Language Analysis

CHAPTER 10
 Analyzing Grammar

Before teaching a
grammatical item, it is
essential that you
understand it well. This
usually involves some
research and careful
thinking.
From your perspective, why is it
important to analyse the target
grammar before teaching it?
 Some steps to include when planning:
• Select the grammar items to teach.
• Fine-tune the selection. (What’s included? + / - / ? / exceptions?
• List typical situations, places and relationships for the
new target grammar.
• Brainstorm between 5 and 10 typical sentences that use
the grammatical item naturally.
• Select one of these sentences as a “target sentence”.
• Decide on a situational context.
• Analyze the form of the target sentence.
• Analyze the meaning of the Target Grammar.
• Analyze the pronunciation of the TG.
• Analyze typical students’ problems.
• Decide what learners should achieve (the main aim of the
lesson).
 WHY analyse language?
To find out how simple or complex an area of
language is…
 WHY analyse language?
To enable us to anticipate problems students
may have and so to avoid unnecessary
problems when introducing
the language…
 WHY analyse language?
To enable us to correct students’ mistakes and
to answer their questions about language
WHAT specific aspects / elements
of a grammar point would you
analyse before teaching it?
GRAMMAR =

F M

U
 FORM MEANING
How is it formed? What does it mean?

USE
When/ why is it used?
 Solutions
• Present language in a clear situation
• Give clear, simple explanations
• Check meaning systematically
• Do your research!
 I wish I had more time.
Meaning:
 I wish I had more time.
Meaning:

I want more time (now or in the future)

I don’t have enough time now
I’m unlikely to get more time
 I wish I had more time.
Concept checks

Do I want more time now? (Yes)

Do I have enough time now? (No)
Do I think I’ll get more time in the future? (probably not)
 I wish I had more time.
Form:

I wish I had more

time.
Subject + wish +(that)+ subject + simple past tense

(There are two subjects and two verbs because there are two clauses)
 I wish I had more time.
Form: Anticipated problem:
We use the simple past tense

BUT

the meaning is the present or the future

BECAUSE

the situation is unlikely or impossible.

 Grammar reference books – some
useful titles

• Teaching English Grammar, What to teach and how to teach it.

J.Scrivener.

• Teaching Tenses. R.Aitken

• English Grammar in Use, R. Murphy, CUP

GRAMMAR =

F M

U
 FORM MEANING
How is it formed? What does it mean?

USE
When/ why is it used?
Grammatical structures
not only have FORM,
they are also used to
express MEANING in
context-approriate USE.
Analyzing Language: Grammatical
Form

“Collocations”
 Analyzing Language: Grammatical
Form
• Grammar is concerned with the FORM of
the language: that is, the patterns, the
regularities, the nuts and the bolts you
connect together in different ways.

• Some common items have names: the past

progressive tense, reported speech,
uncountable nouns, relative clauses, etc.
 Analyzing Grammatical Patterns
• A substitution table is • Removing the
an established teaching horizontal line,
device which could be blanking a column or
both a stimulus to leaving spaces in a
column add to the
practice activities in the challenge and
classroom and a way of probably the interest.
recording the studied
grammar in notebooks.
• Oral practice in the
• Simple variations on form of drills is often
the table can alter the based on substitution
level of challenge tables.
involved.
 Grammar Subtitution Tables

This a substitution table.

This table is a series of columns.

This diagram something with structure.

What's on the board something that can change its parts.

Grammar Subtitution Tables
Grammar Subtitution Tables
Grammar Subtitution Tables
Grammar Subtitution Tables
 Which one do you like best?
Why?

How could you improve them?

How would you present them?
 I wish I had more time.

Form:

I wish I had more

time.
Subject + wish +(that)+ subject + simple past tense
 Grammar Subtitution
Tables

Instant Production

Consider: Organization, context , sequencing,

differentiating ítems (making a pattern obvious),
gramatical terminology, etc.
 Recognizing Grammatical Items:

• In coursebooks or grammar books, they are usually listed

in three columns: the base form, the past form, and the
past participle.
• Many tenses require use of auxiliary verbs, short verbs
that show the speaker or writer’s attitude or interpretation
of the topic being discussed.
• When teaching verbs, it is important to cover the positive,
negative and interrogative forms.
• A verb can be multiword, comprising a main verb and one
or more particles (phrasal verbs or prepositional verbs).
The most commonly studied tenses and
verb forms are:

Present simple - Present progressive

Present perfect - Past simple
Past progressive - Past perfect
Will -Going to
Used to
• Nouns can be ___________ or ____________.
• __________________ are made of two or more words,
e.g. noun + noun or adjective + noun. Examples are:
__________, ___________, ___________.
• ______________ are combinations of words that act as if
they are nouns.
• Pronouns can be used instead of ____________ or
___________ usually in cases where we already know
what is being referred to.
• Nouns can be COUNTABLE or UNCOUNTABLE.
• COMPOUND NOUNS are made of two or more words,
e.g. noun + noun or adjective + noun. Examples are:
WASHING MACHINE, BLACKBOARD, ONE-WAY
TICKET.
• NOUN PHRASES are combinations of words that act as
if they are nouns.
• Pronouns can be used instead of NOUNS or NOUN
PHRASES usually in cases where we already know
what is being referred to.
 Prepositions are short words that tell us
about:
• Where something is : on, at, against.
• The movement of something: towards,
over.
• When something happens: at, on, in.
• Relationships between things, such as
cause and effect: because of.
 ADD
INFORMATION
about a noun
or noun phrase

UNGRADABLE
COMPARATIVE Show extreme
or the Conditions or
SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES describe
form things that can be
one way

GRADABLE
Are used with
modifiers
• Words that come in front of nouns and
noun phrases.
• The term includes :
articles (definite and indefinite).
quantifiers (how much of something
there is)
Relative clauses are parts of
sentences that tell us more
information about someone or
something.
They often start with a relative
pronoun, e.g. that, who, which,
when, where, why, what, whose.
 Some Useful Advice
• Integrate your learning with your teaching.
• Slowly build up your grammar knowledge in
this way, lesson by lesson, item by item.
• Make good use of the notes in Teacher’s
Books as well as your own grammar
references.
• Gather and sort the information out to decide
what is most useful and helpful from your
perspective.
• Decide what small part of all the information
you can deal with in a single lesson.
• Learn as much as you can about grammar;
however, remember that students cannot
absorb it all in one go.
 Analyzing Concept:
The Meaning of Words
In order to analyze the meaning of lexical items
effectively, we need to consider 3 different ways
of looking at it:

 Components of meaning of lexical items.

 The meaning of lexical items in context.
 Meaning in relation to other words.
 You can help students understand
meanings by:
• Avoiding language more complex
than the word you are trying to
explain.
• Focusing on the most important
usages.
• Using examples.
• Using your own and the student’s
knowledge and feelings to focus on
what we understand by this word.
To make language less complex…

• Avoid words that SS are

unlikely to understand.
• Avoid complex
grammar.
• Keep your
sentences short.
For example:
To illustrate the meaning of Wellingtons:
You wear them on your feet.
They are made of rubber.
You wear them when you walk in mud.
You wear them when it rains.
You wear them in the snow.
You wear them when you walk in or near water.
Farmers often wear them.
Fishermen often wear them.
Walker often wear them.
• Collocations are two or more words
that usually go together (collocate).
They are an essential key to using
English well.
• It may be that knowledge of
collocations is more useful to a
student than an understanding of the
fine differences of meaning between
words.
• It is much more important to
understand the general meaning of a
word and to know which word is
normally used in certain context.
 COLLOCATIONS
come go get
come close go abroad get a job
come complete with go astray get a shock
come direct go bad get angry
come early go bald get divorced
come first go bankrupt get drunk
come into view go blind get frightened
come last go crazy get home
come late go dark get lost
come on time go deaf get married
come prepared go fishing get nowhere
come right back go mad get permission
come second go missing get pregnant
come to a compromise go on foot get ready
come to a decision go online get started
come to an agreement go out of business get the impression
come to an end go overseas get the message
come to a standstill go quiet get the sack
come to terms with go sailing get upset
come to a total of go to war get wet
come under attack go yellow get worried
 We can help students better understand
meaning in context by:
• Pointing out • Setting text gap-fill
collocations when they exercises.
occur. • Asking learners to
• Designing activities guess meaning from
that focus attention on clues in the context,
the collocations of rather than always
particular lexical relying on explanations
items. or dictionaries.
• Encouraging the use • Getting learners to
of dictionary research predict likely meanings
to check whether a or lexical items before
collocation is typical seeing or hearing a text.
or not.
 SUPERORDINATE/ HYPONYMS

Gradable / ungradable
antonyms

MORPHOLOGY
 nail
Synonyms of Soft
Downy, silky, dull, low, weak,
spongy, limp, malleable
Synonyms of Wet
Moist, watery, soppy,
soggy, drenched,
awashed

Ate / eight
Allowed / aloud
Higher / hire
Plain / plane
 Analyzing Concept:
Grammatical Meaning
I hadn’t seen my uncle in ages!
 I hadn’t seen my uncle in ages!
Which sentence(s) state the same meaning in a simple way? Which ones are
partially true? Which ones are wrong?

1. I saw someone.
2. I met with my uncle after a long time.
3. The last time I saw my uncle was long time ago.
4. My uncle died years ago.
5. I like seeing my uncle every year.
6. I saw my uncle recently after many years.
7. My uncle hand’t seen me in years.
 Analyzing Concept:
Grammatical Meaning

I HAD MY HAIR CUT.

I HAD THE SWIMMING POOL EMPTIED.
I HAD THE OLD LOCK CHANGED.

The situations are all different, but the core grammatical

meaning is always there.
Another way to focus on meaning is by turning them into
concept questions.
 Using Concept Questions
to Focus on Concept

I hand’t seen my uncle in ages!

Did I see my uncle recently?

When was the last time I saw my uncle?

Do I live with my uncle?

Why analyze concept in grammar?
 Why Analyze Concept?

• It is more useful to students if

………………..

• By asking concept questions,

teachers can………………
 Why Analyze Concept?

• It is more useful to students if

the meaning is dealt with in
simple and clear ways.
• By asking concept questions,
teachers can also establish
whether students are clear about
meaning. Avoid asking ‘Do you
understand?’
 Why Analyze Concept?(cont’d)
• The grammatical names of language
items can actually get in the way
of……………………………………………………

• A focus on form is useful, but it will

have considerably less use
if……………………………………………………………..
 Why Analyze Concept?(cont’d)
• The grammatical names of language
items can actually get in the way of
understanding the meaning. The present
continuous in “I’m going to the movies
tomorrow” does not express present,
but it is a sentence about future.
• A focus on form is useful, but it will
have considerably less use if there is no
parallel focus on meaning.
 Analyzing Communicative Function

May I help you?

Time is up!

Could you pass me the sugar?

Single room, please.

Cheers!

What are the communicative

functions of these exponents?
We speak or write because we have messages to communicate
or there is something we hope to achieve. These purposes are
the communicative function of what we say.
The communicative function is not
always directly stated or transparent.
Its success is achieved because
listeners are used to interpreting what
such exchanges mean.

In many cases, it’s hard to decide

exactly what the communicative
function is unless we know the
context and who is speaking.
COMMUNICATIVE
FUNCTION
 For example, in the sentence:
Someone is at the door
A student talking to his teacher
(someone wants to talk to you)

A mother talking to her son

(Can you open the door?)

A woman talking to someone on the phone

(Wait for me, I need to open the door
 Exponent:
“You look really nice”

Function:
-Complimenting
or
-Being sarcastic
 FUNCTIONS AND THEIR EXPONENTS
EXPONENTS of a function are examples of language used to
achieve a particular function. Some are fixed formulae that
allow for little or no alteration.
I can’t go along with you there Exponent
(disagreeing) Function

Other exponents have more generative possibilities.

Would you like some coffee? Exponent
(inviting) Function

A change in stress and intonation can make an exponent

change its function.
He is very smart Exponent
(praising) (being sarcastic) Functions
 SETTING

TOPIC GENDER

APPROPRIACY

PARTICIPANTS CHANNEL
• Setting • Informal spontaneous language at home
whereas we may use more pre-planned formal
speech in an office or work environment.

• Gender • Research shows that men and women use

language differently when addressing either
members of the same or the opposite sex.

• Channel • Speaking : Face to face, on the phone,

speaking through a microphone

• Participants • The people involved in the exchange:

colleagues, friends, family members, etc.

• Topic • The topic we are addressing affects our lexical

and grammatical choices.