What is wrong

Return to Teachers' home page

What is wrong.

• The bad influence of the European framework. Its pan European testing system affects text books and makes the functional format dominant. This has a bad effect on teaching and curricula.

• Grammar as an organisational principal is useful but mostly bad grammar is taught: a long winded “metalanguage” of unrememberable jargon : an Alps between us and language.

• The European framework is another Alps impeding teaching methods.

• Publishing houses and the conventional wisdom -

– “Functions” + “Communicative approach”

– Half baked distinction between “acquire” and “learn”

– grammar was rejected years ago by theoreticians. Functions came in and now as a result bad grammar has returned!

• School situation. Unnatural. Too fast. No focus. Dispersive. Not reinforced. Little speaking.

• No understanding of mother tongue learning despite the unrealistic theorising about natural learning.

• Very little is spoken and everything is explained. It is too text dependent.

• You cannot teach anyone who is carrying years of accumulated de-motivation or boredom through unsuitable teaching.

What would be better.
Accumulating phrase book used by teacher as classroom English.
Acquire” “learn” is an unhelpful distinction in the classroom. Memorising is the issue.
Artificial ways We need to find ways of mimicking L1 child learning in a way that is feasible in class.
Box sessions”: use of language kits. Activity boxes, games. “Kits”. Autonomous, independent material to use in truly modular way.
Boxes. Vocabulary kits and fun learning activities. Each box having instructions for 6-10 activities.
Card games. Turn over written phrases. Memory games with cards. (“Tents cards” etc)
Chanting. Coral. Repetition without reading from text. Text just offers the material.
Chunks Institutional utterances. Sentence stems. Michael Lewis. Students need to carry language in their heads. Not just read.
Civilta’ Real culture. See my culture charts. Text books are usually so boring and patronising.
Class magazine / newspaper. Organise these with a muscular conceptual grid (see our cd rom project)
Classroom English. A methodical and steady extension of teacher expressions that with their focus help recognition. These should always be “placed” and explained briefly as to their grammatical format. This is potentially an area for “acquisition” Halleluja! Include institutional utterances in this classroom English..
Colour highlighting and visualisation to aid memorising.
Competition between pupils. Games and fun help memorising
Creative (=open ended). Ie that require on the spot creation of new sense.
Creative tasks with verb lists. Verbs need to be learnt through being activated in games, competitions.
Culture pages concepts. These are rich in connectability and form cross links in the culture categories.
Diagrams and “hieroglyphs” are another form of explanation and aid memory.
Dialogues artificially focused on grammar “islands”. These are half way to free speaking.
Drills of pattern sentences. These patterns are another way of digging the memory furrow deeper.
DRILLS. Closed and open. “Performed”. These can vary from straightr repetition to open ended variations.
Written exercises are passive. Exercises must be recycled as spoken exercises
Focus Focus, not dispersion. Little but well, not much superficially!
“Natural” language is unnatural in class. There is too little time to “acquire”.
Frequently used and recycled phrases that illustrate grammar. Why do phrase books still sell well at airports!? Use and reuse the sample sentences of the grammar book.
Fun and movement. Repetition games with movement. Pupils need to move. Also in moving, they carry the English in their heads!
Game translation. Interior translation is anyway inevitable in a learner- “Vengo” becomes “I come”. Face these contaminations so as to make them float to the top of the mind1
Games with movement and speaking. We can’t use language “naturally” in class. We need to substitute with games and immediacy activities. Games are also motivating and involving.
Grammar centred not the dispersive chaos of “communicative”, naturalistic text books
Grammar explanation should always be supported by interlocking techniques, games repetition, autonomous production, wall charts etc.
Grammar grouped.
Grammar plays. Ready made and student made. Such “speaking” digs the memory furrow deeper.
Grammar repetition activities. Using “kit” page of focused material. “Boring” look but interesting use. It deepens the furrow.
Grammar that functioned mainly a teacher’s focus aid so that everything put before the student has a joined up coherence.
Grammar” method is not just explanation. “Explanation” must have a special form. The “rules” must be short and comprehensible if they are to be REMEMBERED! “Rules” must contain ideally at the most 3 key words if we are not to lose 50% of the class right from the outset!
Imitation – both closed and open. “When did he leave” “when did he leave” “He left at 6.00”
Kits”. The collection of autonomous “modular kits of ready to go material and instructions for use. Each grammar island has a nest of kits. Each kit is independent and so genuinely “modular”!
Learning and reading of short prose extracts from fine writing and wrom poems. Follow up by learning by heart. Representing-
Learning by heart and recycling.
Learning by heart but refashioning into semi free variants.
Learning of sections of pop songs with targeted grammar structures.
Listening games. No texts, at least for the game. Texts are best as initiating material distant from game.
Long term constant attack on Vocabulary. Vocabulary diaries. Weekly tests. Vocab games.
Memorising through activity and aural. Not reading. Or if reading, it is a reading done at distance. English carried in the mind.
Mental gymnastics with language patterns. You are – Are you..etc
Movement. Get students moving and speaking Such speaking without texts digs deper furrows.
Texts that move to memorised speaking.
MUCH LESS text book! Much more speaking.
Songs. Nursery rhyme, pop and folk. These too are more effective if tied to simple explanations of one chief grammar content. Sometimes its worth a little rewriting to give language focus. Music shouldn’t be a panacea.
Newspaper articles. Originals and grammar focused simplified versions
Nugget sets from grammar book. Ie. A grammared phrase book
Pair work in GAME form not dull “communication”
Phrases and poems learnt by heart
Plays (grammarised). These are “communicative” but are artificially super focused.
Plays are learnt by heart so grammar is learnt as “chunks”
Poetry writing. Good for free writing without anxiety about structure.
Projects (Creative = autonomous). Language used as means.
Quiz questions to jog memory of nuggets, plays or written exercises
Refashioning already existent grammar sentences.
Repetition. It is ridiculous the way repetition procedures have been so snubbed as “mechanical”. The young child does so much repetition, and how do we learn poems by heart!? Interesting and fun forms of repetition.
Revision. Recycle. Once, twice, thrice is still not enough! Dig the furrows deeper! That’’s what the L1 child does.
Rewriting of what is read or heard Interesting variants of dictation.
Exercises. Scepticism about written exercises. They are passive, guided and WRITTEN!
Sentence stems taught for recycling activities. “Can you help me”?............
Simultaneous translations: oral and written. Pert of comparative grammar that fights cross language “contamination”.
Speaking autonomously, not text dependent.
Speaking from the outset. Don’t put it off! What isn’t learnt (spoken!!) today probably won’t be!
Speaking. Games of immediate response and “no hesitation”
Students to prepare brief grammar lessons which they present.
Subject matter charts. “Human life charts” . Language teaching has such dull material.
Talks”. Presentations using the material in the culture pages
Translation. Simultaneous translation.
Translation. Use nuggets in grammar book
Use “bella figura” shame. Videos! Performances. Such watching of lessons makes everything much more rememorable.
Use of aural and video recording. Memorising needs multiple paths.
Use of dictionaries. Creative work: with grammar focused play writing.
Verbs taught and used in order to memorise them. With vocabulary it is another Cinderella
Verbs.(dressed in phrases).
Vocabulary is the Cinderella of language teaching. Vocabulary should be “taught” through games.
Wall charts of main grammar islands. This makes pupils aware of the main pathway of their learning program. THAT is the way to make pupils self aware NOT the Porfolio.
Write own plays (focused on grammar)
Texts. Heard texts.
Syntax flexibility. Get pupils used to moving the “furniture” in their minds. “Is it yours”. “No, it isn’t, it’s his”. Board Games that require reworking that which is given.
Question of “discipline”. The wrong sort of discipline is from fear of “chaos”. Control through power instead of pleasure or involvement. Difficult though because most kids here unused to control or self control.
Teach what has the maximum degree of usefulness for autonomous speaking activities. But it must also aid their grasp of grammar coherence, basic 2 presents, some, any, something, everything, pronouns, always never, etc
Give serious attention to your own common sense. Notice what works.

Return to Teachers' home page