Discrete-item tests

1. Discrete-item tests Individual components of the learners’ knowledge (e.g. irregular past tense verb forms) are tested using tasks such as gap-fills

2. Value of a test: 6 factors Practicality (easy to design, set up, and mark) Face-validity (meet learners’ expectations of what a test should look like – fair and perform to their ability) Reliability (consistent results) Validity (test what we want to test) Spin-off(can be used subsequently for review and remedial learning) Backwash (positively influences the teaching that will be done in preparation for it)

3. Grammar teaching conclusions The Rule of Context (teach grammar in context) The Rule of Use (teach grammar in order to facilitate the learners’ comprehension and production of real language, rather than as an end in itself) The Rule of Economy (minimize presentation time and maximize practice time) The Rule of Relevance (teach only the grammar that students have problems with) The Rule of Nurture (provide the right conditions for grammar learning) The Rule of Appropriacy (interpret all of the above rules according to the level, needs, interests, expectations, and learning styles of the students – and know your grammar inside out)

4. The Rule of Nurture conditions Input (engaging, leading to intake) Output (sufficient quantity and/or quality > develop both fluency and accuracy) Feedback (type and quantity > attention directed at form) Motivation (content and design of the lesson > motivated to attend to input, produce optimal output, and take account of the feedback)

5. Consolidation time!  Please don’t forget what you’ve learned so far 

6. Chains and slots Syntax (chains) The system of rules that cover the order of words in a sentence Morphology (slots) The system of rules that cover the formation of words

7. The case for grammar Sentence-machine: Grammar is a description of the regularities in a language, and knowledge of these regularities provides the learner with the means to generate a potentially enormous number of original sentences Fine-tuning argument: Teaching grammar serves as a corrective to ambiguity in spoken and written language Fossilization: The more instruction, the slower the fossilization of linguistic competence Advance-organizer: Studying grammar primes learners for noticing and acquiring language in natural communication Discrete item: Language is made digestible by tidying/packaging it up and organizing it into neat categories Rule-of-law: Grammar is a system of learnable rules; transmission of a body of knowledge from those who have the knowledge to those who don’t Learner expectations: Learners have fairly fixed expectations as to what they will do in class

8. A good rule Truth: (Is the rule true?) Limitation (Is it clear what the rule covers and what it doesn’t?) Clarity (Is it clearly expressed; free of ambiguity?) Simplicity (Is it uncluttered with sub-rules and exceptions?) Familiarity (Does it use familiar concepts? Relevance (Is it a rule that reflects students’ specific needs and problems?)

9. Grammar from examples Induction Working rules out from examples Generative situation A situation that a teacher sets up in a lesson in order to generate several example sentences of a structure

10. Grammar from examples Accuracy (precision at applying the system) Fluency(automization of the system) Restructuring(integrating new knowledge into old)

11. Grammar from examples Wrong words (x3) Wrong spelling (x2) Wrong word order (x1) Wrong verb form (x4) Overuse of article (x5) Non-use of possessive forms (x2) Use of of where possessive ‘s would be better (x1) Use of passive form instead of active ones (x2) Use of the definite article when no article would be better (x2)

12. Grammar from examples Negative feedback (e.g. “No.” “Wrong.”) Teacher repairs the utterance Pinpoint the kind of error the student made (self-correction) Feedback signal plus invitation for peer-correction Lead up to the error and pause right before it Echo the mistake with a quizzical intonation Clarification request (e.g. “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand.”) Literal interpretation to show unintended effect of the error Reactive teaching (impromptu teaching point) Reformulation (covert feedback) “Good” (focus on meaning over form) Teacher says nothing but writes down error for future reference

13. PPP vs Task-based learning Presentation: Present target language Practice: Practice target language through controlled activities Production: Practice target language in freer activities Pre-task: Introduce topic and task and activate schema Task cycle: Learners engage in task, then summarize and share results. Teacher follows by sharing or modeling with a student. Language focus: Teacher draws students’ attention to the target language, then give them a chance to practice again with the clarified forms

14. Six rules of grammar teaching The Rule of Context (teach grammar in context) The Rule of Use (teach grammar in order to facilitate the learners’ comprehension and production of real language) The Rule of Economy (minimize presentation time, maximize practice time) The Rule of Relevance(Only teach grammar that students have problems with) The Rule of Nurture (provide the right conditions for grammar learning The Rule of Appropriacy (interpret all of the above rules according to the level, needs, interests, expectations, and learning styles of the students)