Letting Go of Grammar

1. Letting Go of Grammar Allison Moore, Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning Bentley School CAIS Southern Regional Conference March 3, 2014

2. A language teacher’s dilemma…

3. Overview for today: • What is proficiency-based instruction? What does the research say? • If we know proficiency-based instruction is so great, why aren’t we all doing it all the time? What are the obstacles to a proficiency-based curriculum? • How can we tackle some of those obstacles?

4. What is proficiency-based instruction? What does the research say?

5. Some sources of this research: Lee and VanPattenMakingCommunicativeLanguageTeachingHappen. McGraw Hill, New York 1995. OmaggioHadley, A. TeachingLanguage in Context. Heinle & Heinle. 2001 “ForeignLanguages and HigherEducation: New Structuresfor a ChangedWorld” MLA Ad Hoc Committee of ForeignLanguages. 2007

6. Dailyroutines and reflexiveverbs

7. Daily Routines and Reflexive Verbs Lee and Van Patten asked university students to describe their daily routines and what they found was something like this: “I get up in the morning around 9:00. I sometimes eat breakfast but usually I just go to my first class. In the afternoon, I have classes and often go to the library to study. I eat a quick snack when I can. In the evening I work until 11:00 at night. I study a little when I get home, but sometimes I just watch “Nick at Night,” then go to bed. “

8. From Lee and Van Patten again, “The point, then, is that topicalized or contextualized grammar is not equivalent to a communicative or proficiency orientation. True communicative and proficiency-oriented instruction cannot be grammar driven. Moreover, in many cases a communicative goal cannot be equated with (or reduced to) a particular grammatical item. In those textbooks in which communicative goals are apparently equated with grammar, the linguistic tools provided might not be what is needed to realize the stated communicative goals. What is evident from the preceding examples on daily routines is that the stated communicative goal is actually a window dressing for a predetermined grammatical point; communication is actually at the service of grammar rather than the other way around”( p. 76).

10. Are yousoldonproficiency-basedteaching?

11. How closely aligned are your philosophy and what’s happening in your classroom?

12. 2. What are the obstacles to a proficiency-based curriculum?

13. Let’s look at a case study* “Finding 1: There was more of a focus on linguistic competence rather than communicative competence. Finding 2: Some communicative activities were implemented, but English dominated those activities, thus not aligning to the National Standards on Communication. Finding 3: There were conflicts between what instructors said their goals were for their students’ language acquisition and what was actually possible with the language department.” * Bryan Waite “Exploring the Development of Communicative Competence” Connections October 2010 v. 4 pp. 5-24

14. angry students

15. How would you address the concerns of this student while still maintaining a communicative approach to teaching? Write for 2 minutes. Then, discuss with a colleague.

16. Grammar-basedobjectives Studentswillknowhowto use • Preterite tense • Doubleobjectpronouns • Verbslike gustar • Presentsubjuntive

17. Proficiency-basedobjectives: Studentwill be ableto • Orderfood in a restaurant • Comfort a friend • Givedirectionstoherhouse • Describe theplot of hisfavoritemovie

18. Take a few minutes towrite 4-5 proficiencygoalsforanupcomingunit in one of yourclasses.

19. Whatis a communicativeactivity? • It’sauthentic • It’stask-based • Itrequiresnegotiation of meaning • It’scontextualized

20. Yourbestcommunicativeactivity Writefor 5 minutes individually. Describe one of yourbestcommunicativeactivtiesthatyou’vedesigned.

21. Textbooks Whattextbook do youcurrently use (ifany)? What do youlikeaboutit? What do youdislikeaboutit? Are thetextbook’sunitsorganizedaroundvocabulary and grammar? Doesithavegrammar-basedactivties? Communicativeactivities? Or a combination?

22. Whataboutassessment? Ifyourclassactivities and homeworkassignments are communicative, butthenstudentstake a grammar-basedunit test or final examorplacement test forthenextlevel, yourstudentswillfeellikeyoudidn’t prepare them. Ifyou’reusing a communicativeapproach, assessments and gradingoughtto be communicativetoo.

23. Assessment Some questions to discuss about assessment: • What has been your most successful communicative assessment? • Have you ever given a communicative assessment, but then graded it for grammar accuracy? How might you grade differently? • Are there any assessments at your school that are not in your control to design, e.g. placement tests? How can you reconcile your approach and the larger school context? At these ever at odds?

24. Connectingwithfamilies What opportunities are there in your school to connect with parents and families? Is there a Back to School Night? A Newsletter? Brainstorm at least 3 ways you can communicate with parents about your teaching methods. How will you respond to a parent who asks why you don’t teach grammar?

25. Recommended: OmaggioHadley has in herbook, TeachingLanguage in Context, a chapterdevotedtohowtoimplementthisapproach. It’scalled “PlannngInstructionfortheProficiency-OrientedClassroom: SomePracticalGuidelines.” I recommendit.

26. Conclusion • Some obstacles to teaching a proficiency-based language class • Some strategies for dealing with thoseobstacles