Teaching Grammar - Week 10 - Noticing Grammar

Introduction: Hello and welcome to Week 10 of the course Teaching Grammar for the Bachelor's in English Teaching at ULACIT Term IIIC 2023. In this class we will do several activities to explore noticing and consciousness raising activities in grammar acquisition. 

Today's Goals:

• Explore the collaborative grammar study guide activity type and articulate the challenges and strengths of using it.
• Discuss the power of noticing and describe strategies to help raise students' awareness of the form and meaning relationships.
• Review the guidelines and evaluation rubrics for two upcoming projects.

Guiding Questions:

• What role does noticing play in the acquisition of grammar items?
• How can teachers help students notice salient features of the target language?
• How can I prepare an effective grammar lesson?
• How can we uses textbooks effectively in grammar instruction?

Task 1: Grammar Review Study Guides

Let's explore another grammar activity type, Mark's collaborative grammar review study guides. These documents require students to complete a number of tasks to explore the form, meaning, and use of a particular grammar topic in a student-centered way. Click your group link below to get started. 

• Group Link: CLICK HERE

•   Now Discuss:
• What did you think of the activity?
• How challenging was this activity for you?
• How would you describe the way the document was written and what you were asked to do?
• This document was created for future teachers in a university level grammar course. How do you think this activity could be modifed for lower level language learners?

Task 2: Consciousness Raising Activities

As you just learned, many scholars say it essential for learners to notice the important grammar features in the language the hear and read. Teachers can help students with this noticing by creating consciousness raising tasks that require students to pay attention to how different forms are used in context. Click your group link below.

• Group Link: CLICK HERE

In last week's class we discussed 12 principles of grammar instruction. Principle 6 was "Provide Opportunities for Guided Noticing". Here is an important quote from the author.

• “Second language acquisition research has drawn attention to the role of consciousness in language learning and in particular to the role of noticing. Consciousness of features of the input can serve as a trigger that activates the first stage in the process of incorporating new linguistic features into one's language competence. The extent to which items are ‘noticed’ may depend on the frequency of encounters, the perceptual saliency of items, instructional strategies that can focus the learner's attention, as well as the kind of task the learner is taking part in” (Richards & Reppen, 2016, p. 158).

• “Proponents of cognitive learning theory believe that noticing is a prerequisite for learning: without it input would remain as mere ‘noise’. The noticing hypothesis, then, claims that noticing is a necessary condition for acquisition, although not the only one. Some kind of mental processing of what has been noticed is also necessary before the input becomes intake, ie before it is moved into long-term memory” (Thornbury, 2006, pp. 143-144).

Task 3: Task Based Options in Grammar Instruction

Let's see your communicative task designs. Share your task and then discuss the following:

• Does your activity require students to communicate?
• Does the task have a gap the must be filled? What kind (info, opinion, reasoning)?
• Does your task provide a context for students to use the target grammar structures?

Task 4: Your Upcoming Assignments

Grammar Lesson Plan Project: In Week 14 you will write a grammar lesson plan based on a grammar topic and a theme from a chapter in a textbook. In addition to writing the plan and creating the materials, you will carry out a demonstration lesson in class. Let's check the guidelines together. 

• Assignment Guidelines: CLICK HERE

Textbook Analysis Project: On the last day of class, you and your partner will give a 30 minute presentation to review the way a sample textbook addresses grammar. Read the instructions for the activity below. Then click the link to the virtual library to see some textbooks to choose from.

• Assignment Guidelines: CLICK HERE
• Virtual Library: CLICK HERE

References:

Richards, J., & Reppen, R. (2016). 12 Principles of Grammar Instruction. In E. Hinkel (Ed.) Teaching English Grammar to Speakers of Other Languages. Routledge.

Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT. Macmillan.