Grammar and Its Place in Japanese Classroom

Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom

Rob

The task at hand

In order to learn the language Japanese learners need:-

Grammar / syntax

The abstract patternsunderlying how words go together.

Word order

Subject + verb + object

John boughta cake

The manclosedthe shop

Tenses

be auxiliary + subject + verb-ing

Issheworking?

Subject+have auxiliary+past participle

Wehavewon!

Etc.

Words and their collocations

blonde hair vs. yellow hair

great surprisevs. large surprise

renovate a building vs. renew a building

make a mistakevs. do a mistake

Colligation

depend on someonegive something to someone

look after a friendtake something back from someone

The grey area

In a manner of speaking,What I found most interesting was …

If only I’d ……I know what you mean.

Not only …… but also ………..It’s as good as new

I really shouldn’t tell you this, but …Well, as I was saying …

To put it bluntly,…The fact of the matter is that …..

Research into language tells us that

1. Text books tend to treat each aspect of grammar as somehow equal, but ….

80% of tense use in English is either the present simple tense or the past simple tense

95% of the use of verbs in conversation are active, 5% passive

18% of verbs in academic text are passive

The present perfect tense is 9 times more frequent that the past perfect in conversation

Simple tenses are 8-9 times more common than progressive or perfect tenses in almost all genres.

2. Some grammar is late (or never) acquired

Articles

Third person ‘s’

3. Grammar which exists in Japanese will likely be learned before grammar features that are not in Japanese.

4. Students pick up grammar slowlyand incrementally (not all at once).

5. A lot of grammar learning has a ‘delayed learning effect’

6. There are stages of learning of some grammar features.E.g. the learning of negatives.

Where’s the book?

Ability level
beginner

advanced / …………..
No book. No. Book. No!
Me no book. I no book
Him not book
I no have book Takeshi no has book
He not have book. He doesn’t book.
I doesn’t have book.He don’t have book.
I don’t have the book. / - silence or gesture
- no verb or subject
- subject given (often wrongly) but no verb
- no verb but use of ‘not’, often wrong subject
- verb used often incorrectly
- not plus incorrect verb
- often the wrong auxiliary
- correct form

There are similar patterns for forming questions, relative clauses, passives, tenses etc.
The point is that the elements of the grammar are picked up in pieces as each aspect is recognized, not as wholes.It will take time to go through the stages.
When we test students we only test for ‘correct’ language.Tests do not assess the movement / development between stages.

7. Students avoid tenses and verbs like the plague.

What did you do yesterday? I shoppinggo Kobe, with friend

I buy dressI go Kobe

I buyed dressI goed Kobe

I bought a dressI went Kobe (wented) I went to Kobe

1/8

8. A lot of what is tested on Entrance tests is NOT ‘grammar’. Note that it’s impossible to teach what is on an entrance test because the students haven’t seen it yet. It’s a waste of time to teach things that ‘may’ be on the test because there’s a very good chance they won’t be. Spend time on preparing them to communicate in English

9. Not all grammar is equal some is more useful that others

My brother is sickIt is my brother that is sick.

If I had known ….Had it been that I had known ….

10. ‘Advanced grammar’ does not necessarily make you sound ‘better’ or more ‘native-like’

Never before had I seen such a beautiful girl

Had I not found my key I would not have arrived in time

Were I 10 years younger, I’d take up soccer again

11. Teach grammar ‘lexically’ sometimes

On my way to work I…I’m afraid I don’t agree

I was in two mindsThat’s just not true

By the end of the weekIt looks as if …….. is going to …….

I’ll just get my……I don’t suppose you’ve………

How easy is it to learn grammar?

The case of the present perfect tense

The government has created a new committee to …

He hasn’t seen her for a while.

Why haven’t you done your homework?

Have you seen Jane?

There’s been a big accident in Market street.

They’ve been building the stadium for a long time.

Have you got any brothers and sisters?

The present perfect tense varies by

Subject: government, he, you, there etc.

Object: committee, homework, Jane, him.

Aspect: e.g. present perfect for experience, - have you ever ….

present perfect for news A plane has crashed into….

Active or passive: The Reds have won …. Vs. The title has been captured by …

Question, negative and declarative forms:

Have you done…?

They haven’t tried …

I’ve just come back from Paris

Simple or continuous

I have lived in Japan for 10 years

I have been living in Japan for 10 years

Looking at Japanese student errors

The childs are playing in park

I like dog

I came from Japanese

He goed to Kobe yesterday

Last weekend I played with my friends

Their mistakes are often consistent.
Students seem to invent a ‘working grammar’ which they use to speak English
But students often consistently make the same kinds of mistakes at the same level of development
They have created a grammar which works for them, which is not all English and not all Japanese, it’s a ‘between’ grammar. This is called interlanguage.

Implications of the above for Japanese learners

There is too much ‘grammar’ to learn
They won’t learn all they need to know about a grammar feature the first time you teach it
They need to meet each feature hundreds, if not thousands, of times to learn it
Students forget
We must make sure they meet the grammar very very often
we should not expect immediate production of anything new we are teaching
Teachers should be patient about allowing them to go through stages.
because they don’t learn something does not mean you are a bad teacher
Students WILL make mistakes – its unavoidable
Students will take time to get rid of their mistakes, we must be patient
Not every one will learn grammar at the same speed.
We must ensure the right balance of activities to ensure.
We must give them chances to move through the stages (give them speaking and writing opportunities to allow them to ‘push’ their learning.
Knowing about a grammar feature is NOT THE SAME as being able to use it
Testing grammar is not the same as teaching it or learning it.

When should we start to teach grammar?

Grammar is difficult to ‘get’
Most first yearJunior High School students’ brains are still receptive to ‘child like learning’
The majority of JHS 1st year students are at least positive about learning English
By the end of first year most are not and will remain so forever
JHS 1st year students often are not able to think very analytically and logically about abstract things e.g. word order, tense formation
It’s best to avoid much grammar early. Give them vocabulary to fit into generative sentence patterns

I like …….I like …ing

Do you want ….?Have you ever ……-ed?

How many …….s do you have?

Avoid the use of too much terminology
Don’t make it feel like maths
Ensure that grammar is taught in meaningful and useful situations with the aim of helping them to say things, not to pass tests.

Section 2. Teaching grammar.

Important difference. Learning about grammar and learning to use grammar communicatively.

Learning about grammar.

Type 1 exercise: demonstration box

New Interchange 1: CUP

Eastwood and Makin: A basic grammar of English: Oxford.

Type 2: ‘Form’ demonstration box

Essential grammar in use

Type 3: Checking the form practice exercise.

Essential grammar in use: CUP

Type 4: Controlled drill

New Interchange 1: CUP

Ways to present grammar

A. Checking understanding – concept questions

I used to play the piano.

Does he play the piano now?No

Did he play the piano before?Yes

Has he stopped playing the piano?Yes

Now you try. Think of concept questions for these.

The rule for the use of present perfect of past tense.

She went to bed at 10.00

The train had left when he got to the station.

B. Inductive vs deductive

Inductive (They have to find the rules for themselves)

Why do we use be going to or will?

A: Do you have any plans for the weekend?

B: Yes,I’m going to watch a movie with Keiko. How about you?

A: I haven’t decided, but maybe I’ll stay home.

Deductive. (Tell them what the rule is)

Going to is a way to talk about future time. We use the auxiliary verb be before it and the base form after it.
1 Formation
begoing to + BASE FORM
STATEMENTSShe isgoing tohave a baby.
I'm really going totry hard.
QUESTIONSWhen are you going tosee him?
What were you going tosay?
Is hegoing tobe at home tonight?
2 Use
a future intention
John says he'sgoing to be an engineer when he grows up.(This is what he wants to be.)
Are you going to watch the film this evening?
I'm going to speak to him about it. (I have already decided to do this.)
b near future prediction
He'sgoing to have an accident if he's not careful. (He's driving very dangerously now
Oh dear! I think I'm going to be sick. (I feel a little ill already.)

C. Using timelines

1. I’m going to watch a movie with Keiko tonight

Talked with talking movie

Keiko now

Past NowTonight

2. I’ve been living in Japan for 14 years

Now

Arrived

1990

continue to live

3a. The train left when he arrived

He arrivedThe train left

PastNow

3b. The train had left when he arrived

The train leftHe arrived

PastNow

Make a time line for these

I’m reading the latest Harry Potterbook. (every night before I go to sleep)

He was watching TV when the phone rang.

D. Mistakes as presentation

I have ever been to Tokyo

The government has been opening a new stadium

I have ever seen Disneyland

It’s best to deal with one kind of mistake rather than many at the same time.

e.g. past tense formation mistakes

past perfect vs past simple

1/8