GRWS Chapter 02 PDF
GRWS Chapter 02 PDF
Issues
1
Discuss
Check
1 Write down three examples for each of the following in the English language.
1 Performative verbs
2 Variables which influence the appropriacy of language used in any given context
3 Types of clause
5 Discourse markers
4 a series of interrelated words and associated meaning which bind a text together
5 a system of rules which determines the order of words in sentences
6 the meaning of a word related to the specific thing it describes, as opposed to a metaphorical meaning
7 a group of people who share and/or recognise the same or similar language customs or norms
3 Complete the following sentences, which describe important aspects of language which students
need to learn.
1 It’s important to learn about , for example how different language forms can signify
formality or informality in writing and speaking.
2 For better comprehension of everyday conversation, it’s useful to learn about : the
omission of words from an utterance without compromising its meaning.
3 The ability of words with a specific spelling to have different meanings, known as , can be
confusing for students, but it is an important feature of the language to be aware of.
4 When students are organising words for learning vocabulary, it is useful for them to recognise
– the relationship between words which have a common superordinate.
5 , the phenomenon of words appearing in common combinations is, some people claim, as
important as recognising grammar patterns.
6 are the sounds which make up the building blocks of a spoken language.
7 Curiously, the , an unstressed phoneme, is one of the most common in the English
language.
8 Students need to be aware that , the disappearance of the final sounds of certain words
due to the beginning sounds of the following words, can make spoken English difficult to understand.
9 Another challenging feature of spoken English is , the changing of the sound at the end of
a word so that it is more like the sound at the beginning of the following word.
Evaluate
4 Some people say that coursebook dialogues are unnatural and don’t represent real speech. What
are three advantages and three disadvantages of giving students ‘tidied up’ dialogues with no
hesitation, reformulation or grammatical errors?
5 What do you see as one advantage and one disadvantage of maintaining a sustained focus on
paralinguistic features of communication when teaching English?
6 Imagine that you have to teach the following dialogue as part of a lesson on social English to your
intermediate-plus level students. Which useful features of lexis, grammar and pronunciation does the
dialogue contain which you might first highlight to your students, and then work on in more detail in
follow-up activities? Identify one paralinguistic feature of communication you could teach using this
dialogue.
Action
7 Decide on one communication function you would like to teach to your students (decide on a
language level). For example: suggesting, deciding, agreeing, inviting, etc. Brainstorm three different
communicative contexts for your students and examples of relevant language for each of these
contexts (five phrases for each). In class:
• explain to your students the three contexts and show them the examples of language, but without linking
them to the contexts.
• ask your students, in groups, to decide on what language is appropriate for each context.
• tell the students to build a two-minute roleplay to perform for the rest of the class to show the language in use.
• encourage the students during the roleplay to think carefully about how to say the phrases in the right way.
After the activity, discuss with the students how important they feel it is to use not only accurate language,
but also appropriate language, and why.
8 Decide on a genre of writing which you think it is important for your students to be better at, e.g.
writing a covering letter, sending a more formal email, writing a short article for the intranet, etc.
Find three to five different examples of writing in this genre and ask the students to read them and
note down what they think is good and bad about each.
After a classroom discussion of the good and bad features, the students should integrate the good
features into their own piece of writing, which you can then mark, correct and provide feedback on.