TEACHING GRAMMAR AND

VOCABULARY

SAIMA MUNAWAR
Contents
What should we teach when teaching grammar?.......................................................................................2
Meaning...................................................................................................................................................2
Form.........................................................................................................................................................2
Use...........................................................................................................................................................2
Pronunciation...........................................................................................................................................2
Word associations in vocabulary.................................................................................................................2
Synonyms.................................................................................................................................................2
Antonyms.................................................................................................................................................3
Homonyms...............................................................................................................................................3
Homophones...........................................................................................................................................3
Hyponyms................................................................................................................................................3
Polysemy..................................................................................................................................................4
Collocations..............................................................................................................................................4
Lexical sets...............................................................................................................................................4
Lexical chunks..........................................................................................................................................4
Tools for teaching grammar and vocabulary...............................................................................................5
Modelling.................................................................................................................................................5
Timelines..................................................................................................................................................5
Grammar tables.......................................................................................................................................7
Highlighting..............................................................................................................................................7
Isolation...................................................................................................................................................7
Fingers......................................................................................................................................................8
PPP method.................................................................................................................................................9
Text-based method......................................................................................................................................9
Guided discovery method..........................................................................................................................11
Test-Teach-Test method.............................................................................................................................13
Controlled activities for grammar and vocabulary teaching.....................................................................15
Freer activities for grammar teaching.......................................................................................................16

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What should we teach when teaching grammar and vocabulary?
Meaning
Meaning is the mental image/comprehension that is generated by
the grammar or vocabulary. Students connect the grammar
structure with the meaning. For example, the past tense signals
events in the past, the past perfect signals earlier actions/events in
a narrative. Once the teacher has presented the structure, he
should talk about the meaning too.

Form
Form refers to the mechanics of the language, either in terms of
grammar or vocabulary. With regards to grammar, students must
understand the sentence structure of a specific grammar rule. In the above example on the past
perfect tense, this would be:

subject | had | past participle | object/complement

So whenever students want to use the past perfect tense, they have to follow this specific structure.

Use
Use is how the grammar or vocabulary gets used. For example, the past perfect tense isn't used in
every sentence but rather in conjunction with the past tense. One sentence appears in the past
perfect to order events, and then subsequent sentences appear in the simple past. Take the
following short narrative:

Tom had studied English for ten years. As a result, he got a great job in England last year.

However, use also takes into consideration phrases or certain structures that might appear more
conversational, others more formal, and yet even more than a few used only in very specific
industries or situations.

Pronunciation

 Features of pronunciation which might be worth teaching include contractions (I am =

I’m) and weak forms, among other things.

Word associations in vocabulary

Synonyms

Synonyms are words that mean the same or almost

the same. Although many words in English mean
similar things, few are true synonyms. Aspects that
make words different include register, connotation and
collocation.

Example
Synonyms of ‘thin' include ‘slim', ‘slender' and ‘skinny'.

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Antonyms

An antonym is a word which means the opposite to another word.

Example
'Sad' is an antonym of ‘happy'.

Antonyms are an interesting way for learners to explore the meaning of words, for example
when there are various antonyms for a word with multiple meanings, such as ‘rich' or
‘hard'. This can be done through activities such as mini-presentations of all the antonyms
of a word, or by matching pairs.

Homonyms

A homonym is a word that has the same sound or spelling as another but a different
meaning. Homonyms can be separated into two groups, homographs (same spelling) and
homophones (same sound).

Example
‘Write', ‘right' and ‘rite' are examples of homophones, and ‘wind' is a homograph with
several meanings (‘wind the clock' ‘a howling wind').

There are various useful learning opportunities associated with homonyms. For example,
learners can better understand the difference between English spelling and pronunciation
by looking at homophones, and homonyms can be a good way of showing the usefulness of
phonemic script.

Homophones

A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word but different meaning
and spelling. This can be compared with a homonym, which has the same spelling and
sounds the same but has a different meaning.

Example
The words 'rain', 'reign' and 'rein' are homophones. 'Set' is a homonym.

Homophones are useful to help learners understand that the relationship between spelling
and sound is not consistent in English. Dictations, poems, jokes, and word games such as
bingo are all used to practise this area.

Hyponyms

Hyponyms are words that are the specific examples of a general word, a ‘superordinate'.
They can be compared with synonyms, which mean the same things, and antonyms, which
mean opposite things.

Example
Red, white and blue are all hyponyms of colour.

Learners can record words in hyponym groups in vocabulary banks and add new words to
these groups. This can be a useful way to process new vocabulary and may mirror how we
organise words in our first language.

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Polysemy

Polysemy refers to the quality of some words to have several related meanings. A word
which has several related meanings is thus a polyseme. These can be compared to
homonyms, which are words that have several completely different meanings.

Example
The word 'head' is a polyseme because it has several related meanings:
'My head hurts' 'He heads the news section' 'We'll head them off at the turning'

Polysemy is a very useful aspect of language as it enables learners to make informed

guesses about the meaning of new words if they recognise them as polysemes.

Collocations

Collocation refers to words that are found together in language. Collocations can be fixed,
where it is difficult to replace one of the words with an alternative, or freer, allowing for
more choice of words.

Example
'Utter disaster' is a fixed collocation, as there are few words that can be used instead of
'disaster'. 'Make a cake' is a freer collocation, as there are many words that can be used
instead of 'cake'.

Collocations often have to be memorised; teachers can help learners focus on and
remember collocations by exposing them to authentic texts, and by helping students to
record collocations in their notebooks.

Lexical sets

A lexical set is a group of words with the same topic, function or form.

Example
'Cat, dog, tortoise, goldfish, gerbil' is part of the topical lexical set pets, and 'quickly,
happily, completely, dramatically, angrily' is part of the syntactic lexical set adverbs.

Lexical sets are a way of looking at new vocabulary that some learners find useful.
Activities include asking learners to sort words into groups, word games such as the
chaining game 'I went to the market and bought…', Odd One Out, and Stop, and class
poster projects.

Lexical chunks

A lexical chunk is a group of words that are commonly found together. Lexical chunks
include collocations but these usually just involve content words, not grammar.

Example
In this dialogue there are five possible chunks:
- Did you stay long at the party?
- No, I got out of there as soon as they ran out of food.

Focussing on lexical chunks is a useful way to look at language and to extend learners'
control of it. For example, learners can spend a little time at the end of a reading
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comprehension exercise identifying chunks in the text and analysing them, or identifying
other contexts they might be found in.

Tools for teaching grammar and vocabulary

Modelling
Modelling is providing learners with a written or oral model of the language you want them to
produce.

EAL learners need to notice language in order to be able to practise using it effectively. Providing
learners with written and oral models allows teachers to be explicit about the key features of
language they are using. Teachers can use modelling to enable EAL learners to cope with the
language demands of each task and to support them in practising the target language.

In order for this process to be effective teachers need to be clear about the specific language
demands, both written and oral, of the tasks they set for learners and of the curriculum. They may
need to model a particular grammatical feature, an appropriate language structure or a way of
organising a text. In each case learners notice the key language feature they are expected to
practise before they attempt it themselves.

Examples of modelling

 Providing a model text for a writing task

 Writing down the questions you would like learners to ask during a discussion task
 Giving learners model sentences to highlight a specific language feature
 Annotating a text to illustrate how it is structured and/or to point out key features of English
 Orally modelling the specific language chunks you want your learners to use
 Telling a story to model past tense structures
Timelines
Timelines are diagrams that illustrate the reference to time made by a given piece of language. They
are used to show how a particular language item (often a verb in a particular tense and aspect)
places particular events or situations in time and in relation to other events.

A horizontal line represents the basic line of time. This line is usually marked with a point that
represents now. Thus, the timeline is divided into the past and the future.

This simple template can then be added to in order to show everything from the difference
between the words before and after and the meaning of the future perfect continuous!

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Symbols
The following is a summary of the common symbols used on timelines

A single event or action

A repeated action or habit

A permanent state or situation

A temporary state, situation or repeated/continuous

action

Exact time of event is unknown

A point in time

A period in time

Examples
Here are some timeline examples demonstrating the use of these symbols.

Yesterday, I met Bob in the bank, quite by chance.

Last night, I was walking home when I slipped on the icy path

I have been learning Japanese for three years.

I have been to New Zealand, Iceland and Taiwan.

I get up at seven o'clock every day.

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Grammar tables
A teacher provides a table giving model
sentences with a range of choices for
learners to select from, using a set
pattern. It is a very useful scaffolding
resource which extends the speaking or
writing skills of ESL learners and can be
used as a reinforcement of newly
acquired language. Grammar tables
provide models for learners to practise
target language and support the
development of specific grammatical
features within the context of the
curriculum. They are motivating and
generate a sense of achievement.

Grammar tables can be used to support talk and provide a scaffold which enables learners to speak
or write in grammatically correct sentences. They are often used to provide an opportunity for
independent work for learners who are new to English. However they can also be used by pairs or
groups where they can encourage learners to develop and extend speaking and listening skills
within the context of a curriculum topic and provide an opportunity for meaningful communication.

Highlighting
The teacher can write sentences on the board and underline critical points. Relationships between
questions and answers, for example, can be shown with arrows and boxes as shown below.

Isolation
Teachers can isolate parts of a sentence that they are modelling so that they can give them special
emphasis. When teachers present the first conditional, for example, they might model a sentence in
the manner given below.

Fingers
A teacher can use hands and fingers to demonstrate grammatical structure, e.g. to demonstrate
how will is contracted, we can use a model sentence: she’ll arrive tomorrow. After modelling it,
teacher holds up four fingers and says this sentence, pointing to a finger for each word.
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Realia
‘Realia’ in EFL terms refers to any real objects we use in the classroom to bring the class to life. The
main advantage of using real objects into the classroom is to make the learning experience more
memorable for the learner. To give a couple of simple examples, if you are going to teach vocabulary
of fruit and vegetables it can be much more affective for students if they can touch, smell and see
the objects at the same time as hearing the new word. This would appeal to a wider range of
learner styles than a simple flashcard picture of the piece of fruit or vegetable. (With very young
learners, classroom management can become trickier if you bring in real objects as excitement
levels tend to rise. Last year one of my students bit into an onion we were passing round. I’m sure
he hasn’t forgotten that class!)

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Lesson shapes
PPP method
Lead-in – Generate interest in the topic

Present the target language – The teacher elicit/presents the target language. Using realia or
flashcards and miming are fun ways to present the language.

Focus on language – clarify and check meaning, form and pronunciation of target language
presented in the text.

Controlled practice of the target language- It is important that the activities are fairly controlled at
this stage as students have only just met the new language (gap fills, sentence completion, multiple
choice, etc)

Freer practice of the target language – give the learners a chance to use the target language in a
freer context.

Text-based method
Lead-in – generate interest in the topic / text

Orientation to text – What do you need to tell the students about the text to prepare them for
reading/listening? This could be text type, text source, speakers’ accents, etc. Whatever is relevant.

Pre-teach vocabulary – Teach any blocking vocabulary (that will hinder understanding)

Gist task – set a short task based on general understanding of the text as a whole. Students
compare their answers together (pairs/groups) first before class feedback on content.

Focus on language from the text – clarify and check meaning, form and pronunciation of target
language presented in the text.

Controlled practice of the target language (gap fills, sentence completion, multiple choice, etc)

Freer practice of the target language – give the learners a chance to use the target language in a
freer context.

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Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks. She went for
a walk in the forest. Pretty soon, she came upon a cottage. She knocked
and, when no one answered, she walked right in.

At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge.

Goldilocks was hungry. She tasted the porridge from the first bowl.

“This porridge is too hot!” she exclaimed. She didn’t eat the porridge from
the first bowl.

So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.

“This porridge is too cold,” she said.

So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge.

“Ahhh, this porridge is just right,” she said happily and she ate it all up.

After she’d eaten the three bears’ breakfasts she decided she was feeling
a little tired. So, she walked into the living room where she saw three
chairs. Goldilocks sat in the first chair to rest her feet.

“This chair is too big!” she exclaimed.

So she sat in the second chair.

“This chair is too big, too!” she whined.

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So she tried the last and smallest chair.

“Ahhh, this chair is just right,” she sighed. But just as she settled down
into the chair to rest, it broke into pieces!

Goldilocks was very tired by this time, so she went upstairs to the
bedroom. She lay down in the first bed, but it was too hard. Then she lay
in the second bed, but it was too soft. Then she lay down in the third bed
and it was just right. Goldilocks fell asleep.

As she was sleeping, the three bears came home. They didn’t find things
the way they left.

“Someone’s been eating my porridge,” growled the Papa bear.

“Someone’s been eating my porridge,” said the Mama bear.

“Someone’s been eating my porridge and they ate it all up!” cried the
Baby bear.

The three bears didn’t eat their breakfast.

“Someone’s been sitting in my chair,” growled the Papa bear.

“Someone’s been sitting in my chair,” said the Mama bear.

“Someone’s been sitting in my chair and they’ve broken it all to pieces,”

cried the Baby bear.

They decided to look around some more and when they got upstairs to the
bedroom, Papa bear growled, “Someone’s been sleeping in my bed,”

“Someone’s been sleeping in my bed, too” said the Mama bear

“Someone’s been sleeping in my bed and she’s still there!” exclaimed

Baby bear.

Just then, Goldilocks woke up and saw the three bears. She screamed,
“Help!” And she jumped up and ran out of the room. Goldilocks ran down
the stairs, opened the door, and ran away into the forest. And she never
returned to the home of the three bears. Did the bears run after her? Did
Goldilocks reach her home? Well, nobody knows that.
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 Source: http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/goldilocks_story.htm

Guided discovery method

‘Guided discovery, also known as an inductive approach, is a technique where a teacher provides
examples of a language item and helps the learners to find the rules themselves’

Lead-in – generate interest in the topic / text

Orientation to text – What do you need to tell the students about the text to prepare them for
reading/listening? This could be text type, text source, speakers’ accents, etc. Whatever is relevant.

Pre-teach vocabulary – Teach any blocking vocabulary (that will hinder understanding)

Gist task – set a short task based on general understanding of the text as a whole. Students
compare their answers together (pairs/groups) first before class feedback on content.

Guided discovery - Observation and analysis of the language through guided questions. Statement
of the rule

Controlled practice of the target language- Application of the rule in practice tasks. It is important
that the activities are fairly controlled at this stage as students have only just met the new language
(gap fills, sentence completion, multiple choice, etc)

Freer practice of the target language – give the learners a chance to use the target language in a
freer context.

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1. Read the text quickly and decide which of the following statements is correct?
a. The text is mainly about X-ray’s future.
b. The text is mainly about X-ray’s history.
c. The text is mainly about X-ray’s disadvantages.

2. Read again and mark the following true or False. Underline where you find answer in the
text.
A. Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays in 1986.

B. Roentgen’s wife took the first x-ray photograph.

C. The first x-ray machine was invented by Roentgen.
D. They call x-ray machine “the window into human body”
E. X-ray machines are only used in medicine.

Source: New Headways Pre-Intermediate 3rd edition, Oxpord University Press, 2000

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Test-Teach-Test method
Lead-in – generate interest in the topic

Test 1 – Give students a matching, categorising, ordering, gap-fill etc. task to check what they
already know. For example, if your target language is 10 vocabulary items, you could get students to
match the words with the correct definition.

Feedback to test 1 – check what students get right. Give language input or clarify what they didn’t
understand (remember, when introducing new vocabulary always think MFPA: ‘meaning, form
pronunciation, appropriacy’)

Test 2 – Controlled practice of the target language. Give students a chance to put what you just
clarified into practice. For example, if you did a matching task in ‘Test 1’, maybe you could do a gap
fill in ‘Test 2’, where learners choose the appropriate word in context.

Freer practice – give students a chance to use the language in a freer context. Discussion questions,
roleplay, etc.

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 A

Tell B … How to get to “School” Tell A … How to get to “Toy Shop”

Controlled activities for grammar and vocabulary teaching

• Multiple choice exercise,
• gap fill exercises,
• substitution drills,
• sentence transformations,
• split sentences,
• reordering sentences and
• matching sentences to pictures.

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Freer activities for grammar teaching
• Roleplay /simulation
• Information gap
• interviews
• Debate
• Problem-solving
• Discussion
• Writing task

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