TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents PART ONE: INTRODUCTION: RATIONALE page 2 THE AIMS OF THE STUDY PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT THEREOTICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Definitions - Integrating - Grammar - Communicative language 1.2: The importance of grammar in communicating REAL SITUATION SOLUTIONS 3.1: Inductive and deductive method a Inductive method a.1 - Sample grammar lesson 1: a.2- Sample grammar lesson 2: Used to + Verb a.3- Sample grammar lesson 3: The present perfect passive voice Pre-grammar Stage While-grammar Stage Post-grammar Stage b Deductive method b.1- Sample grammar lesson 1: Conditional sentences b.2- Sample grammar lesson 2: Teaching Conditional sentences through songs 3.2: Telling stories PART THREE: CONCLUSION 19 REFERENCES 20 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION The importance of grammar in English Language Communication Writing Railway = Grammar Reading Speaking Listening Grammar Station = Destination 1- Grammar = is the railway through which your messages will be transported a train cannot move without railways is very important in communication is also the backbone of a language with the corect grammar, we can express our ideas clearly 2+3+4+5 = the four communicative skills (Listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are the cariages which help form a train 6- Communication= The head of the train which is formed by the four domain skills (Listening, speaking, reading, and writing) – Destination = the destination of the train is the station at this point you can master a language, it means you can communicate well => you won’t be able to convey your ideas to their full extension without a good command of the grammar patterns and structures of the language RATIONALE I myself is a teacher of English, I find it necessary to know grammar because when I have a good command of grammar, I will feel more confident when communicating I can explain more specifically about the structures of the sentences, why they are right, why they are wrong, and because our students are learning English as a foreign language , not a second language As you know, communication has become the heart and soul of the human life The process of communication chiefly deals with speaking, listening, reading and writing No one really learns grammar It has become natural phenomenon that we start speaking what everybody speaks around us We gradually develop a better sense of understanding with the passage of time We don't study grammar of our own mother tongue to use it for daily speaking, but when we need to polish our own mother tongue or we want to learn a foreign dialect, we have to study its grammar and we usually that As far as you can see Our newly developed English textbook focuses mainly on improving students’ abilities of speaking and listening The National Examination , howerver, focuses almost on the grammar and vocabulary So how to help students not only learn well at school but also get high scores in the National Examination is my biggest concern, and it is also the reason why I write this small project - “ Integrating grammar for communicative language” THE AIMS OF THE STUDY The study aims at - helping students be more interested in learning English Grammar through some communicative activities - making English grammar be easy to remember - recommending some ways to motivate students’ communicative abilities - providing a new material for other teachers of English as a kind of reference material PART 2: DEVELOPMENT THEREOTICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Definitions - Integrating: means making into a whole by bringing all parts together or unifying - Grammar: is the study of words and the ways words work together; an invisible force that guides us as we put words together into sentences According to Wikipedia, In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, andphonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics The formal study of grammar is an important part of education for children from a young age through advanced learning, though the rules taught in schools are not a "grammar" in the sense most linguists use the term, particularly as they are often prescriptive rather than descriptive When I’m right No one remembers But When I’m wrong No one forgets - Communicative language: The communicative approach is based on the idea that learning language successfully comes through having to communicate real meaning When learners are involved in real communication, their natural strategies for language acquisition will be used, and this will allow them to learn to use the language 1.2: The importance of grammar in communicating Communicating is an essential part of human activities It is the interaction between two or more people It is a two-way process it involves the sharing ideas and information between one person and other people According to Oxford dictionary, communication is defined as "the activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information" Communication is a learned skill To express themselves well and successfully, people must learn how to communicate This is stated by Dimbledy and Burton (1998) in their book: "abilities such as talking and writing are not natural They are taght by parents, friends and schools" (p.6) As a child, a person may learn to communicate by observing others' behaviors and then imitating them When he or she grows, it is necessary to go to school where they are taught directly how to communicate because they can develop better communication skill which is useful for them "Grammatical competence was a part of communicative competence" (Lock, 1996, p.266) Therefore, to obtain an effective communication skill, people should pay attention to grammar due to these following reasons First, grammar is very importance because it may help enhance accuracy Marcel (1853) highlights this point in his book He clarifies how grammar develops accuracy in communication as "it forms the mind to habits of order and clearness; concurrently with logic and rhetoric, it accustoms learners to accuracy of language, and hence, to accuracy of thinking"(p.424) This means grammar rules can help learners develop a habit of thinking logically and clearly Therefore, after studying grammar, they will become more accurate when using language In addition to accuracy, Ellis also says that grammar learning can make the internalization of syntactic system become easier Hence, it improves the development of fluency (Hinkel and Fotos, 2002,p.10) When a person has learned grammar, it will be easier for him to acquire other grammar rules afterwards compared to those who have never learned before That person will know how to organize and express the ideas in his mind without difficulty As a result, he will be able to speak, read or write a language in a smooth and skillful way Second, a proper use of grammar is a sign of respect, both for speakers and listeners (Clack, 2010) For speakers, speaking clearly means they take time to polish themselves with a good impression from the listeners A person with a poor grammar skill can form negative impression on the first time meeting and this may last for a long time For listeners, a proper use of grammar shows that their thought is concerned Speakers not want them to waste time trying to figure out what they are saying REAL SITUATION In Vietnam, most of the students are afraid of communicating Why they shake with fear of speaking? Why don’t they get out and start speaking? Maybe for fear of making mistakes? Their grammar is not good? In our school, many students are good at grammar and writing However, they often shake in their shoes just for fear of making mistakes and not being able to express themselves properly as much as they want to After 10 years of teaching, I can realise that these are the most common problems: Embarrassment: They are embarrassed because of their accent, poor pronunciation and because they don’t know how to build elaborate sentences or in most cases because they are afraid to be the butt of a joke in front of others Vocabulary: A small range of vocabulary or Lack of vocabulary is also one of the reasons people are afraid of speaking English and they get discouraged to start a conversation If you are waiting to achieve a great level of vocabulary to start speaking English you will end up waiting for years and it will never come to an end Lack of Confidence: You don’t feel self-confident enough to engage in a conversation because your fear is bigger than your confidence plus the three I mentioned above Lack of confidence in some cases turns out into negative thoughts that will break you apart Mistakes: The fear of speaking also comes from a fear of making mistakes Most of the time it happens because people get anxious and in that case they instantly lose their ability or capability to speak comfortably, in some cases, people’s brains get overanxious and their speaking performance drops off substantially, it has been proved that high levels of anxiety can hold you back, in the worst case scenario they stop and get stuck completely SOLUTIONS In this part, I am going to suggest some ways of integrating grammar for communicative language, most of them I have been applying and I can see the improvement of my students’ communicative skills and their grammar as well 3.1: Inductive and deductive method a Inductive method When the teachers take an inductive approach, they start with a set of observations and then they move from those particular experiences to a more general set of propositions about those experiences In other words, they move from data to theory, or from the specific to the general a.1 - Sample grammar lesson 1: You are going to teach your students “Wish” structures Give them some pictures to observe and give the situation: You have an appointment with your friend, it suddently rains and, of course you don’t want it to rain any longer How will you say? Students may say: I hope it will stop raining I wish It will stop raining I wish It won’t rain After some arguments, the teacher may give them the structure of Wish Future: S+Wish (that) + S + would + Verb We use 'would' with 'wish' in a little bit of a special way It's generally used about other people who are doing (or not doing) something that we don't like and we want that person to change It's not usually used about ourselves, or about something which nobody can change though, exceptionally, we use it about the weather - I wish that it would stop raining! - I wish that the neighbours would be quiet! (They are not quiet and I don't like the noise.) - I wish that you wouldn't smoke so much! (You smoke a lot and I don't like it I want you to change this.) - I wish that you didn't work late so often We don't usually use 'would' when there's no feeling that we want somebody to change their behaviour The teacher shows the second picture and say: The girl was lost yesterday because she didn’t take a map with her Now she feels regret for what she did yesterday How will she say? And the teacher gives students some minutes to discuss There may be a variety of answers, the teacher leads them to the correct answer and explains why Past : S+Wish (that) + S + had + Verb –past participle We can use 'wish' with the past perfect to talk about regrets from the past These are things that have already happened but we wish they'd happened in a different way This use of 'wish' is very similar to the third conditional - I wish I had taken a map yesterday (I didn’t take it) - I wish that I had studied harder at school (I didn't study hard at school, and now I'm sorry about it.) - I wish that I hadn't eaten so much yesterday! (But I did eat a lot yesterday Now I think it wasn't a good idea.) To present the use of Wish at present Teachers may call a student who doesn’t really like English, and then ask her/him Teacher: Do you like English? Do you like English? No… Student: No… Teacher: Do you want to study English well? Student: Yes… Teacher: And….to express your wish at present we can say “I wish I studied English well” can you repeat it? 10 Present: S+Wish (that) + S + Verb-ed Teachers may give them some other uses of Wish Wish + to + infinitive: We can use 'wish' with the infinitive to mean 'would like' This is very formal We don't usually use a continuous tense with 'wish' in this case - I wish to speak to the headmaster (This means the same as 'I would like to speak to the headmaster'.) - I wish to go now Wish + object + to + infinitive: In the same way, we can use 'wish' with an object and an infinitive I not wish you to publish this article I wish these people to leave Wish + somebody + something This is used mostly in set phrases I wished him a happy birthday They wished us Merry Christmas a.2- Sample grammar lesson 2: Used to + Verb The teacher shows two pictures of a man One picture was taken a few years ago and the other one is new The old picture shows his habbit of smoking while the new one displays his saying –no to smoking The teacher then asks them to compare the two pictures This stage provides a context for input generation and an opportunity to notice the new grammatical structure The teacher tells them they are going to learn a new 11 structure (for the purpose of noticing) but does not mention the name of structure (for motivational purposes) The teacher asks some clarification check questions to ensure that the meaning is clear Some examples: Did he often smoke in the past?/Does he smoke now? Did he have long hair in the past?/Does he have long hair now? The teacher asks the students to formulate the rule on the board for the given sentence providing help if needed He used to He used to smoke have long hair => S + Used to + V-bare infinitive… The teacher asks students to think back to when they were a child and asks the following questions: "What are the differences and similarities between your life then and now? Think about where you lived, your likes/dislikes, your holidays and your family, and fill in the following lines with appropriate sentences" Example: In the past Live in the country Read commic books Draw Get up late Now Live in the city Watch TV Play the piano Get up early => The teachers then ask students to practice making sentences: I used to live in the country, now I live in the city (When I was a child I used to read commic books, now I only watch TV …… I used to be poor 12 a.3- Sample grammar lesson 3: The present perfect passive voice Pre-grammar Stage First, the teacher has a discussion on burglaries Following this discussion, the teacher asks students to look around the classroom and remember the names and the positions of some objects in the classroom Have all the students go out of the class for some minutes then ask them to come back again While-grammar Stage The teacher hides some objects in the class before the students come in the class again The teacher turns attention to the missing items and says the following: "The chalk-cleaner has been taken from the room The bag of student A has been stolen The small ruler of the teacher has been taken as well The picture on the wall has been taken, too" => Ask the students to pay more attention to the sentences the teacher has just said and formulate the rule on the board Alternatively, or additionally, the context can be created through a reading text written in the present perfect passive voice Post-grammar Stage The teacher gives the following hand-out to be filled out and asks students to walk around and ask questions to the class members Find someone who has been punished by a teacher who has been invited to a birthday party who has been told some good news today who has been told some bad news today who has been misunderstood today who has been forgiven by an old friend recently who has been given a present today Class members name The Teacher asks students to practice making sentences using the present perfect passive voice 13 b Deductive method It has been said that “deductive means reasoning from the particular to the general Deductive reasoning works from the more general to the more specific Sometimes this is informally called a "top-down" approach We might begin with thinking up a theoryabout our topic of interest We then narrow that down into more specific hypotheses that we can test We narrow down even further when we collect observations to address the hypotheses This ultimately leads us to be able to test the hypotheses with specific data a confirmation (or not) of our original theories According to Wilson, “A deductive approach is concerned with developing a hypothesis (or hypotheses) based on existing theory, and then designing a research strategy to test the hypothesis” (Wilson, 2010, p.7) As Babbie, Deductive approach can be explained by the means of hypotheses, which can be derived from the propositions of the theory In other words, deductive approach is concerned with deducting conclusions from premises or propositions “Deduction begins with an expected pattern that is tested against observations, whereas induction begins with observations and seeks to find a pattern within them” (Babbie, 2010, p.52) In other words, when a deductive approach is being followed in the research the author formulates a set of hypotheses that need to be tested Then, through 14 implementation of relevant methodology the study is going to prove formulated hypotheses right or wrong b.1- Sample grammar lesson 1: Conditional sentences - Explain the defintion of the term “Condional sentences” Conditional Sentences are also known as Conditional Clauses or If Clauses They are used to express that the action in the main clause (without if) can only take place if a certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled There are three types of Conditional Sentences Teacher gives the forms of the conditional sentences then explain their usages Type of conditional sentences The 1st conditional sentence Usages Forms Examples It is possible and also very if + Simple Present, will- If I find her address, I’ll likely that the condition will Future send her an invitation be fulfilled = possible at present or the future The 2nd conditional sentence It is possible but very if + Simple If I found her address, I unlikely, that the condition Past, Conditional I (= would send her an will be fulfilled = Unreal at would + Infinitive) invitation present The 3rd conditional sentence It is impossible that the if + Past If I had found her condition will be fulfilled Perfect, Conditional II (= address, I would have because it refers to the past would + have + Past sent her an invitation = unreal in the past Participle) The teacher asks students to make sentences using the first conditional sentences Examples: - If he is late, we will have to go without him - If my mother knows about this, we are in serious trouble The teacher asks students to make sentences using the second conditional sentences Examples: 15 - If I knew her name, I would tell you - If I were you, I would tell my father - If I became president, I would change the social security system - If I won a million pounds, I would stop teaching The teacher asks students to make sentences using the third conditional sentences Examples: - If you had studied for the test, you would have passed it - If you had asked me, I would have helped you - If we had gone to the cinema, we would have seen my friend Jacob - If you had spoken English, she would have understood - If they had listened to me, we would have been home earlier - I would have written you a postcard if I had had your address - If I had not broken my leg, I would have taken part in the contest - If it had not started to rain, we would have walked to the museum - We would have swum in the sea if there had not been so many sharks there - If she had taken the bus, she would not have arrived on time b.2- Sample grammar lesson 2: Teaching Conditional sentences through songs The teacher can play some English songs to enhance students’ knowledge of conditional sentences, such as b.2.1 If you're happy and you know it (learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org › › songs ( To enhence the first conditional sentence) If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands If you’re happy and you know it, and you really want to show it If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands If you’re happy and you know it, nod your head If you’re happy and you know it, nod your head If you’re happy and you know it, and you really want to show it If you’re happy and you know it, nod your head If you’re happy and you know it, stamp your feet If you’re happy and you know it, stamp your feet If you’re happy and you know it, and you really want to show it If you’re happy and you know it, stamp your feet ……………………………… 16 b.2.2 If You Were A Sailboat by Katie Melua ( To enhence the second conditional sentence) If you were a cowboy I would trail you If you were a piece of wood Id nail you to the floor If you were a sailboat I would sail you to the shore If you were a river I would swim you If you were a house I would live in you all my days If you were a preacher Id begin to change my ways Sometimes I believe in fate But the chances we create Always seem to ring more true You took a chance on loving me I took a chance on loving you If I was in jail I know youd spring me If I was a telephone youd ring me all day long If I was in pain I know youd sing me soothing songs Sometimes I believe in fate But the chances we create Always seem to ring more true You took a chance on loving me I took a chance on loving you If I was hungry you would feed me If I was in darkness you would lead me to the light If I was a book I know youd read me every night If you were a cowboy I would trail you If you were a piece of wood Id nail you to the floor If you were sailboat I would sail you to the shore If you were sailboat I would sail you to the shore If you were sailboat I would sail you to the shore 3.2: Telling stories Stories telling has long been considered a useful means of communication Because of this, even very young children will know, implicitly, a lot about stories, what to expect, how to respond Children love listening to stories so storytelling is an ideal introduction to foreign languages as stories provide a familiar context for the child Moreover, if the teachers want to get students’ attention they may think of a motivating activity such as story telling Students start enjoying literature from an early age by the teacher’s use of extensive reading of stories They develop their 17 literary competence –a combination of linguistic, socio-cultural, historical and semiotic awareness (Brumfit & Carter 1986: 18) Literature, in general, allows pupils to understand and appreciate cultures and ideologies different from their own Consequently, children learn to respect other cultures and to be involved in them In addition to this, storytelling provides contexts for talking, listening, reading, writing and other activities such as dance and drama There are a number of reasons why teachers use children’s stories: – Stories are motivating and fun creating a desire to communicate They develop positive attitudes and help children to keep on learning Positive affective factors facilitate acquiring a second language Children will learn better if they have apositive attitude towards what they are doing – Stories exercise the imagination Children imagine sceneries, characters and so on about a story For example, if they become personally involved in a story they can identify with some characters – Stories provide a rich resource for education about human societies, offering insights into life in many different communities and into complex cultures – Stories are a useful tool in linking fantasy and imagination with the child’s real world So children can make sense of their everyday life Stories help children to understand the world and to share it with others – Literature has a social and emotional value, which is a vital part of its role in the development of children’s language learning skills and literacy Listening to stories in class is a shared social experience Storytelling provokes a response of laughter, sadness, excitement and anticipation, which can encourage the child’s social and emotional development – Students love listening to stories over and over again This allows certain language items to be acquired while others are being overtly reinforced Little by little they make sense out of the listening In addition, repetition also encourages participation in the narrative, thereby providing a type of pattern practice in a meaningful context 18 – Telling stories is an example of input –input of language through listening and reading - Story telling is an activity to improve a student’ understanding as he is in the silent period –taking place in the first stages of second language acquisition– in which he is just receiving and making sense of input but he is not able to speak in the second language properly – Listening to stories develops the child’s listening and concentration skills via: visual clues (pictures) or general knowledge Moreover, the use of these stories, for example, which usually contains a lot of direct speech, helps the learner develop a sense of how intonation is used to express attitudes and feelings – Stories can be used to reinforce conceptual development in children (colour, shape, time, size etc.) – Stories are a way of getting children to learn for themselves – Storytelling is a powerful way of helping pupils to learn in all areas of the curriculum Storybooks can be used to provide variety and extra language practice However, the teacher must not use story telling only for teaching grammar and vocabulary because children would not be so motivated and ready to listen to a story PART THREE: CONCLUSION These strategies used in my teaching English at school has received many good responses I think, in order to help the students use grammar correctly during communicating process, teachers should provide meaningful input through context and provide an opportunity to put grammar to use, and relate grammar instruction to real life situations This is best achieved if grammar instruction is treated in the same way as the teaching of the four skills which involves smooth and organized transitions of pre-, while and post grammar stages References 19 - Bayram Pekoz , irne American University (Girne, Cyprus) - bpekoz(at)yahoo.com - Lưu Tuấn Anh - Nguyễn Thị Thanh Trúc (http://www.vns.edu.vn/images/stories/Bai_NCKH/38_NguyenThiThanhTruc/1_ngu yenthithanhtruc.pdf) - Mª ASUNCIÓN BARRERAS GÓMEZ* - Universidad de La Rioja CILAP - www.ukessays.com › Essays › English Language 20 ... project - “ Integrating grammar for communicative language THE AIMS OF THE STUDY The study aims at - helping students be more interested in learning English Grammar through some communicative. .. suggest some ways of integrating grammar for communicative language, most of them I have been applying and I can see the improvement of my students’ communicative skills and their grammar as well... right No one remembers But When I’m wrong No one forgets - Communicative language: The communicative approach is based on the idea that learning language successfully comes through having to communicate