12 Grammar 3 Clarification

for a length of time,and then hide it. Then read out some true/false questions Growing stories
about the picture (e.g. for Figure 12.2, 'The catiswalking past the litter bin', Story-building activities are excellent for work on the past simple. Here are two
'The policeman is talking to the shop assistant', etc.). In teams, the students examples:
discuss them, then give their answers and are awarded points. At the end, the
Start a story bysaying one sentence in the past simple tense. The students
teams are given a different picture and prepare their own listof ten questions t1 continue thestory byaddingone sentence each.
1erteam. 2 Hand out a large set of different magazine photos, which the students, insmall
. .J---,IIICE CRI groups, look at. Then hand out a pre-written selection of verbs (e.g. decided,
wished,exploded,etc.). The students match the verbs to pictures of their choice,
and then invent a complete sentence including the verb. When a groupof
students has ten picture/verb matches, they attempt to invent the other details
of a complete story, which they prepare orally and tell the restofthe class.

Questionnaires
Turn your current grammar items into a questionnaire. Get students to survey
each other. It's usually better if yourquestionnaire doesnot contain fully written-
out questions. Give them the 'bones' of thequestions so that they need to think
and make the sentences themselves (e.g. W'lzere I goI 1onigh1?). Otherwise it will be
you who has had the most challenging language work, and all the students have
had to do is read out your work! Even better, get them to ,\-Tite the questionnaire!

Boardgames
Aboard gamesuch as the one in Resources 19 and 20 (see Appendix 2) could
be used.

.,
3 Clarification
Figure 12.2 Memory test
You have reached a point in your lesson where you want the learners really to
focus in on a piece of grammar, to see it, think about it and understand it, to
Picn1re dictation becomemuch clearer on its form, meaning and use. This iswhat many teachers
The material for 'Memory test' above could be used as a picture dictation (you or refer to as clarification or presentation. However, these are quite broad
a student describes the picrure while other students, who haven't seen it, try to headings; thereis a significant difference betweena presentation in which I give
draw it from the instructions). you a lecture for 60 minutes and one where I nudgeand help you towards
discovering much of the same information for yourself via a process of
Mimingan action questioning and looking at suggested reference material. We could differentiate
Students in turnare given a card with an action on it, which they must mime well three general categories within the broad headingof'clarification':
enough for the other students to guess.For example, a student mimes swimming
'leacher explanation
and the otherstudents say 'You're swimming in the sea' (present progressive).
2 Guided discovery
Depending on your introduction, this could be usedto practise a variety of
3 Self-directed discovery
tenses, e.g. 'Show us what youdid yesterday'/'You swam in the sea';'Show us
what you were doingat midday yesterday'/'You were swimming in the sea'. The We can perhaps see these as falling on a continuum (see Figure 12.3):
mimes could also refer to ti.Itu re time. An interesting idea to practise going to
would be for the student to mime what she would do before the actual action,
e.g. mime walking down to the beach, puttingon swimming cosnime,getting Explanation Guided discovery Self-directed discovery
(Teacher tells the (Teacher helps the (The learner
ready to dive:'You're going to swim'.
learner} learner to tell himself) tells himself)
The game works beautifully with adverbs. Prepare twosetsof cards: one set with
actions, one with adverbs. The students takeone card from each pile. They tell
◄- I I I
the class what the action is, but not what the adverb is. They then do the actionin
the manner of the adverb. The others, of course, have to guess what the adverbis.
Figure 12.3 Three categories of clarification
Chapter 12 Grammar 3 Clarijicatfrm

Task 166: Grammar clarification activities 2 Explanation

Classify the following grammar-clarification activities by placing them on the
diagram in Figure 12 .3. Are they mainly (E) explanation, (G) guided discovery or
Task 167: Teacher explanations
(S) self-directed discovery? Most teachers want, at some point, to give their class explanations about
language points. Which of the following guidelines seem appropriate to you?
1 You write some sentences (all using the past perfect) on the board, but with the,
words mixed up, then hand the board pen to the students and leave the room. When explaining language ...
2 You tell a story about your weekend. Every time you use a verb in the past 1 talk at length; '
simple, you repeat it andwrite it on the board. At the end, you write 'past 2 talk fast;
simple' on the board and explains that you used all these verbs in the past 3 use language more complicated than the point you are explaining;
because the story happened last Saturday. 4 bring in as many other language issues as possible;
3 You lecture about the construction of conditional sentences. 5 don't give examples;
4 You create a board situation, clarify a specific meaning and then elicit 6 don't ask questions;
appropriate sentences from the students or models them yourself. 7 don't use any diagrams or yisual aids;
5 You hand out a list of twenty if sentences. You ask students to work togethe-r, 8 assume that the class is following your points - don't waste time checking;
discuss and find out what the ·rules' are. 9 always explain every difficulty before students encounter the problem
6 Students discuss interpretation of timelines on the board and try to make themselves.
example sentences for them. You intervene when answers seem elusive and at
one point explain the difference between two tenses. Commentary ■■ ■
7 Students decide they want to learn about reported speech. They go to the My personallist of guidelines for giving helpful explanations would (you've
library or learning centre and find out more. guessed!) be the opposite of that list- especially 'Keep it short'. ■
Commentary ■■■ Giving helpful explanations
Different people will, of course, interpret d1ese short descriptions differently. I'm Two minutes offocused explanation can be really helpful; twenty minutes of me
sure your positioning is not exactly the same as mine, but is the ordering from left same is likely to get srudents confused, bored and embarrassed.The problem is
to right the same? that it is not necessarily a veryinvolving teaching method; it is easy for a learner to
switch off or misunderstand. It can appear successful because there is often an
3 2 4 6 5 :1
illusion of a large amount of work being covered, but the fact that the teacher has
expounded on a particular topic doesnot mean tl1at d1e item has been
understood or i.nternalised. Remember that they are foreign-language learners,
not science undergraduates; Iecrureis not generally an appropriate style.
Guided discovery Self-directed discovery ,I Explanation will be better as a smallcomponent oflessons rather tlrnn the driving
Explanation
(Teacher tells the (Teacher helps the (The learner force. Having said that, a good explanation can often be the clearest and most
learner) learner to tell himself) tells himself) efficient way to teach something.
The best way to avoid over-long, unhelpful explanations is to prepare them
carefully when lesson planning. Decide what information will be necessary to
state explicitly. Plana simple, clear way to convey this information. Plan the use
■ of timelines, substirntion tables, annotated examples, diagrams, etc. tl1at might
l Self-directed discovery make the information easier to take in.
In this book, we will spend only a little time looking at the right-hand side oftl1e Point 9 in Task 167 is really a matter of personal choice; teachers often hope to
diagram. This is what learners do when studying on their own withom a teacher- pre-empt learner problems by pointing difficulties out in detail before they arise.
or in a class where the teacher's role is primarily co 'facilitate' the learner's own Sadly, many learners don't appear to be helped hy this! Explanations given
self-direction. It is the least commonly found in classrooms. Where you want a before learners really know what is being discussed often seem romake no
class to work mainly in this way, it is essential that learners understand and agree difference. I find that Igenerally tend to let learners try using language first
witl1theworking method. You need to ensure that the learners have sufficient and give the explanation tl1at clarifies the issue only when tl1ey hit problems.
information and experience to be able to work out their own n.:les and
explanations, and perhaps workout their own goals and learning strategies as
well. The obvious danger here is that you will abdicate your real responsibilities.

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Chapter 12Grommar 3 Clarifica1ion

3 Guided discovery
The Elementary students reJd a text.that reviews and compares different
An alternative to giving explanations would be to create activities chat allow dictionaries. The teacher first ensured that learners had a good sense of the
learners to generate their own discoveries and explanations. Tasks atjuscthe right general meaning of the text and is now focusing on the use of comparatives
level will draw attention to interesting language issues. Teacher questions (and (which learners have worked on before) and superlatives (which learners
use of other techniques) will 'nudge' the learners cowards key points. In this way, haven't explicitly studied before).
long explanations can be avoided and learners take a more active role in their own
TEACHER: How many dictionaries are mentioned in the article?
progress. STUDENT1: Five.
Your role in guided discovery is to (a) select appropriate tasks; (b) offer TEACHER: OK. Look at this diagram. What does it show?
appropriate inslIUctions, help, feedback, explanations, etc.; (c) manage and
structure the lesson so thaL all learners are involved and engaged, and draw the
most possible from the activity. The key technique is to ask good questions, ones
!!;
that encourage rlie learners to n'otice language and think about it. These STUDENT2: How big.
questions may be oral (i.e.asked live in class) or they might be on a worksheet TEACHER: Yes - how big or small the dictionaries are. Where can you put the
that leads learners in a srrucrured way to make conclusions. This kind of guidance different dictionaries on this diagram?
is sometimes referred to as 'Socratic questioning', i.e. leading people to discover The teacher offers chalk/pen to student to add to the diagram; various
things that they didn't know they knew via a process of structured questions. learners come up and write the names of dictionaries on the diagram, placing
You can: them to reflect the writer's comments. As items are added, the teacher asks
questions about their decisions, such as *
• ask questions that focus on the meaning (concept questions);
ask questions that focus on the context (context questions); The teacher then works in a similar manner with diagrams showing light-
• ask questions that focus on the form; heavy, cheap-expensive, etc.
offer appropriate examples for analysis and discussion;
• ask learners to analysesentences from texts;
• ask learners to reflect on language they have used; Commentary ■■■
• ask learners to analyse errors; The teacher would be likely co ask questions that:
• ask learners to hypothesise rules; • encourage learners to reflect on and articulate reasons for their choices;
• ask learners to undertake research; • encourage learners to return to the Lext and find textual evidence thatsupports
• seL problems and puzzles concerning the language icem; their choice;
offer cools to help clarify meaning, e.g. timelines, substitution tables (but • draw learners' anention to the specific language used in the text that leads to
perhaps encouraging the students co use them ro solve the problems); thismeaning;
• encourage thorough working out of difficulties; • focus <m how the language item is formed;
guide their process of discovery so that it stays on fruitful lines; • build on earlier questions and answers to construct a growing picture of the
• encourage different students to add their ideas; language item;
help them to stay focused if,they get sidetracked; • ensure d1at all learners are grasping the issues and not just the faster ones.
• raise tJ1eir awareness as to whaL they have learned.
Questions might include:
Guided discovery is demanding on both you and the learner, and although it may • Why did you put that book in that position on the diagram?
look artless to a casual observer, it isn'L enough to throw a task at the learners, let • What does the writer say about that book?
them do it and then move on. Guided discovery requires imagination and • What were the writer's exact words?
flexibility. Your job here is not simply to pass overa body of information, but • So, what does biggest mean?
rather to create the conditions in which that information can be learned. This • How do you pronounce this word?
seems to be a particularly fruitful way LO work in the language classroom. • Do biggerand biggest mean the same?
• What's the difference in meaning between b-igger and biggest?
Task 168: Guided-discovery questions • Do you know the name for this piece ofgrammar?
Study the following brief transcript from a lesson involving guided-discovery • How do you make a superlative?
techniques and decide what questions the teacher might have asked at the point Where a question is one that learners do not know tJ1c answer to, you can briefly
marked•. offer the answer yourself. In this way, teacher explanations are only made when
they are seen to be relevant and necessary. Later questions can be used to check if
learners havegrasped this input. ■
I

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Chapter 12Grammar 4 Present and practise

Guided discovery: examples of typical comments, Sentence analysis

instructions and questions Mark all the prepositions.
The following listshows various ideas nd examples of guided-discovery Mark the main su·ess in t11e sentence.
questions from different lessons. How many auxiliary verbs are there?
Cross out any unnecessary words.
Questions about form What would happen ifwe moved tltis word to tl1e beginning>
What word goes in this space? Does the phoneme/<>/ occur in tl1e sentence?
How many words are there in the sentence' Discussion about language
How do you spell that?
ls that a verb'
Which sentence do you prefer?
What comes after the verb? Why do you like t11is?
What's the name of this tense? What's difficult for youhere?
What might help you remember this?
Questions about function What mistakes are you likely to make with this?
Do they know eachother? Is this me samein your language?
Is this formalor informal?
Contexts and situations
Where do you t11ink they are speaking?
Thisis Paul. Where does he work?
Is this polite?
Why does hesay t11at? Tell me what he does every day.
How does he feel? Jo's got a full diary. What's she doing tonight?
Look at this picture. \1(/Jrnt's going to happen?
Problems and puzzles IfI throw this pen at the picture on t11e wall, what'll happen?
Put these words in the right order.
Put the missing grammar back in these sentences. 4 Present and practise
Fillin the spaces.
How many sentences can you make from rhese words? When you overhear other teachers in the staff room, you'll realise rJiat many
Change rhis into t11e pastsimple rense. think of work in grammar lessons under just two categories: presentation and
Write rhis sentence again, with exactly the same meaning, but onlyusingseven practice. The terms have quite wide definitions, and this does sometimes cause
words. confusion between teachers who are actually talking about different things with
Rewrite rJ1esentence using tl1is word. thesame name (or t11esame thi.ngwit11different names!).
Put rhe words in rhe right list under tl1e right heading. 'Presentation' usually refers ro ways of introducing supposedly 'new' language to
Reflecting on use learners, and typically involves exposure to language (usually in restricted form)
alongside·ot11er language information via'teacher explanation, elicitation and
Write down some of the sentences you used. guided discovery. Thus the term 'presentation'tends to refer to a centre-left area
Write down some of the semences you heard. of the diagram we saw in the last section:
Why did you use that tense?
What was t11e answer?
I I -I
What was rhe idea you wanted to express?
Where was t11e problem?
Which of those two sentences is correct? Explanation Guided discovery Set.f-dlrected discovery
(Teacher tells the (Teacher helps the (The learner
Hypothesising rules learner) learner to tell himself) tells himself)
Is this possible?
What will t11e ending be in this example?
ls mere a rule?
Why is mat incorrect'
presentation
Can you t11ink of another word that could go here?
Why is tliat word not possible in mis sentence?'
'Practice' involves the stages in which learners get to u·y using the language
t11emselves (this may be integrated into the presentation stages).

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