E Keep explanations short Use mother tongue to explain g

The first time you explain a gxammatical feature, make it It's often helpful to students if you explain the grammar
short and simple: keep it to a'need to know' basis. in their mother tongue (L1) - if you know it! - and also
compare it with parallel mother-tongue usages.
what students need is to get the basic idea of how the grammar works
in order to enable them to understand examples in context as soon as With more advanced classes, of course, you can use English: an
possible, and try using it themselves. excellent opportunity for listening-comprehension practice.

Note that there's a payoff between brevity and truth: the more true But the language you need to explain a grammatical feature is often far
and accurate the rule you give, the more difficult and lengthy the more advanced than the feature itself, and can be very difficult for less
explanation. So often it's worth sacrificing the fully accurate account proficient students. So it can take ages to explain in English a relatively
in favour of keeping it short and simple. Give students a clear, easy simple point. Normally you can ger the idea across in a fraction of
and mostly reliable rule and leave any further detailed explanations for the time if you use L1, and then use the time you've saved to let the
when they come across apparent exceptions. students hear, read and try using the target grammar themselves.

For example, most other languages have only one word for much/many, It also helps students a lot if you contrast how the English grammar
0 so you need to explain the difference between these. But you don't have works with how a parallel structure works in their L1, particularly if
to get into complicated explanations of 'countable' and'uncountable' the L1 does not use a structure that English does, or vice versa. Let's
nouns. All you need to say is that mucb goes with singular nouns and take the example of the verb be. Arabic and Hebrew don't have a
many withplural, which covers virtually all instances. present tense of this verb at all; Spanish, in contrast, has two verbs
(ser and estar), where English only has one. It saves a lot of confusion
Some rules are so complicated and difficult to apply in real time that it's and mistakes if you tell students about these differences at a fairly
best not even to try to explain them. For example, expression of future
early stage. Similarly, where English and the L1 have different forms
time: going to usually implies some kind of plan or intention whereas
to express the same meaning, it's worth contrasting: for example, the
will expresses simple prediction. But who has time when talking about French elle est professeur as contrasted with the English she is a teacher.
the future to stop and wonder how much planning is involved in any
particular instance? So I usually tell beginner classes that both forms In principle, the fact that students have a mother tongue is an asset, not
refer to the fqture, and leave it at that. Detailed explanations can wait a hindrance. It is not something to be avoided, as you may have heard
for later, and often I've found I never need to give them, because the some people claim, but rather a tool to be exploited where - as in these
stur1ents acquire an intuitive feel for the distinction through lots of examples - it can help students learn English better (see the reference
encounters with examples in context. below).

For more on this issue, see the reference below.

Hall, G., 6c Cook, G. (2012J. Own language use in language teaching and learning.
Language Teach ing, 4.t (3), 27 1,-308.
Swan, M. (2012). Design criteria for pedagogic language rules. In Thinking about
lnnguage teaching (pp.45-56). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

32 i Penny ur's l00TeachingTilts Grammar i 33

E Avoid grammatical terms Get students to learn by heaft
tll
If you can explain a form or rule in English grammar If students know a few samples of the use of a grammaticar
without using grammatical terminology like comparative structure by heart, they can often create more of their own,
adjectives, present perfect and so on - do so. intuitively feeling what is'right'.

'When
you are talking about grammar in English, some basic
Knowing rules helps students learn to use grammar correctly; but so
grammatical terms that apply to a wide range of structures are useful to
does learning examples by heart. which is more effective depends both
teach: words like form, rneaning, word, sentence, past, present, future.
on the student's learning sryle and on the target feature being taught. It's
And lot of these will be useful in general communication as well, not probably a good idea to use both.
just for grammar explanations. But the use of more specific terminology
may not be very helpful. Learning by heart doesn't have to be boring rote-learning. Here are a
few ways of doing it:
For one thing, an explanation which uses the actual exemplars rather
than the terms used to define them is likely to be easier to understand. ' clich6s, proverbs, etc. Teach the students common expressions that
also exemplify grammatical features: useful and frequent phrases that
For example, say ''W'e use the when...' rather than ''We use the definite
occur in conversation, as well as clich6s, idioms and proverbs. For
article when . . . '. Or: 'Use the -ing form of the verb after words like
example, I don't know; Let's call it a day; All's well that ends well.
enjoy.,,' rather than'Use the gerund...'.'W'hen explaining to younger
classes when to use a and when an there is no need to use terms like ' chants. Learning and performing rhythmic chants - like songs, but
without the music, and imitating the rhythm of natural ,p...h _ i,
uouel/consonant;I usually show them that it's just uncomfortable to try
great fun, and very helpful (see the firsr reference below).
to say a...orctzge (demonstrating with a pronounced glottal stop), and
much more comfortable if you smooth the way by putting in the n: an ' songs. A lot of songs also feature repetitive grammatical phrases.
The problem is thar the melody distracts from the meaning, and
oranSe.
students can often enjoy singing them without paying attenrion to
A second reason is that such terminology is not really very useful the actual language features used.
vocabulary to learn. How often will the students need to use a term ' Dialogues. Having srudents learn and perform dialogues preferably
-
like past perfect in reallife communication? It's simply not a good dramatic and thought-provoking ones - is an enjoyable anJ useful
investment: if you're going to teach new words, it makes sense to teach way to get them to learn grammar. They can then introduce different
more useful ones. vocabulary, or add bits, to create varied meanings.
0 . Pattern poems. S7hen students create simple poems round a
The general principle of using actual examples from the language rarher grammatical pattern, they inevitably learn and review the grammar
than the terms that refer to them applies to instructions for grammar
as they write, A student who writes such a poem learns the lines by
exercises as well. So in an exercise on relative pronouns, for example,
heart as a side-effect see https ://www.njcu.edr-r/cill/vol4/moulton-
(

it's better to say 'S7rite who, which or tbat', rather than ''Write the
holmes.html, or the second reference below)
appropriate relative pronoun'.
Graham, C. (1993). Grummarchan.ts. Oxford: Oxford University press.
Holmes, V. L., & Moulton, M. R. (2001). \yriting simple poems: pattern poetry
for
language acquisitictn. Cambridge: Cambridge Universiry press.

34 j Penny Ur's 1 00 Teaching Tips

Grammar j. 35
Eil Get students to make meanings

In order to learn a grammatical feature, the students

need practice in using it to make their own meanings.
Conventional grammar exercises are not enough.

The problem with taditional grammar exercises (gap-fills, matching,

etc.) is not only that they are a bit boring, but also, and mainly, that
they focus too much on'getting it right', and not enough on creating
meanings. The fact that students can do a grammar exercise perfectly is
no guarantee that they'll then be able to use the target feature in their
own speech or writing. They need practice in expressing their own ideas
with the grammar, not iust manipulating sentences someone else has
written. I'm not saying that the traditional exercises are useless - far
from it! - only that they are insufficient on their own.

The trick is to think about what the grammar means and how it's likely
to be used in real life. Then use this knowledge as the basis for some
kind of cue or situation that would invite responses involving use of the
target feature. For example: the present perfect is used when the action,
state or event has already taken place, but has some relevance to the
present. So give the students a present situation, as shown in a picture -
for example, an untidy room * and ask them to say what has happened
to produce it, or what has not yet happened. Or if you've been studying
modals llke can, should, rnight - invite students to say what they can/
should/migbf do in a particular situation; or what a particular type of
person (a teacher, the President of the United States, a baby) can/sbould/
might do.

These can easily be made into brainstorming games,

See the reference below,for further similar ideas.

Ur, P. (2009). Cramtflar practice actiuities (2"d Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press

From: Ur, P. (2016). Penny Ur's 100 Teaching Tips.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

36 | Penny Ur's 100 TeachingTiPs