Teaching Grammar as a Concept

• ABSTRACT: For many, the teaching of grammar is the biggest challenge in our profession’s shift to teaching for proficiency. Within this new paradigm, it is all about what learners can do with the language in various contexts rather than teaching grammatical concepts as they appear in the textbook. Participants of this seminar will overview the research and leave with strategies and activities to put grammar in its proper place in teaching and assessment. Come and learn how to empower your students by shifting to communicative objectives and targeting the real role of grammar in language learning.
• Nicole Sherf, Salem State University, MaFLA Board, sherf.nicole@gmail.com

Objectives of the Session:

• I can describe the role of grammar in my classroom through the lens of proficiency.
• I can describe the role of grammar and accuracy in performance practice and assessments.
• I have several new ideas related to communicative objectives, the teaching of grammar, and the use of performance assessments to implement with my classes and work on with my department.

Grammar and Accuracy

• Putting grammar in its proper place in planning, teaching and assessment
• Putting accuracy in its proper place in planning, teaching and assessment

Discussion:

• What do we want our students to be able to do as a result of their language learning experience?
• What do our students need from their teacher to be able to do what we want them to do?

Shift to Proficiency

Six Core Practices for World Language Learning:

• Target language use at 90% (especially between students) is a key factor of proficiency development.
• Authentic resources model grammar and vocabulary in context and serve as a springboard for performance.
• Creating communicatively based objectives tied to creative, communicative lesson planning and activities are the starting point to assessing these objectives and providing the feedback our students need to climb the proficiency scale.

What is the Format and Structure of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines? And what are the criteria to determine the proficiency levels?

ACTFL Resources

Criteria Used to Determine Proficiency Levels:

• Context/content
• Functions
• Text Type
• Precision

Proficiency Sub Levels

• LOW: Uses linguistic resources to sustain the requirements of the level. A Low user functions primarily within the level with little or no demonstrated ability from the next level.
• Mid: Fully sustains the level expectations with significant quantity and quality of that level language.
• High: Communicates with confidence when performing the functions of the respective level and is capable of functioning for at least half the time at the next level but unable to sustain performance at the level without difficulty or intermittent lapses.

Summarized from Shrum & Glisan

Greg Duncan:

• “A Novice High looks like an Intermediate most but not all of the time, and Intermediate Low looks like an Intermediate all of the time but barely.”

Our Goal?

• To take our students from one sub level to the next over their time in our programming
• To plan our class activities around performances that will build proficiency, giving them only the building blocks they need.
• In planning, teaching and assessment, to be looking up the proficiency scale to lead our students there.

Departmental FL Office in Hamilton Wenham, MA

To Post In Your Classroom:

To Post In Your Classroom:

Parent’s Night: Taco Talk�(www.miscuentos.com Sarah Elizabeth Cottrell)

Considering what we know about how the proficiency levels are determined; what is the role of grammar in foreign language teaching and programming?

What is the Role of Grammar in Teaching for Proficiency…

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If the criteria used to determine proficiency levels are:

• Context/content
• Functions
• Text Type
• Precision

ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners

What are the parameters for the language learner’s performance?

PRECISION:�How and how well is the language learner able to be understood and to understand?

ACTFL�Performance Descriptors for Language:�Interpersonal Communication

ACTFL�Performance Descriptors for Language:�Interpersonal Communication

ACTFL�Performance Descriptors for Language:�Interpersonal Communication

How much of a role does grammar and precisions have in proficiency development?

Role of Errors in Proficiency Development?

• Novice, Intermediate and even Advanced speakers make mistakes. The question we should be asking is: How does the mistake interfere with the comprehensibility?
• Making mistakes is an essential part of language learning.
• We should encourage risk taking by teaching strategies to get message across effectively.
• We should actively teach strategies to facilitate communication and cultural awareness.

What is the Format and Structure of the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements?

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• Sample Performance Indicators for Language Learners

NCSSFL-ACTFL GLOBAL CAN-DO BENCHMARKS:

The NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements are self-assessment checklists used by language learners to assess what they “can do” in the Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational modes of of Communication. They are organized both by level of proficiency (from Novice Low to Distinguished) and by mode of communication:

• Interpersonal Communication
• Presentational Speaking
• Presentational Writing
• Interpretive Listening
• Interpretive Reading

Let’s Take a Look at the Can-Do Statements:�We’ll Focus on Intermediate Mid Interpersonal Communication

• What do you notice about them?
• What kinds of verbs are used?
• What do you not notice in them?
• How could you use/adapt them for classroom use?

Can-Do Statements Inter

So? What do you think?

• What do you notice about them?
• What kinds of verbs are used?
• What do you not notice in them?
• How could you use/adapt them for classroom use?
• How is grammar referenced?

What Are the Benefits of the �Can-Do Statement Structure?

Can-Do Statements Make Great Daily, Communicative Learning Objectives

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As long as they are used to engage students in real-world communicative tasks that are…

• Interesting
• Relevant
• Open-ended

GAME: Effective Communicative Can-Do Statement or Not?

• I can learn school vocabulary
• I can translate school vocabulary
• I can describe my daily class schedule
• I can ask and answer questions about my school
• I can understand school vocabulary
• I can use the verb ‘to have’ to describe what classes I have
• I can describe my classroom and my school
• I can conjugate the verb ‘to have’
• I can compare my school with a school in the target culture

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Effective Can-Do Statements:

• Are communicative
• Do not contain mention of grammar functions
• Contain action verbs (think Bloom’s Taxonomy!)
• Don’t contain verbs like “learn,” “translate,” “conjugate…”
• Should help students document what they can do with the language
• Should inspire and excite our students about the class they are about to have and the performances they are about to complete!

If You Are Checking in with your Can-Do Statements Daily…

• Students can have them in mind throughout the unit.
• Students can discuss them together (about where they are and where they need to go)
• Students can better understand the relationship between Can-Do Statements and their performance
• Students get used to the idea of providing evidence

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Sample Daily Learning Objective

Unit Learning Objectives

Resources to Guide and Support Our Daily Work Creating Performances and Building Proficiency:

Discussion: What Grammar is Necessary to Complete a Lesson’s Objectives?

• How accepting are you of the variety of ways that an objective can be effectively completed…

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Even if if does not utilize the grammar you originally thought was necessary?

“My very first curriculum was very unabashedly the table of contents of my textbook. And we simply taught and it was very nice and neat and convenient and in order. But we didn’t have a sense of what the students were supposed to get out of it. Your heart was telling you that these students were supposed to be doing something with the language instead of just learning about it.”

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www.learner.org Annenberg Video “Standards and the 5 Cs”

Let’s Be Clear…

• Our curriculum is not the grammar we teach. It should not even be guided by the grammar we teach.
• Our curriculum is the set of communicative objectives for each unit of study which lead to practiced performances over time that develop proficiency.

What Role Does a Textbook Play in Proficiency-Oriented Planning, Teaching and Assessment?

• Do we need to cover everything in the textbook?
• What components of each chapter are necessary to complete your communicative objectives?
• Is there anything missing that needs to be added in?
• How can we use the text as a guide rather than the basis of your curriculum?

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Whatever you decide or feel about your textbook…

• The activities you select for your classes need to be communicative and this will probably mean that you will need to create additional activities than are offered through the textbook.
• These activities need to be supported by authentic resources, target language infused, and linked directly to the communicative objective that you set for the day’s lesson.
• Your activities should respond to your students’ interests, needs, age, and the target proficiency level of the group…

And whatever you decide… ��your department needs to come to consensus on the following:�

• How and how well is the language learner understood and able to understand at the various levels of programming?
• What role does accuracy play in teaching and assessment?
• What role does accuracy play in your grading system?

“Performances are islands that lead to continents.”

What are the Myths of Grammar Instruction?

Adapted from Lee & VanPatten

Common Myths of Grammar:

• 1. I can’t teach in a new way – I must teach the way I was taught – and explicit grammar instruction is the way it has been done for a long time.

Common Myths of Grammar:

• 2. Students like to have the explanation, the rules the exceptions and the formulas well explained to them.

Common Myths of Grammar:

• 3. English teachers need us to teach parts of speech!

Common Myths of Grammar:

• 4. Students can’t use a grammar form they haven’t been explicitly taught.

Common Myths of Grammar:

• 5. Students must learn the grammar for mastery.

For Conjugation

Common Myths of Grammar:

• 6. Drills, fill-ins, grammar translations help students learn.

Common Myths of Grammar:

• 7. Our students love grammar!

Grammar Myths

• 1. I can’t teach in a new way – I must teach the way I was taught – and explicit grammar instruction is the way it has been done for a long time.
• 2. Students like to have the explanation, the rules the exceptions and the formulas well explained to them.
• 3. English teachers are happy that their students learn parts of speech from their FL classes.
• 4. Students can’t use a grammar form they haven’t been explicitly taught.
• 5. Students must learn the grammar for mastery.
• 6. Drills, fill-ins, grammar translations help students learn.
• 7. Our students do not love grammar as much as we think.

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To Keep in Mind When�Teaching Grammar for Proficiency:

• How well do the grammar topics of the chapter align with the communicative objectives of the chapter? Are there grammar topics that do not belong or are not relevant to the communicative objectives that need to be pushed off?
• How will you get your students ready to interact with the grammatical forms, rules or topic?
• How will you support and encourage your students’ interaction with the new forms or structures from the start?
• What images will you use?
• What is the story that you will tell?

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The PACE Model to Teach Grammar through Storytelling�

• Presentation of meaningful language in a story-based unit of study (folktale, TPR lesson, authentic listening segment, authentic document, demonstration of a real-life authentic task…)
• Attention focused on learner’s attention to the aspect of the language used during the presentation.
• Co-Construction – explanation as conversation – learners and teacher are co-constructors of the grammatical explanation through collaborative reflection and creating understandings.
• Extension Activities in which the learners have the opportunity to use their new grammar skill in creative and interesting ways.

Donato & Adair Hauck, 1994

PACE: Presentation

• Presentation of the story orally and interactively, illustrating the grammatical form in context.

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How to tell the story?

The teacher:

• Acts it out
• Reads a folktale or legend
• Illustrates a story that ends with a proverb
• Reads a children’s storybook
• Teaches a song
• Other ideas?

Volunteers?

IRF VS IRE

• IRF: Teacher Initiation, Student Response, Teacher Feedback
• IRE: Teacher Initiation, Student Response, Teacher Evaluation

How did I use IRF in my story?

Why is IRF preferable to IRE?

PACE: Attention

• Attention is focused on certain aspects of the language that were used in the story told (with questions about elements that were repeated or patterns that can be identified)

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Who is going to win the lottery?�What is he going to do with the money?

What is the the family going to be like? What are the children going to do?

PACE: Co-Construction

• Co-Construction – explanation as conversation – learners and teacher are co-constructors of the grammatical explanation through collaborative reflection and creating understandings.

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How do we talk about events in the future?

• What are some examples that you heard in my story?

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• What is the necessary verb?

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• What is the structure of the tense?

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PACE: Extension

• Activities are used to elaborate, use and reinforce the new grammatical concept.

Sentence Starters:

In the future:

• I am going to …
• My friends are going to …
• My family is going to …
• My teacher is going to …
• My grandchildren are going to …

Guided Questions:

• What are you going to do…?
• …this afternoon?
• …tomorrow?
• …this weekend?
• …during the summer?
• …next year?
• …in ten years?

Guided Questions:

• After graduating, are you going to live in a city, a small town or a suburb?
• Where are you going to live?
• What will you do for work?
• Are you going to live in a house or an apartment?
• Are you going to travel?
• What are you going to do for fun?

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Activities Based on Interpreting Authentic Resources:

Question Creation Practice:

After school isn’t all about homework! Think of five fun activities in school or out of school and create questions to ask your partner if they are going do them this week or this term. Think about what you know how to say.

For example:

• Are you going to go to the dance?
• Are you going to study tonight?
• Are you going to watch Survivor tonight?

Guided Dialogue:

• Plan out your five-year plan describing ten activities that you are going to do over the next five years.
• With your partner discuss what you are going to do over the next five years and compare and contrast some of the activities

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Dialogue Cards:

En grupos de dos: You and your partner are preparing for a party and negotiating what each of you is going to do to get ready for it. Make a list of the tasks together then ask and answer questions to determine who is going to do what.

Just to be clear:

These are not memorized dialogues!

Information Gap Activities:

• You and your partner have a sheet with pictures describing the activities that you are going to do. Some of the activities are the same and some are different. Have a conversation in which you describe to each other what you are going to do to discover the similarities and differences.

What are ‘Information Gap’ Activities?

Information Gap Activities: �Giving Students an Authentic Communicative Purpose

Creative Extensions:

Un horóscopo:

Use the future tense to create a horoscope for a student in the class.

• Be creative – horoscopes can be good or bad, funny or serious.
• Think about possible futures for your classmates.
• Use the model: You are (not) going to + infinitive
• For example:
• You are not going to receive an F in this class.
• You are going to go to Costa Rica this summer.
• You are going to buy a new car.
• You are going to have ten children.

PACE: Extension

• Activities are used to elaborate, use and reinforce the new grammatical concept.
• Sentence starters
• Guided questions
• Activities with authentic resources
• Question creation practice
• Guided dialogue
• Dialogue cards
• Information gap activities
• Creative extensions

Our Model for Planning is UbD

Which Can-Do Statements

do you have for the unit?

What will demonstrate

that students ‘can do’

the objective?

What activities will help

students practice

the objective?

Model of Activity Design:

Activity Formats:

Vary it up!

• Pair, small group, independent, whole group
• And vary the expectation and format

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• Think-Share-Pair

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• Jigsaw

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• Inside/Outside Circle

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What Was the Objective of This PACE Lesson?�

I can tell the future!

The PACE Model to Teach Grammar through Storytelling�

• Presentation of meaningful language in a story-based unit of study (folktale, TPR lesson, authentic listening segment, authentic document, demonstration of a real-life authentic task…)
• Attention focused on learner’s attention to the aspect of the language used during the presentation.
• Co-Construction – explanation as conversation – learners and teacher are co-constructors of the grammatical explanation through collaborative reflection and creating understandings.
• Extension Activities in which the learners have the opportunity to use their new grammar skill in creative and interesting ways.

Donato & Adair Hauck, 1994

When Considering Grammar in Programing:

• Consider what isn’t needed for the target proficiency level.
• Consider what can be taught in “functional chunks” (for example, “I would like…”).
• Consider what can be taught for recognition (for example object pronouns).
• Consider what can be taught in stories.

When Considering Grammar in Assessment:

• Consider how precision is addressed in the target proficiency level.
• Consider how to make assessment meaningful and communicative, with discrete point testing (if used) and with performance assessments.
• Guide the students as to the expectation by explaining the rubrics ahead of time and practicing the performances in a variety of formats.
• Consider how the prompt encourages the sought grammatical function but understand that communication can be effective even if it doesn’t contain that grammatical function.
• If there are errors, consider what impact on comprehension they have. Also, consider patterns of error (which are not multiple errors!)

How Do I Assess Grammar within Performances?

• Understanding the role of error making/correction in proficiency-oriented learning/teaching
• Using rubrics to guide and evaluate performance
• Coming to departmental consensus on quality and types of performance
• Sharing assessment strategies, rubrics and philosophies with stakeholders

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If You Are Checking in with your Can-Do Statements Daily…

• Students can have them in mind throughout the unit.
• Students can discuss them together (about where they are and where they need to go)
• Students can better understand the relationship between Can-Do Statements and their performance
• Students get used to the idea of providing evidence
• Performances become the routine

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Extended Vision for Getting on the Same Page:

• Getting on the same page with the goals for language teaching and programming and the vision for the department
• Creating resources in the form of curriculum, rubrics, common tasks and assessments
• Calibrating to make sure that the expectations are the same from student to student, class to class, mode to mode, and task to task
• Share the vision with stakeholders!

Some Sample Questions to Consider to Get on the Same Page in the Department:

• How often will students be assessed? In which modes? Which assessments will be departmental?
• How is the preparation for the task handled to make it uniform throughout the department?
• How are procedures standardized so that you are comparing apples to apples?

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Objectives of the Session:

• I can describe the role of grammar in my classroom through the lens of proficiency.
• I can describe the role of grammar and accuracy in performance practice and assessments.
• I have several new ideas related to communicative objectives, the teaching of grammar, and the use of performance assessments to implement with my classes and work on with my department.