Presenting Grammar

Grammar, when taught solely as a set of rules and examples to be followed, is an archaic,
burdensome and (for many) daunting portrayal of language. Though, grammar need not be regarded as
such an unsettling component of language. When presented in a meaningful and purposeful context,
grammar makes language practical, efficient, and enjoyable. It is then my position that language
educators do not solely teach grammar, but rather present it in its natural settings and use those
settings as a spring board for students to create new, never before heard utterances. With that in mind,
language educators should then focus on being an example, a provider of examples, and a provider of
opportunities to make new examples. Their classroom should flow with topics and ideas that are of
importance and necessity to the users of the language and that should direct the educator to which
aspects of grammar should be presented to the students.
Providing Context for Grammar
For native speakers of a language, most typically grammar is not a topic of concern during day-
to-day interactions. What is of concern is the necessity to communicate an idea. Without this need
language can serve no function at all. Then, it is of paramount importance that language educators give
all natural contexts that is available to the language that they are presenting, for without it, their efforts
could be in vain.
Context should be derived long before a teacher sets out to decide which grammar points to
concern him or herself with. What the students will be communicating about should be considered first.
This requires several considerations, including but not limited to the national, state, and local standards,
demographic information, community interests/norms, and student interests. A failure to appease
many, if not all of these considerations, could present problems for the educator, and ultimately the
students.
Once themes, topics, and units have been decided, the teacher must decide which grammar is
required to use to communicate the ideas that are important in that unit or theme. Similarly, it must be
considered which grammar will be (that is, which actually should have time spent on it) and which will
not. Not all topics should be covered even though many may be necessary. That decision should be
made through the consideration of any previous knowledge students have, their proficiency level, and
the difficulty of the grammar concept and its application to their typical written and spoken interactions,
among other things. One good example of considerations for making decisions regarding focus on form
was created by Doughty and Williams (1998). They provided six crucial decisions. Summarized, they are
1) Whether or not to focus on form, 2) reactive vs. proactive, 3) The choice of linguistic form, 4)
Explicitness of focus on form, 5)Sequential versus integrated focus on form, and 6) The role in
curriculum. Whichever decisions are made, though, should be made in advance.
The Incorporation of Grammar
With context in mind, which grammar to include all but falls into place, but how to incorporate it
is the difficult and arduous task that daily confronts the teacher. Though, with the use of many ideas
presented in current research, the language educator can focus him or herself and their students on
allowing students to communicate with the language, attempting to learn new forms as they are
encountered, and organizing their IL system in the process.
Being an Example and Providing Examples
As our knowledge about acquisition has changed, so must our roles as teachers. The ability for a
student to acquire a language no longer rests solely on the teacher presenting the information to the
class, but no relies on the students to do something with it. However, within many schools it is still the
expectation that teacher explain everything and be the giver of information. These contrasts put a
strain on the way teacher desire to conduct the classroom and what they are being evaluated on. That
being said, it seems that the role of the teacher should be an example of language usage and to provide
other examples of language usage (Lee & VanPatten, 2003).
In the context of the language classroom, a balance must be struck between the talk with the
language and the talk about the language. The benefits have been seen in the use of communicative
strategies (Daughty & Varela, 1998) along with enhanced input (White, 1998), however they do not
account for the gains made by students with more explicit grammar instruction. Due to the gains on
either end of the explicit-implicit instruction spectrum, it is likely that the learners themselves are the
true variables rather than the particular method to instruction. The fact that students vary in type of
intelligence and how that affects foreign language classroom activities was compiled by Shrum & Glisan
(2010). It is important then that teachers provide opportunities to students both via some implicit and
explicit grammar presentations.
Students should be given the opportunity to see and hear the language used before they are
expected to produce it themselves. Large amounts of input should be provided through the target
vocabulary and structures provided by the chosen themes, units, or chapters. Though, many
opportunities exist also in classroom communication to put into concrete some basic forms such as
commands, simple requests and questions, and even nonverbal. In any case, the input should be
targeted to be at the most appropriate level for students so that it is comprehensible to the student.
The learner must be able to understand most of what the speaker (or writer) is saying if acquisition is
to happen. (Lee & VanPatten, p. 26) In conjunction with making input comprehensible, teachers should
attempt to make the targeted forms salient so that they are exposed to those forms frequently enough
to notice them. In some cases, input enhancement can also be used to draw learners attention to the
target form.

Providing Opportunities for Using Language
It is important to remember that grammar should be derived from context and not the other
way around. So then, opportunities for production should not be derived from grammar, but rather an
opportunity to express something using the needed grammar. That is, production activities should
always be meaningful, contextual, and enjoyable to the student.
Meaning-bearing Activities
Traditionally, activities in textbooks have centered on drilling methods to form good habits. The
problem with many of these activities was that there was no need for meaning to complete the
activities. Some, if not many, included a translation part of the activity. Simply translating a sentence
does not make it meaningful. The meaningfulness of an activity is predicated on its inability to be
complete without understanding meaning. When creating or altering activities to make them meaning-
bearing, teachers should keep in mind that meaning is paramount. If the student is overwhelmed trying
to understand the text, there will be less resources available to the student to process the form in focus.
A good example of this is seen in Lee (1998).
Contextual Activities
Although an activity may be meaning-bearing, it may not be contextual. Contextual activities
not only use the target form with target vocabulary and structures but also make it purposeful. These
activities are somehow related to something that is done by people in the target language. Luckily, this
is something that is easy to solve with many activities. Simply providing a scenario or use of the
language to perform an action outside of the activity usually will make an activity not only meaningful
but contextual as well.

Enjoyable Activities
Unfortunately grammar does not have the ability to win over the masses with its own
qualities. I hate grammar. or Do we have to talk about grammar? are common statements when
beginning a new grammatical concept. However, when we give students a reason and ability to use it,
those complaints can fade away. In addition, the topic in which the grammar is placed plays a large role
in keeping students motivated to push through the grammar if its not enjoyable and even to possibly
make the grammar itself enjoyable. Krashen argued that acquisition happens when learners are
motivated, self-motivated, and have low anxiety levels (according to Shum & Glisan, 2010). It should be
a focus of instructors that their students are motivated and enjoy the things they discuss in the target
language and that they wish to express themselves accurately.
Conclusion
The provision of input and opportunities by the teacher is of the greatest importance for
teachers as they prepare and conduct classroom activities with students. Without the ability to provide
these two crucial things, students cannot and will not progress on the proficiency scale, which is the
ultimate goal of any language classroom. Grammar falls into these two provisions by allowing students
to understand the target language more accurately and use it more efficiently and practically.





Chapter Enhancements
I chose to modify the activities from the textbook Holt Level 2 Exprsate!. This textbook targets
novice-mid level learners and intends to lead them to the novice-high proficiency level. I decided to
choose a chapter that presented primarily new grammatical concepts rather than review. Had I chosen
a review of a grammatical topic, I would have to make many assumptions about the ability of the learner
after having finished the first textbook. This book does a fairly good job of incorporating much current
research. In some situations then it was best to find a replacement to an existing activity. Each page
contains an enhancement and its rationale.
Title: Holt Level 2 Exprsate!
Chapter: Captulo 3: Pueblos y ciudades
Grammar Covered: impersonal se; preterite of car,-gar, and zar verbs and conocer; irregular preterite:
andar, tener, venir, dar, ver; and formal commands









Enhancement #1: Input of se impersonal
Prior to the grammar presentation of the impersonal se, there is not much exposure to its use in
this text book. Therefore I see it imperative to give students some more exposure to the form prior to
any explicit presentation. As read in White (1998), she found little difference between learners that
solely had enhanced input versus those that had enhanced input and input flooding. Additionally she
suggested that some input processing instruction along with explicit presentations could be beneficial.
As such, I believe it the case for this form that some explicit instruction should be provided only after
students have had their own opportunities to deduce meaning from the input. This enhancement then
provides more input and structure for students to follow in processing the input they encounter. This
enhancement would be done prior to the presentation of the impersonal se.
As additional input, students will watch a video of two individuals discussing what they need to do for
the day and the places they need to go. Students will receive a script of what they are saying with forms
of the impersonal se highlighted. The teacher should not discuss the highlighted text, but rather allow
students to make inferences from what they read/hear. After the video the teacher should do some
questioning with the class to ensure they understood what they saw and to draw additional attention to
the target form.

Some sample questions:
Qu van a hacer los chicos?
Se puede nadar en la fuente?En el centro recreativo?
Qu se vende en el caf?
De dnde se puede sacar dinero?

After this activity students should be presented with activity 7 in the textbook with no formal instruction
of the impersonal se. (Activity seven gives students several different signs that are typical to find in
stores and other public places that communicate what is typically done there or what is permitted or
not permitted. Students are instructed to use se habla, se puede, se prohibe, and se permite to say
what each sign means.) After they have said what each sign means, they should write in which place
they might find this sign.
Student Instructions:
Escribe lo que dice cada letrero usando se habla, se puede, se prohbe, y se permite. Luego di dnde
est cada letrero.

Modelo: Se habla francs en el mercado.
After the activity, students should be explicitly instructed on the impersonal se.

Enhancement #2: Replacement to Existing Activity
My second enhancement is a change to an alternate to the activity in the book. The activity can
be considered an appropriate form-structured as it stands (Lee & VanPatten, 2003), which Lee and
VanPatten present as an alternative to simply giving grammar drill activities. Although the activity is
appropriately structured, it lacks any meaningful context in which to apply the grammar. Thus, I am
adding context to my activity via the instructions and a second part to the activity to encourage further
thinking and student discourse using previously acquired structures (present tense of querer).




This activity should be presented after students have been presented with the explicit explanation of the
use of the impersonal se.

Qu se hace?
Leamos Un amigo te est visitando por primera vez en Costa Rica. Estn en el carro viajando por el pueblo.
Cuando l/ella ve un lugar, te pregunta qu se hace en este lugar. Con un(a) compaero(a), completa parte 1 y
parte 2. En parte 1, responde a las preguntas para decirle qu hay para hacer. En parte 2, pregntale a tu
compaero/a qu quiere hacer durante su visita.
Modelo
Parte 1 Parte 2
Estudiante 1: Qu se hace en el caf? Estudiante 1: Qu quieres hacer?
Estudiante 2: Se vende caf. Estudiante 2: Quiero tomar caf.
Estudiante 1 Estudiante 2
1) en la carnicera? A) Se vende pan.
2) en el estadio? B) Se juega al ftbol.
3) en la panadera? C) Se vende fruta.
4) en el banco? D) Se saca dinero.
5) en la pastelera? E) Se compran pasteles
6) en la frutera? F) Se compra carne.



Enhancement #3: Presentation of the Preterite of Conocer
In the presentation of certain irregular forms in the preterite, the verb conocer is also presented
due to its meaning change. Two out of the four activities presented in the book focus solely on conocer.
In some cases the verb is used in two both the present and preterite tenses. However, in the
presentation of the verb conocer, the only information given are the preterite forms of the verb. To me
it would seem logical to include a brief review of the present tense form of conocer to ensure that
students can not only identify the new forms with the new meanings, but so they can also identify the
difference between the forms and meanings of the present and preterite tenses. The following, then,
should be added to the presentation of conocer.
Te acuerdas?
Concocer in the present tense
yo conozco
t conoces
l/ella conoce
usted conoce
nosotros(as) conocemos
vosotros(as) conocis
ellos/ellas conocen






Enhancement #4: Additional Activity Using Conocer
In this textbook there are only two activities that focus on the use of conocerThis activity should
be presented after identifying and producing the verb forms in writing, as this is an oral production
activity. The activity aims to have students tell about who they have met using conocer in the preterite
as well as who other people have met. The handout provides enough information for students that they
do not have to focus on anything except the production of the target form so as not to overwhelm their
working memory and to allow them to complete the activity by using the target form to tell their friend
about the person they met.
Teacher Instructions:
Divide students up into pairs. Each pair should have a student A and a student B. Give every student a
hand out from the concert that list all of the artists there with a brief biography. Give every A student a
card with the name of a famous person on it. Then, have all of the B students pretend that they are at
the concert meeting 3 famous people (the A students). After they have gotten three signatures on their
handout, they should go back to their partner and tell them who they just met and what they are like.
Once students have finished have the A students give the card to the B students. Now they switch roles
and do the activity again.

After everyone has had a turn, discuss as a class who was at the concert and who met whom to
incorporate other forms of the verb. This may be an opportunity to conocer (get to know) some
famous people from the Dominican Republic.

Student Instructions:
Parte 1: Vas a un concierto grande en el estadio de tu ciudad y vas a traer una nota de prensa a tu
amigo como recuerdo. Despus del concierto, tuviste la oportunidad de conocer a mucha gente famosa.
Saldalos (greet them) y obtn su autgrafo en su nota de prensa (handout).

Parte 2: El prximo da ves qu la nota de prensa est destruido. Entonces, di a tu amigo(a) quien
conociste y como son.
Modelo
Estudiante A: Hola Enrique!
Enrique Iglesias: Hola (nombre). Cmo ests?
Estudiante A: Estoy _______, gracias. Ud. puede firmar esta nota de prensa?
Enrique Iglesias: Claro que s. Gracias por venir. Adis!
Estudiante A: No lo vas a creer! Conoc a Enrique Iglesias.
Estudiante B: qu interesante! Cmo es?
Estudiante A: S, y me di su autgrapho. l es muy guapo y muy alto. (Student B writes down what they
are like)


Enhancement #5: Cloze Activity
The first activity given for the verbs ending in car, -gar, and -zar requires the students to
manipulate the verb already, without any focus on just the yo forms and their meanings first. Since
students have already been introduced to the typical ar ending for yo in the preterite as , they will
require some ability to notice the different before they appropriately use the form. The given activity
provides students with infinitives that they must simply manipulate into the preterite. This activity
limits what they must understand then to only the meaning of the infinitive since all verbs must be
conjugated into the preterite (per the instructions of the activity). Therefore, instead of having students
manipulate verbs that are only in the preterite, the activity I propose gives them verbs that are in the
correct forms but requires them to use both verbs in the preterite and present tense. This will require
students to acknowledge the different morphological endings and their appropriate meanings, since the
presentation of the preterite should be to help students to identify what changing the verb to the
preterite form does to its meaning. Additionally, I have added more context to my activity.
This activity should be presented after the practice with the verb conocer. Students attention should
be drawn to words that assist in identifying time frames so that they can choose the verb with the
correct morphological ending.

Completa el prrafo que escribi un amigo de que hizo durante unos das en tu pueblo. Usa los verbos
del cuadro en el presente y el pretrito.

jugu
empec
conozco
voy
juego
invit
conoc
busqu

Querido diario:
Durante muchas semanas _____________ una clase de arte y por fin la encontr. Ayer ________ a mis
clases y _____________ a mis profesores. Tambin tengo amigos en mis clases. Un amigo en la clase de
arte que no ___________ muy bien pero quiero conocerlo mejor me ___________ a una fiesta consigo
esta noche. Quiero ir pero primero ________ a la peluquera.

Maana voy al parque con mi amiga Susi. Sabes que yo siempre __________ al ftbol con otros amigos
all pero Susi nunca juega. Est bien porque yo _________ anoche con mis primos.

Enhancement #6: Addition to Grammar Presentation
I believe this book bundles too much together at one time per grammar topic, as can be seen in
this grammar point. It covers the irregular preterite forms of andar, tener, venir, dar, and ver. The
book provides a breakdown of each verb with all of its preterite forms, with very little explanation.
Additionally, aside from their literal uses, the book employs these irregular forms within many idiomatic
phrases such as tener que + infinitive, dar un vuelta, and dar un paseo. For this grammar point to be
more complete and to better prepare students for the activities at hand, it should include those same
idiomatic expressions as the meaning might be lost when theyre attempting to process the new
meaning of these preterite forms.
Te acuerdas?
Some of these verbs are used in different ways than their literal meaning.
Tener que + <infinitive> to have to <do something>
Nosotros tuvimos que ir a la carnicera. We had to go to the butcher.
Tener prisa to be in a hurry
Yo tuve prisa anoche. I was in a hurry last night.
Dar una vuelta to go around
Dimos una vuelta por el jardn We went aroudn the garden.
Dar un paseoto go for a walk
Ellos dieron un paseo la semana pasada. They went for a walk last week.



Enhancement #7
After the presentation of the irregular preterite forms, the second activity given requires
students to simply conjugate verbs that are in preformed sentences. It is known that this does not
produce student understanding of what they are doing as they can simply find the subject, conjugate
the verb, and then have no understanding of what they truly said. So then, I propose to add a similar
activity, though one that requires students to create a sentence using given elements that make sense
from their own experiences. This enhances the activity by provided meaning along with the practice.
Additionally students will be asked to create time line of the activities that they listed in order to process
the time frame in which the activities occurred.
Crea oraciones sobre tu familia y t usando las frases de los cuadros. Luego, pon las actividades in el
orden cronolgico en la lnea de tiempo.

Yo
Mi familia y yo
Mis hermanos
Mis padres
Mis tos
Mi mejor amigo
Andar
Tener que hacer diligencias
Venir
Tener prisa
Ver a los amigos
Dar un paseo
Ayer
Anteayer
La semana pasada
El otro da
Hace dos meses
El ________ (da de la semana)

Modelo
Yo tuve que hacer diligencias el otro da.







Enhancement #8: Additional Activity for Formal Commands
In the textbook the first activity provided does not require students to understand what is being
said (i.e., it is not meaningful) but rather only requires that they choose the correct form of a formal
command. The instructions provide enough information that a student could simply look over each
choice pair and decide which the correct form is without actually reading and understanding the
commands they are giving. Additionally, I would like to add some interactivity to this section as this
topic is not only undesirable for this age group (chores) but also rather dry.
Teacher Instructions: Set out on a table some items dealing with chores (an empty spray bottle, broom,
duster, trash bag, and images of things that may be too big). Then call a few pairs of students up at a
time allowing them to compete to see who can do the chore first with the object. Start by using the
formal command only of cognates and/or high frequency. This allows students to hear the target form
without needing to focus too much on vocabulary they may not be too familiar with. As you progress
add new, more difficult forms (-car, -gar, -zar, or the plural formal command forms). Then, after you
finish ask a student to give commands to other students seeing if they can do it correctly. You can
monitor what they are able to understand by what they do. Additional ideas could be to have students
have school supplies on their own desk so that everyone is doing the commands and to have them
compete in Simon says at the end.

This should be done just before an explicit presentation of the grammar to see what students can glean
from their own attention. You may even have students attempt a cloze activity afterwards that allows
them to choose from various forms and to select pictures that correspond to the command given.








References
Doughty, C. & Varela, E. (1998). Communicative focus on form. Focus on Form in Classroom Second
Language Acquisition. 115-138.
Doughty, C. & Williams, J. (1998). Pedagogical choice in focus on form. Focus on Form in Classroom
Second Language Acquisition. 197-261.
Lee, J. F. (1998). The relationship of Verb Morphology to Second Language Reading Comprehension and
Input Processing. The Modern Language Journal, 82(i), 33-48.
Lee, J. F. & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.
Ortega, L. & Mochizuki, N. (2008). Balancing communication and grammar in beginning-level foreign
language classrooms: A study of guided planning and relativization. Language Teaching
Research. 12(1), 11-37.
Shrum, J.L. & Glisan, E.W. (2010). Teachers Handbook: Contextualized Language Instruction. Boston,
MA: Cengage.
Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. (2006). Lawrence, KS: Allen Press, Inc.
White, J. (1998). Getting the learners attention: A typographical input enhancement study. Focus on
Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition. 85-106.