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TDIP201 – 209140111106
FOCUS 6 – SUMMARY

Cullen, R. (2012). Grammar instruction. In A. Burns and J. Richards (Eds). The Cambridge Guide to
Pedagogy and Practice in Second Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter
27

Background

What do we understand by grammar?

- For some teachers, grammar may be viewed as:
+ The underlying knowledge of the system of rules which speakers apply in order to form correct sentences in
spoken and written production.
+ A skill which speakers deploy creatively in acts of communication to achieve intended meanings.

Learning grammar

1. Learners need to be able to notice features of grammar in natural, realistic contexts of use.
2. Learners need opportunities to form hypotheses about how grammar works.
3. Learners need opportunities to practice using grammar in meaningful contexts.

Approaches to teaching grammar

- Product approach: PPP:

+ Presentation stage: examples of a new grammatical structure are presented in a situation or context to make
the meaning and form clear, and to illustrate a typical use of it.
+ In the subsequent two stages: there is a transition from controlled practice exercises (focus on accurate
reproduction of the structure) to freer practice activities (focus on communicative use of the structure).

- Process approach: the transition from accuracy to fluency is reversed.

+ More in line with the notion of grammar as a resource for choice.
+ It is unlikely that an exclusively process-oriented approach would be able to provide the same coverage of
grammatical features which a product approach provides.

Testing grammar

- The separate testing of grammar is more consistent with a product approach to teaching than with a process
approach.
- In order to reflect the principles above, it is important that the focus should be on assessing the candidates’
ability to use the grammatical items they have learned as a communicative resource. To this end:

+ they should be asked to make choices, not simply between forms, but between pragmatically appropriate and
inappropriate uses of grammar.
+ these choices should be made in contexts of language use.
+ the texts to contextualize the target grammar items should be realistic and varied in terms of text type.
O’Keefe, A. (2012). Vocabulary instruction. In A. Burns and J. Richards (Eds). The Cambridge Guide to
Pedagogy and Practice in Second Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter
25.

Background

Second language acquisition

- Until early in the twentieth century, “foreign” languages were taught using the GTM. Learners would often
know vocabulary from their literary texts that was often of little use in any functional sense.
- An important aspect of vocabulary learning within the audio-lingual approach was the rote learning of
vocabulary.
- Within the cognitivist framework, it is argued that language input should be slightly above the learners’
current level. There is an implicit view of learning: new words are acquired unconsciously and teaching has no
influence on this process of acquisition and learners should simple be left to “get on with it”.
- Interactionist theories: learning takes place when meanings are “negotiated”. This concept is obviously very
salient in relation to vocabulary acquisition.
- Sociocultural theory: learners pass through the “zone of proximal development”. ZPD in relation to
vocabulary instruction is the degree to which learners can develop their mental abilities by working together on
a common vocabulary learning task.

Key issues

Does vocabulary size matter?

- There is plenty of empirical research to show that the more words learners know, the higher their attainment in
language tests.
- It is safe to conclude that improving learners’ vocabulary acquisition will lead to overall improvement in their
reading, writing, and listening skills.
- Research tells us that there is a core vocabulary set of about 2000 words which account for over 80 percent of
all of the words in spoken and written texts.

How many words do our learners need to know?

- It is not about how many words a learner knows, it is more about knowing as many of the senses of the core
words as possible that impacts on the amount of vocabulary in a text that someone will understand.
- What gives the core words such potency in terms of coverage has mostly to do with two factors:
1. The ability of the same form to appear in many meanings (polysemy)
2. The ability of the same form to combine with other forms to make new meanings

How best to accelerate vocabulary learning and retention?

- Increasing contextual encounters:

+ The more students see, read, write, or say a word, the more likely they are to retain it in their long-term
memory.

How words are organized and how we organize words

- In organizing words by meaning, we can draw on connections between words especially through synonymy,
antonymy, and hyponymy.
+ In terms of vocabulary instruction, synonyms can be very useful because they allow teachers and learners
draw on words of equivalent meaning. They are also a core facilitator of monolingual learner dictionaries.
+ Antonymy can be very useful in the teaching of meaning. It can pose pedagogical challenges because words
do not always have just on antonym.
+ Hyponymy: the benefit of presenting meaning in this way is obvious since the category name is usually a
high-frequency core word that leaners will already know and this will aid retention.

Pronunciation instruction. In A. Burns and J. Richards, (Eds). The Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy and
Practice in Second Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 26.

Background

A brief history of pronunciation instruction

- GTM (1840s-1940s): No focus on pronunciation

- Direct method and other naturalistic approaches: Pronunciation taught via imitation and repetition.
- Linguistic approaches: Use of a phonetic alphabet, sagittal diagrams, tongue twisters, and minimal pair drills;
primary emphasis on segmentals.
- Communicative approaches: Little or no overt focus on pronunciation. Primary focus on suprasegmentals.
Balanced focus on segmentals and suprasegmentals.

What is needed to teach pronunciation effectively

The knowledge base

- Teachers must first have a working knowledge of the relevant pronunciation features that they are presenting
and be able to present this knowledge using a principled methodology.
- Teachers must be aware of factors that influence their students’ acquisition of new language features.
- Teachers must be able to make informed decisions about which aspects of pronunciation should be focused on
in any given unit and plan accordingly regarding how and when to present these aspects.

Key issues

Teacher preparation

- Many in-service teachers still report that they were not provided with adequate training in this skill area.

- Professional groups provide useful venues for those teachers seeking additional information on how to teach
pronunciation. Additional information is available through TESOL-affiliate conferences in many regions and in
countries worldwide. Much has been published on the topic in recent years.

Curriculum design and materials selection

- In the real world of ESL/EFL instruction, teachers rarely have the liberty of teaching a course exclusively
devoted to pronunciation but instead teach in an integrated skills pronunciation where time is at a premium and
difficult choices must be made regarding which skills to prioritize.

- The good news is that many textbook series today have begun to add an overt focus on pronunciation, weaving
pronunciation instruction into the treatment of other language features.
Classroom procedures

- Teachers are advised to select widely from the smorgasbord of techniques available for teaching
pronunciation.

Assessment and feedback

- Teacher are advised at the outset of the course to conduct a diagnostic assessment of the learner’s production.
One way is to simply assess the learner’s production impressionistically. Another common practice is to analyze
a recorded sample of the learner’s production.

- Teachers need to consider how best to deliver ongoing feedback, how to establish a healthy classroom climate
where self and peer correction are encouraged and how to design classroom tests to measure learner
achievement.

Pronunciation standards

- One of the most contested issues in pronunciation teaching today has to do with selecting the appropriate
“standard” to teach.

- Specialists recognize that in many contexts where English is the medium of communication, the key issue is
not whether the interlocutors are speaking a standard variety of English but rather whether their pronunciation is
sufficiently intelligible for the effective exchange of ideas and information.

An overview of traditional techniques for teaching pronunciation:

- The era of ALM introduced a variety of techniques:

1. Phonetic symbols to represent the target sounds of English in the classroom.

2. Key words to represent the various phonemes of English.
3. Sagittal diagrams to illustrate the point and manner of articulation of consonant production.
4. The vowel quadrant to illustrate the position of the tongue with respect to vowel articulation.
5. Listen and repeat.
6. Minimal pair word and sentence drills.
7. Focused sentence practice.
8. Tongue twisters.
9. Dialogue practice.
10. Congruent pattern drills.

A smorgasbord of current techniques:

- Current techniques required learners to attend simultaneously to form and meaning, requiring them to focus on
the accurate production of the target form at the same time that they are challenged to use the form in
communicative interchanges.

- Includes: games, strip stories, cued dialogs, information gap activities, problem-solving activities, role play,
and the like.