguistics: is a branch of linguistics which studies all aspects of the relationship between language and society. Sociolinguists study such matters as the linguistic identity of social groups, social attitudes to language, standard and non-standard forms of language, social varieties and levels of language, and so on.
Pragmatics: this term is applied to the study of language from the point of view of the users, especially the choices they make, the constraints they encounter in using language in social interaction, and the effects their use of language has on other participants in an act of communication. Pragmatics includes aspects of deixis, speech acts and discourse structure.
Speech act theory is associated with two linguistic philosophers, J. L. Austin and J. R. Searle (J. L. Austin, How to do Things with Words, 1965; J. R. Searle, Expression and Meaning: Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts, 1979). They developed a functional view of language based on the notion that the social use of language is primarily concerned with the performance of certain communicative acts. There are a variety of reasons which may prompt the act of communication. We use language for requesting, informing, ordering, promising, reprimanding, to mention just a few. In all these cases we could say that language is being used to perform certain speech acts.
Semantics refers to the study of meaning in language. Structural semantics applies the principles of structural linguistics to the study of meaning through the notion of semantic relations (also called sense relations), such as synonymy and antonymy. The theory of semantic fields views vocabulary as organized into areas within which words (lexical items) interrelate and define each other.
Approach:Theory of language: The functional view of language is the primary one behind the communicative method. The communicative or functional view of language is the view that language is a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning. The semantic and communicative dimensions of language are more emphasized than the grammatical characteristics, although these are also included.
Theory of learning: The learning theories behind the communicative approaches are based on some principles:
– activities that involve real communication promote learning;
– activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks promote learning;
– language that is meaningful to the learner promotes learning;
Types of learning techniques and activities: Communicative language teaching uses almost any activity that engages learners in authentic communication. W. Littlewood (1981), however, has distinguished two major activity types:
i. functional communication activities: those aimed at developing certain language skills and functions, but which involve communication;
ii. social interaction activities, such as conversation and discussion sessions, dialogues and role plays
Procedure: it is difficult to summarize the procedure in communicative classes because of the wide variety of activities used. Nevertheless, there are some classroom activities frequently used in CLT. Classroom should provide opportunities for rehearsal of real-life situations and provide opportunity for real communication. There is emphasis on creative role-plays, simulations, projects, interviews, games, language exchange, surveys, pair work, plays, etc., – all produce spontaneity and improvisation, not just repetition and drills.
Some Features of the Communicative Approach:
Goals:
– to become communicatively competent,
– to use language appropriate for a given social context; the approach focuses on language as a medium of communication. Recognizes that all communication has a social purpose: the learner has something to say or find out;
– to manage the process of negotiating meaning with interlocutors.
Roles: The teacher facilitates students’ learning by managing classroom activities, setting up communicative situations. Students are communicators, actively engaged in negotiating
meaning.
Teaching/ Learning Process:
– Activities are communicative – they represent an information gap that needs to be filled; speakers have a choice of what to say and how to say it; they receive feedback from the listener that will verify that a purpose has been achieved.
. Communication embraces a whole spectrum of functions (e.g. seeking information, apologizing, expressing likes and dislikes, etc.) and notions, topics and situations (e.g. asking one’s way: where the nearest post office is; shopping, hobbies, etc.) The teacher should make use of topical items with which pupils are already familiar in their own language. This motivates pupils, arouses their interest and leads to more active participation.
– Authentic materials are used: The communicative approach seeks to use authentic resources because they are more interesting and motivating. In foreign langua mmes, etc., all can be exploited in a variety of ways. ge classroom authentic texts serve as partial substitute for community of native speaker. Newspaper and magazine articles, poems, recipes, videos, news bulletins discussion progra
The teacher should avoid age-old texts: the materials must relate to pupils’ own lives, they must be fresh and real. That is why, changing texts and materials regularly keeps the teacher on toes and pupils interested.
It is important not to be restricted to the textbook. The teacher should never feel that the textbook must be used from cover to cover, the textbook being only a tool or a starting point. With a little inspiration and imagination, the textbook can be manipulated and rendered more communicative. The teacher must free himself from it, and rely more on his own command of language and his professional expertise as to what linguistic items, idioms, phrases, words need to be drilled, exploited or extended.
– Grammar can still be taught, but less systematically, in traditional ways alongside more innovative approaches. Communication depends on grammar, and disregard of grammatical form will virtually guarantee breakdown of communication.
– The use of visual stimuli, such as overhead projectors (OHP), flashcards, etc., is important to provoke practical communicative language, represented in 3 stages: presentation, assimilation and reproducing language in creative and spontaneous way.
Interaction: Student-Teacher & Student-Student: The teacher initiates interactions between students and participates sometimes. Students interact a great deal with each other in many configurations. Students usually work in small groups. More emphasis on active modes of learning, including pair-work and group-work, are often not exploited enough by teachers fearful of noisy class.
Dealing with Feelings: emphasis is on developing motivation to learn through establishing meaningful, purposeful things to do with the target language. Individuality is encouraged, as well as cooperation with peers, which both contribute to a sense of emotional security with the target language.
View of Language, Culture: language is for communication. Linguistic competence must be coupled with an ability to convey intended meaning appropriately in different social contexts. Culture is the everyday lifestyle of native speakers of the target language.
Aspects of Language the Communicative Approach Emphasizes: Functions are emphasized over forms, with simple forms learned for each function at first, then more complex forms. Students work at discourse level: they work on speaking, listening, reading and writing from the beginning.
The communicative approach is not just limited to oral skills. Reading and writing skills need to be developed to promote pupils’ confidence in all four skill areas. By using elements encountered in a variety of ways (reading, summarizing, translating, discussion, debates, etc), pupils’ manipulation of language becomes more fluent.
Role of Students’ Native Language: students’ native language usually plays no role
Means for Evaluation:
– informal evaluation takes place when teacher advises or communicates;
– formal evaluation is by means of an integrative test with a real communicative function.
Response to Students’ Errors: errors of form are considered a natural part of learning language: learners trying to use the language creatively and spontaneously are bound to make errors. Constant correction is unnecessary and even counter-productive. Correction should be discreet, noted by the teacher who should let them talk and express themselves. Students with
incomplete knowledge can still succeed as communicators.
THE DIRECT METHOD
The Direct Method allows students to perceive meaning directly through the language because no translation is allowed. Visual aids and pantomime are used to clarify the meaning of vocabulary items and concepts. Students speak a great deal in the target language and communicate as if in real situations. Reading and writing are taught from the beginning, though speaking and listening skills are emphasized. Grammar is learned inductively.
Features of the Direct Method
Goals: to communicate in the target language, to think in the target language.
Roles: Teacher directs class activities, but students and teacher are partners in the teaching/learning process.
Teaching/learning process: Students are taught to associate meaning and the target language directly. New target language words or phrases are introduced through the use of realia, pictures or pantomime, never the native language. Students speak a great deal in the target language a great deal and communicate as if in real situations.
Grammar rules are learned inductively – by generalizing from examples. Students practice new vocabulary using words in sentences.
Interaction: Student-Teacher & Student-Student: Both teacher and students initiate interaction, though student-initiated interaction with teacher or among each other, is usually teacher-directed.
Dealing with Feelings: n/a (not available, not applicable)
View of Language, Culture: Language is primarily spoken, not written. Students study common, everyday speech in the target language. Aspects of foreign culture are studied such as history, geography, daily life.
Aspects of Language the Approach Emphasizes:
Vocabulary emphasized over grammar; oral communication considered basic, with reading, writing based on oral practice; pronunciation emphasized from outset.
Role of Students’ Native Language: Students’ native language is not used in the classroom.
Means for Evaluation: Students tested through actual use, such as oral interviews and assigned written paragraphs.
Response to Students’ Errors: Self-correction encouraged whenever possible.
According to St. Krashen (1981), using the “Direct Method”, the teacher uses examples of language in order to inductively teach grammar; Students are to try to guess the rules of the language by the examples provided. Teachers interact with the students a lot, asking them questions about relevant topics and trying to use the grammatical structure of the day in the conversation. Accuracy is sought and errors are corrected. This method provides more comprehensible input than grammar-translation and audio-lingual method, but unlike the communicative method, it still focuses too much on grammar.
TEACHING GRAMMAR
In the traditional model of ELT, grammar played a central role to the detriment of the other language components. The overriding importance attached to grammar was based on the assumption that accuracy (grammatical correctness) secured successful communication. The belief was challenged in the early 1970s with the realization that grammar knowledge was only one component of the communicative competence (alongside discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence and strategic competence). Consequently, grammar teaching was almost abandoned; it is only recently that grammar has regained its rightful place in an integrated approach to language teaching. The question still remains WHAT to teach (what grammar items) and HOW to teach grammar in an effective and efficient way.
The answer to the first question – WHAT to teach – (selection of grammar structures to be taught) points out to compliance with two criteria:
i. Comprehensibility – teachers should teach the functional load of grammar, i.e. structures which enable meaning understanding in a communicative situation: basic verb forms; affirmative, interrogative and negative patterns, tenses and modals, etc.
ii. Acceptability – it is equated to an adequate level of correctness and naturalness of the linguistic output.
With reference to HOW to teach grammar, there are two lines of approach:
i. form-focused instruction (highly valued in the traditional model) – learners’ needs are pre-defined in the grammatical syllabus. Admittedly, grammar teaching reflects the typical classroom use of language, out of context in a rather non-authentic way; focuses on well-formed sentences (which are not lengthy), on language output as evidence of language learning; relies heavily on explicit knowledge and on controlled practice.
ii. “fluency-first” pedagogy/ meaning-focused interaction (contemporary approach) – learners’ needs are assessed based on their performance during fluency activities. It underlies the natural use of language in real-like communication settings; relies on implicit knowledge and on automaticity (internalization of rules); activates learners’ strategic competence (situation management by paraphrasing, reorganization, remedial work), etc.
The typology of grammar activities falls into three broad types:
i. controlled/mechanical practice (for example, repetition and substitution drills).
ii. semi-controlled/contextualized/ meaningful practice: students are encouraged to relate form to meaning by showing how the grammar structures are used in real-life communication. For example, in order to practice the use of prepositions to describe locations of places, students are given a street map with various buildings identified in different locations. They are also given a list of prepositions such as across from, on the corner of, near, on, next to. They then have to answer questions such as “Where is the book shop? Where is the café?, etc. The practice is now meaningful because they have to respond according to the location of places on the map.
iii. free/communicative practice (learners use the structures in authentic communication while paying attention to this rule-governed behaviour). For example, students are asked to draw a map of their neighborhood and answer questions about the location of different places, such as the nearest bus stop, the nearest café, etc.
Globally, grammar activities display the following features:
i. specific grammar structures are in focus and learners are provided with explicit information about the rule;
ii. learners are asked to use the structures in sentences of their own;
iii. learners have the opportunity to use the structures repeatedly during the English classes (there is need for reinforcement and for building up on prior knowledge);
iv. learners are expected to understand the rule (via consciousness-raising) use of the
grammatical structures in a successful way;
v. there is feedback on the learners’ performance (they get a sense of their performance)
TBL (Task-Based Learning) vs. PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production)
An alternative to the PPP model is the Test-Teach-Test approach (TTT), in which the production stage comes first and the learners are "thrown in at the deep end" and required to perform a particular task (a role play, for example). This is followed by the teacher dealing with some of the grammatical or lexical problems that arose in the first stage and the learners then being required either to perform the initial task again or to perform a similar task. The language presented in the ‘teach’ stage can be predicted if the initial production task is carefully chosen but there is a danger of randomness in this model.
Jane Willis (1996), in her book ‘A Framework for Task-Based Learning’, outlines a third model for organizing lessons. While this is not a radical departure from TTT, it does present a model that is based on sound theoretical foundations and one which takes account of the need for authentic communication. Task-based learning (TBL) is typically based on three stages. The first of these is the pre-task stage, during which the teacher introduces and defines the topic and the learners engage in activities that either help them to recall words and phrases that will be useful during the performance of the main task or to learn new words and phrases that are essential to the task. This stage is followed by what Willis calls the "task cycle". Here the learners perform the task (typically a reading or listening exercise or a problem-solving exercise) in pairs or small groups. They then prepare a report for the whole class on how they did the task and what conclusions they reached. Finally, they present their findings to the class in spoken or written form. The final stage is the language focus stage, during which specific language features from the task and highlighted and worked on. Feedback on the learners’ performance at the reporting stage may also be appropriate at this point.
The most important thing to notice about the lesson is that language work comes at the end of the sequence. This reverses the traditional (Presentation Practice Production) sequence in which language is presented and practiced before learners are asked to use it at the production stage. In a task-based sequence learners are first asked to make use of the language they have. They are then given the opportunity to extend that language in useful ways. There are a number of reasons for putting meaning before language:
Let us imagine we began our lesson by presenting the form going to, explaining or demonstrating the meaning and asking learners to produce the form under close teacher control. Let’s say we then went on to practice going to by asking learners to listen and repeat a number of examples and then to think of three things they are going to do next week. Finally we ask them to talk about their plans for their next holiday. At this stage a number of things might happen:
Learners might not use the target form, going to, at all. They might simply use will or the present simple. If this happens there is little point in a production stage.
Learners might use the target form, but with some difficulty. They have to concentrate on getting it right. If this happens then they are not concerned with meaning, they are still thinking about form. They have not made the form part of their spontaneous language repertoire. They can only use it if they make a conscious effort. This means that the focus of the production stage is not really on using language. In reality it is simply another practice stage.
Learners use the form fluently and spontaneously. This is possible, but it is a most unlikely outcome. It is extremely difficult for learners to incorporate new language and make it part of their system in a short space of time. We see this all the time in the classroom. Even a very simple rule, such as the use of the terminal –s on the present simple form (he runs; she thinks etc) takes a long time before it is a natural part of learner language. The difficult part is not understanding the rule or relating a form and a meaning, the real difficulty is in making it a natural part of one’s language system.
By putting meaning first we achieve two things. First we allow learners to make use of the language they already have. The most important thing for language learners, especially at the elementary and intermediate levels is to make the best use of the language they already have. Their grammar is far from complete and they make lots of errors. They need to be resourceful and to stretch their language to meet new demands. The best language learners are those who can make good use of limited resources. Once they begin to do this their language will develop rapidly. Secondly we create a context for learning. They have already tried to communicate the notion of the planned future. When they are provided with an alternative way of expressing this notion they have readymade context.
By presenting one particular language form we are in danger of closing learners minds to other learning opportunities. In looking at –ing forms we are highlighting all sorts of useful language. First, as we have seen, we have a number of ways of expressing the future. Secondly there are a number of useful phrases do a bit of travelling round, most of the time, all sorts of…; actually; as well; or anything. We also have two examples of the way elision is used in spoken English: (We’re) Going in September; (We’re) Probably going to Zimbabwe. Instead of concentrating on one particular from such as the going to future learners are open to a lot of useful language.
We are encouraging learners to think for themselves. If we tell them what to say and explain things to them carefully we are inhibiting their independence. Clear explanation and demonstration is certainly part of the teacher’s role, but only after learners have first tried to work things out for themselves. We cannot teach the whole language. There is too much of it and we do not understand it well enough. The best thing we can do for learners is provide them with the opportunity and the motivation to learn for themselves.
In fact the PPP approach simply does not work in the way it is supposed to. This does not mean that it does not work. Millions of learners have succeeded under a PPP approach. But it does not work as neatly as it is supposed to. We cannot teach one part of the language today and another part of the language tomorrow and expect learners to put things together bit by bit. The learning process is beset by failures and false starts. If we do not recognise this our teaching is likely to be inefficient.
4.2 Methods and techniques used in teaching verbal complex constructions.
4.2.1. Task-based learning(TBL) and Present Practice Produce (PPP) methods
In recent years a debate has developed over which methods to structuring and planning and implementing lessons are more effective. I will present a study of a task-based learning approach (TBL) and highlight its advantages over the more traditional
Present Practice Produce. (PPP)
The study involves two classes of 28 students each. The students in 9G were exposed to the direct method through PPP, while the students in 9F were taught using indirect instruction through TBL approach.
PPP approach.
In teaching verbal complex constructions I have decided to use the direct instruction when using PPP method. to the students in 9G.
Below there are some characteristics of the direct instruction.
Direct Instruction
-best to use when teaching knowledge acquisition involving facts, rules, and action sequences
-teacher-centered (teacher provides information, facts, rules, action sequences)
-teacher is lecturer (most often)
-common form: lecture-recitation with explanations, examples, and opportunities for practice and feedback
-instructional methods: lecture, collaboration
-uses the first three of Bloom’s taxonomy: Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application
-largely verbal, lecture and teacher-student question/answer practice for understanding
-steps: present objectives and goals (may use a set induction), present content sequentially in small steps (may use a graphic organizer), model skills or processes with specific and concrete methods (use an advanced organizer to access prior knowledge), check for understanding before moving from one point to the next (with corrective feedback), ask students questions and have them summarize in their own words or re-teach a partner (give period practice and feedback)
-full-class instruction
-organize learning around questions you pose
-provide detailed and redundant practice
-present material sequentially so students can master a new fact or rule before moving on
-classroom is formally arranged to facilitate recitation and assessment during practice
When to use: If there is a workbook and textbook that help student practice, you would more likely use direct instruction if the material within required much breaking down or subdividing the material. Another reason is to spark student’s interest (ie if they think the textbook looks boring): make it relevant to real-life or explain any questions or misunderstandings they have. In order for students to master learning they need additional instruction
When not to use: When objectives other than learning facts, rules, or behavior sequences are desired, direct instruction would be less efficient than inquiry or problem-solving strategies. Direct instruction relates more to lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Do not use if students already have a grasp of lower-level learning concepts of the topic.
A few aspects of the PPP approach.
First, the teacher presents an item of language in a clear context to get across its meaning. This could be done in a variety of ways: through a text, a dialogue etc.
Students are then asked to complete a controlled practice stage, where they may have to repeat target items through choral and individual drilling, fill gaps or match halves of sentences. All of this practice demands that the student uses the language correctly and helps them to become more comfortable with it.
Finally, they move on to the production stage, sometimes called the 'free practice' stage. Students are given a communication task such as a role play and are expected to produce the target language and use any other language that has already been learnt and is suitable for completing it.
PPP activities
Parts of the Sentence – Verbals – Noun Infinitives
An infinitive is to plus a verb form. It can be used as a noun. Examples: to be, to see, to be seen, to be eaten.
The noun infinitive can be a subject (To eat is fun.); a direct object (I like to eat.); a predicate nominative (A fun thing is to eat.); an appositive (My hope, to travel, never happened.); an object of a preposition (I want nothing but to save.)
Noun infinitives can have with them direct objects, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives or modifiers to form what is called a infinitive phrase. Example: To eat solid foods is hard for babies. "To eat" is the noun infinitive used as the subject of the verb is, and it has its own direct object "foods" with the adjective "solid," which together make up the infinitive phrase "to eat solid foods" serving as the subject of the sentence.
Instructions: Find the noun infinitives in the following sentences and tell how they are used.
1. To skate was his only desire.
2. I hope to enjoy retirement.
3. The team's desire is to win.
4. Most people want to marry.
5. Their terrible goal, to kill, failed.
Answers:
1. to skate = subject
2. to enjoy = direct object
3. to win = predicate nominative
4. to marry = direct object
5. to kill = appositive
Parts of the Sentence – Verbals – Noun Infinitives
An infinitive is to plus a verb form. It can be used as a noun. Examples: to be, to see, to be seen, to be eaten.
The noun infinitive can be a subject (To eat is fun.); a direct object (I like to eat.); a predicate nominative (A fun thing is to eat.); an appositive (My hope, to travel, never happened.); an object of a preposition (I want nothing but to save.)
Noun infinitives can have with them direct objects, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives or modifiers to form what is called a infinitive phrase. Example: To eat solid foods is hard for babies. "To eat" is the noun infinitive used as the subject of the verb is, and it has its own direct object "foods" with the adjective "solid," which together make up the infinitive phrase "to eat solid foods" serving as the subject of the sentence.
Instructions: Find the noun infinitive phrases in the following sentences and tell how they are used.
1. We need to take them by surprise.
2. To restore old cars is expensive.
3. My wish, to visit the Grand Canyon, has happened.
4. The girl wanted nothing except to succeed in the class.
5. The Jazz's hope is to win the championship.
Answers:
1. to take them by surprise = direct object
2. to restore old cars = subject
3. to visit the Grand Canyon = appositive
4. to succeed in the class = object of the preposition
5. to win the championship = predicate nominative
Parts of the Sentence – Verbals – Participles
A participle is used as an adjective and ends in various ways. A present participle always ends with ing as does the gerund, but remember that it is an adjective. A past participle ends with ed, n, or irregularly. Examples: played, broken, brought, sung, seeing, having seen, being seen, seen, having been seen. Participles modify nouns and pronouns and can precede or follow the word modified. (Do not confuse participles that end in ing with gerunds. Participles are used as adjectives; gerunds are used as nouns.)
Instructions: Find the participles in these sentences and tell what word they modify.
1. The bike had a broken spoke.
2. Her smiling face made everyone happy.
3. The frightened child was crying loudly.
4. The people were frightened by the growling dog.
5. The squeaking wheel needs some grease.
Answers:
1. broken modifying spoke
2. smiling modifying face
3. frightened modifying child
4. growling modifying dog
5. squeaking modifying wheel
Parts of the Sentence – Verbals – Participles
A participle is used as an adjective and ends in various ways. A present participle always ends with ing as does the gerund, but remember that it is an adjective. A past participle ends with ed, n, or irregularly. Examples: played, broken, brought, sung, seeing, having seen, being seen, seen, having been seen. Participles modify nouns and pronouns and can precede or follow the word modified. (Do not confuse participles that end in ing with gerunds. Participles are used as adjectives; gerunds are used as nouns.)
A participial phrase is made up of a participle and any complements (direct objects, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives, or modifiers) like the gerund. A participial phrase that comes at the beginning of the sentence is always followed by a comma and modifies the subject of the sentence.
Instructions: Find the participial phrases in these sentences and tell what word they modify.
1. Taking my time, I hit the basket.
2. Shouting angrily, the man chased the thief.
3. Exhausted from the hike, Jim dropped to the ground.
4. Grinning sheepishly, the boy asked for a date.
5. Trying to open the gate, I tore my coat.
Answers:
1. Taking my time modifies the subject I
2. Shouting angrily modifies the subject man
3. Exhausted from the hike modifies the subject Jim
4. Grinning sheepishly modifies the subject boy
5. Trying to open the gate modifies the subject I
A gerund always ends in ing and is used as a noun. Eating is fun.
The gerund can be a subject (Eating is fun.); a direct object (I like eating.); a predicate nominative (A fun time is eating.); an appositive (A fun time, eating, takes much time.); an indirect object (I give eating too much time.); or an object of a preposition (I give much time to eating.)
Gerunds can have with them direct objects, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives or modifiers to form what is called a gerund phrase. Example: Eating solid foods is hard for babies. Eating is the gerund used as the subject of the verb is. It has its own direct object foods with the adjective solid, which together make up the gerund phrase eating solid foods serving as the subject of the sentence.
Instructions: Find the gerund phrases in the following sentences and tell if they are used as subject, direct object, predicate nominative, appositive, indirect object, or object of the preposition.
1. My hobby is working with irises.
2. I like pruning the fruit trees.
3. I had only one desire, leaving for home.
4. Writing a good novel is hard work.
5. With his snoring in his sleep, his wife couldn't sleep.
Answers:
1. working with irises = predicate nominative
2. pruning the fruit trees = direct object
3. leaving for home = appositive
4. writing a good novel = subject
5. his snoring in his sleep = object of the preposition
Test
Write down the ing-form (Gerund) of the following verbs.
spell – _____________
discover – _______________
copy – ________________
chase – ____________________
Fill in the gerund as the subject of the sentence.
(fly)__________________to London has become rather cheap.
(smoke)___________________is prohibited at petrol stations.
(swim) ____________________is good for your health.
(travel)_______________________is one of my hobbies.
(cycle) _______________is impossible on this sandy ground.
Fill in with the appropriate form of the verb in the brackets:
I enjoy ____________on holiday. (go)
He used to ___________in the country. (live)
I am tired of _________________ (wait)
Ellen made me ______________. ( cry)
Parts of the Sentence – Verbals
A verbal is a verb form used as some other part of speech. There are three kinds of verbals: gerunds, participles and infinitives.
A gerund always ends in ing and is used as a noun. Eating is fun.
A participle is used as an adjective and ends in various ways. A present participle always ends with ing as does the gerund, but remember that it is an adjective. A past participle ends with ed, n, or irregularly. Examples: played, broken, brought, sung, seeing, having seen, being seen, seen, having been seen.
An infinitive is to plus a verb form. It can be a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Examples: to be, to see, to be seen, to be eaten.
Instructions: Find the gerunds, gerund phrases, participles, participial phrases, infinitives or infinitive phrases in these sentences, tell what kind of verbal they are, and how they are used.
1. You are difficult to understand.
2. Jack hopes to join the Army next month.
3. The Senate favors increasing taxes.
4. The broken lamp lay on the floor.
5. I saw him trying to open the trunk.
Answers:
1. to understand is an adverb infinitive modifying the predicate adjective difficult
2. to join the Army next month is a noun infinitive phrase used as the direct object
3. increasing taxes is a gerund phrase used as the direct object
4. broken is a participle modifying the subject lamp
5. trying to open the trunk is a participial phrase modifying the direct object him/to open the trunk is a noun infinitive phrase used as the direct object to the verbal trying
Parts of the Sentence – Verbals
Instructions: Find the gerunds, gerund phrases, participles, participial phrases, infinitives or infinitive phrases in these sentences, tell what kind of verbal they are, and how they are used.
1. Are you too busy to help us?
2. The crying child rushed to his mother.
3. He jumped from the cliff without looking down.
4. Walking is good for everyone.
5. Jim loves to play basketball.
6. Correction by others is hard to take.
7. Fearing their enemies, many small animals are nocturnal.
8. Law and Order is the program to watch tonight.
9. I don't know whether to go or to stay.
10. Our next job, to finish the painting, should be eas
Answers:
1. to help us is an adverb infinitive modifying the predicate adjective busy
2. crying is a participle modifying the subject child.
3. looking down is a gerund phrase used as the object of the preposition without
4. walking is a gerund used as the subject
5. to play basketball is a noun infinitive phrase used as the direct object
6. to take is an adverb infinitive modifying the predicate adjective hard
7. fearing their enemies is a participial phrase modifying the subject animals
8. to watch tonight is an adjective infinitive phrase modifying the predicate nominative program
9. to go/to stay are noun infinitives used as direct objects
10. to finish the painting is a noun infinitive used as an appositive/ painting is a gerund used as the direct object to the verbal to finish
Parts of the Sentence – Verbals
A verbal is a verb form used as some other part of speech. There are three kinds of verbals: gerunds, participles and infinitives.
A gerund always ends in ing and is used as a noun. Eating is fun.
A participle is used as an adjective and ends in various ways. A present participle always ends with ing as does the gerund, but remember that it is an adjective. A past participle ends with ed, n, or irregularly. Examples: played, broken, brought, sung, seeing, having seen, being seen, seen, having been seen.
An infinitive is to plus a verb form. It can be a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Examples: to be, to see, to be seen, to be eaten.
Instructions: Find the gerunds, gerund phrases, participles, participial phrases, infinitives or infinitive phrases in these sentences, tell what kind of verbal they are, and how they are used.
1. Blaming others is not being honest with oneself.
2. We do not plan to change the rules.
3. Forgetting his promise, Jeff returned home late.
4. My dog is too old to learn new tricks.
5. One way to improve is regular practice.
Answers:
1. blaming others is a gerund phrase used as the subject
2. to change the rules is a noun infinitive phrase used as the direct object
3. forgetting his promise is a participial phrase modifying the subject Jeff
4. to learn new tricks is an adverb infinitive phrase modifying the predicate adjective old
5. to improve is an adjective infinitive modifying the subject way
The problems with PPP
It all sounds quite logical but using this method I identified problems with it:
Students can give the impression that they are comfortable with the new language as they are producing it accurately in the class. Yet, a few lessons later, students will either not be able to produce the language correctly or even won't produce it at all.
Students will often produce the language but overuse the target structure so that it sounds completely unnatural.
Students may not produce the target language during the free practice stage because they find they are not able to use existing language resources to complete the task.
Conclusion
PPP offers a very simplified approach to language learning. It is based upon the idea that you can present language in neat little blocks, adding from one lesson to the next. However, research shows us that we cannot predict or guarantee what the students will learn and that ultimately a wide exposure to language is the best way of ensuring that students will acquire it effectively. Restricting their experience to single pieces of target language is unnatural.
A Task-based approach.
In teaching students in 9F I decided to use indirect instruction when approaching TBL method.
Below there are some theoretical aspects of the direct instruction and its appropriacy in teaching using TBL.
Indirect Instruction
-Indirect means that the learner acquires a behavior indirectly by transforming, or constructing, the stimulus material into meaningful response or behavior that differs from both (1) the content being used to present the learning and (2) any previous response given by the student
-best to use when teaching concepts, abstractions, or patterns
-best to use when the learning process is inquiry-based, the result is discovery, and the learning context is a problem
-student-centered (student is an interactive participant)
-teacher is facilitator
-small group instruction
-instructional methods: discovery learning, cooperative learning, all student-guided
-uses all parts of Bloom’s taxonomy including Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation
-indirect instruction involves: organizing content, inductive and deductive reasoning, examples and non-examples, student experiences, questions, student’s self-evaluation, and group discussion.
How can I use TBL in the classroom?
Most of the task-based activities in this section are what Scrivener classifies as authentic and follow the task structure proposed by Jane Willis.
Each task will be organized in the following way:
Pre-task activity an introduction to topic and task
Task cycle: Task > Planning > Report
Language Focus and Feedback
How often do we as teachers ask our students to do something in class which they would do in everyday life using their own language? Probably not often enough.
If we can make language in the classroom meaningful therefore memorable, students can process language which is being learned or recycled more naturally.
Task-based learning offers the student an opportunity to do exactly this. The primary focus of classroom activity is the task and language is the instrument which the students use to complete it. The task is an activity in which students use language to achieve a specific outcome. The activity reflects real life and learners focus on meaning, they are free to use any language they want. Playing a game, solving a problem or sharing information or experiences, can all be considered as relevant and authentic tasks. In TBL an activity in which students are given a list of words to use cannot be considered as a genuine task. Nor can a normal role play if it does not contain a problem-solving element or where students are not given a goal to reach. In many role plays students simply act out their restricted role. For instance, a role play where students have to act out roles as company directors but must come to an agreement or find the right solution within the given time limit can be considered a genuine task in TBL.
The tasks will generate their own language and create an opportunity for language acquisition (Krashen). If we can take the focus away from form and structures we can develop our students’ ability to do things in English. That is not to say that there will be no attention paid to accuracy, work on language is included in each task and feedback and language focus have their places in the lesson plans. Teachers have a responsibility to enrich their students’ language when they see it is necessary but students should be given the opportunity to use English in the classroom as they use their own languages in everyday life.
A balance should be kept between fluency, which is what the task provides, and accuracy, which is provided by task feedback.
Task -based learning offers an alternative for language teachers. In a task-based lesson the teacher doesn't pre-determine what language will be studied, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it.
The lesson follows certain stages.
Pre-task
The teacher introduces the topic and gives the students clear instructions on what they will have to do at the task stage and might help the students to recall some language that may be useful for the task. The pre-task stage can also often include playing a recording of people doing the task. This gives the students a clear model of what will be expected of them. The students can take notes and spend time preparing for the task.
Task
The students complete a task in pairs or groups using the language resources that they have as the teacher monitors and offers encouragement.
Planning
Students prepare a short oral or written report to tell the class what happened during their task. They then practise what they are going to say in their groups. Meanwhile the teacher is available for the students to ask for advice to clear up any language questions they may have.
Report
Students then report back to the class orally or read the written report. The teacher chooses the order of when students will present their reports and may give the students some quick feedback on the content. At this stage the teacher may also play a recording of others doing the same task for the students to compare.
Analysis
The teacher then highlights relevant parts from the text of the recording for the students to analyse. They may ask students to notice interesting features within this text. The teacher can also highlight the language that the students used during the report phase for analysis.
Practice
Finally, the teacher selects language areas to practise based upon the needs of the students and what emerged from the task and report phases. The students then do practice activities to increase their confidence and make a note of useful language.
The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the coursebook.
It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating which is both enjoyable and motivating.
TBL activities
Activity 1 Robbery in a Sweet Shop
Tell learners that this lesson is based on a true story which was reported in The Guardian newspaper a few years ago. The first stage (steps 1 to 3) involves encouraging learners to speculate on the story on the basis of a few clues. At the next stage (steps 4 and 5) they make up their own stories to fit the clues. At step 4 learners should ideally work in pairs or groups, but if they are not used to this they could work first as individuals, perhaps making up their story for homework, and then get together in groups to share ideas.
At steps 6-9 they compare stories. At the end of this they should be keen to and/or hear read the newspaper story (step 10) to find out what really happened.
1 Write up on the board:
2 Explain some of the words and phrases which might cause difficulties. A balaclava is like a ski mask. It covers someone’s face so only their eyes can be seen. Smarties are small brightly coloured sweets with chocolate covered in a thin layer of sugar. A fake is something which is imitation, which is not real.
3 Ask learners what they think happened in the story, but do not tell them if their guesses are right or wrong.
4 Ask them to try to guess what happened in the story. Tell them to use as many of the ideas on the board as they can. The best thing is for them to work in pairs or groups and discuss their ideas. This will give them a lot of speaking practice.
5 Tell them you are going to ask some of them to tell their stories to the class. Give them some time to prepare their stories. Go round and listen as they work.
6 When they have had enough time to prepare their stories appoint a spokesperson for each group. Ask the groups to work with the spokesperson to prepare the final version of their story.
7 Ask one of them to tell the story. Try to choose someone who thinks the young man is the robber.
8 Ask the others if their stories are the same or different. Choose someone who has a different story and ask them to tell it. Try to choose someone who thinks the eight-year-old is the robber.
9 Engage the class in a discussion as to whose story is the most likely.
10 Hand out the story for them to read. Or, if you want them to have some listening practice you can read the story out before they read it.
II. Eight-year-old tries to rob sweet shop.
Manchester police are looking for an eight-year-old boy who attempted to hold up a sweet shop last night in the suburb of Ashton-under-Lyme.
The boy, who was wearing a balaclava, went into the corner shop and bought a packet of Smarties for 25p. As the shopkeeper gave him his change a young man came in to buy a newspaper. The boy waited until the man had gone then threw a plastic bag at the shopkeeper. At the same time he pointed a gun at her and told her to fill up the bag.
“I’m not sure whether he wanted me to fill it with sweets or with money,” said the shopkeeper, who did not want to give her name. “I didn’t know if the gun was real or not, but it certainly looked more real than the guns my little boy plays with. I was quite frightened because I had my children with me. I pretended to reach for some money, but I pressed the alarm instead. When it went off he turned and ran out of the shop.”
She described the boy as 1.2 metres tall, and dressed in jeans and a dark coat. The police are asking the public to help. They say they are taking the case very seriously, like all cases which involve a firearm, fake or not.
Language work:
Identification
Ask learners to underline all the phrases with to:
tries to rob sweet shop; attempted to hold up a sweet shop; to buy a newspaper; told her to fill up the bag; whether he wanted me to fill the bag with sweets or with money; who did not want to give her name; I pretended to reach for some money; asking the public to help.
Analysis. Ask them to look at these patterns:
PATTERN A
PATTERN B
Look at these sentences. Are they pattern A or pattern B?
I need to borrow some money.
We need someone to help us.
The boy ordered her to fill up the bag.
We always had to get up early.
Can you help me to carry these boxes?
Help your learners to organise their knowledge of verbs followed by to:
These are the commonest verbs with pattern A:
agree, appear, attempt, begin choose, continue, decide, expect, forget, happen, hate, help, hope, intend, love, live, learn, mean, plan, prefer, pretend, promise, refuse, remember, seem start, try, want, would like.
How many of these verbs are to do with speaking?
How many are to do with thinking?
Can you find other words in the box which mean the same as: appear, attempt, begin, intend, like, want?
These are the commonest verbs with pattern B:
advise, allow, enable, expect, help, intend, invite, mean, order, prefer, tell, want warn (usually warn someone not to), wish, would like.
Can you find eight words that are also used with pattern A?
How many words are to do with speaking?
How many words are to do with wanting or liking?
Practice:
Lead class discussions based on this:
Choose either:
Three things you want/would like to do over the next year.
OR
Three things you hope/intend/plan to do over the next year.
Write down the three thing in your book. Close your book. See How many things you can remember.
You can listen to a few sentences before learners close their books, then make sure they all have their books closed and lead a class discussion about what people want to do and about what they hope to do. These sentences will generally be pattern A.
Lead more class discussions based on this:
Choose either
Three things your teacher doesn’t allow you to do in class.
OR
Three things you would like someone to give you
Write down the three thing in your book. Close your book. See how many things you can remember.
Again you can listen to a few sentences before learners close their books, then make sure they all have their books closed and lead a class discussion about what people want to do and about what they hope to do. All these sentences will be pattern A.
Round-up:
Ask learners to read the story for homework and be ready to tell the story next lesson. It is useful to build up a repertoire of stories so that in future lessons you can ask learners Who can remember the story about … and ask them to tell one of the stories that they have studied. This is a good way of getting them to remember the useful language they have encountered.
Vanishing words
a) Take a sentence from the text. For example:
As the shopkeeper gave him his change a young man came in to buy a newspaper.
b) Write the full sentence on the whiteboard.
c) Ask one or two learners to read it out.
d) Rub out two or three words:
___ the shopkeeper ___ him his change a young man came in ___ buy a _____________.
e) Ask learners to work in groups of three or four. Tell them to work as a group to recall the sentence. Ask a learner to recall the sentence. Ask the class if the recall is correct. If they are not satisfied, they can go on guessing until they are content.
f) Remove more words:
___ the shopkeeper ___ ____ his ________ a ________ man _____ in ___ buy a _____________.
g) Repeat e).
h) Go on until you have removed all the words.
You can make this activity more difficult:
1 By choosing a more complex sentence:
Manchester police are looking for an eight-year-old boy who attempted to hold up a sweet shop last night in the suburb of Ashton-under-Lyme.
2 By removing several words at each stage:
Manchester _______ are _________ for an eight-year-old boy ___ ___________ to hold up a _______ shop last night in the _________ of Ashton-under-Lyme.
3 By asking learners to work in pairs or individually instead of groups of three or four.
Activity 2
Brave pensioner Foils Raid on Jewellery Store
Tell learners that this lesson is based on a true story which was reported in several British newspapers in October 2008. The first stage (steps 1 to 3) involves encouraging learners to speculate on the story on the basis of a few clues. At the next stage (steps 4 and 5) they make up their own stories to fit the clues. At step 4 learners should ideally work in pairs or groups, but if they are not used to this they could work first as individuals, perhaps making up their story for homework, and then get together in groups to share ideas.
1 Write up on the board:
The setting:
The street outside a Richmond jewellery shop.
The characters:
Two young men with sledge hammers.
A pensioner, believed to be 83.
50 onlookers.
Gabrielle Henry, a shop manager.
George Wilson.
Some phrases from the story:
“I’ve got your DNA.”
Rolex watches.
Snatched the balaclava from one of the criminals.
Last seen getting on a number 17 bus.
Without him they would have got clean away.
2 Explain some of the words and phrases which might cause difficulties. A sledge hammer is a very big heavy hammer. A balaclava is like a ski mask. It covers someone’s face so only their eyes can be seen. DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. This is genetic material which is specific to each individual. People can be identified from a sample of their DNA.
3 Ask one or two questions to encourage students to think about the story. For example:
Why might someone say I’ve got your DNA?
Who do you think got on a number 17 bus?
4 Ask learners what they think happened in the story, but do not tell them if their guesses are right or wrong.
5 Ask them to try to guess what happened in the story. Tell them to use as many of the ideas on the board as they can. The best thing is for them to work in pairs or groups and discuss their ideas. This will give them a lot of speaking practice.
6 Tell them you are going to ask some of them to tell their stories to the class. Give them some time to prepare their stories. Go round and listen as they work.
7 Ask one of them to tell the story.
OR
Ask each group to send a member as ambassador to another group to tell their story. They can then compare stories. Ambassadors can return to their own groups, perhaps with some new ideas. You can then ask them to work on their story again before telling it to the class.
8 After a group spokesman has told a story ask the other groups if their stories are the same or different. Choose someone who has a different story and ask them to tell it.
9 Engage the class in a discussion as to whose story is the most likely.
10 Hand out the story for them to read. Or, if you want them to have some listening practice you can read the story out before they read it.
PENSIONER FOILS ROBBERY
Two young men got a nasty shock when they tried to rob Ernest Jones, a Richmond jewellery shop. The men, wearing balaclavas, used sledgehammers to smash the windows of the shop. There were fifty people looking on without daring to interfere. Then a pensioner, believed to be 83, stepped forward and snatched the balaclava from one of the criminals and shouted “I’ve got your DNA.”
The two robbers were taken completely by surprise. Throwing down their hammers they ran away as fast as they could. The pensioner, still carrying the balaclava, walked away, and was last seen getting on a number 17 bus.
"I saw this old guy go past and push one of them over. He grabbed his balaclava and shouted 'I've got your DNA.' The other guy stopped hitting the window and they ran off,” said Gabrielle Henry, who manages WT Spa, another shop in the street.
Another onlooker, George Wilson, said: "I thought it was great. He was an old man, but he was really brave. There were about fifty people watching, but he was the only one brave enough to do anything. Without him they would have got clean away.”
Police believe that the thieves were after Rolex watches in the shop, which has been robbed at least three times in the past year. They have asked the pensioner to come forward, They are sure that, with his help, they will be able to catch the criminals.
11 Language work.
11.1 Identification:
Ask learners underline all the phrases with verbs ending in –ing.
Wearing balaclavas; There were fifty people looking on; throwing down their hammers; still carrying the balaclava; last seen getting on a number 7 bus; stopped hitting the window.
11.2 Explanation:
Verbs with –ing are used:
to describe people and things: a man wearing a balaclava. We often see this after There is/are/was/were : There were fifty people looking on.
after verbs like see and hear: last seen getting on a bus; I saw him getting on a bus.
after time words like still, after, before: still carrying the balaclava; after smashing the windows they were going to steal the jewellery.
to describe an action that happened immediately before another or at the same time as another: throwing down their hammers, they ran away as fast as they could.
After the verbs like stop and start.
Which group do these belong to, a, b, c, d or e.
I heard someone trying to get into the house.
There were lots of people waiting for the bus.
I have to get changed before going out.
Snatching off the man’s balaclava he shouted ‘I’ve got your DNA’.
She could smell something burning.
They began shouting.
11.3 Practice.
You can play a memory game to practice –ing forms. Start off by saying On my way to school today I saw a man waiting for a bus. Put a matchstick drawing on the board of a man standing by a bus stop and say I saw a man waiting for a bus and …? Add another matchstick drawing of two boys playing football to elicit On my way to school today I saw a man waiting for a bus and two boys playing football. Add other drawings, for example two women talking, a dog eating a bone, a cat chasing a mouse and so on.
Ask learners one after another to recite the list : … a man waiting for a bus, two women talking, a dog eating a bone and a cat chasing a mouse.
Then begin to rub pictures off the board, putting just a number in their place, so that learners have to remember what they have seen. At the same time you can continue to add pictures until the learners have to remember six or seven items.
You can vary this by asking the learners to contribute drawings.
12 Useful phrases:
Ask learners to choose three phrases which they think will be useful to them in the future. Lead a class discussion to collect a list of phrases.
13 Recall exercise:
Here is a possible recall exercise. It focuses mainly on elements of the text which provide cohesion.
Ask learners to read paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 very carefully. Explain that they will be asked to recall the wording of the text.
*** two robbers were taken completely by surprise. ******** down their hammers **** ran away as fast as **** could. *** pensioner, still ******** the balaclava, walked away, *** *** last seen ******* on a number 17 bus.
"I saw **** old guy go past and push *** ** **** over. He grabbed his balaclava and shouted 'I've got your DNA.' *** ***** guy stopped hitting the window and they ran off,” said Gabrielle Henry, *** ******* WT Spa, another shop in the street.
******* onlooker, George Wilson, said: "I thought it was great. ** was an old man, but ** was really brave. ***** were about fifty people watching, *** he was the only one brave enough to do anything. ******* *** they would have got clean away.”
14 Round-up:
Ask learners to read the story for homework and be ready to tell the story next lesson. It is useful to build up a repertoire of stories so that in future lessons you can ask learners Who can remember the story about … and ask them to tell one of the stories that they have studied. This is a good way of getting them to remember the useful language they have encountered.
Activity 3.
Task-based speaking activity
This is a speaking lesson on the theme of planning a night out that uses a listening exercise to provide language input.
Preparation and materials
You will need to record two people planning a night out on the town.
Pre-task (15-20min)
Aim: To introduce the topic of nights out and to give the class exposure to language related to it. To highlight words and phrases.
Show sts pictures of a night out in a restaurant / bar and ask them where they go to have a good night out.
Brainstorm words/phrases onto the board related to the topic: people / verbs / feelings etc.
Introduce the listening of two people planning a night out. Write up different alternatives on the board to give them a reason for listening e.g. (a) restaurant / bar (b) meet at the train station / in the square. Play it a few times, first time to select from the alternatives, second time to note down some language.
Tell them that they are going to plan a class night out and give them a few minutes to think it over.
Task (10min)
Students do the task in twos and plan the night. Match them with another pair to discuss their ideas and any similarities and differences.
Planning (10min)
Each pair rehearses presenting their night out. Teacher walks around, helps them if they need it and notes down any language points to be highlighted later.
Report (15 min)
Class listen to the plans, their task is to choose one of them. They can ask questions after the presentation.
Teacher gives feedback on the content and quickly reviews what was suggested. Students vote and choose one of the nights out.
Language Focus (20min)
Write on the board five good phrases used by the students during the task and five incorrect phrases/sentences from the task without the word that caused the problem. Students discuss the meaning and how to complete the sentences.
Hand out the tapescript from the listening and ask the students to underline the useful words and phrases.
Highlight any language you wish to draw attention to e.g. language for making suggestions, collocations etc.
Students write down any other language they wish to remember.
Note: You can go on the planned night out with your students. This can make it even more motivating for them.
The advantages of TBL
Task-based learning has some clear advantages
Unlike a PPP approach, the students are free of language control. In all three stages they must use all their language resources rather than just practising one pre-selected item.
A natural context is developed from the students' experiences with the language that is personalised and relevant to them. With PPP it is necessary to create contexts in which to present the language and sometimes they can be very unnatural.
The students will have a much more varied exposure to language with TBL. They will be exposed to a whole range of lexical phrases, collocations and patterns as well as language forms.
The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the coursebook.
It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating. PPP lessons seem very teacher-centred by comparison. More than this, the students spend more time communicating during a task-based lesson.
It is enjoyable and motivating.
4.2.2. Research Project
In order to show that the overall language acquisition in TBL is facilitated by cognitive and communicative learning which gives opportunities to acquire language in a natural way through performing a task with an emphasis on meaning and form in order to develop fluency and accuracy gradually, I did experiments with students in two different classes who were exposed to two approaches TBL and PPP.
The test I devised was to check the students acquisition of the complex constructions after being exposed to both TBL and PPP.
TEST1
Complete the sentences using the word in bold.
Use two to five words.
The police made him confess to his crimes.
was He……………… his crimes.
It is reported that the police arrested the thieves.
have The police …………. the thieves.
He did not let her use the fax machine.
was She……….the fax machine.
People say that he left the country.
said He …………the country.
Peter made me laugh.
was I………….laugh.
They declared him to be the best player.
was He ………………the best player.
People believe him to be a very rich man.
is He……………a very rich man.
As she was absent, nothing could be done.
being She………nothing could be done.
I do not like that he visits us so often.
his I do not like………..so often.
That you tried to tell the truth was obvious.
trying Your………was obvious.
Answers;
was made
is reported to have arrested
was not allowed to use
is said to have left
was made to laugh
was declared to be
is believed to be
being absent
his visiting us
trying to tell the truth
Experiment 1.
Method: TBL
Material: TEST 1
Participants: class 9F-28students
Results:
Experiment 2
Method: PPP
Material: TEST1
Participants: class 9G-28students.
Results:
Summary. The students exposed to TBL did better in the test, which shows that students learn better by doing. Having a goal motivates them and the acquisition of the language is spontaneous.
Conclusions
As long as the students are engaged in communicative activities that have a purpose and are connected to their interests students’ results are positive.
The conclusions of the experiment in which intermediate students were exposed to both a traditional and a modern approach in teaching verbal complex constructions emphasize the idea that as long students do what they like while interacting in life oriented experiences they are motivated and perform accordingly.
A short presentation of strong and weak points in using traditional and modern methods:
Traditional method
The (Grammar Translation Method) is a cross lingual technique used in language learning. Grammar is given more importance in this method. Learners understand the grammar rules better. The exercises in this method put the learner into an active problem-solving situation. In the schools, the teachers often follow the traditional method of translation technique. It is an easy way to explain things. Reading and writing are the major focus. Vocabulary selection is based solely on the text used. The words are introduced through bilingual word lists dictionary and memorization. The grammar rules are presented.
A traditional model for the organization of language lessons, both in the classroom and in course-books, has long been the PPP approach (presentation, practice, production). With this model individual language items (for example, the past continuous) are presented by the teacher, then practised in the form of spoken and written exercises (often pattern drills), and then used by the learners in less controlled speaking or writing activities. Although the grammar point presented at the beginning of this procedure may well fit neatly into a grammatical syllabus, a frequent criticism of this approach is the apparent arbitrariness of the selected grammar point, which may or may not meet the linguistic needs of the learners, and the fact that the production stage is often based on a rather inauthentic emphasis on the chosen structure.
A list of vocabulary items is presented with their translation meanings. Translation exercises are prescribed. Grammar is taught inductively. Mother tongue is the medium of instruction.
Steps involved in Grammar Translation Method
The teacher asks the students to read few lines from the text. He asks them to translate into L1 and he helps them with new words.(L1=mother tongue)
The teacher answers all their questions in L1
The students write the answers for the questions
The answers are checked by them. Mistakes are corrected by the teacher. He speaks in L1
The students are asked to translate the words listed into their L1. The teacher helps them in synonyms, Antonyms and Meanings for these words.
The teacher works the grammar exercises and he presents grammar rules. The students do the exercises and translate the sentences into L1.
The students translate the lines from the text into L1. They memorize the read out listed words and frame sentences for the vocabulary items.
Students write a composition based on the passage.
Demerits: this GTM has its own drawbacks.
It fails to produce oral fluency in English.
Students find the method boring as they have to memorize words and rules.
It does not develop confidence among the learners.
The use of L1 is more predominant in the class.
No link between the text words and real life situations.
The learner is unable to use English in day to day Communication
This method focuses only in reading and writing. Little attention is paid to speaking.
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
CLT is a functional approach to language learning. In 1972, this language course was proposed in Europe. The main aim is to develop the communicative competency of the learner. His need of understanding and expressing in the L2 (The language acquired through learning) is the main focus of this method.
Objectives of CLT:
To produce effective communicative competency in learners.
The focus is on meanings and functions of the language.
More importance on the learner and his learning.
Language is acquired in CLT.
The teacher is a facilitator in language acquisitions.
Involve the learner in the learning process thro’ problem solving, tasks, participation and interaction.
All the four LSRW skills are equally treated.
It is an eclectic approach. CLT involves many classroom activities like group work, pair work, language games, role play, question-answer sessions. It is not confined to any set of text books. The learners are mostly introduced task based and problem solving situations.
Demerits:
1. No single uniform method is prescribed
2. Different techniques are followed in the process of learning
3. Several roles are assigned to the teachers.
TBL as a model for CLT
The main advantages of TBL are that language is used for a genuine purpose meaning that real communication should take place, and that at the stage where the learners are preparing their report for the whole class, they are forced to consider language form in general rather than concentrating on a single form (as in the PPP model). Whereas the aim of the PPP model is to lead from accuracy to fluency, the aim of TBL is to integrate all four skills and to move from fluency to accuracy plus fluency. The range of tasks available (reading texts, listening texts, problem-solving, role-plays, questionnaires, etc) offers a great deal of flexibility in this model and should lead to more motivating activities for the learners.
Learners who are used to a more traditional approach based on a grammatical syllabus may find it difficult to come to terms with the apparent randomness of TBL, but if TBL is integrated with a systematic approach to grammar and lexis, the outcome can be a comprehensive, all-round approach that can be adapted to meet the needs of all learners.
Although TBL is a wonderful approach to second language acquisition there are times when students need to focus on forms to better get an understanding of a language area.
PPP, on the other hand is a more traditional approach to second language acquisition, where the teacher’s role is to provide knowledge of the TL (target learning) to the students by using prefabricated examples, and the learners’ role is a passive one. It is a prescriptive approach whereby the main concern is to elicit accuracy. We know that practice of language forms does not necessarily make perfect. People cannot learn a language without plenty of opportunities for real language use. It is also important that the language that they are exposed to and that they use reflects the kind of language they want to learn.
The problems with PPP in my research.
While using PPP method students gave the impression that they were comfortable with the new language as they were producing it accurately in the class. Often though a few lessons later, students would either not be able to produce the language correctly or even were not able to produce it at all.
Students produced the language but overused the target structure so that it sounded completely unnatural.
Students could not produce the target language during the free practice stage because they found they were not able to use existing language resources to complete the task.
The advantages of TBL
Task-based learning has some clear advantages
Unlike a PPP approach, the students are free of language control. In all three stages they must use all their language resources rather than just practising one pre-selected item.
A natural context is developed from the students' experiences with the language that is personalised and relevant to them. With PPP it is necessary to create contexts in which to present the language and sometimes they can be very unnatural.
The students will have a much more varied exposure to language with TBL. They will be exposed to a whole range of lexical phrases, collocations and patterns as well as language forms.
The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the coursebook.
It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating. PPP lessons seem very teacher-centred by comparison.
TBL offers a structured approach to learning, and supports the notion that learning occurs most effectively when related to the real-life tasks undertaken by an individual. TBL encourages the development of the reflective learner, and accommodates a wide range of learning styles. TBL offers an attractive combination of pragmatism and idealism: pragmatism in the sense that learning with an explicit sense of purpose is an important source of student motivation and satisfaction; idealism in that it is consistent with current theories of education.
To round up if we are to teach with maximum efficiency we need to do at least five things:
Give learners lots of exposure to language providing lots of learning opportunities.
Allow them plenty of opportunities to use language for themselves. This gives them a chance to extend their system and incorporate new language.
Provide activities which focus on a range of language points. We cannot predict what learners are going to learn next so we need to offer a range of possibilities.
Encourage them to work things out for themselves.
Support and encourage them in their efforts.
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Annexes
LESSON PLAN
LESSON PLAN: A TRIP TO AFRICA
1 Introduction: Preparation
It is useful to begin with an activity which prepares learners for the task they are going to do and which primes them for some of the lexis, the words and phrases they will encounter: flight; airline; look online; book online; regular flight; charter flight; game park; safari.
You could ask the class if there are any countries in Africa they would like to visit. They could do some internet research for homework and find out about holidays in Africa. What would they do there? How would they travel? How would they plan the journey? This may involve using language which is beyond their productive level, but as long as they can understand and participate in response to teacher questions that’s fine.
2 A Task:
2.1 The task phase
Learners might be given this task in class or they might be asked to prepare for it for homework. Once they get into their groups they will begin to say things like: What airline you are going? Where will you go? and so on. The task is intended to stretch them linguistically. The last part of the task, a question none of the other groups will ask, may stretch them both linguistically and imaginatively. When we have done this task learners have come up with things like Will you take your cat? and Is your grandmother going with you?
In deciding on their questions, learners will use the language that comes readily to them. The discussion will be informal, with lots of false starts and rephrasing and repetition. Formal accuracy will not be a priority.
2.2 Planning
After learners have had time to decide on their questions the teacher will ask them to move to the next stage of the task cycle – planning. They need to plan because in a few minutes one member of the group, a speaker will be asked to tell the whole class the questions the group has decided on. The speaker is not allowed simply to write down the questions and read them out, but can be allowed to take up to twelve words of notes to work from. So the group will begin to prepare the speaker for the coming report. The speaker will naturally want to do this well and the group will want to help achieve this. So at this stage there will be a concern with accuracy. They have time to think about the form of their questions and will try to prepare the speaker as well as they can. But the emphasis is still on meaning, on saying what they want to say. At this planning stage the teacher can go round and help.
It is important to recognise two things:
The language learners are preparing is not predicted or controlled by the teacher. They can express themselves in any way they want.
In their groups they will probably touch on a number of language points – question forms, ways of referring to the future, likes and preferences and so on. The language they use will not always be accurate. This does not matter as long as they are using English to communicate with each other.
You can monitor what is happening in the groups. Your role is to help them to express themselves. Sometimes this will involve correction. If you hear a student say, for example You go see animals? you might comment, Yes that’s a good question. Are you going to see any animals? Are you going to go on Safari? But you offer this comment as someone who is participating in the discussion and making a useful contribution; not as a teacher correcting a learner. Correction is incidental.
Sometimes you will find that a group is working busily but mainly using Japanese rather than English. If this happens you can remind them that their report will be in English. They need to get a few words written down and help their speaker to remember the questions. After learners have got used to this way of working they will soon find that it is very difficult to go from a group discussion in Japanese and then talk to the class in English. It is much easier if most of the planning is done in English to begin with.
2.3 Report
In the report phase the speakers for three or four groups to give some of their questions. As they do so the teacher will make brief corrections where necessary and write up a list of their questions on the board. Finally the class will listen to the discussion between Janet and her friend or read a transcript of their conversation. As they do so they will check to see how many of their own questions have been answered, and how many of the ones listed on the board.
Here is a transcript of the conversation between Janet and her friend:
B: Janet, I hear you’re planning a trip to Africa.
J: Yes it’s very exciting. Going in September to see my son who’s doing volunteer work in Zambia. So I’m going to fly to Lusaka and he’ll meet me there and we’ll do a bit of travelling round. I think we’re going to be staying most of the time in Monze, where he’s working. It’s about a hundred miles south of Lusaka. But we’re planning all sorts of exciting things. We’re going to go on safari…
B: How long are you actually going for.
J: Oh, six weeks. Quite a long time so we can do quite a lot. I think we’re going to one of the big game parks – Luangwa – a game park – for a few days.
B: Right.
J: Probably going on down to see the Victoria Falls. And we’re actually going to Zimbabwe as well.
B: Matter of interest. What airline are you planning to fly by?
J: Sorry? Er, Air Zambia.
B: Air Zambia.
J: I’ve had to do it as cheaply as I could and I looked online and got this flight. I mean it’s a regular flight. It’s not a charter or anything.
B: Yes, yes.
J: But it’s er … I think it’ll be okay… I don’t know.
3 Language Study
After feeding back on the questions that were or were not answered, we can begin to use the text for language analysis and study. The text is very rich in useful language. There are any number of words and phrases learners could be asked to identify and underline:
phrases containing part of the verb GO
phrases containing the word TO
phrases with words ending in -ing
ways of referring to the future
expressions of time
expressions of place
You could, for example, ask the students to read the transcripts and find phrases with words ending in -ing. This would yield sixteen phrases:
you’re planning a trip
it’s very exciting.
Going in September
who’s doing volunteer work
I’m going to fly to Lusaka
we’ll do a bit of travelling round
we’re going to be staying most of the time in Monze
in Monze where he’s working
we’re planning all sorts of exciting things.
We’re going to go on safari…
How long are you actually going for.
we’re going to one of the big game
Probably going on down to see the Victoria Falls
we’re actually going to Zimbabwe as well.
What airline are you planning to fly by?
It’s not a charter or anything.
Since this is a large number it might be as well to split the text into two parts and ask some groups to work on the first six lines and the other groups on the rest. So the first set would identify numbers 1-10 and the other set would identify numbers 11-16.
There is another advantage to splitting the work in this way.
Next ask the groups to say how many of their phrases refer to the future. There are at least nine (3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14). Learners may also pick out 1, 9 and 15, since the word planning implies future action. What do these examples tell us about the way English talks about the future? Well, both the present continuous and the phrase going to are often used for things that have been planned or arranged. And the word plan is one of a number (want, would like, intend, need, hope, expect etc.) which have implications about the future.
These are things which learners can identify for themselves. They focus sharply on the use of the present continuous and going to, providing either an introduction to or a review of the way these forms are used. Initially, learners tend to discuss language largely in L1, but does this really matter? They will be reading out the target forms in English, and as they get use to TBL, they will gradually use more English at this stage.
You may move on from here to ask learners to list three things each that they plan to do next week. You could review some of these with the class as a whole, hearing a variety of forms. You might follow this with a memory game in which six members of the class come to the front and each describe two of their plans, after which the rest of the class work in groups to see how many they can remember.
English Sentence Games used in teaching complex constructions
Sentences are the building blocks of paragraphs. These pivotal elements of language are governed by a complex series of rules that dictate word order and verb tense. Learning how to properly compose a sentence can be a boring and repetitive process. Teachers can make this tedious learning experience more enjoyable by integrating games into their sentence writing practice. There are a number of games spanning early sentence development to complex construction, which can aid students in learning the systematic rules of sentence writing.
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Sentence Jumble
Help students practice their basic sentence construction and syntax skills with this fast-paced game. Start by writing out several sentences on index cards, placing one word per card. Make two sets of identical sentence cards, allowing two teams to be paired against each other.
Divide the class into two teams, and tell each team that they are going to be given a set of cards that make up a sentence, and that they must determine the order in which the words must be placed to make a proper sentence. Inform the students that, when you say go, they need to sort through the cards and put them in the proper order as quickly as they can, as the first team to sort the cards will win. Take your sentence cards and jumble them up. Then, give each team one set of cards. Once the team receives their cards, they can work together to sort through them and put them in order.
When the team thinks they have arranged the cards properly, the teacher stops the activity and checks their sentence. If they have correctly ordered the words, they win the point. You can use as many sets of cards as you like, making the game as lengthy as the class will allow and giving the students extensive syntax practice in the engaging format of a competitive game.
Mix It Up
Practice the skill of varying sentence structure by engaging students in a competitive sentence rewriting game. Before class, create a typed list of at least 10 sentences. When writing sentences, make sure that you produce sentences that contain clauses that can be rephrased. For example, a sentence such as "The students were late after the football game and the teacher told them off" could correctly be transformed into "Being late after the football game, the students were told off." Print out copies of your list.
Once students arrive in class, divide them into groups of two to four students. Tell each group that they need to rearrange sentences to vary in structure. Provide each team with the handout, placing it face down to ensure that no team gets an advantage. Have students flip the papers over and start to rearrange the sentences when you say Go.
Once a team thinks they have successfully completed the task, ask them to raise their hands. All other teams must stop while you check their rearrangements. If their sentences are correct, reward them for their efforts. If some of their sentences are incorrect, the game continues until one team has successfully completed the task.
Sentence Combination
Allow students to practice the art of composing complex sentences through this sentence modification game. Divide the class into two teams, and line each team up in single file in front of the chalkboard. Divide the board into two sections, assigning each team a half of the writing surface. Tell the students that you are going to write two sentences on the board, and their job is to correctly combine these sentence as quickly as possible, making sure to follow the rules of proper sentence formation.
Ask the first person in line for each team to come up to the board and give them each a piece of chalk. Then, ask them to cover their eyes while you write two sentences on the board. Write two sentences that can be correctly combined to make one in the center of the board. Allow the students to open their eyes and as quickly as they can combine the two sentences. If you wish, you can allow team members to help by yelling out suggestions, or you can require that all other members of the team remain quiet while the student at the board deciphers the sentences and correctly combines them.
Once the student thinks she has accomplished the task, ask her to raise her hand and check her sentence. If the sentence is correctly combined, her team wins the point.
Materials and the learner
Imagine that you only have a blackboard and a piece of chalk as your materials. What could you do with a group of intermediate learners for a one – hour – class?
Here are a few suggestions:
A grammar auction
The teacher writes 10 sentences on the board; some are grammatically correct, others contain an error. The language could include recently taught structures or be more diagnostic and cover a number of structures or areas of language. Divide students into pairs / groups and allow them time to discuss their opinions. When ready, explain that the teams will bet on whether the sentence is good or bad and, if it is bad, try and locate the error and correct it. Each team begins the game with £100 and bets according to how sure they are about the language. The team with the most money at the end of the game wins. The minimum bet is £ 10 and the maximum depends on how much the team has. After the sentences on the board make as many columns as there are teams. Start with the team on the furthest left (for sentence one), write their bet. E.g. (G for good / B for bad) and the amount they choose to bet. E.g. G50 in the appropriate column. Do this for all the teams and then focus on the sentence (try and build a little suspense particularly if teams disagree and / or have bet large amounts!) At this stage just tick or cross the sentence as you don’t want to stop the flow but tell students you will come back to any uncertainties after the game (this also gives you valuable time to think about how to clear the confusion!) For sentence 2 make sure you write the bet of the 2nd team from the left and the 3rd team sentence 3, etc. this means that the same team doesn’t always start the betting. Very often a team might go bankrupt and in such a case agree to lend the team another £100 but insist you will take it back at some point before the last sentence or end of the game! Here is an example of how the board should look:
If a team can’t agree, suggest tossing a coin (but pre – teach this expression before the game starts!)
Try and make the last sentence a challenging one or one that might catch your students, as the stakes are often very high at this point. Students often love the competitive aspect of the game! Have fun!
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