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AL 8460
English Grammar forESL/EFL Teachers
Spring Semester 2009
January 8, 2009–April 23, 2009
Computer Number15420
Updated12/26/2008
Instructor Information
Dr. Patricia Byrd
Email:
Office Hours: By email
Phone Number: 404-728-0455
Course Goals and the Tasks Required to Achieve Them
AL/ESL MA Program Student Learning OutcomesOutcome / Assessment Tools
A / Applies the basic principles of ESL/EFL language teaching methodology and learning / Course readings involve the teaching of English grammar; Paper #2
B / Demonstrates knowledge of the linguistic systems of English phonology, grammar, and discourse / Content is based on corpus studies of English grammar in 4 registers; Paper #1 and Paper #2
C / Uses cultural knowledge in second language learning and teaching / Course reading on EFL vs. ESL/ESOL and group discussion of that topic
D / Analyzes and critiques theory and practice of L2 teaching and learning / Course readings involve the teaching of English grammar; Paper #2
E / Communicates effectively in both written and oral language in English / Paper #1 and Paper #2 along with small group communication in email format on ULearn
F / Uses technology in research and teaching / ULearn course. Galileo for research. Email to communicate with the instructor on grammar content of assigned readings.
You will have an overview of the major features of English grammar and of many of the issues involved in the analysis of that area of grammar and of the teaching of that area of grammar in ESL/EFL settings.You will illustrate your knowledge through web-based discussions of assigned readings and through the taking of quizzes that will give you feedback about your understanding of that area of grammar.(These quizzes are for your own information, and your scores on the quizzes do not count toward your grade for the course.) In addition, you will write two papers to illustrate your knowledge of English grammar and your application of that knowledge to the teaching of ESL/EFL.
You will learn about the important reference grammars that are available for ESL/EFL teachers to provide detailed information about English is easily accessible formats.In addition, you will have read widely in other published sources on a particular area of grammar and on the challenges presented to ESL learners and ESL teachers about that particular grammar topic.As background to this reading, you will learn about the online search system Galileo that is available through the University System of Georgia.
You will have expanded your skill as an academic writer by presenting the results of your reading in two papers—one focused on the grammar and the other focused on the teaching of that aspect of English grammar.
You will be able to participate in web-based education and will have helped to create a community of scholar-teachers who work together in the web environment to learn about English grammar and the teaching of English grammar to ESL/EFL students. To illustrate your ability to meet this goal, you will participate in weekly online discussions of the assigned readings and the projects.
Methods
The course involves these features:
1. Reading assignments
2. Audio-taped discussions of the English grammar by the instructor
3. A PowerPoint slide presentation that provides an overview of the grammar content for the particular session
4. Small group discussion of the assigned readings (using a threaded email system)
5. Self-testing quizzes to check your understanding of the grammar
6. Weekly email communication with the instructor about the lectures and reading assignments to answer individual student's questions about English grammar
7. Additionally, the course involvestwo project papers that are due at different times in the semester. Please read the note at the end of this syllabus about the "not late work" policy. There are no examinations.The project papers replace the examinations used in other courses.
Paper #1. A paper in which you present the results of your reading on a particular topic in English grammar. The paper analyzes and synthesizes your reading into a coherent whole.
Paper #2. This paper has 2 sections: In the first part of Paper #2, you present your analysis and synthesis of reading and discussion about the teaching of the area of English grammar that you studied for Paper #1. In the 2nd part of Paper #2, you present a practical teaching plan for the grammar. Paper #2 builds on the theoretical knowledge that you developed in Paper #1.
8. You also create a set of discussion topics based on an assigned reading and participate in 8 small group discussions using the Ulearndiscussion setting.
Online Orientation
Early in the first week of the semester, you will receive notification that the online orientation form has been posted. You have until the first day of class to complete and submit the form. The form is important to be sure that everyone has the same information on the first day of class. Also, the information you submit helps me to understand any potential problems or mis-understandings that you might have with the course. I want to get us all off to a strong start and to be sure that no one gets lost because of being in an unfamiliar instructional setting. You will receive 4 points toward your grade for the course when the form has been submitted. If you do not submit the form, you will receive 0 points. There's nothing in between….either all 4 or nothing!
Meeting with other students and the instructor
The course is offered on the web.However, we can certainly work together face-to-face when we would like to do so. Please organize your studying to fit your particular interests and needs.Working with colleagues is an important part of our lives as teachers, but face-to-face meetings for this course are organized outside of the regular framework of the course.
Computer access
You need access to a computer that has sound and can handle the course materials easily.If you do not have a computer at home or do not have a very fast computer at home, please use the computer labs at GSU.
Texts and Materials
1. Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Leech, G. (2002). Longman student grammar of spoken and written English. Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited. [Must be bought]
2. American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC: Author.[Copies are available in the Reference Section of the GSU Library.Some information is available online at You would be wise to purchase your own copy to use throughout your graduate program.]
3. Readingsprovided in pdf format in a file on the Ulearn website for AL 8460:
Weeks 1-2
Byrd, P., Liu, Cecila, Mobley, Alan, Pitillo, Angelo, Silva, Susan Rolfe, and Sun Shu-Wen. (1993). Exemplification and the Example: A Communicative Process and Product with ESL Teaching Applications. ERIC Document #ED 347 826 FL 020 454
Weeks3-4
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2001). Teaching grammar. In Marianne Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd Ed.) (pp. 249-250). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Weeks 5-6
Fotos, S. (2001). Cognitive approaches to grammar instruction. In Marianne Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd Ed.) (pp. 267-284). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Weeks 7-8
Frodsesen, J. (2001). Grammar in writing. In Marianne Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd Ed.) (pp. 233-248). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Weeks 9-10
Conrad, S. (2008). Myth #6: Corpus-based research is too complicated to be useful for writing teachers. In Joy Reid (Ed.), Writing myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching (pp. 115-139).
Weeks 11-12
Hinkel, E. (1995). The use of modals verbs as a reflection of cultural values. TESOL Quarterly 29(2), 325-343.
Weeks 13-14
Byrd, P. (1998). Rethinking grammar at various proficiency levels. In Pat Byrd & Joy Reid, Grammar in the composition classroom (pp. 69-97). Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Grades and Grading
Activity / Highest Possible PointsComplete orientation form submitted no later than the first day of class / 4
Participation in 14 weeks of small Group Discussion Sessions / 28
Participation in the Wrap Up Discussion / 10
Preparation of topics for a two-week discussion of assigned readings / 6
Completion of quizzes for chapters in the Student's Grammar / 9
Email communication with Dr. Byrd about the content of her lectures and the assigned grammar reading (14 weeks) / 28
Paper 1* / 60
Paper 2* / 60
Total / 205
*Both papers must be submitted to pass the course. If a student has a “B” average without one of the papers, the final grade will be an “F” unless both papers are submitted.
Final Grade / PointsA / 195 -205
A- / 185 -194
B+ / 179 - 186
B / 173 - 178
B- / 165 -173
C+ / 158 - 164
C / 151 - 157
C- / 144 - 150
D / 124 - 143
F / 123 & below
Same Points for Both Papers / Points
A / 57 - 60
A- / 54 - 56
B+ / 52 - 53
B / 50 - 51
B- / 48 - 49
C+ / 46 - 47
C / 44 - 45
C- / 42- 43
D / 36- 41
F / 35 & below
Leadership of Discussions / Points
A / 6
B / 5.5
C / 5
D / 4
Participation in Weekly Discussions / Points
A / 26-28
B / 23-25
C / 20-22
D / 19 & below
Participation in Wrap Up Discussion / Points
A / 10
B / 8
C / 7
D / 6 & Below
Completion of Quizzes for Student’s Grammar / Points
A / 9
B / 8
C / 7
D / 6 & below
Weekly Communication with Dr. Byrd about the grammar readings and the lectures / Points
A / 26-28
B / 23-25
C / 20-22
D / 21 & below
Lectures and Responses & Individual Discussions with Me
Each week, we will cover one set of materials as described in the course calendar. The work for each week includes a lecture that is made up of several sub-sections in which I discuss various aspects of the reading assignment and discuss issues in the teaching of English grammar to ESL/EFL students.
Weekly sessions begin on Thursday afternoons at5:00 pm.
The lectures are provided in both written and spoken format to fit individual learning styles.
You are required to attend the lecture segments each week and to respond to me about some question that you have about the content by email at least one time each week.Your response can be a question, an observation, and/or a comment.Reponses will be graded on their clear connection to my lectures. In this part of the course, you are doing what you do in class and before/after class in other courses--clarifying the lectures/commentaries of the instructor. Your emails cannot just be general but have to be clearly connected to the lecture content or to the assigned reading for the session…or to both. These responses are graded on a three-point scale:
1. No response = 0
2. Good response = 1
3. Exceptional response = 2
During the semester, you can earn up to 28 points if all of your responses are of exceptionally high quality; those 28 points correspond to a high "A."
Responding to Lectures with Questions & Comments / Points1 high quality message / 2
1 moderate quality message / 1
No participation or inappropriate participation / 0
Small Group Discussions
A major feature of this course is discussion of the teaching of grammar in small groups.For the first week of the term, the discussion is based on the reading about "Examples & Exemplification" and on learning to communicate in the ULearnenvironment. Starting in the second week of the semester, discussions are based exclusively on the assigned readings on the teaching of grammar.
Each week you must send a TOTAL of 6 email messages.These messages must be sent on at least 3 different days of each week.The idea is to have an academic discussion with give and take among colleagues. If you send all of your messages at one time, you're giving a monologue and not participating in a discussion.Please do not send more than 6 messages because you start to require the other members of your group to handle too many messages and to make the discussion more complicated than intended.
The messages can be questions, comments, responses, and polite disagreements.You are participating in an academic discussion through which you and your colleagues investigate assigned reading and develop your own ideas about the topics.
I will participate in the discussions to a limited extent.You are responsible as a group for having an active and useful discussion.On a two-week basis, a different person or set of persons will provide the topics for the discussion.While they start the topics, they are not responsible for the whole discussion.Each person in the group must help the group be successful in having the discussion.
The computer keeps a complete sets of the discussion materials.I download that set at the end of each discussion and evaluate the content to give you a grade for your work in the discussion. In the two-week discussion, you can earn up to 4 points for the total of 12 postings. For the entire term, the highest possible points is 28.
Weekly Small Group Discussion / Points Per WeekActive participation with high quality content / 2
Active participation with moderate quality content / 1
No participation or inappropriate participation / 0
You are required to participate in each discussion session on a weekly basis.You cannot make additional points by participation later in the term. At the end of each two-week segment, that "discussion" is closed and no longer open for additional comments.
"Active" means weekly participation in which you post questions and comments about the topic being discussed--and "active" also includes responding to the questions and comments of the other members of the group.You must make a total of6 postings per week and those must come on at least 3 different days. A "discussion" involves ongoing listening and speaking--and cannot be done by going to the small group discussion only 1 time per week.
"Quality" is judged by the instructor based on thoughtfulness and perceptiveness of your questions as well as your comments.Two types of communication occur in small groups: (1) communication about the tasks that the group is to do ("task communication") and (2) communication that builds the group and keeps the members feeling like they are part of a group ("group maintenance communication"). Both types of communication are important on the web and are encouraged and rewarded as we learn to work together on the web.
"Inappropriate participation" is basically rude responses to comments or questions.What is forbidden is impolite, hostile, attacking, or impatient comments.We are all colleagues and must always treat each other with respect.
Preparation of the Topics for the Discussion of
Readings on the Teaching of Grammar
For each assigned reading on the teaching of English grammar, a different person or set of persons will develop and post the topics for the discussion.While they start the topics, they are not responsible for the discussion.Each person in the group must help the group be successful in having the discussion. Essentially, the "topic coordinator" creates the topics and then the group carries out the discussion. The "topic coordinator" does not become the "teacher" and is NOT expected to carry that burden for the group.
The topic coordinator has the following tasks:
1. Read the assigned article ahead of the rest of the group to prepare for the discussion.
2. Select or create an appropriate number of discussion topics in consultation with Pat Byrd.
3. Post the topics before the designated beginning time for the discussion.
4. When posting the topics, to use a "subject" heading that helps the group recognize the general topic (and NOT to use just numbers for the topics because those are difficult for group members to remember and to associated with the discussion topic when they return to the discussion).
5. Post the same number of discussion postings as other members of the group….as a participant in the group. NOTHING MORE. The group is responsible for the discussion!
6. Get in touch with Pat Byrd by phone or email is there is a problem in the group or if there's a question that the group want to have her answer for them.
Wrap-Up discussion
The final discussion of the course is designed to help you review the reading and thinking that you've done all semester on teaching grammar. You go back through each of the readings discussed in your small group, select a short quotation from each reading, and then post that quotation along with a comment to explain why you selected it. Your quotation must be unique….that is, you cannot use the same quotation as another student. So, you must read through the quotations that are already posted when you get to the discussion site to be sure that your quotation has not been posted already. This task can be given up to 10 points. More importantly, reading through the quotations is a fast, fun, effective reminder of the many ideas that you and your colleagues have discussed all semester. For this task, you can do the postings all at the same time or spread them over several days.
My Participation in the Small Group Discussions
I will work with the discussion leaders to select topics for the discussions, but the group members are responsible for the discussion. I will not intervene or comment once a discussion has begun. If you have questions about the reading, you can email me so that we can talk about things that you want to know from my point of view.
I have found that when a teacher gets into a discussion that the discussion stops….and becomes a little monologue. The purpose of the discussions is for you to learn to talk with colleagues about issues of importance to ESL/EFL teachers. Only by giving you the full responsibility for the discussion can I achieve that goal.