Module 3: Introduction To English Grammar

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Module 3: Introduction To English Grammar

3.1 Nouns

Parts of speech:

Gavin is a teacher. He lives in Dublin, Ireland. Last week he was presented with a 'Teacher of the Year'
award by the director of his school. The prize was a book and some chocolates.

Gavin teaches adults at a large language school in the center of Dublin and on the weekends he gives
private English classes. He is married to a woman he met while working in the same school.

It was Gavin's birthday yesterday. In the morning, his wife gave him a beautiful book, An Illustrated
History of Dublin, and a bottle of Irish whiskey. Gavin was very happy with his gifts. He thanked his wife
enthusiastically.
Gavin enjoys walks in the forest, drinking a lovely hot coffee in the morning, and watching football.

In the story about Gavin, there are a number of nouns, such as Gavin, Dublin, teacher, school, book, and
award. Nouns are the names of people, places, or things.

Types of nouns:

Proper nouns - the name of a place, person, or thing - Example: Gavin, Dublin. Proper nouns start with a
capital letter.

Countable nouns - nouns that we can count - Example: award (you can say two awards, three awards,
etc.), book (two books, three books, etc.). We can talk about countable nouns in the singular (a book)
and in the plural (three books, many books, several books).

Uncountable nouns - nouns that we cannot count. In other words, we cannot make them plural or talk
about 'one' of them - Example: coffee, milk, sugar, tea, information, knowledge. We use countable
nouns with singular verbs (coffee tastes lovely / milk is cold). As teachers, we must be careful when
explaining these concepts to students. We can tell them that sugar is an uncountable noun, but students
may hear native speakers ask, "Can I have two sugars in my coffee, please?" This is because when we
talk about two sugars, we really mean two spoonsful of sugar. The same words can sometimes be
countable and uncountable nouns. Teachers should make students aware of these exceptions.

Compound nouns - two nouns joined together to make another noun - Example: football, postcard.
Sometimes the words are separated (car park, language school) and sometimes we use a hyphen
(mother-in-law, check-in).

Collective noun - an adjective which turns into a collective noun when we put the definite article 'the' in
front of it and use it to talk about people and things in general, such as the Irish. Other examples are the
young, the elderly, the rich, the poor.
Pronouns - a word that is used instead of a noun or a noun phrase. There are subject pronouns such as
he, she, and they - Example: He teaches English. There are object pronouns such as them, her, him, and
us - Example: Brian doesn't like them. Possessive adjectives such as his, her, my, and your precede a
noun - Example: His car is red. Possessive pronouns include mine, yours, hers, his - Example: The idea
was mine. Reflexive pronouns such as herself, himself, and myself are used when we want to emphasize
an action done by ourselves - Example: I cut myself. I cooked the dinner myself.

Task 1

Think of a different example for each of the noun types listed.

3.2 Verbs

Verb tenses:

The onus is on teachers to convey to students how verbs show time. They can do this with examples
that have a clear context. Look at this passage and see how many tenses you can identify.

Gavin seems to spend his whole day planning and teaching lessons. He gets up very early in the morning
and leaves his house at 7:30. He always travels by train. While he is travelling by train, he thinks of what
kind of activities he can do with his students in class that morning.

We can see examples of the present simple (he gets up / he always travels) and the present continuous
(he is travelling). The context is clear. We are talking about things that Gavin usually does. We use the
base form of the verb (+ the 's' morpheme for the third person singular). Therefore, we use the present
simple for habits, routines, and facts. We use the present continuous for things that are happening right
now and that are still ongoing at the time of speaking. To make the present continuous form, we use the
auxiliary verb to + present participle (base form + -ing). Let's look at another passage.

Yesterday was a busy day for Gavin. He corrected a lot of homework that students had done for him. He
spent all afternoon correcting the homework. It took him three hours to correct everything. He was
happy with his students' efforts. Gavin feels that it is very important that students are given the
homework back the day after they have handed it in otherwise they will be demotivated.
The passage begins with "Yesterday" so we can predict that some of the verbs will be in the past. Sure
enough, there are a number of verbs in the past simple (was / corrected / spent) which we use to
describe completed actions. We form the past simple by adding the morpheme -ed to regular verbs,
whereas irregular verbs have their own form that students must learn (spend - spent / take - took).

The passage also has examples of the perfect verbs (Students had done for him = the past perfect / have
handed it in = the present perfect). The present perfect suggests something which started in the past
and which is still true, still has present consequences or is not finished. We use have + past participle to
form the present perfect. The past perfect verb describes things that started before the past moment
that we are describing. If you look at our example, the past moment we are describing is Gavin
correcting homework yesterday, so we use the past simple. For anything that happened before that
time, we use the past perfect, like students handing in their homework, which happened before Gavin
corrected it. He corrected a lot of homework that students had done for him. We use had + past
participle to make past perfect verbs.

Let's consider another example:

This weekend Gavin's brother is coming over for dinner. They will have a lot to catch up on as he hasn't
seen his brother in ages. They are going to go to the pub after dinner. Then on Monday, Gavin has a day
off. He leaves for Poland at 7am and won't be back till Sunday.

This passage begins with “this weekend” so we can be sure that we will meet some future verbs forms.
We can see another example of the present continuous, but in this example the present continuous is
used for future arrangements and the adverbial this weekend indicates the future. Other examples of
adverbials are today, yesterday, Monday. Going to + infinitive here is used to describe plans and
intentions. The present simple can also be used for the future, in this case to describe timetabled events
or schedules. Will is commonly used to refer to the 'neutral' future when it is used for things that are
inevitable in the future from the speaker's point of view.

Auxiliaries and Modals:

Read a transcript of a moment in Gavin’s class:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Abraham: I’m sorry I'm late.

Gavin: Do you have your homework with you?

Abraham: No, sorry. I couldn’t do it.

Gavin: Why not?

Abraham: I was helping my friend move. I didn’t get home until late.

Gavin: You must have been very tired.

Abraham: No, I felt okay. I slept around eight hours. Why?

Gavin: But you said…

Abraham: Oh yes, I mean, I was very tired. That’s why I didn’t do my homework. May I sit down?

Gavin: Oh, all right. But you must try to get here on time. OK?

Abraham: Yes, teacher, I promise.

Francoise: Quand est notre examen? (When is our exam?)

Gavin: You should really try to speak English, you know. If you use English more often, your English
might suddenly start to improve. You ought to try it!

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

In the extract, Gavin and Abraham use the auxiliary verbs be (I’m sorry I am late, I was very tired) and do
(Do you have your homework? I didn’t do my homework). In a sentence such as “Have you done your
homework?” Have is an auxiliary verb.

There are a number of modal auxiliary verbs in the extract above: can (I couldn’t do it), must (you must
try to get here on time), should (You should really try to speak English), and might (your English might
suddenly start to improve). We use them to express our attitude and certainty about what we are
saying.

Ought to (You really ought to try it), need to and used to are often called semi-modal auxiliary verbs
because although they have two words, they behave like ordinary modal auxiliaries.

What do modal auxiliaries mean?

We often use modal auxiliary verbs to talk about certainty, possibility, and probability in sentences such
as “Your English might start to improve” and “You must have been tired.”

We use modal auxiliaries to talk about obligation – about getting things done – in sentences such as
“You must get here on time” and “You should really try to speak English.”

Modals can express more than one meaning. For example, can is used for many different meanings
including ability (I can speak Spanish) and permission (You can stay for 15 minutes). We can use might to
express probability (You might be right) or to make suggestions (You might want to think carefully
before you speak).

How do modal verbs behave?

Modals are a closed class (they do not change) and they do not take the third person -s when used in the
present (He / She can play the guitar).

Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive verb without to (You must get here on time).
Modal verbs do not have an infinitive form and so they must be replaced by semi-modals (You need to
be able to (not can) swim) or other verbs (I’m going to have to (not must) go now) when an infinitive is
required.

Task 2:

Write sample sentences with all the verb tenses that you know.

3.3 More Complex Grammar

Reporting Speech:

When we report what people said, we often move ‘one tense back’.

present simple to past simple

present perfect to past perfect

past simple to past perfect

will to would

can to could

Direct speech - I have cancelled your cards.

Reported speech - The guy I spoke to told me he had cancelled them.

Direct speech - They’ll be with you within three or four days.

Reported speech - He said the new cards would be with me within three or four days.

Direct speech - I’m very sorry.

Reported speech - He said he was very sorry.

Note that the time phrase may also change.

This week to last week / that week.

Today to yesterday / that day.

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Conditionals:

1. Zero and First Conditionals

Regular situations - We can use the zero conditional to talk about situations that regularly happen or
rules. The if-clause and the result clause are both in the present tense. We can replace if with when in
these sentences. There is no difference in meaning.

Regular situation (if-clause)

Result clause

Regular situation

If I try to explain something,

they do not listen.

Rule

If a child skips school,

the parents can be fined.

Possible future situations - To discuss possible future situations, we use if + a present tense. To discuss
results of that situation, you can use will or going to for results you think are definite and might for
results you think are possible. This is called the first conditional.

Possible future situation (if-clause)

Result clause

will / going to = definitely

If they don’t accept me,

I’ll retake / I’m going to retake the test.

might = less certain

If they don’t accept me,

I might look for another Master’s.

won’t = definitely not

If you don’t produce a doctor’s certificate,

we won’t accept any excuses to do with illness.

Advice - We can also use a conditional to offer advice about a possible future situation.

Possible future situation (if-clause)

Result clause
Imperative

If they talk,

send them to the headteacher.

should

If you have any problems,

you should contact the student counselling service.

Unless - We use unless to mean ‘if not’.

“We won’t accept any excuses to do with illness unless you produce a doctor’s certificate.”

“He’ll probably fail unless he starts studying a bit harder.”

“Don’t speak unless I tell you to.”

Did you know?

We only use a comma when the if-clause comes first.

"You won’t gain the students’ respect if you’re not strict.”

“If you’re not strict, you won’t gain the students’ respect.”

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2. Second conditional

We use the second conditional to speculate about situations and possible results. They usually have two
parts: an if-clause referring to the situation and a second clause showing the results and consequences.
We use the past simple or the past continuous (or could) in the if-clause. The if-clause refers to the
situation in the present or future which is impossible to change or is not going to take place.

The other clause explains the imagined results or consequences. We use would + infinitive (without to)
to show a definite result. We use might + infinitive (without to) to show a possible result. Either clause
can come first. When the if-clause comes first, add a comma after it.
“If I ate this kind of thing every day (I don’t eat this kind of thing every day), I’d get fat!”

“If I wasn’t working part-time in the restaurant (but I am), I wouldn’t be able to pay my university fees
(but I can).”

Task 3

Think of some potential problems learners might have with understanding the grammar in this section.

3.4 Language Patterns

Infinitive and -ing forms:

-ing forms as nouns - When we want to use a verb as a subject or object of a sentence, we use an -ing
form.

“Having something like that on your travels has to be good.”

“We didn’t do programming in our IT classes at school.”

-ing forms after prepositions - When a verb follows a preposition, we use an -ing form.

“What’s wrong with using your own voice?”

“We were involved in organizing the event.”

-ing forms as adjectives - We can use some -ing forms as adjectives.

“What’s more embarrassing…”

“It’s a very exciting development.”

-ing forms and continuous tenses - Remember we also use an -ing form to make continuous tenses.

“Someone’s following you.” (present continuous)

“I was talking to him the other day and he said he’d bought a new car.” (past continuous)

Infinitive with to for purpose - We use an infinitive with to to explain the reason or purpose for doing
something.

“You can use your phone to lock or unlock it from anywhere.”

“I need to go to the bank to sort out a problem.”

“I made a recording of my own basic to give to my friends.”

-ing form or infinitive with to - Both -ing forms and infinitive with to can follow verbs with no
preposition. There are no rules for which form goes after which verbs. It’s just the way it is.

Task 4
Write sample sentences using the patterns in this section.

Making grammar presentations more learner-centered:

If a person visits Bavaria, they may notice that many people there speak a dialect of German. This is
called Bavarian German, or Bairisch. Whilst many words are similar to German, others are different. If
they go to Bavaria, and someone tells them that a normal and polite way to greet someone is Grüß Gott,
this is known as deductive learning. However, if the visitor notices locals saying Grüß Gott to one
another when they meet, he/she can suppose that this is a way to greet someone. This is known as
inductive learning.

These two approaches can thus invariably be used in class, one in which the teacher creates the
situation where learners can work out the rules for themselves, the other when the teacher explains
new language to learners. So deductive learning is when the teacher presents a rule and follows it with
examples. Inductive learning is looking at examples of the language and then inferring a rule.

The inductive way of learning can be called a guided discovery approach. The advantages of a guided
discovery approach / task include the following:

As it is learner-centered it helps to create more learner participation and speaking.

Generally speaking, it is more likely to be memorable.

It is often more enjoyable for the learners as they are more engaged.

It helps the learners to become more autonomous with their learning.

Task 5

Choose a grammar topic and write a sample lesson.

3.6 Approaches to teaching grammar - Part 1

Ways of introducing grammar:

One of the most popular methods of introducing grammar is PPP (presentation, practice, production).
PPP can be used to introduce simple language, particularly at lower levels, but it is often used at higher
levels as well.

We present the form (the construction), the meaning and use of the new language, then the students
practice it through controlled practice (where there is only one correct answer), and drilling (repetition
of the language through choral and individual repetition).

Finally, when they have become familiar with the new language, we ask them to produce their own
sentences or phrases using what they have just learnt. We call this freer practice (there is a degree of
freedom in that students can use their own language, but there is also a degree of freedom in that
students must use the language that has been presented by the teacher).

An example of PPP:

Gavin is introducing the third person singular (he, she, it) of the present simple tense to describe
habitual actions. He wants to make sure that his students understand the way we use the present
simple to talk about what people do on a regular basis.

He wants to ensure that they understand that we need to add the -s morpheme to the verb with the
third person singular.

He also wants students to hear the different pronunciations of s (/z/ in goes, /s/ in works, etc.).

Stage 1:

Gavin (the teacher) shows his elementary students a picture of a young woman.
He tells them her name is Mary. Gavin elicits what Mary does, before he confirms that she is a doctor.
(By eliciting, Gavin is trying to activate previous knowledge that the students’ have and is engaging the
students at the start).

Stage 2:

Gavin puts the picture of Mary next to a clock face, which shows five o’clock. He now introduces the
idea of habitual actions by saying (with the students): “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday… every day.” Gavin then mimes the action of getting up and elicits the sentence he wants.

Stage 3:

Gavin models the sentence by saying: “She gets up at five o’clock.” Gavin emphasizes the s sound (get-
sssss).

Gavin isolates the main grammar point (gets) and then drills the whole sentence both chorally and
individually.

On the board: She gets up at five o’clock.

Stage 4:

Students are asked to repeat the sentence both chorally (as a whole class) and individually (three to four
students is enough, depending on the size of the class).

Stage 5:

Gavin then shows a series of pictures of Mary’s daily life to teach the third person -s.
Here are some sentences that Gavin wants to elicit from the pictures he shows the students:

She eats toast and drinks coffee for breakfast.

She takes a shower.

She takes the bus to work.

She arrives at work at 8am.

She works for an insurance company.

Stage 6:

Gavin puts all the pictures on the board. Gavin then organizes a cue-response drill. This means that
Gavin points at each picture randomly and asks the students to say the sentences that correspond to the
pictures.

Stage 7:

Gavin has prepared the sentences on paper that he has cut out. He gives each student one sentence,
and they must go up to the board and match their sentence with the picture on the board.

Final stage:

When the students have done this, Gavin encourages personalization. Students are asked to make up
their own sentences about what they do themselves every day. They tell each other their sentences and
their partner tells the class what they said – this is to encourage the use of the -s third person.

Task 6
List the positives and negatives of this approach.

3.7 Approaches to teaching grammar - Part 2

The drawbacks of a guided discovery approach / task:

For good or for bad, some learners may expect a more teacher-centered explanation of new language.
This could be due to their expectations of a lesson. Possibly, their educational background always had
the teacher at the front of the room and explaining new language. Thus, when they have a new teacher,
they may expect a similar style of teaching to what they are accustomed to.

Some learners may simply prefer and remember the lesson better if the teacher explains new language.
This may just be a preference.

Some learners may be hesitant about their own English and may not always be able to correctly
complete a guided discovery task, thus feeling a little frustrated.

Some rules which the learners need to work out may not be so obvious. This could be due to a
complicated structure.

However, one can forget 80% of what has been learned in twenty-four hours. By applying this to the
classroom, learners may have difficulty recalling and using new language correctly in a short space of
time. Encouraging learners to work out the rules is nowadays more widely respected when teaching new
language rather than the lesson being very teacher-centered. This can be seen in many students’ books
when they are encouraged to work out the rules themselves.

Staging a grammar presentation:

The following stage is an example of a teacher-centered presentation with language coming from a
reading context:

(Please note, this is one example in which a reading can be done. It is not the only way.)

The teacher introduces the topic of the reading. This can then be brainstormed and personalized.

Possible pre-teaching of blocking items from the text.

Prediction of the reading is done with some of the students’ predictions written on the board.
Gist reading task: learners quickly read to see if their predictions are correct.

Detailed reading task: learners answer several questions on the text in order to extract more detailed
information. The text that the learners have just read is now the context from which new language can
be extracted.

The below is staging that can be done during a language presentation.

The teacher can:

Elicit the model sentence.

Drill the model sentence chorally and individually.

Write the sentence on the board.

Focus on the meaning (use) of the target language.

Focus on the form.

If necessary, focus on negatives and questions.

Highlight aspects of pronunciation.

Elicit further examples.

Give learners time to write down the board work.

Throughout the presentation the teacher needs to ask concept-checking questions. Aspects of
pronunciation can include work on weak forms, contractions, silent letters, sentence stress, etc.
Depending on how this is done, this can involve the teacher being the center of attention with the
learners being more passive participants.

Task 7

Is there any particular type of grammar you think would work best with a Guided Discovery approach?
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3.8 Approaches to teaching grammar - Part 3

Other ways of presenting grammar:

Situational presentation:

We can use situations to present grammar.

Some teachers use a situational presentation approach to introduce the future tense by presenting the
situation of someone visiting a fortune teller - Example: You will meet a handsome stranger.

Some teachers use a situational presentation approach to introduce the future tense by talking about
the summer and all the things the teacher is looking forward to - Example: I’m going to Italy in June and I
am so excited.
We can teach preposition of movement by describing an adventure trail - Example: run to the tree,
climb up the rope ladder, walk along the wire.

We can use the situation of a police officer who has caught someone who has stolen something to
introduce the past progressive. Interrogate them about what they were doing yesterday - Example:
What were you doing at 10:00 yesterday morning? What were you doing at 11am?

Stories:

Stories are a great way to contextualize language. We can introduce the past tense to tell a story about a
business trip that went wrong - Example: John lost his passport, arrived late at the airport, missed his
plane, dropped his phone in the toilet, missed the last bus from the airport, etc.

We can tell stories about our own lives and experiences. We use so many language points to introduce
personal stories. Students tell stories of their lives when appropriate and we can use these stories to
introduce and explain the language that they need.

Pictures, objects, mimes:

An effective way to engage students is to use pictures and mime the new language. We can mime
different actions such as sleeping, driving, walking, having a shower, having a cup of tea, or cooking.
Teachers can also mime different mini situations to introduce comparisons too and enough. The teacher
can mime and get students to say the sentences - Example: Wipe your brow and shade yourself from the
sun (it is too hot), try and fail to pick up your bag (it is too heavy), look at your watch and look panicked
(it is too late), etc.

Another effective way to introduce new language is to find a picture that can be used to describe
prepositions of place. Do not show the picture to the class. Instead, describe it, slowly, item by item
(“There is a tree next to the building”) and ask them to draw what they hear. At the end, let the students
enjoy comparing their various pictures – and then show them your original.
An engaging way to combine personalization, realia, and pictures is to bring in personal photos and
photos of news events and encourage your class to bring them in too. This is a great way to introduce
prepositions of time (on Christmas day, in 2007, in March, before January, last year).

Discuss when things happened and for how long. Use the pictures to elicit sentences exemplifying the
prepositions you wish to teach (Anastasia went there last summer, I go there in the winter, Gia lived
there for two years).

We can use the board to draw happy faces, sad faces, rain, or snow.

Task 8

Which approach to teaching grammar is your favorite?

Assessment

List the different ways to present English grammar in order by your preference as a teacher and as a
learner. Give your reasons for the order chosen.