Transcript Listening to Our Students: Stories & Strategies

Grammar at the Point of Need
TexTESOL 2013
Colin S. Ward
Lone Star College – North Harris
Imagine you want to teach
gerunds in your writing class…
When in the writing process
would you do it?
What would you do with it?
Key Questions:
What grammar do you tackle
in a writing class?
How do you tackle grammar
in a writing class?
When do you tackle grammar
in a writing class?
Pre
st
1
Draft
Prefabs
Prefabs at Level Zero
I
Tourists
People
They
social
quiet
adventurous
busy
sad
happy
am
am not
can
cross
eat at
see
shop
stay in
visit
walk to
a
an
a lot of
many
famous restaurant
history museum
hotel
interesting bridge
colorful lights
interesting stores
old neighborhoods
parks
restaurants
from grammar charts to flow charts
Choose Prefabs based on need
Process: …so that I can….
I want to get a degree so that I can earn more money.
Problem-Solution : By + gerund….
By offering more public transportation, fewer people in Ho
Chi Minh will drive to work.
Cause-Effect: …due to the time it takes to…..
Due to the time it takes to find a good job in the U.S, many
immigrants decide to return to their home countries.
A couple
examples….
Interlanguage in real time
got it…
…but not
quite
Prefabs don’t always work…
I am going to open my own beauty salon
so that I want to have a lot of customers.
By providing more education to children
will help reduce illiteracy.
Learning a new language, it will open up
new doors for my life.
…so they need more practice!
What the research says…
Construction grammar (Hinkel)
Use language “chunks”
Allow students to create new
“units”
vocab and grammar on a
continuum
What other research says…
Analyzing is less helpful than sentence
generating, combining & manipulating
(Weaver)
Teaching formal grammar
systematically & through isolated
lessons & drill doesn’t work (Weaver)
Reduce overload (Myles)
Control content
Models for grammar
What prefabs would you teach?
Opinion
Narrative
Classification
Definition
Cause-effect
Problem-Solution
nd
rd
2 -3
Draft
Grammar Throwdowns
Grammar Throwdown
Mini-lesson
What the research says…
Grammar chosen should reflect
what students need most (DCF)
Use the students’ own writing
(Weaver)
Teachable moments & minilessons (Weaver)
Post
nd
2
Draft
Parallel Structure
Parallel Structure
Parallel Structure
What I did not expect…
Post
rd
3
Draft
Wordiness
What the research says…
Little (or no?) research regarding
wordiness in ESOL writing
No systematic way of tackling
wordiness
Skill often glossed over
What native speakers are told…
despite the fact that  despite
due to the fact that  because
in the event that  if
in the vicinity of  near
for all intents and purposes  X
…does not necessarily work for
ESOL students.
Another common approach
Reduce the wordy expressions in the essay on a separate sheet of
paper. Be sure to keep the meaning of the original even if you
make grammar changes:
The bad effects of garbage are not limited to the
personal lives of individuals and families. In fact, the
effects have spread out immensely to become a social and
global phenomenon affecting the whole earth and the
whole universe. Garbage has invaded and threatened our
lives. Pollution and toxic chemicals and substances, some
of which are the result of garbage, are threatening our
existence.
The ESL Writer’s Handbook, Michigan ELT, 2010
Why are ESOL students wordy?
1) Direct translation
2) Insufficient vocabulary
3) Lack of word form knowledge
4) Lack of grammar knowledge
5) Unaware of redundancy
6) Attempt to fill the page
Wordiness
Wordiness
Correcting Wordiness
in Action
Correcting Wordiness
in Action
Correcting Wordiness
in Action
Correcting Wordiness
in Action
Perhaps my biggest points are..
Timing is everything
Use student-generated grammar.
Be a grammar detective.
Questions or Comments?
Email: [email protected]
Links to PowerPoint/Handout: http://www.lonestar.edu/colin-ward.htm