Tools for Teaching English Grammar to Spanish-Speaking Students Who Know Almost Nothing About It

1. Tools for Teaching English Grammar to Spanish-Speaking Students Who Know Almost Nothing About It

2. What We’ll Discuss… • Gramática del inglés: Paso a paso At last: a grammar book written in Spanish that assumes no prior knowledge of English or Spanish grammar • Winning strategies for teaching grammar to Spanish-speakers who know very little about grammar in English or Spanish

3. Introducing: Gramática del inglés: Paso a Paso • Written in readers’ native language: Spanish (with English addition available) • Explicitly teaches punctuation and parts of speech in addition to teaching grammar • Assumes no prior knowledge of Spanish or English grammar or punctuation

4. Topics Covered • Identifying nouns, pronouns, and adjectives • Using capital letters, periods, and question marks • Distinguishing between singular and plural nouns • Using a, an, and the • Conjugating the verbs to be and to have • Possessive adjectives, his, her, etc. • Contractions

5. Pace • Presents concepts in small, manageable steps • For example • Section 1: my • Section 2: his, her • Section 3: your, our • Section 4: its, their

6. Format • Employs consistent, easy to use layout • Each page of explanation is followed by a page of practice exercises

7. Focus on Error Correction • Calls out differences between Spanish and English grammar • Includes exercises in which students choose between the correct and incorrect grammatical structure: I no tired. I’m not tired She hair Her hair

8. Practice Makes (almost) Perfect • About a thousand exercises • Answers to all exercises included • All vocabulary is defined before it is used • Bilingual dictionary includes all words used in exercises

9. How to Use This Book: • As a class text • As an optional text that students purchase themselves for use at home • In one-on-one tutoring programs • In Study at Home programs • As a resource for teachers with Spanish-speaking students

10. And please… Purchase, don’t copy, these books! • It’s cheaper for you. • It’s better for your students.

11. Almost hot off the press… • Gramática del inglés: Paso a paso 2 will be available early next year, if not sooner. It covers • Simple present • Do and does -- Present Progressive -- and LOTS more

12. Goals for today • Make teaching grammar more fun and effective • Make learning grammar more fun and productive

13. Grammar Conundrum #1 • The Audio-lingual Method produced students who knew a lot about specific language structures but couldn’t apply what they knew to spontaneous conversation. • The Communicative Approach produces students who communicate well but lack grammatical competency.

14. Grammar Conundrum #2 • Explicit knowledge: conscious knowledge of grammar rules learned through formal classroom instruction • Implicit knowledge: unconscious, internalized knowledge of a language that is available for spontaneous speech

15. Resolving the Grammar Conundrum: Goals • Enable students to develop grammatical competency even in spontaneous speech. • Make correct grammar automatic. • Avoid the inert knowledge problem, inability to activate knowledge or transfer knowledge when you need it.

16. CASE STUDYShort Answer, present tense, with to be • Students answer these questions: • Are you tired? • Are your parents in the United States?

17. CASE STUDYShort Answer, present tense, with to be • Prior knowledge required to answer these questions: • Statements vs. questions • Conjugating the verb to be • Parts of speech (you vs. your) • Singular vs. plural • Contractions (or not)

18. How do you do it?* • Explain • Experience • Explore

19. EXPLAIN grammar forms • Be brief • Be organized • Be repetitive • Be authentic

20. For every grammar form… • Focus on error detection • 1. I’m not tired. I no tired. • 2. It is empty. Is empty. • 3. I have an old car. I have car old. • 4. The cars are new The cars is new. • Can you identify the root of each grammar error?

21. For every grammar form… • Test for understanding often! • Assignment: Write a sentence that includes the word “cleans.” • She is a cleans the house. • Maria’s cleans her house. • He clean his house. • She has cleans her house. • Maria is clean her house. • Louisa is a housecleaner. • She cleans the her house.

22. Teach parts of speech from Day 1 Teach them in this order: • nouns (person, place, animal, thing) • subject pronouns (replace nouns) • adjectives • verbs (start with to be) • prepositions • adverbs

23. Teach parts of speech from Day 1 Use a variety of techniques • Contests • Four corners • Fill the form • Identification exercises • Analylze texts Practice parts of speech often!

24. EXPERICNE grammar using these strategies: • Make grammar a stand-up activity. • Make grammar a cooperative activity. • Make grammar a kinesthetic activity. • Make grammar a joyous activity!

25. Make grammar a stand-up activity • Four Corners • Gertie’s Grammar Cards

26. Make grammar a stand-up activity 3. Student Interviews • Writing • Speaking

27. Make grammar a stand-up activity 4. Find three people who…

28. Make grammar a cooperative activity 1. Picture Q and A

29. Make grammar a cooperative activity • DictationPart 1: Listening and writing

30. Make grammar a cooperative activity 2. Dictation: Part 2: Speaking (including pronunciation)

31. Make grammar a kinesthetic activity 1. Scrambled sentences

32. Make grammar a kinesthetic activity 2. Fill the form

33. Make grammar a joyous activity: Sing! • Sing! (And explore grammar too!) • Do You Want to Dance? (Beach Boys): asking questions • I Can’t Smile Without You (Barry Manilow): can and can’t • Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton): simple present • Email me for more examples

34. Make grammar a joyous activity: Sing! • How to do it… • Select a song based on the grammar structure you want to teach. • Use iTunes to download the song. • Print the lyrics from the Internet. • Develop lessons based on the lyrics and one grammar point.

35. Make grammar a joyous activity: Sing! • Day 1: • Play the song. • Talk about what it means • Note grammar form

36. Make grammar a joyous activity: Sing! • Day 2 and 3: Focus on vocabulary

37. Make grammar a joyous activity: Sing! • Day 4: Practice the grammar form using vocabulary from the song.

38. Make grammar a joyous activity: Sing! • Day 5: • Do a cloze activity. • Students listen to the song and fill in the missing words.

39. Make grammar a joyous activity: Sing! • Sing every day! • Make a Class CD with lyrics

40. EXPLORE: Let students “discover” grammar forms • The goal of “discovering grammar forms” is for students to develop awareness of rather than production of target forms. • This awareness helps learners notice target forms in future input and facilitates the eventual acquisition of these forms as implicit.

41. EXPLORE: Let students “discover” grammar forms Five part lesson plan: 1. Listening to comprehend 2. Listening to notice 3. Discovery 4. Checking 5. Trying it

42. CASE STUDYShort Answer, present tense, with to be • Explanation: Present information in small, manageable chunks: Day 1: Are you talkative? Day 2: Is your sister talkative? Day 3: Are your classmates talkative?

43. CASE STUDYShort Answer, present tense, with to be • Explanation: • Provide one reference sheet that students refer to whenever this topic is discussed • Repeat the grammar explanation prior to each activity

44. CASE STUDYShort Answer, present tense, with to be • Exploration: Worksheets plus… • Four Corners • Gertie’s grammar cards • Class interviews • Scrambled sentences • Find 3 People Who…. • Dictation

45. In sum… • Even though English grammar is excruciatingly difficult… • You can make it fun!