TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Integrating grammar for communicative language I Introduction In the context of globalization, great demand for an intermediary means of communication has made English to become, by far, the most prominent language of all Therefore, it can rightfully be called the lingua franca of the modern world and is systematically used in practically every aspect of life (Muysken, 2008) Over the centuries, second language educators have alternated between two types of approaches to language learning: those that focus on analyzing the language and those that focus on using the language The former have students learn the elements of language (e.g., sounds, structure, vocabulary), building toward students’ being able to use the elements to communicate The latter encourage students to use the language from the start, however falteringly, in order to acquire it Early in the previous centuries, this distinctive pattern was observable in the shift from the more form-oriented grammar-translation approach to the use-oriented direct method (Celce-Murcia, 1988) In other words, English as a Second Language (ESL) education has changed greatly over the past few decades, which aims at teaching “communicative competence” including not only grammatical competence but also sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence (Canale & Swain, 1980, cited in Lyu, p.5) According to Weaver (1996), “The primary function of language is communication and interaction” Grammatical competence no longer dominates current approaches; therefore, improving students’ communicative competence has emerged as the new focus in language education Although grammatical competence no longer dominates the modern language learning and teaching, it stills plays an important role because grammar is “the mental system of rules and categories that allows humans to form and interpret the words and sentences of their language” (Richards et al, 1985) Without the fundamental knowledge of grammar, learners cannot fully develop all aspects of language learning, which may lead to the inaccuracy in other skills Therefore, these two approaches cannot be separated in second language classroom In many high schools in Vietnam, it is commonly seen that due to the pressure of examinations which often focus on reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary, or in other words, the language learning and teaching process is somehow “exam-oriented” or “exam-prepared”, the language teaching methods are undeniably affected Generally, teachers spend most of the time in class helping the students understand and remember rules and then apply them to grammar exercises As a result, it is likely that students who get very good marks in reading are not able to communicate confidently in social situations or even produce an accurate piece of conversation Some teachers are aware of this problem; however, theoretically, they have difficulty keeping balance between the two approaches Thornburry (2001) generalized the case in the following figure: The figure describes the paradigm of the teaching of grammar from the totally implicit to explicit teaching (zero grammar) to conscious grammar teaching that exists in Grammar Translation Method (GTM) GTM used grammar as the starting point for instruction The class under this method began with explicit grammar rules presentation, followed by practices involving translation into and out of the students’ mother tongue Being the “partners” who are trained to help students develop all of their potential, teachers must encourage students to communicate their needs, ideas and opinions (Hedge, 2000) As the goal of English Language Teaching (ELT) became more concerned with enabling learners to interact successfully with members of other societies, the explorations of applied linguistics assumed increasing relevance and usefulness to the work of classroom teachers and material designers Since grammatical competence and communicative competence are both important in language learning, integrating them in classroom context is a crucial trend of modern teaching methods This report will mention a number of techniques to integrate grammar for communicative language in high schools in Vietnam II Literature review Grammar 1.1 The concept of grammar The grammar of a language is the description of the way in which words change their forms and are combined into sentences in that language If those rules are violated, communication suffers (Richard et al cited in Nunan, 2003) Let’s take an example The present tense of the verb “be” has two distinctive forms: “is” is used with people or things in singular and “are” goes with those in plural When “is” is combined with plural, we have what is called an ungrammatical sentence When we say a learner masters the grammar, we refer to the fact that he/she has mastered the many sets of rules that govern the use of that language and is able to apply them to express himself/herself correctly 1.2 The importance of grammar According to Ur (1988), grammar adds meanings that are not easily inferable from the immediate context The kinds of meaning realized by grammar are principally representational, that is grammar enables us to use the language to describe the world in terms of how, when and where things happens Additionally, they are also principally interpersonal, which means grammar facilities the ways we interact with other people when, for example, we need to get thing done using language For example, there is a difference between: - Tickets! - Tickets, please! - Can you show me your tickets? - Would you mind if I had a look at your ticket? 1.3 How to teach grammar? 1.3.1 Deductive approach - rule-driven learning A deductive approach starts with a presentation of a rule and is followed by examples in which the rule is applied The grammatical rule is presented and the learners engage with it through the study and malnipulation of examples 1.3.2 Inductive approach - rule -discovery path In this method, students will work out the examples and generalize them to discover the rules by themselves It helps to make the rules more meaningful, memorable and serviceable 1.3.3 The functional-notional approach According to Krashen (1981), this method of language teaching is categorized along with others under the rubric of a communicative approach The method stresses a means of organizing a language syllabus The emphasis is on breaking down the global concept of language into units of analysis in terms of communicative situations in which they are used Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) 2.1 The concept of CLT Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is an approach that is specifically focuses on the ability to communicate naturally and realistically as a response to the recognition of the current need to emphasize communication skills in instruction (Kemp, 2003, p 7) The goal of CLT is for learners to achieve “communicative competence”, which includes not only grammatical competence but also sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competence (Canale & Swain, 1980; Savignon, 1997, cited in Chan, 1999, pp 1112) CLT emphasizes the learning and using of a target language in a meaningful context (Savignon, 1993, cited in Chan, 1999, p 11), meaning its focus is on communication There is no doubt that the ultimate goal of learning a language is to be able to communicate in the target language CLT concerns the meaningful use of language in a context, and it has moved the focus from explicit grammar and the language to expression and comprehension of meaning However, in doing so CLT only changes the subjects and contents of the lessons, staying still within the domain of language Even though CLT claims that the focus is on communication, it still starts from the point of teaching language rather than teaching how to communicate There is no language or grammar in the real world In fact, they exist only in our subjective experience and are not real world entities (Coleman, 2002; Yngve, 1996; Saussure, 1959) As Yngve (2004, p 17) says, people should be the objects of study from the point of view of how they communicate Therefore, the focus should be on learning how people communicate in a target speech community Since language itself has always been the focus in language learning, it seems that it is hard to get out of the box called “grammar”, the forms of a language Explanations of “objects of language”, in Saussure’s terms, like words, sentences, grammar, etc have always been considered important, as key parts of learning/teaching to communicate 2.2 The components of communicative language ability Hedge (2000) assumes that there are five components of communicative language ability, which are: • Linguistic competence: is concerned with knowledge of the language itself, its form and meaning The linguistic competence involves the knowledge of spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, word formation, grammatical structure, sentence structure, and linguistic semantics Acquisition of grammar will probably involve explicit knowledge of grammatical concepts, categories, and rules, and teachers will need to decide which description of these to choose from those available • Pragmatic competence: is generally considered to involve two kinds of ability In part it means knowing how to use language in order to achieve certain communicative goals or intentions This has also been called illocutionary competence An example would be “It’s so hot today” This statement could have a number of illocutionary forces It might be a statement about the physical atmosphere, a request to open the window, or an attempt to elicit the offer of a cold drink • Discourse competence: Second language learners will need to acquire useful language for strategies such as initiating, entering, interrupting, checking and confirming in conversation These various abilities needed to create coherent written texts or conversation, and to understand them, have together been termed discourse competence (Canale and Swain, 1980) or textual competence (Bachman, 1990) • Strategic competence: Canale and Swain define strategic competence as ‘how to cope in an authentic communicative situation and how to keep the communicative channel open’ These strategies come into play when learners are unable to express what they want to say because they lack resources to so successfully They compensate for this either by changing their original intention or by searching for other means of expression • Fluency: The term ‘fluency’ related to language production and it is normally reserved for speech It is the ability to link units of speech together with facility without strain or inappropriate slowness, or undue hesitation III Results and discussion In modern classroom context, there are some techniques to integrate grammar and communicative language These techniques will be briefly illustrated in the following part Grammar dictation 1.1 What is grammar dictation? Grammar dictation, also called Dictogloss by its creator Ruth Wajnryb, involves collaborating in small groups, actively using their language, and reflecting on the way grammar works in context It also encourages students to reflect on their own output The technique is a relatively simple one The teacher dictates a passage containing target language form at normal speed Students take notes and then work in small groups to reconstruct the original passage 1.2 An example of grammar dictation Activity: Garlic, the great healer Topic: Health and medicine Language points: - Time expression - Present perfect simple tense - Past simple tense - Causal connections Preparation: Bring to class a clove of garlic Warm-up: - In class, ask for a volunteer for a guessing game - Blindfold the volunteer and ask him or her to try and identify the clove of garlic by touch alone (Volunteer’s back to class) - If the student is unable to guess, invite others to try, until the garlic has been identified - Then point out to the students that people often have strong attitude towards garlic Ask your class how they feel about it and why Pre-text vocabulary to heal (v): to make well again antibiotic (n): the medicine that kill bacteria juice (n): the liquid part of a plant infection (n): the spread of germs Text: All through history people have used garlic for healing People used it in India and China over 500o years ago Because it is a natural medicine, it is a very safe antibiotic During World War I, for example, doctors used garlic juice because it helped stop infection Adapted from Ruth Wajnryb (1990) Garden path 2.1 What is garden path? The technique could be considered rather cruel In order to encourage students to process the target structure somewhat more deeply than they might otherwise do, the task is set up to get students to overgeneralize It thus leads them into error This is a technique based on inductive learning Students study examples of the language and come to a hypothesis or generalization If the generalization is too broad, they are given disconfirming evidence and then have to modify their hypothesis 2.2 An example of garden path Teacher: Look at these examples for forming superlative adjectives (Write on the board: cute  the cutest, grand  the grandest) Now make superlatives out of “beautiful”, “outrageous”, “expensive”, Now what we have? Student: beautifulest, outrageousest, expensivest Teacher: No, the superlatives of these words are: the most beautiful, the most outrageous, the most expensive Now I want you to get into groups and figure out the rule … Who’ve got the answer? Student: It’s about how big the word is It is’ a big word, use “most” Teacher: Big How we measure the size of the word? Student: The number of syllables Teacher: Right And how many syllables “beautiful”, “outrageous”, “expensive” have? Student: Three Teacher: Three Ok So who can state the rule? Student: Adjectives with three syllables form the superlative with “most” (This is an invented example based on White, 1998 It is not an authentic classroom extract) Find someone who Language point: The present perfect passive voice Procedure Pre-grammar Stage First, the teacher has a discussion on burglaries Following this discussion, the teacher shows a picture of a living room and says: "Today, a burglar has broken into this room What you think he has taken?" (The teacher tries to elicit responses such as he has taken the lap-top computer, he has stolen the jewellery, etc.) While-grammar Stage - The teacher shows a different picture of the same living room and turns attention to the missing items and says the following: "The lap-top computer has been taken from the room The jewellery has been stolen The small TV has been taken as well The picture on the wall has been taken, too" - The teacher asks questions to elicit the passive voice structure Following this, the teacher asks clarification check questions such as: What is the difference between "the burglar has stolen the jewellery", and "the jewellery has been stolen"?; when you think we need the second structure?, etc - The teacher asks the students to formulate the rule on the board 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 Class members name who has been blamed for something he/she hasn't done who has been disappointed by a close friend who has been told some good news today who has been told some bad news today who has been abandoned by his/her girlfriend/boyfriend who has been misunderstood today who has been forgiven by an old friend recently who has been given a present today Role play Language point: I’d like …, How much/how many? Procedure: 10 - You are going to the market to buy some food Think for a moment about the thing you will buy Tell me one of the things you will buy (e.g sugar) How much you want? (a kilo) What else? Teacher writes things on the board Shopping list: + kg sugar + 500g beef + apples … - Students write their own shopping list - Teacher gives instruction: Imagine you are in a shop now Students stand in two rows: one is the shopkeeper and one is the customer Teacher may give out the role card to both sides Shopkeeper Customer Can I help you? How much? How many? Anything else? That’s … dong, please Thank you I need/want … I’d like … Do you have any …? …, please Thank you Now the shopkeepers work with the customers When most students have finished, ask them to change the roles and continue role-playing Mapped dialogue Language point: What’s the weather like …? What kind of weather you like? Procedure: - Teacher puts the Mapped Dialogue on the board Can Tho (boy) Ha Noi (girl) … Hanoi? 11 … cold … Can Tho? … hot … like? … cold… … Hanoi … like? … hot … … Can Tho - Where’s he? (Can Tho) Where’s she? (Hanoi) - He asks a question about the weather in Hanoi What does he ask? (What’s the weather like in Hanoi?) What does she reply? (It’s cold) Now she asks about the weather in Can Tho What does she ask? (What’s the weather like in Can Tho?) And what does he reply? (It’s hot) Good - Practice with your partner - What’s next? Make her next question (What kind of weather you like?) And his reply? (I like cold weather) And where is it cold, in Can Tho or Hanoi? (In Hanoi) So what does she say? Listen “Come to Hanoi” - Practice again with your partner (Students work in pairs) - Then teacher chooses students to model the whole dialogue IV Conclusion Grammar is a set of rules to preserve the written word Without these standards there would be no continuity of language and over time communication of ideas would suffer As people from different parts of the world try to talk in English which is influenced by their mother tongue, there are errors in grammar and sentence pattern If one can master grammar, he or she can unlock ideas and thoughts that were written across time and place Proper grammar is very important Correct grammar keeps us from being misunderstood and lets us effectively express our thoughts and ideas On the other hand, the way we communicate is extremely important in our profession and society Without communication, it can be said that one has master a language, even though his/her reading or writing skill are proficient 12 That is the reason why teachers should always read materials on TESOL Methodology, adapt or adjust to cater the needs of students as much as possible All of the techniques presented above need adapting to fit the demands as well as the level of students That is also the way teacher inspires students on their way achieving success in the future, especially in the modern society nowadays 13 REFERENCE LIST Canale, M., & Swain, M (1980) Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing Applied Linguistics Celce-Murcia, M and Hilles, S., (1988) Techniques and Resources in Teaching grammar New York: Oxford University Press Chan, J Y (1999) Integrating simulations in an EFL course for adolescents in Hong Kong: A holistic approach to language teaching Master’s Project University of Toledo Coleman, D W (2002) “What in the real world might correspond with the subjective notion of grammatical structure?” Speculative Notes on Human Linguistics, No 1, 2/11/2002 Retrieved August 8, 2015, from http://coarts_faculty.utoledo.edu/dcoleman/HumLing/HL_speculation _01.pdf Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom Oxford: OUP Kemp, K S (2003) Simulation and Communicative Language Teaching in the Spanish II Classroom Master’s Project University of Toledo Krashen, S (1981) Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning Oxford: Pergamon Lyu, Y (2006) Master thesis: Simulations and Second/Foreign Language Learning: Improving communication skills through simulations University of Toledo Muysken, P., (2008), "The problem of the Caucasian Sprachbund" in Muysken, P., ed., From Linguistic Areas to Areal Linguistics Amsterdam: Benjamins 14 Nunan, D (2003) Language Teaching Methodology London: Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd Richards, J., Platt, J., and Weber, H (1985) Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics London: Longman Thornburry, S (2001) How to teach grammar? London: Pearson Education Limited England Ur, P (1988) A course in Language Teaching: Practice and theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Weaver, C (1996) Teaching grammar in context Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers, Inc Yngve, V H (2004) From grammar to science: New foundations for General Linguistics Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company 15 [...]... grammar and sentence pattern If one can master grammar, he or she can unlock ideas and thoughts that were written across time and place Proper grammar is very important Correct grammar keeps us from being misunderstood and lets us effectively express our thoughts and ideas On the other hand, the way we communicate is extremely important in our profession and society Without communication, it can be said... (girl) … Hanoi? 11 … cold … Can Tho? … hot … like? … cold… … Hanoi … like? … hot … … Can Tho - Where’s he? (Can Tho) Where’s she? (Hanoi) - He asks a question about the weather in Hanoi What does he ask? (What’s the weather like in Hanoi?) What does she reply? (It’s cold) Now she asks about the weather in Can Tho What does she ask? (What’s the weather like in Can Tho?) And what does he reply? (It’s... like?) And his reply? (I like cold weather) And where is it cold, in Can Tho or Hanoi? (In Hanoi) So what does she say? Listen “Come to Hanoi” - Practice again with your partner (Students work in pairs) - Then teacher chooses 2 students to model the whole dialogue IV Conclusion Grammar is a set of rules to preserve the written word Without these standards there would be no continuity of language and over... please Thank you I need/want … I’d like … Do you have any …? …, please Thank you Now the shopkeepers work with the customers When most students have finished, ask them to change the roles and continue role-playing 5 Mapped dialogue Language point: What’s the weather like …? What kind of weather do you like? Procedure: - Teacher puts the Mapped Dialogue on the board Can Tho (boy) Ha Noi (girl) … Hanoi?... 13 REFERENCE LIST Canale, M., & Swain, M (1980) Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing Applied Linguistics Celce-Murcia, M and Hilles, S., (1988) Techniques and Resources in Teaching grammar New York: Oxford University Press Chan, J Y (1999) Integrating simulations in an EFL course for adolescents in Hong Kong: A holistic approach to language teaching Master’s... Coleman, D W (2002) “What in the real world might correspond with the subjective notion of grammatical structure?” Speculative Notes on Human Linguistics, No 1, 2/11/2002 Retrieved August 8, 2015, from http://coarts_faculty.utoledo.edu/dcoleman/HumLing/HL_speculation _01.pdf Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom Oxford: OUP Kemp, K S (2003) Simulation and Communicative Language... Linguistics Amsterdam: Benjamins 14 Nunan, D (2003) Language Teaching Methodology London: Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd Richards, J., Platt, J., and Weber, H (1985) Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics London: Longman Thornburry, S (2001) How to teach grammar? London: Pearson Education Limited England Ur, P (1988) A course in Language Teaching: Practice and theory Cambridge: Cambridge University... Language Teaching in the Spanish II Classroom Master’s Project University of Toledo Krashen, S (1981) Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning Oxford: Pergamon Lyu, Y (2006) Master thesis: Simulations and Second/Foreign Language Learning: Improving communication skills through simulations University of Toledo Muysken, P., (2008), "The problem of the Caucasian Sprachbund" in Muysken,... you want? (a kilo) What else? Teacher writes things on the board Shopping list: + 1 kg sugar + 500g beef + 6 apples … - Students write their own shopping list - Teacher gives instruction: Imagine you are in a shop now Students stand in two rows: one is the shopkeeper and one is the customer Teacher may give out the role card to both sides Shopkeeper Customer Can I help you? How much? How many? Anything... Without communication, it can be said that one has master a language, even though his/her reading or writing skill are proficient 12 That is the reason why teachers should always read materials on TESOL Methodology, adapt or adjust to cater the needs of students as much as possible All of the techniques presented above need adapting to fit the demands as well as the level of students That is also the way ... of language in a context, and it has moved the focus from explicit grammar and the language to expression and comprehension of meaning However, in doing so CLT only changes the subjects and contents...stills plays an important role because grammar is “the mental system of rules and categories that allows humans to form and interpret the words and sentences of their language” (Richards... sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competence (Canale & Swain, 1980; Savignon, 1997, cited in Chan, 1999, pp 1112) CLT emphasizes the learning and using of a target language in a meaningful context