Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Why I Wrote this Book
- A Getting Started
- B Core Skills
- C Classroom Management
- D Lesson Planning
- E Learning how to Learn
- F Storytelling
- G Playing Games
- H Values Education
- I Songs, Rhymes, Chants and Raps
- J Working with Projects
- K Intercultural Competence
- L Content-Based Learning (CLIL)
- M Thinking Skills
- N Vocabulary
- O Life Skills
- P Art, Craft and Design
- Q Mime and Drama
- R Inclusion and Diversity
- S Creativity
- T Adapting or Writing Materials
- U Listening and Speaking
- V Reading and Writing
- W Multiliteracies
- X Grammar
- Y Assessment
- Z The Last Word
- Glossary
- Selected Further Reading
- Index
X - Grammar
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Why I Wrote this Book
- A Getting Started
- B Core Skills
- C Classroom Management
- D Lesson Planning
- E Learning how to Learn
- F Storytelling
- G Playing Games
- H Values Education
- I Songs, Rhymes, Chants and Raps
- J Working with Projects
- K Intercultural Competence
- L Content-Based Learning (CLIL)
- M Thinking Skills
- N Vocabulary
- O Life Skills
- P Art, Craft and Design
- Q Mime and Drama
- R Inclusion and Diversity
- S Creativity
- T Adapting or Writing Materials
- U Listening and Speaking
- V Reading and Writing
- W Multiliteracies
- X Grammar
- Y Assessment
- Z The Last Word
- Glossary
- Selected Further Reading
- Index
Summary
Young children learn holistically and construct meaning from all available clues in their immediate environment. Through exposure to language in activities such as stories, songs, games and everyday classroom communication, they become familiar with grammatical patterns in formulaic sequences and unanalysed chunks of language. Through imitation, repetition, meaningful practice and recycling, children develop confidence in using language and transferring it to other contexts. The language children learn in this way also becomes an internal resource for later, more formal learning.
As children grow older and develop analytical skills, it becomes increasingly appropriate to encourage them to notice underlying grammatical patterns and forms. This develops their awareness and explicit understanding of grammar, as well as engages their curiosity in comparing English with their own language(s). It also enables children to begin to systematise their knowledge and potentially enriches and extends the ways in which they communicate.
A key question is when to move beyond implicit teaching– learning of language chunks and adopt a more explicit approach. There are no ‘right answers’ to this, and your decision depends on factors such as how long children have been learning English, their cognitive maturity and the approach used to teach their mother tongue. This will also influence your decision on whether or not it is helpful to introduce metalanguage, such as ‘verb’ or ‘noun’.
My key tips for grammar are:
93 Make grammar child-friendly
94 Be a grammar detective!
95 Provide purposeful practice
96 Correct with a light touch
93 Make grammar child-friendly
In order to make grammar child-friendly, children need to encounter the language in a relevant, meaningful context, such as a story, first. By using multi-sensory activities, you also make grammar memorable and enjoyable.
At times in your teaching, there may be a place for short grammatical explanations, possibly in the children's shared language. However, the most effective way of supporting children's emerging grammar is to give them hands-on opportunities to manipulate and experience grammar for themselves.
Some ideas for multi-sensory, child-friendly, grammar activities are:
• Spot the contractions: prepare word cards with sentences that are meaningful to children using full forms, e.g. Leyla has got a carrot. / Yusef does not like peas. In groups, children take a card and stand in a line to make their sentence. Children who have words which contract link arms, e.g. does not = doesn’t.
- Type
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- Information
- Carol Read’s 101 Tips for Teaching Primary Children , pp. 116 - 120Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020