UNIVERSITE D’ANTANANARIVO

ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE

*******************
DEPARTEMENT DE FORMATION INITIALE LITTERAIRE

CENTRE D’ETUDES ET DE RECHERCHE EN LANGUE ET LETTRES

ANGLAISES

MEMOIRE EN VUE DE L’OBTENTION DU CERTIFICAT D’APTITUDE

PEDAGOGIQUE DE L’ECOLE NORMALE (C.A.P.E.N.)

PROMOTING COMMUNICATIVE GRAMMAR

TO IMPROVE THE TEACHING OF
CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN « PREMIERE »
AND « TERMINALE » CLASSES

C.A.P.E.N Dissertation by RAKOTONJANAHARY Zolalaina Harifenitra

President: Mrs RAKOTOMAVO RABIAZA Hanta

Referee: Mrs RAMINOARIVONY Mirany

Advisor: Mr ANDRIANOAVINA Tolotra

Presented on 23rd December 2016

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, we are extremely thankful to God who has mercifully allowed us to see today the
end of our years of studies. Without his protection and blessings, we would not have
completed this research work and all efforts would have been vain.

We record here our grateful appreciation to Mrs RAKOTOMAVO RABIAZA Hanta for
having generously accepted to preside over the public presentation of this research work in
spite of her numerous duties.

We also ought to give heartfelt thanks to Mrs RAMINOARIVONY Mirany for having kindly
accepted to judge our work and give her comments to improve it.

We would like to single out Mr ANDRIANOAVINA Tolotra, our dissertation advisor, for his
continual support and guidance throughout the study.

We are deeply indebted to Mr BIANKINA for his advice and encouragement which gave us
strength to carry on studying English.

Special thanks are also due and thereby tendered to every teacher in the English Department
of Ecole Normale Supérieure who taught and trained us during our five-year studies at this
college.

Our acknowledgements are equally offered to all the students in the “SPARKS” cohort and to
those who, in a way or another, have contributed to the completion of this research work.

Last but not least, I address my gratitude to my parents, my siblings and my family members
for their unfailing encouragement and financial support all along the preparation of this work.

May God bless all of you!

List of abbreviations:

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

etc: etcetera

Eds: Editors

T: Teacher

S: Student

Ss: Students

i.e. : that is to say

List of figures:

Figure 1 : Graph representing the teachers' diploma ……………………………………… 32

Figure 2 : Graph representing the objectives of grammar teaching…………………………33

Figure 3 : Graph representing the students' interest in learning grammar ………….. …......34

Figure 4: Graph representing the reasons why students do not like grammar so much ……35

Figure 5: Graph representing the importance of integrating language skills in grammar … 37

Figure 6: Graph representing the most difficult conditional type for students ……………. 38

Figure 7: Graph representing students' main difficulty in learning conditional sentences …39

Figure 8: Graph representing the teachers' biggest problem in teaching conditional

sentences…………………………………………………………………………………….40

Figure 9: Graph representing the techniques and activities of presenting a lesson on

conditional sentences ………………………………………………………………………..42

Figure 10: Graph representing the activities during the production stage of a lesson on
conditionals …………………………………………………………………………………43

Figure 11: Graph representing the teachers' opinions on the better language skill to improve
the learning of conditional sentences ……………………………………………………….45

Figure 12: Graph representing the stage in which it is better to involve students in
communication ………………………………………………………………………………46
List of tables
Table 1 : Recapitulation of the four major types of conditional sentences …………….. 11
Table 2 : The respondents' diploma ……………………………………………………. 32
Table 3: Lesson on "Conditional tenses" ……………………………………………….. 60
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
0.1- Reasons for choosing the topic ……………………………………………...1
0.2- Objectives of the work …………………………………………………....... 2
0.3- Scope and limitations of the work ……………………………………….….2
0.4- Outline of the work …………………………………………………….........3

PART I- ENGLISH CONDITIONAL SENTENCES AND HOW TO TEACH THEM

COMMUNICATIVELY

1.1- ENGLISH CONDITIONAL SENTENCES ……………………………………….... 4

1.1.1- A brief syntactic description of conditional sentences ………………….... 4
1.1.2- A semantic overview of the major types of English conditionals …..….. ..6
1.1.2.1- Conditional type zero ……………………………………………....6

1.1.2.2- First conditional or conditional type one ………………………... .7

1.1.2.3- Second conditional or conditional type two …………………....... 7

1.1.2.4- Third conditional or conditional type three …………………….... 9

1.2- TEACHING CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN A COMMUNICATIVE WAY…... 12

1.2.1- Concepts of communicative grammar ……………………………………. 12

1.2.2- Conceptual value of conditional sentences in English as a Foreign Language

(EFL) teaching …………………………………………………………………………… 13

1.2.3- Stages for teaching conditional sentences communicatively ……………… 14

1.2.3.1- Presentation stage ………………………………………………… 14

1.2.3.2- Practice stage …………………………………………………….. 15

1.2.3.3- Production stage …………………………………………………. 16

1.2.4- Communicative techniques for teaching conditional sentences …………....16

1.2.4.1- In the presentation stage ………………………………………….. 16

1.2.4.2- In the practice stage ………………………………………………. 17

1.2.4.3- In the production stage ………………………………………….... 18

1.3- SAMPLES OF COMMUNICATIVE LESSON ON CONDITIONAL SENTENCES ..18

1.3.1- First conditional …………………………………………………...……… . .19

 1.3.1.1- Procedures of the lesson ……………………………………….. 19

1.3.1.2- Analysis of the lesson ………………………………………….. 20

1.3.2- Second conditional ………………………………………………………. 21

1.3.2.1- Procedures of the lesson ………………………………………... 21

1.3.2.2- Analysis of the lesson …………………………………………... 24

1.3.3- Third conditional …………………………………………………………. 25

1.3.3.1- Procedures of the lesson ………………………………………... 25

1.3.3.2- Analysis of the lesson …………………………………………… 28

CONCLUSION TO PART ONE ………………………………………………………… 29

PART II- THE ACTUAL TEACHING OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN

MALAGASY LYCEES

2.1- THE QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY…………………………………………………. 30

2.1.1- General objectives …………………………………………………………. 30

2.1.2- Dispatching of the questionnaire sheets …………………………………….31

2.1.2- Description and analysis of the collected data ………………………….......31

Question N° 1 ……………………………………………………………... 31

Question N° 2 ……………………………………………………………... 33

Question N° 3 ………………………………………………………………34

Question N° 4 ………………………………………………………………35

Question N° 5 ………………………………………………………………36

Question N° 6 ………………………………………………………………36

Question N° 7 ………………………………………………………………37

Question N° 8 ………………………………………………………………38

Question N° 9 ………………………………………………………………39

Question N° 10 ……………………………………………………………. 40

Question N° 11 …………………………………………………………….. 41
 Question N° 12 ……………………………………………………………...43

Question N° 13 ………………………………………………………………44

Question N° 14 …………………………………………………………….. 44

Question N° 15 ……………………………………………………………... 46

Question N°16 ……………………………………………………………… 47

CONCLUSION TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE …………………………………………….. 48

2.2- THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS ……………………………………………….49

2.2.1- General objectives ……………………………………………………………. 49

2.2.2- Context of the observations ………………………………………………….. 50

2.2.3- Report and analysis ……………………………………………………..…… 50

2.2.3.1- Observation of a course on “Protecting the environment” to teach the

first conditional …………………………………………………………….... 50

2.2.3.2- Observation of a course on “Regrets” to teach the third

conditional …………………………………………………………………..54

2.2.3.3- Observation of a revision course about the three types of

conditionals ………………………………………………………………… 57

2.2.3.4- Observation of a chart-based lesson to teach the four types of

conditionals …………………………………………………………………. 60

2.2.3.5- Observation of a very first presentation of conditional type one and

type two to a class …………………………………………………………... 63

CONCLUSION TO THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS …………………….............. 66

CONCLUSION TO PART TWO ………………………………………………………….. 67

PART III- EXPERIMENTATIONS AND TEACHING SUGGESTIONS

3.1- THE EXPERIMENTATIONS …………………………………………………………..68

3.1.1. General objectives and context of the experimentations ……………………... 68

3.1.2- Report and analysis of the experimentations ………………………………… 68

3.1.2.1- Experimentation N° 1 ………………………………………………. 69

3.1.2.2- Experimentation N° 2 ………………………………………………. 73

 3.1.2.3- Experimentation N° 3 ………………………………………………. 78

3.1.2.4- Experimentation N° 4 ………………………………………………. 82

3.1.2.5- Experimentation N° 5 ………………………………………………. 86

CONCLUDING COMMENTS ON THE EXPERIMENTATIONS ……………………..… 89

3.2- TEACHING SUGGESTIONS …………………………………………………………..90

3.2.1- On teaching grammar ………………………………………………………….90

3.2.2- On teaching conditional sentences ……………………………………………90

3.2.3- On using communicative activities in grammar class ………………………...91

CONCLUSION TO PART THREE ………………………………………………………....92

GENERAL CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………93

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES ……………………………………………………….. 95

APPENDICES

APPENDIX I: THE QUESTIONNAIRE …………………………………………………… i

APPENDIX II: ON THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS …………………………… .. iv

APPENDIX III: ON THE EXPERIMENTED LESON PLANS ………………………….. viii

APPENDIX IV: Teaching conditional sentences communicatively (Part One) …………... xi

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
 0.1- Reasons for choosing the topic
Teaching grammar is the cornerstone of any language teaching in the world
because of the importance of grammar itself. Grammar can be defined as “the business
of taking a language into pieces, to see how it works” (Crystal, 2000). It has been held
that if a language is a building, the words are bricks and grammar is the architect’s plan.
Penny (2000) gives a further explanation by putting grammar as “a set of rules that
define how words (or parts of words) are combined or changed to form acceptable
units of meaning within a language”. Therefore, guaranteeing the accuracy of sentences
mainly depends on the learner’s mastery of grammar since it is a framework to describe
languages.
Among the English grammatical rules that are taught in Malagasy lycées, the
lessons on conditional sentences were found to be difficult. During our teaching practice
in a lycée in Antananarivo, it was found out that some students also have troubles
understanding those lessons clearly. The problem is that, apart from the complexity of the
structures of conditional sentences and the variety of their meanings, many English
language teachers think they reached their objective once they gave grammatical rules to
their students and the students managed to apply those rules (i.e. the forms) in some
accuracy exercises disregarding the students’ ability to use the rules in realistic or
authentic situations. The absence of conditional structures in Malagasy language also
makes the learning of English conditionals more difficult for Malagasy learners. It seems
that conditionals are spoken in Malagasy language, like in “Raha hatory ianao dia hatory
koa aho”, but they do not have fixed grammatical rules. Siméon Rajaona (1972) has never
mentioned Malagasy conditionals in his doctorate thesis, “Structure du Malgache”.
Actually, there are “students, and especially students in developing
countries, who have received several years of formal English teaching, [and yet]
frequently deficient in the ability to actually use the language and to understand its
use in normal communication” (Widdowson ,1979). Here, “developing countries”
refers to the countries where English is taught as second or foreign language. We contend
that many teachers of English in Malagasy lycées teach conditional sentences by using
methods that restrict language learning to a very narrow, non-communicative range
which does not prepare students to use the structures in real life situation. Therefore, we
have decided to carry out a research work on promoting communicative grammar as a
solution to the problems mentioned above. The present study is based on the assumption
that if conditional sentences are taught communicatively in clear contexts, students will

1
not have trouble learning those grammatical rules and will communicate appropriately
when using them.

0.2- Objective of the work

The purpose of this study is to investigate the value of teaching conditional
sentences through communicative grammar in helping the students to communicate
effectively and appropriately within the context of the target language. In other words, we
would like to verify the effectiveness of teaching conditional sentences through
communicative activities so as to involve the students in communication during the
lesson procedures.
Our investigation will be carried out through a questionnaire survey and classroom
observations in order to provide us with information concerning the problems that
teachers and students face as far as the teaching and learning of conditional sentences are
concerned. Moreover, we will also carry out some experimentations which aim at finding
how far communicative grammar can be suggested as a solution to the encountered
problems by holding some “première” and “terminale” classes. Thereby, we will teach
conditional sentences communicatively in these class levels in order to see the
effectiveness of communicative grammar.

0.3- Scope and limitations of the work

Though the lessons on conditional sentences are included in the syllabus of the
three levels (seconde, première, and terminales) in Malagasy lycées, we will only focus
our research on the teaching of conditional sentences in “première” and “terminale”
classes because of time constraint for making this research. Students in “seconde” class
deal with first and second conditionals when the school year is going to end, yet we could
not wait for the end of the school year. Moreover, we found out during our investigation
that some teachers in one lycée do not teach conditionals in “seconde” class.
Furthermore, we intended to test whether it is feasible to teach all the conditional types in
the Malagasy lycée syllabus (i.e, first, second, and third conditionals) by applying
communicative grammar, so we have chosen “première” and “terminale” classes. It is
worth mentioning that normally, first and second conditionals should be revised but not
presented any more in these two class levels. Nonetheless, we decided to deal with the
presentation of the three major types of English conditionals so as to adapt the lessons for
those who did not learn conditionals in “seconde” class. In spite of this scope, our

2
suggestions for improvement are also available for the teaching of conditional sentences
in “seconde” class.
In order to have a complete view of the teaching of conditional sentences, we
should investigate all the lycées in different regions of Madagascar, but due to time and
financial constraints, we have only investigated some lycées and private schools in
Antananarivo for this study.

0.4- Outline of the work

As far as the work itself is concerned, it is divided into three main parts. In the
first part we will consider the theories behind which the topic lies, that is, English
conditional sentences and how to teach them communicatively. It roughly includes a
linguistic study of English conditional sentences, including syntactic and semantic
explanations, the teaching of conditional sentences in a communicative way, and samples
of communicative lessons about conditional sentences. Then, in the second part we will
focus our attention on the actual teaching of conditional sentences in the lycées by giving
a questionnaire to the teachers and by attending courses on conditionals. Finally, in the
third part we will report and analyze the experimentations we carried out with our
experimented lesson plans and we will give some teaching suggestions about
communicative grammar teaching and the teaching of conditional sentences.

3
 PART ONE: ENGLISH CONDITIONAL
SENTENCES AND HOW TO TEACH THEM
COMMUNICATIVELY
 This first part is the theoretical framework of this study. It is mainly composed of
literature review and is divided into three subparts. The first one is a linguistic study of
English conditional sentences, including syntactic and semantic explanations. The second
subpart explains the theory behind which the communicative teaching of conditional
sentences lies. The last one is composed of samples of communicative lessons about
conditional sentences.

1.1- ENGLISH CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

The main purpose of learning a language is to enable the learners to communicate
and interact with other people who use the language by means of that same language. This
ability to communicate requires many things such as fluency and accuracy, commonly known
as grammatical correctness. If a learner wants to be able to communicate in English, he should
know English grammar. According to Ur (1988), “There is no doubt that a knowledge –
implicit or explicit- of grammatical rules is essential for the mastery of a language. You
cannot use words unless you know how they should be put together”. Thus, the
knowledge of grammar is crucial to the ability to use language and is essential for reaching
the goal of communication. Conditionals are among the most useful forms for
communicating suppositions about events or situations that are contrary to reality. Students
who learn to form conditional sentences correctly will add a very important dimension to their
ability to understand and learn English in order to communicate complex information in both
speech and writing.

1.1.1- A brief syntactic description of conditional sentences

A conditional sentence is “a complex sentence that consists of a main clause and a

subordinate clause; the latter typically begins with the adverbial subordinator if”
(Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999). Quirk and Greenbaum (1973) state that
conditional sentences express the dependence of one set of circumstance (the result clause or
the main clause) on another (the if clause). In some grammatical terminologies, “if clauses” is
also used for referring to “conditional sentences” but not only for the conditional clause itself.

4
 Two clauses orderings are possible: either the if clause is before the main clause or the
main clause occurs before the if clause.

Eg: a) If you are wise, I will buy sweets for you.

If clause main clause

OR I will buy sweets for you if you are wise

Main clause if clause

b) If John goes, Sue will go.

If clause main clause

OR Sue will go if John goes.

Main clause if clause

In either order, the if clause sets up the condition, and the main clause expresses the
result or outcome. Therefore, the if clause can be treated as an adverbial clause of condition.
When the if clause is generated in initial position, we should use a comma (,) before we write
the main clause.

Another option of clause ordering is possible. We can optionally add “then” before
the main clause only when the if clause occurs in initial position.

Eg: If you are wise, then I will buy sweets for you.

Therefore, it is not acceptable to write:

Then I will buy sweets for you if you are wise.

5
 1.1.2- A semantic overview of the major types of English conditionals

According to Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999), there are three main types
of English conditional sentences: factual, future (or predictive) and imaginative (or
subjunctive) and under each main type, there are a couple of subgroups to further categorize
different conditional sentence types. In this section, however, only the most frequently
encountered ones are assessed. They are:
- Generic factual (type zero)
- Strong condition and result (type one)
- Present counterfactual (type two)
- Past counterfactual (type three)

1.1.2.1- Conditional type zero

In a zero-type conditional sentence the verbs in both the if clause and the main clause
are in the PRESENT SIMPLE tense.

Eg: (1) Water freezes if it snows.

(2) If you heat ice, it turns into water.

 If + S + PRESENT SIMPLE, S + PRESENT SIMPLE

This kind is the easiest and the simplest conditional sentence. It makes general
statement. The proposition is always true and unchanging. In other words, conditional type
zero expresses facts and general truths which are not bounded in time. That is why it is called
“generic factual conditional” in some terminologies. Because of its unchanging truth value, it
is possible to substitute “when” or “whenever” for “if” and the sentence still expresses more
or less the same idea. It is the most frequent conditional sentence type in English, especially
in scientific writing since the sciences are often concerned with such absolute relationships.
As such, sentence (1) means “Water freezes when (whenever) it snows”, and sentence (2)
means “Whenever (when) you heat ice, it turns into water”. However, it is worth mentioning
that this type of conditional sentence is not mentioned by the Malagasy syllabus. Therefore,
teachers have a choice whether to teach it or not.

6
 1.1.2.2- First conditional or conditional type one
In this type of conditional sentences the verb in the if clause is in the PRESENT
SIMPLE tense whereas the verb in the main clause is in the FUTURE (will/be going to).
Eg: (1) - If it rains, we’ll stay home.
(2) - They are going to dance if they like the music.

 If + S+PRESENT SIMPLE, S+ FUTURE (will/be going to)

The if-clause tells an event which may or may not happen in the future. The main
clause tells an event which will happen if the condition is fulfilled. So, when we use the if
clause, we are referring to the future time. We can, for example, add an adverb of time to the
sentence in example (1).
 If it rains, we will stay home tomorrow.

This condition is often called an open condition, or real condition, or a possibility. It

is classified in the condition which is probable or likely to happen (Thomson and Martinet,
1986). This means that the event in the main clause will happen if the condition in the if
clause is fulfilled. In sentence (2), we find the following situation: They are going to dance
(the event in the main clause) if they like the music (the condition in the if clause). For the
present time, we do not know whether they will like the music or not. But, if they like it, then
they are going to dance. It is worth mentioning that the only one form of first conditional
which is taught in Madagascar is the pattern: IF+S+PRESENT SIMPLE, S+WILL.
We use the first conditional to express future plans, contingencies or events which
are likely or probable to happen. It is the only one type of future conditional most ESL/EFL
texts mention.

1.1.2.3- Second conditional or conditional type two

In a second conditional sentence, the verb in the if clause is in the PAST SIMPLE
tense and that of the result clause is in the PRESENT CONDITIONAL. (would + V[-to])
Eg: (1) - If my grandfather were alive today, he would experience a very different world.
(2) - If I had a helicopter, I would visit many famous cities.

 If +S+ PAST SIMPLE, S+ PRESENT CONDITIONAL (would + V(-to))

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 The if clause tells a condition which could happen in the present time, but the
condition could not actually happen. It is just a hypothetical situation, an imagination, or a
dream. When we say “If my grandfather were alive today”, we mean that he is not alive
today. He is dead. When we say “If I had a helicopter”, similarly we mean that I do not have
a helicopter. We just imagine that I have a helicopter. In other words, the conditions in these
two sentences are unreal. Therefore, the if clause in a conditional sentence type 2 refers to the
present time. We can, for example, add an adverb of time to sentence (2):
 If I had a helicopter now, I would visit many famous cities.

Below are some other unreal conditions:

If I were rich, (I am not rich)
If Mum were the teacher, (Mum is not the teacher)
If they were present now, (they are not present now)
If I were President, (I am not President)

The second conditional, also called “present counterfactual conditional” in some

terminologies, is included in the imaginative (or subjunctive) conditional relationships.
“Counterfactual” means contrary-to- fact statement (Wu, 1994). Thus, this second type of
conditional sentences refers to improbabilities or events which are less likely to happen with
the reference to the present.

“Was” and “Were” in second conditional sentences

Generally, we use “were” as the past simple of the verb “to be” for the first and the
third person singular to express subjunctive mood.
Eg: -If I were President, I would lower taxes.
-If Jack were your husband, you would suffer.
Nonetheless, during our research, we discovered that the use of “was” instead of
“were” in conditional sentences type 2 is also acceptable like what we found in Tom
Hutchinson’s book, English For life (Pre-intermediate), published in 2007. However, the
following books mention that you must use the subjunctive form “were” if you want to speak
and write correctly:
 The Gregg Reference Manual
 The Associated Press Stylebook 2011
 The Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition

8
  Garner’s Modern American Usage
 The American Heritage College Dictionary 4th Edition

Therefore, we decided to follow their rules to avoid confusion in students’ mind while using
the verb “to be” in second conditional sentences.

I wish+ Past Simple

Conditional sentences type 2 is often used to express a wish or an ambition.

If I were President= I wish I were President.

If I went on holidays to Hawaii = I wish I went on holidays to Hawaii
If I were you= I wish I were you.
The meaning is the same as above. The event is not possible to happen. It is just a wish. When
we say “I wish I were you”, it is just a wish because it cannot actually happen, I will never be
you.

1.1.2.4- Third conditional or conditional type three

In a third conditional sentence, the verb in the if clause is in the PAST PERFECT
tense (had + past participle) whereas the verb in the main clause is in the PAST
CONDITIONAL or PERFECT CONDITIONAL. (would + have + past participle)

Eg: (1) - If I had known the truth, I wouldn’t have said anything.
(2) - Ben would have passed his exam if he had worked hard.
 If + S+ PAST PERFECT(had +past participle), S + PAST CONDITIONAL (would +
have +past participle)

In a conditional sentence type 3, the if clause tells a condition which could have
happened in the past time. This could not have been possible because the event has already
happened in the past. The if clause “If I had known the truth” means that I did not know the
truth, but we made a conjecture that I knew the truth. This is called unreal condition in the
past. The main clause tells an event that could have happened. But, again, it could not have
happened because everything has already happened in the past. Nobody can change it. In the
main clause, I wouldn’t have said anything, but, of course, it is impossible because actually, I
did not know the truth. So, when we use an if clause in a conditional sentence type 3, we are

9
referring to the past time. More precisely, we are referring to impossibilities in the past. We
can add an adverb of time in the examples above:
 If I had known the truth last week, I wouldn’t have said anything.
 Ben would have passed his exam if he had worked hard two months ago.

Also included in the imaginative conditional relationships, the third conditional is a

past counterfactual conditional. That is to say it refers to impossibilities with the reference to
the past. Thus, we use the third conditional to imagine past events and their results happening
differently (or unrealized situations in the past) and regrets (or dissatisfaction about the past).

Subject/ operator inversion in the third conditional

It is possible to delete the initial “if” and make a subject/operator inversion.
Therefore,
If I had known the truth, I wouldn’t have said anything.
Can be written as: Had I known the truth, I wouldn’t have said anything.
 If +Subject +had +past participle = Had + Subject +past participle.

Here are other examples:

1- If Suzy had waited for the next bus, she wouldn’t have had that terrible accident.
 Had Suzy waited for the next bus, she wouldn’t have had that terrible accident.
2- We would have bought more candles if we had known there was no light in here.
 We would have bought more candles had we known there was no light in here.

I wish+ Past Perfect

As we mentioned before, we use conditional type 3 to express unrealized situations in the
past and regrets. We can also express that dissatisfaction about the past by using “I wish +
Past perfect” which has the equivalent meaning of the third conditional. Thus,
If I had known the truth= I wish I had known the truth
If I hadn’t burnt my copy books= I wish I hadn’t burnt my copy books

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To sum up, here is a chart which recapitulates the four major types of conditional sentences:

Table 1: Recapitulation of the four major types of conditional sentences

Type of Basic pattern Use Examples

conditional

Conditional If + PRESENT To express facts and - Water freezes if it

type zero SIMPLE, + PRESENT general truths which snows
- If you heat ice, it turns
SIMPLE are not bounded in
into water.
time.

First If+ PRESENT To express future plans, - If it rains, we’ll stay home.
Conditional SIMPLE, + FUTURE contingencies or events - They are going to dance if
(Type I) (will/be going to) which are likely or they like the music.
probable to happen.

Second If + PAST SIMPLE, + - To express - If my grandfather were alive

Conditional PRESENT impossibilities or events today, he would experience a
(Type II) CONDITIONAL which are less likely to very different world.
(would + V(-to)) happen with the - If I had a helicopter, I would
reference to the present. visit many famous cities.
- To express a wish or
an ambition.
Third If + PAST - To imagine past - If I had known the truth, I
Conditional PERFECT(had +past events and their wouldn’t have said anything.
(Type III) participle), + PAST results - Ben would have passed his
CONDITIONAL happening exam if he had worked hard.
(would +have +past differently
participle) (impossibilities
with the
reference to the
past.)
- To express regrets

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1.2- TEACHING CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN A COMMUNICATIVE WAY

In this subpart we will see the stages and techniques of communicative teaching of
conditional sentences. Before that, we will explain the concepts of communicative grammar
and the conceptual value of conditional sentences in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

1.2.1- Concepts of communicative grammar

Communicative grammar is based on the communicative approach to the teaching of

second or foreign languages. In other words, communicative grammar is the application of
Communicative Language Teaching in grammar classes or simply the communicative
teaching of grammar. The term “communicative” has been misunderstood since many
instructors believe that students should simply articulate the language without following any
rule or sentence pattern. When grammar teaching is concerned, CLT focuses on
“communicative proficiency rather than mere mastery of structures” (Richards and
Rodgers, 1986). Communicative proficiency or communicative competence, which is the
ability to use the language for meaningful communication, makes the ultimate objective of
English Language Teaching, and the communicative approach, if completely and well
conceived, does not involve the rejection of grammar.

Teachers feel they should push students to memorize structures which are not
contextualized or used in everyday conversation, and this is why students do not know how to
use those structures in a flexible and practical way or how to apply them in real
communication. Since our goal is to achieve a better fit between grammar and
communication, it is not helpful to think of grammar as a discrete set of meaningless, de-
contextualized, static structures. Nor is it helpful to think of grammar solely as prescriptive
rules about linguistic forms. De-contextualized way of teaching grammar was mentioned as
the main shortcoming of traditional grammar materials in which every rule is explained and
followed by some exercises without placing the subject within a meaningful context
(Petrovitz , 1997). Grammatical structures not only have form (morphosyntactic), they are
also used to express meaning (semantics) in context- appropriate use (pragmatics). By
employing communicative grammar teaching, we can make students communicate and
improve both fluency and accuracy. Furthermore, we can also increase motivation and
promote learning.

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 Communicative Language Teaching makes use of real life situations that necessitate
communication. The teacher sets up a situation that students are likely to encounter in real
life. Students’ motivation to learn comes from their desire to communicate in meaningful
ways about meaningful topics. Berns (1984), an expert in the field of CLT, writes: “language
is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society. In this
light, language study has to look at the use of language in context, both its linguistic
context and its social or situational context”. Thereby, language structures must not be
taught in isolation since contextualization is crucial in communicative grammar.

1.2.2- Conceptual value of conditional sentences in English as a Foreign

Language (EFL) teaching

The conditionals pose one of the most serious problems encountered by teachers of
English, especially EFL teachers like in Madagascar. This is because conditional sentences
are syntactically more complex than many other structures. Moreover, the semantics of all the
different types of conditional sentences are subtle and difficult to understand. Therefore, EFL
students need a good grasp of the English tense-aspect system so that they can cope with the
full range of conditional sentences in English (Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999).
The objective of teaching conditional sentences is that students will be able to express
hypothesis by using if clauses. Thereby, they will master conditionals syntactically,
semantically, and in realistic contexts.

In addition to the various conditional forms, the time-tense relationship can also be
confusing to EFL learners. As Norris (2003) sees it, conditionals require coordination of verb
forms in both the if and result clauses. This is complicated by the fact that verb forms in
conditional sentences often do not retain their normal references to time.

Eg: (1)- If it rains, we will stay home.

 Future reference: It is only a prediction.
(2)- If I had a helicopter, I would visit many famous cities.
 Present reference: But I do not have a helicopter.
(3)- Ben would have passed his exam if he had worked hard.
Past reference: But Ben did not work hard, so he did not pass his exam.

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 In English conditionals, the tense of the verb in the if-clause is always backshifted. In
sentence (1), the present “rains” is used to refer to the future. So if it rains (in a future time),
we will stay home. In sentence (2), the past “had” has nothing to do with any past event. It
refers to the time when the speaking occurs. It is obvious that the speaker (I) does not have a
helicopter at the moment of speaking, so he uses “had” to indicate its counterfactuality. The
past perfect in sentence (3) is in fact a reference to the past. It is clear that Ben did not work
hard, so he did not pass his exam.
In short, the present tense “rains” is used to refer to the future time, the past “had” to
impossibility in the present, and the past perfect “had rained” is used to indicate contrary-to-
fact events that did not happen in the past. That backshifting of verb tenses makes
conditionals utterly confusing for ESL learners.

1.2.3- Stages for teaching conditional sentences communicatively

Generally, a grammar lesson can be divided into three stages: Presentation, Practice,
and Production, better known as 3 Ps. One of the best ways of helping students to reach the
objectives of the lesson is to well introduce the grammatical structure in the first stage: this is
the Presentation stage. Then, students should be given various activities to practice the new
lesson: this is the Practice stage. Lastly, they need time to use the new grammatical structure
in their own sentences in order to communicate with each other: this is the Production stage.
We are going to follow these three steps to teach conditional sentences.

1.2.3.1- The presentation stage

The first and the most important stage in teaching conditional sentences is the
presentation. This is the stage when the teacher first introduces the conditional type to the
students. Ellis (1997) believes that learners can acquire a new grammatical structure only very
gradually and slowly. Owing to this reason, teachers should not always expect immediate
success after giving grammar instruction, no matter how well designed it is. Repetition of
explanation is sometimes necessary.
In the presentation stage, the teacher explains the form and the use or meaning of the
type of conditional. When we present a structure, it is important to show what the structure
means and how it is used by giving examples, show clearly how the structure is formed, so
that students can use it to make sentences of their own (Doff , 1990). Thereby, Doff suggests
a deductive approach to the teaching of grammar. If a teacher applies the deductive approach
to the teaching of conditional sentences, s/he will have to present the rules first and show

14
some examples of sentences where those rules are present. Deductive approach does not give
students the opportunity to communicate during the presentation stage as they are spoon-fed
with pre-fabricated rules. As such, inductive approach is the best approach for communicative
grammar teaching. It means that the teacher shows the examples first and elicits the form and
the use from the students. The use or meaning will be easy to elicit if the conditional
sentences are put in a clear and meaningful context. One advantage of using this approach is
that rules learners discover themselves are more likely to fit their existing mental structures
than rules they have been presented with. This in turn will make the rule more meaningful,
memorable, and serviceable (Thornbury, 1999). We will see later the techniques for having a
communicative presentation of a lesson on conditional sentences.
The purposes of the presentation stage in a lesson on conditionals are:
- To give the students the opportunity to realize the usefulness and relevance of a
conditional type by showing it in a clear and motivating context
- To present the meaning and form
- To check understanding

1.2.3.2- The practice stage

The practice stage is the second stage of grammar teaching when students are given
various activities to practice the new structure. Ur (1991) defines it as “the rehearsal of
certain behaviours with the objective of consolidating learning and improving
performance”. This stage is sometimes called controlled practice or accuracy practice. Here,
the aim is not communication yet, but familiarity with the new grammatical item by creating
automatism to enable ready and fluent comprehension and self-expression (Ur, 1991). During
this stage, teacher’s conducting is very important because students’ mistakes should be
corrected. This stage is focused more on practice of form than of meaning. In a practice of
conditional sentences, the teacher should insist on students’ accuracy when writing the
sentences so that they can use those structures when they deal with communicative activities
in the next teaching stage.
Practice can be done through either written or oral activities (but it is most of the time
written) which give the students the opportunity to:
- Rehearse the newly presented language
- Consolidate and improve their performance
- Build their confidence in using the new language
- Fix the new language in their memory.

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 1.2.3.3- The production stage

Since accuracy alone is not enough to achieve mastery of a new language, a third stage
of grammar teaching is added – production, the aim of which is fluency (Thornbury, 1999).
At this stage, students are somehow involved in activities that give them both the desire to
communicate and a purpose which involves them in a varied use of the language. They will
use the new grammatical structure in their own sentences in order to communicate with each
other. They are supposed to be able to work without tight control now. Therefore, teacher will
act as a monitor, adviser and encourager during the activities which should be placed in a
meaningful and relevant context. The aim of production stage is fluency that means students’
ability to use the form and the rule they have just learnt in real communication. In the
production stage, communication is of great importance. It is the stage where there should be
a lot of communicative activities. Conditional sentences are therefore used for expressing
suppositions and hypothesis like in real life situations.
The best and easiest way to have communicative activities in the production of
conditional sentences is the integration of skills, better known as the integrated-skill approach.
There are four major language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Numerous
communicative situations in real life involve integrating two or more of the four language
skills because one skill is rarely used in isolation in the actual language use (Cunningsworth ,
1984). Therefore, teachers should also integrate two or more language skills in order to give a
realistic context to the teaching of conditional sentences. It exposes language learners to
authentic language and challenges them to communicate fluently in the language either in
spoken or written form of communication.

1.2.4- Communicative techniques and activities for teaching conditional sentences

As we mentioned before, contextualization and use of real life situations are very
important in communicative grammar. There are different techniques and activities that can
be used to teach conditional sentences communicatively.

1.2.4.1- In the presentation stage

Contextualization and elicitation are interdependent in the presentation stage because

they play an important role in communicative grammar teaching. Elicitation is a range of
techniques which enable the teacher to get learners provide information than giving it to them.
In grammar teaching, it is fundamental to the inductive approach or the rule-discovery path

16
since students are supposed to discover the rules themselves. Eliciting helps to develop
learner-centered classroom and a stimulating environment. It is certainly not an excuse for not
presenting conditional sentences in a clear context. Teachers can present conditional
sentences in context through the use of:

 Written or tapped passages (texts with illustrations or situational dialogues) that

contain the conditional type to be taught
 Visual aids (realia, pictures, objects, things for the students to look at in order to keep
their attention and make the class more interesting). Showing visuals focuses attention
on meaning and helps to arouse students’ interest.
 Imaginary situations (the teacher gives a situation appropriate to the type of
conditional, clear and easy to understand)

1.2.4.2- In the practice stage

There are various techniques which can be used to practice the language, but we would
like to mention some of them such as:
 Multiple choice questions: students are given at least three options for one stem and
choose the best answer. In this activity, they are supposed to recognize the correct
grammatical form which corresponds to the given item.
 Games: they can be used at any stage of a class since they provide useful effects on
students both linguistically and psychologically.
 Transformation: an example of usual hint in this activity is “Put the verb in brackets
into the correct form”.
 Matching
 Personalization: students are supposed to make their own and real sentences about
their lives by means of questions asked by the teacher. The use of this technique can
be extremely controlled or extremely free.
 Completion, … etc

Peer correction is sometimes necessary so that students will communicate with each
other, but it is the teacher’s role to decide the final correction version.

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 1.2.4.3- In the production stage

Teachers should keep in mind that in the production stage of a lesson on conditional
sentences, the objective is to develop students’ communicative competence by using if
clauses. It implies that there should always be one developed language skill in every activity.
Here are some techniques which can be used during the production stage of a lesson on
conditional sentences:
 Dialogue, simulation or role play: the students play roles from a given situation in
order to prepare them for the real world outside the classroom by giving them fluency
practice.
 Story telling or story construction
 Discussion and debate
 Reporting: usually done after pair conversation and group discussion, it gives the
students the opportunity to share their friends’ feeling or point of view to the whole
class.
 Games: although a negative view tends to treat games as time fillers or time-wasters,
they can make a lesson more relaxed and memorable because they attract students’
interest in learning.
 Composition: the students are asked to produce a piece of writing on a given situation
within a realistic context.
 Songs: they are precious resources to develop students’ abilities in listening, speaking,
reading and writing because they provide authentic texts. They also provide a non-
threatening atmosphere for students who are tense when using English in a formal
classroom setting.

1.3- SAMPLES OF COMMUNICATIVE LESSONS ON CONDITIONAL

SENTENCES

Teaching grammatical rules will be more successful if they are contextualized and if
teachers use situations related to students’ real life to present and to produce the language.
That means teachers should try to do their best to look for topics which interest students. In
this subpart, we consider Thomson and Martinet’s classification of conditional constructions
into three types:

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 - Probable to happen: likely to happen (first conditional)
- Improbable to happen: unlikely to happen (second conditional)
- Impossible to happen (third conditional)
Here are some examples of ways conditional sentences should be taught if the communicative
techniques mentioned above are applied.

1.3.1- First conditional

This is a short communicative lesson about first conditional. It should not take more
than one hour because first conditional is supposed to be very easy for students in “première”
and “terminale” classes. The focus is on students’ ability to use it in communication.

1.3.1.1- Procedures of the lesson

 Presentation
 Teacher presents the first conditional by using this short dialogue:
Sarah: Let’s do our homework, Charles! If we don’t finish it, the teacher will punish us.
Charles: And what if we finish it? Will he give us a reward?
Sarah: Maybe. Our teacher likes the students who always participate in class and finish their
homework. If we always finish our homework, we will have good marks at the exam.
Charles: You’re right! Let’s do it then!

 After a short oral checking of understanding, teacher can proceed by eliciting the rules
on first conditional.
 Verb in the if clause: PRESENT SIMPLE
 Verb in the main clause: FUTURE: will + V(-to)
 We use the first conditional to talk about real conditions or possible situations in the
future and their results
 Teacher should never forget to explain what “if clause” and “main clause” mean and
that there are two possible clause orderings in a conditional sentence.

 Practice
Students are supposed to complete the following sentences using the first conditional.
Since it is an accuracy practice, the correction should be written on the blackboard in order to
fix the form of first conditional in students’ memory.

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If I ________ (not clean) my glasses I _____ (not see) anything. If I ________ (not see)
anything I ____ _____ (bump) into things. If I bump my head I _______ (get) dizzy. If I
_______ (be) dizzy I _________ (not be able) to go to school. If I can’t go to school I
__________ (not be able to learn) English. If I __________ (not learn) English I
____________ (never be) a famous Hollywood film star. I think I’ll clean my glasses!

(Key: don’t clean; will not see; don’t see; will bump; will get; am dizzy; will not be able to;
will not be able to learn; don’t learn; will never be)

 Production
 Write a few superstitions on the board. Here are some examples:
If a black cat crosses your path, you’ll have bad luck.
If your palm itches, you’re going to receive money.
If you break a mirror, you’ll have seven years bad luck.

 Break students into small groups (4 to 6 students per group) and have them discuss
superstitions in Madagascar. They should list three or four to share with the rest of the
class.

 As a whole group, students share the superstitions and discuss which are universal and
which seem to exist only in one or two cultures. Students often know similar
superstitions from different countries and like to share them, and it is interesting to
compare slight variations.

1.3.1.2- Analysis of the lesson

In the presentation stage, the short situational dialogue shows the consequences
(results) of finishing and not finishing homework. It shows a situation students are likely to
meet in everyday lives. Thus, it is not difficult for them the relation condition-result in the
first conditional sentences in the dialogue. As the sentences of illustration are already in the
dialogue, there is no need for the teacher to explain the rules at the beginning of the lesson.
Hence, students can discover the rules themselves by means of the teacher’s elicitation and
communication will automatically take place. The objective of the practice stage is to check
accuracy. However, it is better to practice the structure in a meaningful context so that

20
 students will understand the relevance of first conditional. The speaking activity in the
production stage gives the students the opportunity to communicate like in real life situation.
It develops their speaking skill and stimulates their desire to communicate with each other
by sharing the superstitions that they know. They are supposed to use first conditional
sentences in order to say what will happen if someone meets such or such situation.

1.3.2- Second conditional

This is a lesson about second conditional that teachers can use in “première” or
“terminale” class.

1.3.2.1- Procedures of the lesson

 Presentation
 Teacher draws students’ attention by showing this picture to them and by asking them
the questions: “Is the man rich?” “Has he got a castle?”

If I were rich, I’d

buy a castle.

1.Is the man rich?

2. Has he got a
castle?

 The answer of the two questions should be “NO”. The man is not rich and he has not
got a castle. The students’ answers will lead the students to think that the sentence “If I
were rich, I’d buy a castle” expresses an unreal situation.
 Next, teacher elicits the rule of second conditional from the students (form and use).
Explain that “I’d” is the contracted form of “I would”.
 if clause: PAST SIMPLE; main clause: PRESENT CONDITIONAL = would+ V (-to)
 We use the second conditional to talk about unreal situations, dreams and wishes.

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  Teacher should not forget to explain the past simple of the verb “to be” in second
conditional sentences (“were” instead of “was”)
 Teacher asks students to give other examples of unreal situations and write them on
the blackboard. While doing so, s/he insists on the meaning of the sentences that they
are not real and unlikely to happen.

 Practice
Students are supposed to put the verbs in brackets in the correct form to have second
conditional sentences:
Did you hear about that guy who won 180 million dollars in the lottery? If I
………….. (win) that much money, I ………… (quit) my job the next day. I …………..
(travel) around the world and stay in the most luxurious hotels. If I …………. (want)
anything, I …………. (buy) it. If I …………… (see) a beautiful Mercedes that I wanted, I
…………. (buy) it. If I wanted to stay in a beautiful hotel and the hotel …………… (be) full,
I ……….. (buy) the hotel and make them give me a room. I could do anything in the world if
I had 180 million dollars … Oh, I am starting to sound a little materialistic … Well … I
…………. (do) good things as well. If anybody ……………… (need) help, I …………..
(give) some money to help them out. I ……………. (donate) money to charities. I ………….
(give) money to help supports the arts. If I …………… (win) that much money, I
…………….. (not keep) it all for myself. I ………….. (help) as many people as possible.
(Key: won; would quit; would travel; wanted; would buy; saw; would buy; wer; would
buy; would do; needed; would give; would donate; would give; won; wouldn’t keep; would
help)

 Production
 The first activity in the production stage is a game called “Clues”. This is the
procedure of the game:
 One student volunteers to leave the room and, when he/she returns, will guess the
word chosen by the class from clues given by the rest of the class. The volunteer
can ask questions if they are in the form of the untrue present.
 While the volunteer is out of the room, decide on a category (suggestions:
occupations, food, school material). Have the class choose a word in that category.
Brainstorm together the kinds of clues that can be given. They must be in the form
of the untrue present conditional.
22
Example 1: Food server
Clues: If I were you, I would wear a uniform.
If I were you, I’d never have dirty hands.
If I were you, I would talk to many people.
Also, decide which clues should be saved for last. (For example: “If I were you, I would serve
customers quickly in order to get a good tip.”)
Example 2: mustard
Clues: If I were you, I’d be careful not to get this on my clothes.
If I were you, I’d never eat this by itself.
If you were a waitress, you would put this on the table next to the ketchup.
Last clue: If I were you, I would always put it on hot dogs.
 When the volunteer returns, students take turns offering clues, but they must be in the
form of the untrue present conditional.

 Students are going to listen to the song “Locked away” (by R. City & Adam Levine)
and fill the blanks in the given lyrics.
“Locked away” (R. City, feat Adam Levine)
If I got locked away
And we lost it all today…
Tell me honestly…
_________ you still ________ me the same?
_____________________ my flaws
If I couldn’t be strong
Tell me honestly
_________ you still __________ me the same?
Right about now …
If a judge for life me …
__________________ by my side
Or ya is gonna say good-bye.
________ you tell me right now?
If I _____________ you the fancy things in life
Shawty _________________ alright
Come and show me you are down
Now tell me would you _______________ for me

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Baby, tell me ____________ for me?
Would you spend your whole life with me?
_____________ there to always hold me down?
Tell me would you _____________ for me?
Baby don’t lie to me
If I _______________ anything
I wanna know would you _______________?

 After the correction, the teacher asks the students how they understand the lyrics and
what the song is about. Then, the teacher explains what the author really means when
he wrote the song. Actually, this song was inspired by true events. Theron Thomas
(Adam Levine’s friend) tells his parents’ story: “Our dad was locked up (sent in jail)
for five years. And during the time he was gone, our mom held it down. She’d take us
to see him. They’re still together to this day. They’ve been together for 36 years. So
we thought that that was a great story to write a song about.”
 When the students understand the story behind the song, they feel confident to sing it.
Teacher plays the music again and let the students sing with it (it is better to give them
the complete lyrics even if they will have one sheet for 4 persons)

1.3.2.2- Analysis of the lesson

This lesson is communicative in the way that the teacher interacts with the students in
the presentation stage of the lesson and the students communicate with each other in the
production stage. In the presentation, there is only one second conditional sentence. However,
it is totally different from writing a de-contextualized sentence because the context of this
sentence is clearly illustrated by the picture of a man who is dreaming about a lot of money.
Therefore, it is not difficult to elicit the form and the use of second conditional by using this
kind of picture. The situation in the practice stage is the same as in the presentation stage. The
point is here to reinforce the idea of expressing unreal situations. In the production stage,
students are supposed to produce the second conditional by means of two different
communicative activities. The first one is a game in which students ask their friends to guess a
word by giving clues which start with “If I were you”. The second activity consists in
listening to a song. It is a very popular song nowadays, so students are eager to know what its

24
lyrics mean. Teacher interacts with the students by asking them how they understand the
song. This activity develops students’ listening and speaking skills.

1.3.3- Third conditional

1.3.3.1- Procedures of the lessons

The objective of this lesson is to develop students’ reading and speaking skills when
they learn conditional type three. As such, the lesson is presented through a text and a reading
comprehension before learning the rules on third conditional. A warm-up which is related to
the text would be very helpful. It is a kind of pre-reading activity which prepares students’
mind for the next steps of the lesson.

 Warm-up

Teacher tells students about his/her day to introduce the topic of good/bad days and to
establish the students’ interest. S/he should relate either a good or a bad d ay in an exaggerated
manner. Then put the students into pairs and tell them to talk to each other about their days
and to say whether they have had a particularly good day or a bad day. Give students five
minutes to do this and then get open class feedback from the students about their days.

 Step 2: Presentation of third conditional

Text: A VERY BAD DAY

I’d been looking for a new job for a while, as I really hated my present one. I didn’t
get on very well with my boss and I found the job really boring, so it was definitely time for a
change. I had seen an advert in the local paper for a job that sounded absolutely perfect for
me. I had to have it! I spent a long time on my CV and wrote a really convincing covering
letter. You can guess what happened…
On the day of the interview I overslept! I must have forgotten to set my alarm the
night before. I jumped out of bed, quickly put some clothes on and rushed out the door. If I
had set my alarm, I would have been on time.
I would normally take the bus but, as I was running late, I decided the tube might be
quicker. After a few minutes, I noticed that some people on the train were looking at me
strangely. Suddenly, I had a dreadful feeling. I look down at my feet. I still had my slippers

25
on! If I hadn’t been in a rush, I would have put my smart black shoes on. This was a
disaster! What would the interviewer think of me?
I still really wanted the job so I decided to carry on. I got off the train and rushed
outside. It was only a short walk to my destination but I decided to wait for a taxi because it
started to rain. If I had brought my umbrella, I would have saved more time. I stood at the
edge of the road waiting for a taxi when a huge truck drove past. I had been standing right
next to a big puddle and I was now completely covered in dirty water! Feeling very upset, I
went back home to change my clothes. I crossed the road. I can’t remember what happened
after that, but the next morning, I was waking up in a hospital bed with lots of cuts and bruises
and a broken leg! I wish I’d never got out of bed that morning!
(Told by Emma Wyatt, London)

Reading comprehension:
1- Say whether these statements are True (T) or false (T)
a) Emma liked her present job.
b) On the day of the interview, Emma overslept because she was tired.
c) Emma took the tube because the bus was late.
d) People on the train were staring at Emma.
e) Emma was worried what the interviewer would think of her.
f) The taxi drove through a puddle and covered Emma in water.
g) Emma can’t remember anything after crossing the road to go back home.

2- Answer the following questions

a) What would have happened if Emma had set her alarm the night before the interview?
b) What would she have done if she hadn’t been in a rush?
c) Why did she decide to get off the train?
d) Could she go to the interview?
e) Describe in your own words the two last problems mentioned in the text.

After correcting the reading comprehension, the teacher can now elicit and explain the
rules on third conditional (form and use) by recopying the third conditional sentences
from the text. The explanation will be clear if the teacher invite the students to say the real
situations told in the text.

26
 1. If I had set my alarm, I would have been on time.
Real situation: I overslept. I was not on time because I did no set my alarm.
2. If I hadn’t been in a rush, I would have put my smart black shoes on.
Real situation: I forgot to put my smart black shoes on because I was in a rush. I still
had my slippers on.
3. If I had brought my umbrella, I would have saved more time.
Real situation: I forgot to bring my umbrella, so I wasted time waiting for a taxi.

 Verb in the if clause: PAST PERFECT (had+ past participle)

 Verb in the main clause: PAST CONDITIONAL or PERFECT CONDITIONAL
(would have+ past participle)
 We use the third conditional to express impossibilities in the past (past events and
their results happening differently) and regrets.

 Practice

Students are supposed to write the verbs in brackets into the correct form.

1- If I …………….. (have) your number, I ………………… (phone) you.

2- They ……………….. (take) that route if they ……………………… (know) that there
were road works.
3- I ……………………. (not book) that holiday if I …………………. (find) that
cheaper deal.
4- If Nella ……………….. (lose) her job, she …………………. (not move) to London.
5- If we ………………….. (see) the weather forecast, we …………… (pack) some
umbrellas.
6- If the weather …………… (be) better yesterday, I …………….. (go) for a swim.

 Production

The students are given a scenario where something has gone wrong. They have to
blame each other for what happened (get them to do this exercise in pairs).
e.g. You are locked out of the house because your mother brought the keys with her.
Student A: If you had reminded me to take my keys, we wouldn’t be stuck outside.
Student B: If you hadn’t been in such a rush, you would have taken them.

27
Student A: If you had put the keys on the table, I would have seen them.
… etc
Possible scenarios:
- You can’t remember where you put your glasses.
- You got lost.
- You overslept.
- You failed an exam.

After 15 minutes of preparation, ask some students to perform their dialogue in front of the
class.

1.3.3.2- Analysis of the lesson

Third conditional is a new lesson for students in “première” class, and it is also a new
lesson for students in “terminale” class who did not learn it in the previous level. As such, the
teacher should devote more time to present it. The warm up aims at putting the students in the
context of the text that they are going to read. It is communicative because students
communicate with their friends by telling them what happened in their day and by saying
whether it was a good or a bad day. Using a text is a good technique of presenting a lesson on
third conditional because the context and the situation are clear. If the students really
understand the text, the teacher will not have trouble eliciting the use and form of third
conditional from them. As the objective is to develop students’ ability to use third conditional
sentences in communication, this text shows that we use the third conditional to imagine past
events and their result happening differently. It tells that Emma Wyatt regrets for the events
told in the if clauses of the sentences. As usual, the best technique to practice accuracy is
transformation in which students are asked to write the correct form of the given verbs. In this
lesson, the production stage consists of a conversation like in real life communication in
which the students have the opportunity to interact with their friends.

28
 CONCLUSION TO PART ONE

The first part of this work is its theoretical framework. It mainly consists of the
linguistic study of English conditional sentences, the teaching of conditional sentences in a
communicative way, and samples of communicative lessons about conditional sentences.
Among the research done to find the best way of teaching English grammar, there is a
tendency which views communication and the ability to communicate as the objective of
grammar learning. As a result of the theoretical study of communicative grammar, we realize
that learning grammar is not merely mastering language structures, but also knowing their
context-appropriate use as many CLT specialists such as Berns (1984) and Richards and
Rodgers (1986) affirm. Applying communicative grammar will improve students’
understanding of conditional sentences because the grammatical items are contextualized, and
students can see the relation of their lesson with everyday life situations. Communicative
grammar implies communicative activities, and communicative activities come of the
integration of language skills.
In a word, this theoretical study taught us a lot about the English conditional sentences
and the ways they should be taught, regarding the concepts of communicative grammar.
However, the theories may not fit the reality. They may be unrealistic and impossible to
implement in some situations in countries such as Madagascar. For this reason, we have made
some field investigations through questionnaire survey and classroom observations which will
help us to know about the actual teaching of conditional sentences in the Malagasy lycées and
to know how these theories can be applied in Madagascar. The reports and the analysis of
these field investigations will be found in part two.

29
PART TWO: THE ACTUAL TEACHING OF
CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN
MALAGASY LYCEES
 This part is the transitional part of the dissertation as it separates the theoretical part,
which is part one, and the practical part that we are going to see in part three. We consider this
part as a transition since it will deal with the reality in lycées. In order to know what exaclty
happens in Malagasy lycées concerning the teaching of conditional sentences, we gave a
questionnaire to some lycée teachers and attended courses on conditionals. However, neither
of these two methods can go separately since the data collected through the use of
questionnaire and the classroom observations are complementary. As a result, we have to do
both of them despite our time constraint and on the part of the teachers.

2.1- THE QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

In order to get information from a large number of subjects, questionnaire survey is
used as the main instrument for the study. It is relatively a means of collecting data which are
amenable to quantification. Questionnaire survey is a quantitative research method applied on
a sample of people in a field investigation and which can be served as statistical inferences
(Vilatte, 2007).

2.1.1- General objectives

We have decided to use questionnaire survey as our first research method in order to
have an overview of the actual teaching and learning of conditional sentences in some lycées
in Antananarivo. Using questionnaire is beneficial because, firstly, the knowledge we need is
already controlled by the questions. Therefore, teachers will not have trouble answering them
with precision and clarity. The questionnaire is anonymous, so we hope to have honest
responses from the teachers.

The purpose of the questionnaire was to know teachers’ views about the teaching of
conditional sentences in “première” and “terminale” classes. We asked the teachers whether
they teach grammar for a communicative purpose. Furthermore, we asked them about the
teaching of conditional sentences itself so as to know students’ problems and teachers’ ways
of teaching those grammatical points. In other words, we wanted to know whether the
teachers teach conditional sentences in a communicative way and whether they think teaching
conditional sentences communicatively will be helpful.

30
 2.1.2- Dispatching of the questionnaire sheets

For this research, we have dispatched thirty (30) questionnaire sheets to teachers of
English in the following lycées: Lycée Jules Ferry Faravohitra, Lycée Andohalo
Antananarivo, Lycée Moderne Ampefiloha, and Lycée Protestant Ambohijatovo Avaratra.
We distributed the sheets directly to most of the teachers. However, we could not meet all the
English teachers in those schools because of their time table, so we had to let the sheets in the
school office and ask the responsible to dispatch them. The teachers were given enough time
to answer and to think about the questionnaire as they could bring the sheets home and were
free to return them or not. In spite of that, most of them decided to return their questionnaire
sheets just after we had distributed them. Twenty six (26) sheets were returned to us and four
(4) teachers did not give theirs back.

2.1.3- Description and analysis of the collected data

In our questionnaire, we asked different questions concerning the teaching of grammar

and the teaching of conditional sentences. For example, we asked the teachers about their
objectives in teaching grammar and the way they present a lesson on conditionals. Now, we
are going to analyze the questionnaire by presenting the question, stating our objectives in
asking such and such a question, and by reporting the teachers’ answers. After that, we will
bring some comments on the teachers’ answers before drawing a short conclusion. We would
like to mention that in most cases, the percentages are rounded up.

Question 1: What is your degree or diploma?

a) Maitrise
b) CAPEN
c) Licence
d) Other (please, specify)

We designed this question in order to know the teacher’s qualification, so as to know

whether s/he followed teacher training or other types of training before becoming a teacher of
English. As a result of the investigation, we found that 15% of the teachers who returned the
questionnaire have Maitrise, 31% have CAPEN, 50% have Licence, and only 4% have
another degree which is DEA. The following table and graph show these results:

31
Table 2: The respondents' diploma

Diploma Number of Percentage

teachers
Maitrise 4 15%
CAPEN 8 31%
Licence 13 50%
Other (DEA) 1 4%
TOTAL 26 100%

4%
15% Maitrise
CAPEN
50% 31%
Licence
Other (DEA)

Figure 1: Graph representing the teachers' diploma

These results show that most of the teachers in the lycées that we have investigated
graduated from the university, but not from the Ecole Normale. In other words, most of the
teachers in these lycées did not follow teacher training as they hold the highest percentage in
this graph (Licence and Maitrise). As a conclusion, it can be said that there are still less
trained teachers in the lycées as they outnumber those who graduated from the teacher
training college. That may have impact on their teaching because like any job in the world,
teaching also requires training and proficiency.

32
Question 2: In your opinion, what is the objective of grammar teaching?

a) To make students apply grammatical rules in their grammar exercises

b) To make students write grammatically correct sentences in their writing tests
c) To improve students’ ability to use grammatical rules in real life communication
d) Others (please, specify)

We asked this question in order to have an overview on teachers’ aim when teaching
grammar. In other words, this question is designed to know what the teachers really mean by
teaching grammar. Actually, the answer varies from one teacher to another, and many
teachers gave more than one answer. 9% of the answers say that the objective of grammar
teaching is to make students apply grammatical rules in their grammar exercises. 36% think
that the objective is to make students write grammatically correct sentences in their writing
tests. Most of them (55%) agree that the ability to use grammatical rules in real life
communication is the objective of grammar teaching.

Application of
grammatical rules in
grammar exercises
9%
Accuracy in writing tests
36%
55%

Ability to use
grammatical rules in real
life communication

Figure 2: Graph representing the objectives of grammar teaching

We can deduce from these answers that many teachers agree with the idea of
improving students’ ability to use grammatical rules in real life communication as the
objective of grammar teaching. Some teachers think it is important to see how well students
can apply the grammatical rules in their grammar exercises and to consider students’
grammatical correctness (accuracy) in their writing tests. In a word, although every teacher

33
has his or her own opinion about the objective of grammar teaching many of them agreed
with the importance of improving students’ ability to use grammatical rules in real life
communication.

Question 3: How do your students like grammar classes?

a) Very much
b) So so
c) Not so much

In asking this question, we wanted to know how the students are interested in learning
grammar. The result we obtained shows that only 8% of the teachers report that their students
like grammar classes very much. Most of the teachers (69%) say their students’ interest in
grammar classes is of average rate, and 23% claim that students do not like it so much. The
following diagram shows the result clearer:

23% 8%
Very much
So so
69% Not so much

Figure 3: Graph representing the students' interest in learning grammar

The above graph shows that there are students who do not like grammar classes. We
need to study the reason why it is so. That is the focus of the next question.

34
Question 4: If your answer to the 3rd question is “not so much”, why do you think the
students do not really like grammar?
a) They see grammar as a matter of always applying rules
b) The teacher does not know how to elicit
c) They are not interested in the topics the teacher uses to introduce the lessons
d) They do not have the opportunity to communicate during grammar classes

Our aim in asking this question is to know the reasons why students do not like
grammar so much. Only ten (10) teachers answered this question. 40% of them claim that
students are not interested in the topics the teacher uses to introduce the lessons. 60% affirm
that students do not have the opportunity to communicate during grammar classes. No one
says the reason is that students see grammar as a matter of always applying rules or that the
teacher does not know how to elicit.

Uninteresting topics to
40% introduce the lessons

60% Lack of opportunity to

communicate during
grammar classes

Figure 4: Graph representing the reasons why students do not like

grammar so much

We can deduce from these answers that the teachers’ choice of topic to introduce the
lesson is a reason which prevents the students from liking their grammar classes because they
do not find it interesting. It is also noticeable that the lack of opportunity to communicate
during grammar classes is the reason why students do not like grammar so much. The fact that
only 10 among the 26 teachers answered this question implies that the 16 other teachers are
not aware of the reasons why students are not interested in grammar.

35
Question 5: Do you integrate language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) when
you teach grammar?
a) YES
b) NO

As our objective in the present work is to promote communicative grammar to

improve the teaching of conditional sentences, we asked this question in order to know if the
teachers integrate language skills or not when they teach grammar. 100% answered “YES” for
this question. That means all the teachers answered that they integrate language skills when
they teach grammar. Integration of skills is nothing else but a means to contextualize the
grammatical structures to be taught by the use of situations related to the lesson.

Question 6: If you integrate language skills when teaching grammar, it is because:

a) They motivate students and arouse their interests

b) They facilitate the teaching of grammar and bring variety in it
c) They provide more realistic situations
d) Other reasons (please, specify)

This question is intended to know teachers’ opinion about the importance of

integrating language skills in grammar. This question is very important because the teachers’
interest in integrating language skills depends on their understanding of the importance of
contextualization and use of real life situations in grammar teaching. 15% say that integrated
skills motivate students and arouse their interests. 31% choose to integrate language skills in
grammar because they facilitate the teaching of grammar and bring variety in it. Most of the
teachers (54%) claim that integrated skills provide more realistic situations. For a better
understanding of what we have just explained, here is the graph that illustrates it:

36
 They motivate students
and arouse their interests

15% They facilitate the teaching

of grammar and bring
54% variety in it
31%
They provide more realistic
situations

Figure 5: Graph representing the importance of integrating language skills

in grammar

We can see from this graph that providing the students with realistic situations is very
important, and that is why many teachers integrate language skills in their grammar classes.
However, it is also worth mentioning that integrated skills really help the teachers facilitate
the teaching of grammar and bring variety in it. As such, they motivate students and arouse
their interests. In a word, all the options we gave are the advantages of integrating language
skills during grammar classes, but it is up to the teachers to rank them from the most
important to the least important.

Question 7: If you do not integrate language skills, it is because:

a) You have never thought about that

b) Integrating language skills is time-consuming
c) It is difficult to find appropriate situations for some grammatical items
d) Other reasons (please, specify)

This question is asked to find out the reasons why teachers do not integrate language
skills when they teach grammar. Obviously, no teacher answered this question as they all
integrate language skills when they teach grammar. However, a teacher wrote a remark that
he uses them (integrated skills), but it is time consuming. That means he hesitated between
“YES” and “NO” for the 5th question, maybe because he uses them but not frequently.

37
Question 8: Which of the three types of conditional sentences is the most difficult to be
acquired by students?
a) First conditional
b) Second conditional
c) Third conditional

We asked this question to find out the most difficult conditional type for students. As a
result, no one says first conditional is difficult. 19% of the teachers say second conditional is
the most difficult among them, but the majority of the teachers claim third conditional is the
most difficult because they represent 81% of the teachers who returned the questionnaire. The
following diagram shows the result we obtained:

19%

Second conditional
81% Third conditional

Figure 6: Graph representing the most difficult conditional type for students

We have already expected the result on this graph because the forms of the verbs in
third conditional sentences are more complicated than in the other two types. The teachers
who claimed that second conditional is the most difficult explained that the difficulty is
because we use the Past Simple tense in the if clause, yet we actually talk about the present or
the future.

38
Question 9: What is students’ main difficulty in learning conditional sentences?

a) Confusion on the use of the three different types

b) Non-mastery of irregular verbs
c) Confusion on verb tense coordination
d) Other problems (please, specify)

In designing this question, our goal is to discover students’ main problems in learning
conditional sentences as far as teachers are concerned. We obtained 28 answers because two
teachers gave two answers. The result shows that 21% of the teachers say their students are
confused on the use of the three different types of conditional sentences; 25% of them claim
their students do not master irregular verbs, and 45% claim students’ main difficulty is on the
verb tense coordination. However, 7% mention other problems such as lack of vocabulary and
the fact that unreal conditions are the core of the conditional sentences. The following graph
shows these figures:

Confusion on the use of the

three different types
7% 21% Non-mastery of irregular
verbs

45% Confusion on verb tense

25% coordination
Other problems

Figure 7: Graph representing students' main difficulty in learning

conditional sentences

This diagram helps us realize that verb tense coordination is students’ major problem
in learning conditional sentences. This is obvious because verb forms in conditional sentences
are more complex than other structures. Non-mastery of irregular verbs is also a dominant
problem since English is a foreign language for Malagasy learners, and irregular verbs are

39
difficult for them because they need to learn them by heart. The uses of the three different
types are also confusing for students because each type has its specific meaning. This last
problem is related to the other problem mentioned by the teacher who wrote that unreal
conditions are the core of the conditional sentences. Lack of contextualization and use of real
life situations can be the reason of this problem. Finally, we cannot neglect the problem of
word meaning or lack of vocabulary because vocabulary is the basic language element which
constitutes a language. When students lack vocabulary, they will never be able to
communicate by means of the language. This question is actually intended to see later
whether communicative grammar teaching can be a solution to these problems.

Question 10: As a teacher, what is your biggest problem in teaching conditional

sentences?

a) To choose the language to facilitate the explanation

b) To find authentic situations or topics to teach the structures
c) Other problems (please specify)

Our objective in designing this question is to investigate the problems teachers face
when they teach conditional sentences. Most of the teachers chose not to answer this question.
Many of them answered “NONE” and “NO PROBLEM”. However, we obtained some (13)
answers. 31% of the respondents are stuck in the choice of the language to facilitate the
explanation whereas 69% have troubles finding authentic situations or topics to teach the
structures. For a better understanding of these figures, here is a graph which shows them:

31%
Language of explanation
69%
Authentic situations or
topics

Figure 8: Graph representing the teachers' biggest problem in

teaching conditional sentences
40
 As we look at this graph, we can see that the majority of the respondents have trouble
finding interesting topics or realistic situations to teach conditional sentences. We contend
two reasons for this problem: the first reason is the lack of teaching materials and the second
one is the lack of research on the part of the teachers as most of the English language teachers
are used to teaching conditionals in a traditional way. Moreover, there are some teachers
(31%) who say that it is difficult to explain conditional sentences only in English. As such,
they have to translate the explanation into Malagasy and French. All these findings show that
teaching English conditional sentences is not an easy task for EFL teachers, and we can say
that it might be more difficult for them to teach conditionals communicatively.

Question 11: How do you usually present a lesson on conditional sentences?

a) I present the rules and then I give some example of sentences

b) I use a dialogue or a text and ask students to discover the rules
c) I teach all the three types within one session by using a chart
d) I give a situation and ask the students to give examples
e) Others (please, specify)

We designed this question to investigate the various techniques and activities the
teachers use to present a lesson on conditional sentences. We found out that the teachers who
present the rules before giving examples of sentences which contain the type to be taught and
those who teach all the three types in a chart within one session hold the same percentage:
38,5% (rounded up to 39% in the graph). Besides, 19% of them present a new lesson by
means of a dialogue or a text. 4% of the teachers lead the students to give examples. To
understand these figures better, here is a graph that shows them:

41
 4%
By presenting the rules and giving
39% examples of sentences afterwards
39%
By means of a dialogue or a text

19% By using a chart

By asking students to give

examples

Figure 9: Graph representing the techniques and activities of

presenting a lesson on conditional sentences

This diagram helps us to realize that many teachers are used to presenting conditional
sentences outside context. That is seen through the result that 38,5% of the respondents just
give examples of sentences which contain the type to be taught. The reason has already been
explained by the result of the previous question that it is difficult to find appropriate and
interesting topics to present lessons on conditionals. As we mentioned in the theoretical
framework of this study, this technique really helps students to write grammatically correct
sentences but does not prepare them for the real world communication. However, the
elicitation in leading the students to give examples implies that there is communication
between the teacher and the students. The use of chart, especially a chart which contains the
three conditional types taught within one session, can be confusing for students unless they
are in a higher level and have proficiency at understanding English. We cannot say whether
communication takes place in this kind of techniques and activities.

42
Question 12: What kind of activities do you usually ask students to do during the
production stage of a lesson on conditional sentences?

a) To write any conditional sentences of their own

b) To have a pair or group conversation about a given topic
c) To write and tell a story about their life (or not) by using conditional sentences
d) To play games about conditional sentences
e) Other activities (please, specify)

The aim of this question is to find out whether teachers stop at the development of
students’ grammatical competence or extend their teaching to the development of students’
communicative competence when they teach conditional sentences. In other words, it is meant
to check if teachers consider students’ ability to use conditional sentences in communication.
We obtained 40 answers from the 26 respondents. 50% of them say that they usually ask
students to write any conditional sentences of their own. The “b” and “d” options hold the
same percentage: 20% and 10% of the answers say that the teachers usually ask students to
write and tell a story about their life (or just invent a story) by using conditional sentences.
The following graph shows the result we obtained:

20% write any conditional

sentences
10% 50% have a pair or group
conversation
20% write and tell a story

play games

Figure 10: Graph representing the activities during the production

stage of a lesson on conditionals

43
 If we cast a glance at this graph, the first thing we notice is the high percentage of the
teachers who ask their students to write conditional sentences of their own without giving a
topic. This kind of activity is not enough to reach the objective of grammar teaching which
was agreed by many teachers in the second question of this questionnaire (i.e. Students’
ability to use grammatical rules in real life communication). The percentages of the teachers
who give communicative activities to their students are low because communicative grammar
teaching is not yet promoted in Malagasy lycées. This is the reason why we have chosen the
topic of the present study.

Question 13: Do you think integrating some language skills in the teaching of conditional
sentences can help students to learn those structures?

a) YES
b) NO

Integration of skills in grammar teaching is nothing else but contextualization of the

grammar points to be taught and involvement of the students in realistic communication . This
question is meant to find out whether teachers agree that it would be helpful to integrate
language skills in the teaching and learning of conditional sentences. According to the
answers we received, all of the teachers agree with that idea. This result encourages us to
undertake this work. That is the focus of our next question.

Question 14: If your answer to the previous question is “YES”, which of the following
skills is better to improve students’ assimilation of conditional sentences?

a) Reading
b) Listening
c) Speaking
d) Writing

By asking this question, we intended to know which language skill the teachers think
is better to improve the learning of conditional sentences. Reading and speaking are in the
first rank because they hold the highest and the same percentage of teachers’ preference
(30%). Furthermore, 12% of the teachers opted for listening, and 28% think that writing is

44
better to improve students’ assimilation of conditional sentences. The result is shown in this
diagram:

28% 30% Reading

Listening
12% Speaking
30%
Writing

Figure 11: Graph representing the teachers' opinions on the better language
skill to improve the learning of conditional sentences

If we look at this graph, the first thing we notice is that the percentages of the teachers
who opted for reading, speaking, and writing are almost the same. Therefore, we can say that
according to the teachers, these three language skills have the same efficiency in improving
students’ assimilation of conditional sentences. The 12% of teachers who opted for listening
show that listening is also important, but the percentage is lower than those who chose the
three other skills. This may be due to the difficulty in finding listening passages which
correspond to the lessons on conditionals.

45
Question 15: In your opinion, in which stage of the teaching should we involve students
in communication?

a) In the presentation stage

b) In the practice stage
c) In the production stage
d) At any stage if possible

We designed this question in order to find out in which of the different stage of a
lesson it is better to develop students’ communicative competence. We obtained 48 answers
from the 26 respondents because most of them gave more than one answer. As a result of the
investigation, we found that the percentage of the teachers who opted for the practice, the
production and “at any stage” is exactly the same because they all represent 29% for each
answer. Moreover, 13% think that students should be involved in communication during the
presentation stage. Here is the diagram that shows these figures:

13%
29%

29% Presentation stage

Practice stage
29% Production stage
Any stage

Figure 12: Graph representing the stage in which it is better to involve

students in communication

As we can see in this graph, the percentage of the teachers who choose the
presentation stage is the lowest. Many teachers think that in the presentation stage, students
are supposed to listen to the explanation since teacher talking time is higher than students
talking time. As such, it is not better to involve students in communication. The rest of the
figures in this graph show that the teachers’ opinions are equally divided between developing
students’ communicative competence either in the practice stage or in the production stage or
at any stage. We can draw a conclusion that developing students’ communicative competence
is always feasible when they learn conditional sentences.

46
Question 16: A few words about the teaching of conditional sentences in “Première” and
“Terminale” classes …

Actually, this last question is not a question. The objective is here to let the teachers
express themselves freely as they were always given multiple choice questions before. It
allows the teachers to write some remarks or their opinion about any point on the teaching of
conditional sentences. Actually, the teachers’ remarks can be divided into two sections which
are the problems in teaching conditionals and solutions to these problems.

Firstly, we would report the problems mentioned by the teachers. Most of them agree
that the lesson on conditionals is one of the most difficult for students. They claim that the
non-mastery of irregular verbs is the main problem for students. Moreover, students
sometimes mix the use of second and third conditionals as well as the verb tenses they should
use in each type. A teacher thinks students should not have trouble using English conditional
sentences because they also learn conditionals in French. Some teachers even claim that it is
very boring to teach conditional sentences in Malagasy high schools because students are not
motivated at all and they lack imagination. Another problem is that students never use
conditional sentences in their conversation though they are the only ways to express
hypothesis.

However, some teachers put forward solutions to improve the teaching of conditional
sentences. They say that teaching conditional sentences should not be that difficult and that
we can have fun learning conditional sentences. It is just a matter of knowing how to present
the lesson. A key solution is mentioned by a teacher that teachers should not move to the next
lesson until what is being taught is well assimilated by students, and that includes the
conditionals.

We can see from this report that few teachers mind about the students’ ability to use
conditional sentences in their everyday English conversation. That is obviously due to the fact
that teaching grammar for a communicative purpose is not yet included in the habits of
Malagasy teachers of English. We contend a reason that teachers do not contextualize the
structures when they teach conditional sentences. Therefore, students are not able to use them
in realistic context or real life situations.

47
 CONCLUSION TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE

The answers we received from the questionnaire reveal that the teachers are interested
in teaching conditional sentences communicatively in class. They are aware of the importance
of integrating language skills in grammar teaching especially when they teach conditional
sentences. Actually, the questionnaire helps us discover the teachers’ and the students’
problems concerning the teaching and learning of conditional sentences. Some students do not
like grammar so much for various reasons. The topics used by the teachers are sometimes
uninteresting and students lack the opportunity to communicate during grammar classes.
Some teachers claim that it is not easy to find interesting topics and realistic situations to
teach conditional sentences. Despite this fact, most of the teachers realize the importance of
communicative grammar. We are glad to learn from the 13th question that all the teachers
agree with the usefulness of integrating language skills in the teaching of conditional
sentences.

In a word, these data collected from the questionnaire survey provide us with
information about the teaching of conditional sentences in “première” and “terminale” classes
and about the teachers’ interest in applying communicative grammar for the improvement of
the teaching of conditional sentences. However, they are not enough to serve as a way of
discovering what exactly happens in the classroom concerning the teaching of conditional
sentences in these levels. As such, we have to carry out some classroom observations which
complement with the results of the questionnaire survey.

48
2.2- THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS

Observation is defined as “the systematic description of events, behaviors, and

artifacts in the social setting chosen for study” (Marshall and Rossman , 1989). As we have
stated earlier, asking the teachers of English in the Malagasy lycées to fill the questionnaire is
not enough to know the realities which occur in the classroom during the teaching of
conditional sentences. Observations enable the researcher to describe existing situations using
the five senses, providing a “written photograph” of the situation under study. (Erlandson,
Harris, Skipper & Allen, 1993). Hence, we also carried out some classroom observations
which enable us to see whether the teachers really do what they say in the questionnaire.
Classroom observation allows us to witness what exactly happens when teachers teach
conditional sentences in “première” and “terminale” classes.

2.2.1- General objectives

The questionnaire has helped us know how lycées teachers teach conditional sentences
in “première” and “terminale” classes and what problems their students have while learning
those grammatical structures. Nevertheless, we might be mistaken since some teachers may
not give honest responses in the questionnaire, but pretend to be perfect teachers.
Consequently, we have chosen to carry out classroom observations. Observation methods are
useful to researchers in a variety of ways. They provide researchers with ways to check for
nonverbal expression of feelings, determine who interacts with whom, grasp how participants
communicate with each other, and check for how much time is spent on various activities
(Schmuck, 1997). Therefore, the main purposes of the classroom observations are to know
how lycée teachers actually teach conditional sentences and how students react toward the
teaching. More precisely, we focused on the communicative and non-communicative aspects
of the courses during our observation. The report and analysis of these class observations can
be found in chapter 2.2.3.

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 2.2.2- Context of the observations

The observations were carried out during the third trimester of the school year 2015-
2016. We have asked the English teachers in “première” and “terminale” classes at Lycée
Andohalo Antananarivo and Lycée Jules Ferry Faravohitra if we can observe their class
during the teaching of conditional sentences. Unfortunately, few teachers accepted to
cooperate with us. Some teachers said that they had already taught conditional sentences
before the third trimester as they rushed to finish the syllabus. Besides, some teachers were
busy advising their teacher trainees as it was the trimester for teaching training. Finally, some
just said that they do not like being observed by other teachers when they teach. Owing to
these reasons, we have only carried out five (05) classroom observations with five (05)
different teachers from those two lycées. However, we can say that we were satisfied for the
cooperation with those five teachers because they were all aware of our research topic and
tried to do their best to teach what we intended to observe.

2.2.3- Report and analysis

In this report and analysis, we have decided not to mention the teacher’s name and the
name of the lycée in which the observation was carried out.

2.2.3.1- Observation of a course on “Protecting the environment” to teach the

first conditional

This first class observation was carried out on 22nd February 2016 in a “première D”
classs. The class was made of forty six (46) students and the observation lasted two hours.
The title of the lesson was: “IF CLAUSE I”.

 First step: warm up (20 min)

The teacher started the class with a scrambled words game. She asked 18 students to
come to the board and divided them into three groups of six people. Those three groups were
supposed to compete and everyone was given a word or a phrase written on a sheet of paper.
They were asked to arrange the scrambled words in order to have a meaningful sentence as
quickly as possible. Then, they were asked to stand next to one another in accordance with
their words order and show their sentences.

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 Here are the sentences:

1) If we destroy the environment, we won’t have a place for living.

2) People will reduce environmental problems if they stop smoking.
3) If we pay more attention, we will save the environment.

Two groups found the right answers, but the first group put their sentence in a leftward order:
“for living/ a place/ have/ we won’t/ the environment,/ If we destroy” instead of “If we
destroy/ the environment,/ we won’t/ have/ a place/ for living”.

Afterwards, the teacher stuck the sheets of paper containing the correctly-ordered sentences
on the board and started to introduce the lesson to the students by asking questions.

Teacher (T): Do you think that if we destroy the environment, we won’t have a place
for living?

Students (Ss): Yes. (just few of them replied)

T: Do you think that people will reduce environmental problems if they stop smoking?

Ss: (No answer)

T: Do you think that if we pay more attention, we will save the environment?

Ss: (No answer)

T: (Pointing at the 3 sentences) What do they have in common? (Expected answer: IF)

Ss: (No answer)

T: How do we call this kind of sentence? (Expected answer: conditional sentences)

Ss: (No answer)

After obtaining no answer from the students, the teacher did not give her expected answers as
a correction and guideline, but wrote the title of the lesson above the sheets of paper; “IF
CLAUSE I”.

 Second step: presentation stage (15 min)

The teacher wrote the structure of first conditional sentence below the three sentences
written on the sheets of paper:

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If+S+Simple Present+,+S+will+V(-to) OR S+will+V(-to)+if+S+Simple Present

Afterwards, she asked the students to give other examples of sentences containing if clause
type one without explaining what “if lause type I” means and when we use it. She also forgot
to explain the clause ordering in the sentences and the meaning of the clauses, but instead, she
gave a rule which is quite difficult for students to remember. Only one student could answer:
“If we study hard, we will have good marks.”

 Third step: practice stage (30 min)

To practice the newly-taught lesson, the teacher gave two exercises to the students. In
the first exercise, the students were asked to write the correct form of verbs between brackets.
Then, some students wrote their answers on the board. After the correction, the teacher
explained the use of first conditional by writing: “to talk about possible situations”.
Afterwards, she elicited from the students:

T: Give me other examples of possible situation.

Ss: (No answer)

T: What will you do if you become a doctor?

Ss: (No answer)

T: Will you help people if you become a doctor?

Ss: Yes.

One student: If I become a doctor, I will cure people.

The second exercise consists in completing sentences by using the end of the previous
sentences to begin the next one. The teacher explained the instructions and gave the students
time to finish the exercise. Then, five students wrote their answers on the board, and
everybody did the correction together with the teacher.

 Fourth step: production stage (50 min)

During the production stage, the teacher gave two different exercises. Firstly, she
asked her students to write a piece of writing which answers the following question: “What
will you do if someone gives you 100,000 Ariary and a 4x4 car?” Secondly, the students dealt

52
with a reading comprehension exercise. The text was full of first conditional sentences and the
topic was still about protecting the environment.

They could not finish the correction before the bell rang, and that is the end of our
first classroom observation.

Comments on the lesson:

We noted some positive points concerning this lesson. Firstly, it is a good idea to start
the class with a game as a warm up to wake the students’ mind up and to draw their attention.
The majority of the students managed to re-order the words to have meaningful sentences,
without being aware of their meanings. Moreover, the accuracy exercises fit the students’
level and the instructions are clear. Concerning the production stage, it is a good idea on the
part of the teacher to develop the students’ writing and reading skills to produce the language.
The structures are contextualized in a reading passage about protecting the environment.
Therefore, it is easier to understand the condition-result relationship in each conditional
sentence.

However, we also noticed some imperfection despite these positive points. First of all,
during the warm up stage, the teacher checked the students’ understanding of the sentences by
asking their opinions. She tried to interact with her students and to have more than “yes” or
“no” answers. Unfortunately, only one of her questions was answered by few students. The
students did not answer but just stared at their teacher because they did not understand the
meaning of every question. In other words, the notion of conditional was not presented to
them yet, and some questions were not clear at all: “What do they have in common?”, “How
do we call this kind of sentence?” The fact that the teacher did not give any answer to her
question blocked the students’ way to answer the next questions, so the elicitation was a
failure. Secondly, the fact of forgetting to explain the use of the newly-presented structure is a
serious mistake on the part of the teacher. Furthermore, the teacher forgot to explain the
meaning of the two clauses and the two possible clause orderings. Therefore, we can say that
the presentation stage does not make any sense, and we could see during this class
observation that almost no student understood what has been presented to them. The teacher
really tried to make her teaching communicative, but she did not manage to make her students
speak to have an interaction. She elicited from the students by asking them to give other
examples of first conditional sentences. Unfortunately, the students could not find any
sentence because they did not understand what has been taught. Thirdly, the practice stage

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should not be the stage when the use of the new language is explained. Finally, there are some
negative points concerning the production stage. There is a wrong choice of situation in the
writing exercise. The lesson is about possible situations, yet this piece of writing is about an
imaginary situation which requires second conditional sentences but not first conditional as
far as we are concerned. Moreover, the text in the reading exercise is long and there are many
difficult words for students in “classe de première D”. As such, the teacher had to spend a lot
of time explaining the unfamiliar words, and the time management was not respected.

In a word, we would say that the lesson was not successful because first, the teacher
did not explain the meaning of “if clause type one” in the presentation stage, and second, the
first conditional was not taught communicatively as the students did not have the opportunity
to communicate either orally or in a written form of communication. In addition to that, it
could have been successful if the teacher had chosen the right situation and the appropriate
text length in the production stage in order to save time. If it had been so, there would have
been enough time for communicative grammar by developing the students’ speaking, writing
and reading skills.

2.2.3.2- Observation of a course on “Regrets” to teach the third conditional

This second classroom observation was carried out on 23rd February 2016 in a
“Terminale A” class which was made of 52 students. The title of the lesson was “REGRETS”,
and the observation lasted two hours.

 First step: warm up (5 min)

The teacher told the students an anecdote and he said that he regretted for having done
what he did. After that, he asked them a question: “Have you ever done something before that
you regret now?” Unfortunately, no student answered though the teacher reformulated his
question by saying: “What did you regret?” The students did not answer the question because
they were not listening to the anecdote, so they had no idea of what “to regret” means.

 Second step: presentation stage (1h 15 min)

The teacher presented the lesson through the use of this short dialogue:

Sue: Why are you so sad, Mary?

Mary: I regret because I didn’t listen to my mother’s advice.

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Sue: What did she say?

Mary: If I had listened to my mother, I would not have gotten married too early, and would
have continued my studies.

Sue: Hum… Aren’t you happy with your husband?

Mary: Of course I am, but I can’t study any longer.

After the students had read the dialogue and answered some comprehension questions
orally, the teacher rewrote the sentence: “If I had listened to my mother, I would not have
gotten married too early, and would have continued my studies.” and started to explain the
form and the use of conditional type III or unreal past conditional.

Use: to talk about imaginary situations in the past.

Form: If+S+Past Perfect+,+S+would have+Past Participle

Then, the teacher gave an explanation of clause ordering: when “if” is in the middle of
the sentence, we do not use a comma to separate the two clauses.

Eg: I would not have gotten married too early if I had listened to my mother.

 S+would have+Past Participle+if+S+Past Perfect.

In addition to that, he gave a brief explanation of past participle of irregular verbs and
regular verbs. After that, he proceeded the presentation by giving the forms of perfect
conditional of modals. Here are the rules:
- There are no special forms for modal verbs in English: “can”, “shall”, and “may”
cannot be used with “would have”
- Instead, they must be used in these special forms:
 “could have” but not “would have+can”
 “should have” but not “would have+shall”
 “might have” but not “would have+may”
- The words “could”, “should” and “might” include conditional, so you cannot
combine them with “would have”

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  Third step: practice stage (30 min)

The students were given an exercise which consists in putting some verbs in brackets
into the correct form. The exercise was mixed as the presentation stage was about the basic
rule of third conditional as well as the perfect conditional forms of modal verbs. There was an
oral correction and they moved on the production stage.

 Fourth step: production stage (5 min)

During the production stage, the teacher intended to make the students play an if chain
game. Unfortunately, the bell rang and they could not play it. Our observation ended there
because the two hours were over.

Comments on the lesson:

When we observed this lesson, we could notice some positive points. From the
beginning of this class, the teacher tried to communicate with his students by developing their
listening and speaking skills when telling them the anecdote. He put them in the context of
what he is going to teach. Moreover, the idea of presenting the lesson by using a reading
passage is excellent because the dialogue covers the topic “Regrets” and the third conditional
altogether. The context is clear as the dialogue is short. The explanation of the basic rules of
third conditional is also clear as it includes the form, the use and the rules on clause orderings
and past participle. Another good point of this lesson is the teacher’s intention to make the
students play a game to produce the language. We were really eager to see how good they will
play the game. It could have been a very good activity to make the students communicate by
creating, speaking, and using the newly-learnt language in an authentic context.

However, this lesson also has some weaknesses despite the positive points we have
just mentioned above. First of all, the teacher did not manage to draw the students’ attention
during the warm up stage. They were not listening to the anecdote, so the teacher did not
reach his objective which is to develop the students’ listening skill and to make them speak.
Concerning the presentation stage, the teacher should not have presented the perfect
conditional forms of modal verbs before giving an exercise about third conditional sentences
which contain ordinary verbs (non-modals). Actually, the rules on modals are not included in
the lesson on third conditional because they confuse students’ mind. Therefore, the exercise in
the practice stage is not really appropriate.

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 To conclude, the explanation of modals in the presentation stage before moving on the
practice stage was the main problem with this lesson, but otherwise it was successful because
the teacher covered most of the stages of the lesson. He managed to teach the third conditional
communicatively as the context and situation are clear and there was interaction between the
teacher and the students.

2.2.3.3- Observation of a revision course about the three types of

conditionals

This is the third classroom observation that we carried out. It took place in a
“Terminale C” class on 08th April 2016 and lasted two hours. The class was made of 37
students. The lesson was entitled: “THE CONDITIONALS”.

 First step: warm up (20 min)

We carried out this classroom observation just after the Easter holiday. Therefore, the
teacher started this class by asking the students about their Easter holiday. The interaction was
lively because almost every student was eager to tell about their holiday, but only three
students were allowed to speak as it was not a speaking class on holidays. Then, the teacher
asked some questions and the students replied.

T: Are you ready to study?

Ss: No.

T: Why?

Ss: Because it’s Friday.

T: What is your wish now?

One student: I wish I went back home.

After that, the teacher wrote: “I wish+Past Simple” on the blackboard, and continued
asking questions.

T: What is the other way to say that wish?

S1: I’d like to go back home.

S2: I want to go back home.

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 T: I wish I went back home: If …? How do we call the sentences which start with
“if”?

Ss: Conditional sentences.

T: How many types of conditional sentences have you got?

Ss: Three types: type one, type two, and type three.

T: Are they the same?

Ss: No.

T: No, they are not the same.

After this warm up, the teacher wrote the title “THE CONDITIONALS” on the
blackboard and proceeded with the presentation stage.

 Second step: presentation stage (60 min)

The teacher drew a chart having four (4) columns: Type (1st column), Use (2nd
column), Form (3rd column), and Examples (4th column). Then, she elicited from the students
by asking the use and the form of each type and by inviting them to give examples. The
teacher could fill the chart quickly because the students could answer most of her questions
and were active either in giving the form and use or in giving examples. Concerning the
second conditional, a student gave this example: “If I were P.A, I would allow pupils to have
their own hair dress.” (P.A stands for “Proviseur Adjoint” of the lycée). After that, another
student gave this example: “If I succeeded my BACC, I would study abroad”. As a feedback
to this second example, the teacher said that the students cannot use conditional type 2
because it is a possible situation. When the student who gave the example on hair dress heard
that, he said: “So, I cannot also use conditional type 2 because I can be P.A one day”. The
teacher did not comment upon this remark but let the students copy the chart in their lesson
books and gave exercises of application to the students afterwards.

 Third step: practice stage (30 min)

The students were given an exercise which consists in putting verbs in brackets in
the correct tenses. Actually the exercise was a free practice as the students had to understand
the meaning of the sentences in order to know the type of conditional in each sentence and to

58
put the verbs in their correct tenses. When the students finished the exercise, they did the
correction orally.

 Fourth step: production stage (5 min)

For the production stage, the teacher gave homework as time was over. The students
were asked to build up three sentences with the conditional type 1, type 2, and type 3. Here is
the end of our third classroom observation.

Comments on the lesson:

We are going to bring our comments on this lesson as we did with the others, that is,
by looking at its positive and negative aspects. First, concerning the positive points of this
lesson, the warm up is interesting because the teacher knows to relate the students’ Easter
holiday to their wish of being home at the moment of speaking and the other way to express a
present wish which is the second conditional. Besides, the presentation stage is lively as it is
full of interaction and gives the students the opportunity to express themselves especially after
they gave examples. This is a kind of revision course as the students are good at replying their
teacher’s questions. We would like to mention that the example and the remark of the student
who mentioned about hair dress are striking because his way of expressing himself shows
how well he understands the use of second conditional, and that is why he wanted to rectify
his example by using the first conditional. Though this lesson was summarized in a chart,
communication took place as there was elicitation from the students.

However, as nothing is perfect, this lesson also presents some weaknesses. The kind of
exercise in the practice stage can be confusing for students because there are cases when two
types of conditional are possible, but the choice depends on the meaning one would like to
convey. The details of this exercise will be found in Appendix II but here is the sentence in
which conditional type one and type three are both acceptable:

You …………. in your exam if you …………. hard. (succeed/ study).

There are two possible answers for this sentence:

1- You will succeed in your exam if you study hard.

2- You would have succeeded in your exam if you had studied hard.

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In addition to that, we expected to observe communicative activities in the production stage.
Unfortunately, the kind of exercise which is given to the students does not put them in a
realistic context and does not allow them to express themselves like in real life situation as
they are just supposed to produce three de-contextualized accurate sentences. It could have
been better if the teacher had given a situation for each conditional type and chosen one or
more language skills to be developed since that is the objective in the production stage.

Anyhow, we would say that this lesson was successful even though there was no
communicative activity in the production stage.

2.2.3.4- Observation of a chart-based lesson to teach the four types of conditionals

This is the fourth classroom observation that we carried out during our field
investigation. It took place on 18th April 2016 in a “Terminale D” class which was made of
fifty six (56) students. The observation lasted one hour and a half, and the title of the lesson
was “THE CONDITIONAL TENSES”.

 First step: presentation stage (30 min)

There was no warm up stage in this class, but the teacher directly asked one student to copy
the lesson on the blackboard. For a better understanding of what we have observed, we are
going to copy the chart by which the teacher presented the lesson:

Table 3: Lesson on "Conditional tenses"

Form Time Example Function

If clause Main clause

Type 0 If+Present Present Present When we talk about If you don’t water
something which is plants, they die.
always true.

We talk about a real and

Type 1 If+Present Simple Future If it rains, I’ll stay
possible situation that
future
will happen if a specific home.
condition is met.

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 We talk about unreal
situations that probably
Type 2 If+ Simple Would+V Present/ won’t happen (unless a I would cure people if I
past Future specific condition were were a doctor.
met)

We talk about
Type 3 Would something that didn’t
If+Past have+ Past Past happen in the past/ a I would have had a
perfect participle past regret that would good mark if I had
have happened if a worked more seriously.
specific condition had
been met.

When the students finished copying this chart in their lesson books, the teacher started the
explanation about clause ordering and what each clause means. Then, he read the chart type
by type and checked the students’ understanding by asking questions such as “Do you agree
with me?” after he had read the examples for each type. Only few students replied “Yes”
when the teacher asked “Is that clear?” or “Are you sure?” The explanation lasted only five
minutes, and after that, the teacher gave two different exercises (Appendix II, p. vi and vii).

 Second step: practice stage (60 min)

As we mentioned above, the teacher gave two exercises to the students. The first one
consists in matching two clauses (if clause and main clause) whereas the second one consists
in filling blanks with the correct tenses. Both of the exercises were controlled and objective.
After a written correction on the blackboard, the class ended without an exercise of
production stage.

Comments on the lesson:

We would start our comments by mentioning the positive side of this lesson. The first
noticeable point we would like to mention is that it is the only one class when conditional type
zero is taught. We asked the teacher why he taught conditional type zero since it is not in the
syllabus though it really exists. He replied that some students asked him what type of
conditional it is and what it means because they have already seen it somewhere and that is
why he decided to teach it. That is not a bad idea because students may need to use

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conditional type zero. In addition to that, when we observed this class, the students were good
at giving the correct answers in the accuracy practice, probably because they were allowed to
have a look at their lesson books and the other halves of the sentences in the second exercise
were already given.

However, this lesson also presents some flaws. First of all, we would like to comment
upon the title “THE CONDITIONAL TENSES”. We would say that this cannot be the title of
the lesson because conditional tenses only include present conditional (would+V –to) and past
conditional or perfect conditional (would have+ past participle). Instead, it is better to replace
it by “THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCES” or simply “THE CONDITIONALS”.
Concerning the chart, it is complicated because of the existence of the column “Time” and the
structures of the sentences in the column “Function”. A student asked us what the column
“Time” means because he did not dare to ask his teacher. The students were also given pre-
fabricated rules and examples in the chart. There was no elicitation, thus there was no
communication. In addition to that, we can see that the explanations of the function of type 2
and type 3 are complex, and it is redundant to put the column “Time” in this chart as it should
be clear if the teacher manages to explain the use (function) through the examples. There was
no elicitation during the explanation. Therefore, there was no communication through
interaction apart from answering the questions “Do you agree with me?” and “is that clear?”
which are not actually checking questions of understanding. No language skill is developed
because the presentation stage consists in simply reading what is written in the chart. Besides,
the explanation is just a skimming, and we could see on some students’ ways of looking at
their teacher that they did not understand what they were learning. Furthermore, the non-
existence of production stage is the biggest flaw of this lesson. We expected to observe some
communicative activities because communicative grammar was not applied neither in the
presentation stage nor in the practice stage.

Clearly, it is difficult to say whether this lesson was successful because the teaching
stages stopped at the students’ accuracy level. However, we would say that this lesson is not
communicative because it does not give the students the opportunity to express themselves by
using conditional sentences.

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 2.2.3.5- Observation of a very first presentation of conditional type one and type
two to a class

We carried out this fifth and last classroom observation on 21st April 2016 in a
“Première D” which was made of 48 students. The observation lasted two hours, and the
lesson was entitled: “THE CONDITIONAL TENSES”.

 First step: presentation of first conditional (25 min)

After the roll call, the teacher asked the students whether they learnt conditionals in
“classe de seconde”. Most of them replied that they did not, so it is a new lesson for them.
After that, the teacher asked a student to copy the lesson on the blackboard. Here is the detail
of the lesson:

1) Conditional type 1 (First conditional)

If clause (condition) Main clause (result)

If+S+present simple Future simple  will+verb (infinitive without “to)

Eg: I will go shopping if I have time.

If I have time, I will go shopping.

The first conditional is used when we talk about a real and possible condition and its
probable result.

NB: If you start a sentence with the if clause, you must separate the if clause and the
main clause with a comma. (,)

When the students finished copying this lesson in their lesson books, the teacher
started to explain the clause ordering and what the two clauses mean. He read the lesson and
explained the relationship between the if clause and the main clause by saying that if the
condition is not fulfilled, the result will not happen as well. He explained the lesson in
Malagasy and in English because he said the students had trouble understanding English.

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  Second step: practice of first conditional (60 min)

To practice the first conditional, the teacher made the students play an if chain game
which was an oral game. The game consisted in building a first conditional sentence which
starts with an if clause. Then, another student built a new sentence by starting it with the main
clause of the previous sentence. The class was divided into two groups of 24 students. The
teacher invited us to lead the first group and to listen to the students’ answers because he
promised to give marks as bonus for those who built correct and meaningful sentences. The
leaders (the teacher and we) gave the first sentence and the students played the game:

If I feel cold, I will be sick.

If I am sick, I will go to the doctor.

If I go to the doctor, …

 Third step: presentation of second conditional (15 min)

The teacher presented conditional type 2 the same way he did with first conditional,
that is, by asking a student to copy the lesson on the blackboard, by reading it afterwards, and
by explaining what is was written in English and in Malagasy. Here is the detail of the lesson:

2) Conditional type 2 (Second conditional)

If clause (condition) Main clause (result)

If+S+Past simple Present conditional  would+ verb (infinitive

without “to)

Eg: If I were you, I would go to the doctor.

She would have many cars if she were rich.

NB: The form of the verb “to be” is always “were” for type 2.

 “If I were you” instead of “If I was you”.

The second conditional is used when we talk about an unreal or an improbable situation.

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  Fourth step: practice of second conditional (15 min)

They played a game for the second time to practice the second conditional. As the
students wasted much time with the previous game, the teacher changed the rule. He gave the
if clause of every sentence and the students continue it by giving its main clause. It was a
whole class game and the courageous ones who found the right continuations of the given if
clauses were given marks as bonus.

Comments on the lesson:

We are going to begin our comments with the strength of this lesson. As we can see in
this report, the presentation stage is concise in both first and second conditional. Everything
which should be explained is included in it. Furthermore, the games to practice the two types
of conditional motivated the students because everyone was eager to participate. The class
was lively since there was communication during the turn taking. The students understand the
condition-result relationship, so most of them can build first and second conditional
sentences.

Despite its strength, this lesson also presents some weaknesses. Firstly, we have the
same comment as in the previous lesson concerning its title. “THE CONDITIONAL
TENSES” cannot be the title of this lesson because it is not a specific lesson on present
conditional and past conditional or perfect conditional. Instead, it should be “THE
CONDITIONAL SENTENCES” or “THE CONDITIONALS”. Secondly, concerning the way
this lesson was copied on the blackboard, we can say that it is presented in a traditional way.
There was no interaction and elicitation during the explanation, but the teacher spoon-fed the
students with pre-fabricated rules that they are supposed to practice later. Moreover, the first
game was time-consuming since the class was divided only into two large groups. Therefore,
it took a long time for all the twenty four students in a group to take turn as they had to think a
lot before building their sentences. It could have been better if the teacher had divided the
class into four groups of twelve students, and asked four intelligent students to lead each
group. As such, the students can correct their friends’ answers and help one another. In that
case, there is no bonus, but the aim is just to practice the language in a fun way. The teacher
can act as a supervisor of the groups by moving around and listening to the students’ answers.

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 As a conclusion to these comments, we would say that the lesson was successful and
attained a part of the objectives of communicative grammar, but there was a problem of time
management.

CONCLUSION TO THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS

The fact of having observed some classes in the lycées helped us find out about the
actual teaching of conditional sentences in “première” and “terminale” classes. It helped us
discover the methods, the techniques and activities as well as the way they manage time and
the classroom. Moreover, the classroom observations provide us with information on how
students react towards learning.

Concerning the teaching techniques, we found that it is easier for students to acquire
the lesson on conditional sentences when the context of the structure is clear and when they
are asked to participate rather than waiting for the lesson and completing tasks in given
exercises. Some teachers teach conditional sentences communicatively. Therefore, the lesson
is more effective because the students understand the use of the conditional sentences in
realistic situations and can develop their communicative competence at the same time.
However, when the teacher does not teach conditional sentences communicatively by
integrating language skills and by eliciting, the students have a tendency to learn the rules by
heart in order to be able to apply them in written exercises without considering their use in
real life situations. Teachers only have a problem of timing because they do not apparently
know how to manage their time when dealing with communicative activities in their lesson. In
other words, even though teachers have good teaching techniques and methods, they are more
likely to have a timing problem when they do not balance the activities in which they want to
develop their students’ communicative competence.

Clearly, it is worth mentioning that through the classroom observations we carried out
in some Malagasy lycées, we learnt something good to imitate and something which needs to
be improved concerning the teaching of conditional sentences in “première” and “terminale”
classes.

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 CONCLUSION TO PART TWO

As a conclusion to the second part of this research work, we can say from the gathered
data that most of the teachers are aware of the importance of teaching conditional sentences
communicatively. We have found out that most of the teachers in “première” and “terminale”
classes do not focus their teaching on developing their students’ ability to use grammatical
rules in realistic contexts since grammatical correctness in written exercises is the most
important teaching objective for them. We have also seen the main challenges for teachers of
English in teaching the English conditional sentences communicatively. Among these
challenges are the lack of time, the long syllabus and the large classes. However, we found
out from the classroom observations we carried out that some teachers managed to teach
conditional sentences communicatively and to develop their students’ language skills during
the teaching of conditional sentences. For us this means that teaching conditional sentences
communicatively is feasible in Malagasy lycées. That is the reason why we decided to carry
out experimentations on communicative teaching of conditional sentences in class.

We will now move to the next part of this dissertation. First, we will report the
experimentations we have carried out in some lycées in Antananarivo. Then we will propose
suggestions that we think are necessary for an effective teaching of conditional sentences by
promoting communicative grammar. The objective of the experimentations is then to test the
efficiency of communicative grammar in the teaching of conditional sentences in Malagasy
lycées. The teaching suggestions are related to the problems identified during the field
investigation and during the experimentations. As such, we hope that they are relevant for the
Malagasy context.

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PART THREE: EXPERIMENTATIONS AND
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
 The gathered data in Part two enabled us to know the problems encountered by
teachers and students as far as the teaching and learning of conditional sentences are
concerned. This third part is divided into two subparts which are the experimentations and the
teaching suggestions. On the whole, the reader will find the account of the experimentations
that we carried out. Those experimentations show the effectiveness of communicative
grammar in the teaching of conditional sentences in some “première” and “terminale” classes
that we hold. The teaching suggestions are related to the problems raised by the teachers
during our field investigation. They are put forward in order to help teachers to deal with
communicative grammar and the teaching of conditional sentances.

3.1- THE EXPERIMENTATIONS

3.1.1- General objectives and context of the experimentations

In this part, we will report the experimentations that we carried out in order to show
the effectiveness of communicative grammar for the improvement of the teaching of
conditional sentences in “première” and “terminale” classes. In other words, we taught in
some “première” and “terminale” classes to experiment whether communicative grammar can
improve the teaching of English conditional sentences in these two levels.

We wish we could have taught in other high schools outside Antananarivo but we
could not afford it. We did our experimentations at Lycée Protestant Ambohijatovo Avaratra
and Lycée Andohalo Antananarivo. Finding schools to do our experimentations was not an
easy task since many lycée headmasters and teachers were reluctant to let us enter their
schools and hold their classes. Therefore, we could only do them in those two high schools
where our request was confirmed after long explanations. We taught the scientific and literary
students of the two class levels.

3.1.2- Report and analysis of the experimentations

Our experimented lesson plans are reported and analyzed in this section. Before each
report, the level of the class, the number as well as the duration of the session, and the
objectives of the lesson are given. The language skills developed during the lesson are
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reported in addition to the steps that are followed. After each report there is a brief comment
of our performance. Some exercises and teaching supports (lyrics and visual aids) mentioned
in these lesson plans are included in the appendix section of this research work.

3.1.2.1- Experimentation N° 1

Class: Terminale A

Lesson: WISHES AND REGRETS/ 1st session: WISHES

Duration: 2 hours

General objective: Students will be able to express wishes and regrets

Specific objective: Students will be able to express wishes

FIRST PART OF THE LESSON:

 Step 1: Presentation of the second conditional (20 minutes)

Objective: Students will know the form and understand the use of second conditional.

Language skill: READING

 Teacher asks the students to read these two short dialogues:
Dialogue 1:
Ruonan: What should I do? I’m really bad at Mathematics.

Nandi: If I were you, I would buy some Math books with exercises and keys.

Ruonan: Oh, right! That’s a good idea! Thanks, Nandi! Will you come with me to
look for the books?

Nandi: Sure!

Dialogue 2:

Maya: What are you doing here, Jeff? Are you daydreaming?

Jeff: Yeah! I’m tired of going on foot to work every day. I’m tired of paying the rent
every month.

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 Maya: What do you mean?

Jeff: If I were rich, I would buy a car and a nice house.

 After a short comprehension checking, teacher asks the students to compare the
meaning of these two sentences(what they express):

1- If I were you, I would buy some Math books with exercises and keys.  advice
2- If I were rich, I would buy a car and a nice house.  wish/unreal situation
 By eliciting from the students, teacher reminds them that both of the two sentences are
second conditional sentences. Then, they draw the form of second conditional
sentences: If+ S+ Past Simple , S + would + V (-to)
 Teacher explains the two possible clause orderings and what the two clauses express:
If clause  condition
Main clause  result
 Teacher asks the students to give other examples of wishes by using second
conditional sentences:
 If I had a brother, I would play basketball with him.
 I would attend Beyoncé’s show if she came in Madagascar.

 Step 2: Practice of the second conditional (10 minutes)

Objective: Students will practice the second conditional accurately.

 Students are asked to put some verbs in brackets into the correct form to have second
conditional sentences.
 Then, they did the correction on the blackboard.

 Step 3: Production of the second conditional (15 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ speaking skill by using second conditional sentences.

Language skill: SPEAKING

Students work in pair. Here is the topic of the conversation:
Tell your friend about three things you would do:
- If you had a lot of money
- If you were the President of Madagascar.
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 After 10 minutes of conversation, teacher asks some students to report their friends’
answers to the whole class.

SECOND PART OF THE LESSON/

 Step 1: Introduction to “I wish + Past simple” (20 minutes)

Objective: Students will understand the use of “I wish + Past Simple”.

 Teacher shows a picture with bubbles containing wishes and asks questions upon the
picture. Students answer the questions orally.
What can you see on this picture?  a girl holding some glasses in her hand.
What is her name?  Layla.
What is her job?  She is a waitress.
Is she happy?  No, she isn’t.
Why isn’t she happy?  Because she is not rich, she doesn’t have a lot of
money and can’t go on holidays.
How does she express her wish? (What is written in the bubbles?)  I wish I
were rich; I wish I had a lot of money; I wish I went on holidays.
 Students draw the other form of expressing a wish or an unreal situation:
 I wish + S + Past Simple

 Step 2: practice of “I wish+ Past Simple” (15 minutes)

Objective: Students will practice “I wish + Past Simple” by transforming the given sentences.

 Students are asked to write their wishes about the given situations by using “I wish
…”
1- It rains a lot but you forgot your umbrella.
2- You don’t have enough money to buy snacks.
3- You want to go on vacation but you are still studying.
 Students take turn to do the correction on the blackboard.

 Step 3: Production of “I wish+ Past Simple” (20 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ writing and speaking skills by using “I wish + Past Simple”.

Language skill: WRITING and SPEAKING

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  Teacher asks the students to write at least three sentences expressing their wishes by
using “I wish + Past simple”
 After that, they work in pair and say the sentences to their partners. They can ask each
other the reasons of the wishes.
 Teacher invites some volunteers to perform a dialogue about their conversation in
front of the class.

 Step 4: Follow-up activity (20 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ listening skill by showing them an example of authentic

situation with second conditional sentences.

Language skill: LISTENING

 Teacher shares the lyrics of Beyoncé’s song “If I were a boy” and explains some
unfamiliar words in the lyrics (verse 1 + chorus)
 Teacher asks some comprehension questions about the song. Students give oral
answers.
What is the title of the song?  “If I were a boy”
Does it mean the singer is a boy?  No, it doesn’t? The singer isn’t a boy.
Why does she say “if I were a boy”?  She wishes she were a boy because she
is a girl.
 Finally, students listen to the song and sing with the music.

Comments on the performance:

We would say that the lesson was successful although it was difficult to make the
students participate. At the beginning of the class, they were active, but when they were asked
to compare the meaning of the two conditional sentences in each dialogue, they did not dare
to answer. We contend two reasons of the students’ reluctance: the first one is that the teacher
was very new for them, and the second one is that they are not used to participating during
their English classes. Fortunately, they participated in the activities throughout the lesson after
long encouragement. This lesson is communicative in the way that it encourages students to
participate during the presentation of second conditional and the introduction of “I wish+ Past
Simple”. Thanks to the contextualization of the two conditional sentences, the students
understood that they do not express the same thing. Hence, it was not difficult to deal with the

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continuation of the lesson. Concerning the presentation of “I wish + Past Simple”, the
students enjoyed answering our questions upon the pictures and the bubbles (Appendix III).
They found most of our expected answers. Therefore, it was not difficult to tackle the rest of
the lesson. However, we had trouble dealing with speaking in the first production stage.
Although we asked them to talk with their friends, most of them just wrote their sentences in
their exercise books, but refused to speak. It is often a problem to ask students to speak,
especially when they are supposed to produce something and make a report. Finally, the
follow-up activity helped us to evaluate the students’ understanding of second conditional. It
is crucial to explain the meaning of the lyrics so as to show the relevance of the song to the
students. Listening to the song helped them to develop their listening skills and relaxed them
even though they were actually fixing the second conditional in their memory.
In a word, we would say that this lesson was successful in spite of some problems
about students’ participation because the students understood the use of second conditional in
real life situation like in the song “If I were a boy”. They understood that second conditional
expresses a wish and that there is another way to express a wish, which is “I wish + Past
Simple”.

3.1.2.2- Experimentation N° 2

Class: Terminale A

Lesson: WISHES AND REGRETS (continuation)/ 2nd session: REGRETS

Date: 2 hours

General objective: Students will be able to express wishes and regrets.

Specific objective: Students will be able to express regrets.

FIRST PART OF THE LESSON:

 Step 1: Presentation of third conditional expressing regrets (20 minutes)

Objective: Students will understand the form and use of third conditional and develop their
reading skill.

Language skill: READING

 Teacher gives two short texts where third conditional sentences are present:

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 1- I used to be good at natural sciences and chemistry when I was in high school. When I
succeeded in my BACC exam, I studied in the faculty of letters, but I couldn’t finish
my studies. Nowadays, I envy my friends who studied in the faculty of medicine. If I
had studied medicine, I would have been a doctor like them.
2- I will never forget the day when my brother started using a wheelchair after his
accident. It was my fault because he wouldn’t have had that accident if I hadn’t let
him drive my car. I really regret that.
 After a short checking of comprehension, teacher and students draw the form and the
use of third conditional in these texts:
 If clause (condition): PAST PERFECT: had + Past Participle
 Main clause (result): PAST CONDITIONAL (PERFECT CONDITIONAL):
would have + Past Participle.
 We use the third conditional to express regrets (dissatisfaction about the past)
 Teacher asks the students to interpret the meaning of the two sentences by saying the
real situations.
1- If I had studied medicine, I would have been a doctor like them.
Real situation: I did not study medicine, so I am not a doctor like my friends.
2- He wouldn’t have had that accident if I hadn’t let him drive my car.
Real situation: I let my brother drive my car, so he had the accident.
 Step 2: Practice of third conditional (15 minutes)

Objective: Students will be accurate when they use the third conditional.

Students are asked to rewrite some sentences about real situations into third
conditional sentences. Here is the exercise:

Rewrite the sentences by using the third conditional to express regrets.

e.g: Suzi didn’t take her umbrella, so she got wet

If Suzi had taken her umbrella, she would not have got wet.
1- We didn’t have breakfast, so we were hungry.
2- They arrived late, so they missed the meeting.
3- It wasn’t a nice day, so we stayed home.

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  Step 3: Production of third conditional (15 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ speaking skill by using third conditional sentences.

Language skill: SPEAKING

Students write three sentences about regrets they had in their life by using third conditional
sentences and say them to their friends (pair work). They should ask their friends about the
details of the events (the reasons of the regrets). Then, some students are asked to report their
conversation to the class.

SECOND PART OF THE LESSON:

 Step 1: Presentation of “I wish + Past Perfect” (20 minutes)

Objective: Students will understand the use of “I wish + Past Perfect”.

 Teacher asks the students to read this dialogue:

Nancy: Why are you so distracted, Norah?
Norah: I’m thinking about my past. I wish I had married Dawson.
Nancy: Do you mean you regret what you have done to him?
Norah: I wish I hadn’t left him.
 After an oral checking of understanding, teacher asks students to draw the other form
of expressing regrets: I wish + Past Perfect
 Step 2: Jigsaw reading: “NO REGRETS” (45 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ listening and reading skills about expressing regrets.

Language skill: LISTENING and READING

 Teacher shares sheets of paper containing the beginnings of the texts to the students
and give them time to read it silently:

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 Teacher shares other sheets of paper containing the continuations of the text and give
time to the students to do the task:

 After the correction, students listen to the track to check if they really found the right
continuations for each text. The right answers are: Erica e_d; Leroy f_c;
Marianne  b_a.
 Students read the text loudly. Then, they answer the following question:

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 1- How did Erica get the money for her business?
2- How long did the business survive?
3- Why couldn’t Leroy get a good job when he left school?
4- How did he pay for his education?
5- How old was Marianne when she got married?
6- Why does she feel jealous of her friends?

Comments on the performance:

It was really difficult to explain the meaning of third conditional sentences,
probably because the students were confused, and even frightened by the verb tenses in the
sentences. Although they knew in advance that they were going to learn how to express
regrets, they had trouble imagining the real situations behind the regrets in spite of the
contextualization. We were obliged to translate a part of the explanation in Malagasy, and that
worked because the students did not have problem with the practice and the production stages
afterwards. It is worth mentioning that communicative approach accepts judicious use of
mother tongue. As usual, the practice stage is done to check accuracy before moving to the
communicative activities in the production stage. We have taught the same class during our
first experimentation. As such, the students were less reluctant to talk to their friends during
the production stage. We moved around to listen to the students’ conversation, and we could
hear that they manage to use the third conditional appropriately to express their regrets. We
would say that the objective of this first part of the lesson was reached.
This lesson focuses on the topic “REGRETS”. That is why third conditional is not
the gist of the text we have chosen in the jigsaw reading activities. The listening and reading
activities are meant to fix the notion of regrets in the students’ memories. They also develop
the students’ listening and reading skills. We found out that the students were interested in the
text as the situations in it are authentic, and they enjoyed listening to native speakers. It was a
pity that we could not finish the correction before the bell rang. However, we would say that
the lesson was successful. We realize that teaching third conditional sentences
communicatively and integrated in the lesson about regrets is feasible and efficient in
“Terminale A” class.

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 3.1.2.3- Experimentation N° 3
Class: Première A
Lesson: FIRST AND SECOND CONDITIONAL
(Integrated in Unit 11: PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT)
Date: 11th April 2016
Duration: 2 hours
General objective: Students will be able to talk about environment
Specific objectives: - Students will be able to use the first conditional appropriately
- Students will be able to use the second conditional appropriately

PART ONE: FIRST CONDITIONAL

 Step 1: Warm-up (5 minutes)

Objective: Students will be familiar with the topic.

 Teacher asks the students what the effects of the degradation of the environment are
(reminding)
 Teacher explains that global warming is a dangerous effects of environmental
degradation and elicits the meaning of “global warming” (the globe or the earth
becomes warmer because the ozone layer disappears)
 Step 2: Presentation of first conditional (35 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ reading skill while explaining the form and use of first
conditional.

Language skill: READING

 Teacher shares the text “GLOBAL WARMING” (on sheets of paper) and students
answer some questions upon it:

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 1- Is global warming a problem for Ivan? Why or why not?
2- What will happen if they get better weather?
3- What will happen if global warming continues?
 After a written correction on the blackboard, teacher and students pick the sentences
with if clauses from the answers (which are in fact sentences from the text)
 Teacher explains the form and the use of the first conditional as well as the rules on
clause orderings by eliciting from the students:
 If clause: PRESENT SIMPLE
 Main clause: FUTURE (will+ V (-to))
 To express a real or possible situation and its result.
 To give a further explanation of “possible situation”, teacher gives other examples of
first conditional sentences:
- If my sister is wise, I will buy sweets for her.
- Your teacher will punish you if you don’t finish your homework.

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  Step 3: Practice of first conditional (10 minutes)

Objective: To fix the cause and effect relationship in students’ memory.

 Students are asked to match the environmental problems in the first column to the
solutions in the second column:

Problems Solutions

1- Automobile pipes a) We will have more rain if everyone plants trees and
pollute the air. take care of their trees.
2- We do not have b) If we dig holes to put their sewage and rubbish, we
enough rain because of will reduce water pollution.
deforestation. c) If people use unleaded petrol and better condition
3- People send their automobiles, we will have cleaner air.
sewage in the river.

 The exercise was corrected orally.

 Step 4: Production of the first conditional (15 minutes)

Objective: To involve students in a communicative activity by using first conditional

sentences.

Students take turn and go in front of the class. They are asked to draw at random a sheet of
paper containing the “if clause” part of a sentence. Then they continue the sentence by giving
its main clause. Here are some of the if clauses written in the sheets of paper:

- If I fall sick, …
- If students don’t study hard, …
- If we pass all our exams, …
- If I don’t eat for one day, …

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PART TWO: SECOND CONDITIONAL

 Step 1: Presentation of second conditional (20 minutes)

Objective: Students will know the form and understand the use of second conditional.

 Coming back to the text, students answer the following questions:

1- How would Ivan feel if he lived in a hot country?
2- What would Amihan and her husband do if they had more money?
 Students are asked to compare the form of the first and second conditional sentences:
what are the tenses of the verbs in the two sentences?
 Students draw the form of the second conditional:
 If clause: PAST SIMPLE
 Main clause: PRESENT CONDITIONAL: would + V (-to)
 Teacher explains that we use the second conditional to express unreal situations and
wishes. Then she gives other examples of second conditional sentences to explain
“unreal situations” more and to introduce the form of the verb “to be” in second
conditional sentences:
- If I were a billionaire, I would visit all the famous cities in the world.
- We would fly if we had wings.
 Step 2: practice of the second conditional (10 minutes)

Objective: To check students’ accuracy at using second conditional sentences.

 Students give the correct form of some verbs in brackets (the exercises were on
worksheets)
 Afterwards, they do the correction on the blackboard.
 Step 3: Production of the second conditional (20 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ speaking skill while using second conditional sentences.

Language skill: SPEAKING.

 In a group of four, students take turn by answering the following questions (they have
to look for different answers):
What would you do if:
- You won the lottery?
- You saw a man with a bomb on the bus?

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 - You had only one day to live?
- You dad had a girlfriend of your age?
- The police arrested you for a crime you didn’t commit?
 Teacher asks one representative from each group to make reports of their group’s
conversation.

Comments on the performance:

This lesson is integrated in Unit 11 of the syllabus of “Première” class

“PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT” in order to provide a clear context to the teaching
of first and second conditional. However, as the objective is to enable students to use those
grammar points appropriately, we did not stay in the context of environment and
environmental problems in the practice of second conditional and in production stages. The
presentation of the first conditional was the hardest part of our teaching. A lot of time had to
be spent to deal with the reading comprehension. The flaw of this performance is that the
teacher had to give the use of first and second conditional because the students were reluctant
to answer the elicitations. Fortunately, once the students understood the form and the use, they
could finish the exercises as quickly as we expected. As far as the subpart on second
conditional is concerned, it was also difficult to make some students speak during the
production stage. That may be due to the lack of imagination because in speaking, they are
not given long time to think like in writing. However, we can say that this lesson was
successful because most of the students could use the structures appropriately in the exercises
that we gave. The objective in developing the students’ reading and speaking skills was also
reached.

3.1.2.4- Experimentation N° 4

Class: Terminale D

Lesson: FIRST AND SECOND CONDITIONAL

Date: 19th April 2016

Duration: 2 hours

Objective: students will be able to use first and second conditional appropriately.

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PART ONE: FIRST CONDITIONAL

 Step 1: Presentation of first conditional (20 minutes)

Objective: Students will know the form and understand the use of first conditional.

 Teacher asks the students what they will do if they do not have class the next
Wednesday (as it was Tuesday).
Student 1: If we don’t have class on Wednesday, I will sleep.
Student 2: If we don’t have class on Wednesday, I will play video games.
 Teacher elicits the form and the use of first conditional from the students.
 If clause: PRESENT SIMPLE; Main clause: FUTURE: will + V (-to)
 Teacher corrects that we use first conditional to express a real or possible
condition (situation) in the future and its result.
 Teacher explains the meaning of “real” and “possible” situation.
 Step 2: Practice of first conditional (10 minutes)

Objective: Students will be accurate when they use the first conditional.

 Students are asked to put some verbs in brackets into the correct form and to do the
correction on the blackboard afterwards.
1- You ______________ a cheaper holiday if you _________ it now. (get/book)
2- If we ___________ on Wednesday, the airport ________ busy. (travel/not be)
3- I __________ the party if you ____________. (enjoy/come)
4- If you ___________ Jack, _______ you ________ “hallo”? (see/say)
 Step 3: Production of first conditional (20 minutes)

Objective: Students will produce first conditional sentences in real life situations and
communicate so as to develop their speaking skill.

Language skill: SPEAKING

 Students are divided into 4 groups and play an if chain game. The game consists in
building a first conditional sentence which starts with an if clause. Then, another
student built a new sentence by starting it with the main clause of the previous
sentence. Every group starts with the sentence: “If I eat a lot of food, …”.
 There are two or more clever students in each group to correct their friends’ mistakes.
Teacher supervises the game by circulating in the classroom.

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 PART TWO: SECOND CONDITIONAL

 Step 1: Presentation of second conditional (20 minutes)

Objective: Students will know the form and use of second conditional.

 Teacher asks the students what they would do if they were very rich.

Student 1: If I were very rich, I would build a big house.

Student 2: If I were very rich, I would buy many cars.

 Teacher asks the students to draw the form and elicit the use of second conditional.
 If clause: PAST SIMPLE; Main clause: PRESENT CONDITIONAL

Elicitation: - Do these sentences mean that you are really rich now?  No, they don’t. We are
not rich.

- When do we use second conditional sentences, then?  To express unreal

condition or situation.
 Teacher adds: we use the second conditional to express imaginary situations, dreams
and wishes.
 Step 2: Practice of the second conditional (15 minutes)

Objective: Students will be accurate when they use the second conditional.

a) Circle the correct alternative:

1- We (will be/ am/ would be) happy if Mom were alive.
2- Would you visit me if you (had/ have/ had had) a car?
3- If I (earn/ earned/ had earned) more money, I would build a house.
4- If Celine Dion came in Madagascar, I (would attend/ will attend/ attend) her show.

b) Complete with the correct form of the verbs:

1- If I __________ (move) to France, I __________ (live) in Paris.
2-We _____________ (buy) the flat if it ________ (have) another bedroom.
3- If you __________ (see) a crocodile, you ___________ (panic).
4-Our headmaster ____________ (be) very beautiful if he _______ (be) a woman.

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  Step 3: Production of second conditional (30 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ listening skill by showing them an authentic song with
second conditional sentences.

Language skill: LISTENING

 Students are asked to fill the blanks in these lyrics:
Hero (Enrique Iglesias)
………………………. if I asked you to dance?
………………………… and never look back?
Would you cry if ……………………….. crying?
Would you save my soul tonight?
Would you …………… if I touched your lips?
Would you laugh? Oh, please tell me this.
Now …………………….. for the one you love?
Hold me in your arms tonight.
 After the correction, teacher explains what the lyrics mean. The, the students are given
the complete lyrics and sing with music

Comments on the performance:

Most of the students in this class have been taught by the same English teacher in
the previous level (“première” class). Their teacher said that they had learnt first and second
conditional in “première”. That is the reason why we have chosen to elicit from the students
in the presentation stages. When we presented the first conditional, our aim was to check if
the students understood what we meant. The sentences given by the students are personalized
and related to their real life. They gave grammatically correct sentences about their future
plans if they do not have class on Wednesday. The students were aware that we use first
conditional sentences to express future plan (or more precisely a future condition and its
possible result) but they could not express themselves correctly. That is why we gave the
correct answer about the use of first conditional. In addition to that, the students enjoyed the if
chain game in which they had the opportunity to speak by creating first conditional sentences.
The lesson was communicative and lively because it was full of interaction.
The same procedure was followed for the second conditional. Generally, the lesson
was successful but the problem was that some students do not master irregular verbs. They
also enjoyed the song in the production stage as the use of songs is always an interesting and

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relaxing technique to teach English. In a word, we are satisfied with this experimentation and
we do not have many comments about it. The objective, which is to promote communicative
grammar, was reached as it was not difficult to teach the students in this class.

3.1.2.5- Experimentation N° 5
Class: Terminale C
Lesson: THIRD CONDITIONAL
Date: 26th April 2016
Duration: 2 hours
Objective: Students will be able to use the third conditional appropriately and in realistic
context
 Step 1: Warm-up (5 minutes)

Objective: Students will remember the first and second conditional sentences before dealing
with third conditional.

 Reminding of the form and use of first and second conditional

 Step 2: Presentation of the third conditional (60 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ reading skill and explain the form and use of third
conditional.

Language skill: READING

 Teacher shares the text and students answer the comprehension questions.

Text : SAVED BY A SPIDER

Theo Minsk remembers the day that a spider saved his life. “If it hadn’t rained, I would
have gone to the beach. However, it rained all day, so I tidied my garage instead. While I
was doing it, a spider bit my neck. My wife was worried about me, because some spiders
in Australia are very poisonous. So, we went to the hospital. When the doctors examined
me, they noticed a lump on my neck. But it wasn’t the spider’s bite. Tests showed that I
was suffering from cancer.” Today, after several months of treatment, the cancer has gone.
“Life can be strange”, says Theo. “My wife wouldn’t have taken me to the hospital if the

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 spider hadn’t bitten me. Then we probably wouldn’t have found the lump in time. If I had
left it for a few months, it would have been too late. That spider saved my life!”

Answer the following questions:

1- What is this text about?

2- What would Theo Minsk have done if it hadn’t rained?
3- What happened while he was tidying his garage?
4- What would have happened if the spider hadn’t bitten him?
5- What would have been the problem if he had left the lump for a few months?

 Students read the text (loud reading). Then teacher explains some unfamiliar words:
“lump”, … etc
 Correction of the reading comprehension
 Explanation of the form and use of the third conditional:
 If clause: PAST PERFECT; Main clause: PAST CONDITIONAL (PERFECT
CONDITIONAL): would have + past participle
 To imagine past events and their result happening differently
 To express regrets (dissatisfaction about the past). Eg: If I had worked hard, I
would have passed my exam. (= I did not work hard, so I did not pass my exam)

 Step 3: Practice of third conditional (20 minutes)

Objective: Students will practice the third conditional accurately.

Students are asked to write the correct form of the verbs between brackets.
Afterwards, they did the correction on the blackboard.
1- If Susan _____________ (not eat) too much, she ____________ not feel sick.
2- Marco ______________ (not miss) his appointment if he _____________ (get up) on
time.
3- If I ___________ (not go) to the party, I _______________ (not meet) my boyfriend.
4- I _______________ (not complain) about the taxi if it ______________ (not arrive)
late.
5- If it ___________ (be) warm, we _____________ (go) out.
6- If you ____________ (work) hard, you _____________ (pass) your exams.

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  Step 4: Production of third conditional: competition (30 minutes)

Objective: To develop students’ writing skill by producing third conditional sentences.

Language skill: WRITING

 Teacher explains the rules:
- It is an individual work
- Students have to find as many sentences as possible to continue the story
- 4 students will go to the blackboard to copy their answers after 15 minutes of
writing
- The students who found the most sentences in a meaningful story with the least
grammatical mistakes will win a prize (a gift from the teacher)

Here is the exercise:

Think of a turning point in your life, when something changed.

1- I had a toothache.

2-I went to the dentist’s.

3-I read a magazine there.

4-I saw an advert for a job.

5-…………………………..

6-…………………………

7-…………………………...

8-……………………………

Change the events into third conditionals:

1-If I hadn’t had a toothache, I wouldn’t have gone to the dentist’s.

2-If I hadn’t gone to the dentist’s, I wouldn’t have read ……………………….

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 Comments on the performance:

We had to spend one hour dealing with the presentation stage as the text is quite long.
However, the students could find most of the expected answers. Therefore, it was not difficult
to explain the form and the use of third conditional sentences. Concerning the practice stage,
some students did not know to write the past conditional form of some verbs, but in general,
they did not make serious mistakes. In addition to that, the students were interested and
motivated in the competition. A student found four more sentences to continue the story and
made no mistake. It is worth re-explaining that communicative activities can also be done
through written composition like this one. Here, the point is that students manage to express
hypothesis like in realistic situations by using third conditional sentences. Clearly, our fifth
and last experimentation was satisfactory because the students were motivated and we
reached our objectives.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS ON THE EXPERIMENTATIONS

After experimenting on a few lesson plans, we can draw the following conclusion.
First of all, the experimentations allowed us to experience what really happens when we
teach. Actually, we realized that it is easier to carry out the teaching when you are well-
prepared mentally as well as materially. In other words, when the lesson is well-prepared with
appropriate materials such as worksheets, the lesson is easy to teach and it is successful.
Moreover, even though it costs us a lot of money to make research and photocopies of all the
materials, we felt that it is worth it because we noticed that students were motivated to learn
conditional sentences thanks to the texts, games and songs which help them understand the
use of conditional sentences in realistic contexts. Finally, we should avoid spoon-feeding the
students with pre-established rules and structural exercises when we teach conditional
sentences because this makes them feel bored.

In a word, we would say that teaching conditional sentences communicatively is

important and helpful but teacher should select the language skills to be integrated in the
lesson so as to meet the students’ interest, to fit their level, and to respect timing.

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3.2- TEACHING SUGGESTIONS

We think that reporting and analyzing the experimented lesson plans are not enough to
bring improvement to the teaching of conditional sentences in a communicative way. As such,
we put forward some teaching tips on the teaching of grammar in general, the teaching of
conditional sentences and on the use of communicative activities in class. The suggestions are
related to the problems raised by the target teacher in our questionnaire survey and in the
classroom observations.

3.2.1- On teaching grammar

Teaching grammar can be boring if teachers think of it as teaching prescriptive rules to

the students. Students may also be bored if they are always given rules and asked to apply
them in accuracy exercises. We suggest that teachers should look for topics that interest
students in order to draw their attention. In the present study, we have given some interesting
ways of teaching conditionals. They can be applied in any grammar teaching. The most
important principle that teachers should bear in mind is that teaching grammar is not only
meant to develop students’ grammatical competence but also to develop their communicative
competence at using the grammatical structures that they learn. In other words, both form and
meaning are important when we teach grammar. Mastering the form means students are
accurate when they use the grammar point, and as such they have grammatical competence
whereas understanding the meaning helps them to develop their communicative competence
at using that grammar point in realistic situation.

3.2.2- On teaching conditional sentences

There are some “do and don’ts” in the teaching of conditional sentences. The first
thing teachers should know is that it is difficult for students to remember the structure of
English conditional sentences because of their complexity. As such, all the three types should
not be taught in one session, especially if third conditional is presented for the first time. We
suggest that teachers can teach the first and second conditional in one session because they are
supposed to be revised in “première” and “terminale” classes. Third conditional should be
presented alone afterwards. Teachers should not teach another type if the type being taught is

90
not well acquired by students because students may be confused. In addition to that, students
should not be forced to remember linguistic or grammatical terminologies such as
“subordinate clause”, “subordinator (if)”, “if clause”, “main clause” … since practice is more
important than theory in grammar teaching. Instead, students should know the relation
condition-result, no matter if they do not remember how to call the clauses.

Non-mastery of irregular verbs is also a major problem mentioned by the teachers in

the field investigation. Many English language teachers are used to punishing students who do
not remember irregular verbs. We suggest that frequent repetition is a solution to that
problem. Past tenses must be taught before conditional sentences. As such, teachers should
give as many exercises as possible so that students will remember at least five irregular verbs
per week. Teachers can motivate students to learn irregular verbs by giving marks as bonus to
the courageous students.

3.2.3- On using communicative activities in grammar class

Using communicative activities in grammar class is a challenge for teachers. They

have to select the appropriate activities for their students. They have to make sure that the
activities are really communicative and communication really takes place. Thereby, teachers
should focus on the objective of the lesson, the level of the students, their interests and their
expected reactions, the length of the activities as well as the different steps to reach the
objective. As such, they will not have problems of timing as they are supposed to know the
available time for completing a task. The point is to balance the timing, depending on the
allotted time. Teachers should also know on which stage they should focus more: is it the first
time to present the structure to the students or do the students need reinforcement. Moreover,
classroom management is important in completing communicative tasks since there are group
works and pair works. A teacher should know the number of his or her students. The members
of a group should not be more than four students, except the case of if chain game in which
there should be six to twelve students. Teachers should avoid too much choir repetition
because some students may not participate at all.

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CONCLUSION TO PART THREE

The third part of this research work consists of experimented lesson plans and teaching
suggestions. Our aim consists in experimenting on a few lesson plans and giving some tips on
the application of communicative grammar and the teaching of conditional. We realized that
without the communicative activities, it would have been difficult for us to teach the three
types of conditional sentences because students would not have understood the use of
conditional sentences in real life situations. Furthermore, students would not have been
motivated and interested if we had taught conditional sentences by giving the rules and asking
them to do accuracy practice exercises, without involving them in communication and
showing them the use of conditional sentences in more extended and realistic contexts. It
means that it is crucial to find topics or activities that interest students when teachers want to
teach conditional sentences. We hope that the teaching suggestions will be helpful for English
teachers who are interested in applying communicative grammar, not only in the teaching of
conditional sentences, but also in teaching grammar in general.

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 GENERAL CONLUSION

Although the English conditional sentences are taught from the lower levels in
Malagasy secondary schools, still many Malagasy students in “première” and “terminale”
classes are not able to use them communicatively. The topic of this research work being
“ Promoting Communicative Grammar to Improve the Teaching of Conditional sentences in
“Première” and “Terminale” Classes” aimed at suggesting communicative grammar teaching
as an improvement of students’ understanding of English conditional sentences, more
precisely their use in real life situations.

In the first part of this work, we have considered the theories on which our topic is
based. The main task consists of literature review which aims at finding out information about
English conditional sentences and the communicative teaching of English conditional
sentences. Since our goal is to achieve a better fit between grammar and communication, this
first part helps us realize that communicative grammar teaching is of paramount importance
because it broadens students’ mind to use grammatical rules for communicative purpose both
in written and oral form, as many specialists affirm in their theories. The theoretical
framework of this study shows the importance of integrating language skills in the teaching of
grammar, namely conditional sentences, because communicative grammar implies
communicative activities, and communicative activities come of the integration of skills.

We decided to meet the teachers at lycées to gather factual information about the
actual teaching of conditional sentences in “première” and “terminale” classes. That is why
the second part of this study is composed of the data collected from our field investigation.
The investigation was carried out through a questionnaire survey and classroom observations.
The collected data helped us a great deal to know what occurs in the classroom during courses
on conditionals. In other words, this second part is a reflection of the teaching of grammar in
Malagasy lycées. As a result, we noticed that in some classes, teachers use techniques and
activities which only develops students’ grammatical competence but does not prepare them
to the real world communication when using the grammatical rules they have learnt.

We did not stop our research work on reporting the actual teaching of conditional
sentences in Malagasy lycées because our aim is to bring improvement upon it. As such, the
third part consists in experimenting on a few lesson plans in order to know how much the

93
theories we developed in part one contribute to the improvement of the teaching and learning
of conditional sentences so as to provide the students with real life situations and to develop
their communicative competence in using conditional sentences in realistic contexts and
situations. The experimentations taught us that it is very important to find communicative
activities when we teach conditional sentences in order to reach the objective of this
dissertation. In the second subpart of the third part, teaching suggestions about the teaching of
grammar were given as well as some do and don’ts about the teaching of conditional
sentences, and some tips on the use of communicative activities in grammar classes. Although
they are short, we hope that they will be helpful for teachers of English who will read this
dissertation.

In a word, we conclude that many teachers in Malagasy lycées do not teach

conditional sentences communicatively. As a result, it is not surprising if the students forget
their lesson easily and are not able to relate their thoughts properly when they should use
conditionals. This research has been conducted in order to help teachers and future teachers to
find ways to improve the teaching of conditional sentences in “première” and “terminale”
classes. In spite of some imperfections, the lesson plans that have been experimented were
proved to be effective as they really helped us with everything we taught. As such, we suggest
that teachers should always teach conditional sentences communicatively by showing the use
of the grammatical structures in real life situations and by involving the students in
communication during the lesson procedures. We hope that this research will lead future
researchers to make further investigations on the communicative teaching of other
grammatical points to Malagasy students. For example, an important research subject could
be on finding the “best way” to teach some English verb tenses communicatively.

94
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Look. In S. Savignon & M. S Berns (Eds), Initiatives in Communicative Language
Teaching. A book of Readings. Reading, P.A: Addison-Wesley, 1984.
2- Celce-Murcia, M. and Larsen-Freeman, D. The Grammar Book, an ESL/EFL
Teacher’s Course. 2nd edition, Newbury House: Heinle & Heinle, 1999.

3- Crystal, D. Rediscover Grammar, 3rd edition, Pearson Longman, 2004.

4- Cunningsworth, A. (1984), Evaluating and Selecting EFL Teaching Materials.
London: Heinemann, 2004.

5- Doff, A. A Training Course for Teachers. Cambridge University Press in association

with the British Council, 1990.
6- Ellis, R. Becoming Grammatical. Pearson Education, 1997. Available in
http://www.impactseries.com/grammar/becoming.html,
7- Erlandson, D. A.; Harris, E. L.; Skipper, B. L. & Allen, S. D. Doing Naturalistic
Inquiry : A Guide to Methods. Newbury Park, C.A: Sage, 1993.
8- Garner, B. Garner’s Modern American Usage, 3rd edition. Oxford Dictionaries
Online, 2009.
9- Handy Learner’s Dictionary of American English. Pearson Longman, 2000.
10- Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching, 4th edition. Pearson Longman
Limited, 2007
11- Hutchinson, T. English for Life (Pre-Intermediate, Student’ book). Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2007.
12- Hymes, D. H. On Communicative Competence. Philadelphia: Philadelphia University
Press.

13- Jean Noel Elysé. Teaching the Present Tense by Using Visuals. CAPEN dissertation,
Antananarivo, ENS 2006.
14- Marshall, C. & Rossman, G. B. Designing Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, C.A:
Sage, 1995.
15- Matthews, A., M. Spratt and L. Dangerfield (Eds) , At the Chalkface: Practical
Techniques in Language Teaching. Great Britain: Edward and Arnold, 1985.

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16- Norris, R. W. How do we overcome the difficulties of teaching conditionals? Bulletin
of Fukuoka International University, No. 9: 39-50 , 2003.
17- Penny, R. Variation and Change in Spanish. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18- Petrovitz, W. The Role of Context in the Presentation of Grammar, 1997 in ELT
Journal, 2000.
19- Quirk, R. and S. Greenbaum. A Concise Grammar of Temporary English. New York:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973.
20- Rajaona, S. Structure du Malgache. Doctorate thesis, 1972.

21- Richards, J. and Rodgers, T. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: A

Description and Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
22- Richards, J. Communicative Language Teaching Today. Cambridge University Press,
2006
23- Schmuck, R. Practical Action Research for Change. Arlington Heights, IL: IRI/
Skylight Training and Publishing, 1997.
24- The American Heritage College Dictionary. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
2007.
25- The Associated Press Stylebook, 38th edition. Editor: Norm Goldstein, 2003.
26- Thomson, A.J and Martinet, A.V. A Practical English Grammar, 4th edition. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1986.

27- Thornbury, S. How to Teach Grammar. England: Pearson Longman, 1999.

28- Ur, P. Grammar Practice Activities. Cambridge University Press, 1988.
29- Ur, P. The Other Things Matter. London: Longman, 1991.
30- Vilatte, J. C., Méthodologie de l’enquête par questionnaire. Université d’Avignon,
2007.
31- Widdowson, H.G, The Teaching of English as Communication in Brumfit, C.J and K.
Johnson (Eds), The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1979.
32- William, A. S., The Gregg Reference Manual, 10th edition. Mc Graw-Hill Companies,
Avenue of the Americas, New York.
33- Wu, C.H.F. A Study of Counterfactuals in Chinese and in English. Taipei, Taiwan:
Crane Publishing, 1994.
34- Zafiarisoa, R. L. Integrated Lesson Plans Based on Unit 1 of the current “Classe de
Seconde” Syllabus. CAPEN Dissertation, Antananarivo, ENS 2005.

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APPENDICES

67
APPENDIX I: THE QUESTIONNAIRE

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear teachers,

We will be grateful if you could fill in the following questionnaire in order to help us with our
research work on promoting communicative grammar to improve the teaching of conditional
sentences in “première” and “terminale” classes.

1- What is your degree or diploma?

e) Maitrise
f) CAPEN
g) Licence
h) Other (please, specify)

2- In your opinion, what is the objective of grammar teaching?

e) To make students apply grammatical rules in their grammar exercises
f) To make students write grammatically correct sentences in their writing tests
g) To improve students’ ability to use grammatical rules in real life communication
h) Others (please, specify)

3- How do your students like grammar classes?

d) Very much
e) So so
f) Not so much

4- If your answer to the 3rd question is “not so much”, why do you think the
students do not really like grammar?
e) They see grammar as a matter of always applying rules
f) The teacher does not know how to elicit
g) They are not interested in the topics the teacher uses to introduce the lessons
h) They do not have the opportunity to communicate during grammar classes

5- Do you integrate language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) when you
teach grammar?
c) YES
d) NO

i
6- If you integrate language skills when teaching grammar, it is because:
e) They motivate students and arouse their interests
f) They facilitate the teaching of grammar and bring variety in it
g) They provide more realistic situations
h) Other reasons (please, specify)

7- If you do not integrate language skills, it is because:

e) You have never thought about that
f) Integrating language skills is time-consuming
g) It is difficult to find appropriate situations for some grammatical items
h) Other reasons (please, specify)

8- Which of the three types of conditional sentences is the most difficult to be

acquired by students?
d) First conditional
e) Second conditional
f) Third conditional

9- What is students’ main difficulty in learning conditional sentences?

e) Confusion on the use of the three different types
f) Non-mastery of irregular verbs
g) Confusion on verb tense coordination
h) Other problems (please, specify)

10- As a teacher, what is your biggest problem in teaching conditional sentences?

a) To choose the language to facilitate the explanation
b) To find authentic situations or topics to teach the structures
c) Other problems (please specify)

11- How do you usually present a lesson on conditional sentences?

a) I present the rules and then I give some example of sentences
b) I use a dialogue or a text and ask students to discover the rules
c) I teach all the three types within one session by using a chart
d) I give a situation and ask the students to give examples
e) Others (please, specify)

ii
 12- What kind of activities do you usually ask students to do during the production
stage of a lesson on conditional sentences?
f) To write any conditional sentences of their own
g) To have a pair or group conversation about a given topic
h) To write and tell a story about their life (or not) by using conditional sentences
i) To play games about conditional sentences
j) Other activities (please, specify)

13- Do you think integrating some language skills in the teaching of conditional
sentences can help students to learn those structures?
c) YES
d) NO

14- If your answer to the previous question is “YES”, which of the following skills is
better to improve students’ assimilation of conditional sentences?
e) Reading
f) Listening
g) Speaking
h) Writing

15- In your opinion, in which stage of the teaching should we involve students in
communication?
e) In the presentation stage
f) In the practice stage
g) In the production stage
h) At any stage if possible

16- A few words about the teaching of conditional sentences in “première” and
“terminale” classes…

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

iii
APPENDIX II: ON THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS

Classroom observation N° 1: Practice of first conditional

I. Put the verbs in brackets in the correct form

Eg: If I (give) him his medicine, he (live).

If I give him his medicine, he will live.

1. If the doctor (take) care of the patient, less people (die).

2. If we (not bring) an umbrella, we (be) wet.
3. She (receive) this letter tomorrow if you (send) it right now.
4. If he (get) a ticket, Simon (fly) to London.
5. If you (hit) the baby, he (cry).
6. Peggy (go) shopping this afternoon if she (have) time.

II. Jill and Tina are waiting at the bus stop. They’re on their way to the cinema. Complete
their story. Use the end of the previous sentence to begin the next sentence.

JILL: Oh dear, what happened to the bus? Why hasn’t it come?

TINA: If (1) the bus doesn’t come soon, we’ll be late.

JILL: If (2) late, we’ll miss the beginning of the film.

TINA: If (3) of the film, we won’t understand the story.

JILL: If (4) the story, we’ll be bored.

TINA: If (5) , we’ll probably fall asleep.

JILL: If (6) , we’ll miss the end of the film.

TINA: Let’s not go to the cinema.

Classroom observation N° 1: Production of first conditional

Text : « Our environment »

The earth is our home and we must take care of it. If we destroy the environment, we won’t have a
place for living. If we don’t have a place for living, the next generation will be destroyed. This means
we must preserve the quality of our environment.

Consume, consume, consume! Our society is a dangerous consumer. To keep industries developed, we
consume goods in endless quantities. If we consume that much, it will quickly exhaust our natural
resources. Yet, this is only half of the problem. Many people use bad quality automobiles every day. If
people use bad quality automobiles, the air will be polluted. The uncontrolled use of insecticides has

iv
polluted the land and killed the wildlife. If we dump sewage and chemicals into rivers and lakes, we
will contaminate our drinking water. If we live under these conditions, we will die in a very short time.

When will this all end? If we don’t stop this, we will dig ourselves into a hole. If we do not find ways
to control all of these facts, we will get lost and will be irreversible. What to do? If we stop the
industries, it will reduce the problems. But it will never stop because everyone wants jobs. Instead, we
should make sure that the fuel used in is clean and they must be equipped with filters to reduce smoke.
We can also build sewage-treatment plants. What does it mean? The sewage won’t be sent to the lakes
anymore, it will be sent into a giant pipe where the liquid and the solid get separated. If we recycle the
liquid, it will be reused as water supply; and we can also use the solids as fertilizer. If we use better
condition cars, we will have cleaner air. If we equip car with pollution control device, we will reduce
the harmful gases emitted from the engine. We cannot eliminate pollution, but we can urge people to
stop bad habits.

Reading comprehension:

I. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the main problems of the environment?
2. What are the major causes for the degradation of the environment?
3. What are the solutions suggested by the text?

II. Match the problems to the solutions:

Problems Solutions

1. Sewage pollutes water.
2. Automobiles pollute the
air.
3. People consume goods
excessively.
4. Chemical products are
spread all over the air.
a) If the industries use clean fuel and filter, the problem
will be reduced.
b) If we build sewage-treatment plants, we will have more
water to drink.
c) If we control the use of insecticides, we will reduce the
spread of chemical products in the air.
d) If we use better condition automobiles, we will prevent
harmful gases from being emitted.

Classroom observation N° 2: Practice of third conditional

Complete the sentences by putting the verbs in brackets into the appropriate tense:

a) If he (not go) to the party, he (not be) in prison now!

b) If he (think) about it more carefully, he (may choose)
another costume.
c) He (may leave) his car at home if he (choose) another costume.
d) If he (feel) less embarrassed at the party, he (may drink) less.
e) His car (can still be) outside the party if he (take) a taxi.
f) If he (not jump) the red light, the police (not stop) him.

v
 g) He (be) happy sleeping in his bed if he (not be) arrested.
h) If none of this (happen), he (can feel) much happier.

Classroom observation N° 3: Exercises

I. Put in the correct tenses of the verbs :

1. If people four arms, life easier. (have/be)
2. We the sea if the weather better.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
3. If you read people’s thoughts, what you ? (can/do)
4. You in your exam if you hard. (succeed/study)
5. If my car ,I here at 8 o’clock.
I’m so ashamed of my boss. (not break down/be)

II. Build up three sentences with the conditional type 1, type 2, and type 3.

Classroom observation N° 4: Exercises

1 – Match the clauses in column B with those in column A:

A B
1 ‐ if you help me wash my car. a ‐ you get wet.
2 ‐ If it rains, b- I would have gone to the hospital.
3- If she trained more, c- I will buy you lunch.
4 ‐ If I had had an accident, d- she would be stronger.

2 ‐ Fill in the blanks with the correct tenses:

‐ If I (to buy) that car, I would have had an accident.

‐ If you heat ice, it (to melt).
‐ If you went to bed earlier, you (not to be tired).
‐ If you had worked harder, you (to pass) the exam.
‐ If I (to win) a million dollars, I would buy a yacht.
‐ I will tell John you are looking for him if I (to see) him.
‐ I (to meet) Bart if I had gone to the party.
‐ I would have had an operation if I (to go) to the hospital.

vi
‐ We (to miss) the train if you don’t hurry.
‐ If that house (to collapse), many people would be killed.
‐ He (to walk) if the train is too late.
‐ The customer (to find) a bottle of whisky if he had searched my bag.
‐ Will you phone me if there (to be) any problem?
‐ If you drove more carefully, you (not to have) so many accidents.
‐ If I had known how expensive this car was, I (not to hire) it.
‐ He will see interesting old buildings if he (to visit) Oxford.
‐ The children (to be) better swimmer if they swam more frequently.
‐ If I (to be) you, I wouldn’t worry about going to university.
‐ I wouldn’t mind having children if we (to live) in the country.

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APPENDIX III: ON THE EXPERIMENTED LESSON PLANS

Experimentation N°1 : Practice of the second conditional & Lyrics of the song “If I were
a boy”

Put the verbs between brackets into the correct form to have second conditional
sentences :

1- If I __________(to have) a year off, I _____________ (to travel) round the world.
2- If I ____________(find) a mobile phone, I ______________ (not to use) it.
3- I _______________ (to learn) another language if I ________________ (to have) more
time.
4- If someone ______________( to steal) my mobile phone, I _______________ ( to
contact) the police.
5- I ______________ (to stay) in bed if it ______________ (to be) Sunday today.
6- If we _______________ (not to have) an exam tomorrow, I ___________ ( to
come ) with you.
7- People _______________ ( not to fly ) so much if air travel ______________ ( to
become ) more expensive

If I Were A Boy (Beyoncé)

{verse 1}
If I were a boy even just for a day
I would roll out of bed in the morning
And throw on what I wanted and go
Drink beer with the guys
And chase after girls
I would kick it with who I wanted
And I would never get confronted for it
'Cause they stick up for me

{Chorus}
If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I'd be a better man
I would listen to her
'Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted
'Cause he's taking you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

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Presentation of « I wish + Past simple » (Experimentation N° 1)

ix
Experimentation N° 4 : Production of second conditional

Song: “Hero” (Enrique Iglesias)

x
APPENDIX IV: Teaching second conditional communicatively (in PART ONE)

Lyrics of the song “Locked away”

xi
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UNIVERSITY OF ANTANANARIVO
ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE
English Department

TITLE: PROMOTING COMMUNICATIVE GRAMMAR TO IMPROVE THE

TEACHING OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN “PREMIERE” AND
“TERMINALE” CLASSES
AUTHOR: RAKOTONJANAHARY Zolalaina Harifenitra

ADDRESS: VX 28 Avaradrova Haute Ville

ABSTRACT
This dissertation proposes to demonstrate the possibility of applying communicative
grammar based on the communicative approach in the teaching of conditional sentences in
“première” and “terminale” classes in Madagascar. It is written owing to the contention,
which was confirmed by the field investigation, that students have difficulty in using
conditional sentences in real life situations. The present study gives solutions that could
enable them to use conditionals communicatively in written and oral form. This can be
achieved by integrating language skills in the teaching of those grammatical structures.

KEY WORDS: conditional sentences, communicative, communication, communicative

grammar, integration of skills, contextualization, real life situations, realistic situations,
elicitation.

NUMBER OF PAGES: 96

NUMBER OF FIGURES: 12

NUMBER OF TABLES: 03

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