Stroe Oana Grdul I (3) [309919]
[anonimizat] I
[anonimizat]. Univ. Dr. ANA – MARIA TRANTESCU
Candidat: [anonimizat] – STROE) OANA ADRIANA
LICEUL TEHNOLOGIC ”PETRACHE POENARU”
BĂLCEȘTI, JUD. VÂLCEA
Seria 2018-2020
UNIVERSITATEA DIN CRAIOVA
FACULTATEA DE LITERE
TEACHING IF CLAUSES IN ENGLISH. [anonimizat]. Univ. Dr. ANA – MARIA TRANTESCU
Candidat: [anonimizat] – STROE) OANA ADRIANA
LICEUL TEHNOLOGIC ”PETRACHE POENARU”
BĂLCEȘTI, JUD. VÂLCEA
Seria 2018-2020
CONTENTS
FORWARD…………………………………………………………………………………12
CHAPTER 1 – DESCRIPTIVE ENGLISH SYNTAX……………………………………16
1.1. Introduction to Descriptive English Syntax………………………………………………16
1.2 . Classification of Sentences………………………………………………………………19
1.2.1. Simple and Multiple Sentences……………………………………………….19
1.2.2. Criteria of Classification………………………………………………………20
1.2.3. Compound Sentences………………………………………………………….23
1.2.3.1 Coordination……………………………………………………………23
1.2.4. Complex Sentences……………………………………………………………27
1.2.4.1 Differences between coordination and subordination………………….27
1.2.4.2 Characteristics of subordinate clauses………………………………….29
1.2.4.3 Formal indicators of subordination……………………………………..29
1.2.4.4 Classification of Subordinate Clauses……………………….………….30
1.3. Adverbial Clauses…………………………………………………………………………34
1.3.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………..34
1.3.2. Types of Adverbial Clauses ……………………………………………………35
1.3.3 Position of Adverbial Clauses……………………………………………………41
1.3.4.Distribution of Adverbial Clauses……………………………………………….42
1.4. Adverbial Clauses of Condition……………………………………………………………..43
1.4.1. Introductory elements……………………………………………………………44
1.4.2 Types of Conditional Clauses…………………………………………………….45
1.4.2.1 [anonimizat] 1…………………………………………..46
1.4.2.2 [anonimizat] 2…………………………………………..48
1.4.2.3 [anonimizat] 3…………………………………………..49
1.4.3 Mixed Conditionals……………………………………………………………….51
1.4.4. Special Constructions in Conditional Sentences…………………………………51
1.4.5. Other Subordinators for Introducing Conditional Sentences……………………53
1.4.6. [anonimizat]………………………….55
1.4.7. Conditional Sentences in Indirect Speech……………………………………….55
CHAPTER 2 – METHODS, STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING/ TEACHING…………………………………………………………………….57
2.1 Teaching Grammar………………………………………………………………………….57
2.1.1 Introductory Issues………………………………………………………………57
2.1.2. Issues about how to teach grammar……………………………………………59
2.1.3 Inductive or deductive teaching………………………………………………..60
2.1.4. Grammar lessons…………………………………………………………….…61
2.2. Methods Used in Teaching English as a Foreign Language………………………………..63
2.2.1. The Grammar Translation Method………………………………………………65
2.2.2 The Silent Way …………………………………………………………………..68
2.2.3. Community Language Learning………………………………………………….70
2.2.4. Total Physical Response …………………………………………………………72
2.2.5. Suggestopaedia ………………………………………………………………….74
2.2.6. [anonimizat] / [anonimizat]……………………….76
2.2.7. The Direct Method ………………………………………………………………79
2.2.8. Situational Language Teaching (Oral Approach) ……………………………….82
2.2.9. Communicative Language Teaching ……………………………………………84
2.2.10. Task-Based Learning……………………………………………………………89
2.2.11. Alternative Approaches and Methods …………………………………………94
2.2.11.1 Cooperative Language Learning……………………………………….94
2.2.11.2. Content – Based Instruction …………………………………………..98
2.2.11.3. The Lexical Approach ……………………………………………….102
2.2.11.4. Multiple Intelligences ……………………………………………….103
2.2.11.5 Competency – Based Language Teaching ……………………………106
2.2.12. The Post Communicative Turn ………………………………………………..110
2.2.13. The role of grammar in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages……………………………………………………………………111
CHAPTER 3 – TEACHING IF-CLAUSES – COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING VS. GRAMMAR TRANSLATION……………………………..…………….113
3. 1. Motivation…………………………………………………………………………………113
3.2. Aim of the Research……………………………………………………………………….116
3.2.1. Questions to Be Researched ……………………………………………………117
3.3. Objectives of the Research ………………………………………………………………..117
3.4. Working Hypotheses……………………………………………………………………….118
3.5. Significance of the Research……………………………………………………………….119
3.6. Limitations of the Research………………………………………………………………..120
3.7. Literature Review………………………………………………………………………….120
3.7.1. Teaching Grammar………………………………………………………………120
3.7.2. Previous Related Researches into the Grammar Teaching Method…………….122
3.7.3. Previous related researches into the Communicative Language Teaching……..122
3.8. Research Methods………………………………………………………………………….123
3.8.1. The Method of Observation……………………………………………………..124
3.8.2. The Method of Conversation……………………………………………………125
3.8.3. The Method of Analysing Students’ School Products…………………………..125
3.8.4. The Pedagogical Experiment……………………………………………………126
3.8.5. The Docimologic Test…………………………………………………………..127
3.8.6. The Questionnaire ………………………………………………………………127
3.8.7. The Statistic Method ……………………………………………………………127
3.9 Study Approach…………………………………………………………………………….128
3.10. Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………..128
3.11. Instruments and Design…………………………………………………………………..129
3.12. Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………………..130
3.13. Procedure…………………………………………………………………………………131
3.13.1. The Pre-Experimental Stage…………………………………………………..131
3.13.1.1. The Pre-Test………………………………………………………….131
3.13.1.2. Performance and Error Analysis According to the Objectives of Assessment…………………………………………………………137
3.13.2. The Experimental Stage……………………………………………………….140
3.13.2.1. Teaching If-Structures Communicatively ……………………………………140
3.13.2.2. Teaching If-Structures Using the Grammar Translation Method……………153
3.13.2.3. The Progress Test…………………………………………………………….166
3.13.2.4. Teaching If-Structures Communicatively – Part Two……………………….175
3.13.2.5.Teaching If-Structures Using the Grammar Translation Method–Part Two…189
3.13.2.6. The Post-Test…………………………………………………………………200
3.13.2.6.1. Performance and error analysis according to the objectives of assessment – the Post-Test…………………………………………………….209
3.14. Findings and Discussions………………………………………………………………..211
3.15. Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………221
3.16. Implications and Recommendations…………………………………………………….224
CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………………………225
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………232
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………..245
FORWARD
It is already known that English is not just a common language, but one of the most important languages in the world. It is the official language in 67 countries and the secondary official language in 27 countries. Moreover, it is estimated that it is spoken by 1 billion people worldwide. Either we want to learn it for more academic or career opportunities or to explore more cultures and look for entertainment or just want to be able to speak with people all over the world, it is undeniable the fact that English is essential for attaining our professional and personal objectives.
The Five most valuable reasons to learn English would be:
Firstly, it opens new career opportunities – nowadays, many companies make business all over the world, therefore, they want to hire people who are fluent in English.
Secondly, English tests such as TOEFL, IELTS or the Cambridge Examinations offer us the possibility to study in English language universities across the world.
Thirdly, English is the top language of the internet – it offers us access to billion of online resources, we can read news articles, participate in discussions on forums, make penfriends, look for information, etc.
Fourthly, it provides hundreds of opportunities of entertainment – we can read books in English, watch films online with English sutitles and tons of entertaining videos.
Finally, learning English can make us more intelligent – while learning a foreign language, our brain becomes stronger and more versatile, it improves our memory, thinking processes, our concentration. Overall. English opens up the pathways to many new things and experiences.
The growing importance of the English language poses a challenge for English language teachers as they have to find creative, motivating ways of teaching, to help their students read and write well, to understand their peers and have productive and challenging conversations in English. The question that arises is ”How should we do that?”
The answer is not a simple one. Good English teachers design interactive learner-centred lessons to keep learners motivated and engaged; choose material that is in accordance with the students’ needs and interests; assign reasonable amounts of homework; give homework assignments that help students understand the material, allow them to use the online resources, are challenging and simulate real-life tasks. Good teachers are good listeners, they help students to set goals and guide them, teach them the way to achieve their aims.
Teaching language forms and skills is important, but as essential is to equip our students with study skills, to teach them how to learn and help them become autonomous learners. Teachers should offer their students constructive feedback to make them become aware of their strengths and weaknesses and receive feedback from the learners to see how they perceive our lessons and if they are contented with the English classes.
Another question that we, the teachers, ask to ourselves is ”Which is the best teaching method that we should use when teaching English?” Should we use traditional teaching methods, or more modern ones? One thing is sure, we should not stick to only one teaching method, but a combination of methods, we ought to take into account our students’ profile, their age, level of proficiency, interests and needs.
There is also another controversial question: “Should we help students develop only language skills or is it necessary to raise their language awareness too?” Within the traditional teaching methods, vocabulary was limited to the words encountered in the literary texts. Students were expected to memorise long lists of words together with their translations in their mother tongue and the teaching of grammar was in the centre of the instruction process. The students were provided with long grammar explanations in their L1 and they were supposed to memorise rules and solve traditional grammar exercises. Within the most modern teaching methods, grammar does not have a central role, it is only one component of the communicative competence and is dealt with from an integrative point of view.
The issue that we are going to investigate throughout our research paper is about which approach is more effective in helping students acquire the English language and become fluent users: the Grammar Translation Method or the Communicative Language Teaching. In order to obtain quite clear results and observe the effectiveness of the two methods while teaching grammar, we have carried out an experiment. Is it better to offer our students long grammar explanations in grammar only classes or is it more efficient to make them aware of the grammar rules by letting them work out the rules for themselves, offering them guidance and integrating grammar with the language skills as in real life communication?
The teaching of grammar has always been a controversial issue. Some methodologists believe that students should be allowed to internalise rules unconsciously, without being drawn their attention, to acquire them while struggling to put their message across, whereas others think that they should be made aware of the rules for a better internalisation and acquisition. Moreover, some methodologists consider that offering explicit grammar explanations is less time consuming for the teacher whereas others think that students benefit more if they discover for
themselves how language works, if they make the rules alone. In this way, they will remember them better and will be equipped with all the necessary skills for becoming independent learners.
We will try to find an answer to all these questions and controversial issues throughout our research paper.
In Romania, a lot of English teachers lay great emphasis on teaching grammar, putting it on a superior place to the detriment of the language skills. Maybe, many of them have a grammar-based formation or that was the main way of teaching foreign languages in the Communist period and now they find it difficult to renounce to that practice. Moreover, the English syllabus is very complex, comprising a lot of skills, language structures and functions that the students have to acquire by the end of the academic year and teachers do not have the necessary time at their disposal to go over it. In addition, it is easier to design grammar lessons – the teachers offer all the necessary information and the students solve grammar exercises. Another explanation would be the fact that many schools especially in the rural areas do not have the necessary resources, there are no overhead projectors, interactive whiteboards, computers, etc, therefore, it is a little bit difficult for teachers to bring into class authentic materials and allow students to be creative, motivate and keep them engaged.
However, we consider that such traditional approaches are out of date, they are not in accordance with the students’ imperative needs of successfully communicate in the English language. The learners’ spheres of interests have changed a lot from those in the previous century and so the teachers’ practices have to evolve and be in tune with the current trends of teaching English.
We have chosen the teaching of conditional sentences as a grammar issue in order to compare the Grammar Translation Method to the Communicative Language Teaching, to note their strengths and weaknesses and reach to a final conclusion. This choice was based on some factors: firstly, the conditional structures are listed in the English syllabus from the 9th to the 12th grade; secondly, we have noticed that they pose the greatest problems for our students due to their complex forms, and variety of meanings that they render; finally, the students have a negative reaction when they are told that they are going to study the conditional sentences. In fact, this attitude of rejection is quite common when they have to deal with any grammar aspect because most of them find it rather boring. We consider that this perception must be changed as students have to become aware of the importance of the grammatical accuracy. Both fluency and accuracy are two attributes for successfully communicate our thoughts, for understanding our peers and for making ourselves understood. Thus, we will investigate the two teaching methods and see which one is better for keeping our students motivated and engaged.
In order to provide a clear picture of the two teaching methods, the paper was divided in seven parts: introduction, three chapters, conclusions, annexes and references.
The aim of the present work could be divided into two distinct categories:
a) theoretical aims that refer to general problems related to educational research and a general presentation of the conditional structures.
b) methodological aims which present the findings resulted from the process of implementing the best methods, techniques and activities that could be efficient when teaching the if structures so that the students’ performance in the area should be improved and they adopt a positive attitude towards the learning of grammar.
Chapter One, Descriptive English Syntax, indicates as the title reveals a short introduction into the English syntax and presents the lexical and grammatical means of expressing the conditional structures in English. It offers a clear definition of concepts such as: sentence, clause, phrase, word, morpheme, coordination, subordination and stresses the structures and meanings of the conditional sentences.
Chapter Two, Methods, Strategies and Techniques in Language Learning/Teaching, attempts to underline the importance of teaching grammar and presents a clear overview of the main language teaching methods.
Chapter Three, Teaching If – Clauses – Communicative Language Teaching Vs. Grammar Translation, deals with the actual experiment of using the traditional method and the modern approach in teaching the if – structures to intermediate students. It presents the motivation of this research paper, the problems that the students have confronted with while learning the conditional structures, the aim, the objectives and the hypotheses of the research, its importance and limitations; it also illustrates previous related researches in the Grammar Teaching Method and the Communicative Language Teaching; it presents the research methods, the study approach and methodology, its procedure, the findings, the conclusions of the experiment, the implications and further recommendations.
The last part – Conclusions – includes final comments and represents a synthesis of the whole paper.
The paper also comprises annexes that include lesson plans, test papers, worksheets with exercises, games and other activities.
1. DESCRIPTIVE ENGLISH SYNTAX
1.1. Introduction to Descriptive English Syntax
Linguists have proposed a lot of definitions of the term ‘language’ such as “the particular form of words and speech used by the people of a country, area or social group”, or “the method of human communication using spoken or written words”. Therefore, the term can be used to refer to a specific language, for example English, German, etc or to language as such. (Dostert, 2009: 2)
Language is a complex of knowledge and abilities that allow speakers to express their feelings and to communicate with each other. The study of these systems of language in all their aspects is the domain of activity of linguistics.
The work of linguists falls into two main areas: language structure and language use.
Linguists who are interested in language structure study the formal properties of language, including word structure (morphology), sentence structure (syntax), speech sounds and the rules and patterns between them (phonetics and phonology), and those interested in langage use study the meaning in language (semantics-the study of meaning and pragmatics-the study of language use).
There are also other perspectives on language apart from language structure but they are the object of activity of interdisciplinary branches such as: Historical Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Psycholinguistics, Ethnolinguistics (or Anthropological Linguistics), Dialectology, Computational Linguistics. Neurolinguistics.
As we can notice, language must not be studied separately as this could lead to misconceptions about the structure of language and the nature of meaning.
Syntax is the system of language that we subconsciously follow when building sentences. It describes the contemporary language referring to the relations between words and their correct organisation in units of expression in order to illustrate logical units and patterns. It is, in fact, a set of rules that we can apply in order to distinguish between grammatical and ungrammatical sentences. Sentences can be defined as “combinations of words, and words can be thought of as simple units that mean something and sound a particular way.” (Koeneman et al, 2017: 27)
While words and their changes in various situations and contexts are studied by morphology, syntax deals with the situations and contexts themselves, ”the relations between words, deriving the principles, the rules and the patterns governing the arrangement of morphological elements as part of independent or connected sense-units.” (Murar et al, 2008: 7)
The characteristic of grammatical units is that they are meaningful and combine with each other in systematic ways. We may distinguish a hierarchy of units that can be rendered as follows:
Discourse
Sentence If you want some advice someone could help you.
Clause If you want some advice/ someone could help you.
Phrase If/ you/want/some advice/ someone/could help/ you.
Word If/ you/want/some /advice/ someone/could/ help/ you.
Morpheme If/ you/want/some/ advice/ some/one/could/ help/ you.
Phoneme/grapheme
The basic syntactical units are called sentences and the syntactical subunits are called parts of the simple sentence or clauses when there are compound or complex sentences.
Broadly speaking, a sentence is defined as “the highest-ranking unit of grammar” and it cannot be given a clear-cut definition as “it is an indeterminate unit in the sense that it is often difficult to decide, particularly in spoken language, where one sentence ends and another begins.” (Quirk et al,1985: 47)
”A clause consists of one or more phrases, a phrase consists of one or more words and a word of one or more morphemes. The grammatical units, from morphemes to sentence, form a system connecting speech/writing and discourse” (the use of spoken and written language in a social context.) (Biber, 2007: 50)
A clause is a unit structured around a verb phrase and consists of two main parts: the subject and the predicate, in other words, the nominal part and the verbal part. The predicate can be devided into a verb phrase and a number of complements, such as: subject predicative, direct object, indirect object, prepositional object, object predicative and adverbial. The structural realisation of these clause elements is represented in the following table.
structural realisation
adj.= adjective prep. = preposition inf. = infinitive (from Biber et al. 2007:122)
[The red-nosed boy] has again insulted me in Court. – subject
You are [a very selfish boy]. – subject predicative
Granted the exceptions, he agreed [that all Englishwomen are haughty and venal]. – direct object
He sends [them] the whole of his salary. He sold his car [to our neighbours] – indirect object
They sat down to meet [with a distant cousin of the house] – prepositional object
If the Major heard I was disliked [by any native subordinate of mine]. – prepositional object
They consider him [a fool]. – object predicative
[After tea] his spirits improved, and he went [round] [to see Hamidullah] – adverbials
“A phrase is a small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit, typically forming a component of a clause.“(Oxford dictionary definition) It may consist of a single word or a group of words. There are various types of phrases depending on the lexical word as head and a number of accompanying elements: noun phrases (heavy traffic), verb phrases (was singing), adjective phrases (extremely beautiful), adverb phrases (very quickly), prepositional phrases (in the evening), genitive phrases (yesterday’s newspaper) and numeral phrases (three plus one).
Words represent the “basic elements of language” and “are characterised by some degree of internal stability and external independence”. Generally, they are formed from a single morpheme such as the word please, but they may also be broken into more than one morpheme such ad the word yourself. A morpheme is “the smallest meaning-carrying unit.”(Biber et al. 2007: 51-57)
A typical English sentence will contain a mixture of simple and complex units:
Sentence
Clause
Noun Phrase Verb Phrase Adverb phrase Prepositional Phrase
Noun Phrase
Determiner Noun Auxiliary Main Verb Adverb Preposition Determiner Noun
Many worker s were work ing late in the evening.
But there are also more complex sentences:
Sentence
Clause
Noun Phrase Verb phrase Noun phrase Adverbial Clause
Pronoun Auxiliary Main Verb Determiner Noun
We will take an umbrella
Conjunction Noun Phrase Verb Phrase
If it rains
1.2 . Classification of Sentences
1.2.1. Simple and Multiple Sentences
Sentences are either SIMPLE or MULTIPLE. A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause whereas a multiple sentence contains one or more clauses as its immediate constituents. Multiple sentences are of two types: compound sentences formed of two or more coordinate clauses and complex sentences whose elements such as direct object or adverbial, are realised by a subordinate clause.
1.2.2. Criteria of Classification
By means of language and its component elements (phonemes, morphemes, words, phrases, sentences, grammatical rules) people express their thoughts. There are two ways in which people interract with one another either orally or in writing. Hence, articulate thoughts appear in the form of written sentences or utterances. When expressing their thoughts they have a purpose in mind and the oral or written expressions may assume a variety of forms. Starting from this point of view, sentences were traditionally classified in point of content and form and this traditional manner “assumes the following aspects when we differentiate the linguistic expressions of thoughts:
– Classification in point of trend or purpose of communication (therefore a matter of content)
– Classification in point of structure of communication or of composition (therefore a matter of form)
– Classification in point of status or grammatical dependence.” (Murar et al, 2008: 9)
The first classification is more general than the others and classifies sentences according to the attitude and the intention of the speaker.Taking into account the semantic, logical psychological content, which represents the trend or the purpose of communication, sentences are: Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative and Exclamatory.
Declarative sentences are used to communicate information under the form of Statements, they normally end in a period or full stop and are uttered in a falling tone. A declarative sentence can be positive (affirmative) or negative.
Interrogative sentences or Questions express lack of information on a specific point and request the listener to provide the missing information. They are usually of four types: General questions, Special questions, Alternative questions and Disjunctive questions.
Imperative sentences or Commands are used for demanding action under the form of orders, invitations.
Exclamatory sentences are primarily used to express subjective reactions, feelings. They are the proper field of applications of those modalities which are most clearly connected with our emotions.
It is important to remember that there are situations when there is not a clear cut between certain sentence form and its discourse function. A sentence such as I was wandering if you could help me is a statement according to form, but a request according to function.
The second classification refers to the manner in which thoughts are expressed. From the point of view of structure/composition/form, there are three main types of sentences: the Simple Sentence, the Compound Sentence and the Complex Sentence.
A Simple Sentence has the most basic elements that make it a sentence: a subject, a verb, and a completed thought. The use of compound subjects, compound verbs, prepositional phrases (such as "at the bus station" in the example above), and other elements help lengthen simple sentences, but they are usually short.
I went fishing
I looked for my brother and my sister at the bus station.
A simple sentence can also be referred to as an independent clause because, while it might be part of a compound or complex sentence, it can also stand by itself as a complete sentence.
A Compound Sentence is made up of two or more clauses which have the same function and are connected either by coordinating conjunctions (and, but, nor, or, yet) or by no conjunction.
Joe waited for the train, but the train was late
A Complex Sentence consists of one or more main/principal clauses and one or more subordinate clauses. It consists of one or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses connected to the independent ones. A dependent clause is similar to an independent one, but it lacks one of the elements that would make it a complete sentence. Dependent clauses cannot stand alone as a sentence, but they can be added to an independent clause to form a complex sentence.
Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions such as: after, as, if, before, etc
If you had studied, you would have passed the exam.
The third classification organises sentences taking into account their status (of dependence or independence) or their grammatical dependence, that refers to their position as regards other syntactical units. This classification is related to the second one as it makes reference to all three types of sentences classified in point of structure. According to this criterion sentences are divided into:
Independent Sentence (isolated)
Independent Clauses (as part of compound sentences)
Main/Principal/Head Clauses (in complex sentences)
Governing Clauses (as part of a complex sentence when there are two or more levels of subordination)
Subordinate/Secondary Clauses (as part of complex sentences)
An Independent Sentence is a simple sentence that can stand on its own. It does not need to be joined to any other clauses, because it contains all the information necessary to be a complete sentence.
Independent sentences have three components:
They have a subject – they tell the reader what the sentence is about.
They have an action or predicate – they tell the reader what the subject is doing.
They express a complete thought – something happened or was said.
The train is about to live.
If linked by conjunctions, they become independent clauses (He likes playing the violin, but he has a terrible voice), if placed in a hierarchy, they turn into main clauses, subordinate clauses proper or governing clauses (He is a talented violinist and he is going to have a concert when the weather improves.)
Independent Clauses are the complete units that are in a closer connection as part of a speech chain, having a meaning on their own, and not being dependent upon each other in point of meaning or grammatical status. They are linked by means of commas, coordinating conjunctions or can be separated by means of full stops.
Main Clauses or Principal/Head Clauses are part of a complex sentence where they rank first, having in their subordination both secondary clauses and governing clauses if present. In terms of variability main clauses are limited unlike subordinate clauses which display a great variety. Main clauses are usually statements, but they can rarely occur in the form of questions, imperative or exclamations.
Governing Clauses occupy an intermediate position within a complex sentence when its structure is more diversified. They have a dual status of governed and governing at the same time. They act as subordinates to the main clause(s) while governing the subordinate clause(s) proper.
He told me that he was going to leave when the sun set down.
Subordinate or Secondary Clauses are an imperative element of the complex sentence, without their presence, the very notions of “complex sentence” and of “main clause” would be impossible. “Their government by main or governing clauses is the principal area where the rules of sequence of tenses manifest themselves. (Murar et al, 2008: 12)
1.2.3. Compound Sentences
The clauses of a sentence can be in a relation of:
Coordination
Subordination
1.2.3.1 Coordination
Coordination represents the process of forming compound sentences by joining sentences of equal status. Grammarians distinguish between syndetic (or linked) coordination (1) and asyndetic (or unlinked) coordination (2). The difference between the two is that syndetic coordination is marked by explicit indicators of coordination called coordinating conjunctions (or coordinators) such as “and”, “or”, while asyndetic coordination is not explicitly marked, therefore, the conjunctions are absent.
1. He is a talented singer and he will win the competition.
2. He is a talented singer, he will win the competition.
The logical relations between two clauses that form a compound sentence divide coordination into five categories: copulative, disjunctive, adversative, consecutive, causative.
Copulative coordination is realised by means of the following conjunctions: and, as well as, nor, neither, not only…but also, both…and, neither…nor. If the coordinated sentences contain repeated elements they are ellipted as follows:
If the subjects are identical, the subject of the second sentence is usually deleted:
Bob went to the supermarket and (Bob) bought a kilo of oranges.
If the predicates contain the same auxiliary, it is deleted:
They were dancing and (they were) singing all night long.
If the sentences have an identical verb phrase, it can also be deleted:
Mary has had a cup of coffee and Ann (has had) a glass of lemonade.
The compound sentence can be reduced to one sentence with a compound constituent.
Bob has gone on holiday and Mary has gone on holiday.
Bob and Mary have gone on holiday.
And is the conjunction with the most general meaning and use. The only restriction on the use of and as coordinator is the pragmatic one – the clauses should have sufficient in common to justify their combination. A sentence such as She went out for a pizza and the house was beautifully painted is illogical.
The conjunction and denotes mainly the relation between clauses, the second clause being a pure ADDITION to the first.
The ground was wet and it was still raining.
Nevertheless, the conjunction has other semantic implications:
The second clause ia a CONSEQUENCE or RESULT of the first – and =therefore
Ann studied hard and (therefore) she passed the exam.
The second clause is chronologically SEQUENT to the first, but without any implication of a cause-result relationship: and=then
He washed the dishes and (then) he dried them.
The second clause introduces a CONTRAST – and=in contrast
My sister is short and (in contrast) my brother is tall.
The first clause has a concessive force on the second clause – and=yet
She tried hard and (yet) she failed.
The first is a CONDITION of the second – and=if
Go by bus and save money
The second clause makes a point SIMILAR to the first – and = similarly
A trade agreement should be no problem, and a cultural exchange could be easily arranged.
The second sentence adds a COMMENT on or an EXPLANATION of the first.
They disliked John – and that’s not surprising in view of his behaviour.
Both ….and coordinates two sentences having the same subject, or two subjects having the same predicate.
Bob both mowed the lawn and washed the car.
Both Bob and Mary like sci-fi films.
The meaning of not only…..but also is essentially additive, similar to that of both….and, but the first is more emphatic, suggesting that the content of the first clause is greater and that that of the second clause is even greater. Placed in initial position, not only achieves even a more dramatic effect and the subject-auxiliary inversion is required.
She not only wrote the text but also selected the illustrations.
Not only did she write the text but also selected the illustrations.
Neither….nor is formally similar to the disjunctive either….or, but, semantically, it negates the conjunction and means both (not-x)…and (not-y).
Neither John nor Mark is at the park now.
As far as concord is concerned, this conjunction behaves in colloquial speech as and, thus a plural verb is preferred, but traditional grammars recommend either a singular or a plural verb depending on the subject which follows nor. The correlative nor requires subject-auxiliary inversion when both subject and auxiliary occur in the sentence.
The car was neither cheap nor was it expensive.
Nevertheless, a sentence like this sounds awkward. When the predicates in the two clauses are the same the more preferred form would be The car was neither cheap nor expensive.
Without being a correlative pair, nor and neither can be used as negative additive adverbs and triggers subject-auxiliary inversion.
He could not swim. Nor/Neither could his son.
He was not felling well, nor did he go out with his friends.
The copulative coordination can be achieved by other connectors which introduce a more emphatic or important addition: in addition, moreover, furthermore, likewise, besides, again, then. Stylistically, they occur in a more formal, written style.
First I went to the hotel, then I took a bath.
He didn’t do his homework; in addition he was rude to the teacher.
Bilingual children do better in IQ tests than children who speak only one language. Moreover, they seem to find it easier to learn third or even fourth languages.
Research has shown that first-language development is not impeded by exposure to a second language. Furthermore/likewise there is no evidence to support the claim that children find bilingual education confusing
I don’t like doing the washing –up; besides, my flatmate usually does the housework.
Disjunctive coordination indicates a choice or an alternative between two clauses and it is marked by conjunctions such as: or, else, or else, otherwise, either…or.
Or has an exclusive meaning, introduces an alternative and is the opposite of and. It indicates that the meaning that if one of the individual clauses is true, then the whole sentence is true. Pragmatically, it is required that the contents of the two clauses should have sufficient in common to justify their juxtaposition as alternatives. Therefore, “or” eliminates the possibility for both clauses to be true. Its meaning can be strengthened by the conjunct else or alternatively:
You can do the washing-up or dry the dishes.
Or can also have an INCLUSIVE meaning when it is suggested that both conjoins may be true, but a third clause is required to make the meaning explicit:
You can do the washing-up, (or) you can dry the dishes, or you can do both.
The second clause introduced by or may be a CORRECTIVE to what is said in the first clause:
They seem to be very happy as husband and wife, or (at least) they appear so.
(rather)
Or may also follow a negative imperative clause or a declarative clause, in this case, it expresses a NEGATIVE CONDITION.
Don’t stay up until late, or you won’t get up early in the morning.
He (must have) found the offer attractive, or he wouldn’t have accepted it.
In the latter example or can be replaced by the conjunct otherwise.
He (must have) found the offer attractive, otherwise he wouldn’t have accepted it.
Or allows ellipsis of the subject if the subjects of the two clauses are identical:
I may come tomorrow or (I) may phone you.
Either…or emphasises the EXCLUSIVE meaning of or. As far as concord is concerned, traditional grammars recommend either a singular or a plural verb depending on the subject which follows or.
Either he could not come or he did not want to.
Either Tom or his brothers are going to give me a ride home.
Adversative coordination forms two opposing or contrasting statements and it is mainly realised with the help of the conjunctions: but, yet, whereas, while, nevertheless, only, still, however, all the same, none the less or nonetheless, on the other hand.
But indicates the same contrast that is expressed by the conjunction and followed by yet.
Ann is not so well-prepared, but she got a good job. […and yet she got a good job.]
The conjunct rather or on the contrary, can be used to emphasise the meaning of but, nevertheless, in this case it does not link two clauses, but two smaller constituents:
I am not amazed at the situation, but rather at her reaction.
Tom studied hard, yet he failed the exam.
He has a good job, and yet he never seems to have any money.
He's tall while / whereas / but / on the other hand she is short.
We may not succeed in changing the law, nevertheless it is important that we try.
The problems are not serious, nonetheless, we shall need to tackle them soon.
We thought the figures were correct. However, we have now discovered some errors.
It's just as dramatic as a film, only it's real.
Consecutive coordination introduces a conclusion, consequence, result of the previous part and is rendered by conjunctions such as: so, therefore, hence, thus, then, consequently, accordingly.
Nothing more was heard from him so (that) we began to wonder if he was dead.
He's only 17 and therefore not eligible to vote.
Eating habits formed in childhood tend to continue into adult life, hence the importance of encouraging healthy eating from an early age.
Eating habits formed in childhood tend to continue into adult life. Thus, the best way to prevent heart disease among adults is to encourage healthy eating from an early age.
The cost of materials rose sharply last year. Accordingly, we were forced to increase our prices.
Causal/Explanatory coordination introduces a clause which explains the preceding one. It is achieved only with the help of the conjunction for which always comes after a comma in written speech.
She didn't come on time, for she was held up in traffic.
1.2.4. Complex Sentences
1.2.4.1. Differences between Coordination and Subordination
A first difference is that in coordination the units are constituents at the same level of constituent structure, while in subordination they form a hierarchy.
Coordination represents the process of linking together two or more elements of equal status and function whereas subordination is a non-symmetrical relation between two clauses X and Y, where Y is a constituent part of X. The two processes can be represented as follows:
X Y
They got married and they went on their honeymoon
Coordination
X
Y
They are happy
because they got married.
Subordination
A second difference is that more than two elements can be in a relation of coordination while subordination implies the existence of only two elements, the superordinate/main clause, e.g. X in the diagram, and the subordinate/dependent/embedded clause, e.g. Y in the diagram. The main clause can stand by itself, not being dependent on another clause whereas a subordinate clause can replace a NP or an adverbial in the main clause assuming its syntactic functions: it can act as a subject, object or adverbial of the main clause. Therefore, it is a constituent of the main clause.
A third difference refers to a greater degree of complexity of the subordinated clauses, in that, each subordinate clause may itself be superordinate to one or more other clauses, creating a hierarchy of clauses, one within another, leading to sentences of great complexity.
He said that he would accept the job if the salary were better.
Sentence
Main/superordinate clause
S V O
He said
subordinate/superordinate clause
S V O A
That he would accept the job
subordinate clause
S V A
if the salary were better
1.2.4.2 Characteristics of Subordinate Clauses
Subordinate clauses have the following characteristics:
They are optional, which means that they can be deleted
He was having a shower when the phone rang.
They can be placed before, after or inserted in the main clause.
Because the house is so big, it takes days to clean.
I was nervous when my exam results arrived.
People who are caught stealing are imprisoned.
They are introduced by specific introductory elements: conjunctions, wh-elements.
The teacher who teaches Maths is popular in the school.
Riding a bicycle may not be as comfortable as driving a car; however it is much more environmentally friendly.
They may contain non-finite forms
That Mary accepted his proposal amazed us all. – finite form
For Mary to have accepted his proposal amazed us all.
Mary accepting his proposal, amazed us all. Non-finite forms
Mary’s accepting his proposal, amazed us all.
Mary’s accepting of his proposal, amazed us all.
As we can see from the above examples, subordinate clauses may suffer important modifications in their form: “as a consequence of embedding, the constituents lose their sentential features and acquire nominal features instead, such a scale is called a squish. “ The choice of a certain form (a that-clause, an infinitive or a gerund) depends on “ the syntactic and sometimes semantic features of the matrix predicate (here, the word predicate refers to the verbs or predicative adjectives)” (Murar et al, 2008: 20-21)
1.2.4.3 Formal Indicators of Subordination
Subordinate clauses are introduced by a number of different signals:
Subordinate conjunctions – the most important formal devices.
Simple subordinators: after, although, as, because, before, if, like, since, that, till, until, once, when(ever) where(ver), whereas, while, whilst, etc.
Complex subordinators:
Ending with that: but that, in that, in order that, insofar that, in the event that, save that, such that
Ending with optional that: assuming, considering, excepting, given, granted,
granting, provided, providing, seeing, supposing, (that)
except, for all, now, so
Ending with as: according as, as far as, as long as, as soon as, forasmuch as, inasmuch as, insofar as, insomuch as.
Others: as if, as though, in case
Correlative subordinators: if…then, although….yet/nevertheless, as…so, more/less..than, as..as, so…as, such…as, such…that, no sooner…that, hardly/scarcely/barely…when, whether…or.
Wh-elements occur in subordinate interrogative wh-elements, in concessive clauses and in relative wh-clauses.
I don’t know where to begin.
The students who failed the exam can sit it again in May.
Whatever he said, she wasn't convinced.
The relative pronoun that introduces relative clauses
That can be used instead of who, whom or which but is never used after commas or prepositions.
He's the athlete who/that came first. That blue car, which is brand new, is my brother's (NOT: that it) .
That usually follows superlatives and words such as: something, nothing, anything, all, none, one, many and few.
There's something that I don't understand. That's all that I have done.
Inversion: subject-auxiliary inversion indicates subordination in conditional clauses where the operator is had, were, or should.
Should you see Mary, tell her to call me.
Were I you, I would speak to her.
Had he known, he would have told us.
The lack of a finite verb form is a marker of subordination as non-finite, verbless clauses are present only in subordinate clauses.
On entering the kitchen, she found the broken plate on the floor.
1.2.4.4. Classification of Subordinate Clauses
Subordinate clauses may be classified according to two criteria:
Structural type – which refers to the elements they themselves contain:
Finite clauses
Non-finite clause: – to infinitive
– bare infinitive
– ing participle
– ed participle
3. Verbless clauses
B) Function – which refers to the position they have within the complex sentence:
1. Nominal clauses
2. Attributive clauses
3. Adverbial clauses
Structural classification
1. A finite clause – a clause that has a finite verb – is easily recognised as it always has a subject and a predicate
If I were/was you, I wouldn 't buy such an expensive dress.
2. A non-finite clause – a clause that has a non-finite form- may be with or without a subject. There are four structural classes of nonfinite verb clauses:
i. to infinitive
-without subject :
The best thing is to do your homework
-with subject:
The best thing is for you to do your homework.
ii. Bare infinitive
-without subject:
I’d rather not go out, I’d prefer to watch a film at home.
-with subject:
Rather than you clean the room, I’d prefer to do it myself.
iii. –ing participle
-without subject:
Walking down the street he found a wallet.
-with subject:
His mother having got angry with him, he cleaned his bedroom.
iiii. –ed participle
-without subject:
Amazed with the committee’s decision, the chairman left the meeting room.
-with subject:
The project done, they went out for a meal.
When the subject of the participial clause is expressed, it is often introduced by the preposition when. Except for the –ed clause which is passive, all types of non-finite clauses have both active and passive forms.
The damage having been paid, he was cleared of all charges.
When the subject and the finite verb are absent their meaning associated with person, number, tense, aspect and mood can be inferred from the sentential context. There is also a correspondence “with a finite clause with a form of the verb BE and the pronoun subject having the same reference as a noun or a pronoun in the same sentence {Quirk et al, 1985: 995)”
Once elected manager of the company, he started making a plan to improve the production line.
3. Verbless clauses are clauses that do not have a verbal element. Such clauses are both verbless and subjectless. Nevertheless, when the subject is present, only the verb has to be recovered, but it is not always possible to insert without juxtaposing them. Once again, it is often possible to postulate a missing form of the verb BE and to recover the subject, when omitted, from the context:
If necessay, call me immediately. (If it is necessary…)
They always go to the seaside while on holiday –subjectless
45 people died in the earthquake, many of them old people. (many of them being old people) –the subject is present
Also, verbless clauses can sometimes appear as reductions of nonfinite clauses :
Too young to get a driving licence, he bought a car. (Being too young to get a driving licence…)
Functional classification
Subordinate clauses function as different parts of the sentence (subject, predicative, object, apposition, attribute, adverbial modifier). Traditionally, these numerous types of clauses are classified into three groups: nominal clauses (clauses functioning as nouns in various syntactical positions), attributive clauses, and adverbial clauses.
All nominal clauses have a function similar to that of a noun or a nominal phrase. They may fulfil the function of a basic part of the main clause: a subject clause functions as subject of the main clause which has no subject of its own, a predicative clause functions as predicative to the link verb within the main clause; an object clause refers to verbs in different forms and functions, to adjectives, statives and occasionally to nouns, and may be obligatory or optional. Another type of the nominal clause – an appositive clause, refers to a noun either with a very general meaning or requiring additional information and is therefore essential to the meaning of the sentence.
Subject: What they said is a lie.
Object: They know that the road is impracticable.
Predicative: Home is where your heart is.
Appositive: The question how and why those people got the information still worried him.
Attributive clauses function as modifiers to a word of nominal character, which is generally called the antecedent. Usually, an attributive clause immediately follows its antecedent, although some types may occasionally be distant.
An attributive clause may be introduced by: relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, what, which, that, as), or relative adverbs (when, where, whence, wherein). The choice of a relative word depends on the features of the antecedent.
There are two types of relative clauses: Restrictive Relative Clauses which are essential to the meaning of the sentence and they are not put in commas and Non-restrictive Relative Clauses which give extra information not essential to the meaning of the main sentence and they are put in commas.
The teacher who teaches English is highly-appreciated in our school. – Restrictive Relative Clause
Mr Brown, who teaches English, is highly-appreciated in our the school.- Non-restrictive Relative Clause
Adverbial clauses are usually classified according to their meaning – the relation with the main clause. Unlike nominal and attributive clauses, they are introduced by conjunctions with a more distinct meaning. Some types of adverbial clauses may be introduced by at least a dozen different conjunctions (as for instance adverbial clauses of time). On the other hand, many of the conjunctions are used to introduce more than one kind of clause (as, since, that, when, now that). In some cases the meanings and functions of the conjunction are so numerous that it is really difficult to say what the basic meaning of the conjunction is, as its function depends on the meaning of the clauses and their relationship. An adverbial clause may qualify the whole main clause, the verbal predicate or any verbal part, and also parts expressed by an adjective or adverb. Its position therefore varies: it may be initial, medial, or final -depending on the position of the part of the sentence it refers to and on the general structure of the main clause. According to their semantics we distinguish adverbial clauses of place, time, manner, comparison, condition, concession, purpose, cause, result.
Place: Everywhere I looked I saw the same similar faces
Time: She arrived before the clock struck nine.
Purpose: I helped him so (that) he could finish early.
Result: I'm so hungry (that) I could eat a horse.
Reason/Cause: Since she isn 't at home, we'll go without her.
Concession: Although she spent all afternoon on the project, she didn't finish it.
Manner: It seems as though there will be rain soon
Condition:We will go cycling if the weather improves.
Comparison: The book was not so good as you said.
Exception:I like this dress a lot only that it is very expensive.
1.3. Adverbial Clauses
1.3.1. Introduction
Adverbial clauses modify other complete clauses. This makes them different from relative clauses, which modify nouns, from noun complement clauses, which also modify nouns, and from verb complement clauses, which modify verbs. They are introduced by a set of special subordinating conjunctions such as although, though, because, before, after, as soon as. As far as their construction is concerned, there are reasons to believe that some adverbial clauses are more subordinate than others which make us ask if some constructions that traditionally have been analysed as subordinate clauses, are in fact, if not main clauses, at least non-subordinate. (Brown et al, 2016: 38)
The label “adverbial” suggests that adverbial clauses modify verbs, but they also modify whole clauses as in the following example:
When the river burst its banks, the whole valley was flooded.
In this example, When the river burst its bank illustrates a situation and the whole valley was flooded illustrates another one. The first clause indicates the time when the second situation occurred. Therefore, it does not just modify was flooded but the whole valley was flooded.
1.3.2. Types of Adverbial Clauses
Adverbial Clauses of Time specify the time at which the situation in the main clause happened. They discharge the same function as the adverbial modifier of time at the level of the simple sentence. They can be introduced by adverbs and conjunctions such as: after, as, before, once, since, till, until, when, whenever, while, whilst, now (that), as long as, so long as, as soon as, immediately, directly, hardly…when, no sooner…than.
George had to wait for half an hour before the doctor came.
I'll stay in the office until I finish the project.
1'l1 cook dinner after I tidy the house.
We'll go as long as the weather is good.
We didn't know how we would cope once the money had gone.
We had hardly/scarcely/barely sat down at the table, when the phone rang.
No sooner had we sat down at the table than the phone rang.
I went home directly I had finished work.
The Adverbial Clauses of Time follow the rule of the sequence of tenses; that is, when the verb of the main clause is in a present or future form, the verb of the time clause is in a present form and when the verb of the main clause is in a past form, the verb of the time clause is also in a past form.
The Adverbial Clauses of Place indicate the direction of the action and the location where the action takes place as the adverbial modifier of place within the simple sentence does. They are introduced by the relative adverbs: where, wherever, everywhere.
Where people were concerned, his threshold of boredom was low.
Wherever she goes, there are crowds of people waiting to see her.
He follows me everywhere I go.
The Adverbial Clause of Place does not follow the rules of the sequence of tenses as they are distant from the idea of time and from temporal relations. Hence, the verb in the adverbial clause is influenced by the verb in the main clause.
A factory once existed where the mall is now.
The Adverbial Clauses of Manner may be classified as Adverbial Clauses of Manner Proper and Adverbial Clauses of Quantity, Degree, Approximation.
Adverbial Clauses of Manner Proper show the way in which the subject performs the action the same as the adverbial modifier of manner within the simple sentence. They are introduced by the conjunctions: as, in what manner, in) the way, (in) the way that, the way in which, (in) the same way, (in) the same way as, like (used as an alternative for as colloquially or in informal America English) or by the relative adverb how.
Do it as I've told you to.
They tried to solve the problem in what manner they could.
She acts like she owns the place.
No one sings the blues the way in which she did
She explained to us how the machine works.
Could you do my hair the way that you did Sue’s.
The Adverbial Clauses of Manner Proper do not apply any sequence of tense constraints, the verb being logically conditioned by the verb in the main clause.
Adverbial Clauses of Quantity, Degree, Approximation are introduced by the conjunction as – it has a temporal meaning of gradation, proportion, but also approximation – in proportion as, as far as, in so far. The Clause of Degree can also be expressed by the correlative the..the followed by an adjective or adverb in the comparative.
His parents supported him as far as they could.
As we approached the peak of the mountain, we realised the danger of the steep slopes.
She cites other scholars’ work only insofar as it supports her own theories.
"In proportion as any man's course of life is governed by accident, we always find, that he encreases in superstition;”
As time went on, (so) their hopes began to wane.
The faster he ran, the more tired he became.
As far as the sequence of tenses is concerned, a past tense in the clause of proportion is followed by the same tense in the main clause and a present tense is followed by a future tense in the main clause.
The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll get there.
The more the customer complained, the angrier the manager became
Adverbial Clauses of Comparison are introduced by the conjunctions as and than. The correlative as…as can be replaced in negative sentences by the correlative not so/as…as.
She writes as fast as she speaks; she is a genius.
They speak more fluently than he does.
It is not so/as cold as it was yesterday.
He doesn't earn as much as I do.
Adverbial Clauses of Comparison are often elliptical:
She doesn't play as well as her sister.
He doesn't earn as much as me.
In the Adverbial Clause of Comparison introduced by as and than, the verb may be in any tense required by logic.
Tomorrow I shall work more than I worked yesterday
The Adverbial Clause of Comparison intermingles with Concession when expressing an unreal comparison and has a hypothetical meaning. In this case, they are introduced by means of as if, as though. If the subordinate clause expresses probability, something that is true, the verb can be used in any tense required by logic.
She behaves as if she is rich. (She may be rich, she may not – she seems to be rich anyway.)
If the situation is untrue, hypothetical, then a form of the subjunctive should be used. Therefore, if the main clause and the subordinate clause are in a relationship of simultaneity the Synthetic Subjunctive II – equivalent to the Past Tense Simple –has to be used in the subordinate clause. If the main clause and the subordinate clause are in a relationship of anteriority, the Synthetic Subjunctive II Past – equivalent to the Past Perfect – is used in the subordinate clause
She's not from Spain, but she speaks Spanish as if she were / was from Spain. (not true – she is not from Spain.)
He looked as if he had seen a ghost. (not true – he didn’t see a ghost.) –unreal in the past, it is followed by Past Perfect
Adverbial Clauses of Cause/Reason are used to express the reason for something and their function is similat to that of the adverbial of reason at the level of the simple sentence. They are introduced by the following conjunctions: because, as, since, for, considering that, seeing that, now that, on the grounds that, the reason for, as long as (=because). Clauses introduce by as, since, seeing that, considering that, now that, are usually placed in front position as there is more emphasis on the result expressed in the main clause than on the cause expressed in the subordinate clause. As far as the sequence of tenses is concerned, it does not apply, the verb being in any tense required by logic.
As he was tired he preferred to stay at home.
Since there is no help, let us try and bear it as best we can.
Seeing that he's been off sick all week he's unlikely to come.
Now that the boys have just come, we can start our dinner.
I regret to inform you that I cannot attend the scheduled meeting considering that my flight back home was delayed.
Many critics have objected to the proposal on the grounds that it would be too costly.
He was an hour late because he missed the train.
Tom didn’t go to school today, for he was ill.
The Adverbial Clause of Reason introduced by for never precedes the main clause. For always comes after a comma in written speech or a pause in oral speech.
Adverbial Clauses of Concession illustrate a contrast between the content of the main clause and that of the subordinate one: the action or fact described in the main clause takes place irrespective of the action or state expressed in the subordinate clause. This type of clause is introduced by conjunctions such as: although, though, if, no matter how, no matter what, for all that, despite that, in spite of the fact, despite the fact, even if, even though, even when, though…yet, whether…or; by pronouns or adverbs: whoever, whatever, whichever, whenever, wherever .
Though is the colloquial form of although, but unlike the latter, it can be used in non-initial position, at the end of a sentence:
Well-qualified though he is/he may be, he can't find a job.
Early though he left/he may have left, he didn't arrive on time.
She spent all afternoon on the project, she didn't finish it, though.
No matter how slowly he may speak, he can't make himself understood.
Whoever he may be, he seems to be an honest man at least.
Wherever you live, you can keep a cat.
Whatever your problems are, they can’t be worse than mine.
However hard he studies, he doesn't get good marks.
Despite the fact / In spite of the fact that they are rich, they aren't happy.
She sacrificed many nights to study for the exam, but for all that she still failed.
The conjunction as expresses concession only in non-initial position having the following structure : Adjective / Adverb + as + subject + verb
Careful as she is, she had an accident.
When the Adverbial Clause of Concession is introduced by the conjunctions even if and even though, it intermingles with condition.
Even though he had little money, he insisted on paying for the meal.
If the action in the Adverbial Clause of Concession is real, then any tense in the indicative mood which is required by logic is used. The tense s conditioned by the tense in the principal clause.
Whatever I say, she doesn't believe me.
I'll get there, even if I have to walk.
I like her, even though she can be annoying at times.
If the situation in the Adverbial Clause of Concession is hypothetical, then the verb should be in the subjunctive mood. It may contain a Syntetic Subjunctive I and an Analytical Subjunctive formed by means of the auxiliaries may, might, should and will.
Although/ Though everybody distrust you, I will help you !
Whatever hard he should strive, he won’t find any solution.
Even though he should arrive by 7 p.m., he won’t be able to catch the train.
Whatever he may say, we must not change our plans.
No matter where they may take us, we’ll find our way back.
Try as she may, she will not solve this puzzle.
Your job may be boring, but at least it is financially rewarding.
Try as you will, you won’t solve this exercise!
Adverbial Clauses of Purpose generally express the purpose of the action, which is stated in the main clause. A distinction should be made between affirmative and negative purpose. Clauses of Affirmative Purpose are introduced by the conjunctions: that, so that, in order that and Clauses of Negative Purpose are introduced by the conjunctions: so that, lest, for fear that, in case. So that is the only conjunction that can take a verb in the negatie, the other two conjunctions have a negative meaning, therefore, they require a verb in the affirmative. The verb in the subordinate clause is in the Analytical Subjunctive as it expresses a planned but not a real action and it is formed by means of the modal auxiliaries will/would, can/could, may/might, shall/should. The Indicative Mood (Present or Past) can be used only in clauses introduced by in case.
He is saving money so that he may/might buy a car
I will help him so (that) he can finish early.
We will send you the forms in order that you can make your application
He locked all the windows for fear (that) he might be burgled.
I'll pick you up from the station so that you won't need to take a taxi.
He got a taxi so that he wouldn't be late
Lest anyone should doubt my story, I have brought documents to attest to its truth.
He spoke slowly so that there should be no mistake.
I will take some sandwiches in case I should/get hungry. (NOT: in case I will get hungry)
I took some water in case I got thirsty
Adverbial Clauses of Result denote some consequence or result of the action expressed in the main clause and they are introduced by the conjunctions: so that, that, so..that, such…that.
Light fell on her there, so that Soames could see her face, eyes, hair, strangely as he remembered them, strangely beautiful.
The correlative so occurs before adjectives or adverbs in the pattern:
so + adjective / adverb + that-Clause or less frequently so + adjective + a(n) + noun
I'm so hungry (that) I could eat a horse. He ran so fast (that) he won the race.
It was so nice a day that we went to the beach.
The correlative such occurs before a noun in the pattern
such a(n) + (adjective) + singular countable noun + that-Clause
It was such a bad flight (that) we'll never forget it.
such + (adjective) + uncountable / plural noun noun + that-Clause
It was such nice weather (that) we went to the park. (NOT: such a nice weather)
They were such cheap books (that) I bought them all.
The conjunction that can be omitted in informal language. So and such can be placed at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis, but they require subject-auxiliary inversion.
Such cheap books were they, that I bought them all.
So beautifully did she sing that everybody stood up.
So can be used with much, many, few or little and such with a lot of.
He's got so little patience with children (that) he can't be a teacher.
He has such a lot of money (that) he doesn’t know what to do with it.
“These clauses overlap with those of purpose both in meaning and in subordinators. The semantic difference is that Result Clauses are factual rather than putative: both express result, but in the Result Clause the result is achieved, whereas in the Purpose Clause it is yet to be achieved – it is a desired or aimed-at result. Hence finite Clauses of Result do not require a modal auxiliary” (Quirk, 1985: 1108) The verb can be used in any tense logically required.
Adverbial Clauses of Condition have no correspondent at the level of the simple syntax as condition is expressed by the verb inside the clause. Conditional clauses are made up of two parts the subordinate clause (hypothesis) and the main clause (the result). They are introduced by conjunctions such as: if unless (if not), providing, provided (that), as long as, in case, on condition (that), but for (without) + pronoun/ noun, otherwise, and, or else, what if, supposing, even if, only if, in case of/ in the event of.
This type of sentences will be broadly discussed in section 1.4.
Adverbial Clauses of Exception express an exception in relation to the situation expressed in the main clause. They are introduced by: except (that/when) , only (that/ when), save that. The tense in the Adverbial Clauses of Exception is in the Indicative Mood and the verb may be in any tense required by logic.
I didn't tell him anything except that I needed the money.
Our dresses were the same except mine was red.
I'd love to come, only I have to work.
It tastes like chicken, only that the taste is stronger.
They found out nothing more save that she had borne a child.
Adverbial Clauses of Relation are included by some grammarian in the category of Adverbial Clauses of Manner. They are introduced by the conjunctions: as, as far as.
As far as I’m concerned , your suggestion is the best.
She's doing fine as far as French is concerned, it's her German I'm worried about.
As far as I'm concerned… he's no different.
1.3.3 Position of Adverbial Clauses
Adverbial clauses occur in two main positions in relation to the main clause – initial and final. Only short, verbless clauses may be placed in medial position, but they are quite infrequent.
If you have finished your coffee, we can pay the bill. – initial position
He carried on playing until the end of the game, even though he had a broken toe –final position
I borrowed, to ring Waterloo, a portable phone.-medial position
Research has shown that „in all registers, the large majority of non-finite clauses are in final position.” As far as the initial position is concerned the written registers have a slightly higher proportion of non-finite clauses placed initially than conversation does. (Biber et al, 2007: 831)
While all types of non-finite clauses are generally preferred in final position, the adverbial finite clauses are spread in various ways across the registers.
Adverbial clauses of time, reason, condition, concession, concession-condition and exception can precede or follow the clause they modify. Adverbial clauses of purpose usually follow the clause they modify, while adverbial clauses of result, comparison and exception always follow the clause they modify.
As far as the preferred position is concerned research has shown that:
Concessive clauses are slightly preferred in final position across all registers.
Conditional clauses are preferred in either position in conversation while in the written registers (fiction, news, academic) the initial position is slightly preferred.
Time clauses are generally preferred in final position in all registers but theis position is strongly preferred in the written registers.
Reason/cause clauses are strongly preferred in final position in conversation and fiction whereas in news and academic prose there is a slight preference for the final position
While in conversation, the sdvrbisl clsuses of condition are the most common type of finite adverbial clauses that occur as a response to another person’s utterance . They are followed by clauses of reason/cause (a more detailed analysis is provided in Biber et al, 2007: 833)
Unlike non-finite adverbial clauses which show a strong preference for the final position, finite clauses appear both in finial and initial position. The choice for one position or another is influenced by certain factors:
Cohesion and information structuring – when they are in initial position, they include information that was presented in the preceding discourse whereas the main clause contains new information and vice versa. In initial position, adverbial finite clauses also display cohesive functions.
Farming subsequent discourse – the clauses that create a frame for several subsequent sentences tend to be in initial position. This is the case of initial time clauses, which anticipate the following discourse by offering its setting or for initial conditional clauses which set up hypothetical condtions.
Structural considerations – both the length of the adverbial clause and its position within or outside another dependent clause may influence the position. Their incorrect placement can pose problems for processing. (ibidi: 835-838)
1.3.4.Distribution of Adverbial Clauses
There are notable differences in the distribution of adverbial clauses across the registers:
Condition clauses are most common in conversation and moderately common in academic prose.
Purpose clauses are most common in academic prose and news.
Reason/cause are common only in conversation.
Time clauses are very common in fiction and news.
Supplementative clauses are very common in fiction, relatively rare in news and academic prose, and almost non-existent in conversation.
Manner clauses are notably more common in fiction than in the other registers
Concessive clauses are notably more common in written registers (especially news and academic prose) than in conversation (ibidi: 820-821)
As far as conjunctions are concerned, research has shown that there are subordinating conjunctions that do not appear in writing. For example, the conjunction only (=except that) is typical of spoken English.
I’d go with you at the cinema, only I’m going to visit my parents that weekend.
Conjunctions such as : without, on account of, from(=since) and while (=till) are used only in written language.
You can’t buy that without you buy the whole set.
They can't go, without they get permission (American English)
The marsh is an area of great scientific interest on account of it has wild flowers.
They haven’t seen each other from they got divorced.
Another interesting thing related to conjunctions is that the same conjunction can be used to introduce more than one adverbial clause, therefore, it changes its meaning. For example the conjuction till can be used to express both time and purpose:
“I'll stay in the office until I finish the project –time
Hold the plank steady till I get the screw in – has both a temporal and a purpose interpretation (=so that I get the screw in)” (Brown, 2016: 45)
1.4. Adverbial Clauses of Condition
Conditional clauses, also known as if clauses or conditional sentences, express an imagined situation or condition and the possible result of that situation. They have no correspondent within the simple syntax, as condition is expressed by the verb. A complex sentence that contains a subordinate clause of condition is formed of two parts:
The subordinate clause of condition (if clause) which presents the condition that has to be met so as to make possible the action of the main sentence.
The main sentence which presents the result or the effect of the condition.
1.4.1. Introductory elements
Conditional Clauses can be introduced by means of the following conjunctions and complex prepositions: if, unless, as long as, so long as, assuming (that), given (that) (formal), in case, in the event that, just so (that) (informal), on condition (that), provided (that), providing (that), supposing (that), on the assumption/supposition that, with the proviso/stipulation that, in case of, in the event of, but for.
The most common and flexible subordinator is IF, followed by UNLESS.
There are also other subordinators that intermingle condition with time: before , as long as, so long as, when, whenever, once. Except that and the conjunctive only combine exception with condition. All these subordinators are used with finite clauses:
Unless you book a room in advance, you won’t find accomodation in that hotel during the holidays. (NOT Unless you don’t book…)
Suppose you were offered a scholarship, would you choose to study abroad?
Supposing you won the lottery, would you buy a villa?
You will fiind accomodation in that hotel providing/ provided that/ as long as/ only if you book a room in advance.
In case of/ In the event of a fire, sound the alarm.
We’ll buy everything you produce provided the price is right.
I shall go on condition you go too.
We will go on a picnic as long as the weather is good.
Of all the conjunctions that are specific to conditional clauses, only if and unless introduce nonfinite clauses and verbless clauses:
If intrerested, apply within.
The chicken tastes delicious if seasoned with with salt and pepper.
It has little taste, unless hot.
If necessary, take a taxi.
Mum wants me to help her clean the house, if possible
Conditional pro-clauses –if so and if not
I may be late on Friday evening. If so, please don’t wait for me to have dinner.
Nonfinite and verbless clause with –with or without, but for
Without him to help you, you wouldn’t have passed the exam.
But for your help, we would have been in trouble.
With your medicine taken, you’d feel better.
1.4.2. Types of Conditional Clauses
1. From the point of view of their meaning, conditional clauses are: direct, indirect, and rethorical.
A) The central uses of conditional clauses express a DIRECT CONDITION – if the condition in the subordinate clause is fulfilled, then the content of the main clause is true as it is a consequence of the conditional clause. Here is an example :
If you study hard, you will pass the exam.
B) More peripheral uses of conditional clauses express an INDIRECT CONDITION. The condition is not related to the situation in the main clause, but they are dependent on ”an implicit speech act of the utterance and are, therefore, style disjuncts” (Quirk, 1985: 1095)
There are several classes of such style disjuncts.
The conditional clause expresses politeness and as a consequence, the speaker's utterance is apparently dependent on the permission of the hearer.
If I may be quite frank with you, I disapprove of your actions.
The conditional clause is a metalinguistic comment which hedges the wording of the utterance, either suggesting that the wording is not quite precise or that it should not be misunderstood in some sense, not intended by the speaker. It explicitly or implicitly calls for the hearer's agreement:
He and I are just aquientances, if you understand me.
Other examples could include: if I may put it so, if that's the correct term, if that's the word for it, if you see what I mean, if I may phrase it delicately/loosely/crudely/figuratively, if you
will (formal), if you like.
The conditional clause expresses uncertainty about the extralinguistic knowledge which is necessary for a correct interpretation of the utterance. The uncertainty may be the speaker's or the hearer's:
You want to apply for that grant, if I understand you well.
Pythagora’s theoreme applies here, if you remember our last history lesson.
The conditional clause expresses the condition under which the speaker makes the utterance:
If you want to have a glass of lemonade, there is a bottle in the fridge. (If you want, take the one in the fridge.
In all these four situations, the conditional clause adds a tint of politeness to the utterance.
RETHORICAL CONDITIONAL CLAUSES give the appearance of expressing an open condition, but (like rhetorical questions) they actually make a strong assertion. There are two types of rhetorical if-clauses:
one in which the assertion is derived from the conditional clause:
The painting must be worth a thousand dollars if it's worth a cent. (The painting must certainly be worth a thousand dollars.)
and the other in which it is derived from the main clause.
If you're English, I'm the Queen of England. (Since I'm obviously not the Queen of English, you're certainly not English.)
Taboo expressions and stereotype patterns also occur in the main clause when the conditional clause is rhetorical:
She's nothing if not tough. (She's certainly tough.)
Direct conditional clauses can be interpreted from two points of view:
according to their relation to present reality, conditional clauses may be:
– real – they present an open condition, not contradicting present reality; they are neutral: both the question of the fulfillment or nonfulfillment of the condition and the truth of the proposition expressed by the main clause are let unsolved.
– unreal – they present a hypothetical condition, contradicting present reality. A hypothetical condition, expresses the speaker's belief that the condition will not be fulfilled (for future conditions), is not fulfilled (for present conditions), or was not fulfilled (for past conditions), and this leads to the probable or certain falsity of the proposition expressed by the main clause. The distinction between open and hypothetical conditions is grammatically important because the verbs in hypothetical conditions are backshifted.
B) according to their relation in time to the moment of speaking or writing, conditional clauses may make reference to three periods: future, present, past.
Taking into account these two points of view, three types of conditional clauses have been identified: Type I – Future – possible sentences, Type II – Present – unreal sentences, Type III – Past –unreal sentences.
1.4.2.1 Conditional Sentences –Type 1
This type implies that the action in the If- Clause is quite probable in the future or present.
Those expressing a condition possible or real in the future have the following pattern: the verb in the conditional clause is in the present tense of the Indicative Mood and the verb in the main clause in the future tense.
We will go on a picnic tomorrow if the weather gets better.
You won't get paid for time off unless you have a doctor's note
Unless something unexpected happens, I'll see you tomorrow.
Instead if the Present Tense Simple used in the If-Clause, we can also have Present Tense Continuous to indicate a present action or a future arrangement, Present Perfect or the Imperative Mood.
If you are looking for Mum, you’ll find her in the garden.
If you are leaving tomorrow, you will have to notify the manager.
If you have finished your work, we can go for a walk.
If you are tired, go to bed
Those referring to present express a general truth, statements or scientific facts, habitual reactions. In this case, Present Tense of the Indicative Mood is used in both cases.
If you mix red and blue, you get purple.
If I travel by bus, I get sick. (whenever I travel by bus I get sick)
If we don’t do our homework, the teacher gets annoyed.
In this type, which is also called Type 0, the conjunction if can be replaced by when/whenever. As it can be observed, the tense in both sentences is identical – present or past. Therefore, the last sentence can occur in the past tense with a similar correspondence:
If we didn’t do our homework, the teacher got annoyed.
Those referring to past have the same tense in both clauses – the Past Tense of the Indicative Mood.
If they wanted to try New York cuisine, they went to Katz’s Deli.
Instead of will in the main clause, we may use other modals:
May/might – for possibility
If he doesn't pay the fine, he may go to prison.
May – for permission
If you have cleaned your room, you may/can go out with your friends.
Can – for ability or permission
If you have finished your project, we can go out for a pizza.
If you see Mary, could you ask her to call me?
Must, should, had better – for commands, requests or advice
If you want to be healthy you should/must have a balanced diet.
Should – for probability
If he doesn't pay the fine, he may go to prison.
Moreover, the modal verb will can be replaced by shall in the first person singular and plural. This use is rather formal.
If he asks me, I shall consider his proposal.
Apart from the conjunction “if”, Conditional clauses Type 1 can also be introduced by :
provided (that), providing (that), on condtion that, so long as, they indicate a stronger idea of limitation, restriction.
We'll buy everything you produce, provided that the price is right.
Providing that you have the money in your account, you can withdraw up to £100 a day.
They will give us the money on condition that we pay it back within six months
We'll go as long as the weather is good.
In case – it refers to future condition.
In case you can’t come, give me a call before I leave for work.
Unless is a more emphatic form of “if not”. It is always followed by a verb in the affirmative. Just like questions, if-clauses express uncertainty about the circumstances they make reference to and for this reason, they can contain non-assertive forms such as ever, any. Unlike if-clauses, those introduced by unless put emphasis on the excluded positive option, so they contain assertive forms.
I can’t help you unless you tell me what’s wrong.
If you ever need any help, don’t hesitate to call me.
The car should be in the garage unless someone’s moved it.
1.4.2.2 Conditional Sentences –Type 2
The verb in the If – Clause is in the Synthetic Subjunctive II (Past Subjunctive), which is the equivalent to the Past Tense, except for the verb “to be” which has the form “were” in all persons. The form “was” is also possible, but it is used in colloquial English. This type of conditionals indicate an unreal, improbable situation in the present or future.
If I were you, I would accept his offer.
You wouldn't be so tired if you went to bed earlier.
If she fell, she would hurt herself.
They are used:
When the supposition is contrary to known facts:
If I lived near my school, I would wake up later. (But I don’t live)
When we do not expect the action in the if-clause to take place in the future:
If I saw a ghost, I’d scream. (But I won’t see)
Some sentences could have both meanings:
If I dyed my hair purple, my colleagues would be amused.
If I dyed my hair purple could imply but I don’t – present meaning or but I don’t intend to – future meaning.
Sometimes Type 2 can be used instead of Type 1 to express possible plans and suggestions:
They will never win the running competition.
If they trained harder, they would win. Or
If they train harder, they will win.
Another thing that should be pointed out is that a suggestion in Type 2 is more polite than a suggestion in Type 1. (Thomson et al, 1986: 198-199)
Instead of the modal would, the Conditional Clause Type 2 could also contain the modals:
Might – for possibility
If they studied harder, they might succeed.
Could – for permission or ability
If he had a licence, he could use my car. (permission)
If he were tall, he could reach the top shelf. (ability)
Moreover, the Continuous Conditional could be used instead of the Simple Conditional
If I didn’t have a sore throat, I could be singing in the school choir today.
Instead of If followed by past simple we can use if + past continuous.
If it wasn’t raining, we could go to the park.
Besides if, Type 2 Conditional Clauses may be introduced by suppose, supposing that for a greater emphasis on the hypothetical condition.
Suppose you were asked to move out, what would you do?
Supposing (that) you were wrong, what would you do then?
1.4.2.3 Conditional Sentences –Type 3
The verb in the if-clause is in the Perfect Subjunctive (Past Subjunctive II) equivalent to Past Perfect Tense and the verb in the main clause is in the Perfect/Past Conditional (would + Perfect Infinitive). Type 3 Conditional Sentences express a condition which could not be fulfilled because the action in the if-clause did not take place.
If you had left earlier, you wouldn't have missed the bus.
If he had known about the meeting, he would have come.
Instead of would in the Conditional Clause, we can use:
Might – for possibility
If the rain had stopped, we might have gone on that trip.
Could – for ability or permission
If they had come earlier, they could have helped you.
The continuous form of the perfect conditional may be used:
If the weather had been better , I'd have been sitting in the garden when he arrived.
If she hadn't got a job in London, she would have been working in Paris.
We can use the past perfect continuous in the if-clause:
If he hadn’t been wearing the seatbelt, he would have been seriously injured.
When the if-clause comes before the main clause, we separate the two clauses with a comma.
If you work hard, you will succeed.
We do not use a comma when the if-clause follows the main clause.
You will succeed if you work hard.
Conditional clauses – particularly those introduced by if, in case, and in the event that – are like questions, in that questions are usually either neutral while expecting an answer or biased towards a negative response. Therefore, like questions, they have a tendency to accept nonassertive forms:
If any more work is piled onto this office, I shall leave!
Most subordinators are not used, or rarely used, in hypothetical conditions and their clauses tend to contain assertive forms:
They wouldn't all be there unless something terrible had happened.
“Second-instance if clauses may have assertive forms, too:
A: I've got something to tell you later.
B : Well, if you've got something to tell me, tell me now.”
(Quirk, 1985: 1093)
1.4.3 Mixed Conditionals
There are two mixed types of sentences of unreal condition:
The condition refers to past and the consequence to present – Type 3 mixed with type 2
If she had eaten breakfast, she wouldn’t be hungry now.
If we had booked seats, we could go to the concert tonight.
The condition refers to no particular time and the consequence refers to past – type 2 mixed with type 3
If Susan were experienced, she would have taken the job.
If he were driving carefully, he wouldn’t have crashed the car into a tree.
1.4.4. Special Constructions in Conditional Sentences
1. In the literary style the conjunction if can be omitted, but it requires subject-auxiliary inversion. Inversion is common in clauses of unreal condition, type2 and type 3 and it never occurs in clauses of real condition, type 1, and it is done between an auxiliary verb – do, have – or a modal verb – could, might – and the subject of the conditional clause. The most common use of inversion inconditional clauses is with the operator had. For the negative, not is placed before the lexical verb, the enclitic n't not being possible.
Had I not come and helped, you wouldn't have been able to make a meal.
If he had known about the meeting, he would have come. – Had he known about the meeting, he would have come.
If I were you, I wouldn't tell anyone about it. – Were I you , I wouldn't tell anyone about it.
As it has been previously mentioned, the verb to be has the form were for all persons as it is a subjunctiv form, but nowadays there is a tendency to use the form was in spoken language.
Nevertheless, were is little more usual than was in the advice form If I were you, I would/should and were, not was is used in inversions.
If I were you, I should appologise for the delay.
Were I Mary, I would decline his invitation.
If the predicate in the conditional clause is expressed by a notional verb, the Analytical Subjunctive with ”should” is used .
If mum finished work earlier, we could go to the park
Should mum finish work earlier, we could go to the park.
More rarely, the operator may be could or might but they require an adverb such as but or just before the lexical verb.
Might I but live to see thee in my touch, I’d say I had eyes again!
2. The Synthetic Subjunctive I, equivalent to the short infinitive, can be used instead of present tense indicative in Type 1 . This usage is specific to the very formal style – in the literary style, in the legal or the scientific style.
If he be young, he will be unable to carry out the plan.
If I be strong enough, I will overcome this hurddle.
If any person be found guilty, he shall have the right of appeal.
Were + to-infinitive in Type 2 – it is used to emphasise the hypothetical nature of the condition. This use is mainly specific to very formal, legal, or quasi-legal contexts.
If you were to come, I would be happy.
Should+ short infinitive occurs in Type 1 and Type 2, both with or without inversion to emphasis uncertainty.
If he should come, tell him to wait for me.
If you should have any difficulty, call me.
If you should solve the puzzle, I'll give you a prize.
If you should be offered the job, would you accept it?
If + happen to occurs in Type 1 to express uncertainty as an equivalent for the modal should.
If you happen to be passing by, drop in for a cup of tea.
If + will/would in Type 1 and 2 are used to express the concept of willingness and, therefore, they are not used as auxiliary verbs, only their modal meaning being retained. Will occurs in Type 1 and would in Type 2, but also in Type 1 as a more polite alternative for will. They express request, insistence and annoyance.
If you will fill in the form, I'll process your application. (Will you please fill in … – polite request)
If you will not stop shouting, you will have to leave. (If you insist on shouting … – insistence)
If you would help me I should be grateful to you.
If +would like/care can be used instead of If+want/wish and is more polite.
If you would like to come to my party, I would be very happy.
If you would care to join me, I’ll bee ating dinner at 8pm.
If only is typically used in hypothetical conditions to express wishes and regrets, being stronger than if and it is also a more emphatic equivalent of the verb ”wish”
If only somebody had warned us about the bad conditions, we would have cancel the booking.
If only he didn’t smoke!
If only +would expresses a regret or wish about a present action and is an alternative for if only + past tense.
If only she wouldn’t play the piano so loud.
If only the rain would stop
If only can also express hope and in this case it is followed by present tense:
If only he comes in time = We hope he will come in time.
1.4.5. Other Subordinators for Introducing Conditional Sentences
A) even if=even though
You must clean your room if you have finished your project.
You must clean the room even if you haven’t finished your project.
Whether…or = if…or
You must clean your room whether you have finished your project or not.
Unless +he’d/you’d like/prefer = if he/you wouldn’t like
I’ll call Bill, unless you’d prefer me to ask Tom/ unless you’d rather I asked Bill.
But for = if it weren’t for/ if it hadn’t been for
But for your help, we would have been in trouble.
Had not been for your help, we would have been in trouble.
If it hadn’t been for your help, we would have been in trouble.
Otherwise = if this doesn’t happen/didn’t happen/hadn’t happened
My parents lent me the money; otherwise, I couldn't have afforded the trip.
Shut the window, otherwise it'll get too cold in here.
He committed the crime, otherwise he wouldn 't have been arrested.
If he hadn't committed the crime, he wouldn 't have been arrested.
Or (+else) is the colloquial option for otherwise.
Hurry up or else you'll be late.
They can't be coming or else they'd have called.
Suppose/supposing…? = what if…?
Suppose flights are fully booked on that day—which other day could we go? = What if the flights are… = What will happen if…
Supposing you forgot your wallet at home, what would you do?
Suppose can also introduce suggestions:
Suppose you ask him = Why don’t you ask him
I don’t suppose (that) I could have a look at your newspaper, could I?
in case if followed by present tense, past tense or by should (for a greater degree of improbability)
An in case – clause expresses the reason for the action in the main clause and it can be ommited without changing the meaning of the principal clause unlike an if- clause which cannot be omitted because the meaning of the principal clause changes:
”I’ll come tomorrow in case Ann wants me.
I’ll come tomorrow if Ann wants me.
The first sentence means that maybe Ann wants me or not, but I’ll come anyway whereas the second sentence means that I’ll come only if Ann wants me.” (Thomson et al, 1986: 20)
An in case- clause normally comes after the main clause, not before it.
In case of/ In the event of + noun phrase= if there is a/an
In case of/ In the event of a fire, sound the alarm.
I) If = although, usually as if + adjective
The kitchen was well-equipped, if a little badly decorated.
J) Given (that) and assuming (that) are introduce open conditions that the speaker considers were,
are, or will be realised, and from which a proposition is deduced. ”A clause introduced by granted
(that) is also used as a premise for a deduction, but usually implies a previous statement on which
the premise is based. If may be used in the same way: If you were there (and you say you were),
you must have seen her; and so also in clauses with clausal pro-forms: if so, if not, if that's true,
if that's the case, and (with non assertives) if anything, if at all. Given (that) and granted (that) tend
to be used in formal written style, particularly in argumentation.” (Quirk, 1985:1093)
K ) As long as and so long as are semantically similar to provided (that) and providing (that), but they are less formal. Just so (that) usually occurs in informal conversation. All of them mean 'if and only if'.
L) The form if and only if expresses a necessary and
sufficient condition on the truth of the main clause and it is frequent in mathematics and formal logic. „It is sometimes abbreviated iff:” (ibidi: 1093)
1.4.6. Reduction of Conditional Clauses to Non-finite forms
a) an –en participle – when the subject of the conditional clause and the main clause are identical. The conjunctions if and unless may be used to introduce the participle.
Taken three times a day, this pill does miracles.
Given the opportunity, he will prove his qualities.
If necessary, press the alarm button.
She never travels by car, unless forced by the situation
an –ing participle:
Judging by appearences, he must be a foreigner.
Taking morning exercise every day, you will be in good wealth
an infinitival phrase:
To see her dance, you would consider her a professional
1.4.7. Conditional Sentences in Indirect Speech
The tenses in the Conditional Sentences Type 1 change as usual according to the rules of the reported speech, but if the reported sentence deals with the unreal past, type 2 or 3 conditionals or wishes, the tenses remain the same.
”If I finish my essay, I will come to the cinema with you,” he said.
He said that if he finished his essay, he would come to the cinema with me.
"If I were you, I would apologise, " he said.
He said that it he were me, he would apologise.
”If I hadn’t missed the bus this morning, I wouldn’t have been late for work,” he said.
He said that if he hadn’t missed the bus that morning, he wouldn’t have been late for work.
When the conditional clause expresses commends and request we have to use the expression were to in the reported speech.
He said, ”If you have time, wash the dishes.”
He told/asked me to wash the dishes if I had time or
He said that if I had time, I was to wash the dishes.
He said, ”If you see Bob, tell him to message me.”
He said that if I saw Bob I was to ask him to message him.
As far as the expressions of advice in if clauses are concerned we are advised to use a corresponding introductory verb.
”If you are tired, why don’t you have a break,” he said.
”If you are tired, you had better/should take a break,” he said.
He advised me to have a break if I felt tired or
He said that if I was tired I had better/ I should take a break.
”If I were you, I would go on holiday,” he said. \He advised me to go on holiday.
If clauses + questions are usually reported with the if-clause in final position :
”If you won 1million dollars, what would you do with them?”
He wondered/ asked what I would do if I won 10 million dollars.
2. METHODS, STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING/ TEACHING
2.1 Teaching Grammar
2.1.1 Introductory Issues
Grammar is defined as ”the system of rules governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of words in a sentence” (Brown, 2007: 420) The definition of the communicative competence includes grammar among its constituent parts. According to Brown, CLT promotes an equal focus on all the components of the communicative competence: grammatical, discourse, functional, sociolinguistic, and strategic. ”Goals must intertwine the organizational (grammatical, discourse) aspects of language with the pragmatic (functional, sociolinguistic, strategic) aspects.” (2007: 46) Therefore, communication would be indecipherable without the constraints imposed by the organizational competence, the set of rules that govern both the sentence and the discourse.
Grammar occupied a central position within the traditional methods of English language teaching to the detriment of the other components of the language, as it was assumed that ”accuracy (grammatical correctness) secured successful communication”. The emphasis laid on grammar was questioned in the 1970s when it was concluded 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 and it is only recently that it has regained its rightful place in an integrated approach to language teaching.” (Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 58-59)
One can no longer question the role of grammar in ELT, therefore, the question to teach or not to teach grammar is irrelevant. Teachers should now be preoccupied about WHAT grammar structures to teach and HOW to teach grammar in order to be effective and efficient.
The answer to the first question WHAT to teach should be in compliance with two criteria:
Comprehensibility – to teach the functional aspect of grammar – structures that are necessary for meaning understanding in communication: tenses, modals, etc.
Acceptability – the linguistic output should have ”an adequate level of correctness and naturalness” (ibidi: 59)
As far as the second questions is concerned – HOW to teach, the answer can go in two directions:
Form-focused instruction – it illustrates the traditional way of teaching where learners’ needs have already been stipulated in the grammatical syllabus, language is presented in a non-authentic way, out of context, the accent is on well-formed usually short structures; it “relies heavily on explicit knowledge and on controlled practice” (ibidi:60)
Fluency – meaning-focused interaction which is also the contemporary approach – learners’ needs are evaluated taking into account their performance in a communicative task. Language is no longer used artificially, but in real-like communication activities. This approach “relies on implicit knowledge and on automaticity (internalization of rules) and activates learners’ strategic competence (paraphrasing, reorganization, remedial work)” (ibidi:60).
Brown (2007: 422-423) suggests six guidelines that a teacher can follow while assessing the need for conscious grammatical focus in the classroom: students’ age, their proficiency level, educational background, language skills, style (register) and students’ needs and goals. Taking all these things into account a teacher may move on to choosing the appropriate grammar teaching techniques that must display the following characteristics:
are included in meaningful, natural, communicative contexts;
have a positive impact on the communicative goals;
assure accuracy within communicative tasks;
do not burden students with incomprehensible linguistic terminology;
activate students’ intrinsic motivation (see Brown, 2007: 421).
The question how we can help learners use the language competently, fluently and accurately is a very complex one. Brown considers that “they need to have exposure to the language; they need to notice and understand the items being used; they need to try using language themselves in ‘safe’ practice ways and in more demanding contexts; they need to remember the things they have learnt” (2007: 253).
Grammar activities are of three types:
controlled/ mechanical activities – repetition and substitution drills
semi-controlled/ contextualised/ meaningful activities where students are encouraged to relate form to meaning and use the grammar structures in real-like communicative tasks.
Free/communicative activities where structures are used in authentic situations of communication.
Generally, these activities have the following characteristics:
Learners are presented a certain grammar structure, they are explicitly provided with the rule or the teacher uses discovery techniques and let the students work out the rule.
Then, they are required to make their own sentences with the given structure.
After that, they are offered the opportunity to use the structure during the following classes as it needs to be reinforced and the teacher should “ build up on prior knowledge.”
Next, learners are supposed to successfully understand the rule and use it.
And finally, the teacher is expected to provide learners with feedback on their performance (see Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 61).
While teaching grammar, teachers might have in mind the following control factors:
They should offer a roughly-tuned input – an input slightly above the students’ level of proficiency;
The activities might be focused on meaning not on form;
Learners should be offered the chance to analyse the grammar structure from the point of view of its form, meaning and pragmatic conditions both before and while using it.
The idea is that the teacher should help students to internalise the set of rules that form the grammatical competence so that they can use it unconsciously while communicating as accuracy and fluency are interrelated securing successful communication. Students should be able to “transfer the studied knowledge into a living ability to use the language” (see Brown, 2007: 253).
2.1.2. Issues about how to teach grammar
Another question that has widely been debated is whether to teach grammar through explicit explanations or to let students acquire it unconsciously.
Methodologists such as Stephen Krashen are in favour of the latter approach. He claims that successful language acquisition cannot be based on “extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill. Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language – natural communication – in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding” (Krashen, ”Theory of Second Language Acquisition”). Krashen distinguishes between acquisition – a natural, unconscious process and learning – a conscious process beneficial to older learners.
Other methodologists such as William Rutherfold (1987), Vivian Cook (1994), Erick Hawkins (1984) Ellis & Sinclair (1989) (qtd by Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 71-72) are advocates of the former approach – raising learners’ language awareness. They claim that the conscious rules would eventually become part of the learners’ unconscious ability to use the language, putting forward an investigative technique of teaching grammar where learners go through a “voyage of discovery” of the grammar rules by solving tasks in which they notice for themselves how language works. Developing learners’ understanding of the grammatical aspects does not mean making them reproduce definitions, but cultivate their linguistic performance. Proponents of this technique argue that they do not intend to transmit knowledge, but to develop skills. The process of internalising grammar rules and the ability of using them unconsciously develop gradually. Once we teach a structure, we should not expect learners to produce it when required, they need time to see how form, meaning and pragmatics interrelate and they should be constantly exposed to contexts in which they are asked to use the acquired structure. Moreover, when students seem to have mastered a certain structure, they start to apply the rules to the new forms they are presented, this is called backsliding. Teachers ought to be patient until the new structures are integrated and the system is reanalysed.
2.1.3 Inductive or deductive teaching
An inductive approach (discover and practise) is one in which learners are left to discover, infer the rules or generalisations on their own from the given examples whereas a deductive approach (explain and practice) is one in which the teacher provides the learners with the necessary rules and explanations and they are asked to apply them to exercises. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages but in most cases an inductive approach is preferred for the following positive aspects:
It reinforces the natural language acquisition where rules are acquired subconsciously;
It is in compliance with the gradual process of development while learning a second language – learners make progress on different stages of structure acquisition;
It fosters intrinsic motivation;
Learners have the feeling of engaging in real-like communicative activity;
There might be moments when a deductive approach is suitable or a combination of the two. At present, there is not a clear-cut answer to the question which approach is better, it is up to the teacher to decide what to use taking into account the situational learning context.
Harmer (2007: 209-210) presents an alternative to the two approaches – research and practice: learners do some research by themselves and then they are asked to use the structure they have discovered. This activity might be more motivating and memorable and ”they are far more likely to remember what they find out than if sit passively and are given words.”
Another question that teachers have to deal with is whether to use grammatical explanations and technical terminology in ELT or not. We know that students confront themselves with a lot of problems while trying to learn the language itself, thus they do not need complex definitions which are difficult to understand. Teachers should have in mind the following guidelines when offer students grammatical explanations:
Explanations should be short, even learners’ mother tongue can be used if they have difficulty understanding them.
Charts and visuals can be extremely useful while trying to illustrate grammatical relationships.
Examples should be unambiguous.
Learners’ cognitive styles are very important – “analytical learners will have an easier time picking up on grammatical explanations than will holistic learners.”
Exceptions to the rules should be avoided (Brown, 2007:424).
2.1.4. Grammar lessons
The problem of whether to teach grammar in ”grammar only classes” is not a controversial one anymore. Since grammar is only a component of the communicative competence, it is advisable to integrate it into general language classes rather than deal with it separately. The objective is to help students learn the language and grammar is only one contributor that leads to the accomplishment of this objective. Harmer points out several approaches referring to grammar teaching in general: a first option would be for students to study the structure in various ways, explore it and then use what they have learned to perform a task, a second idea would be to have learners study the structure during a task-based sequence and a third approach would be to study it after they have performed the task. Harmer also writes about opportunistic teaching ”studying language which suddenly comes up,” it happens when learners want to know more about a certain language structure, for example how it is formed and why it is formed as it is. Offering them the necessary information ”will significantly raise the level at which they are performing the task”, but it also displays the tension ” between planning lessons in advance and responding to what actually happens.” (2007: 201)
As far as the correction of grammatical errors is concerned, the teacher should show prudency in speech and comply with the following principles: the maintenance of the communicative flow, encouraging student self-correction, and taking into account ”the affective and linguistic place the learner is in.” In writing, things are different: only global errors are dealt with in the first drafts but later ”certain attention to errors does indeed make a difference in final written products” (Brown, 2007: 426).
Some of the most popular techniques used while teaching grammar are: charts, objects, maps and drawings, dialogues, other written texts.
Grammar lessons are usually formed of three stages which do not necessarily occur within a single lesson: presentation, practice and communication. There comes a point in the lesson when the teacher wants the learners to pay attention to a certain structure, to see it, analyse and understand its form, meaning and use, this is called clarification/presentation. During this stage activities can be of three types: explanations (the teacher tells the learners), guided discoveries (the teacher helps the learner to tell himself) and self-directed discoveries (the learner tells himself) as we have previously discussed. In self-directed discovery activities the teacher is a facilitator and he/she has to make sure that learners have sufficient information and experience to be able to deduce the rule and make their own explanations. When giving explanations, the teacher should do it in a helpful way, two-minute explanations can be of real help whereas twenty-minute explanations will get students confused, bored and embarrassed. Guided discovery activities permit students to produce their own discoveries and explanations. ”Teacher-structured questions will ‘nudge’ the learners towards key points, long explanations can be avoided and learners take a more active role in their own progress” (Scrivener, 2005: 268)
In the practice stage, students try to use the structures themselves. Most teachers choose to get students accustomed to the new piece of language through controlled practice, using discrete-point techniques such as: a dual choice, substitution or transformation drills. Methodologist such as Scrivener (2005) and Adriana Vizental (2008) consider drills useful at this point since they are designed for the problem being taught, provide the teacher with the necessary feedback about the students’ understanding of the problem and are encouraging for the learners. Scrivener states that “Drilling is important for ‘getting your tongue around it’ problems” and encourages teachers to use them although “some writers advise teachers not to offer students any speaking tasks that do not involve an element of ‘genuine communication’ (2005: 256).
The practice stage is followed by the communicative one. This time, learners have to use the new structure in interactive activities, to exchange information and negotiate meaning. The teacher should choose activities that are creative, attractive, interactive, and ask learners to use their personal experience.
Celce-Murcia et. al. identifies four stages: presentation, focused practice, communicative practice and teacher feedback and correction. The writers also mention that although feedback is normally considered a final step, it must occur throughout the lesson and teachers should change and adapt their strategies according to the stage of the lesson, but there should be one element that has to remain constant “regardless of when correction is made, teacher feedback should always attempt to engage the student cognitively rather than to simply point out the error and provide the appropriate target form” (1988: 27-28).
2.2. Methods Used in Language Teaching
Within the area of methodology one comes across terms such as approach, method, procedure, technique and models.
An approach refers to the theory about the nature of language and language learning. It offers an account about the processes involved in language learning and the conditions that secure successful language learning.
A method is the concrete realisation of an approach. It offers details about the type of teaching and learning activities, the learners’ and the teacher’s roles, the role of the instructional materials, a syllabus model, procedures and techniques and it also includes a specification of its general and specific objectives.
A procedure is a sequence of techniques that are presented in a certain order.
A technique represents the various exercises, activities or tasks that are used in the classroom in order to achieve the proposed objectives.
The teaching methods can be grouped according to various criteria, one of them being the language and learning theories that have developed over the years:
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
The process of teaching should be a dynamic one, a teacher does not have to stick to one method since all of them have advantages and disadvantages. As Brown states, ”One’s approach to language teaching is the theoretical rationale that underlies everything that happens in the classroom. It is the cumulative body of knowledge and principles that enables teachers, as ‘technicians’ in the classroom, to diagnose the needs of students, to treat students with successful pedagogical techniques, and to assess the outcome of those treatments” (2007: 11).
Teachers constantly have to come up with innovative teaching techniques, implement them, gather feedback and then the entire process of teaching and learning is reshaped. No matter what approach a teacher decides to use, it should be in compliance with the twelve principles of second language acquisition as formulated by H. Douglas Brown (2007: 12-13):
Automaticity – language structures must be readily available in the subconscious, in order to be used automatically as one cannot consciously think about them while communicating.
Meaningful learning – teachers should create a realistic context for the students to use the language as this “will lead to long-term retention than rote learning.”
The anticipation of reward – students learn better if they have in mind the promise of positive reinforcement, the reward which can be “tangible or intangible, short-term or long-term.
Intrinsic motivation – students learn the language because they want it, it stems from their needs and desires, it is the internal motivation which offers long-term satisfaction unlike extrinsic motivation (external), driven by the teacher for example, which offers short-term satisfaction.
Strategic investment – learners should invest their time, effort and attention to the learning of the second language and find the best strategies to fulfil their goals.
Language ego – by learning a second language, learners reshape their way of thinking, feeling and acting which represents a sort of a second identity. This may sometimes make them feel uncertain and defensive.
Self-confidence – performing their tasks successfully will boost their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Risk taking – learners are willing to make mistakes while they dare to experiment with the language “that is a bit beyond their absolute certainty.”
Language-culture connection – Learning a language also involves learning about cultural values and ways of thinking, feeling or acting.
The native language effect – learners will use their mother tongue as a reference point to anticipate the second language system and this can both facilitate and interfere with the learning process.
Interlanguage – learning a second language is a systematic developmental process.
Communicative competence – the final goal of language learning is to be able to communicate effectively in authentic context, to use the language fluently and accurately in real-world contexts.
In order to build a sense of strategic investment in the classroom while taking into account all the principles, the teacher should choose appropriate activities that:
Lower inhibitions
Encourage risk taking
Build students’ self-confidence
Help students develop intrinsic motivation
Promote cooperative learning
Encourage students to use right-brain processing
Promote ambiguity tolerance
Help students use their intuition
Get students to make mistakes work for them
Get students to set their own goals
2.2.1. The Grammar Translation Method
Humanistic approaches developed on the idea that language teaching does not mean only teaching language, but also helping students develop themselves as people. The learners’ life experience counts a lot in the development of their personality and the encouragement of positive feelings.
Some writers (Grenfell and Harris, 1999 qtd by Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 11) consider that the Grammar Translation Method has a humanistic grounding whereas others (Morgan and Neil, 2001 qtd by Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 11) are of the opposing view.
The Grammar Translation Method was developed in the 18th century with the aim of teaching modern languages to school children. This approach was based on the Classical Method that used to study dead languages such as Greek and Latin. The main objective of the Classical Method was not to teach people to speak the language but to teach them for the sake of being intellectual and understand the literature of the foreign language. It was based on the memorization of grammar rules, conjugations, declensions and vocabulary. The main activities included translating text from the foreign language into the learners’ mother tongue and solving written exercises. These characteristics were assumed by the new teaching method, the Grammar Translation. Its main features as presented by Richards and Rogers (2002: 5-6) and Brown (2007:19) are:
The main objective of learning a language is to read its literature and this will lead to “intellectual development” and “mental discipline” – learning a language means to memorise rules and learn by heart long lists of words so as to understand the morphology and syntax of the foreign language.
Learners are supposed to develop reading and writing skills and they do not get much opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills. Moreover, they are expected to read difficult classical texts from the beginning.
The vocabulary is reduced to the words encountered in the text, they are taught in isolated lists and students have to memorize their translation equivalents. There is little attention paid to the content of the texts which are used as grammar exercises.
Students develop their translation skills, they are supposed to translate disconnected sentences form the foreign language to their mother tongue.
There is special attention given to accuracy.
Grammar is taught deductively through long, elaborate explanations of complicated rules for putting words together and the teaching is based on explaining the form and inflection of words.
Pronunciation is almost abandoned.
The teacher shouldn’t be able to speak the target language as the entire process of instruction is conducted in the learner’s mother tongue with almost no active use of the language being taught. Learners are supposed to make comparisons with their mother tongue and this leads to a greater understanding of the latter.
There are various problems with this method:
Learners learn more about the language rather than how to use it.
There is nothing to help them improve their communicative competence.
Memorizing endless lists of grammar rules and vocabulary and the great attention given to accuracy can be extremely demotivating for learners.
Using grammar correctly is taught to the detriment of developing the communicative competence.
There are words that do not have a correspondent in the learner’s mother tongue, thus they cannot be translated accurately and “the act of translating limits the extent to which learners think in English” (Lindsay et al., 2017: 16).
Class work is carefully structured and the teacher is a controller in all the tasks, therefore there is absence of classroom interaction, learners do not have any opportunities to negotiate meaning or engage in any communicative exchanges as in the real life.
Nevertheless, we can cite several advantages:
– Learners develop an awareness of grammar rules and learn some types of vocabulary, but this is not in accordance with the communicative language teaching.
– Tests based on grammar and translations are easy to construct and can be scored objectively.
– Teachers need few specialized skills.
– Students may become interested in reading the literature of a second language.
Adriana Vizental (2008: 29) presents the steps of a grammar-translation lesson:
The teacher reads the text to provide a model reading.
The students read the text and the teacher carefully corrects any mispronunciation.
The unknown words are written on the blackboard together with their translation in the students’ mother tongue and learners note them in their notebooks and memorize the whole list.
The teacher presents the grammar problem deductively.
The text is translated into the students’ mother tongue discussing the stylistic and grammar points encountered.
The students solve reading comprehension questions to check or facilitate the understanding of the text.
Then, they re-tell the story, they have to memorize long passages from the text and the teacher carefully corrects their mistakes.
The students are engaged in other text- translations which could be a summary of the previous text or another text containing the new vocabulary that they have already acquired.
Literary analysis of the text.
Homework.
Murar and Trantescu (2016: 12-13) present a synthesis of the main features of the Grammar Translation Method:
Goals: to read literature in the foreign language, acquire grammar rules and vocabulary and refine intellectually.
Roles: the teacher is a controller and the students are passive receivers – they follow the teacher’s instructions.
Teaching/Learning process: the students learn by translating texts from the target language into their mother tongue; the teacher presents grammar deductively and students memorize rules and vocabulary.
Interaction: teacher –student interaction is predominant, student-teacher interaction and student-student interaction are close to the minimum.
Dealing with feeling: this feature is not taken into account.
Aspects of the language emphasised: grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing are in the centre of the teaching process; pronunciation and speaking or listening skills are almost abandoned.
Role of students’ native language: students’ mother tongue is used freely in the classroom, it is the main means of instruction.
Means of evaluation: tests include translations and solving grammar exercises.
Response to students’ errors: teachers correct students whenever they make a mistake, as accuracy is considered to be a priority. Students should strive a lot in order not to make mistakes. Mistakes are seen as a heavy impairment to the acquisition of the foreign language.
Richards and Rogers highly criticise this method arguing that it “has no advocates. It is a method for which there is no theory. There is no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it or that attempts to relate to the issues in linguistics, psychology, or educational theory” (2002: 7).
2.2.2 The Silent Way
This approach was proposed by Caleb Gattegano and it is based on the principle that the teacher has to keep his/her speaking time to the minimum, offer a limited amount of input, model the language to be taught only once and then show students what to do through pointing and other silent ways. Learners are encouraged to produce language without being criticised or praised and they try it until success is achieved. The teacher uses Cuisenaire rods and charts to enable students deduce meaning and form. Richards and Rogers (2002: 81) points out the principles behind this approach:
Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats what is to be learned. Discovery learning enables learners to develop their independence, autonomy and responsibility. Students work out solutions to problem-solving tasks by cooperating with one another and the teacher keeps silent most of the time.
Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects. Cuisenaire rods and charts are meant to create memorable images which will help students to remember the structures being taught.
Learning is facilitated by problem solving tasks that involve the material to be learned.
Silent Way classrooms are highly structured, the sentence is the basic unit of teaching and the teacher is concerned with the meaning rather than the communicative competence. Lessons are planned around a grammatical structure and specific vocabulary, introduced gradually according to their degree of difficulty and they follow a standard procedure (from Richards and Rogers, 2002: 86-87). Students are supposed to learn vocabulary and grammar rules which are taught inductively. Gategano places vocabulary in the centre of the teaching-learning process and the choice of the words presented is of vital importance. He talks about “functional vocabulary” which enables language comprehension. Moreover, it is supposed that learning a foreign language is not the same as learning one’s mother tongue because the learners already possess a set of knowledge, so the process of second language acquisition is not a natural, direct one, but an artificial one and learners have to engage intellectually, to concentrate on the learning activity. The learning process encompasses several gradual steps: “attention, production, self-correction and absorption.” Learners acquire “inner criteria” which will help them in their education throughout their life (ibidi.: 83). For example, the absence of correction on the part of the teacher forces them to develop inner criteria for self-correction, not being provided with explanations determines them to make generalizations, draw conclusions and formulate rules.
Learners are encouraged to discover and create language, not just remember and repeat what they have just learnt. The teacher remains silent almost all of the time “indicating only by gesture or action when individual students should speak and then showing when sounds and words are said correctly by moving to the next item” (Harmer, 2007: 68). Because of the non-involvement and silence of the teacher this method was seen as inhumane.
The characteristics of this method can be summarised as follows:
Goals: to learn the foreign language in order to communicate, and acquire inner criteria for life-long learning.
Roles: the teacher is an organiser and he/she offers learners the minimal necessary input to encourage their learning because learners are entirely responsible for their own language learning.
Teaching/Learning process: the lesson usually starts with pronunciation activities, then the teacher draws the students’ attention using Cuisenaire rods and charts, after that students interact and practice the structure. The teacher observes their errors and adjusts the learning process accordingly.
Interaction: the teacher remains silent most of the time but active, so he/she interacts with the students and students are highly encouraged to interact with one another.
Dealing with feelings: the teacher constantly pays attention to the students’ feelings to prevent them from interfering and students express their emotions during feedback sessions at the end of the lesson.
View of language, culture: language cannot be taught without including the culture of its people, they both go hand in hand and each language is seen as being unique.
Aspects of language emphasised: all four skills are developed from the beginning and there is special attention given to pronunciation.
Role of students’ native language: the students’ mother tongue is considered a resource because teachers should take into account what students already know, but translation is totally rejected.
Means for evaluation: assessment is continual as the teacher directs the learning process according to the students’ needs. In order to develop the students’ ability of self-assessment teachers neither praise nor criticise, each student is supposed to learn at his/her own rate and not necessarily speak perfectly in the beginning.
Response to students’ errors: teachers expect students to make errors as they are inevitably part of the learning process.
2.2.3. Community Language Learning
Community Language Teaching is a method that was developed by Charles A Curran in the early 1970s, initially known as Counselling Learning. He applied the techniques of counselling to learning in general, placing great emphasis on the affective factor. It is based on the idea that the main objective of learning a foreign language is to communicate. This method is extremely learner-focused. Although each course is unique and student-dictated, there are certain criteria that should be applied to all CLL classrooms, namely a focus on fluency in the early stages, an undercurrent of accuracy throughout the course and learner empowerment. Students are arranged in a circle and outside it there is the teacher, the “knower” who helps them with the language they want to use. Students’ utterances may be recorded and analysed later. Then, students reflect with the teacher’s help about how they felt during the class. The activities in a CLL class develop in five stages:
Stage 1: Reflection – Sitting in a circle students think about what they want to say.
Stage 2: Recorded conversation – the students tell the teacher what they want to say in their L1 and the teacher discretely translates the language into English. They work on pace and fluency.
Discussions: Next, the students discuss about how they felt during the conversation, how they think the conversation went and this part is not recorded.
Transcription – the students listen to the tape and transcribe the conversation and the teacher offers them help when they ask for it.
Language analysis – this involves looking at the form and choice of tenses and the vocabulary used. Nevertheless, it will depend on the language produced by the students.
The timing will also depend entirely on the class, how quickly they respond to CLL, how long they decide to spend on the language analysis stage and how long their recorded conversation is (for a more detailed procedure see Richard and Rogers, 2002: 96-97).
Here is the synthesis of the main features of the Community Language Learning:
Goals: to help students speak the target language, to remove tension and negative feelings that occur when learning a foreign language. Explicit linguistic and communicative objectives have not been presented. They reflect the needs of the learners and include both functional skills and linguistic objectives, but they are not clearly specified as there is no precise syllabus.
Roles: the teacher is a sort of a counsellor, he/ she helps students to learn the language by responding calmly, non- judgementally, in a supportive manner to aid them dispel tension, anger and anxiety. In the early stages, the teacher has a supportive role, offering target-language translations, modelling sentences for the students to repeat and later when students acquire the ability to initiate interaction, the teacher becomes a monitor. When students become confident enough and can accept criticism, the teacher corrects their mistakes directly, supplies them with the correct alternative and gives explanations about grammar points and usage of structures. The teacher is a facilitator of the communication process, participants’ tasks and texts, needs analyst, counsellor and process manager. The learners’ roles are well defined. They are seen as members of a community and learn while interacting with the community since the process of learning is not seen as an individual one and the objectives are achieved collaboratively. Students have to listen carefully to the knower, to freely express what they want to say in the target language, to repeat the utterances, to support the other members of the community, to express their feelings and frustrations, but also their joy and be counsellors for the other members of the group. In addition, they are negotiators and interactors.
Teaching/Learning process: lessons are based on the interactions within the community and as there is no syllabus, a textbook is considered to be of no help because it will impose a certain structure and body of language content which will prevent students from freely expressing themselves and interacting. Materials are prepared by the teacher as the course develops according to the needs of the students, but they are not very complicated. They include some summaries on the blackboard, an overhead projector used to present some characteristics of the language generated by the students and some scripts with the conversations of the students that can be used later to produce dialogues and mini-dramas. Activities require students to share information, negotiate meaning and interact. The teacher uses authentic, task-based materials that promote communicative learning.
Interaction: there are teacher –student and student-teacher interactions especially at the beginning of the course and then student-student interaction is heavily promoted.
Dealing with feeling: this is the most important feature of this method. Learners do not start learning the new language until an environment of security and belonging is established. This method is preoccupied with ensuring all the psychological requirements necessary for leaning a language that can be collected under the acronym SARD (security, attention/aggression, retention and discrimination) (from Richard and Rogers, 2007: 92).
Aspects of the language emphasised: grammar, vocabulary and the four skills – listening, speaking, reading, writing are of equal importance.
Role of students’ native language: students’ mother tongue is used at the beginning of the course to create an environment conducive to learning and the learners use it when they tell the teacher what they want to say in the target language.
Means of evaluation: it is very difficult to assess students as it does not have clear objectives and a syllabus.
Response to students’ errors: students are expected to make mistakes at their first contacts with the language and when they become confident and secure, the teacher can correct their mistakes directly.
2.2.4. Total Physical Response
The Total Physical Response is a teaching method that combines physical activity with the learning of a foreign language. Students carry out instructions issued by the teacher and produce language only when they feel confident enough. The teacher uses imperative forms and students learn through actions, physical activities rather than drills. The teacher also coordinates all the activities, so he/she is a controller. The syllabus is grammar-based and it is taught that a lot of vocabulary can be acquired through the use of imperatives. At first, attention is given to meaning and not to grammar issues and grammar is taught inductively. This method is in compliance with Krashen’s perspective of the “roughly-tuned input” – the teacher should provide input that is slightly above students’ level of proficiency, including language that they already know, but also language that is new for them. This approach is based on some principles of child language acquisition: before speaking children listen a lot and this listening is accompanied by physical responses. Secondly, whereas most second language learning methods promote left-brain learning, TPR promotes right-brain learning as learners acquire language through motor activities which are right-brain functions and these should take place before left-brain language processing. Thirdly, the learning process is supposed to take place in a stress-free environment, teachers being constantly preoccupied to reduce stress and anxiety.
Drills are mostly used as classroom activities, “conversational dialogues are delayed until about 120 hours of instruction” (Richard and Rogers, 2002: 76). Other activities include role-plays simulating real-life situations such as at the restaurant, at the supermarket and slide presentations. Learners have the role of listeners and performers at first, later, they are expected to produce new language combinations, they monitor and evaluate their performances. The teacher is very active during the whole process, he/she is a controller deciding what to teach, modelling, choosing the new learning material and all these things require careful planning. Nevertheless, the teacher’s main role is not to teach, but to offer the best language input so that learners can acquire basic rules of the foreign language at their own pace. As far as the feedback is concerned, the teacher should be like a parent, gentle at first, correcting only the most important errors but without interrupting the learners’ speech. The teaching materials do not usually include basic texts, at the beginning the teacher’s gestures, mimic and voice are enough, then realia plays an important role together with pictures, slides and word charts.
A typical TFR lesson starts with the teacher giving commands to revise the previous taught instructions and the students acting them out. Next, the teacher introduces the new language and the students follow the commands. Then, the students who feel confident volunteer to utter commands and the teacher together with the rest of the class, follows them. After that, the teacher writes on the blackboard the new vocabulary items and some sentences to illustrate them, acting out the commands. The learners listen and maybe copy the new structures in their notebooks.
Brief features of the TPR method:
Goals: to develop the learners’ oral proficiency in order to be able to communicate with native speakers, to create an enjoyable, stress-free learning environment.
Roles: learners are listeners and performers and the teacher is a controller playing an active and direct role.
Teaching/learning process: lessons start with the teacher giving commends and the students acting them out to demonstrate their understanding, then the teacher reformulates and combines them in a humorous way. If students feel confident, they take turns in giving commands. Later, they play games, role plays, skits.
Interaction: initially, there is teacher-student and teacher-group interaction and later student-teacher and student-group interaction.
Dealing with feelings: the method was designed to reduce stress and anxiety related to the learning of a second language and the learning experience should be enjoyable encouraging feelings of success.
View of language and culture: culture is presented as ”the lifestyle of native speakers of the target language ” (Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 17).
Aspects of language emphasised: grammatical structures and vocabulary are presented in commands, listening precedes speaking and speaking precedes writing.
Role of students’ mother tongue: the method is illustrated in the students’ mother tongue, but it is not used later during classes as meaning is illustrated through action, gestures, and with the help of realia.
Means of Evaluation: teachers use the method of observation and as formal assessment, students have to perform certain commands.
Response to students’ errors: teachers correct major mistakes without interrupting the students performances, and later ”fine tuning” occurs.
2.2.5. Suggestopaedia
It is a method developed by the Bulgarian psychiatrist Georgi Lozanov in the late 1970s, based on the premises that learners acquire a great amount of language if the right learning conditions are provided and this includes ensuring a state of relaxation and letting the teacher to take control over the situation. The most important characteristics of this method are represented by the learning environment which includes decoration, furniture, the arrangement of the chairs, baroque music and the authoritative role of the teacher. According to Lozanov listening to music is important to build personal relations, to increase self-esteem and self-confidence and to animate the class (from Richard and Rogers, 2002: 100), in this way learners get rid of the psychological barriers to learning.
This methodology is based on six principles:
The authority of the teacher – learners remember and acquire more language if it comes from a source imposing authority.
Students assume the role of a child and the teacher that of a parent.
Learners learn both from the direct instruction and from the environment and that is why the personality of the teacher counts a lot together with the décor and the atmosphere in the classroom.
Intonation, rhythm and concert pseudo-passiveness are important to dispel the boredom “through monotony of repetition and to dramatize, emotionalise, and give meaning to linguistic material” (ibidi: 102).
Features of the method:
Goals: to be able to speak the target language at an advanced level in a short period of time. Learners are expected to memorise long lists of vocabulary, nevertheless, the goal is understanding, not memorization.
Roles: learners assume the role of a child, they do not have to work out language, but maintain a pseudo-passive attitude in which the material is presented by the teacher, they allow the material to work on for them, they should be spontaneous and uninhibited, just like children. The teacher has authority and enjoys his/her students’ confidence and respect. He/She should create situations in which learning takes place through suggestions, present the material so as to determine positive reception and retention and maintain students’ enthusiasm about learning a second language.
Teaching/Learning process: the learning materials include texts and tapes, classroom fixtures and music. Texts should create a sort of an impact on the learners, have literary quality and interesting characters. A Suggestopeadia course takes place over 30 days and it is made up of ten units of study, each unit consisting of approximately 12000 words and corresponding grammatical structures. Classes last 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. A unit is studied in 3 days, on the first day, the teacher presents the unit, responds to the students’ questions related to the material, reads the dialogues three times and the students have the translation in their mother tongue in a parallel column. On the second and the third day, the students work on the text. Firstly, they imitate, dramatize, answer questions, read the dialogues, play games, sing songs, secondly they are encouraged to make new combinations and produce new language having the dialogues as support. They are involved in conversations and assume small roles. The group of learners is made up of twelve members coming from various social backgrounds and there is an equal number of men and women. They sit in a circle, in a tension-free atmosphere, on comfortable chairs with baroque music playing in the background, they adopt a new identity and are supposed to acquire language while listening to the dialogues. A typical 4-hour day of study has three parts. The first part is dedicated to the revision of the previous learnt material, there are questions about grammar, vocabulary problems and some role-playing. The second part is dedicated to the presentation of the new material, the teacher and the students look over the dialogue and its translation in the students’ mother tongue, discuss grammar and vocabulary. The third part is known as the concert session when the teacher reads the dialogue and students listen to it passively (from Richards and Rogers, 2002: 102-106).
Interaction: At first, there is teacher-student interaction and later students initiate interactions with each other being directed by the teacher.
Dealing with feelings: as all the other humanistic approaches, Suggestopaedia places great importance on the students’ feelings, creating the right atmosphere for relaxation and gaining confidence.
View of language and culture: “language is one plane; nonverbal parts of messages are another” and cultures refers to everyday life and arts (Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 20).
Aspects of language emphasised: vocabulary and some grammar, listening and speaking are of primary importance followed, by reading and writing.
Role of students’ native language: it is used in early stages for clarifications and students are provided with the translations of the dialogues. Later it is kept to the minimum.
Means of evaluation: there are no tests, students’ performance is evaluated through teacher’s observations and commentaries.
Response to students’ errors: error-correction is left later so as not to inhibit learners.
2.2.6. The Audio- Lingual Method / The Aural – Oral Method
The Audiolingual Method draws on both linguistic and psychological theories. One of these theories is based on the structural linguistics of the 1940s and 1950s. According to this theory, language was seen as a rule-governed system which can be described ”at any structural level of description (phonetic, phonemic, morphological, etc). Linguistic levels are seen as being constructed like a pyramid ”as systems within systems.” At the basis of the pyramid there are phonemic systems which will conduct to morphemic systems which in their turn will lead to ”higher-level systems of phrases, clauses and sentences. According to structural linguistics, language is represented by speech. Therefore, in order to learn a foreign language, one has to acquire those elements and the rules by which they are combined (Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 55).
Another theory is the Behaviourism, a psychological theory based on the idea of conditioning which includes a three-stage procedure – stimulus – response – reinforcement. This theory was developed in 1920 by Watson and Raynor, two psychologists who were performing experiments on rats and came to the conclusion that animals can be trained to do anything by following the three-stage procedure. In his book Verbal Behaviour, the psychologist Skinner applied this theory of conditioning to the way in which people acquire their first language and this led to the emergence of the Audio-lingual Method – students are constantly drilling, followed by positive or negative reinforcement and teachers are trying to form a habit through constant repetition and reinforcement.
The main characteristics of this method can be the following:
The new language is illustrated in the form of a dialogue.
Great emphasis on memorization of set phrases and overlearning. It is believed that mistakes will be kept up to the minimum if students memorise dialogues and perform drills. ”Language is verbal behaviour – automatic production and comprehension of utterances”.
Structures are presented one at a time by means of contrastive analysis, the less difficult structures are introduced first, followed by more difficult ones.
Analogy plays a great role, firstly, the given structure is practiced in a variety of contexts and after that the teacher offers explanations of the rules. Therefore, grammar is taught inductively, and drills allow students to make the correct analogies.
Vocabulary is restricted and learned in a linguistic and cultural context, thus, the teacher also teaches cultural aspects. Both grammar and vocabulary have to be taught in context and the vocabulary does not include colloquial language.
Pronunciation plays a primary role and correct pronunciation is strongly encouraged from the beginning. Moreover, the teacher offers feedback on pronunciation on the spot.
Good answers are immediately praised.
The four skills are taught separately, the main importance is given to speaking skills, reading and writing skills are developed in follow-up activities.
The students’ mother tongue is almost abandoned.
There is great emphasis on accuracy – teachers strive to prevent errors on the part of the students.
It relies heavily on drills and habit formation and language is not presented in real-life contexts. The teacher models the sentences and the students repeat them. There is a controversy created around drills. Some teachers find them helpful when practicing sentence patterns especially at the elementary levels as drills may help learners build their speaking confidence. Nevertheless, most teachers consider drills useless since learners do not get the chance to interact naturally.
Special attention is given to structure whereas content is ignored (adapted from Brown, 2007: 23 and Richards, 2002: 57, Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 21)
A typical audio-lingual lesson follows the next procedure:
The teacher introduces the new vocabulary orally, providing a model reading and the students listen to a native speaker pronunciation.
The students repeat the dialogue individually and in chorus with the teacher insisting on correct pronunciation.
The students repeat the dialogue until memorising it – the new vocabulary and grammar structures are learned in context.
The students practice patterns in drills for habit formation. Some grammatical information can be offered in this stage, but it must be kept to a minimum
The students are allowed to use their textbook for follow-up reading, writing or vocabulary exercises and then are asked to act out similar dialogues – role- plays.
Homework – easy exercises such as gap filling, tick the correct answer, matching.
Features of the Audio-lingual method:
Goals: to use the foreign language communicatively. Teachers should give main importance to the teaching of listening comprehension, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary so that the learners could become orally fluent in the target language.
Roles: learners do not have control over their learning process, they have a sort of reactive role as they imitate the teacher, repeat after him/her and respond quickly and accurately. The teacher is central and very active, controlling the entire process. He/She provides a model of the target language, guides the students and offers rewards for good answers. The teacher is a conductor, a guide and a controller, a model of language.
Teaching/Learning process: this method starts from a linguistic syllabus which presents all the necessary items that have to be acquired, related to phonology, morphology and syntax. Skills are taught in the following order: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The last two skills are formed having as support the oral work. Dialogues and drills are the main teaching and learning activities. With the help of dialogues, grammar and vocabulary are contextualised. Errors are banned and correct answers are immediately valued. The instructional materials are very important and they are mainly teacher-oriented. Textbooks are not useful at the beginning of the course. Later on, they offer students texts of dialogues and cues for drills and other exercises. If the teacher is not a native speaker, he/she has to use a CD player to provide the students with authentic, accurate models for dialogues and drills.
Interaction: most interaction is teacher-student, with the teacher initiating it. Student-student interaction takes place during drills or when acting dialogues.
Dealing with feelings: it does not care about this area.
View of Language/ Culture: structures are broken down into “atoms”, their basic units, every language is a unique system with its own phonology, morphology and syntax. “ Culture includes everyday language and behaviour and ” language and culture cannot be separated. (Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 23)
Aspects of the language emphasised: structures are on the first place and vocabulary is contextualised, but kept to a minimum. Students are expected to master phonology and grammatical patterns; listening and speaking skills are developed first and it is placed greater emphasis on them being followed by reading and writing skills. Correct pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation are in focus.
Role of Students’ Native Language: Students’ native language is perceived as interfering while students are trying to acquire the target language, as a result it is not used in the classroom. Nevertheless, contrastive analysis, in order to show the similarities and the differences between the two languages is considered of great help in order to identify the aspects that might pose problems in the acquisition of the second language.
Means for Evaluation: students are assessed by means of objective tests that are reduced to discrete-point test items where learners have to distinguish between sounds, structures or to fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb.
Response to Students’ Errors: the teacher tries to prevent errors through controlled practice. Errors are seen as bad-habit formation and the teacher should also be aware of the areas that will pose students in difficulty in order to prevent them from making mistakes.
Although it is heavily criticised because of the drilling technique, one cannot deny its contribution to the teaching of foreign languages. Learning vocabulary and grammar in context and the focus on speaking skills paved the way to the emergence of the communicative approach in the 1960s.
2.2.7. The Direct Method
In the 19th century, Gouin tried to build a methodology of second language learning by simulating the natural way in which a child learns his/her mother tongue – this was later called the Natural Approach. It emerged as a reaction against the Grammar Translation Method. According to this method, a foreign language could be learned without translations in the students’ mother tongue, the meaning being rendered through demonstrations, associations and action. Learning a second language should be similar to that of learning one’s first language – language used spontaneously, a lot of speaking interaction, no translations, little or no grammatical analysis. Richard and Rogers (2002: 12) summarised its main principles:
Classroom instruction took place only in the target language and the use of the students’ mother tongue was completely banned.
Vocabulary was formed only of everyday words and structures and the sentence continued to occupy a central position.
Speaking skills were carefully developed in a progressive way, in the form of question-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students who were organised in small, intensive classes.
Grammar was presented inductively.
New teaching points were introduced orally.
Concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, realia, pictures, and abstract words were taught by association of ideas.
Speaking and listening comprehension skills were in focus.
Correct pronunciation and grammar were emphasised, accuracy being very important.
A lesson based on the Direct Method started with the teacher offering some examples/questions and the students trying to work out the rules. Then, the teacher interacted with the students by asking them questions and making them use the acquired structures. He/She corrected the mistakes as accuracy was of primary important.
Features of the Direct Method:
Goals: to communicate and think in the foreign language.
Roles: the teacher is a controller and a guide in the teaching-learning process, but he/she is also a partner of the student.
Teaching/Learning process: the new language is presented directly through mime, realia, pictures, and students are required to make direct associations to identify meaning. Their mother tongue is not allowed in the classroom and they speak a lot in the target language, being engaged in real-life situations of communication. Grammar is presented inductively and the new vocabulary is practiced by making sentences with the new words.
Interaction: there is both teacher-student and student-teacher interaction, initiated by both the teacher and the student. Nevertheless, it is almost always directed by the teacher, even if it is student-initiated.
Dealing with feelings: it does not care about this area.
View of Language and Culture: language is mainly seen as an oral means of communication and not a written one. Aspects of the foreign language culture such as: history, geography, daily life, are also brought into discussion.
Aspects of language emphasised: vocabulary is considered more important than grammar, speaking skills are also emphasised, and the developing of reading and writing skills is based on the oral production. Correct pronunciation is given great importance from the very beginning.
Role of Students’ Mother Tongue: the students’ mother tongue is not used in the classroom at all.
Means of Evaluation: students’ productive skills are assessed via interviews and written assignments.
Response to Students’ Errors: self-correction is promoted (adapted from Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 24).
This method was criticised for a number of reasons:
Firstly, it was not base on any rigorous language theory and relied too much on the teacher language skills. The teacher had to be a native-like fluent speaker in order to be able to cope with all its principles. Secondly, the ban on the use of the first language was counterproductive as teachers spent too much time on offering explanations and giving indications, some language aspects could be clarified in a short period of time if they were to use the students’ first language. Thirdly, there was too much dependence on the teacher who had to keep learners motivated all the time. Students might have felt bored because they did not understand the structures and in that case, the translation of difficult structures could have been more efficient than tiring gestures and lengthy explanations given by the teacher. In addition to this, there was no formal evaluation and some students might have been shy, lacking the courage to ask the teacher questions and interact naturally.
This method was successful in private schools where native-speaking teachers could be employed, students had the possibility to pay for their education and in that way all the necessary materials could be bought, classes included a small number of students and students could learn at their own pace. This method was very difficult to implement in public schools because of the “budget constraints, classroom size, time and the teacher background” (Brown, 2007: 22).
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Direct Method began to decline both in Europe and in the United Stated and a major contribution had the study published as “The Coleman Report”. It was argued that the goal of learning a foreign language was to acquire reading skills, therefore, words and grammatical structures had to be gradually included in reading texts. This interest for the development of the reading skills continued in the US until World War II. Moreover, it was argued that foreign language proficiency cannot be achieved by means of a single teaching method. The interest for this method revived by the middle of the 20th century when it was modified into the Audio-lingual method.
Although it had many drawbacks, the Direct Method was the first method that kept teachers and methodologists attentive and interested in language – teaching methodology.
2.2.8. Situational Language Teaching (Oral Approach)
The Situational Language Teaching is an approach that was developed by the British applied linguists between the 1930s and the 1960s and it was quite influential until the 1980s. The linguistic theory on which it was built was the structural view of language. Speech was considered to be the fundamental aspect of language, and structure was placed in the centre of the speaking activity. Teaching a foreign language meant teaching speech, structures and elementary vocabulary. Grammar was taught inductively, and structures were illustrated from the perspective of the situation in which it occurred. The learner was expected to deduce the meaning of the new words from the context, and he/she was not given the translations or other equivalents in the target language. Learners were supposed to apply what they had already acquired to real life conversations and the teacher’s job was to create meaningful situations where language was used naturally.
Features of the Situational Language Teaching:
Goals: to acquire vocabulary and grammar rules so as to be able to use them accurately in order to develop the four skills at a proficient level, to develop very good pronunciation skills and use of grammar. The main aim is to be able to interact quickly and accurately in speech situations by internalising basic structures and sentence patterns.
Roles: initially, learners have no active role, they have to listen to the teacher and repeat after him/ her, thus they have no control over the learning process. Later, they are encouraged to participate actively, to interact with each other by asking questions and offering answers. Nevertheless, the teacher seems to play a controlling role throughout the stages of the lesson. In the presentation stage the teacher is a model, a manipulator as he/she has to ask questions, give commands, etc to help students elicit meaning. In the practice stage, he/she continues to be a controller although students have a certain degree of freedom while interacting. Identifying mistakes and organising review sessions are of primary importance.
Teaching/Learning process: the syllabus comprises a list of structures and patterns and a list of words that are necessary for teaching the given structures. Meaning is elicited by the teacher by using pictures, gestures, mimics, realia, examples, avoiding explanations and descriptions. Typical activities include guided and chorus repetitions, dictations, drills, oral-based reading and writing tasks. the students are also asked to work in pairs or groups. The textbook is very important since it presents the lessons which are very well organised around grammatical structures. Visual aids represented by wall charts, pictures, realia, flashcards are considered to be crucial for the teaching process. A typical lesson starts with pronunciation practice, followed by a revision. After that, the teacher moves on to the presentation stage – the new material (structures and vocabulary) is presented under the form of a conversation or a short text. Then, the teacher proceeds to the oral practice stage where drills are the main way of helping students to internalise the rules. Finally, a traditional SLT lessons ends with a reading activity or written exercises. The teacher might choose to adopt the P-P-P procedure and opt for a production stage which will include a sort of a free/communicative task.
Interaction: there is both teacher-student and student-teacher interaction, initiated by both the teacher and the student. Nevertheless, it is almost always directed by the teacher, even if it is student-initiated.
Dealing with feelings: it does not care about this area.
View of Language and Culture: language consists of structures which are more important than vocabulary and they are very well graded, both in terms of meaning and form. Moreover, language is firstly seen as a spoken thing and as far as culture is concerned, students are presented with aspects related to the native speakers’ daily life.
Aspects of language emphasised: grammar plays a core role as all the lessons are planned around a grammar structure. Vocabulary includes words used in daily conversations and they are carefully graded, taking into account their “usefulness, frequency and teachability”. Reading and writing activities are based on what has already been presented and correct pronunciation is given great importance from the very beginning.
Role of Students’ Mother Tongue: the students’ mother tongue is not used in the classroom, translations are avoided since students are expected to depict meaning from the context.
Means of Evaluation: tests are quite easy, they include only discrete point items which test students’ knowledge and skills.
Response to Students’ Errors: mistakes should be avoided at all costs as they are seen as bad habit formation, therefore, the teacher corrects the mistakes when they occur.
The P-P-P procedure started to be highly criticised in the 1990s as it was considered to be too teacher-centred and students learned in “straight lines” – from no knowledge to restricted practice and then abruptly to free production, a process which did not seem natural. Johnson (1982 qtd by Harmer, 2007: 66) suggested the deep-end-strategy – students were involved in initial production activities, the teacher spotted their problems and returned to either the presentation or the practice stage. Harmer presents a different trilogy Engage-Study-Activate – firstly, the students are emotionally engaged, secondly, they study the given material and finally, they are encouraged to use all the language they know. The flexibility of this procedure allows for a boomerang procedure EAS. ‘Patchwork’ lessons are also suggested as an alternative to P-P-P – “engaged students are encouraged to activate their knowledge before studying one and then another language element, and then returning to more activating tasks, after which the teacher reengages them before doing some more study” (Harmer, 2007: 66-67)
All in all, the P-P-P procedure seems to be useful when teaching basic grammar points.
The structural and the behaviouristic approaches to language were severely criticised especially by the linguist Noam Chomsky (1959) who claimed that language was not a learnt behaviour, but a complicated system based on rules and learning a language implied learning that system – acquiring the finite system of rules allowed one to produce an infinite number of sentences. Chomsky claimed that children acquired that competence gradually and that permitted them to be creative.
2.2.9. Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative Language Teaching is considered to be an approach rather than a method, it started in the late 1960s and has been in a constant development since then. It departs from the view that learning a language means learning how to communicate in the world outside the classroom. It was influenced by the developments that took place in the field of languages and started from the premise that language means communication. Some of the theories underlying the CLT are:
Noam Chomsky’s generative grammar and view of the language: language is not a form of behaviour but an intricate rule-based system and acquiring a language means learning that system. Knowing the finite number of grammatical rules enables one to produce an infinite number of sentences, this is called competence that a learner acquires gradually.
Hymes’s theory of the communicative competence- to become communicatively competent a learner has to acquire both knowledge about the language and the ability to use the language.
Halliday’s functional perspective on language use – learning a second language implies acquiring the linguistic means to perform different kinds of functions.
Henry Widdowson view on the communicative nature of language – people use language for different purposes.
Canale and Swain (1980 qtd Richards and Rodgers, 2002: 160) identified four dimensions of the communicative competence: grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence and strategic competence.
J. Austin and J. Searle Speech Act Theory which draws attention to the relationship between language and its users, “from habit formation to the real intended meaning (Murar and Trantescu, 2016: 27).
Hymes, Austin and Halliday consider grammar as being both semantic and functional and as the study of linguistic forms realizing meaning, the so-called Systemic – Functional Grammar and the Communicative Language Teaching method takes into consideration the functional view of the language.
R. Mitchell (1994: 38-39 qtd by Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 27-28) lists the main characteristics of the communicative approach.
1. The teacher should choose activities that maximize opportunities for learners to use the target language for meaningful purposes, learners should pay attention to the message they are creating and the task they are involved in rather than on the correctness of language and language structure.
2. Errors are obvious since learners try their best to use the foreign language creatively and unpredictably, therefore, constant correction is unnecessary, and even counterproductive.
3. Analysing language and giving grammar explanations might benefit some learners but extensive experience of the target language use helps everybody.
4. The teaching process should be in accordance with the needs and interests of the individual learner.
5. Learners engage actively in the learning process and take increasing responsibility for their own progress.
6. The teacher facilities the learning process, does not control it.
Richard and Rogers (2002: 174) summarise the principles on which the CLT is based:
Learners acquire a foreign language by communicating in the target language.
Authentic and meaningful communication represents the objectives of all the classroom activities.
Fluency is of primary importance.
Communication means the combination of different language skills.
Learning involves creating language and this includes trial and error.
According to Grenfell and Harris (1999: 21 qtd. by Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 28-29) the CLT approach is widely accepted because of the following attributes:
The status of the foreign language in the classroom. The entire instructional process takes place in the target language, but translations may be used if they are beneficial for the students or if they need it.
Attitude to error – there is gentle correction of the major errors. Teachers are tolerant to students’ errors as they are a natural part of the learning process.
Authenticity of language – the teaching materials have to be authentic or real-like and teachers have to choose activities that replicate real communication. The materials bring students into contact with the culture of the target language and are motivating. The characteristics of a communicative activity are: they stimulate the students’ desire to communicate, have a communicative purpose, students focus on the content not on the form, include a variety of language, there is no teacher intervention or material control.
Spoken and written language are treated a separate entities and there are specific techniques for teaching each of them.
Practice vs. real world – even if the environment is not authentic, it allows meaningful interaction.
Characteristics of the CLT approach:
Goals: to be able to communicate in the target language; to use the language correctly, in accordance with the social context, therefore the organisational aspects of language (grammatical, discourse aspects) are combined with the pragmatic ones ( functional, sociolinguistic, functional aspects. ) ; to be able to negotiate meaning; to focus on all the components of the communicative competence;
Roles: the students are active participants in their own learning process and they are meaning negotiators; the learning process is learner-centred, cooperative and collaborative. The teacher is a facilitator who coordinates the students’ linguistic development by encouraging them to construct meaning while interacting with the other students and the teacher. He/She is also a needs analyst as the teaching process has to respond to the students’ needs. He/She has to find out information about the students’ learning styles, assets and goals. The teacher is also a counsellor and a group process manager, he/she organises the classroom, monitors, encourages, provides students with vocabulary, grammar and strategy when they are at a loss for words.
Teaching/Learning process: the CLT approach allows for a wide range of communicative activities. They should engage students in communication and require the use of communicative processes such as information sharing, negotiation of meaning and interaction. They include tasks such as: comparing sets of pictures and noting similarities and differences, discovering missing features in a picture, giving and following different instructions, conversations, discussions, dialogues, role-plays, simulations, skits, improvisations, debates, etc. Communication comprises a wide range of functions, notions, topics and situations. The teacher should choose topics that students are familiar with as this motives and keeps them interested in the task.
Authentic materials: the teacher has to use materials that students will encounter in the real life such as: newspapers, magazines, instructions of usage, guidebooks, advertisements, recipes, videos, literary texts. These can be exploited in a number of ways, they should be beyond the students’ level of proficiency as this will encourage them to predict and infer the meanings of the new words. Authentic materials are motivating and interesting, they partly substitute for the community of native speakers, they should be up-to-date, real, related to the learners’ sphere of interest, “that is why, changing texts and materials regularly keeps the teacher on toes and pupils interested” (Murar and Trantescu, 2016: 32). The main role of the materials is to encourage communicative use of the language.
The textbook has to be only a framework for the lesson and the teacher should use his/her creativity to improve it according to the needs of the students. It is only a tool, a starting point, and it should not be used from cover to cover.
Within the CLT approach, materials are of three types: text-based- coursebooks, task-based – cue-cards, activity cards, pair communication materials which can be used in games, role-plays, simulations and realia (authentic “from life” materials) – the most important ones.
Grammar is still taught but in a less systematic way since there is “an emphasis on meaning and using the language rather than on structure and form of the language” (Lindsay et al. 2006: 20). Nevertheless, grammar is still a necessity because lack of grammatical knowledge will lead to breakdowns in communication. This approach focuses both on fluency and accuracy, which are seen as complementary principles. Sometimes, fluency is given more importance than accuracy to keep the learners “meaningfully engaged in language use”, at other times, students are encouraged “to attend to correctness” and the teacher offers them the necessary feedback on their errors (Brown, 2007: 46). The students acquire language by using it, struggling to communicate and they learn grammar and vocabulary in context.
The use of visual stimuli – flashcards, overhead projectors – encourage creative and spontaneous use of the language.
Skills – the four skills are developed simultaneously since this is how they occur in real-life conversations, and oral and written activities may be used from the beginning.
Procedure – it is difficult to present a standard procedure for this approach because of the wide variety of activities that can be used, tasks must encourage students to acquire the skills necessary for communication in “unrehearsed contexts outside the classroom” (ibidi.: 46). Here are some teaching models that teachers may use:
The Presentation – Practice – Production procedure – firstly, the new language is presented, secondly, the learners practice it in a controlled way – for example, controlled pair work practicing similar dialogues, and finally, the learners produce language creatively and spontaneously in free activities.
The Test – Teach – Test procedure can be used when the teacher is not sure if the students are familiar with a certain item of language. Firstly, the students perform a task and the teacher monitors and notes down the problems, then, based on the results, the teacher decides which areas need improvement and devises an activity to help students improve that language area.
Interaction: at first, the teacher initiates interactions between students and after that students actively interact with each other through pair or group work. Sometimes, the teacher also works alongside the students.
Dealing with feelings: the teacher has to keep students motivated all the time through meaningful tasks, interesting, new, up-to-date materials. Individuality and cooperation with peers are both encouraged and this provides them emotional security. The students are given the opportunity to concentrate on their own learning process, to identify their strengths, weaknesses, preferences, learning styles, to develop their own strategies for producing and comprehending the target language. It helps them to become autonomous learners and develop life-long learning skills.
View of language and culture: language is a medium for communication and communication has a social purpose. The teacher has to encourage students to develop their cultural awareness. The cultural awareness is based on knowledge of the foreign culture, but also on the knowledge of one's own culture and any process of comparison or contrasting has its starting point in the learner's pre-knowledge. Learners should have the ability to use the language in socially and culturally appropriate ways.
Pulverness (2003) argues that, “ what enables people to communicate effectively is not simply reduced to linguistic items, but the pragmatic knowledge that dictates the choice of appropriate forms. This knowledge, if not culturally determined, is at least culturally conditioned. It includes such factors as forms of address, the expression of politeness , etc.” Therefore, the teacher has to bring culture into the language classroom which makes the teaching process even more challenging.
Aspects of language emphasised: learning a foreign language means learning to perform different communicative functions, as a result, functions must come first and then forms. Students learn simple forms for each function and then move to more complex ones and all the skills are taught from the very beginning.
Role of students’ native language: the students’ mother tongue is not ignored, it can be used whenever the explanations in the target language are time-consuming, translation is also accepted, but the teacher should use the target language as extensively as possible.
Means for evaluation:
-informal evaluation – the teacher gives advice to students, and feedback on the correct use of language.
– formal evaluation : – the teacher administers integrative texts having a real communicative function.
Response to students’ errors: errors are a natural part of the learning process. It is obvious that students make mistakes while trying to use the language creatively and spontaneously, and as long as the learner manages to get his/her message across, the teacher should not interfere to correct his/her mistakes, it is a discreet, gentle correction. Constant correction is considered unnecessary, demotivating and counter-productive.
Even if the CLT approach is very widely used in foreign language teaching all over the world, there are some problems associated with it. Cora Lindsay and Paul Knight (2006: 23) listed some of them:
The accent on pair and group work can raise some problems especially among adult learners who consider that talking to other L2 speakers is a waste of time.
Native speakers can easily become teachers even if they do not know much about the language.
Sometimes, teachers can place too much emphasis on speaking and listening.
Treating language as separate units – vocabulary, grammar, functions and the four skills can be misleading because communication in real life implies using all of them simultaneously.
Learners do not necessarily learn what they are taught.
2.2.10. Task-Based Learning
Task-Based Learning is an approach that places tasks in the centre of the leaning process. Students are supposed to acquire the new language while trying to complete meaningful tasks in which they attempt both to express themselves and to understand the others. Instead of working out language structures and functions, learners are presented with a task that they have to perform. Harmer (2007: 71) states that it is a kind of ‘deep-end’ strategy or a sort of ‘PPP upside down’. More precisely, students are presented with a task they have to complete and only after they do it, will the teacher discuss vocabulary, structures, make corrections and adjustments, taking into account the problems that the students have encountered.
Nevertheless, there is a controversy around this approach: some researchers (Kumaravadivelu, 2006 qtd by Richards &Rodgers, 2002: 50) see it as a different method whereas others (Ellis, 2003 qtd by Richards &Rodgers, 2002: 50) claim that it is, in fact, part of the Communicative Language Teaching approach. The word ‘task’ has also a lot of definitions, it sometimes can be the same as a technique, but in other cases it can include several techniques. A task can be simply defined as “an activity which requires learners to use language, with emphasis on meaning, to attain an objective” (Bygate, Skehan & Swain, 2001: 11 qtd by Richards &Rodgers, 2002: 50).
David Nunan (2010: 137) claims that it is important to make a distinction between target tasks and pedagogical tasks. A target tasks represents what the students “will do with the language in the world outside the classroom”. For example booking a room at a hotel could be considered a target task. On the other hand, a pedagogical task “describes what learners do in the classroom to activate and develop their language skills”. For instance, listening to a person booking a room, answering comprehension questions, analysing language, modelling a dialogue and finally doing a role playing activity simulating the booking of a hotel room, are all pedagogical tasks.
Nunan (2010: 152) points out that a pedagogical sequence should include seven steps:
Create a number of schema building tasks that introduce initial vocabulary, language and context for the task.
Give learners controlled practice in the target language vocabulary, structures and functions.
Give learners authentic listening practice.
Focus learners on linguistic elements – grammar, vocabulary.
Provide freer practice such as role-plays, information- gap activities.
Pedagogical task – simulate the target task.
Focus on the learning process- learners reflect on the instructional cycle, revise language, self-evaluate themselves.
Willis (1996: 53 qtd by Harmer, 2007: 71) presents a format which is a little bit different. He illustrates a three-stage lesson: the pre-task stage when the teacher introduces the topic and the task by presenting language structures, for example; the task cycle stage which includes three sub-stages – task, planning and report. The students perform the task while the teacher monitors without interfering, then they plan how to report to the class and after that they present what they have done either orally or in writing. And the last stage, the language focus stage, which includes two stages analysis and practice – students examine the text or discuss about the language used. There are also methodologists who propose other stages and this leads to a sort of confusion about what Task- Based Instruction means.
Richards and Rodgers (2002: 52) lists the main characteristics of this approach:
Tasks are realistic as students are asked to perform activities that they will be able to apply in real-world contexts.
Tasks have a communicative goal.
The steps are carefully designed in order to achieve the goals.
The objectives are clearly expressed and the task can be easily assessed depending on its completion.
Learners are motivated and actively engaged in problem-solving activities.
At the basis of the TBL approach, there are some theories of language:
Language is seen as a means of communication, a means of creating meaning which represents, in fact, the outcome of the task.
The structural, functional and interactional aspects of language are emphasised.
Vocabulary, which includes lexical phrases, sentences, collocations, phrasal verbs, idioms, plays a central role both in language use and language learning.
Being able to speak the foreign language is the goal of this method, as most of the tasks involve communication.
As far as the theories of learning are concerned the majority of them are the same as in the case of CLT:
Tasks offer both the output and the input that are necessary for learning a foreign language. “Tasks are supposed to be the pivot for stimulation of input-output practice, negotiation of meaning, and transactionally focused conversation.” (ibidi.)
Tasks are carefully designed, with a degree of difficulty to make learners develop both language fluency and accuracy (language awareness) and to determine them to be aware of certain language forms used in the given contexts.
Characteristics of the TBL approach:
Goals: to be able to communicate accurately and effectively in the target language; to be able to comprehend, manipulate, produce and interact, negotiate meaning in the target language; to focus on all the components of the communicative competence;
Roles: learners assume a variety of roles. Some of them are the same as those within the CLT and others are specific as they emerge while students are engaged in solving the task. Therefore, the students’ main roles are: group participant, monitor – students are given the opportunity to observe how language works in communication, risk-taker and innovator – learners create language and involve in communicative tasks without having prior experience. The teacher has the same roles as he/she has within the CLT. Therefore, he/she is mainly a facilitator of the teaching process. Nevertheless, the teacher also assumes some roles that are specific to the TBL approach, namely: selector and sequencer of tasks- the teacher selects, creates, adapts the tasks so as to be suitable to the learners’ needs, interests, skills, preparing learners for tasks, and consciousness-raising – draws the learners’ attention to the features of the language.
Teaching/Learning process: tasks are in the centre of the learning process, they have to illustrate a communicative activity similar to those encountered in real life and they must be meaningful in order to motivate learners. Unlike conventional language syllabuses which present the content of a course under headings such as : language structures, functions, topics and themes, macro-skills, competencies, vocabulary, etc, the syllabus within TBL should present only two types of tasks:
Real-world tasks – students practice tasks that will be useful for them in various contexts outside the classroom.
Pedagogical tasks – which do not necessary illustrate real-world tasks (Nunan, 1989 qtd by Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 231).
Honeyfield (qtd ibidi.: 232) presents some criteria that teachers should take into account when ordering tasks:
Procedures – what the learner should do in order to be able to derive output from input
Input text
Output required
Language items: vocabulary, structures
Macro-skills and subskills
Topic content
Text handling and conversation strategies
Amount and type of help offered
Roles of teachers and learners
Time allowed
Motivation
Confidence
Learning styles
This list proves the difficulty of creating appropriate tasks.
As far as the type of tasks is concerned, there have been various classifications. Some of the most common are: tasks which involve listing, ordering, comparing, problem solving, sharing personal experiences, creative tasks, jigsaw tasks, information-gap tasks, decision-making tasks, opinion exchanges.
The instructional materials also play a very important role as authentic materials are at the basis of the tasks. Among the most frequent realia we can list: newspapers, television, the Internet. The textbook is only a simple resource, the teacher should be able to adapt the task according to the learners’ level and aims and be creative. As we have previously mentioned, lessons can be planned following more than one procedure, it cannot be said that there is a standard pattern.
Interaction: at first, the teacher initiates interactions between students and after that students actively interact with each other through pair or group work.
Dealing with feeling: keeping students motivated and engaged is vital for language acquisition, so tasks are meaningful, interesting, likely to be encounter in real-life situations and the teaching materials are, of course, authentic. By cooperating with their peers, students feel active and this also provides emotional security. At the end of the lesson they are given the opportunity to reflect on their performance and identify their strengths and weaknesses. This helps them to become autonomous learners and develop life-long learning skills.
View of language and culture: language is almost synonymous to speaking, it is a medium for communication and tasks have to increase the learners’ cultural awareness since students can be required to reflect upon different experiences, lifestyles or social realities.
Aspects of language emphasised: Grammar is contextualised whereas vocabulary is in the centre. Nonetheless, tasks are designed so as to give students the opportunity to see how language works and become aware of certain patterns and rules. Learners have to use the four skills simultaneously as they try to create and negotiate meaning, but there is a certain emphasis on speaking skills.
Role of students’ native language: the students’ mother tongue is not forbidden, but it should be used selectively, for example, at a beginner or an intermediate level, the teacher can use the students’ mother tongue to give task clarifications, instructions, to explain meaning or complex ideas or grammar points, but he/she should pay attention in order not to overuse it.
Means for evaluation: the teacher provides feedback on the students’ performance and peer and self-assessment are encouraged. The students are assessed in accordance with the way in which the task has been carried out, taking into account the results of the task and the language they have used. This assessment is not done through tests but by giving students follow-up activities
Response to students’ errors: in TBL teaching, “error correction is done through recasts or modelling by giving brief grammar explanations” and the post-task analysis is a stage in which students and peers reflect about their mistakes and the teacher offers further comments (Freeman & Anderson, 2011: 157).
Harmer (2007: 73) and Lora Lindsay & Knight (2006: 24-25) discuss some problems related to this approach:
It is not clearly known what TBL means.
It is unacceptable to place tasks at the basis of “an entire pedagogical methodology.”
Leaning a foreign language means more than “just learning ‘work’ language.”
Learners may improve the knowledge that they already have and fail to acquire new language.
It requires a lot of time and many state schools have only two or three hours a week, therefore teachers have to make sure that students acquire the necessary vocabulary. They do not have time to wait until they encounter all those words in communicative tasks.
When producing language, learners have to think to form and meaning simultaneously and this may “overload their system” and as a consequence they will acquire less language.
The language the students acquire depends on how they perform the task, they may avoid using the new language and use only the language they are confident of.
Learners might feel that they are not learning anything since there is no formal input.
Interacting with other L2 speakers may be seen as a waste of time.
2.2.11. Alternative Approaches and Methods
2.2.11.1 Cooperative Language Learning
The Cooperative Language Learning is an approach that promotes group learning activities in a cooperative environment not a competitive one, students work together, exchange information, help each other in order to achieve the goals. They are responsible for their own learning and also motivate the others in the group. This approach is supposed to:
Create positive relationships among students
Promote intrinsic motivation;
Reduce anxiety and prejudice;
Help students acquire the second language in a natural way;
The interactive tasks help students to reflect upon particular structures and language functions;
Create opportunities for developing conversational skills;
Enhance learners’ development psychologically and cognitively;
It is based on the following theories of language:
Communication is considered to be the main aim of a language;
Conversation is the most important activity since people spent a lot of time engaging in conversations;
While communicating, people follow a set of cooperative rules or “maxims” (Grice, 1975) and these rules can be acquired through participation in cooperative activities.
In CCL tasks, learners focus on both language forms and functions.
As far as the theories of learning are concerned, this approach draws on the work of the developmental psychologists Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky which indicates that learning is the central aim of social interaction. Therefore, within the CCL, learners develop their communicative competence by “conversing in socially or pedagogically structured situations” (Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 194). In addition to this, CCL wants to develop the students’ critical thinking skills that are at the basis of any type of learning.
Features of CCL:
Goals: to develop learners’ communicative competence through cooperative activities not competitive ones, to develop critical thinking skills, to secure a tension-free learning environment.
Roles: the learners have a lot of roles as group members so they have to acquire teamwork skills and are responsible for their own learning, thus, they should be able to plan, monitor and evaluate themselves. They are also tutors, checkers, recorders and information sharers within their group.
The teacher is firstly an organiser, as he/she has to provide a well-organised learning environment, he/ she has to set goals, plan and structure the activities very carefully, organise the group of students and establish their roles, choose the teaching materials and manage time. Secondly, the teacher is a facilitator, while the students work in groups, the teacher moves around the class interacts with them, gives clarifications, supports, encouragees learners, manages conflicts, etc.
Teaching/Learning process: Coelho (1992b: 132 qtd. Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 197-198) identifies three major types of cooperative learning tasks:
Team-practice from common input – skills development and mastery of facts:
All students have the same learning material.
The teacher presents the new material.
The task is that all the students in the group have to be able to answer the given questions, to explain how that answer was obtained. Since every student wants his/her team to perform well, they coach and tutor each other.
It is a good technique for revision work or practice tests.
The group is not fixed, students can change groups every day.
Jigsaw – differentiated but predetermined input – evaluation and synthesis of facts and opinions:
Each group is given a different piece of material;
Students with the same material regroup to master it and be able to teach it to their colleagues.
Students return to their groups and present the information
Students make a synthesis through discussions.
Each student prepares an assignment or takes a test in order to demonstrate their understanding of the whole material.
Cooperative projects: topics/ resources selected by the students
Each group may choose a different topic;
They find out subtopics for each member of the group;
Students study the topic and search information;
Students gather all the information and make a group presentation and then show and describe the project to the whole class;
The teaching materials are paramount as they facilitate student cooperation and are specifically created for this method. The teacher can modify the existing materials or borrow them from other school subjects. Language proficiency and academic content are developed in parallel.
Interactions: At first the teacher initiates interactions and then students intensely interact with each other.
Dealing with feelings: the CLL tries to keep students motivated all the time by having them perform meaningful and purposeful tasks in the target language while cooperating with peers. It mainly encourages group interdependence as learners help each other, but it also accounts for individuality.
View of language and culture: language is mainly used for conversations and oral communication is the most important. In order to be able to communicate successfully in the target language, learners have to work both on language forms and functions. Culture is the everyday life of the native speakers.
Aspects of language emphasised: while being engaged in communicative activities students work out the four skills, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. The activities are systematic and carefully planned by following the procedures of group-based activities. They should promote:
Positive interdependence – students learn by helping each other
Group formation
Individual accountability
Social skills
Structuring and Structures – referring to the manner in which student interaction is organised.
Among the most common activities we can list: jigsaw activities, cooperative projects, interviews, roundtable, solve-pair-share, numbered heads, etc.
Role of Students’ Mother Tongue: the students’ mother tongue is not banned, but the problem is that learners can be tempted to overuse their native language especially at lower levels. That is way, teachers should heavily encourage the use of the second language as this will provide more L2 output and help students develop their fluency.
Means of evaluation: students are evaluated through tests and tasks and they have to demonstrate the understanding of the information presented.
Response to Students’ Errors: the teacher corrects the major mistakes as students are allowed to develop their communicative skills by being creative and spontaneous. While trying to do this they are expected to make mistakes which are seen as part of the learning process.
Critics to this approach argue that since there are learners with different levels of proficiency, some students may gain more advantages than others; there is a lot of work on the part of the teacher as he/ she has to assume a lot of roles; students’ different learning styles and personalities may lead to problems and there is too much dependence on the students’ mother tongue; they can be very difficult to monitor especially large classes, where students could be tempted to overuse their native language.
2.2.11.2. Content – Based Instruction
The Content-Based Instruction is an approach in which the teaching process implies the transmission of informational content that students will acquire; it does not involve the actual teaching of language. Brown offers the following definition: “Through CBI, language becomes the medium to convey informational content of interest and relevance to the learner. Language takes on its appropriate role as a vehicle for accomplishing a set of content goals” (2007: 55).
It has at its basis the principles of Communicative Language Teaching, more precisely, learners have to engaged in real communication and exchange information on topics that are not part of the domain of language, they do not study grammar or functions, for example, but real-world contents. In this way they acquire language naturally.
Features of the CBI:
Goals: the objectives of this approach are the same as those of the content course. If the objectives of the content course are attained, than the language learning objectives are supposed to be achieved too.
Roles: the students assume a lot of roles that will help them become autonomous learners, they will take on an active role, will learn by doing, will be mainly involved in collaborative activities and should be willing to offer their help to the rest of the group. They will learn to be open to uncertainty, will want to try different learning strategies, will have to interpret information.
This approach is also challenging for the teacher because not only does he/she have to be a good language teacher but also have knowledge in the given content.
Stryker and Leaver (1993: 293 qtd by Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 214) present some essential skills for any CBI teacher:
Varying the format of classroom instruction;
Using group word and team-building techniques;
Organising jigsaw reading arrangements;
Defining the background knowledge and language skills required for student success;
Helping students develop coping strategies;
Using a process approach to writing;
Using appropriate error correction techniques;
Developing and maintaining high levels of students esteem;
View of language and Culture: language is in fact a medium for learning content, it is part of a broad curriculum. Fluency is more important than accuracy and errors are a natural part of language learning. Learners develop fluency in the foreign language by communicating for a variety of purposes and reading is the essential skill.
Aspects of language emphasised:
The CBI draws on the following theories of language:
Language is a means for acquiring content – the teaching process focuses on the way in which meaning and information are communicated and constructed, this means that learners study textual and discourse structure of written texts.
Communication implies the use of several skills simultaneously as it happens in the real world. Grammar is not perceived as a separate component of language, but as an element of other skills. Topic – courses add coherence and continuity as language is used in connected discourse rather than in isolation. ”They seek to bring together knowledge, language and thinking skills.” (Richards and Rodgers, 2002: 208) The teacher may choose to present grammar, but he/she should choose relevant structures that are in accordance with the topic.
Language is used for specific purposes: academic, vocational, social or recreational ”but it gives direction, shape and ultimately meaning to discourse and texts” (ibidi). This makes learners feel motivated and engaged.
The theories of learning underlying the CBI are the following:
Students learn the language if it is presented in a meaningful, contextualised form, and serves for acquiring information.
Students successfully learn a foreign language if the information to be acquired is interesting, useful and helping to achieve the desired aims. If the content is perceived as relevant and if learners focus on something else rather than language, they will feel more motivated.
Some subject matters promote language learning and are more useful than others.
Students learn best if the teaching process is responsive to their needs.
Teaching builds on the learners’ previous experience – the teacher starts form the knowledge that the students possess about the given topic.
Teaching/Learning process:
The syllabus of a CBI course is derived from the content area and the teaching activities envisage:
– The improvement of language skills
– Vocabulary building
– Discourse organisation
– Communicative interaction
– Study skills
– Synthesis of content materials and grammar
The teaching materials are representative for the teaching content, they should be authentic, the same as those used by the native-language instruction. In addition to this, the teacher can bring into class newspapers, magazines, tourist guidebooks, timetables, radio and TV broadcast – those materials that have not been designed for teaching purposes.
Within this approach, both language proficiency and academic content are developed simultaneously, second language acquisition is included within the content area, the teacher should create the necessary conditions for appropriate input and the goals are successfully achieved through cooperative learning in small groups where learners have different levels of proficiency.
Richards and Rodgers (2002: 219) present the procedure of a CBI lesson, although it may vary a lot depending on the teaching content.
Linguistic analysis – grammar and vocabulary discussions based on students’ previous presentations.
Preparation for film – vocabulary discussions
Viewing it
Discussion of the film
Discussion of the reading
Discussion about the topic
Preparation of articles
Presentation of articles
Wrap-up discussions.
Interaction: there is teacher –student interaction and then student-student interaction; the teacher guides students for a better understanding of the subject-specific content, fosters the development of the students’ communicative competence in a foreign language and the integrated learning of content and language, as well as he/she promotes a more active students’ participation in content-rich contexts. Therefore, the teacher initiates interactions with the course content and between students and after that they are encouraged to interact with each other. Dealing with feelings: the teacher has to provide emotional support in the classroom and create a safe environment where students can develop a positive self-image through their interactions both with the teacher and the peers.
Role of Students’ Mother Tongue: the students’ native language plays no role.
Means for Evaluation: evaluation has the same objectives as traditional assessment, learners are assessed through tests that evaluate their acquisition of the course content and also their language skills. Teachers evaluate the learning objectives first, then, content, skills and language. Not everything is assessed. There is initial evaluation, evaluation during the learning process and summative evaluation. The Students are also encouraged to form self-assessment skills in order to become autonomous learners. There is a combination of formal and informal assessment which are both task- and assignment-based. The learners are aware of the instruments and criteria of assessment and the language should be assessed for a real purpose in a real context. Therefore, both accuracy and fluency matter.
Response to Students’ Errors: the teacher corrects mistakes as they occur or later at the end of the task.
At present, Content- Based Instruction is known as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and has gained a lot of popularity within the context of the European Union’s expansion and has several advantages:
Introduce the wider cultural context;
Prepare for internationalisation;
Access International Certification and enhance the school profile;
Improve overall and specific language competence;
Prepare for future studies and / or working life;
Develop multilingual interests and attitudes;
Diversify of methods and forms of classroom teaching and learning;
Increase the learners’ motivation;
CLIL represents long-term learning; students become academically proficient in English after 5-7 years in a good bilingual programme.
Several other models of CBI have emerged: theme-based instruction – language remains the main objective of the course but there is special attention given to relevant themes which are the starting point for teaching language; sheltered content instruction – the teacher of a school subject such as geography changes the content of a course so as to make in accessible to L2 learners; sustained-content language teaching – students concentrate on a single topic and on the language learning too.
2.2.11.3. The Lexical Approach
The Lexical Approach places lexis in the centre of the teaching-learning process, leaving from the premises that language means words and words combinations; it does not consist of traditional grammar or vocabulary, but of ”multi-word prefabricated chunks” which include collocations, idioms, fixed and semi-fixed phrases (Harmer, 2007: 74). This approach was first mentioned by Dave Willis (1990), but it became popular due to Michael Lewis (1997). According to this method, teachers should not teach syntax or tenses and vocabulary that fit within the given grammatical patterns, but they should teach set phrases so that students can observe how words combine. Thus the lexicon is given central attention in the process of learning and communication. For example, if the teacher wants to present students with the verb ”will” for future, he/she should ask students to observe its use in a set of phrases such as I’ll give you a ring, I’ll be in touch, instead of teaching explicit grammar (Lewis 1993: 97 qtd by Harmer, 2007: 74).
Input is considered to play a vital role, and only by being exposed to suitable input will the students be able to expand their vocabulary, not by formal teaching. Moreover, vocabulary is acquired, not taught.
Contrary to Chomsky’s theory, which argues that by acquiring a finite set of rules, the learner can produce an infinite number of sentences, the Lexical Approach is based on the theory that only a few number of utterances are new creations, the rest are “memorized patterns”. Certain patterns are suitable in certain situations and in order to understand communication, the learners should know which patterns are used in the given situations (from Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 133).
Lewis (2000 qtd by Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 134) formulates five assumptions about the learning theory in the Lexical Approach:
If learners find the new items several times in different contexts, then, they will acquire them.
Observing lexical chucks is necessary but not enough to transform input into intake.
Observing similarities, differences, restrictions and examples is sufficient to transform input into intake; the explicit presentation of rules is useless.
Acquiring language does not mean memorizing rules, but analysing a lot of examples in order to be able to make generalisations.
No linear syllabus can adequately reflect the nonlinear nature of acquisition.
The teacher talk is one of the main sources of language input and he/she should be able to manage the three stages of the lesson Task, Planning and Report. He/She should be able to create a favourable environment for the learners to manage to work properly and be in charge with their own learning. The learner is seen as a discoverer and the teacher should be able to conduct the students through the whole process of lexical analysis which includes stages such as “observation, classification and generalization.” (Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 136)
Typical activities are those that ask learners to focus on certain phrase components, such as underlying nouns in a text and after that identifying all the verbs that collocate with them, adding intensifiers to set-phrases, etc. Those activities are designed to have students analyse the lexical collocations and after that help them retain and use the structures. The teaching materials include: textbooks, CDs, collections of vocabulary teaching activities, printout version of computer corpora collections, computer concordance programmes for students to observe how the words collocate in authentic texts. The learners should be able to identify collocations both in classroom activities and in the world outside of the classroom and they are encouraged to become autonomous learners.
Hill (2000: 20-21 qtd by Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 138) suggests a three-staged classroom procedure that teachers can follow:
Teaching individual collocations;
Making students aware of the collocations;
Enriching students’ knowledge by adding information about collocation restrictions;
Storing collocations by having students keep a lexical notebook.
Harmer (2007: 75) points out certain problems related to this approach:
It has not been explained yet how the learning of collocations leads to the understanding of the language system.
Another problem is related to the choice of the language chucks, as learners have to be exposed to suitable input.
The lexical approach does not have some sets of procedures that could make it different from the other approaches.
2.2.11.4. Multiple Intelligences
This approach was designed by Howard Gardner (1993) and it is based on the principle that all the people have eight types of intelligences which make them different as each one has a certain type of intelligence more powerful than the others, and the intelligences combine differently from a person to another.
The eight intelligences are:
Linguistic – the ability to use language creatively;
Logical/mathematical: the ability to think logically.
Spatial: the ability to form mental models of the world.
Musical: have a good ear for music.
Bodily/kinaesthetic: have a well-coordinated body.
Interpersonal: the ability to work with people.
Intrapersonal: the ability to understand oneself.
Naturalist: the ability to understand and organise patterns of nature.
There have also been identified other types of intelligences such as Emotional, Mechanical and Practical. According to this approach, learners are different and the teacher should design teaching activities that are suitable for the wide range of students that exist in the classroom. He/She should be aware of the learners’ strengths and weaknesses and use appropriate activities so as to enable all the students to attain their goals.
Its main features are the following:
Goals: the MI pedagogy has only general objectives in language classes, it “aims at making the learner a better designer of his/her own learning experience and there is no explicit syllabus” (Richards and Rodgers, 2002: 120). Learners are supposed to become fluent speakers in a relatively short period of time and develop their memory ability so as to become good at assimilating large quantities of new material and be able to select and use it while interacting.
Roles: the teachers assume a lot of roles – they design the curriculum, the lessons, and they are analysts, inventors of activities that have to suit a great number of intelligences, their task being, in fact, to help learners develop their second language learning and also their intelligences. Learners should have an active role both in their second language learning process and in the process of their personality development. They should become aware of their intelligences, how they function, how to use and develop them. Activities are designed “to support the development of the whole person” and to help them become “more successful learners in general” (ibidi.).
View of language and culture: the language is not seen only from a linguistic perspective, it includes all the aspects of communication. According to this approach the learning of a foreign language implies carrying out a wide range of tasks where different intelligence frames interact.
Aspects of language emphasised: all the areas are developed since working with the Multiple Intelligences requires the use of all the skills.
Teaching/Learning process: a lesson based on this approach has four stages:
Stage 1: Awaken the Intelligence – activities that envisage multisensory experiences – smelling, touching, tasting, etc
Stage 2: Amplifying the Intelligence – learners choose and define with others the context of experience of the events.
Stage 3: Teach with/for the Intelligence – activities that imply language learning – worksheets, group projects and discussions.
Stage 4: Transfer of the Intelligence – students reflect on their learning experiences and make correlations with the real world (Lazear: 1991 qtd by Richards and Rodgers, 2002: 118).
The teacher designs activities where students have to work alone, in pairs or small groups. As teaching materials, he/she mainly uses realia. Richards and Rodgers (2002: 121) present a wide range of language activities classified according to the corresponding intelligence.
Interactions: there are various forms of interaction depending on the intelligence that it is worked on. Thus, there can be teacher-students interaction, student-teacher, student-student interaction and whole class interaction.
Dealing with feeling: the Students’ feelings are very important. The teacher has the possibility to choose from a wide range of activities and materials so as to keep them motivated and permanently encourages them to develop their intelligences. Students feel confident because they learn the language at their own pace and on their own way.
Role of Students’ mother tongue : it is not used, it is forbidden.
Means of evaluation: there are no formal tests, as it is considered that tests are of little use since they cannot offer an accurate picture of the students’ multiple intelligences. Nevertheless, the teacher asks them to perform a certain task and observes their skill level which is in the process of developing. Gardner (2008 qtd. by Ali Derakhshan & Maryam Faribi, 2015: 66) believes that the classical short-answer examination is of little use. Instead, he is interested in asking people to do things and to observe their skill level in the task under construction. Moreover, this principle is also promoted by Armstrong who states that “There is no test on the market that can provide a comprehension survey of your students’ multiple intelligences. The single best tool for testing students` multiple intelligences, however, is probably one readily available to all of us is observation” (2008, qtd. by Ali Derakhshan & Maryam Faribi, 2015: 66).
This approach has certain advantages:
Learners feel more engaged and motivated as they use their own way of learning a language and it is in accordance with their intelligence strengths.
Students’ regular reflections on their own learning help them form self-assessment skills and become autonomous learners.
Students’ increasing engagement and success motivate teachers and this makes them keep up-to-date and be in a constant search for innovative teaching techniques.
However, Brown (2007: 58) lists some problems related with this approach:
Some intelligences are culturally biased or opposed to the educational practices.
Some argue that it is not based on rigorous theories.
Intelligences interfere with each other and if the lesson is not carefully planned, activities are mixed up.
Students may find it difficult to identify their predominant intelligence.
2.2.11.5 Competency – Based Language Teaching
The Competency Based Education was firstly developed in the USA in the 1970s and it is not an approach or a method but an educational movement that focuses on outcomes of learning, on what the student is expected to achieve at the end of the course. The practical realisation of the Competency Based Education is the Competency Based Language Teaching. Its main characteristic is the flexibility of the teaching process as the teacher adapts it according to the changing needs of the students and students are expected to develop skills that will be useful for them in their everyday life.
Main features:
Goals: to help students develop their communicative language skills, acquire knowledge and be able to select it while engaging in real life conversations.
Roles: the teacher is mainly a facilitator and not an informant. He/She is responsible with the planning process which is central to language teaching. Teachers have to offer the materials, activities, the practice opportunities, more exactly, they have to decide what and how well students have to do the activities so as to be able to master the given competency. Moreover, teachers have to spend a large amount of time designing creative activities and also provide individual feedback.
Students must actively engage in the learning process, being responsible for their own learning. They should be preoccupied to ”integrate, produce and extend knowledge. They learn how to think critically and to adapt and transfer knowledge across a variety of settings.”(Jones et al. 1994 qtd. by Griffith & Lim, 2014). Moreover, students need to find ways to motivate themselves, to apply information to their own lives and to integrate it into the classroom. “Students must be willing to challenge, to question, and to initiate in the CBLT classroom” (Marcellino, 2005 qtd. by Griffith & Lim, 2014).
View of language and cultures: the theory underlying the CBLT illustrates language in close connection with the social context in which it is used. Therefore, language is a medium of communication between people who discuss and have a purpose in mind. Language will be used in authentic situations that are likely to be encountered in real life. It is seen as a whole formed of subparts that can be taught and tested separately.
Aspects of language emphasised: instruction focuses on language functions and the teaching of certain language structures that will be encountered while trying to perform the given functions. The CBLT envisages the development of communicative competences that are described in general terms rather than specific real – life tasks. As a result, it borrows some features form the Communicative Language Teaching. Learners are assessed according to the criterion – based assessment principles, depending on how well they achieve a given learning task.
Teaching/Learning process: competency is defined as a set of ”essential skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours” that the learners have to develop in order to successfully perform an activity (Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 144). Competencies are not tasks, but the practical application of language in contexts. The topics chosen are in accordance with the learners needs and can be from any field of activity. Teachers freely develop strategies and tactics, nevertheless the syllabus differs from the traditional one as courses are organised around certain competences and skills rather than topics. Teachers teach those grammar points and vocabulary that are necessary for the development of a certain competence. For example, if a competence necessitates the use of past simple, it will be taught as an integral part of the lesson together with the relevant vocabulary, register and pronunciation. Instead of dedicating an entire lesson to teaching this tense with all its uses, the teacher will introduce it in multiple units depending on need. Activities and materials must ask students to perform something. Thus, exercises such as gap fillings, choosing the right answer are rarely used. The activities should replicate real-world situations and ask the student to offer information about self. Auberbach (1986: 414-415 qtd by Richards & Rodgers, 2002: 146) lists eight key features of the CBLT:
A focus on successful functioning in society – learners have to become autonomous language users capable of performing any task in the real life.
A focus on life skills – language is used for communication, therefore, learners are taught those skills necessary for the situations in which they will function.
Task- or performance – centred orientation – the emphasis is on what students can do with the language and not on what they know about it.
Modularised instruction – language is divided into smaller units -chunks
Outcomes that are made explicit a priori – a course has very clear behavioural objectives and the learners know exactly what they are expected to do and achieve.
Continuous and ongoing assessment – learners are continuously assessed and they work on an objective until they manage to achieve it and only after attaining it, will they move on to the next one.
Demonstrated mastery of performance objectives – while being assessed students have to demonstrate that they are able to perform a pre –established behaviour.
Individualised, student – centred instruction – time does not matter, students progress at their own pace and work on those areas that they lack competence. Moreover, the content, level, pace and objectives are in accordance with the students’ individual needs.
Interaction: there is teacher –student interaction, but the predominant form is student-student interaction.
Dealing with feelings: teachers have to keep students motivated and actively engaged, encouraging them to speak and try to complete tasks.
Role of Students’ mother tongue: the students’ mother tongue is not forbidden in the class, it is used only if it is extremely necessary, and it is kept to a minimum.
Means of evaluation: assessment is of two types – formative, throughout the process, and summative, at the end of a module. If students haven’t managed to master the unit, they have to repeat it until mastery is achieved. Assessments must also be authentic, they require the measurement of real-world tasks. Therefore, activities such as true-false and gap filling are forbidden. Authentic activities ask the students to use both their knowledge and their skills to complete the task and grades measure only achievement (Wiggins, 1990 qtd. by Griffith & Lim, 2014).
Response to students’ errors: the teacher corrects the students immediately and offers positive feedback.
The advantages of this approach are:
Competences are in accordance with the learners’ needs.
Learners have the possibility to see if the competences are relevant to their needs.
Competences are specific and public therefore, learners know what they are expected to master at the end of the course.
Competences are mastered one at a time.
Assessment is meaningful and represents a positive learning experience.
The disadvantages of this approach are:
It has been argued that it develops behaviours and performance rather than thinking skills.
There are no valid procedures to develop competency lists.
Many areas are impossible to operationalise.
Dividing activities into sub parts is considered to be a reductionist approach.
The ability to communicate in a foreign language is listed among the 8 lifelong learning key-competences promoted by the European Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. In order to be in compliance with the European trends the Romanian Ministry of Education has awarded an important status to the studying of foreign languages within the Romanian National Curriculum and a competence-based subject curriculum for foreign languages was designed. The main objective of studying a foreign language is the acquisition and development of the communicative competences that are necessary for communicating in various social contexts by acquiring specific knowledge, skills and attitudes that are in accordance with the Implementation of Education & Training 2010 Programme at the levels specified within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The Romanian school curriculum for foreign languages has the following structure:
General competences that students are expected to achieve at the end of high school, for example. There are four main competences that enable learners to develop receptive and productive skills:
Reading and listening skills
Speaking and writing skills
Interactions in oral and written communication
Transferring and mediating oral and written messages in various exchanges.
Values and attitudes that are formed throughout the four years of high school
Specific competences derived from general competences which are formed throughout a school year. They are also in accordance with the contents’ form of presentation which are accompanied by techniques (suggested activities).
Methodological suggestions divided into two domains:
Recommended contents:
Thematic organisation
Grammar
Communicative functions
Short methodological guide for designing the process of teaching a foreign language.
There is explicit evidence in its presentation that it has been developed taking into consideration the European Language Portfolio (ELP), a document which is closely related to the CEF. The students’ communicative competences are expected to develop gradually, from a school year to another and the new competences are built in relation to those that the learners developed in the course of their previous experience – it is a process of juxtaposition.
Teachers are offered the opportunity to be flexible, to design creative activities that replicate real- life communication in order to keep students motivated. They are not supposed to follow a certain textbook from cover to cover as it is seen only as a source for the teaching process. The teacher is expected to adapt the activities in accordance with the students’ needs and level of proficiency so as the given competences to be mastered. Students are not expected to master a competence and then move on to another one, they must develop all of them throughout the school year.
2.2.12. The Post Communicative Turn
We are leaving in an era of computers and technology, which have a strong impact on the teaching of foreign languages as learners’ needs have changed and there is a greater emphasis on communication. This has led the teacher to rethink the entire teaching process and design methods by taking into account the learners strengths and weaknesses. Those methods have been grouped under the name of the Post Communicative Turn and they cannot be seen as a unifying theory but they all envisage language learning as:
Task-oriented: meaning plays a central role and the activities are authentic and communicative.
Context-oriented: language is learnt in context based on students’ prior knowledge and experiences.
Collaborative: greater emphasis on group work and interaction.
Cognitive: teaching languages also includes raising students’ cultural awareness; learners are allowed to make correlations with their mother tongue.
Promoting learners’ autonomy (see Vizental, 2008: 44).
The teacher has to take something from each method and adapt it according to the needs of his/her class. For example, at the beginner level he/she might chose to use audio-lingual activities whereas at an advanced level the grammar translation method can satisfy the learners’ need for “high culture.”
Jacobs and Farell (2003 qtd by Murar & Trantescu, 2016: 34) have identify eight major changes:
Learner autonomy – learners take control of their learning and are encouraged to develop self-assessment skills.
The social nature of learning – all knowledge serves both individual and collective needs and goals, there is no useless knowledge.
Curricular integration – teaching English may require using information from other school subjects within the curriculum or using encyclopaedic knowledge).
Focus on meaning.
Diversity – each learner is unique (in terms of age, personality, learning styles, etc) and the teacher should design activities to suit the needs and interests of all of them.
Thinking skills – activities should foster critical and creative thinking skills.
Alternative assessment – traditional forms of assessment such as test should be used alongside alternative forms of assessment such as portfolios, interviews.
Teachers as co-learners – teachers should engage in a longlife learning process, being preoccupied to evolve professionally and keep up with the changing society and needs.
2.2.13. The role of grammar in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
In November 2001, a European Union Council Resolution recommended using the CEFR to set up systems of validation of language ability. It presents six reference levels, from beginner or A1 to very proficient learner or C2. It offers a very systematic description of what a user of a language can do at a given level and the descriptors are general enough to be applied to different languages. The CEFR is derived from the same Hallidayan perspective of languages, but it does not specifically proposes a certain teaching method (see López Rama & Agulló, 2012).
According to the CEFR, the communicative competence has three major components: linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence and pragmatic competence. In its turn, the linguistic competence has six major elements: lexical competence, grammatical competence, semantic competence, phonological competence, orthographic competence and orthoepic competence. The Grammatical competence is defined in the CEF as ”knowledge of, and ability to use, the grammatical resources of a language […] Grammatical competence is the ability to understand and express meaning by producing and recognizing well-formed phrases and sentences in accordance with these principles (as opposed to memorizing and reproducing them as fixed formulae)” (Council of Europe, 2001:112-113).
The grammatical competence is viewed as integral to all language skills, which learners have to master progressively to arrive at a high degree of accuracy, specifically within higher levels (C1)“(…) consistently maintains a high degree of grammatical accuracy; errors are rare and difficult to spot” (Council of Europe, 2001:114).
As we can see, the importance of teaching grammar in undeniable, one can no longer ignore it as it is considered a means towards successful communication.
3. TEACHING IF-CLAUSES – COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING VS. GRAMMAR TRANSLATION
3.1 Motivation
Making an incursion through the language teaching methods in the last century, we can observe some mixed opinions about the place of grammar and vocabulary within the teaching process. At the beginning, the teaching of grammar and vocabulary was considered detrimental for the acquisition of the second language and it was placed in the centre of the teaching process within the Grammar Translation Method. Then, with the advent of the Direct Method and the Natural Approach it was completely abandoned and today, it has regained its rightful place within the communicative curriculum. Methodologist universally agree that form-focused instruction is of vital importance within the communicative framework, proposing techniques that include an explicit presentation of rules to enable students to notice how language works and raise their consciousness.
The Romanian syllabus for teaching foreign languages is based on language competence formation and the acquisition of language knowledge. Carrying out a survey in order to find out my students’ attitudes towards the English language and identify their strengths and weaknesses, I’ve noticed two different perspectives: some of them were totally against the teaching of grammar, considering that grammar is not an impairment for the developing of their speaking skills. They were mostly interested in improving their oral language skills considering English useful for them when travelling, reading various articles on the internet, talking to their pen friends, and getting to know other cultures around the world. The other students were mainly interested in learning grammar, preferring to be presented with explicit rules, considering it a very complicated system but willing to confront it and finally manage to master its rules. For them knowing English meant knowing grammar. Digging deeper to find out what had made them have those attitudes I found some possible explanations:
Their former English teachers overemphasised the importance of grammar and designed their lessons around a language structure, relegating skills on an inferior scale. When teaching structures they used very long and complicated explanations, they tried to present students with all the aspects related to that structure and of course, students felt lost, unmotivated and eventually abandoned the studying of that structure.
Many teachers’ professional formation was grammar-based; they find it easier to plan a lesson having as main objective the teaching of a form by giving explicit grammar explanations and having students practice it in a controlled manner, by solving traditional exercises where language is presented out of context. They find it difficult to get out of this comfort zone and continue teaching English in a traditional way which makes students feel bored, uninterested, and adopt an attitude of rejection towards the studying of English. Moreover, since the era of technology has engulfed every aspect of our existence and many things have become more easily accessible, students’ sphere of interests and needs are different from that of the students in the previous century. Nowadays we observe an imperative need for being able to communicate in the English language to gain access to a lot of things. They find it unhelpful the grammar-based lessons, adopt an attitude of boredom and refuse to participate actively during classes. The sad reality is that some teachers ignore the complex network of skills, the functional aspect of language and the interactive nature of communication.
The Romanian school syllabus for foreign languages comprises too much information and too many skills that students are expected to acquire and teachers lack the necessary time to both form and improve all of them and as a consequence they are dealt with superficially.
Many exams that students want to take after graduating high school in order to be admitted to faculty are grammar-based, for example the entrance exam for police officers which measure only their language knowledge. As students want to pass this exam, they focus only on grammar and for them knowing English means mastering grammar.
Many problems, while trying to communicate in English, also occur due to the students’ personal anxieties, threatening classroom environment, few practice exercises as teachers have little time at their disposal and too many language areas to cover until the end of the school year, the uninteresting topics that do not match their levels or interests.
Hoping to change my students’ perspectives on the learning of the English language, and on the teaching of grammar more precisely, I have adopted a communicative approach to English language teaching by creating opportunities for communicative use in which they have to select and integrate separate structures into a creative system for negotiating meaning. What I have wanted to achieve is to make them understand that English is not equal to grammar, and that it is important to internalise grammar rules so as to avoid bad habit formation, breakdowns in communication, or the use of artificial language. In a society where people spend most of their time communicating, poor language is instantly amended and people who make basic grammar mistakes or use inadequate vocabulary are judged as uneducated. Our job as teachers is to help our students form their linguistic proficiency and communicative competence in order to speak the English language both fluently and accurately by adopting an integrated approach to language teaching and creating meaningful real-world-like situations in which they learn the language and about the language while using it.
I have chosen the conditional sentences as the content of my research because they represent an important part of the academic language, since a lot of what we discuss is the hypothetical, thus it is important for students to know how to use the conditional mood to talk about possibilities and probabilities. Conditional sentences render a variety of pragmatic functions such as to give advice, make suggestions, warn, express regrets, and they are also politeness markers. All these uses of the conditionals are highly relevant to the students and teaching them can be very challenging and labour-intensive as both the teacher and the students have to invest time and effort, the teachers to plan their presentation carefully from a communicative perspective and the students to acquire them in order to improve their language skills.
From my teaching experience, I have noticed that the conditional sentences represent an obstacle for both the teacher and the students because the teacher has to design creative activities which keep students motivated and make them understand the conditional structures as they are quite complex from the linguistic and cognitive perspectives, and simulate real-life situations of communication.
The main difficulties that I have come across while trying to introduce if-causes are:
Problems related to their form and meaning
Oversimplified explanations
Time-tense relationship
The form of the conditional sentences is different from that of other structures in the English language as they consist of two parts: a main clause which expresses the result and a conditional clause which indicates the conditions to be fulfilled in order to achieve the result. One clause is dependent on another. In addition, their order can be reversed and students who learn the rules mechanically are bound to make mistakes. Modal auxiliary verbs can be used in the if-clause and students feel confused, having the feeling that they cannot identify the type of the conditional sentence. When the conjunction if is omitted we have to operate subject-auxiliary inversion and in this case students do not realise that it is a conditional sentence and fail to form it correctly. The same confusions occur when we replace the traditional if with other constructions. Moreover, the conjunction if does not always introduce a conditional sentence and the students have the tendency to apply the rules although it is not the case.
I have observed that the problems related to meaning occur within mixed conditionals. Students feel rather confused as there are many possible combinations and, of course, they convey meanings that have quite subtle differences and students have to take into account the larger context in which they occur. These problems cannot be avoided as they are part of the natural speech and we should immerse students in authentic situations of communication and make them aware of all the possibilities so as to avoid blocks in communication.
Due to their complexity, teachers have the tendency to teach only the four traditional types and these do not cover the complexity and the variety of their forms and meanings, therefore, students will not be equipped with all the necessary information and their ability to process and produce most of the accepted forms will be reduced.
As far as the time-tense relationship is concerned many problems occur because verb forms in conditional clauses do not often retain their normal reference to time. For example, the past simple in the second conditional is used to make reference to a present or future situation. Moreover, another problem that I have identified at my students is their tendency to use the auxiliary will in the if-clause type 1 to refer to a future action as this is characteristic to the Romanian language and they apply the rules to the English language too.
When I first told my students that we were going to study the conditional sentences, a great expression of disappointment and worry could be seen on their faces or heard in the classroom. They argued that they were very difficult to understand but I promised to them that they would have a great learning experience and would end up by adopting a positive attitude towards the conditional structures. As we can see, it is very important how grammar is taught and learned because learners might be able to memorise rules and produce language in controlled practice activities or do well in tests, but the idea is to help them construct their own representation of language and when placed in real life situations of communication be able to access the conditional structures and produce connected speech in a wide range of contexts, balancing accuracy and fluency and talking around gaps in their knowledge so as not to get stuck. In addition, they should be able to produce conditional sentences in writing to successfully communicate their messages.
I’ve wanted to embark on this research in order to demonstrate that effective teaching grammar is done through communicative activities, not through traditional grammar exercises that lack context and communicative goals.
3.2. Aim of the Research
The aim of this research is to demonstrate that the teaching and learning of grammar should not be perceived as a burden by both teachers and students but as an attribute to successful communication in a foreign language. It should be approached from a communicative perspective. The acquisition and internalisation of grammar rules are part of the communicative competences and the main objective of teaching grammar is to help students internalise rules in order to successfully put across their message, which means that communicative fluency and grammatical accuracy are mutually related. Therefore, throughout this research we want to explore both the traditional and the modern perspectives of teaching grammar in order to improve our students’ performance in the field of conditional clauses and collect data so as to see the effectiveness of both approaches. We propose a shift away from the long-rooted grammar translation methodologies and practices towards the teaching of grammar and the improvement of the communicative competence through investigating the effects of the CLT method while teaching the if- clauses on the achievement of the tenth grade students from “Pentache Poenaru” High School.
3.2.1. Questions to Be Researched
The following questions were formulated:
Are there significant differences at (α =0.05) level of significance in the influence of using the CLT approach on improving the students’ grammatical competence between the pre-test and the post-test of the experimental group?
Are there significant differences at (α =0.05) level of significance in the influence of using the GT approach on improving the students’ grammatical competence between the pre-test and the post-test of the control group?
Are there significant differences at (α =0.05) level of significance in the influence of using the CLT approach on improving the students’ grammatical competence between the post-tests for both the control group and the experimental group?
Is the CLT method more effective in improving the students’ learning confidence and motivation and change their negative attitude towards the learning of grammar than the GT method?
3.3. Objectives of the Research
This research has the following objectives:
To assess the students’ knowledge of conditional sentences and their language skills with the aim of identifying the main areas of difficulty.
To investigate the influence of the CLT on improving their grammatical knowledge and use of grammar structures in real-like situations of communication.
To find out if the CLT activities are more efficient when teaching grammar than those specific to the Grammar Translation Method.
To find out if an inductive approach to teaching grammar is better than a deductive approach.
To find out whether CLT activities or GT activities keep students motivated and interested in learning grammar and the English language in general.
3.4. Working Hypotheses
If the teaching of conditional sentences is done from a communicative, integrative perspective and not as a distinct, isolated compartment of the English language, then the students’ communicative competence will be improved and they will be able to select the corresponding structures and use the English language both fluently and accurately in various contexts of communication in the world outside the classroom.
Starting from this general hypothesis, we may formulate the following working hypotheses:
If we involve students in meaningful learning tasks that simulate real-life situations of communication, giving up the techniques specific to the traditional teaching of grammar which places the teacher in the centre of the teaching process, will we manage to make them internalise the conditional rules and use them at a proficient level both linguistically, communicatively and socio-linguistically?
If we create a dynamic learning environment with tasks that require students to adopt an active, participatory role, asking them to take the initiative, to negotiate meaning, to be creative, to take risks while trying to use the conditional structures creatively, and have a greater contribution to their learning of the English language, will they feel more motivated and adopt a positive attitude towards the learning of grammar?
If we choose to adopt an inductive approach to teaching grammar, in which learners are left to discover and induce the rules and make their own generalisations, will they be able to better internalise the conditionals rules and select the correct patterns while communicating in contexts outside the classroom?
Staring from these hypotheses, we want to demonstrate that teaching grammar is an imperative attribute to the learning of a foreign language and it should not be abandoned to the detriment of the language skills, and the most effective way to teach grammar is by means of communicative teaching methods. We will select a wide range of teaching activities specific to the two teaching methods, the Grammar Translation Method and the Communicative Language Teaching in order to closely investigate them and obtain accurate results about what strategies, methods and techniques are more efficient in teaching the grammar of a foreign language.
It is obvious that teachers should not stick to one teaching method and be opened to a wider range of teaching approaches adjusting them to the students’ needs and proficiency level. We, as teachers, have to equip students with all the necessary skills and knowledge so that they can use the English language for a variety of purposes: to travel, to communicate with people around the world, to get a better job, to study abroad, to get a certificate such as those for the “International English Language Test” (IELTS), the “First Certificate in English” (FCE) or the ”Certificate of Advanced English” (CAE), to get admitted to the Police Academy of Romania, or to other faculties. The growing importance of the English language at the international level and its wide use in many domains of activities such as business, tourism, economy, education, culture, make the English teachers be in a constant search for the most creative, interactive and efficient methods and activities so as to help their students improve their English language skills and knowledge and become successful users in real situations of communication.
3.5. Significance of the Research
The study is important for a number of reasons:
Firstly, the present research emerged from the need to meet the objectives of teaching English in Romania which envisage the development of the ability to communicate fluently and accurately in English. Therefore, adopting a CLT approach may overcome obstacles that usually emerge by the use of the Grammar Translation Method that Romanian Teachers of English frequently use when teaching grammar since it is less time-consuming and easier to implement. Nevertheless, traditional methods treat the students as passive receivers, the teacher is a transmitter of knowledge and the students are passive listeners that are supposed to absorb and benefit from what they are told. They lack the opportunities to speak and practice the language in meaningful interactions such as those encountered in real life situations, to express their thoughts about topics that are interesting for them. In addition, they are not given the opportunity to reflect upon their own learning process and needs. Contrary to those traditional methods, the wide variety of CLT activities and techniques such as: debates, role-plays, discussions, videos, recordings, reflection and peer-evaluation sessions will equip them with all the necessary skills when engaging in communicative situations in the real world outside the class. Moreover, the great diversity of CLT techniques will match their level of proficiency and suit their interests and needs. Students will have the opportunity to interact with their colleagues and the teacher, therefore, they will develop their speaking skills together with the other skills and the teacher will be able to create a student-centred class.
In addition, this research is required by the imperative need to find a way to improve fluency and meaningful interaction in Romanian EFL classes by developing precise communicative strategies and techniques.
Also, the research is important for the participants as they are encouraged to reflect upon and become more sensitized to their personal language learning. From this extended level of awareness of their own language learning process, it is anticipated that the students who participate in the research, especially those in the experimental group, will increase their ability to be more reflective about their own learning and thus, improve the quality of their learning practices.
Finally, the use of the GTM in teaching grammar is perceived as extremely boring, so by using the modern technologies and resources, the students will surely engage actively, will develop their intrinsic motivation and adopt a positive attitude towards the learning of grammar and of the English language in general.
3.6. Limitations of the Research
This research considered the following limitations:
Topical limitations: the study investigated the influence of the CLT approach to improving the students’ speaking skills at “Petrache Poenaru” High School.
Human limitations: the study was conducted on 57 male and female of the intermediate English students. Therefore, the sample of the subjects is not large enough. The students are of intermediate level, thus, the results might not be applicable to students of different proficiency levels. Moreover, the test papers used in the experiment are chosen and corrected by the author, so there must be some subjective factors which might influence the results of the experiment to some extent.
Locative limitations: the study was conducted at “Petrache Poenaru” High School.
Temporal limitations: the study was carried out during a month of the second semester of the academic year 2018-2019. The duration of the experiment is not long enough. It is no surety that the results would be the same in a long-time study.
3.7. Literature Review
3.7.1. Teaching Grammar
Thornbury (2001) presents some rules about the teaching of grammar:
The Rule of Context – teaching grammar in context.
The Rule of Use – one general objective of teaching grammar is to facilitate the learners’ comprehension and production of language in real-world conversations.
The Rule of Economy – spend less time in presenting grammar to have more time to practise it.
The Rule of Relevance- teach only the grammar that the students have problems with.
The Rule of Nature- teaching does not necessary leads to learning, therefore, instead of teaching grammar, the teacher should be preoccupied about generating the right conditions for learning grammar.
The Rule of Appropriacy – interpret all the rules presented in accordance with the students’ needs, level of proficiency, interests, expectations and learning styles.
The differences between the CLT and the GTM are quite well-defined since both of them follow quite different principles. They are very well-defined by Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011) in the following table:
(Larsen-Freeman and Anderson, 2011: 19-20 &122-125)
3.7.2. Previous Related Researches into the Grammar Teaching Method
Stern, H. H (1992) militates for a contrastive analysis of the mother tongue with the foreign language and assumes that the translation skills have their role in learning a foreign language.
Brown H. D (1994) considers that this method does not help students to improve their communicative skills at all.
Cunningham, C. (2000) is in favour of developing students’ translation skills as they will help them with the foreign language acquisition no matter what their level of proficiency is.
Abdul Bari Khan and Hafiza Sana Mansoor (2016) reached the conclusion that the GTM should be used alongside other modern teaching methods “to keep space for learners from different background especially in backward areas… it can be used as easy and helping hand to cope with the world of English.”
3.7.3. Previous related researches into the Communicative Language Teaching
Kalia, P (2017) compares the Communicative Language Teaching with the Grammar Translation Method and states that in a GTM class the students are involved only in translation activities and then they are expected to travel to that foreign country and practice the language to become fluent as classroom activities do not offer the students the opportunity to improve their oral proficiency. She adds that the GTM is psychologically wrong because it is unnatural and ignores the fact that in learning a language, the first step is to learn the spoken language and to practice it through oral activities. She adds that grammar lessons are boring and dull because students do not have an active role and may be pretending listening to the teacher’s explanations. It “continues to be an asylum of inexpert, unresourceful, incompetent, disillusioned and demoralised teacher who are not prone to exert their creative intelligence & imagination in making classroom teaching a rewarding experience.”
On the other hand, she argues that CLT is much more learner-centred and offers the students the opportunity to use the language for carrying out a communicative task and the interactive process of communication receives priority. At the end, she concludes that there is not only one best teaching method, but successful teachers are those that do not limit themselves to one method only. ”A method which is appropriate with one class on one occasion may not be appropriate with the same class at another time.” A teacher who respects his/her students is the one who plans the lessons so as to suit the needs and level of the students.
Esmaeli Heydari Asl (2015) considers that the CLT has had a great contribution to foreign language teaching for various advantages: “passing the responsibility of learning on to the learners and acquiring those to speak more will increase their fluency, as well as their confidence in the target language. Besides, their communicative competence develops and this sense of achievement helps them to enjoy the class more.” Nevertheless, in the end she argues that success cannot be achieved by using only one method, teachers should take into account the level of the students and their need and decide upon the best approach to meet their expectations.
Muhammad Natsir (2013) came to the conclusion that the CLT is “more communicative and cooperative than the GTM, enhancing students’ abilities to use the language whereas the GTM is monotonous and includes a one-way transmission.” Moreover, he states that “the CLT has many techniques in the teaching-learning process that make students happy, comfortable and interested in the lesson.”
Viorica Banciu and Angela Jireghie (2012) consider that “By using elements encountered in a variety of ways (reading, summarizing, translating, discussion, debates), language is made more fluid and pupils’ manipulation of language more fluent.”
3. 8. Research Methods
In order to verify the working hypotheses, we used the following research methods:
Observation
Conversation
Analysis of students’ products
The pedagogical experiment
The docimologic test
The statistic method
The questionnaire
3.8.1. The Method of Observation
The pedagogical observation is a means of collecting data though observing the researched problem in a set of ordinary conditions. It implies the fact that the researcher has a participatory role as he/she has to immerse himself/herself in the setting where the respondents are, while taking notes. It can be structured or unstructured. In structured or systematic observation, data collection is conducted using specific variables and according to a pre-defined schedule. Unstructured observation, on the other hand, is conducted in an open and free manner in a sense that there would be no pre-determined variables or objectives. It is used together with other researched methods to provide additional data on the problem to be investigated.
The entire act of teaching is an observational one as teachers observe students’ behaviours, their usage of the language, their reactions to the activities that have to be performed, the material used and the topics of the lessons and the data collected helps the teacher to adjust the entire teaching process so as to cater for the students’ needs and interests.
By spontaneously observing my students during various classes throughout the first semester, I noticed that they have certain difficulties while using the if-clauses in communicative activities. As spontaneous observation is not sufficient to reach a relevant conclusion about a certain fact, I intentionally created contexts where students were asked to use conditional structures and started gathering data about their typical mistakes or errors. Among the most frequent we can state:
The use of the modal will in the if-clause type 1 due to their transferring of knowledge form the Romanian language to the English language: e.g. *If you will study, you will pass the exam.
The use of the Present Simple in the if-clause type 2, to refer to hypothetical situations in the present: e.g. *If you have money, you would buy that house.
The omission of the auxiliary have when forming perfect conditional in type 3: e.g. If I had studied, I would passed the exam.
The use of present simple or will after the structure I wish.
Analysing the data collected we came to the conclusion that those mistakes were caused by the misunderstanding of the grammar rules of conditional sentences, the oversimplified presentation of the rules, students remembered rules only partially, maybe due to the fact that they were not asked to used them later in classes.
We also used this method throughout the research to observe the way in which students were acquiring the information, their reactions to the activities and materials used and we constantly adjusted them according to their needs. By means of this method we noticed that some students were able to make comparisons, generalisations, to reflect upon their own learning process while others were passive not capable of carrying out a task alone. Moreover, while studying the data collected at the end of the research, we could draw the final conclusions.
3.8.2. The Method of Conversation
The method of conversation implies a dialogue between the researcher, the teacher in our case, and the subjects of the research, the students. The goal is to explore their perspectives and worries maybe, on a particular topic. In order to collect more precise information about the problems that my students have with the conditional structures and see what their attitude about this topic is, to identify the psychological barriers in adopting a positive attitude towards the teaching of grammar, we engaged in dialogues. The advantage of this method was that I had direct control over the flow of the process and I had the chance to clarify certain issues during the developing research when needed. I was able to find out more about my students’ previous experience with the if-structures too. Seeing that the teacher is interested in finding out about their needs and worries most students became extremely engaged in conversations and the classroom was transformed into a friendly learning environment. The conversation class was carefully planned in advance with questions relevant to the research. This planning was necessary because as we had anticipated some students were more actively engaged than the others and did not let their colleagues to put forward their own ideas and suggestions. There were also students who did not take on an active role, answering only when they were asked and seeming uninterested. We were also able to find out more about the things that they consider interesting, about how an ideal English class would be for them. I managed to make them become aware of their own learning process, to pay attention to the things that help them learn better and in this way they would be able to find the right procedures, materials, techniques and methods that were in accordance with their learning style.
3.8.3. The Method of Analysing Students’ School Products
According to this method the teacher analyses the students’ completion of a task in class or at home, a task that is done either individually or in groups. All the students have to perform the same specific activity. Such products can be oral or written answers, various compositions, projects, reflections, etc. We used this method throughout the lessons while students were performing both controlled and free practice activities. We wanted to see if they followed the correct steps when solving a task, the difficulties they encountered, the typical errors they made. This analysis offered us more data about a student’s individual characteristics: their personality, aptitudes, interests, needs and in this way we could make personal reflections and identify the factors favourable to their learning process and adjust the entire process so as to suit their individual characteristics.
3.8.4.The Pedagogical Experiment
The Pedagogical Experiment is a willingly generated observation as it implies the production or the deliberate change of educational phenomena with the aim of thoroughly investigating them in favourable conditions, identifying, observing, quantifying and evaluating the factors that influence or determine them. It is about creating new learning situations, changing the course of the investigation with a view to checking the working hypothesis, to validate or invalidate it. To put it another way, the studied phenomenon is observed in a situation intentionally created by the researcher in order to realise a particular analysis. While applying this method we followed three stages. Firstly, we gathered data about the problem to be investigated – if clauses, and we elaborated the strategy of the experiment. Secondly, we carried out the experiment and finally, we gathered and analysed data to reach to certain conclusions. The stages of the actual experiment were the following:
The pre-experimental stage – the pre-test – to establish students’ knowledge about the conditional structures and their ability to use them in unrehearsed situations of communication and make a general profile of the two groups.
The experimental stage – we immersed the experimental class into a new teaching situation designing the lessons in accordance with the principals of the communicative language teaching approach while teaching the if-clauses whereas the control class was taught by using activities specific to the grammar translation method. For ethical reasons, we used the techniques specific to the traditional methodology when introducing the grammar structure and practised it in controlled activities, but the last stage of the lesson implied the use of those structures in free communicative tasks and in this way we could observe what class managed to carry out the tasks successfully. Also, the two groups had to take a progress test in order to assess the degree in which the structures were assimilated and the improvement of the students’ communicative skills and to make the necessary adjustments for the following classes.
The post-experimental stage – the two groups took the final test and the obtained data were collected and interpreted.
From the very beginning of the experiment we assumed that most students will be actively engaged in their own learning process and the teacher took on a lot of roles such as: organiser, motivator, conductor, informant, monitor, assessor.
Apart from developing students’ knowledge and skills, we also tried to stimulate and increase the students’ interest in studying the English conditional structure and grammar, in general, as the pedagogical experiment had a very strong formative character.
The Docimologic Test
This test implies the assessment of a certain theme or a group of themes linked to each other by means of a unitary criterion that helps the researcher measure the students’ assimilation of the taught structures, as he/she has to interpret the results in relation to those of the pre-test and make future decisions. This test together with other means of assessment offers an objective evaluation. During the research, we used this method to identify the students’ gaps in their knowledge and their skills deficiencies, but also to measure their progress as far as the assimilation of the taught structures was concerned and the degree of skills improvement. To have a clearer picture we used only items that the students were familiar with.
The Questionnaire
The questionnaire consists of a set of carefully designed questions that the researcher uses in order to gather more data relevant to the study. We used this instrument at the end of the research to find out more about the students’ attitude regarding the activities, the materials and the methods used during the experiment and also to make a comparison between the two groups in order to see if there is a change in their attitude concerning the learning of grammar compared to their initial opinions. The data collected will be used in verifying the efficiency of the CLT method over the GT method. When designing the questionnaire, we formulated precise questions, accessible for the students, relevant to the problem being investigated, there were multiple choice questions, but students also had the possibility to add anything they wanted to communicate to the teacher.
The Statistic Method
The statistic method offered us a general picture and a quantitative evaluation of the students’ results. Data collection and interpretation involves more than one method in order to have a reliable analysis. After having gathered the data, we analysed the results, classified them, made comparisons and processed them statistically. Correlating the results to those obtained through constant observations, conversations, the analysis of students’ oral and written responses, we were able to take the right future decisions to help students get over the emotional and linguistic barriers and manage to think about the language and process it so as to become increasingly self-reliant and pave the way to becoming autonomous learners.
3.9. Study Approach
The study approach is descriptive quantitative, experimental research design was used and pre- and post- tests were applied to find out the influence of using the CLT approach in improving the students’ grammatical competence. The research was conducted in two directions:
A theoretical one which included the study of different methods of teaching and trends.
A practical one which consisted in carrying out an experiment on two groups of students – the experimental group – students who were taught by using CLT and the control group – students who were taught by using the Grammar Translation Method over the period of a month.
The purpose of the research is to see whether the students in the experimental group make greater progress than the students in the control group in improving their grammatical competence and adopt a positive attitude towards the learning of grammar. It also aims to find out which method is more efficient in building the students’ confidence and control of the English language in communicative situations, the Grammar Translation Method or the Communicative Approach.
3.10. Methodology
Two groups of students were chosen so as to achieve the goals of this research: an experimental class formed of 34 students from the 10th C grade and a control class formed of 24 students from the 10th A grade. All the students were between 15-16 years old and all of them were intermediate English learners. The experimental class were taught by using the CLT method and the control class were taught by using the GT method.
EG: O1 X O2 X O3
CG: O1 X O2 X O3
O1: pre-test
O2: progress test
O3: achievement test
X: treatment
In order to achieve the aim of this study three instruments were administered: firstly, the pre-test to determine students’ proficiency level and their knowledge of conditional sentences, secondly, the progress test and thirdly the achievement test to collect data in order to determine the degree in which their knowledge and skills were improved after being taught by using the two complementary teaching methods.
To successfully conduct the study, we designed the teaching materials on the if-clauses by advising with the other teachers in the English Department in our high school. In addition, we followed the steps of a CLT class proposed by Richards and Rogers (2002: 170-173) and Harmer (2007:69-71). The materials and the activities were in accordance with the Romanian National English Syllabus and as textbooks we used Upstream Intermediate and Click On 4 as they are the class textbooks. Nevertheless, I had to come up with additional materials because grammar was presented in separate sections in the two textbooks and they lacked an integrated approach. The presentation of the if-clauses in the two textbooks was mainly done from a traditional perspective and the topics were not motivating for the students. For this reason, the internet resources counted a great deal. In addition, grammar books and other coursebooks were another source of inspiration as we had to design a wide range of activities from controlled to semi-controlled and free-practice to help students internalise the rules and become proficient users of the English language. The two classes manifested a great interest in the learning of the English language as the experimental class had a philology profile and the control class a mathematics-informatics profile, thus English is in direct relation to their future career. The experiment did not interfere with the syllabus as the structures and the topics were in relation to those proposed by it and we used the English textbook only as a source of inspiration for some activities since we are not obliged to follow it from cover to cover, but to have it as a guide while working for attaining the objectives presented in the national syllabus.
3.11. Instruments and design
The instrument used in this research is the test which was made of both objective and subjective items in order to test both language knowledge and skills. Thus, the study tool was restricted to a pre-test and a post-test technique to investigate the efficiency of the CLT on improving the students’ grammatical competence and language skills. In order to find out the students’ attitude and opinions regarding the two methods of teaching we administered them a questionnaire at the end of the experiment.
Pre-test: the diagnosis test was used before the experiment, to test the students’ grammatical knowledge of the if-structures and their ability of using them in communicative situations with a full mark of 100 points.
The post-test: the achievement test used to test the students’ grammatical knowledge of the if-structures and their ability of using them in communicative situations with a full mark of 100 points, at the end of the experiment. It was used to find out if there were any differences between the results of the experimental group and the control groups due to the application of the CLT with the experimental group and the traditional method with the control group.
The questionnaire used after the teaching experiment was to explore the students’ attitude and reactions to the teaching approach they received during the experiment. It included fifteen multiple choice questions designed to find out the students’ opinions about grammar learning and teaching, about traditional vs. communicative language teaching techniques, the materials, activities, about their motivation and interest after the experiment. Before students answered the questions, the teacher had explained them carefully to guarantee that the students had a clear understanding of the questions and the results would truthfully reflect their opinions. The questionnaire was completed by all the subjects, 34 in the experimental group and 24 in the control group.
A pre-test could have an emotional impact on the student and affect his/her responsiveness to the experiment variable. The pre-test may have an effect on the following test and this may have an influence on the test validity. In order to avoid this, the pre and the post test were not totally similar. We used two similar sections where learners were supposed to read a text and answer the questions, and another one which required them to use their knowledge of conditional sentences and solve traditional grammar exercises whereas the third section was different. In the pre-test, students were asked to complete some sentences so as to be true for themselves whereas in the post-test they had to answer some questions about themselves and use their language competency “repertoire”.
3.12. Data Analysis:
To analyse the results of the pre- and post-tests, basic statistical description was used showing means, standard deviations and percentages. Independent – Samples T-Tests, Paired – Samples T-Tests and ANOVA tests were used.
3.13. Procedure
3.13.1 The Pre-Experimental Stage
The students of both the experimental and the control groups were told that a test would be applied to them for the purpose of scientific research. They were asked to respond accurately and honestly. The test lasted 40 minutes. After the study had been conducted, they were told that another test would be administered using the same procedures.
3.13.1.1. The Pre-Test
TEST PAPER
1a) Read the text below and answer the question: What advice does Tom’s uncle give him? 6pts
Answer:…………………………………………………………………………………………
1.b. What advice would you give to Tom? 10pts
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
1c. In the text, find examples of: 4pts
A zero conditional: ………………………………………………………………………………….
A first conditional: …………………………………………………………………………………….
A second conditional: …………………………………………………………………………………..
A third conditional: ……………………………………………………………………………………
Circle the correct item. 8pts
If you go to San Francisco, you………..the Golden Gate Bridge.
a)see b) saw c)will see d) would see
If you heat butter, it ………….. .
a)melts b) will melt c) melted d) would melt
If we had practiced more, we …………the competition.
a)could win b)could have won c) won d) had won
If you ……..red and yellow, you get orange.
a)will mix b) mix c)would mix d)had mix
If Nina……earlier, we would have gone shopping.
a)had come b)would have come c) came d)will come
If Celine …………….., take a message.
a) will call b)would call c)called d) calls
If I had the time, I………..a gym.
a)will join b)would join c)joined d)had joined
Unless the weather…………., we’ll have to cancel the picnic.
a)doesn’t improve b) improves c) will improve d) would improve
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense. 14pts
If she……………………………………………(know) what kind of man he was, then she wouldn’t have married him.
I will come with you if you………………………………(want) me to be there.
I know that if you wanted, you…………………………..(help) me.
I would appreciate you more if you……………………..(be) punctual.
If I travel by bus, I…………………………..(feel) sick.
They………………………………..(come) to your party, if you tell them about it.
If the driver had been more careful, then nothing bad………………………………(happen).
B. 24pts
h) A: I have a really bad toothache.
B) If I……………………………..(be) you, I…………………………….(see) a dentist.
i) A: Why don’t you come out with us tonight?
B: Well, if I…………………..(finish) my project early, I……………………….(give) you a call.
j) A: I can’t believe you’re late again!
B) I’m really sorry. If I…………………….(not/get stuck) in traffic, I…………………….(be) on time.
k) A: Mr Henderson, how do I make pink paint?
B: Well Kim, if you………………….(mix) white and red, you…………………….(get) pink.
l) A: What should we do, Tommy?
B: I’m not sure. If Dad…………………(be) here, he ………………………..(know) what to do.
m) A: Why didn’t you tell me that Jennifer is back from Rome?
B) Because I didn’t Know! If I…………………….(see) her, I……………………(tell) you!
4. Complete the following sentences with an appropriate conditional clause. 24pts
1. If I had more money,…………………………………………………………………………………….
2. My father would have bought me a new mobile phone, ………………………………………………….
3. If you had taken my advice, ………………………………………………………………………………
4. He would have been angry………………………………………………………………………………
5. Unless you cooperate, …………………………………………………………………………………
6. If you see Mark this evening, …………………………………………………………………………
7. If you drive too fast, …………………………………………………………………………………….
8. If you aren’t enjoying the play, …………………………………………………………………………
10 points granted
The pre-test consists of the following types of items:
A text-based question.
Identification exercises
Multiple choice item
Gap-filling item
Sentence completion item
The first item envisages the understanding of a reading text. The students have to answer a text-based question, then they have to identify the four standard types of conditional sentences and after that answer a question by giving their opinion in relation to a problem presented in the text. The objective of this item is to test the students’ reading competence of identifying the general idea of a text, their understanding of the rules of conditional sentences, and their ability of using a conditional structure to offer a piece of advice.
The second item is a multiple choice one and it is used in order to test the students’ knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, more precisely, their knowledge about the rules of the if-clauses. Students have to choose the correct form of the verb by taking into account the whole sentence.
The gap-filling item tests the students’ production of a correct if-structure. They have to put the verbs in brackets into the correct form by referring to the whole sentence. They have to be able to depict from the context the type of conditional clause and write the correct form of the given verbs. This item also tests their grammar and vocabulary knowledge.
The last item is a subjective one, the students have to finish the sentences with their own answers. This item assesses the students’ ability to make a linguistic transfer. The following elements are graded: correctness of vocabulary, grammar and spelling accuracy.
The items are adapted from the following textbooks: Open Mind Upper-Intermediate- Macmillan, Round Up 5 – Express Publishing, and Active Grammar Level 2- Cambridge University Press. We have used them as they present the if-clauses from a functional point of view and provide sufficient teaching material on the structures.
After evaluating the pre-test the following results have been obtained:
Tabel 1 – Diagnosis Test 10th A – control group
Mean: 6.27
Graph 1
According to Graph 1, the students have the following levels:
Table 2
For task 1a), 14 students out of 24 were able to identify the correct answer for the text-based question and the remaining 10 students had difficulties in understanding the text. They managed to understand the question but they were not able to identify the correct information in the text. As far as the 14 students who answered the question correctly are concerned, 5 of them were not able to reformulate the information from the text and answered it by copying the exact sentence.
For task 1b), which was a subjective item and students had to offer a personal suggestion to the problem debated in the text, 16 students out of 24 managed to successfully complete the task, but 6 out of 16 made grammar errors, such as tense confusions. The remaining 8 students were not able to write a correct answer.
For task 1c), 8 out of 24 students managed to correctly identify all the types of conditional sentences, 6 out of 24 students partially identified the correct if-clauses and 10 out of 24 learners did not manage to identify the correct types of conditional sentences at all.
The second task was solved correctly by 18 students out of 24 while the remaining 6 students solved it partially correctly.
The third task was resolved correctly by 4 students out of 24, 9 students partially solved it whereas 11 students obtained a very low score. The main problems identified were:
The learners did not succeed in identifying the correct type of if-clause from the context even if they were given the tense in a clause, thus they were not familiar to the rules of conditional structures.
The students made mistakes when they formed the tenses (wrong formation of the past participle, they used the past tense form of the verb after the auxiliary have)
The learners used the future tense in if-clause type 1.
The last task was the most difficult as students had to use their own ideas to form correct sentences. Therefore, 2 students managed to solve it without any mistakes, 5 students solved it with little spelling and grammar mistakes whereas 17 students proved that they were not capable of using the conditional structures in a communicative situation, to express ideas about themselves and the people around them, thus they were not able to properly make a linguistic transfer.
The third and the fourth tasks seem to be the most difficult for them.
The same test was administered to the 10th C grade and the following results were obtained:
Table 3 – Diagnosis Test 10th C – experimental group
Mean: 6,30
Graph 2
According to Graph 2, the students have the following levels:
Table 4
For task 1a), 27 students out of 33 were able to identify the correct answer for the text-based question and the remaining 6 students had difficulties in understanding the text. As far as the 27 students who answered the question correctly are concerned, 8 of them were not able to reformulate the information from the text and answered it by taking the exact sentence.
For task 1b), 26 students out of 33 managed to successfully complete the task, but 6 out of 26 made grammar errors, such as tense confusions, similar to the control group. The remaining 6 students were not able to write a correct answer.
For task 1c), 21 students out of 33 managed to correctly identify all the types of conditional sentences, 6 out of 33 students partially identified the correct if-clauses and 6 out of 33 did not manage to identify the correct types of conditional sentences at all.
The second task was solved correctly by 24 students out of 33 while 9 students out of 33 solved it partially correctly.
The third task was resolved correctly by 4 students out of 33, 17 students partially solved it whereas 12 students obtained a very low score. The main problems identified were:
Some students made confusions between the types of conditional sentences.
Some students used the present simple in the second conditional and the past simple in the third conditional, probably they translated the sentences and did not take into account the difference between tense and time reference within the if-clauses.
Some students seemed to be accustomed to encounter the subordinate if-clause in initial position and when in occurred in final position they did not apply the rules correctly, using for instance, past simple in the main clause and present conditional in the if -clause.
Some of them did not identify the correct if-clause from the context, even if they were given the tense in a clause, thus they were not familiar to the rules of the conditional structures.
As far as the last task was concerned, 7 students managed to solve it without any mistakes, 10 students solved it with little spelling and grammar mistakes whereas 16 students proved that they were not capable of using the conditional structures in a communicative situation, to express ideas about themselves and the people around them, thus they were not able to properly make a linguistic transfer. That seemed to be the most difficult task for them.
3.13.1.2. Performance and Error Analysis According to the Objectives of Assessment
The pre-test assessed both language knowledge and skills, more precisely, it was designed to assess the students’ ability:
To identify the main idea of a reading test
To be able to read for specific information
To make suggestions
To recognise the structure of the four types of conditional sentences
To form conditional structures
To use conditional structures in communicative situations
Graph 3
Analysing the graph we can observe the following features:
The curve has 8 peaks, the highest peak corresponds to grade 6 for both classes
The mean lies in the centre of the distribution and the distribution is not symmetrical around the mean but the distribution has almost the same pattern on the left and on the right of the highest peak.
It can be observed a steady decline towards the end of the curve
In both classes there is almost an equal proportion of students that have a poor level of proficiency. Nevertheless, the number of students that have a good level of English seems to be higher in the 10th C grade.
Analysing the test papers of the two classes of students, we have identified the following common mistakes:
Spelling mistakes: some students have the tendency to write the words the same way they pronounce them – this is an interference of the Romanian language.
Grammar mistakes: wrong formation of the past participle, if-clauses rule confusions, the use of the past participle as a past simple form, the use of the present participle as a tense in the if-clause.
The commonest mistakes related to the if-clause patterns were the use of the auxiliary verbs will and would in the subordinate conditional clause and the use of a negative verb after the conjunction unless.
Even if the vocabulary was accessible to them, some students were not able to infer meaning from the text, or to work out the type of conditional sentence when the verb was clearly given in one sentence. This may have happened because they were not taught to make logical connections, to put into practice the theory they had already studied, being mostly spoon-fed by the teacher.
Some of them were not familiar with the sentence pattern in English and arranged the words incorrectly when forming a sentence. We could observe a tendency of applying the word order from the Romanian language and this is a consequence of the fact that they firstly think into Romanian and then translate into English.
Some students were not able to reformulate information from the text in order to answer a question and they took the information the way it was presented without changing the subject, for example. Therefore, they understood the text, the vocabulary, but could not produce accurate language. They have well-developed receptive skills but do not have good production skills.
Even if the conditional sentences had already been taught the previous year only 59% of the students managed to solve correctly task number 2 where they were supposed to circle the correct verb form. It could have been solved mechanically if they had internalised the if-clause patterns.
The study has two independent variables:
1- The teaching method that has two levels:
A- The Communicative Language Teaching
B- The Grammar Translation
2- Students` level of linguistic competence.
The dependent variable, on the other hand, is the students' achievement in English grammar.
A t-test was used in order to find out if there were significant differences in the students` achievement in grammar between the experimental group and the traditional group as a result of applying the CLT in the experimental group and a One-Way ANOVA was used to find out if the effectiveness of the CLT method correlated with tenth grade students levels of competence (good and poor).
Table 5 T-test of experimental and control groups on the pre-test
The Table shows that the mean and standard deviation of the experimental group are 6.30 and 1.619 respectively while the mean and standard deviation of the control group are 6.27 and 1.632 respectively. The results in Table 5 indicate that the scores of the participants in both experimental and control groups are equivalent in terms of their results on the pre-test.
Thus, there are no significant differences between the experimental group and the control group.
3.13.2. The Experimental Stage
Many teachers now consider that there is not only one correct method of teaching a foreign language, but a combination of methods that should be used so as to meet the students’ individual characteristics and needs. As the purpose of this study is to find out which method if more suitable when teaching grammar, the CLT or the GTM we are going to refer only to the two.
3.13.2.1. Teaching If-Structures Communicatively
For the first lesson the following worksheet was used for the experimental group, using the independent variable Communicative Language Teaching:
Lesson 1
WORKSHEET
Listen to the radio programme and answer the following questions:
Which two therapies does the programme talk about?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
The therapies are used in different situations. Which situations are mentioned in the text?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Scan the transcript of the radio programme you have just listened to and answer the statements true (T) or false F)
Eight out of ten people have trouble controlling their anger. …….
With destruction therapy you use your anger to destroy something in a controlled way. …..
If you think about a situation when you were angry, the therapy will be more enjoyable. …….
In Spain, some companies pay for their workers to build hotels. …..
In Mexico, they use destruction therapy in hospitals. …….
Laughter therapy can help people feel less pain. …….
On average, children laugh 100 times a day and adults laugh seventeen times. ……
Read the text again and underline an example of a zero conditional and a first conditional.
A zero conditional: ………………………………………………………………………………….
A first conditional: …………………………………………………………………………………….
A) Look at the four sentences from the programme. Which talk about a general situation (GS) and which talk about a specific / future situation (FS)?
When people get angry, they don’t know what to do with their anger. ……
If I smash the car to pieces, will I feel better? ……
If people laugh about something, they feel better. …….
She will miss the train unless she comes now. …..
B) Study the example and make rules.
The if clause can come before or after the main clause. If it comes……………, we have to use a comma.
In type zero conditional we can use………………..instead of if.
Unless means……………and is followed by a verb in the …………………. .
Listen and underline the words you hear.
If he shouts, I get/ I’ll get angry.
If I see him, I tell/ I’ll tell him.
If I finish early, I go/I’ll go home.
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Mark each sentence zero (0) or first (1st) conditional.
1. a) If I go running every day, it………………………..(make) me feel good. …..
b) I’m feeling down. If I go for a run, I………………….(feel) better. ……
a)If I finish reading this book by Monday, I………………………………..(give) it to you to read. …
When I……………………………….(finish) reading a book, I usually feel disappointed. …
3. a) I’m meeting my boss later. If I tell him about my new job, he…………………………..(get) angry. …
b)If I ……………………………(get) angry, I take a deep breath and count to ten. …..
4. a)If I’m tired, I…………………………….(like) to eat in front of the television and go to bed early. …
b) I’m planning to drive through the night. If I get tired, I…………………………..(stop) and sleep. …
7. Complete the sentences so that they are true for you. Compare your ideas with a partner. Can you find any similarities?
When my English gets better, I…………………………………………………………………………
If I’m happy, I usually……………………………………………………………………………………
If I’m stressed, I usually…………………………………………………………………………………
My parents get angry if………………………………………………………………………………….
If I stay out very late, …………………………………………………………………………………..
If the weather is fine a the weekend, I…………………………………………………………………..
If there’s nothing good on TV this evening, I………………………………………………………….
If I don’t feel well on Monday morning, I………………………………………………………………
Ball game: Write down two parts of conditional sentences. One is the zero condition and the other is the first condition. Try to memorize them. Now stand up and form a circle. I say a half conditional sentence and throw the ball to a student and ask him to complete my sentence. The student who completes the sentence, tells his half sentence and throws the ball to another student.
Access the following link and answer the questions:
What is the video clip about? Where are two men? How does tge man on the right feel? Who is the man sitting next to him? Write three pieces of advice for that man. Use structures such as:
If you get angry, you should……….
If you feel angry, try…………………
TRANSCRIPT
R: Welcome to Start the Day!
C: Hello – can I help you? Your call is important to us. Hello – can I help you? Your call is important to us. Sorry, all our operators are busy at the moment. Please hold.
M: They put you in a queue for ages, listening to this terrible music. When you finally speak to someone, you're so angry, you just want to shout ..
. R: Anger. We all know the feeling. A report out last year shows that people are getting angrier. One in ten people say that they have trouble controlling their temper. Traffic jams, airports, call centres, computer crashes – they can all leave us feeling angry and anger is difficult to control. Or is it? Professor Miller from The Metropolitan University is here to tell us about two very different therapies to help deal with stress. First of all, destruction therapy, What's that about?
P: Well, basically, the idea is that a lot of people, when they get angry, they don't know what to do with their anger- they don't deal with it very well. They just keep it inside. But, if you don't deal with your anger, sooner or later it will explode. So with destruction therapy, you use your anger to destroy something, but in a controlled way and the idea is that if you do that, it helps you to feel better.
R: OK. I get angry a lot. Can destruction therapy help me?
P: Perhaps. We can try it. What we do is we take you to a place full of old cars. When we get there, I'll give you a hammer and you can use it to smash a car to pieces.
R: Really? Is it that simple? If I smash the car to pieces, will I feel better?
P: Yes, a little. But that's only the beginning. Then, I'll ask you to think about a situation in the past when you felt really angry. And when you think about that anger situation, you'll hit the car much harder. And the therapy will be much more satisfying. When we finish the session, you'll feel much better.
R: That's amazing and businesses are using this kind of therapy in Spain. is that right?
P: Yes, there are some old hotels in Spain. You can pay to go and destroy the hotel. So, some companies who feel that their workers are stressed, or they need to build a team, send their workers to destroy the hotel. And it's a good way for them to get rid of that stress. It works.
R: That's incredible. But there's another idea I wanted to ask you about. People say that laughter is the best medicine. And nowadays, laughter therapy is used in hospitals to help people with pain.
P: That's right.
R: So, how does that work?
P: Well. if people laugh about something, they feel better. On average, children laugh up to 400 times a day but when we grow up, we only laugh about seventeen times a day. And it's not enough because when you laugh, your body produces chemicals- and these chemicals make you feel happier. And they also make you feel less pain. So, in Mexico, for example, they use laughter therapy in hospitals. A group of people go around the hospital, visiting the patients and basically, they make them laugh, by telling them jokes or doing something funny.
R: And does it really work? Do people feel better afterwards?
P: Absolutely! They feel better and they don't need medicine.
R: That's brilliant. So, in Mexico, laughter really is the best medicine?
P: Yes. it looks like it. That's right . . .
Since the majority of the students obtained poor grades, we have decided to teach the if-structures separately. Therefore, the first lesson deals with the zero and the first conditional sentences which will be presented through the guided discovery technique based on reading an interview about anger management.
Specific objectives
By end of the lesson students will have:
– acquired the zero and first conditional structures and use them in communicative situations;
– developed guided discovery techniques and will have been able to infer and make rules by themselves;
– improved listening skills – listening for gist
– improved reading skills – scanning
– been able to develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way.
Lead- in
The lesson starts in a relaxing atmosphere, the teachers shows some pictures to the students and the whole class elicits different examples of therapies and give definitions.
Pre-grammar listening and reading
Then the T gives out the handouts and asks the Ss to listen to a radio interview and identify which two types of therapy are mentioned and in which situations they are used. At the end, the Ss check the answers in groups and after that the T elicits them with the whole class. The next task requires Ss to read the interview about the anger therapy and mark the sentences true or false. Then, they check the answers in groups while the T monitors and gives the answer key.
Presentation – Guided discovery
The teacher uses the discovery techniques and asks the students to scan the text again and underline examples of a zero and a first conditional clause. The Ss work in groups and the teacher writes the sentences on the blackboard. Next, the students study the four sentences from the interview and the teacher asks them some questions: Is Present or Future Simple used in sentence a)? (Present). Is the sentence about a general situation or a future situation? (General) Is Present or Future Simple used in sentence b)? (Both) What tense is used after "when", ”if” and ”unless” in all the sentences ? ( Present) What tenses are used in the second part of sentence b? (Future) Is the sentence about a general situation or a future situation? What does ”unless” mean? Do we use a negative or an affirmative form of the verb after it? The T elicits answers from the students. Then, having all the information, the Ss work in groups and make the rules in exercise 4B). The T checks at the end.
Controlled practice
The first exercise is a listening one meant to draw the Ss’ attention to the pronunciation of the contracted form I’ll, then they solve in pairs a gap filling exercise and check it in groups. Next, the teacher goes through the answers with the whole class and gives further explanations if necessary.
Productive Activity – to have Ss continue practice of the zero and first conditionals.
The Ss are given cut-ups and asked to complete the unfinished sentences with two ideas of their own then they check them in group. The T makes sure that they understand the activity by asking them: What do you complete the sentences with? (your ideas) How many ideas? (two) Do you check in pairs? (No, in group) The T monitors the students and elicits the answers with the whole class.
Freer practice
Game: the T gives instructions.
Feedback
The students reflect on their own learning and mistakes and the teacher makes comments and encourages them.
Homework
The teacher provides the students with the necessary explanations.
Reflexions on the lesson
The first part of the lesson was to make students familiar with the topic, to activate their vocabulary and help them acquire the necessary structures to successfully carry out the tasks. Moreover, it was meant to motivate and engage them. Students showed great interest in the topic, they actively communicated their ideas and intereacted with their peers.
Since the students were not very accustomed to the discovery techniques we chose the guided discovery strategy. Sudents were quite receptive to the teacher’s questions and showed great interest in working out the rules for themselves, they paid a lot of attention to the examples and the helping questions, analysed them in groups and finally managed to provide the correct answers.
During the feedback session they confessed that it was the most difficult part of the lesson, but also the most rewarding one as they could prove to themselves that they were capable of making rules and see how the English language works for themselves. Another good point that was highlighted was the fact that they had a lot of opportunities to interact in the English language. Although they made mistakes they managed to successfully make themselves understood and improved a lot their speaking skills while also valorising their life experience and general knowledge. The controlled practice stage was very important as it helped them to better internalise the rules and activate them later during the free practice stage. The game at the end was perceived as a pleasant activity, the class was divided into two groups and the students had a lot of fun, so the lesson ended in a very good, relaxing atmosphere. Overall, the class was a great success, the students had the opportunity to work in groups, to solve tasks that necessitated concentration, they had the possibility to express their thoughts, to valorise all their English language knowledge and experiences and to have fun; they were not given time to get bored.
Lesson 2
We used the following worksheet for the second communicative lesson.
WORKSHEET
Watch the video. Do you recognise the scene? Have you seen the film? Did you like it? Why/Why not?
Read the review of The People Watchers. Why does the reviewer like the programme?
Look at the four underlined sentences above and the given example and complete the rules with the words in the box.
e.g. If I were you, I would not choose to see this movie.
We use the hypothetical conditional to describe a………………….situation.
In the if clause, we use the………………………simple.
In the result clause, we use……………….or ‘d.
If we are not sure of the result, we can also use………………… or might.
The structure If I were you, I would is used to give……………………..
We can use were or was in the if clause, but…………………is more formal.
Let’s watch again the little fragment from the film Beauty and the Beast, Bella and the Beast are both back in the castle, and Bella tries to wash the Beast’s wounds. While watching try to fill in the blanks:
Beast: [roaring] Aaargh! ________ _________ !
Belle: If you'd hold still, it ____________ hurt as much!
Beast: Well if you hadn't have run away, this wouldn't ________ __________.
Belle: If you ________ _________ me, I _________ _________ _________ away!
Beast: Well you shouldn't have been in the west wing!
Belle: Well, you should learn to control your temper. Now, hold still. This might sting a little. (––)
Belle: By the way, thank you for saving my life.
Beast: [stops growling] You're welcome.
(you may tell them that they are talking about the past, when she ran away because she was so scared of him.)
b) Underline the if clauses type 3 and make the rule. Do they describe an imaginary situation in the present or an imaginary situation in the past?
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in the box to form second conditional.
1.I …………………..my autobiography if I………………….so much work to do.
2.What………………….if you …………………a UFO?
3. If I……………………go anywhere in the world, I…………….to the Caribbean.
4. If it …………………so much, I……………………to live in Norway.
5. You……………………very happy if you………………….the exam.
6. If you…………………..a friend shoplifting, would you………………the police?
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets to form third conditional.
1.Mach Picchu ………………………(remain) unknown if Hiram Bigham………………..(not/explore) the Andes in Peru.
2. If the ‘I love you’ virus……………(be) found earlier, forty-five million computers………………. (not/crash) in 2000.
3. the development of modern medicine …………………….(be) different if Alexander Fleming…………….. (not/discover) penicillin.
4. If John Lennon……………….(not/meet) Paul McCartney, they………………… (not/form)
The Beatles.
5. The invention of the mobile phone………………….(not/be) possible if Alexander Graham Bell ………………..(not/invent) the telephone.
6. If Nestor Film Company……………………….(not open) a film studio there in 1911, Hollywood ……………(remain) a quiet town.
Listen and check if you were right.
GAME: Instructions
Each group is given a set of cards and a stack of small sheets of paper. The sheets of paper should be big enough for students to write a legible sentence. The first player draws the first card and reads it out loud to the group.
“If I were friends with the president, …”
The first time you play you should elicit that the next part will start with “I would…”
The other players should think about what the first player’s answer will be. Each player then takes a small sheet of paper and writes the next part of the sentence with that person in mind. The first player also writes his own answer on a sheet of paper. Once everyone has finished writing, the first player collects all of the answers, including their own, and shuffles them. Then the first player reads each of the sentences in full:
“If I were friends with the president, I would get a comfortable government job.”
“If I were friends with the president, I would tell him to resign.”
“If I were friends with the president, I would meet a lot of interesting people.”
“If I were friends with the president, I would give him some of my ideas.”
Now, the other players each have to guess which answer they think is the real one that the first player wrote. Once everyone’s made their choice the first player reveals which one was their answer and why. This part can be in an open discussion and you’ll rarely need to worry about keeping score. The next player takes a card and the game continues until every player has had a turn.
After the first round students will understand the game far better than if you try to explain it beforehand. They will also understand that a big part of the game is in fooling other people into guessing your answer.
Homework
1. Complete the sentences with the verbs in parentheses.
1.It’s too bad Helen isn’t here. If she (be) ________________ here, she (know) __________________ what to do.
2.Fred failed the test because he didn’t study. However, if he (study) ___________________ for the test, he (pass) ___________________ it.
3.An aerosol spray can will explode if you (throw) ___________________ it into a fire.
4.You should tell your father exactly what happened. If I (be) ___________________ you, I (tell) ___________________ him the truth as soon as possible.
5.If I (have) _________________ my camera with me yesterday, I (take) _________________ a picture of Alex standing on his head.
6.I’m almost ready to plant my garden. I have a lot of seeds. Maybe I have more than I need. If I (have) ___________________ more seeds than I need, I (give) ___________________ some to Nellie.
7.I got wet because I didn’t take my umbrella. However, I (get, not) ___________________ wet if I (remember) ___________________ to take my umbrella with me yesterday.
8.I (change) ___________________ the present economic policy if I (be) ___________________ the President of the United States.
9.If the teacher (be) ___________________ absent tomorrow, class will be cancelled.
10.George has only two pairs of socks. If he (have) ___________________ more than two pairs of socks, he (have to, not) ___________________ wash his socks so often.
11.That sounds like a good job offer. If I (be) ___________________ you, I (accept) ___________________ it.
12.The cowboy pulled his gun to shoot at the rattlesnake, but he was too late. If he (be) ___________________ quicker to pull the trigger, the snake (bite, not) ___________________ him on the ankle. It’s a good thing he was wearing heavy leather boots.
2. Complete the following. Add commas where necessary.
1. If it hadn’t rained _____________________________________________________________________________
2. If it weren’t raining ____________________________________________________________________________
3. Without electricity modern life __________________________________________________________________
4. If you hadn’t reminded me about the meeting tonight _______________________________________________
5. If I could choose any profession I wanted _________________________________________________________
6. If I were at home right now _____________________________________________________________________
7. Without your help yesterday ___________________________________________________________________
8. If I were you _________________________________________________________________________________
9. What would you do if ________________________________________________________________________
10. If I had the chance to live my life over again ______________________________________________________
3. Write at least six conditional sentences that you have come by in songs or movies.
The second lesson is supposed to familiarise students with hypothetical conditions, therefore, conditional sentences types 2 and 3 are introduced through guided discovery techniques based on a video from the film Beauty and the Beast.
Specific Objectives
By the end of the lesson students will have:
– acquired the second and the third conditional structures and use them in communicative situations;
– developed guided discovery techniques and will have been able to infer and make rules by themselves;
– improved listening skills – listening for specific details
– improved reading skills – skimming
– been able to develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way.
Lead- in
The lesson starts in a relaxing, friendly atmosphere with the teachers playing a video presenting a sequence from the movie Beauty and the Best and asking students: Do you recognise the scene? Have you seen the film? Did you like it? Why/Why not? The teacher elicits answers from the students.
Pre-Grammar Reading
The Ss are asked to skim a review and answer a question, they check it in pairs, then the T elicits the answer with the whole class.
Presentation – Guided Discovery
The T asks the Ss to look at the four sentences taken from the text, work in pairs and make the rules for the second conditional. The Ss check the rules in groups and then the T asks them questions to see if they have understood the structure:
Do the sentences express a real or a hypothetical condition? Does the hypothetical condition refer to present or past? What tense do we use in the subordinate if-clause? What about the tense in the main clause? What is the short form of the modal “would”? What other modals can we use? Is there anything unusual with the past form of the verb “be”? What is the meaning of the structure “If I were you, I would….”? The T elicits answers with the whole class and adds any other explanations?
For introducing the third conditional structure, the teacher uses the video sequence from the film Beauty and the Best. The Ss watch the video again and try to fill in the gaps with the missing words; they check the answers in groups and then the T elicits them with the whole class. Next, the Ss are asked to identify the third conditional structures and the T writes them on the blackboard. The Ss work in groups and make the rules by answering the given questions. After that, the T elicits the rules with the whole class by asking them: Do they express a hypothetical situation in the past or in the present? What meanings do they express? What tense do we use in the subordinate if-clause? What about the tense in the main clause? Can we use other modals instead of “would”?
Controlled practice
The Ss solve a gap filling exercise and check the answers in pairs. Then the teachers goes though the answers with the whole class.
Free practice
In order to practice the two structures, the students work in groups and play a game where they are supposed to use the conditional sentences in a communicative way.
Feedback
The students reflect on their own learning and mistakes and the teacher makes comments and encourages them.
Homework
The students have to solve two traditional gap-filling exercises and the third one asks them to search on the internet movies or songs and note down six conditional structures from at least four different sources.
While designing the two lessons we have tried to adopt an integrated approach to teaching grammar, to replicate real – life communication. When we communicate to someone, we are supposed to listen as well as speak because otherwise we cannot interact with the other person; when we write a message, we have to be able to read what the people sent to us and then reply accordingly. Thus, both output and input are connected and both skills and language structures have to be integrated and connected.
Observing the class during the two lessons I collected the following data:
The students found the teaching materials interesting, they liked the fact that they managed to successfully solve tasks based on authentic texts and video, listening to native speakers.
By discovering the rules alone, we could perceive a great feeling of satisfaction and a very good understanding of the structures as they were able to use them freely, making fewer mistakes. They became aware of the way in which the English language works and in this way they could be able to manage their own learning. By developing an awareness of the language-learning theories they will be able to adopt learning strategies for themselves.
They found the games really funny and showed great interest in them.
They seemed curious, eager and motivated to learn more, bombing the teacher with questions which demonstrated their interest.
They became more confident in their abilities.
By reflecting on their performance, they could take charge of their own learning and become autonomous learners.
3.13.2.2. Teaching If-Structures Using the Grammar Translation Method
For the first lesson the following worksheet was used for the control group, using the independent variable Grammar translation:
Lesson 1
WORKSEET
Read the excerpt from the novel Animal Farm. What does the windmill symbolise in your opinion?
Find a conditional sentence in the text .
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Pay attention to the teacher’s explanations and take notes:
The if-clause can come before or after the main clause. If it comes……………, we have to use a comma.
In type zero conditional we can use………………..instead of if.
Unless means……………and is followed by a verb in the …………………. .
Choose the correct answer:
If you………………………..blue with yellow, you get green.
a)will mix b)mix c) are mixing
2. “These suitcases are heavy!”
“I……………………..you, if you like.”
a)am going to help b)am helping c) will help
3.I…………………a party on Saturday. Would you like to come?
a)am having b)have c)will have
4. If you ……..that plate, you’ll burn yourself.
a)are touching b)touch c)will touch
5.If you don’t study, you…….pass your exams.
a)won’t b) aren’t c)will
6. If we ………….down the rain forest, the world’s climate will change.
a)are cutting b)will cut c)cut
7. When we go to Paris next week, we………the Louvre.
a)will visit b)are visiting c)visit
Use When/If to make sentences as in the example.
If you take the train, you will get there more quickly.
Read the advertisements. What party would you vote for and why?
Vote for Us! – group work – each group gets to design their own political party, creating campaign promises using the first conditional. Then, they share their parties and promises with the class, have a class vote.
Homework:
Translate into the Romanian language the paragraph which starts with the words “What victory comrade?” and ends with “ we have won every inch of it back again!”
Choose a novel or a poetry written in English and find at least 2 examples of conditionals type 0 or 1.
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets. For each sentence decide if the situation is general (what normally happens – zero conditional), or specific (a possible situation in the future – first conditional).
She will miss the train unless she……………………….(come) now.
If you mix red and blue paint, you……………………..(get) purple.
I……………………………(come) to the concert if there are any tickets left.
If you wear that coat, you…………………….(be) too hot.
He’ll go to university unless he……………….(fail) his exams.
When you……………………….(pour) oil on water, it floats.
Thomas…………………(get) a promotion if he ……………………..(work) harder.
If people…………………….(exercise) regularly, they tend to………………..(live) longer.
If we…………………………..(leave) early enough, we………………………(miss) the traffic.
If the music …………………….(be) loud, people always……………………….(dance)
Within the traditional teaching, the teacher plays the role of a controller, instructor and decision-maker and lessons are characterised by rote learning, memorisation and repetition.
Having all these principles in mind we have designed the first lesson that presents the zero and the first conditional clauses.
Specific objectives:
By the end of the lesson students will have:
– acquired the zero and first conditional structures and use them in communicative situations;
– developed translation skills
– improved reading skills – skimming
– been able to develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way.
Lead in
The T brings into class the book Animal Farm and asks the Ss if they are familiar with the novel or the film. If they know it, they briefly present the main ideas, if not, the teacher tells them in order to arouse their curiosity.
Pre-grammar Reading
After that they are given out handouts with a short passage from the novel and the T asks them to skim it and answer a question, then she checks the answers with the whole class. Next, the students read the passage and translate it.
Presentation
The Ss are asked to identify the conditional sentence in the text. The teacher writes it on the backboard, adds other examples and explains to them the structure and the meanings of the zero and first conditionals. The Ss listen to the teacher’s explanations and note them on their worksheet. Then the T asks them some questions to see if they have understood the structures: What tenses do we use in the if-clause type 0? What about the tenses in the first conditional? Can we use other modals instead of “will”? What do they express? What does “unless” mean? Is it followed by a verb in the affirmative or negative? When can we use “when” instead of “if”? When do we have to use a comma? Does type 0 express a general or a specific situation? What about type 1?
Controlled Practice
The Ss solve two traditional exercises, a multiple choice and a matching exercise to practice the structures.
Free Practice
The Ss are asked to read some advertisements of political parties, choose the one they would vote for and present their choice by justifying it. After that, they work in groups and write an advertisement. The game is called Vote for Us! – each group gets to design their own political party, creating campaign promises using the first conditional. Students share their parties and promises with the class and then have a class vote.
Feedback
The students reflect on their own learning and mistakes and the teacher makes comments and encourages them.
Homework
The students are asked to choose a novel or a poetry written in English and find at least 2 examples of conditionals type 0 and 1 and solve a traditional gap filling exercise.
Reflexions on the lesson
At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher tried to arouse the students’ curiosity about the English literature. The students were not familiar with the book “Animal Farm” but they had seen the film. They showed great interest in communicating their ideas and thought about the central issues debated in the film. After that, they read the passage and translated it but they found the activity rather uninteresting. They managed to identify the conditional sentence and the teacher presented the rules for the zero and first conditional structures, providing examples that the students translated in their mother tongue. The main objective was to help them find similarities and differences between the conditional structures in the Romanian language and the English language, to make them understand the rules of using and forming the conditional sentences by making a comparison betweenthe two languages.
The following controlled practice exercises were meant to help students internalise the rules. The leaners managed to solve them, therefore, they had understood the explanations. Nevertheless, observing the students during the lesson we could see that most of them were very bored as the classroom language was mainly the Romanian language, they had little opportunity to interact in English, they were not given the chance to engage actively, to feel motivated since the exercises were very predictive and rigid and did not allow them to use their general English language or to prove their overall knowledge of the language. Thus, for ethical reasons, we decided to introduce a free practice sequence and the students were very engaged and enthusiastic about it.
During the feedback session the students confessed that they did not like the translation exercises and the controlled practice ones as they were boring and did not give them the opportunity to express freely in the English language, but they helped them to better acquire the rules. They found the teacher’s explanations very useful although they considered them a bit longer.
Lesson 2
For the second lesson the following worksheet was used:
WORKSEET
1. ‘The ‘if’-generation’
Give one example of each conditional from the text.
Do you agree with the author of the text that we tend to overthink everything too much and are never satisfied with our lives? In other words, that there is always an ‘if’ lurking in the shadows of our minds?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Pay attention to the teacher explanations and take notes:
The second conditional
The third conditional
3. Complete the sentences with the verbs in brackets.
1. If I had enough apples, I (bake) _______________________ an apple pie this afternoon.
2. I would fix your bicycle if I (have) _______________________ a screwdriver of the proper size.
3. Jack would shave today if he (have) _______________________ a sharp razor.
4. Sally would answer the phone if she (be) _______________________ in her office right now.
5. I (not be) _________________ a student in this class if English (be) __________________ my native language.
4. Complete the sentences.
If she _______________________(arrive) on time, she wouldn’t have missed the English lesson.
If you _____________________________(be) more careful, you might not have broken your glasses.
If he hadn´t watched TV until midnight, he ____________________________(not be) late for work.
You ______________________________(not get) the job if you hadn´t applied for it.
If I had invited you to my wedding party, ______________________________(you/go)?
She ____________________________(have) better grades in her exams if she had worked harder.
Underline the correct option:
1. If it wasn’t/wouldn’t be so windy at the moment, it would be nicer to go for a walk.
2.If you helped round the house a bit more, I allow/might allow you to have a bit more pocket money.
3. I won’t/ wouldn’t mind about Lisa coming home late if she just phoned to let me know she was ok.
4. If/Unless the company were to reduce its costs, profits would increase.
5. My brother stays/would stay in bed all day if he didn’t have to go to school.
6. If I know/had known you were such a gossip, I wouldn’t have trusted you with such personal information.
7. Sandra would have given up her course by now, if it hadn’t been/ wouldn’t have been for her teacher’s encouragement.
8. if we found someone else to go with us, it had been/ would be cheaper to rent a car.
9. If it hadn’t been for losing our suitcases on the way home, it will/would have been a perfect holiday.
10. We could have invited more people to the party if we lived/would live in a bigger house.
6. Photo game: the conditional
Pair up with a fellow classmate. Invent a situation accompanying each one of the photographs below, using the first, second or third conditional. Your partner has to guess which one of the eight photographs accompanies your story.
Homework
1. Find what the life of Annie and her family was like before the French Revolution started.
You may use second or third conditional to fill in the blanks.
If Annie were a rich noble, she _____________ (belong) to the _______________ State.
If Annie _____________ (be) a labourer, she would belong to the ______________ State.
If Annie belonged to the Second State, what privileges ___________ she _________(have)?
If the cost of bread rose, mobs of workers _______________ (attack) grain carts or _______________ (steal) bread from the bread shops.
During the 1770s and the 1780s, the government of France sank deeply into debt. If Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette _____________________ (not spend) so much money, France would not have faced such economic problems.
If Louis XVI _______________ (be) a strong leader, he might have solved many problems.
If Marie Antoinette had not spent so much money on gowns, jewels, and gambling, she ____________________(not/be know)
as “Madame Deficit”.
If a wave of senseless panic called the Great Fear ________________ (not/spread) into the countryside, many nobles would not have been killed.
Many Parisian women were angry because of the rising price of bread. So, if people were hungry, they __________________(protest).
DILEMMA: If you had lived in this period of great turmoil, and you and your family had been hungry, ______________________ (you/steal) food?
2. What would you do if…………
1. someone asked you to dress up as a tree for charity?
2. a stranger asked to borrow your mobile phone?
3. someone jumped a queue, ahead of you?
4. you had to think of a way to raise money for charity in the streets.
5. someone asked you to take part in a TV programme.
3. What would you have done if ….
you’d left school at sixteen?
you teacher told you’d been the worst student in the class?
you had found a purse on the beach with 200 pounds on and an address?
the waiter had bought you cold soup?
4. Find articles on the internet and write down at least six conditional sentences. Write the link too.
The second grammar translation lesson was designed to help students in the controlled group internalise the rules of the second and the third conditional clauses.
Specific objectives
By the end of the lessons students will have:
– acquired the second and third conditional structures and use them in communicative situations;
– developed translation skills
– improved reading skills – skimming
– been able to develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way.
Lead in
The teacher asks the students if they are happy with their life, if they would like to change anything and gives a personal example: If I were richer, I would live in a luxurious mansion. Then they talk about the things they would like to change/ have. After that the teacher presents the title and the objectives of the lesson.
Pre-grammar Reading
The students receive handouts with the new lesson and read aloud the text The If Generation, translating it.
Presentation
The students are required to identify in the text examples of the first, second and the third conditional sentences. The teacher writes the examples on the blackboard and gives the necessary explanations about the structure and the meaning of the second and the third conditional sentences. The students pay attention to the explanations and take notes. To check if they have understood, the teacher asks them some questions: What tenses do we use in the if- clause type 2? What about the tenses in the third conditional? Can we use other modals instead of “would”? What do they express? What is the short form of the modal “would”? Is there anything unusual with the past form of the verb “be”? What is the meaning of the structure “If I were you, I would….”? Which conditional sentence refers to a hypothetical situation in the present and which one refers to a hypothetical situation in the past? What other additional meanings do they have?
Controlled Practice
For a better acquisition of the two structures, the students solve two exercises, a dual choice and a gap filling exercise. They check the answers in pairs and then the teacher goes through the answers with the whole class.
Free Practice
The students work in pairs and play a photo game in which they are expected to be able to use the conditional structures in a communicative situation.
Feedback
The students reflect on their own learning and mistakes and the teacher makes comments and encourages them.
Homework
The students are asked to solve a gap filling exercise, to give personal answers to some questions and find articles on the internet with the conditional sentences, write the structures and translate them.
During the two traditional lessons I gathered the following data:
Most students found the teacher’s explanations rather boring and difficult to understand. As they were solving the exercises in the controlled practice stage, they had some difficulties and the teacher had to explain them again some aspects related to the form and meaning of the conditional structures.
They liked the teaching materials and the idea that they had to do some internet research, but the translation of the texts was perceived as uninteresting.
Working on their own or in pairs was something very common for them so that was not a way of keeping them motivated.
Having to memorize rules and learn grammar was seen as something demotivating, as “another grammar lesson”. They did not show any curiosity or willingness to study English. The lessons did not foster intrinsic motivation, but extrinsic one, they studied because they wanted to get big marks or because English would help them in their future career.
3.13.2.6. The Progress Test
TEST PAPER
1.Read the text below and answer the question. 3pts
1.a.What should the police have done before using their flying cameras?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
1b. In the text, find examples of: 1p
A first conditional: …………………………………………………………………………………….
A third conditional: ……………………………………………………………………………………
1c. What would you do if you saw someone stealing from a supermarket? 3pts
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Choose the correct answer. 7pts
1.If I had had enough money, I………… that radio.
bought b. would buy c. would have bought d. had bought
2. If it rains, you ………… wet.
a. will get b. would get c. get d. had got
3. She would go to the Job Centre if she ………….a job.
a. had wanted b. will want c. wanted d. wants
4. The dog …………you if it hadn´t been tied up.
a. would bite b. will bite c. would have bitten d. bites
5. If it …………..I would stay at home.
a. rains b. rained c. has rained d. had rained
6. If he…… thirsty, he would have drunk some water.
a. was b. had been c. is d. would drink
7.If I drink coffee at night, I…………it difficult to get to sleep.
a.would find b.found c.find d.would have found
3. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense. 28pts
If you……………. (be) a professional basketball player, who…………… …. (you/play) for?
If he………………. (not study) now, he won’t have enough time later.
If Susan had taken the map, she……………………. (not get) lost.
Where ……………………. (you/go) on holiday if you……………. (can) choose any destination in the world?
What …………………………. (you/give) me if it were my birthday tomorrow?
If we recycle more, there ………………………. (not be) so much rubbish.
If they …………….. (have) something to eat that day, they wouldn’t have been hungry.
If we ………………. (hear) the weather forecast yesterday, we…………………. (not go) to the beach.
What………………….(you/buy) if you ………………. (can afford) anything you wanted?
If they……………………. (not hurry) up, they will miss the film.
4. Answer the following questions: 18pts
1. If, beginning tomorrow, you had a two-week holiday and unlimited funds, what would you do? Why?
2. If you were Philosopher-King of the world, how would you govern? What would you do? What changes would you make? (A “Philosopher_King” may be defined as a person who has ideal wisdom and unlimited power to shape the world as s/he wishes.)
5. This is part of an email from your best friend. 30pts
Write an email to your friend giving him advice. Write between 25-40 words.
10 points granted
In order to measure the learners’ progress and make any necessary adjustments to the teaching-learning process, the students took a test that evaluated the following:
Students’ ability of reading for general meaning – skimming;
Students’ capacity of recognising the structure and meaning of the conditional sentences;
Students’ ability of producing correct conditional structures by infering the meaning from the context;
Students’ capacity of using correctly the conditional structures in communicative activities;
Students’ ability of witing an email offering advice;
The test consisted of the following types of items:
Text-based questions
An identification exercise
A multiple choice item
Answering to questions
Wring an email
The first task was divided into three sub-tasks. The first item asked the students to skim the text and answer a question, then they had to identify the conditional structures in the text and specify their type, and the last item required them to give their opinion on the problem presented in the text.
The second task was a multiple choice exercise which tested the students’ ability of recognising a conditional structure and inferring its meaning from the context.
The third task was a gap-filling exercise which tested the students’ capacity of producing a correct conditional sentence. They had to infer the meaning of the sentence from the context and put the verbs in brackets into the correct form. Apart from testing grammar knowledge, it also assessed their vocabulary understanding and inference skills.
The fourth task required them to answer two questions. They were supposed to imagine being in two situations and provide solutions to the given problems. While answering they had to form correct statements using the second and the third conditional structures.
The last item asked them to write an email offering a suggestion by using the structure If I were you, I… and justify it.
The last two tasks were subjective items and they assessed the students’ ability of using the conditional structures in communicative situations. The following elements were graded: sentence structure, spelling and punctuation, task relevance, grammar and vocabulary. The progress test was similar in structure to the pre-test because the students were familiar with the type of the items and in this way they already knew what they were supposed to do. The items were adapted from the following textbooks: Open Mind Upper-Intermediate, Macmillan, Round Up 5, Express Publishing, and Active Grammar Level 3. We have used them as they deal with the functional aspect of the if-clauses and provide sufficient teaching material on the structures.
After evaluating the progress test the following results have been obtained:
Table 6 Progress Test 10th A – control group
Mean= 7.01
Graph 4 Progress Test 10th A – control group
For task 1a), 23 students out of 24 were able to identify the correct answer for the text-based question and only 1 student had difficulties in understanding the text. The 23 students managed to rephrase the information from the text and they provided correct answers.
For task 1b), 20 students out of 24 managed to correctly identify the conditional sentences and specify their type while 4 students out of 24 identified the conditional structures, but did not mention the correct type.
For task 1c), which was a subjective item as students had to offer a personal suggestion to the problem debated in the text, 19 students out of 24 managed to successfully complete the task. The remaining 5 students were not able to write a correct answer.
The second task was solved correctly by 20 students out of 24 while 4 students out of 24 solved it partially correctly.
The third task was resolved correctly by 9 students out of 24, 9 students partially solved it whereas 7 students obtained a very low score. The main problems identified were:
Students were not able to infer the meaning of the sentence and therefore, they used the incorrect tense.
They made mistakes when they formed the tenses, (wrong formation of the past participle, they used the past form of the verb after the auxiliary have)
The fourth task was solved correctly by 6 students out of 24 and 15 learners out of 24 solved it partially correctly. They made spelling mistakes, used wrong word order, had the tendency to use the modal “will” instead of “would” in conditional sentences type 2 and partially answered the questions – they did not justify their answer. And finally, 5 students out of 24 did not answer the questions at all.
The last task was solved correctly by 7 students out of 24, 14 students out of 24 made spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes – they used the past simple instead of the present simple in sentences where the indicative mood was required. As far as vocabulary was concerned, they made word confusions. The most difficult tasks proved to be the last two, which were subjective items that required them to use the if – structures in communicative situations.
Graph 5 Pre-Test vs. Progress Test 10th A – control group
Analysing the graph we can observe the following features:
The curve has 8 peaks for the pre-test and 7 peaks for the progress test, the highest peak corresponds to grade 6 for the pre-test whereas for the progress test it corresponds to 7.
The mean for the progress test is not situated in the centre of the distribution and the distribution is not symmetrical around the mean.
It can be observed a decline towards the end of the curve
Observing the graph and analysing the test papers we can draw the following conclusions:
There is some improvement in the students’ achievement in both grammar and skills as the mean in around 7.
Students made fewer grammar mistakes while using the conditional structures; the commonest grammar mistakes were confusions between the indicative and the conditional mood, wrong formation of the past simple and past participles, meaning confusions between the first and second conditional structures, wrong word order. Those mistakes were also encountered in the pre-test.
More students managed to infer the meaning of conditional sentences as there is an increase in the number of the students who managed to solve tasks 2 and 3.
More students managed to make a linguistic transfer and successfully carried out the communicative tasks.
The same test was administered to the 10th C grade and the following results were obtained:
Table 7 Progress Test 10th C – experimental group
Mean = 7,60
Graph 6 Progress Test 10th C – experimental group
For task 1a), 31 students out of 33 were able to write the correct answer for the text-based question and the remaining 2 students used the second conditional instead of the third one.
For task 1b), all the students managed to identify the conditional sentences and wrote their type correctly.
For task 1c), the subjective item, 28 students out of 33 managed to successfully complete the task, but 5 out of 33 made grammar errors.
The second task was solved correctly by 29 students out of 33 while 4 students out of 33 solved it partially correctly.
The third task was resolved correctly by 15 students out of 33, 12 students partially solved it whereas 6 students obtained a very low score. The main problems identified were:
Some students made confusions between the types of conditional sentences especially between the second and the third type. The most frequent confusions occurred in sentences were students were asked to provide both verb forms.
The commonest mistakes were those related to tense formation: the use of the past form of the verb after didn’t, the use of the past form instead of the past participle, the omission of the auxiliary have in the third conditional structure, the use of the form had instead of have after the modal would.
The fourth task was solved correctly by 14 students out of 33 and 16 students out of 33 solved it partially correctly. They made spelling mistakes, used wrong word order, had the tendency to skip the auxiliary have in conditional sentences type 3 or partially answered the questions – they did not justify their answers. The mistakes were similar to those in exercise 3. And finally, 3 students out of 33 did not answer the questions at all.
The last task was solved correctly by 18 students out of 33, 14 students out of 33 made spelling mistakes, minor grammar mistakes or did not use the appropriate vocabulary.
Comparing the number of the students who managed to solve the communicative tasks correctly we can see a great improvement in the progress test as opposed to the pre-test. In the pre-test 78% of the students managed to solve the communicative task correctly or with few mistakes, whereas in the progress test 81% managed to solve task 4 and 96% managed to solve task 5.
Comparing these results with those obtained by the students in the control class we can notice the following:
42% of the students in the experimental class managed to solve task 4 correctly and 48% partially correctly (total percentage – 90%) whereas in the control class 25% managed to solve it correctly and 62% partially correctly (total percentage – 87%).
54% of the students in the experimental class solved task 5 correctly and 42% partially correctly (total percentage – 96%), while in the control class only 29% managed to solve it correctly and 62% partially correctly (total percentage – 91%).
Therefore, the results are in favour of the experimental group which used the CLT.
Graph 7 Pre-Test vs. Progress Test 10th C – experimental group
Analysing the graph we can observe the following features:
The curve has 7 peaks for the pre-test and only 5 peaks for the progress test, the highest peak corresponds to grade 6 for the pre-test whereas for the progress test it corresponds to 8.
The mean for the progress test is not situated in the centre of the distribution and the distribution is almost symmetrical around the mean compared to the pre-test where it is quite asymmetrical.
The grades grow steadily from 5 to 6. This leads to a rise in the total number of students who managed to get a better grade. There are no students who obtained a grade under 5.
Overall, we can see a clear upward trend in the number of the students who were able to obtain a better grade.
Observing the graph and analysing the test papers we can draw the following conclusions:
There is a considerable improvement in the students’ achievement in both grammar and skills as the mean is 7.6 compared to 6.3 in the pre-test.
Most students seem to have acquired and internalised the rules of the conditional sentences as 90% of them were able to use them in communicative tasks.
There are fewer grammar mistakes as far as conditional sentences are concerned
Only few of the mistakes encountered in the pre-test where also found in the progress test.
More students managed to infer the meaning of conditional sentences as there is a great increase in the number of the students who managed to solve tasks 2 and 3.
More students managed to make a linguistic transfer and successfully carried out the communicative tasks.
Graph 8 Progress test –10th A vs. 10th C
Analysing graph 8, we can observe that the learners in the 10th C grade have better results than the learners in the 10th A grade. For the students in the 10th A grade, the curve rises until grade 7 and then falls steeply until grade 9 whereas for the students in the 10th C grade, the curve increases substantially until grade 6 and stays almost constant until grade 8 and then falls minimally until grade 9. None of the students in both classes got a 10. There is also a significant difference between the means of the two classes, 7.60 (the initial mean was 6.30) compared to 7.01 (the initial mean being 6.27). This is due to the effect of using the CLT method. Since the participants in both groups were of similar levels, no other factors besides the method variable had any effect on the results of the study. The significant difference between the two treatments was in favour of the experimental group which used the CLT.
3.13.2.4. Teaching If-Structures Communicatively – Part Two
For the third communicative lesson the following worksheet was used:
Lesson 3
WORKSHEET
1. Work in pairs. Try to answer the questions:
Were dinosaurs warm-blooded or cold-blooded?
When and why did they become extinct?
2. Read the text and find the answers to the questions in exercise 1.
3.In the text, find examples of structures 1-5. Which refer to a)the past b)the present c)the past and present?
A second conditional clause
A third conditional clause
Two mixed conditional clauses
Two conditional clauses introduced by words other than if
A conditional clause where if is omitted and the subject and verb are inverted
4. Study the two mixed conditionals in the text and make rules. Choose the correct word and write each sentence in the correct table.
5. Rewrite the sentences using mixed conditionals.
You didn’t listen, so you don’t know what to do.
Kate failed her driving test last week so she is retaking it in July.
He’s being prosecuted because he refuses to pay any tax.
I don’t like him because he was rude to me.
His injuries are more serious because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
I forgot my keys so I can’t get back into the house.
6. Instead of if we can use other words. Study the examples and identify those words. One of them has a special patter. Which one is that?
I’ll do the work provided/providing that I can finish by lunchtime.
I’ll do the work as soon as I can finish by lunchtime
Suppose it were to break! What would we do?
Imagine we lived on Mars. What sort of life would it be?
We’re planning to fly, assuming it’s not too expensive.
But for him/his help, we’d never have managed.
We need to set out soon, otherwise we’ll miss the train.
I shall go on condition that you go too.
In case I can’t come I will lend it to you with pleasure.
7. Study the following examples. Which are formal and which are informal? What type of conditional clause do they represent?
Had the meteor not hit the Earth, dinosaurs would have continued to thrive.
Were you to go there you would find them disappointing.
Should this be true there will be serious consequences.
Do that again and I’ll call the police.
Finish your dinner or you can’t watch TV.
Rule: Contracted forms are/aren’t possible in contractions.
8. Rewrite the sentences using an inversion in the conditional clause omitting if.
If you need to make any photocopies, there’s a photocopier outside my office.
Please contact head office if you should need to make a complaint.
If Kurt Cobain were alive today, he’d be over 40.
If it weren’t for the fact that she’s married to the boss, she’d never have afforded a new car.
If it hadn’t been for my parents’ generosity, I could never have afforded a new car.
IMAGINE THE FOLLOWING SITUATIONS, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Homework.
1.Put the verbs into the correct tense.
If we _________ (not trust) him we ____________ (sacked) him months ago.
We ________________ him months ago if we ______________ him.
If the elephant ___________ in love with the mouse, she ___________ (tread) on him by now
If I ________ (be) in the middle of another meeting, I ___________ (be) happy to help you.
I _____________________ to help you if I ___________ in the middle of another meeting
If she ___________ afraid of flying she _____________ (travel) by boat.
I________________ (able to) translate the letter if my Italian _________ better.
If I _______ a good cook, I _______________ invited them to lunch.
If the elephant ___________ in love with the mouse, she ___________ (tread) on him by now
2. Complete each sentence b so that it means the same as sentence a, using the words in brackets.
1 a) I we assume the traffic isn’t too heavy, it should take us about four hours to get there. (assuming)
b)……………………………………………………………., it should take us about four hours to get there.
2. a) If the main door is locked, please use the side exit. (which)
b) The main door may be locked, ……………………………………………please use the side exit.
3. a) If you tell anyone about this, I’ll never speak to you again! (and)
b)………………………………………………………………….I’ll never speak to you again!
4. a) Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any assistance. (should)
b) Please do not hesitate to contact me ………………………………………………………………….
5. a)Having a salary of a million dollars still wouldn’t make me want to do your job! (even if)
b)……………………………………………………………………………….I still wouldn’t want to do your job!
6. a) Take a sandwich with you because you might feel hungry later. (case)
b) Take a sandwich with you ……………………………………………………………………..
7. a)If I hadn’t been here to help you, what would you have done? (supposing)
b)……………………………………………………………………………… what would you have done?
8. a)You may leave unless you need a certificate, in which case please come to my desk. (otherwise)
b) Please come to my desk if you need a certificate ……………………………………………………………
9. a)Given good weather, a boat trip on the river is a great way to spend an afternoon. (long)
b)……………………………………………….good, a boat trip on the river is a great way to spend an afternoon
3. Write answers to the following questions:
How might things be/have been different if….
we could travel back in time?
we stopped eating meat?
we could live for ever?
computers haven’t been invented?
Columbus had not discovered America?
dinosaurs were still alive?
The third lesson is supposed to enhance the acquisition of the traditional types of conditional sentences and make students familiar with the mixed conditional forms and with the inverted structures. All these forms are taught by adopting an integrated approach to language teaching.
Specific Objectives
By the end of the lessons students will have:
– acquired the mixed and inverted conditional structures and used them in communicative situations;
-become familiar with other means of introducing conditional structures, instead of “if”.
– developed guided discovery techniques and will have been able to infer and make rules by themselves;
– improved reading skills – scanning and inference skills;
– been able to develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way;
Lead- in
The lesson starts in a relaxing atmosphere; the teacher presents an wordcloud with words taken from the article that the students are going to read, explains them that the bigger the words, the more often they are going to encounter them and requires them to make suppositions about the topic of the text. The Ss present their ideas and then the teacher asks them: Were dinosaurs warm-blooded or cold-blooded? When and why did they become extinct? The Ss express their opinions and then scan the text to see if they were right. The T goes through the answers with the whole class.
Pre-grammar reading
The T makes enquiries about the meaning of some words from the text. The Ss try to guess their meanings form the context and give synonyms, antonyms or definitions. Next the teacher asks them to scan the text in order to identify the conditional structures and name their type. The T writes them on the blackboard.
Presentation – Guided discovery
The T draws the Ss’ attention on two sentences which have a special structure and asks them to work in groups, analyse them, make the rules and write them in the table on their worksheets. The T goes through the answers with the whole class offering the necessary explanations.
Controlled practice
The Ss work in pairs and solve exercise 5, then they check it in groups and after that the T elicits the answers with the whole class.
Presentation – Guided discovery
The T tells the Ss to have a look at two other conditional sentences taken from the text and asks them if there is something unusual with the structures. The Ss analyse the sentences in groups and make definitions. One sentence is a conditional structure introduced by the verb suppose and the other one lacks the conjunction if and requires subject – auxiliary inversion.
Controlled practice
The Ss work in pairs and solve exercises number 6 and 7 to practice the structures, then they check them in groups and after that the T goes through the answers with the whole class.
Freer practice
Card Game: In pairs, students choose a card randomly and imagine being in those situations.
Feedback
The Students reflect on their own learning and mistakes and the teacher makes comments and encourages them
Homework
The Ss have to solve the exercises on their worksheet.
Reflexions on the lesson
In order to create a pleasant learning environment, we started the lesson with a brainstorming exercise. It is a motivating task as it activates the students’ knowledge, keeps them engaged, encourages interaction and cooperation with their peers, allows them to be creative, there are no wrong answers and helps them develop their critical thinking skills. The students were very active in presenting their thoughts and ideas.
They showed great intrest in the rule-discovery exercise. This time they proved that they had already mastred the techniques and a great sense of reward and pride could be observed at the end of the task given that they managed to sove it successfully. Comparing the way in which they behaved while solving different types of exercises we reached to the conclusion that they were very enthusiastic about exercises that required them to interact with their colleagues, to negotiate for meaning, to be creative and express their opinions, they got quite bored when having to read aloud texts, to translate pharagraphs or solve gap-filling grammar exercises.
Lesson 4
For the fourth communicative lesson the following worksheet was used:
WORKSHEET
You’ve just found a genie and he’s going to grant you three wishes! Write them down. Use the structure I wish……..
2.b. Study the above sentences and make rules. Fill in the gaps with the words in the box and match the meaning to the corresponding option a) – d).
a) to express a desire for change in the future;
b) to make a wish for the present or future.
c)To express regrets about things that happened or didn’t happen in the past. It is impossible to change them now.
d)to express annoyance, or unhappiness about a situation in the present. It cannot be used to refer to oneself.
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense.
A: If only the sun…………………….(come) out.
B: Cheer up. I don’t think it’s going to rain much longer.
A: I wish you…………………..(tidy) your room.
B: I’m busy with y homework right now. I’ll do it later.
3. A: I wish I………………(not lend) Bill my laptop.
B: You mean he hasn’t returned it to you yet?
4. A: I wish I…………………(know) how to use a computer.
B: Don’t worry. I’ll show you!
5. A: Is Layla going with you to LA?
B: No, she wishes she…………………………(come) but she can’t get time off work.
6. A: If only I…………………………….(learn) to ride a bike when I was younger.
B: Don’t worry. You can learn now!
4. Study the following examples and match them with the corresponding rule:
…..1. We can give you a small discount on a different phone, though, if that will help you.
……2. if you will fill in the form, I’ll process your application.
…..3. if you will not stop shouting, you will have to leave.
…..4. If you will take my iPod again without asking, I’ll never lend you anything.
..…5. If the train should be/should happen to be/ happens to be late, I’ll text you.
a) uncertainty
b)polite request
c)annoyance
d)makes reference to the result of the action in the main clause
e)insistence
5. Fill in the correct form of the verbs adding will, would or should if necessary.
1. If you ………………..(see) Ann, will you give her this message? (possible but not unlikely)
2.We’ll go skiing in the mountains if it …………………………(snow) (likely to happen)
3. If he ………………………….(continue) to talk, he’ll never learn anything! (insistance)
4. Perhaps I could sit here too if you………………………(move) over a little. (polite request)
Board Game
Ss place their counters on Start and throw the dice. The player with the highest number begins the game. Depending on the square they land on, the S has to say what conditional it is and then finish the sentence. If the answer is correct, they can stay on the square. If not, they have to go back to the square they were before. The winner is the S who has earned most points.
1st conditional = 1 point
2nd conditional = 2 points
3rd conditional = 3 points
wish = 4 points
anyor 0 conditional = 5 points
add extra (2) points for the S who is first to reach Finish
Homework
1. Read the following sentences and decide which form of the verbs in bold is correct.
Suzy failed most of her exams and now she wishes she would work / had worked harder.
The weather is terrible today. I wish it was / is a bit warmer.
It really annoys me that you never do anything around the house. I wish you did / would do something from time to time.
We went to a new restaurant for lunch and I´ve been feeling sick all afternoon. I wish we hadn´t go / didn´t go there.
The sky is cloudy. I wish the sun shone / was shining now.
Now that Peter is in Japan on a business trip, he wishes he understood / had understood Japanese.
I wish I hadn´t been / wasn´t out of the office when the director called me yesterday
Jeremy wishes it had stooped / would stop raining, so he can play basketball with his friends.
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form.
A: If only Jessica……………………………(talk) tom e.
B: She’s still upset. Give her time.
A: If only I…………………………….(not/leave) the gate open.
B: Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll find your dog.
A: Your teacher says she wishes you……………………………(pay) more attention in class, Alex.
B: OK Mum. I’ll try.
A: I wish you………………………………………………….(be) here, Anna. I feel so sad!
B: Cheer up! I’ll be with you tomorrow.
A: If only I …………………………………………….(be/accepted) into Oxford University.
B: Don’t be sad. You are going to love it at Glasgow University.
A: I wish the children…………………………………….(stop) shouting.
B: I’ll tell them to be quiet.
Write your own ’bucketlist’ wish.
The last lesson is supposed to enhance the acquisition of the already taught structures and make students familiar with ways of expressing wishes and with the use of the modal verbs will, would and should in the subordinate if- clause.
Specific Objectives
By the end of the lessons students will have:
– internalised the structures I wish… and if only…, if you will/would/should and use them in communicative situations;
– developed guided discovery techniques and will have been able to infer and make rules by themselves;
– improved listening skills – listening for details
– been able to develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way.
Lead- in
The lesson starts with the teacher asking the students to imagine that they have just found a genie and he’s going to grant them three wishes. Students have to think about and present them using the structure I wish…. To help them with the structure, the teacher offers a personal example.
Pre-grammar listening
Then the T introduces the two characters, Edward Cole and Charter Chambers, form the film The Bucket List and asks two students to read aloud their presentations. After that, before watching the trailer, they work in groups and match the wishes to the correct character. At the end the teacher plays the video once or twice and the Ss check if their predictions were right.
Presentation
Next, the teacher asks them to work in groups, analyse the sentences and make the rules for the structure I wish/If only. At the end the T checks the rules with the whole class and gives any necessary explanations.
The next exercise is a matching one. The Ss work in groups and match the if- sentences that contain a modal verb in both clauses with the meaning that they express.
Controlled practice
The Ss work in pairs and solve exercises number 3 and 5.
Free practice
Board Game
Feedback
The students reflect on their own learning and mistakes and the teacher makes comments and encourages them.
Homework
The Ss have to solve the exercises on their worksheet.
Reflexions on the lesson
At the end of the last communicative lesson we can conclude that the Communicative Language Teaching approach was a real success. Observing the students’ attitudes and reactions during the four lessons we can argue that the Communicative Language Teaching has gained a rightful place among the best teaching methods.
Firstly, it allowed both the teacher and the students to be creative, the learning activities were very flexible and they could be modified instantly to suit the students’ needs and the teaching sequence. Moreover, they encouraged students to engage actively in performing the tasks, allowed them to use their creativity, critical thinking, general knowledge and overall life experience, things that offered them great satisfaction and a sense of achievent and reward.
Secondly, the students confessed that the tasks helped them to improve both language knowledge and skills. They liked the fact that they were given the possibility to engage in a lot of speaking sequences, and also improve all their English language skills simultaneously. They could freely express their feelings, opinions, justify them, find creative solutions and all these enhanced their confidence in using the English language. In addition, team work tasks were among the most appreciated, they clearly fostered creativity and learning, blended complementary skills, built trust, taught conflict resolution skills, promoted a wider sense of ownership and encouraged healthy risk-taking in using the English language creatively.
Finally, although the students were initially reluctant to the inductive approach to grammar teaching, in the end, they found it very useful as it helped them gain deeper understanding of the English language.
In conclusion, the CLT is a motivating, stimulating teaching approach that can lead to a great deal of understanding and acquision of the English language.
3.13.2.5. Teaching If-Structures Using the Grammar Translation Method – Part Two
For the third grammar translation lesson the following worksheet was used:
Lesson 3
WORKSEET
1. Read the text and answer the question: Why does Percy the parrot deserve a medal?
2. Study the two mixed conditionals from the text, translate them and pay attention to the teacher’s explanations.
3. A) Study the example I always leave Percy’s cage door open in case he wants to fly. Pay attention to the teacher’s explanations.
Underline the alternatives to if. One of them has a special patter. Which one is that?
I’ll do the work provided/providing that I can finish by lunchtime.
I’ll do the work as soon as I can finish by lunchtime
Suppose it were to break! What would we do?
Imagine we lived on Mars. What sort of life would it be?
We’re planning to fly, assuming it’s not too expensive.
But for him/his help, we’d never have managed.
We need to set out soon, otherwise we’ll miss the train.
I shall go on condition that you go too.
In case I can’t come I will lend it to you with pleasure.
4. Study the following examples, listen to the teacher’s explanations and write for each sentence if it is formal or informal and the type of conditional sentence it represents.
Had the meteor not hit the Earth, dinosaurs would have continued to thrive.
Were you to go there you would find them disappointing.
Should this be true there will be serious consequences.
Do that again and I’ll call the police.
Finish your dinner or you can’t watch TV.
Rule: Contracted forms are/aren’t possible in contractions
5. Read the situations 1-3 and complete the sentences a) and b) with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
A hiker saved two strangers lost on a snowy mountain by sharing his food and water with them and risking his own life.
If they………………..(be) more prepared when they set out that morning, he………………. (not/need) to risk his own life.
They …………………(be) dead now if he……………..(leave) them there.
A 39-year-old man saved a woman by pulling her out of her burning car, which exploded moments later.
a)They both………………………..(could die) if it……………………….(take) any longer to pull her out.
b) Most of the other people there……………………(not do) that.
3. A woman found a winning lottery ticket and used the money to buy a house. Later she had to return the money to the original owner of the ticket, who still had the receipt providing he had bought it.
a) I……………………(feel) pretty bad if I……………………….(do) what that woman did, and if I’d been caught.
b) If the man………………(not/save) the receipt, he………………………….(might never recover) the money.
6. Rewrite the sentences using an inversion in the conditional clause omitting if.
If you need to make any photocopies, there’s a photocopier outside my office.
Please contact head office if you should need to make a complaint.
If Kurt Cobain were alive today, he’d be over 40.
If it weren’t for the fact that she’s married to the boss, she’d never have afforded a new car.
If it hadn’t been for my parents’ generosity, I could never have afforded a new car.
Homework
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
If I (be) ______________________intelligent, he (pass) ______________________his exams very well last month.
If she (marry) ______________________him 10 years ago, she (be) ______________________ rich now.
She (not, feel) ______________________offended by his joke yesterday if she (have) ______________________a sense of humour.
I he (not, spend) ______________________all his money last week, he
(be able) ______________________to but this jacket now.
If we _________ (not trust) him we ____________ (sacked) him months ago.
We ________________ him months ago if we ______________ him.
If the elephant ___________ in love with the mouse, she ___________ (tread) on him by now
If I ________ (be) in the middle of another meeting, I ___________ (be) happy to help you.
Complete the sentences using words form the box.
He might be lonely…………………………………, I suggest he joins a sports club.
Let’s take a taxi to the party, …………………………….we’ll be late.
……………………………………he increase in social-networking, it’s easier to keep in touch with people.
I won’t go…………………………………..you can come with me.
…………………………………that you follow this advice, you’ll do well in your new college.
3.Think of decisions you’ve made: good and bad, easy or hard, major and minor. Look at the topics for ideas, choose two situations and answer the following questions:
1. Where did it happen?
2. What happened leading up to the situation?
3. How did you feel, and what did you do?
4. What else could you have done?
5. Would you do the same again?
The third Grammar Translation lesson has the following objectives:
– To help Ss acquire the mixed and inverted conditional structures and use them in communicative situations;
– To make Ss familiar with other means of introducing conditional structures, instead of “if”.
– To improve the Ss’ translation skills
– To improve the Ss’ reading skills – skimming and inference skills
– To help Ss develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way.
Lead in
The T asks the Ss questions about their day and the way in which they spent the weekend.
Pre-grammar Reading
After that, they are given out handouts and asked to skim the text and answer the given question. Then, they read aloud the article and translate it.
Presentation
The Ss are required to identify the mixed conditional sentence in the text. The teacher writes them on the backboard and gives the necessary explanations. The Ss listen to the teacher’s explanations and note them on their worksheets. Then, the T asks them some questions to see if they have understood the structures. Next, she presents other alternatives to the conjunction “if” by using an example from the text and studies together with the students the examples in exercise 2B. After that, she offers the necessary explanations for the structures which require subject- auxiliary inversion having as example a sentence from the text.
Controlled Practice
The Ss work in pairs and solve exercise number 4. The T goes through the answers with the whole class.
Free Practice
Game: conditional maze
The T divides the students into pairs and tells them that this activity focuses on conditional forms. Then, she hands out worksheets and tells them they need to successfully get out of this maze by deciding if each sentence is correct or incorrect. She asks them to look at the sentence marked IN and discuss in their pairs if this sentence is correct or not. The T elicits that it is correct and says “It is a correct sentence so you follow the straight arrow to number 14.” Now, the students continue discussing and moving through the maze, following straight arrows if the sentence is correct or zigzag arrows if the sentence is incorrect. The teacher tells them to change the incorrect sentences to make them correct. If they do not reach OUT, then they have made a mistake somewhere and they should start again. The students have 10-15 minutes to complete the task.
Feedback
The students reflect on their own learning and mistakes and the teacher makes comments and encourages them.
Homework
The students are asked to solve the exercises on their worksheet.
For the last grammar translation lesson the following worksheet was used:
Lesson 4
WORKSEET
1.Read the text, translate the conditional sentences and then answer the questions.
1.b.Study the examples in the text, listen to the teacher’s explanations and take notes.
2. Match the captions 1-6 to the pictures A-f. then rewrite the statements as wishes.
1.”I’m sorry. I didn’t see the red light.”
I wish……………….
2. “The lectures are so boring.”
I wish……………………………………
3. “I’d prefer to be out with my friends.”
I wish……………………………………
4. “I’m so sad I failed my test.”
I wish……………………………………..
5. “She gives me so much work to do.”
I wish……………………………………..
6. “ I can’t understand what he’s saying.”
I wish………………………………………………..
3. Let’s study the following rules and observe the examples in the text in exercise 1:
4. Match the sentences 1 – 5 to the corresponding usage a-e.
…..1. We can give you a small discount on a different phone, though, if that will help you.
……2. if you will fill in the form, I’ll process your application.
…..3. if you will not stop shouting, you will have to leave.
…..4. If you will take my iPod again without asking, I’ll never lend you anything.
..…5. If the train should be/should happen to be/ happens to be late, I’ll text you.
a) uncertainty
b)polite request
c)annoyance
d)makes reference to the result of the action in the main clause
e)insistence
5. Game – Corrupt a wish
Homework
1. Read the following sentences and decide which form of the verbs in bold is correct.
Suzy failed most of her exams and now she wishes she would work / had worked harder.
The weather is terrible today. I wish it was / is a bit warmer.
It really annoys me that you never do anything around the house. I wish you did / would do something from time to time.
We went to a new restaurant for lunch and I´ve been feeling sick all afternoon. I wish we hadn´t go / didn´t go there.
The sky is cloudy. I wish the sun shone / was shining now.
Now that Peter is in Japan on a business trip, he wishes he understood / had understood Japanese.
I wish I hadn´t been / wasn´t out of the office when the director called me yesterday
Jeremy wishes it had stooped / would stop raining, so he can play basketball with his friends.
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form.
A: If only Jessica……………………………(talk) tom e.
B: She’s still upset. Give her time.
A: If only I…………………………….(not/leave) the gate open.
B: Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll find your dog.
A: Your teacher says she wishes you……………………………(pay) more attention in class, Alex.
B: OK Mum. I’ll try.
A: I wish you………………………………………………….(be) here, Anna. I feel so sad!
B: Cheer up! I’ll be with you tomorrow.
A: If only I …………………………………………….(be/accepted) into Oxford University.
B: Don’t be sad. You are going to love it at Glasgow University.
A: I wish the children…………………………………….(stop) shouting.
B: I’ll tell them to be quiet.
Write wishes for the following situations:
You have to work today; you’d rather stay in bed.
Your team lost the match. You wanted to play in the finals.
You don’t have enough money to go on holiday; you’d like to go to Spain with your friends.
You painted your living room green; now you’d rather have painted it blue instead.
The last Grammar Translation lesson has the following objectives:
– To help students internalise the structures I wish… and if only…, if you will/would/should and use them in communicative situations;
– To improve the Ss’ translation skills;
– To improve the Ss’ reading skills – scanning and inference skills;
– To help Ss develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way;
Lead in
The T asks Ss questions about how their day has been so far.
Pre-grammar Reading
After that, they are given out handouts and are asked to scan the dialogue and answer the given questions. Next, they read aloud the text and translate it. The T makes enquiries about the meaning of some words and the Ss try to infer it from the text, giving definitions, examples, synonyms or antonyms.
Presentation
The T draws the Ss’ attention to the highlighted sentences in the text and explains to them the rules for the structures I wish… and if only…, if you will/would/should. The Ss pay attention to the explanations and complete the table on their worksheet. At the end, the teacher asks them questions to check their understanding.
Controlled Practice
The Ss work in pairs and solve exercises number 2 and 4. The T goes through the answers with the whole class.
Free Practice
Game: Corrupt a wish
Instructions:
Grant the wish made by the student on your left, while at the same time corrupting it in whatever way you wish to make it different than what the previous student originally intended.
Afterwards, you make your own wish, which in turn will be corrupted by the next student.
For example:
Student A: I wish I had a million dollars.
Student B: Granted. You now have one million dollars. In monopoly money.
I wish I had a steak.
Student C: Granted. It's made out of rubber.
I wish Batman was real.
Etc.
Feedback
The Ss reflect on their own learning and mistakes and the teacher makes comments and encourages them.
Homework
The students are asked to solve the exercises on their worksheet.
Reflexions on the lessons
The students in the control class displayed an attitude of boredom during classes; they seemed to be losing their interest and motivation in studying English as the tasks were slightly interactive or engaging. They found uninteresting and also useless to work on their own most of the time, and disliked the fact that the tasks did not required them to engage actively and communicate with each other such as in real life conversations, but to translate from the English language to their mother tongue. The learners confessed that most of the time, they had the feeling of not learning anything useful for their daily life conversations since the main activities involved reading or writing in the English language and they also wanted to learn to speak the language fluently and accurately. They found the gap filling exercises dull and mechanical and the grammar rules quite difficult. We noticed that the memorisation of grammar rules and bilingual word lists helped them to solve traditional grammar exercises but they were not able to activate the rules when asked to involve in real communicative situations.
Overall, the students in the control class were not keen on the English classes; it is true that they understood the rules better, but they lacked the ability of using them in communication. Therefore, the Grammar Translation Method is not a useful technique when used alone in English language teaching, it has its advantages, but it mainly leads to boredom in the classroom and lack of motivation.
3.13.2.6. The Post-Test
TEST PAPER
1.Read the following text where a boy is talking about hippos and solve the tasks.
1.a.What does the boy say about hippos? 3pts
A. They are more dangerous than he previously thought.
B. They often attack people for no reasons.
C. They are easily frightened.
1.b Look at this sentence taken from the text and decide whether the statements (1-3) are true (T) or false (F). 3pts
If he hadn’t reacted quickly, the hippo would have killed him.
The man reacted quickly. ……
The hippo killed him. …….
The speaker is talking about the past. ….
1.c Write another conditional sentence from the text and specify its type. 1pts
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
1.d Suppose you were on a safari, how would you react if a hippo attacked you? 3pts
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. Circle the correct answer. 15pts
What 1…..life be like if we didn’t have paper books? Imagine if there 2….no bookshops or libraries. Some people think that this is the future if the use of electronic books 3… . Paper is heavy, expensive and bad for the environment; you need a lot of trees if you 4… to make all those books.
Electronic books are also more convenient, 5…you have the hardware. For example, 6…you don’t know a word, you can find the translation very quickly. Also, you can download new books very easily. So, is this the end of paper books?
Maybe not. Some people just prefer paper books. This is not surprising. Suppose you 7… in front of a computer screen for eight hours. 8… you like to look at another screen if you were relaxing at home? Also, paper books are probably better for your eyes. 9…you want to get bad eyes, don’t spend too much time looking at computer screens.
The future will tell if this 10…. Right, but there will probably always be a place for books like this one.
a.would b.does c.will d.can
a.were b.would be c.will be d.are
a.would continue b.will continue c.continues d.continue
a. would want b.want c.will want d.wanted
a.as long b.suppose c.unless d.provided
a.unless b.would c. if d.provided
a.will work b.work c.would work d.must work
a.Will b.Do c.Would d.Could
a.Unless b. If c.Suppose d.Imagine
a.were b.will be c. would be d.is
3. Underline the correct option. 9pts
1. I wish I had my own room. (I have/don’t have my own room.)
2.He wishes he had got up earlier. (The man got up late/early)
3.I wish I was good at dancing. (I’m bad/good at dancing.)
4. If I’d taken the train, I would have got there on time. ( I took/didn’t take the train. I got/didn’t get there on time)
5.I wish my cousins didn’t live so far away. ( My cousins live far away/near.)
6. There wouldn’t have been an accident if she had driven more carefully. (She drove/didn’t drive carefully. There was/wasn’t an accident.)
7. I wish I hadn’t given the company my phone number. (I gave/didn’t give the company my phone number.)
4. Underline the correct answer(s) in (b) to make a second sentence with a meaning as close as possible to the sentence in (a). 12pts
1. a. With a student card you can get a discount at the bookshop.
b. If you will have/have a student card you get a discount at the bookshop.
2. a. I didn’t know you were a vegetarian, otherwise I wouldn’t have cooked lamb.
b. If I know/had known you were a vegetarian, I wouldn’t have cooked lamb for dinner.
3. a. By using more efficient light bulbs, there could be a 5% reduction in electricity consumption.
b. If we used/have used more efficient light bulbs, there could be a 5% reduction in electricity consumption.
4. a. You can borrow my e-reader as long as you promise to bring it back soon.
b. If you promise/promised to bring it back soon, you can borrow my e-reader.
5. a. I don’t have a reliable car, so I probably won’t drive to France.
b. If I had/have a reliable car I will/would probably drive to France.
6. a. I wasn’t promoted, so I didn’t have to move to our head office in Madrid.
b. If I am promoted/had been promoted, I had to/would have had to move to our head office in Madrid.
7. a. You’ll have to leave the house by 7.00 to catch the 8.30 train.
b. If you leave/will leave the house by 7.00, you will be able to catch/ are able to catch the 8.30 train.
8. a. I didn’t study hard, and that’s why I have such a poorly paid job now.
b. If I studied/ had studied harder, I won’t have/ wouldn’t have such a poorly paid job now.
5. Write the verb in brackets in the correct form. Pay attention as there are three mixed conditionals. 20pts
1. If the weather…………………..(stay) good next weekend, we………………………..(probably/go) away somewhere.
2. Why didn’t you phoned us? If I………………………..(know) you were coming, I……………………… (could/prepare) something special to eat.
3. I……………………….(not/do) a bungee jump even if you…………………….(pay) me a million pounds, so stop trying to persuade me.
4. I thought this might happen. If you…………………….(take) my advice, you……………………….(not/be) in this mess now.
5. Stop being naughty! I……………………(send) you to bed early unless you………………………….(start) behaving yourself right now.
6. It was very kind of you. I don’t know what I…………………(do) yesterday if you………………….(not/help) me.
7. My printer’s getting old now, but it …………………………(usually/work) all right if you ………………….(feed) the paper manually.
8. I………………….(go) to the cinema more often if I…………………………(have) the time, but unfortunately it’s just not possible.
9.My dad doesn’t have a car, so he didn’t drive to my dancing lessons yesterday. If my dad…………………….(have) a car, he…………………….(drive) me to my dancing lesson yesterday.
10. Katie feels nervous about the test because she didn’t study last weekend. If she ……………….(study), she …………………..(not/feel) nervous about the test.
6. Answer the questions in any way you like. 24pts
1. If you could study anywhere in the world, where would you go ? Why?
2. If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?
3. How will you celebrate if you pass all your exams in two years?
4.If you studied in a different country, what do you think would be your biggest problem?
5. What would have happened if you’d got up an hour late this morning?
6. Where was the last place you went on holiday? What would you have done if you hadn’t gone on holiday there?
10 points granted
At the end of the experiment the students took the post-test. It had the same structure as the pre-test in order to get as accurate results as possible. . The test evaluated the following:
Students’ ability of reading for general meaning – skimming;
Students’ capacity of recognising the structure of the typical conditional sentences and inferring their meaning;
Students’ capacity of recognising other conditional forms such as the structures ”I wish” and ”if only” and mixed conditional forms.
Students’ ability of producing correct conditional structures and wishes by infering the meaning from the context;
Students’ ability of using correctly all the conditional forms in communicative situations;
The test consisted of the following types of items:
A text-based multiple choice question
Text-based T/F questions
An identification exercise
Two dual choice exercises
A multiple choice exercise
A gap-filling exercise
Answering to questions
The first task was divided into four sub-tasks. The first item required the students to skim the text and choose a correct answer. The second sub-task asked them to analyse a conditional sentence taken from the text and say if the three questions were true or false. It evaluated their ability of making correspondence between the time and the tense within a conditional structure. The third sub-task required them to identify another conditional structure in the text and specify its type and the last item asked them to give their opinion on the problem presented in the text.
The second task was a multiple choice exercise which tested both the students’ ability of recognising a conditional structure introduced by the typical conjunction “if” and by other alternative conjunctions and their ability of inferring its meaning from the context.
The third and the fourth tasks were dual choice exercises that assessed the students’ ability of inferring meaning and expressing hypothetical situations. They tested both grammar and vocabulary.
The fifth task was a gap-filling exercise which tested the students’ capacity of producing a correct conditional sentence. They had to infer the meaning of the sentence from the context and put the verbs in brackets into the correct form. Apart from testing grammar knowledge, it also assessed their vocabulary understanding and inference skills.
The last task required them to answer six questions. They were supposed to imagine being in the presented situations and provide solutions by justifying them. While answering, they had to form correct sentences using the second and the third conditional structures. It was a subjective item that assessed the students’ ability of using the conditional sentences in communicative situations. The following elements were graded: sentence structure, spelling and punctuation, task relevance, grammar and vocabulary.
The progress test was similar in structure to the pre-test because the students were already familiar to the type of the items and in this way they already knew what they were supposed to do. The items were adapted from the following textbooks: Open Mind Upper-Intermediate – Macmillan, Round Up 6- Express Publishing, and Active Grammar Level 2 & 3 – Cambridge, Ready for FCE – Macmillan, Complete FCE – Cambridge.
After evaluating the post-test the following results have been obtained:
Table 8 Post- Test 10th A – control group
Mean= 7.16
Graph 9 Post- Test 10th A – control group
Observing the graph we can draw the following conclusions:
The curve has 6 peaks;
The curve rises significantly from grade 5 to grade 6 than it remains symmetrical with grade 7 and falls dramatically to grades 8 and then 9.
The mean lies in the centre of the distribution and the distribution is not symmetrical to the mean.
The mass of the distribution is concentrated in the middle of the figure.
For task 1a), 23 students out of 24 were able to identify the correct answer for the text-based question and only 1 student had difficulties in understanding the text.
For task 1b), 22 learners out of 24 managed to correctly infer the meaning of the third conditional sentence and answered all the three questions correctly while 2 students out of 22 had one mistake.
Task 1c), was solved correctly by all the students who managed to identify in the text and specify the type of the conditional sentence.
For task 1d), which was a subjective item because the students had to offer a personal suggestion to the problem debated in the text, 22 students out of 24 managed to successfully complete the task. The remaining 2 students used the wrong tense.
The second task was solved correctly by 18 students out of 24 while 6 students out of 24 solved it partially correctly.
14 students out of 24 solved correctly task 3 whereas the remaining 8 student got low marks.
13 students out of 24 solved correctly task 4 while the remaining 11 students had a poor performance.
The fifth task was resolved correctly by 10 students out of 24, 9 students partially solved it whereas 5 students obtained a very low score. The main problems identified were:
Some students were not able to infer the meaning of the sentence and therefore, they used the incorrect tense.
Some students made mistakes when forming the tenses, (wrong formation of the past participle, they used the past form of the verb after the auxiliary have, they used the modal will instead of Would, if the sentence did not start with the If-structure, they did not apply the rules correctly and that proved that the rules had been memorised mechanically) – the same mistakes as in the progress test.
The last task was a subjective one and it was solved correctly by 5 students out of 24 while 17 students out of 24 solved it partially correctly. They made spelling mistakes, used wrong word order or did not use the adequate type of conditional sentence; grammar mistakes were also common – some students made mistakes while forming tenses. And finally, 2 students out of 24 did not answer the questions at all.
Graph 10 Pre-Test vs. Post- Test 10th A – control group
Comparing the grades obtained in the pre- and the post-test, we can practically observe almost the same pattern with little progress in the post-test as the mean is concentrated on the right of the figure and the curve has only 6 peaks. Moreover, in the post-test, none of the students got a grade of 3 and only one student got a grade of 4 in the post-test.
The same test was administered to the 10th C grade and the following results were obtained:
Table 9 Post -test 10th C – experimental group
Mean: 8.12
Graph 11 Post -test 10th C – experimental group
Observing the graph we can draw the following conclusions:
The curve has 5 peaks and it is asymmetrical.
The curve rises significantly from grade 6 to grade 7, then it falls drastically to grade 8 and after that it grows to grade 9.
The mean does not lie in the centre of the distribution and the distribution is not symmetrical to the mean.
The mass of the distribution is concentrated on the right of the figure. The distribution is said to be left-skewed
Tasks 1a) and 1c) were solved correctly by all the students
Task 1b) – 29 students out of 33 managed to correctly infer the meaning of the third conditional sentence and answered all the three questions correctly while 4 students out of 33 had one mistake.
For task 1d) – the subjective item – 31 students out of 33 managed to successfully complete the task. The remaining 2 students used the present simple instead of the past simple.
The second task was solved correctly by 26 students out of 33 while 6 students out of 33 solved it partially correctly.
Task 3 – 24 students out of 33 solved it correctly whereas the remaining 9 students got low marks.
Task 4 – 26 students out of 33 solved it correctly while the remaining 7 students had a poor performance.
Task 5 – 21 students out of 33 managed to get all the points, 7 students partially solved it whereas 5 students obtained a very low score. The main problems identified were:
Some students were not able to infer the meaning of the sentence and therefore made confusions between the second and the third conditionals especially when they had to form mixed conditionals.
Some students made grammar mistakes such as: wrong formation of the past participle, they used the past form of the verb after the auxiliary have.
The last task was a subjective one and it was solved correctly by 19 students out of 33 and 14 students out of 33 solved it partially correctly. The commonest mistakes were: spelling mistakes, the use of inadequate vocabulary, tense formation mistakes and inadequate use of conditional sentences.
Graph 12 Pre-test vs. Post- Test – 10th C – experimental group
Comparing the grades of the pre- and post-test, we can observe a substantial growth. Instead of having 7 peaks the curve of the post-test has only 5, it is not symmetrically distributed on the left and on the right of the highest peak as it was in the pre-test, but the distribution is concentrated on the right of the figure. The progress can also be observed by comparing the means of the two tests: 6.30 in the pre-test vs. 8.12 in the post-test. As we can notice there is a significant progress.
3.13.2.6.1. Performance and error analysis according to the objectives of assessment – the Post-Test
Graph 13 Performance and error analysis according to the objectives of assessment
Table (10): T-test of experimental and control groups on the post-test
Analysing the graph we can observe the following features:
The curve has 6 peaks for the 10th A grade and 5 peaks for the 10th C grade, the highest peaks corresponds to grades 6 and 7 for the 10th A grade whereas for the 10th C grade they correspond to grades 7 and 9.
For the 10th A grade the distribution illustrates a rising and than a falling curve. It rises rapidly from grade 5 to grade 6, then it maintains the same level for grade 7 and after that declines considerably to grade 8 and 9. For the 10th C grade we observe a different pattern. The distribution is concentrated on the right. There is a huge increase to grade 7, then the curve falls significantly to grade 8 and then suddenly grows to grade 9. For the 10th A grade the mean is in the centre of the distribution, as opposed to the 10th C grade where it lies on the right.
None of the students in the 10th C grade got a mark under 5 and only 1 student got a 5; this is a great progress since 6 students got a grade under five in the pre-test and 6 students got a 5. The progress that the students in the 10th A grade made is not so substantial since 4 students got a mark under 5 and 6 students got a mark of 5 in the pre-test and in the post-test 1 student got a mark under 5 and 3 students got a 5.
The results in Table 10 indicate that there is a considerable difference between the means of the two classes – 8.12 in the experimental group and 7.16 in the control group. Both classes had practically the same level of proficiency at the beginning of the experiment, thus the significant difference between the two is attributed to the use of the CLT method in the experimental group. They made a relevant progress, improving both their knowledge of conditional forms and language skills.
Analysing the test papers of the two classes of students, we have identified some typical mistakes:
Spelling mistakes: words that are written in the same way as they are pronounced.
Grammar mistakes: the past participle of irregular verbs is formed by applying the rules of regular verbs, the use of the past participle as a past simple form, the used of the past form of the verb after the auxiliary did.
For some students it is still difficult to infer the meaning of conditional structures and they make confusions especially between the second and the third type.
Some students still have the tendency to think about the structures in their mother tongue and then translate them into the English language. As a result, they make mistakes when ordering the words to form a correct sentence.
In order to improve those aspects we can briefly suggest the following measures:
Constant exposure to authentic input: recordings of native English speakers, novels, newspapers, magazines, etc.
The use of discovery techniques to make students aware of the English language patterns, to make comparisons with their native language and avoid making mistakes.
To use more frequently dictations so that they become accustomed to the differences between writing and spelling;
Group work and pair work should be heavily used;
Better organised feedback sessions to give students the opportunity to reflect on their own learning process;
Self- and Peer-assessment sessions as students can learn from their colleagues’ success or from their mistakes. This also enhances the students’ active engagement with their studies, helps them understand what is considered good work and why, thereby increasing their ability to achieve, they develop assessment skills and this represents a step on the road to self-directed learning.
Introduce more sequences of conversation in the class of EFL.
3.14. Findings and Discussions
The hypothesis generated from the first question of this experiment is the following:
There are no statistical differences in the influence of using the communicative language teaching approach on improving students’ grammatical competence between the pre-test and the post-test of the experimental group at (α=0.05) level of significance.
To answer this question, we have used a test for differences – the Paired-Sample T-Test. A summary of the results of this analysis is shown in the following table:
Table (11)
Based on the table above, it could be seen that the significance is 0.00001 which is less than α=0.05, hence we, reject the hypothesis and conclude that there are significant differences at α=0.05 between the results of the pre-test and the post test of the experimental group in favour of the post-test since there is a big difference between the means of the two tests. The table shows that there is an improvement of test results after getting some treatments using the CLT in favour of the post-test. As a result, the students in the experimental class have made great progress in improving their acquisition of the conditional structures, and their overall grammatical competence and language skills.
The hypothesis generated from the second question of the experiment is the following:
There are no statistical differences in the influence of using the grammar translation approach on improving the students’ grammatical competence between the pre-test and the post-test of the control group at ( α=0.05) level of significance.
To answer this question, we have used a test for differences – the Paired-Sample T-Test. A summary of the results of this analysis is shown in the following table:
Table (12)
Based on the table above, it could be seen that the significance is 0.0479 which is less than α=0.05, hence we, reject the hypothesis and conclude that there are some differences at α=0.05 between the results of the pre-test and the post test of the control group in favour of the post-test but there is not a big difference between the means of the two tests. The table shows that there is some improvement of the results after using a traditional method but not a significant one. In conclusion, the students in the control class have made some progress in improving their understanding of the conditional structures, and their overall grammatical competence and language skills, but not a significant one compared to the students in the experimental class.
The hypothesis generated from the third question of the experiment is the following:
There are no statistical significant differences in the influence of using the communicative language teaching approach on improving the students’ grammatical competence between the post-test for both the experimental group and the control group at ( α=0.05) level of significance.
To answer this question, we have used an Independent Sample T- Test for the respondents’ results between the Post Test of the Control Group and the Experimental Group.
Table (13)
Based on the table above, it could be seen that the significance is 0.009421 which is less than α=0.05, hence we, reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there are significant differences at α=0.05 between the results of the post-test of the control group and the post-test of the experimental group in favour of the experimental group since Df=56, T=-2.42446, P=0.009421. The table shows that there is an improvement in the test results in favour of the experimental group which used the CLT.
The effectiveness of the CLT method is also demonstrated by the results of the following One-Way ANOVA test. Table (14) shows that the calculated value of the F-test is 5.87801.This means that there are significant differences in the achievement of the tenth grade students in English grammar scores who were taught using the CLT method attributed to the students` level of linguistic competence at the significance level (α=0.05)
Table (14)
4. The answer to the fourth question derives from all the above tests analyses, thus we can conclude that the CLT is more efficient in improving the learners’ confidence and motivation in learning the English language grammar and, of course, English in general. Furthermore, the students were asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of the experiment in order to obtain a confirmation of this conclusion and to get a general overview of the experiment. We obtained the following results:
1. How would you describe the experiment you have just attended to?
2. How would you rate your understanding of the conditional sentences, after the experiment?
3. What did you like most about the lessons?
4. What did you like the least about the lessons?
5. What did you find difficult about the lessons?
6. What did you find boring during the lessons?
7. What language structures presented during the lessons would you like to improve?
8. Do you think that:
9. Do you think that the use of modern resources such as videos and authentic texts:
10. Do you prefer:
11. Do you prefer:
12. Are the skills and the knowledge you acquired during the lessons useful in real-world conversations?
13. What can the teacher do to keep you motivated and learn English better?
14. Do you think that the objectives of the lessons have been achieved?
15. Overall, how do you rate your experience during classes?
Analysing the results we drew the following conclusions:
Overall, the experiment was regarded as a positive one as 59% of the students considered it useful and 12% great fun. Some students perceived the experiment as being difficult (16%) because of the complexity of the grammar forms. They claimed that there were a lot of rules and exceptions to the rules. Those who envisaged it as boring (14%) had as their main argument the fact that the teacher’s explanations were in fact rather boring.
93% of the students pretended to have understood the conditional forms as they chose 3, 4 and 5 on a scale of 1 to 5.
The most appreciated activities were the games, followed by the group work and pair work, the roleplays, dialogues and discussions, the videos, the reading comprehension tasks and the listening exercises; all these activities and techniques are specific to the CLT approach.
The least appreciated aspects were the traditional grammar exercises, such as gap-filling and matching exercises, followed by the teacher’s explanations of the rules and the translations.
The most difficult aspect seemed to be the acquisition of the conditional rules, 64% of the students chose this option, 40% of the students being from the control class. One explanation for this choice is that the structures are rather complex and usually pose great problems for the students. They will be revised later and students will surely be able to successfully make a linguistic transfer if they are constantly required to use them. For the students in the control class they were difficult because it was boring to listen to the teacher’s explanations and for the students in the experimental class, they seemed complicated as they were not used to the rule-discovery techniques which were firstly perceived as extremely difficult. The translations and the listening exercises were listed as being the next two complex things. The translations were difficult because there is not an exact correspondence between the Romanian language conditional mood and the English one and most students had the tendency to make transfers of rules from their mother tongue. The listening exercises were classified as being difficult because the Romanian phonological system is not identical to the English one, there are different sounds and students are usually accustomed to the American English pronunciation due to the fact that they constantly watch American films and listen to a lot of songs of American singers.
The most boring tasks were considered the gap –filling exercises used to practice the grammar structures. They were followed by the moments when the students had to listen to the teacher’s explanations and the translations. All those things are characteristic to the GTM. Another aspect that was seen as boring was the peer-evaluation sessions. This finding was a little bit surprising for the teacher: 8% of the students were from the control class and the remaining 3% from the experimental class. Nevertheless, the explanation was that those students did not have the necessary skills for self or peer-evaluation. Their poor level of English and their low motivation could be a cause for disliking this activity, they had perceived it as a criticism.
62% of the students would like to work more on mixed conditionals. This weak point was also noticed when the post-test papers were analysed and it was concluded that some students had some problems when making correspondences between tense and time.
80% of the students were in favour of the rule-discovery technique. Although they found it difficult at first, they soon realised its advantages. This is another point in favour of the CLT.
The modern resources and the authentic ones were highly appreciated by the students. 89% of the learners listed them as being attractive and helpful when acquiring information and developing skills; 60% of the students considered them motivating and none of the students listed them as being of no help. Once again another feature of the CLT method is highly valued.
89% of the students liked to be actively involved in the teaching-learning process, therefore they wanted to take charge of their own learning, to present their ideas, opinions, to discover the methods and techniques that are suitable to their learning styles and needs, to bring their own contribution, to learn from each other, to be able to negotiate meaning in communication. Therefore, they are in favour of the interactive teaching and learning process, one of the characteristics of the CLT.
84% of the students liked to work in groups. During classes, these activities were met with enthusiasm. Students liked to mix with everyone in the group and had a great sense of achievement when reaching a team goal; they liked the fact that they had more speaking time. Group work and pair work are the main forms of interaction proposed by the CLT.
98% of the students were of the opinion that the information and the skills acquired will be useful when having to communicate in the English language outside the classroom and 100% of the students agreed that the objectives of the lessons had been attained.
In order to keep them motivated, 70% of the students advised the teacher to use videos and recordings, 66% advised her to use pair work and group work, 65% listed the communicative activities such as role-plays and discussions as being engaging, 61% were in favour of the online resources and 40% considered the discovery techniques attractive. Only 21% of the students considered the use of novels and poems motivating, 24 % were in favour of the translations and the teacher’s explanations, and 7% of the students liked the traditional grammar exercises.
Analysing these percentages we can conclude that the CLT activities are listed among the most motivating and the most appreciated by the students.
Overall, the teaching-learning experience was rated as a positive one, 9% of the students considered it excellent, 42% very good and 47% good. 2% of the students rated it as fair and none of the students considered it poor.
The analysis of the tests results and that of the answers to the questionnaire prove that the working hypotheses of this study are veridical. Therefore:
If we involve students in meaningful learning tasks that simulate real-life situations of communication, giving up the techniques specific to the traditional teaching of grammar which places the teacher in the centre of the teaching process, we will manage to make them internalise the conditional rules and use them at a proficient level both linguistically, communicatively and socio-linguistically.
If we create a dynamic learning environment with tasks that require students to adopt an active, participatory role, asking them to take the initiative, to negotiate meaning, to be creative, to take risks while trying to use conditional structures creatively, and have a greater contribution to their learning of the English language, they will feel more motivated and adopt a positive attitude towards the learning of grammar.
If we choose to adopt an inductive approach to teaching grammar, in which learners are left to discover and induce the rules and make their own generalisations, they will be able to better internalise the conditionals rules and select the correct patters while communicating in contexts outside the classroom.
3.15. Conclusions
Grammar offers meaning to words and this is necessary in order to achieve a certain level of proficiency and manage to successfully communicate our thoughts and ideas, to understand the others and to make ourselves understood. Therefore, when teaching grammar, the teachers should instil in their students both the means to make themselves understood and meet their expectations about what learning a foreign language involves.
The findings of this study revealed the following aspects:
Firstly, the students in the experimental class made significant progress in learning the if-structures after experiencing an experimental month.
Secondly, the learners in the experimental class made more progress in learning the if-structures than the students in the control class.
Thirdly, in the experimental class, the students’ confidence and motivation in learning grammar and English in general has improved. Even those with a low level of English and lack of confidence in the past have become very active in the classroom activities.
The great difference between the two teaching methods could be attributed to the use of the CLT method which helped students to engage in free conversations, with the teacher constantly monitoring and helping them to apply the grammar forms they were trying to acquire or that they had just acquired. The students in the experimental class worked on all the four language skills and developed them simultaneously. This helped them to ingrain those attributes that would lead them towards becoming autonomous learners. While successfully accomplishing a meaningful communicative task they felt a great sense of achievement and in the end, all their effort was perceived as being rewarding. These results agree with Banciu and Jireghie’s (2012) and Asl’s (2015) findings who emphasised the importance of developing all the language skills at the same time, together with grammar and vocabulary competence, as this will allow students to use the foreign language fluently and accurately. Moreover, they also stressed the importance of the teacher’s role as a facilitator.
The fact that both the students in the experimental and in the control class were given the opportunity to reflect on their own learning helped them to become more aware of the knowledge and skills that they had developed, they could identify their strengths and weaknesses, they could develop an action plan for future learning, they gained greater understanding of themselves and how they learn and they took more responsibility for their own learning.
Another possible explanation for this result is that the students in the experimental class felt more motivated due to the use of authentic materials, meaningful tasks, interactive activities, discovery techniques, technology and online resources; all these helped them to develop their communicative competence and allowed them to apply the acquired grammatical forms in carrying out tasks that simulate real-life situations.
The friendly atmosphere in the experimental class, made the students feel more confident and eager to express their thoughts and negotiate for meaning. The teacher not playing an authoritative role, but that of a facilitator, supporter, and the peer and self –assessment moments helped them develop a sense of connectedness.
The group and pair work that was so highly appreciated, together with the supportive classroom environment reduced anxiety among students and encouraged them throughout the entire learning process. It could be observed that the students in the experimental class achieved a good mastery of grammar rules; we noticed an improvement in the students’ confidence in grammar learning and enthusiasm for grammar learning. This is in accordance with Muhammad Natsir (2013) and Kalia, P (2017) findings who stressed the importance of the learning environment and of the cooperative, innovative and interesting tasks.
It was found that the CLT approach is very helpful for the students as the things they have acquired in class can be applied to real situations. The CLT activities offered the learners in the experimental class a lot of opportunities to communicate in the target language and this motivated them, helped them to build their communicative skills and confidence in using the English language. They were very active during classes and learnt to be self-managed in their learning.
Nevertheless, some low points of the CLT method have also been highlighted. In the CLT class the students tended to be noisier when they were involved in GW or PW and it was a little bit difficult to organise the activities as the class was bigger and the students with a lower language level tended to use their mother tongue when working in groups.
On the other hand, the GT method helped students to memorize the rules better, but they had the tendency to use them mechanically and when being confronted with some aspects of language that were not typical for the already presented forms they got blocked. Thus, the method failed to develop their language confidence and that prevented them from being creative with the target language.
In the GT class the students had the tendency to think into the Romanian language and they made more mistakes in the test papers especially when ordering the words in a sentence.
In addition, in the GT class, the atmosphere was not motivating or engaging, most students found the grammar explanations boring, they had difficulty in using them both in controlled-practice and in free communicative exercises and they had to struggle a lot so as to carry out the task successfully. Translating texts into the Romanian language was neither easy nor interactive for them, and most lessons were seen as ”another English class”. Most GT activities were perceived as boring and demotivating.
Nevertheless, the translations helped them to understand the influence of their mother tongue on their process of learning a foreign language. Being aware of the interference they did not make such mistakes. Moreover, giving rule explanations into the Romanian language was time saving for the teacher, but it was proved that learners acquire language better through constant exposure, experience and use. We came to the conclusion that sometimes it was better to offer short explanations in the students’ mother tongue than long explanations in the English language just for the sake of using English. Instead of spending 10 minutes trying to explain something in English, it was better to spend only one minute and offer the same explanations into the Romanian language and the remaining 9 minutes could be used for practicing the structures. Thus, restricted use of the students’ mother tongue is a necessary part of teaching. Although the GT method is outdated, sometimes students benefited from it, especially at lower levels where some grammar analyses may help them understand the structures better and prevent them from making mistakes.
In conclusion, the results of the experiment also indicate that the students in the experimental class became much more interested in grammar lessons and that the CLT is a suitable teaching approach which can meet the students’ needs and is in accordance with the students’ level of proficiency. It provided vitality and motivation to the class through the use of technology, interactive and cooperative activities.
3.16. Implications and Recommendations
The study implies that the teacher should be familiar with his/her students’ needs and interests and adapt the teaching process in accordance with them. As the current study reveals, the students need to be proficient in English language communication and even in grammar. Activities such as debates, discussions, projects, role-plays that require the students to be active, to negotiate for meaning are recommended to foster their motivation, involvement in the learning process and become aware of the roles they have to assume in the foreign language class.
Another implication is for the teachers to be aware of how effective learning occurs, to observe the students’ progress and offer them enjoyable learning experience and raise their willingness to study more. In order to achieve this, the teacher should know his/her students, adopt a reflective approach to his/her teaching, be creative, resourceful and flexible in teaching strategies, methods, techniques and activities.
The study revealed that the CLT approach is effective in improving the students’ English grammatical competence. In light of the findings of the study the researchers recommend that:
Teachers should adopt the CLT for teaching grammar;
Similar studies should be carried out in other high schools in Romania.
Other researchers should conduct other studies applying the CLT on other English language areas or skills and sub-skills over a longer period of time.
CONCLUSIONS
Teachers have a great responsibility, they must equip students with the necessary skills in order to become productive members of our society. Communication skills are among the most important as people spend most of their time interacting with the others. In order to acquire good communication abilities, students have to gain expertise in all the four language skills. Before doing that, they should be motivated and interested in the studying of the English language. This is when teachers play a vital role as they should encourage students, help them set goals, assist them in finding their strengths and weaknesses, capture their interest and offer them the necessary support to develop their communicative competence and become proficient users of the English language. Therefore, the teacher plays various roles such as: learner, facilitator, assessor, manager and evaluator.
The communicative competence has four major components: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competence:
Linguistic competence is the knowledge of the language code, i.e. its grammar and vocabulary.
Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of sociocultural rules of use, i.e. knowing how to use and respond to language appropriately.
Discourse competence is the knowledge of how to produce and understand oral or written texts in the modes of speaking/writing and listening/reading respectively.
Strategic competence is the ability to recognise and repair communication breakdowns before, during, or after they occur.
The first aspect that ought to be mentioned is that language skills are part of the communicative competence together with language forms which also play an important role as it can be observed. The teaching of grammar is undoubtedly a necessity and it should not be abandoned since both fluency and accuracy secure successful communication. Therefore, our utterances should have an adequate level of correctness and sound natural so as to make ourselves understood and understand our peers. A thing is certain, teachers should not dedicate entire lessons to the teaching of grammar or use long, complicated definitions, structures should be integrated with the other language skills and lessons should simulate situations from the real life. Students have to be involved in activities that help them internalise the rules and be able to access them in different contexts. The functional aspect of grammar must be taught as this will help learners understand meaning. Students should be aware of the grammar rules, should know how the language system functions; they should be offered the chance to analyse the grammar structures from the point of view of their form, meaning and pragmatic conditions both before and while using them.
The best way to internalise grammar structures is to let learners discover the rules by themselves. Thus, an inductive approach is preferred most of the times. It fosters intrinsic motivation, it is similar to the natural process of language acquisition and learners have the opportunity to engage in real-like communicative activities. Nevertheless, there are situations when a deductive approach is more convenient – short explanations offered by the teacher can be quite productive as they clarify things and prevent students from making mistakes.
The second aspect that needs to be highlighted is the fact that there is not only one best teaching method. A method that is appropriate for one class may not the suitable for another – students are different in terms of leaning styles, level of proficiency, interests, needs, etc, the teacher has to know them well and select, combine those methods, strategies and resources to meet all his/ her students characteristics.
The Romanian syllabus for teaching the English language is based on competence formation. Teachers are expected to help students develop general language competences by the end of an educational level and specific language competences by the end of the academic year. All the competences are clearly stipulated in the syllabus together with the content areas, the grammar structures and the language functions that students are supposed to acquire. Teachers are not imposed to follow a certain teaching method, they are expected to be creative, innovative in designing activities, and select the best strategies and methods in order to motivate students, keep them engaged, help them achieve their goals and develop their communicative competences. Thus, teachers have at their disposal a wide range of teaching methods from which to choose so as to assist learners in becoming successful users of the English language.
Since the purpose of the current research paper has been to compare the Communicative Language Teaching approach with the Grammar Translation Method, we are going to refer only to the two. The conclusions of the experiment in which intermediate students were exposed to the two teaching approaches while teaching the if-structures were in favour of the communicative approach and highlighted the idea that in order to keep students motivated and engaged, teachers should ask them to perform tasks that they like and that represent life-oriented experiences.
The Grammar Translation method places grammar in the centre of the teaching process. Vocabulary is limited to the words encountered in the reading texts. The unknown words are translated into the students’ mother tongue and learners are to memorise them. Reading and writing are in focus whereas listening and speaking skills are barely developed. In Romanian schools, language teachers often prefer it for a number of advantages:
It is easier to explain rules and learners understand them faster and maybe better.
It is less time-consuming for the teacher.
The students develop translation skills.
It is easier to use especially in large classes where students have different levels of proficiency.
Precise pictures of things can easily be made in the minds of the learners using this method.
It proved to be very useful for the average and below-average students.
However, the GTM proved to have a lot of disadvantages:
Students fail to develop oral fluency in English.
It is not motivating, learners find it boring to memorise words and rules.
The students’ mother tongue is heavily used and the target language is ignored.
The students don't develop the power of thinking in the target language. They become mentally lazy.
It is teacher-centred; learners are hardly left to take initiative and student-student interaction is almost absent.
Errors are seen as an impairment in the foreign language acquisition process and teachers strive to prevent them.
Students do not develop pronunciation skills.
Too much emphasis on grammar rules – students learn more about the language than how to use it.
The learning tasks do not replicated activities that students will encounter in the real life, thus learners will not be able to use the English language in daily conversations.
Students do not develop confidence in their mastery of the English language.
On the other hand, the results of the experiment were mostly in favour of the Communicative Language Teaching approach whose goal is to help students learn to communicate through interaction in the target language while performing authentic and meaningful tasks.
Its main features are:
It promotes cooperative and participatory learning.
It is student-centred – activities are in accordance with the learners’ needs, styles and goals; students take control over their own learning; they are permitted to use their creativity and innovation and in this way their sense of self-worth is enhanced.
There is special emphasis on the community of learners and on the social nature of language.
Students are provided with authentic, natural language.
It is meaning-centred.
Teachers use holistic assessment techniques.
Students develop the four skills simultaneously as in the real life
Students are engaged in tasks that imply a communication problem to solve, tasks that replicate real-world activities;
This approach has a great number of advantages:
The meaningful, authentic tasks are motivating for the students; although the teacher introduces the new language in the pre-task stage, students are allowed to use all the grammar and vocabulary they know to construct meaning.
It enhances the students’ confidence, participation and the atmosphere in the classroom is one of trust and support. This helps students to acquire the new language while negotiating for meaning and discussing with their peers.
The use of modern resources such as the internet, the interactive whiteboard, etc motivate students and make them understand the importance of the English language, it offers them access to a lot of information.
The feedback sessions, where students reflect on their own learning process and that of their peers, allow them to form self-assessment skills which are extremely useful for becoming independent learners. Moreover, the teacher has the opportunity to gather information about the teaching process and adjust it accordingly.
The great tolerance to the students’ errors builds their confidence and in this way they dare to take risks and try to be creative with the target language.
The teacher can choose from a wide range of activities – it was demonstrated that group and pair work, roleplays, sessions of discussions, videos, recording, newspapers, songs, etc are among the students’ favourites. While working in groups, it is easier to carry out the task successfully and students can have a great sense of achievement and feel more motivated. As there is a great degree of flexibility, the teacher has the possibility to design activities that keep students motivated.
The rule discovery techniques allow students to become aware of the foreign language mechanism. They see for themselves how language works and in this way structures are internalised faster and better.
Nevertheless, there are also some weak points too:
As it implies a wide degree of freedom on the part of the teacher who has the possibility to use his/ her imagination and be creative, this leads to various interpretations and some methodologists such as David Nunan (2004) consider that it is in fact a compilation of methods.
Teachers who are not very proficient in the foreign language to be taught will not be able to teach effectively as they will not manage to respond to various language problems which might occur.
It may not be suitable for students who are used to be taught by means of traditional teaching methods; they might have the impression that they are not learning anything and it is a waste of time to work in groups and talk with their peers.
It is quite difficult to use it with large classes as students with a good proficiency level may inhibit those with a lower level; learners could have the tendency to use their mother tongue and the teacher cannot monitor all of them; demotivated or uninterested students can become very noisy while working in groups.
Teachers might lay too much emphasis on fluency and have the tendency to abandon grammar.
There is also a controversy around the fact that it is not useful at beginner levels.
It is time-consuming for the teacher because he/ she has to prepare the lessons very carefully, it also takes time to let the students work out the language for themselves and teachers are under a constant time pressure as the Romanian English syllabus is quite congested, student are expected to acquire a lot of the new language by the end of the school year.
Overall, the results of the experiment that has just been conducted demonstrated that the students in the experimental class who were taught by means of the CLT made greater progress than the students in the control class who were taught by using the GTM.
As students have already acknowledged, they liked the fact that they had to use all the language they knew, without being forced to concentrate only on a particular form or on specific vocabulary and they practiced all the four skills simultaneously. Another aspect that they were attracted by was the fact that the activities ”sounded natural” and learners had the possibility to valorise their life experiences, communicate their thoughts and opinions. At first they found the communicative approach difficult because they were used to the traditional methods of teaching English and found it easier to be spoon-fed by the teacher. They lacked the self-assessment skills and found the feedback sessions quite boring, but later, when the teacher helped them to discover rules through the guided discovery techniques and taught them how to make correct judgments about their performance by taking into account the evaluation criteria and guidelines, the lessons became more interactive and enjoyable. This time they had a clear idea about what goals they had to achieve, what they had to do in order to attain those goals and how they could verify their achievements.
The learners in the experimental class showed a great sense of pride and contentment when they managed to achieve the tangible goals they had already set. They were glad because they were given the opportunity to learn English while doing meaningful activities that they enjoyed. They liked the idea that grammar was taught not as end in itself, but as a means of carrying out a communicative task. Their initial boring attitude at the thought that they were going to memorise ”other grammar rules” proved to be a challenging and rewarding experience.
However, the results of the students in the control class showed that the GTM is mostly out of date, it fails to meet the needs of the students as the techniques are rather restricted, limited, the teacher does not have much opportunity to be creative and students usually get bored with too much emphasis on grammar. It was true that they memorised the rules better, but unlike the students in the experimental class, they did not manage to internalise them and had great difficulty when they were supposed to access and use them in communicative situations. At present, the needs of the students are different from those of the students in the previous century. They do not need to know the English language only to read the literature of foreign writers, but they want to be able to speak to other people, to understand them, to read the news, to understand written messages and be able to answer to them. Therefore, they need to master all the four language skills together with grammar and vocabulary and the GTM cannot satisfy all their needs anymore. It should not be abandoned completely since there are times when students might get some benefits from translation exercises, but overall, the CLT proves to be quite useful in helping students to develop their communicative competence.
Originally, our research paper was intended to have a double value: firstly, to prove the superiority of the CLT approach over the GTM in helping students to improve their mastery of the if-clauses from a communicative perspective, secondly to constitute a reliable scientific and methodological resource for those interested in teaching English. Analysing the students’ good test results and their good command of the if-clauses in communicative situations, we can say that we have finally manage to reach the aims of our paper.
APPENDICES
MARKING SCHEME – PRE-TEST
Any other correct formulations – ways of solving the requirements shall be considered;
No interim scores shall be granted, others than the ones specified in the marking scheme;
10 points granted;
1.a. 6p
Tom’s uncle advises him to take a year off before going to university, but keep his main objective in mind.
1.b. 10p
5p vocabulary
5p grammar
Students’ answers.
1.c. 4x1pts=4pts
.i. If people take a year of, they’re more mature.
ii. If I travel for a year, I won’t want to go to uni when I return.
iii. If I were you, I’d go for it.
iv. If I had taken a year off, I would have travelled around the world.
2. 1x8pts=8pts
1. c, 2.a, 3.b, 4.b, 5.a, 6.d, 7.b, 8.b
3. A. 7 x 2pts=14pts
a)had known
b)want
c) would help
d)were
e)feel
f)will come
g) would have happened
B.12x2pts= 24pts
h)were/would se
i) finish/will give
j) hadn’t got stuck/ would have been.
k) mix/get
l) were (was)/ would know
m) had seen/would have told
4. 8x3pts = 24pts
Vocabulary, spelling and punctuation 2 pts
Correct tense 1p
PRE-TEST
The Test Specifications Matrix
The Test Specifications Matrix on which the English Test Paper for the 10th A/C grade has been elaborated is the following:
MARKING SCHEME – PROGRESS TEST
Any other correct formulations – ways of solving the requirements shall be considered;
No interim scores shall be granted, others than the ones specified in the marking scheme;
10 points granted;
1.a. 3p
They should have asked for a safety licence.
1.b 1p
Type 1 – e.g If that happens, the police are going to be late.
Should the police lose their appeal, the court may decide….
As long as you have a licence, there is no problem using these machines.
Type 3 – e.g. If the police had asked for safety licence for their new flying camera, it would have been a major crime-fighting success
Had they used a properly licensed camera, it would have been fine.
1.b. 3p
2p vocabulary
1p grammar
Students’ answers.
2. 1x7pts=7pts
1. c, 2.a, 3.c, 4.c, 5.b, 6.b, 7.c
3. A. 7 x 2pts=14pts
1.were/was would you play
2.does not study
3.would not have got
4.would you go/ could choose
5.would you give me
6.will not be
7.have had
8. had heard/ wouldn’t have gone
9. would you buy/ could afford
10. don’t hurry
4.9x2pts= 18pts
4p vocabulary
5p grammar and orthography
Students’ answers.
5. 30 pts
Sentence structure, spelling and punctuation 4 p
Text structure and organization 4 p
Task relevance 5 p
Composition and effect 4 p
Wide range of grammatical structures 4 p
Wide range of lexical structures 4 p
Adequate register & style 5 p
PROGRESS TEST
The Test Specifications Matrix
The Test Specifications Matrix on which the English Test Paper for the 10th A/C grade has been elaborated is the following:
MARKING SCHEME – POST-TEST
Any other correct formulations – ways of solving the requirements shall be considered;
No interim scores shall be granted, others than the ones specified in the marking scheme;
10 points granted;
1.a. 3pts
A.
1.b 3pts
1T, 2F, 3T
1.c 1p
Apparently, they get nervous if someone walks between them and the river. – type 0
1.d. 3p
2p vocabulary
1p grammar
Students’ answers.
2. 10×1.5 pts=15pts
1. a, 2.a, 3.c, 4.b, 5.d, 6.c, 7.b, 8.c, 9.a, 10.d
3. 9x 1p=9pts
1.don’t have
2.late
3.bad
4.didn’t take/ didn’t get
5.far away
6.didn’t drive/was
7.gave
4.12x1p= 12pts
1.have, 2had known, 3.used, 4.promise, 5.had/would, 6.had been promoted/would have had to, 7.leave/will be able to catch, 8.had studied/wouldn’t have
5. 20 x 1p=20pts
1.stays, will probably
2.had known, could have prepared
3.wouldn’t do, paid
4.had taken, wouldn’t be
5.will send, start
6.would have done, hadn’t helped
7.usually works, feed
8. would go/ had
9. had, would have driven
10. had studied, wouldn’t feel.
6. 6x 4pts =24 pts
4p vocabulary
5p grammar and orthography
Students’ answers.
POST-TEST
The Test Specifications Matrix
The Test Specifications Matrix on which the English Test Paper for the 10th A/C grade has been elaborated is the following:
TEACHING GRAMMAR – COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Aricelu-Stroe Oana-Adriana
High School: Technological High School ”Petrache Poenaru”
Class: 10 C
Time: 50’
Textbook: Mission 2, L1
Title of the lesson: The Bucketlist
Date: 28.03.2019
Type of the lesson: mixed
Level/ Target population: intermediate
Aims: By the end of the lesson Ss will have:
– internalised the structures I wish… and if only…, if you will/would/should and use them in communicative situations;
– developed guided discovery techniques and will have been able to infer and make rules by themselves;
– improved listening skills – listening for details
– been able to develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way.
Competences
1.1. Anticiparea elementelor de conținut ale unui text pe baza titlului / unui stimul vizual
1.4. Identificarea de detalii din mesaje orale / scrise (autentice)
3.1. Formularea de idei/ păreri pe teme de interes în cadrul unei discuții / în mesaje de răspuns
Interaction: T-S, S-T, S-S;
Aids: textbook, worksheets, computer, video projector;
Classroom management: whole class activity, individual work, PW, GW.
Evaluation: – initial through “Warm-up activities;
– continuous through observation and analyses of answers
– final (feedback and homework)
Skills: Listening, Writing, Reading, Speaking
Procedure:
TEACHING GRAMMAR – GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD
Lesson Plan
Teacher: Aricelu-Stroe Oana-Adriana
High School: Technological High School ”Petrache Poenaru”
Class: 10 A
Time: 50’
Textbook: Mission 2, L1
Title of the lesson: Animal Farm
Date: 04.03.2019
Type of the lesson: mixed
Level/ Target population: intermediate
Aims: By the end of the lesson Ss will have:
– acquired the zero and first conditional structures and use them in communicative situations;
– developed translation skills
– improved reading skills – skimming
– been able to develop language fluency by integrating Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing in a communicative way.
Competences:
1.1. Anticiparea elementelor de conținut ale unui text pe baza titlului / unui stimul vizual
1.2. Identificarea sensului global al unui mesaj
3.1. Formularea de idei/ păreri pe teme de interes în cadrul unei discuții / în mesaje de răspuns
Interaction: T-S, S-T, S-S;
Aids: textbook, worksheets, computer, video projector;
Classroom management: whole class activity, individual work, PW, GW.
Evaluation: – initial through “Warm-up activities;
– continuous through observation and analyses of answers
– final (feedback and homework)
Skills: Listening, Writing, Reading, Speaking
Procedure:
TEACHING GRAMMAR – PRE-TEST
Lesson Plan
Pre-test
Teacher: Aricelu-Stroe Oana-Adriana
High School: Technological High School ”Petrache Poenaru”
Class: 10 A/C
Time: 50’
Textbook: Mission 2, L1
Title of the lesson: Pre-Test
Date: 28.02.2019
Type of the lesson: evaluation
Level/ Target population: intermediate
Aims: The test assesses the students’ ability:
To identify the main idea of a reading test
To be able to read for specific information
To make suggestions
To recognise the structure of the four types of conditional sentences
To form conditional structures
To use conditional structures in communicative situations
Competences:
1.2. Identificarea sensului global al unui mesaj
1.4. Identificarea de detalii din mesaje orale / scrise (autentice)
3.1. Formularea de idei/ păreri pe teme de interes în cadrul unei discuții / în mesaje de răspuns
Interaction: T-S
Aids: textbooks, worksheets
Classroom management: individual work
Evaluation: Diagnostic
Skills: Writing, Reading
Procedure:
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