MATERIALS FOR

THE TEACHING OF
GRAMMAR
Isna Aryanda Nisa (202120025)
Siti Rohmahh (202120032)
Yassaro Taqqy (202120038)
Yuni Wijayanti (202120042)
 What is grammar?

Grammar may be roughly defined as the way a

language manipulates and combines words (or bits
of words) in order to form longer units of meaning
(Penny Ur).
It is self-evident that the development of grammatical competence has
an important role in second or foreign language learning.

Learners need to realize the functions of the device [i.e. grammar] as a

way of mediating between words and contexts, as a powerful resource
for the purposeful achievement of meaning. A communicative
approach, properly conceived, does not involve the rejection of
grammar. On the contrary, it involves a recognition of its central
mediating role in the use and learning of language. (Widdowson,
1990, p. 98).
 Majority of Practice Materials
• Single sentence practice
• Random Lexicalization
• Transformation exercises
• Wordy and inaccurate rules

Example:
Practice of teaching and practicing SHORT FORMS
Yes, I am/No, I am not.
 Some Criteria
 The age and level of the learners who will be using the materials;

 The extent to which any adopted methodology meets the

expectations of a) learners, b) teachers, c) the educational culture
within which the learners and teachers work;

 The extent to which any contexts and co-texts which are

employed in order to present the grammar area(s) will be of
interest to learners;

 The nature of the grammatical areas to be dealt with, in terms of

their form, their inherent meaning implications (if any), and how
they are used in normally occurring spoken and / or written
discourse;
 The extent to which any language offered to the learners for them to
examine the grammar used represents realistic use of the language, and
the extent to which activities for learners to produce language containing
the target grammar will result in meaningful utterances, and ones which
bear at least some resemblance to utterances which the learners would be
likely to want to produce in their own, non-classroom discourse;

 Any difficulties that learners can be expected to encounter when learning

these areas of grammar, especially with regard to any similarities or
differences in form, function, and form / function relationship, between
the target language and their mother tongue.
Grammar Practice as Language Practice

To teach language that can be used

conversationally.
‘What’s your name?’
‘My name’s Debora’,
‘How old are you?’
‘I’m fourteen’,
‘When’s your birthday?’
‘My birthday’s on September’

The exemplification of
grammatical form(s) is more
important than the presentation of
naturally occurring language.
“Short Answers”

No he isn’t
No they haven’t

Yes/No questions can simply be answered in

this way, and learners are given practice
exercises which involve simply question
and response.
The materials writer wishing to get learners to produce ‘short
answers’ would need to develop possible conversational exchanges
which begin with statements that learners can either disagree with
(because they know them to be untrue), or else to which they can give
a contrary opinion. Exercises might be developed along the following
lines:

A: Nicole Kidman’s a really good actress. I think she’s American.

B: _____________________. She’s Australian.
(Learners would be expected to produce ‘No she isn’t’ in the gap).
 Reported speech-an examination
If we look at what a speaker needs to do in order to produce an utterance in
‘reported speech’, we will find things such as:

a. The ability to select a verb which reflects how the ‘reporter’ views the original
speech act (e.g. say, tell, explain, suggest, admit, ask, etc.);
b. Knowledge of the implications of the verb selection for the following structure
(e.g. he asked me if . . . or he asked me to . . .);
c. the ability to refer to periods of time at a deictic distance (e.g. the day before /
the following day / three weeks later as opposed to yesterday / tomorrow / in
three weeks’ time etc.), and also to make other deictic references at a remove
(e.g. the house as opposed to this house etc.);
d. when the verb selected for reporting is followed by a ‘that . . .’ verb phrase, the
ability to select an appropriate tense form for the verb in the ‘that’ clause.
We normally teach such-and-such a grammatical topic (the
present perfect, articles, prepositions, or whatever) by giving
a large number of superficial ‘rules of thumb’. These don’t
really get to the heart of the matter, and they give the
impression that the relevant grammatical area is bitty and
arbitrary. In fact, however, there are deeper underlying
patterns which guide native speakers’ instinctive choices. If
we can tease out these patterns and convey them to our
students, everything will fall into place, and the relevant
structures will cease to be problematic.
Receptive Grammar Activities
Grammar as Receptive Skill

Requires learners to work with aspects of grammar without

actually producing utterances.

Learners may need time to make sense of new language before

they are asked to make sense with it. [This is an argument] for
receptive tasks to be clearly distinct from productive tasks, and
for the former to precede the latter (Batstone, 1996).
Sentences 1, 2, 5 and 8 all
illustrate a speaker’s use of past
forms in reporting speech, while 3,
4, 6 and 7 illustrate the use of
present tense forms (including, in
the case of 7, present perfect).
Quoting Willis (1990, p. 115), talking about noun
phrases but making a comment which is applicable to
many other grammar areas:

Most of these exercises are consciousness raising

activities. The complexity and unpredictability of [this
language] are such that we can offer no prescriptions.
All we can do is outline the elements, and encourage
learners to examine their experience of the language.
It is, however, most important that we do this.
 Grammar and Meaning
Statement Sentence
A woman on a stretcher arriving at a She says she hasn’t been feeling well
hospital and the person accompanying  
her talking to a nurse;

The same woman visible in bed behind ‘She said she hasn’t been feeling well’
a hospital curtain while the companion
speaks to a doctor;

The same woman (now sadly 'She said she hadn’t been feeling well ’
deceased) in a casket while two people
talk about her
 This encourages learners to pay attention to the tense of both the ‘reporting
verb’ and the verb in the reported clause. One or two questions, though, seem
to arise:

1. While the similarity of lexical content is nigh 100 per cent – intentionally, in
order to allow exclusive focus on verb forms – does it result in confusion for
learners?
2. The activity is taken from a teachers’ resource book. Would it work in a
coursebook? And would publishing editors include it in a coursebook for
learners? (The writer’s experience suggests they might not, with arguments
about space and teacher capabilities being put forward.)
3. Where to go next? The material cited suggests getting learners to see ‘if they
can explain the choice of tense’. And suddenly the illustrative becomes the
analytical, and arguably the academic/intellectual.
Grammar materials can also fail learners in other ways. When learners are
given practice activities or exercises to practice a certain feature of grammar,
it appears to be preferable that the utterances produced in the exercise be ones
that a) are feasible language and b) exhibit some similarity to language that the
learners themselves may like to utter. It is not difficult to identify grammar
practice exercises in which the learners performing the exercise create
language that is at best improbable.
 Grammar and Technology
Since the original publication of this chapter in 2003, we have seen the
growth of technology-based ELT and a surge in materials that are online,
or on CD-ROM / DVDROM. And no doubt further technological
developments are on their way.

It is this writer’s view that materials for the teaching of grammar seem to
be somewhat resilient to change, even when technology brings some
possibilities, and grammar is still treated mainly as a system virtually
isolated from other aspects of language and language use.
 Question and Answer
1. What type of grammar is given to beginners for the first time? - Luki Afanti (222120022)
Answer:
The type of grammar is given to beginners for the first time is Parts of Speech
There are 8 basic parts of speech that you will need to know:
• Noun – is a person, place, thing, group, idea, concept, etc. (Ex: dog, man, Japan, house, anger, )
• Pronoun – is a word that can be used in place of a noun, to refer to it (Ex: I, you, he, she, it, we, they).
• Verb – is a word used to describe an action (run, jump, eat), or a state of being (is, appears, thinks)
• Adjective – is a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. (Ex: strong, fast, intelligent, nice)
• Adverb – is a word that describes or modifies a verb or adjective. (Ex: slowly, exceptionally, sadly)
• Preposition – is a word that expresses the relation between two things in a sentence. (Ex: behind the door,
at noon, with the man)
• Conjunction – is a word used to connect two related parts of a sentence. These parts can be clauses (I want
to play baseball, but it is raining), or smaller parts of speech such as adjectives, adverbs, nouns, verbs,
etc… (fancy and expensive, silently but powerfully, kicking and screaming).
• Interjection – is a word or phrase that expresses meaning without the need for a complete sentence. (Ex:
wow, oh, ouch)
2. For every majority that is written in the PPT, there is time to learn it or not?- Mulyati (202120055)
Answer:

I think, single sentence exercises can be learned in elementary school as well as random lexicalization
and rules that need to be considered in learning grammar. For the example is in the teaching and
practicing SHORT FORMS : Yes, I am/No, I am not.
In the junior high school and senior high school are almost the same. There also learn random
lexicalization, then the rules how to write good and correct sentences. As well as transformation
exercise. For example, changing the form of a sentence that was originally simple past to become
simple future.
3. What is the criteria of material for teaching and learning grammar?- Marsela Febrianti
(202120041)
Answer:
The criteria of material for teaching and learning grammar:

(a) Curriculum-appropriate - a curriculum that builds on what students are capable of doing
cognitively, physically, and emotionally at a certain age
(b) Make students interested - make students interested in the material we can teach using
games, or discussion groups. This is accompanied by teaching grammar communicatively.
(c) Balance students' interests and other factors when facing conflicts;
(d) Students-appropriate - the material provided is according to the ability of the student
(e) Flexible. Can place students to acquire the opportunity to make choices in learning activities
and in the end be able to manage their own learning process in their learning environment.
THANK YOU