ELT-5

THE TEACHING
AND ASSESSMENT
OF GRAMMAR
 COURSE
DESCRIPTION
This course equips the pre-service English teachers with an
understanding between and among the four types of grammar:
functional, descriptive, prescriptive and pedagogic.

Aside from the emphasis on how teaching and assessment vary

considering the four types, the course also provides an avenue to
carry out analysis on the role of grammar in achieving
communicative competence.
Specifically, it allows them to demonstrate linguistic
proficiency as an important factor in promoting their
students’ literacy skills.

As a manifestation of this competency, they are required

to apply teaching strategies that are responsive to their
students’ linguistic backgrounds considering the
principles of formative and summative assessments.
COURSE
OUTLINE
PRELIM
Key Terms and Concepts in Managing and
Implementing Standards-based Grammar Teaching

1.Grammar and Grammaring

2.Error correction VS Feedback
3.Spoken VS Written grammar
4.Grammatical assessment
5.Pedagogical Issues
MIDTERM
Methods of Teaching Grammar
1.Learning through writing
2.Inductive teaching
3.Deductive teaching
4. Interactive teaching
5. Functional-notional approach
6.Situational contexts
7.Using texts, stories, songs and rhymes
8.PPP
Modes for Teaching Grammar
1.Linguistic mode
2.Story-telling mode
PREFINAL
Rules for Teaching Grammar
1.Rule of Context
2.Rule of Use
3.Rule of Economy
4.Rule of Relevance
5.Rule of Nurture
6.Rule of Appropriacy
FINAL
Assessing Grammar Effectively
1. Ways to address grammar in the writing classroom
2. Ways to assess grammar skill
3. Methods of marking grammatical errors
4. Grammar resources
5. Three- Dimensional Grammar Framework
6. Innovations in grammar assessment
7. Redefining the construct
8. Partial scoring
9. Social dimension
10.The standard
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
IN MANAGING AND
IMPLEMENTING
STANDARDS-BASED
GRAMMAR TEACHING
Grammar is more than just form.

There should be meaning in what we form

so we can use it appropriately in the right
context to help us get the message across.

As future teachers of English, you need to

remember these concepts on grammar:
form, meaning, and use so you can do
away with teaching students grammar that
is overly focused on form making our
students too conscious if they had
technically said it right.
There is nothing wrong with being
able to produce accurate
sentences, that’s grammar but
one should not lose sight of the
idea that each correctly and
accurately produced sentence
should have meaning and
appropriate use.
Grammar ability needs to be- accurate,
meaningful and appropriate- well, maybe
teachers have quiet different views of
grammar.

It should be noted that grammar knowledge

does not just relate to accuracy.

Components of meaning (semantics) and

use (pragmatics) are important parts of
grammar knowledge can help you as future
grammar teachers to be more effective.
Implementing a variety of standard-based teaching
strategies and techniques for teaching grammar in
the development and integration of English skills is
important.

“Standard” is the regularization of the grammar,

spelling, language usage, and not to minimal
desirability or interchangeability.

Teaching and learning a language serve as a

liberating factor because it educates people in what
language and linguistic manners are all about
hence, we need to study the different key terms
and concepts in study of grammar.
 GRAMMAR
AND
GRAMMARING
Grammar is what one knows about a
language – the phonology, syntax,
semantics and pragmatics while
language skills are what we do with
language including speaking, listening,
writing and reading.

(Mohamed Benhima,2015)
Grammar was then considered a method of teaching and
learning a language is what we called Grammar Translation
Approach which viewed grammar as the core of the
language.

However, the notion of grammar has changed with a shift

from philology to linguistics.

The outburst of modern linguistics described grammar as a

system of structures besides vocabulary and pronunciation.

The shift from structuralism to transformational grammar has

become a system of rules every native speaker of a language
acquired and then later on described as competence.
Larsen-Freeman (2001) gave a convincing
argument on how grammar should be treated.

She shared that grammar should be seen as a

skill rather than purely competence.

She postulated grammaring to be the fifth skill

(together with listening, speaking, reading, and
writing) and referred to grammaring as the
ability to accurately, meaningfully and
appropriately use grammar structures.
Grammar is much more than knowing rules, though
it is part of the construct.

Grammaring involves sensitivity to usage because

grammar is more flexible than we think.

Everytime we speak or write, we always consciously

or unconsciously involved ourselves in doing
grammar.
FOCUS ON FORM:
A distinction is often made between
language use and language form.

In other words, there has been a

continuous debate over whether to
teach students the language or teach
them about the language.
FOCUS ON MEANING:
Linking form with meaning can be carried out by
the use of different activities. In fact, meaning
should call for some sort of associative learning
(cf. Ellis 1998).

This activity gives students the opportunity to

associate the form with the meaning of a particular
target structure.

Meaning can also be made clear by using realia and

pictures.
FOCUS ON USE:
The right form with the right meaning
should be selected for the right
context to ensure successful
communication.

A practical way of going about

sensitizing students to the effect of
context on language is through
making use of role playing.
ERROR CORRECTION
VS.
FEEDBACK
MISTAKES
usually refer to slips
students commit which
they can correct
themselves once pointed
out to them.
ERRORS
these are mistakes which the
students can not correct themselves
and therefore need an explanation.

When teachers respond to errors, it

should be viewed as teachers giving
feedback, helping students to
reshape their knowledge than telling
them outrightly, they are wrong.
“The teacher’s reaction towards
errors students have committed
is very important”.
 ERRORS MISTAKES
• Language not internalized yet • Language has been internalized

• Incomplete knowledge • Carelessness

• Occur when learning • Lack of attention

• Students cannot correct even when • Fatigue

error is pointed out
• Students can self-correct

• Teacher thinks student can self correct

POSITIVE
FEEDBACK
confirms a
student’s
response
correctness.
1. CONFIRMATION
I like how you pronounce chamois.

Can you try it once more so that it

sounds more like it is pronounced
in [target language]?
2. PRAISE
“amazing”,
“bravo”,
“excellent”
3. TEACHER’S
REQUEST TO
REPEAT
Teacher applauds
students in front of
the class.
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
(Error Correction) corrects the faulty language
behavior of students.
Negative Feedback
Indirect/Implicit
Strategies
RECASTS
Student: Yesterday I go
shopping.

Teacher: Oh, yesterday

I also went shopping.
CLARIFICATION
REQUESTS
Teacher indicates to the student that they didn’t
understand what the students said.
DIRECT/EXPLICIT
STRATEGIES
CORRECT
ANSWER
FEEDBACK
“Oh, you mean…”
“You should say”
“ the correct verb form is”
 GUIDED
FEEDBACK
ELICITATION
TECHNIQUES
Teacher prompts students to
self-correct by restating up to
the point of error.
METALINGUISTIC FEEDBACK
Teacher makes comments and/or asks questions that
refer to the nature of the error.
TEACHERS REQUEST TO REPEAT
(with corrective intent)
FEEDBACK
STRATEGIES
SPOKEN GRAMMAR
VS.
WRITTEN
GRAMMAR
In spoken grammar, contractions such as I’ll,
don’t, etc. are allowed but are strictly not
appropriate for written grammar, while the
inclusion of slang words or colloquialism can be
allowed in spoken grammar.

Breaking of strict grammar rules such as

excluding prepositions in beginning a sentence is
included in spoken grammar.

It is more dynamic and immediate; therefore, the

speaker may commit many grammatical errors
that can never be possible and acceptable in
written grammar.
GRAMMATICAL
ASSESSMENT
Assessing grammar is a fundamental aspect of
teaching that helps determine student proficiency
in language.

It can be used to help identify the strengths and

weaknesses of learners.

Assessment has to be used constantly to determine

how well students are comprehending the materials
that have been covered.

Assessment of grammatical ability is characterizing

proficiency in different levels and contexts.
 QUESTIONS?
CLARIFICATIONS?
 WHOLE
Thinking about your own SHEET
OF
understanding of English PAPER
Grammar, would you characterize
your grammar knowledge as
mostly explicit, mostly implicit or
a combination of both explicit and
implicit?