STORY-BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING GRAMMAR

a story-based approach to the teaching of grammar emphasises that communication is at the essence of second-language learning; According to Lee and & Van Patten (1995) communication has been defined as the personal expression, interpretation, and negotiation of meaning where information, feelings, and ideas are exchanged in talk, gesture, and writing; Communication used to develop social bonds, demonstrate empathy, show concern and assist each other is called phatic communications;

The teaching of the English grammar involves a direct and clear process that requires sufficient practice to master; The principle design of grammar is to teach learners to express themselves with appropriateness in the language as well as enable them to identify and correct phrase and form of construction;

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Communication involves planning, organising, and evaluating ones thinking and doing; language-using activities are organised into three modes such as: - interpersonal mode - interpretive mode - presentational mode

The interpersonal mode of communication include both oral and written (exchange of personal letters or of electronic mail messages) communication where speakers or writers engage in conversation, provide or obtain information, express feelings and emotions and exchange opinions It is two-way communication, whereby learners negotiate meaning because they can ask for clarification or explanation of the massage in the interaction act

Interpretive and presentational modes of communication are non-negotiable, one-way communication because the learner listens or reads without having any chance to ask the speaker or writer for clarification or repetition of the receptive message. Examples for interpretive communication are text, movies, radio and television broadcasts, and speeches. Examples for presentational communication are writing of reports and articles or the presentation for speeches

THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR The rationale for teaching grammar are: - theoretically motivated - the dynamics of classroom practice Based on theoretic motivation, a learner utilises two of their language knowledge, namely: (a) automatic (non-analysed) knowledge (implicit); (b) controlled (analysed) knowledge (explicit). Based on the classroom practice dynamics, learners in secondary schools are already literate and have established expectations concerning language instruction and language use.

The teaching of grammar has its benefits: a. it raises learners consciousness concerning the differences and similarities of Ll and L2; b. it enables the learner to reach a higher level of language proficiency as the learner is aware of the underlying framework of the language c. it improves production skills especially in written language (punctuation) d. it enables the learner to create an infinity of sentences e. it is impossible to use language creatively without grammar f. it enables a clear organisation of language teaching

EXPLICIT VS IMPLICIT Implicit method of teaching grammar would concentrates on the grammatical form and the meaning; Some examples of activities that reinforce implicit grammar learning (refer to slide 10 -13); Explicit method of teaching would concentrates on the sentence structure of the language; It involves explanation, demonstration and practise; (refer to slide 14 15)

EXAMPLE #1: TEXT ENHANCEMENT

The mouse ran down the hall and jumped onto Toms bed. Tom felt something fuzzy near his ear but thought it was the corner of his pillow. He reached up to touch it, but by then the mouse was already in his hair. The mouse made a nice little nest in Toms hair, and neither Tom nor the mouse woke up until morning.

EXAMPLE #2: STRUCTURED INPUT Which of the following are true? a) Sandwiches are usually eaten by people. b) The computer was invented by George Washington. c) French is spoken in Indonesia. d) The blouse was removed by Justin Timberlake. e) People are often ridden by horses. f) Horses are often ridden by people.

EXAMPLE #3: INFORMATION GAP

Student A: The cow was ridden by the __?__ . Student B: The bear rode the cow.

OTHER SAMPLE ACTIVITIES

Matching sentences to pictures, video clips
- E.g. The airplane landed

Acting out sentences

- E.g. John fell

Drawing pictures
- E.g. Mary was sad because John went to Barcelona

Text enhancement
-

E.g. Highlighted imperfect forms in story.

Structured input
- E.g. T/F questions that crucially depend on distinction.

EXAMPLES OF EXPLICIT GRAMMAR INSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

Add yesterday to each sentence and make any necessary changes to the verb.
Paul eats dinner at 7:30. Mary runs to catch the bus. Alice breaks the record.

EXAMPLES a. Create a proper sentence using the following elements: the/book/write/famous/author b. Choose the correct form: The car was (sell) for $1700.

DISADVANTAGES OF EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT METHOD OF GRAMMAR

do not acknowledge the critical role of the teacher in negotiating and constructing explanations acknowledge what the learners bring to the instructional setting. Do not recognise how learning takes place among people in the real world; outside the classroom.

STORY-BASED AND GUIDED PARTICIPATION For guided participation, teacher and learner collaborate on and co-construct the grammar explanation; A story-based and guided participatory approach enable the learner to understand and experience the functions and purposes of language through integrated discourse in the form of a story;

STORY-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING PRINCIPLES words, phrases, or sentences have meaning only when they are placed in context and used together with the whole texts; Learners will need to experience whole contextualised language (stories, legends, poems, listening selections, cartoons, songs, recipes, etc.) which has meaning and sense before focusing on form of the language; The story or text highlights the function of the grammatical structure before the learners attention is focused on form.

At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher and learners are engaged in authentic use of language in order to make the story comprehensible; the teacher can lead the learners attention to various linguistic elements once they achieve understanding; The framework of the story provides a continuous flow of mental images that help the learners to associate meaning and functions to the forms they hear.

PACE MODEL IN STORY-BASED LANGUAGE APPROACH

Besides focusing on form, formal properties of the language should also be emphasized upon: a. sound system b. word formation c. syntax d. discourse markers e. devices that link one sentence to the other

PACE is a model used for contextualising interactions with learners about the forms of language: a. P = Presentation b. A = Attention c. C = Co-construct Explanation d. E = Extension Collaborative approach to error corrections includes the learners in the learning process Strong errors are errors that interfere with meaning (vocabulary choice) while weak errors are errors that do not affect meaning (poor grammar usage or pronunciation)

PRINCIPLES OF SELECTING A GOOD TEXT

the text is interesting It is suitable to learners age it has stage-able actions it gives fair depictions of the target language culture the language is accessible through story-telling simplications to the learners current stage of linguistics development theme of the story expandable and can be extend into various activities the story adequately represent a grammatical structure to be focused later; the story incites imagination or reflection;

Examples of language activities that can be used: a. Creative extension activities that provides learners with plenty of opportunities to develop skills in interpersonal communication ( storymapping, character-mapping, or discussion webbing b. activities that stimulate the learners critical thinking skills. c. intertextual activity as a way to encourage learners to move beyond the mere recalling of events to higher critical thinking skills. e. debriefing activity that allows the teacher to focus attention on some common or frequently made errors