Grammar & Communication in the FL Classroom

1. Grammar & Communication in the FL Classroom Maria Sheila Zamar UH-Manoa, SEASSI COTSEAL Conference 2008

2. I. Goals: • 1. Discuss the role of grammar teaching in FL classrooms (HL and non-HL) • 2. Review some of the most influential ideas in foreign language teaching • 3. Describe some examples of communicative activities for teaching specific grammar points

3. II. What do we teach in the FL classroom? • -language • -communication skills • -socio-cultural functions • -target culture

4. Which variety do we teach? • -standard • -conversational/colloquial • -academic • -literary

5. III.Heritage v. Non-heritage classrooms Some differences • background • resources • environment • motivation • (varying) proficiency • knowledge of the target culture

6. Heritage v. Non-heritage L2 classrooms Some similarities • need for production practice • need to focus on literacy • need for accuracy

7. VI. Settings for language learning

8. Settings for language learning

9. VII. 5 influential ideas in L2 teaching • Getting it right from the beginning • Grammar-translation & audiolingual methods • Negotiating meaning • Communicative language teaching • Input processing • Comprehension-based programs • Teaching what is teachable • Setting realistic expectations • Getting it right in the end • Finding the balance between meaning-based and form-based instruction

10. Five influential ideas in L2 teaching • Getting it right from the beginning • Exclusively grammar-based approaches do not guarantee high levels of accuracy • Overemphasis on accuracy usually results in learners who are inhibited and some unable to communicate • Negotiating meaning • Learners produce more quantity and greater variety of speech and language function in learner centered activities • Modified interaction leads to higher levels of comprehension than modified input

11. Five influential ideas in L2 teaching 3. Input processing • TPR gives learners a good start • Comprehensible input is effective in learners’ development of comprehension skills, fluency and confidence in the TL but not enough to bring them to high levels of accuracy • Input flood help learners add something new to their interlanguage • Enhanced input makes little difference • Learners who received comprehension-based processing instruction achieved higher levels of performance on both comprehension and production tasks than learners who did production exercises to practice the form. *** • Input processing (explicit focus on form within input-based instruction) shows better comprehension practice over production practice

12. Five influential ideas in L2 teaching 4. Teaching what is teachable • Little/no data on developmental and variational language features 5. Getting it right in the end • Form-focused instruction and corrective feedback provided within the communicative contexts are more effective in promoting L2 learning • Explicit, guided form-focused instruction is needed when features in the TL differ from the L1 in subtle ways

13. IV.Grammar-based v. Content-based/ Task-based approaches Focus on the language (accuracy) • grammar translation and audiolingual methods • ordering of skills (receptive-productive) • deductive learning • error prevention is emphasized

14. Grammar-based v. Content-based/ Task-based approaches Focus on communication (fluency) • communicative language teaching (CLT) • comprehensible input • inductive learning • error is viewed as natural part of interlanguage development

15. V. Key issues • -Do I have a grammar-based, task-based, function-based/content-based curriculum? • -How much time do I devote to teaching grammar explicitly? • -How much metalanguage do I expect my students to handle?

16. Key issues • -How much time do I devote to communicative activities with focus on form? What activities do I have my students participate in? • -How much time do I devote solely to communicative activities without grammar instruction? What type(s) of activities do I have my students engage in? • -What comprises the bulk of my teaching materials? • -How do I handle errors?

17. VIII. Things to consider in teaching grammar • -Providing communicative contexts • -Addressing the four skills • -Varying activities • -Using (semi-) authentic materials • Contextualizing error correction

18. IX. Some grammar-based communicative activities • Information gap • Interviews and reports • Guided speaking: responding to specific questions and listening activities • Structure focused reading: questions focused on eliciting specific structures • Guided/Controlled writing: story with prompts • Structure focused listening: questions focused on eliciting specific structures

19. Tapos na. Salamat po!