Teaching grammar
lexically
Hugh Dellar
National Geographic Learning
Lexical Lab
Much of it demands too much too young.
This will put pressure on teachers to rely on
rote
learning
without
understanding.
Inappropriate demands will lead to failure and
demoralisation. The learner is largely
ignored. Little account is taken of children's
potential interests and capacities, or that
young children need to relate abstract ideas
to their experience, lives and activity.
 Little account is taken of …. that young
children need to relate abstract ideas to their
experience
…

… their experience, lives, and activity.
 Much of it demands too much too young.
"Presumably they mean something like
'demands too much when children are too
young to be ready for so much', but, as
worded, it simply is not English,… 'young' is
an adjective, and cannot ever be an adverb.”
 He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Shall yearely on the vygill feast his friends,
And say, to morrow is S. Cryspines day
My legal name is Alexander Perchov. But all of my many
friends dub me Alex, because that is a more flaccid-to-utter
version of my legal name. Mother dubs me Alexi-stopspleening-me!, because I am always spleening her. If you
want to know why I am always spleening her it is because I
am always elsewhere with friends, and disseminating so
much currency, and performing so many things that can
spleen a mother. Father used to dub me Shapka, for the fur
hat I would don even in the summer month. He ceased
dubbing me that because I ordered him to cease dubbing
me that. It sounded boyish to me, and I have always thought
myself as very potent and generative.
Wrong words or wrong grammar?
 Are you want to travel a lot?
 He put down me for the problem.
 She’s been knowing him for a while.
 We need to rethink about our policies
 It’s no point trying to convince her.
 They look for shelter because it’s storming.
Michael Swan said:
The role of ‘grammar’ in language courses is often
discussed as if ‘grammar’ were one homogeneous
kind of thing. In fact, ‘grammar’ is an umbrella term
for a large number of separate or loosely related
language systems, which are so varied in nature
that it is pointless to talk as if they should all be
approached in the same way. How we integrate the
teaching of structure and meaning will depend to a
great extent on the particular language items
involved.
So what different types of grammar
are there?
(1)Grammar as types of words and their functions
UP
They’ll have to up their offer.
The whole area is on the up.
I was up till three last night.
He’s up in his room.
Up the Arsenal!
(b) Rules & Forms
Obviously, this includes tenses, but also . . .
. . . few / little, a few / a little
. . . much / many / a lot of
. . . don’t split infinitives
. . . don’t say less, say fewer
(c) Slots that can be filled with words
I drive cars.
I’m driving cars.
I have driven cars.
I have been driving cars.
Cars are driven.
Cars are being driven.
Cars have been driven.
I drove cars.
I was driving cars.
I had driven cars.
I had been driving cars.
Cars were driven.
Cars were being driven.
Cars had been driven.
Cars have been being driven!
Cars had been being driven!!
(d) Syntax and the position of words in
sentences
No account was taken of changes in the population of each
village that might have occurred since 1873.
Little account has been taken of passengers' needs and
priorities.
I’ve had a really busy day. I haven’t even had time for a
coffee!
She doesn’t smoke, drink or even swear!
(e) Tenses and verb phrases
The ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE ELT Canon.
The present simple forms of the verb to be
The present simple
The past simple forms of the verb to be
The past simple
Irregular past simple verbs
More lexical ways of thinking
about grammar
(1)Grammar as lexis / phrases
What’s it like?
I’ve never seen it, but it’s supposed to be great.
I wouldn’t bother if I were you.
It was a total waste of time.
You should’ve told me.
I’ll do it later.
I should’ve finished by five.
(2) Phrases providing slots
Everything you ever wanted to know about
grammar, but were afraid to ask!
It’s grammar, Jim . . . but not as we know it!
What’re you doing . . . tonight?
. . . after this?
There’s no pleasing some people.
There’s no angering some people!
(3) Collocation (including prepositions?)
I’m responsible for hiring and firing.
I’m responsible for corporate and social responsibility
I’m responsible for taking minutes at meetings
It’s the responsibility of taxi drivers to know their way
around.
It’s the responsibility of each and every one of us to remain
vigilant during these troubled times.
It’s irresponsible of you to leave a gun in the house
(4) Colligation
I was born in Tunbridge Wells.
Bandung was once dubbed the Paris of the East.
The building has been earmarked for demolition.
I can’t be bothered.
I can be bothered?
It was really surprising.
It wasn’t that surprising.
It was quite astonishing.
It was not that astonishing?
(5) Patterns
Just because I’m a teacher it doesn’t mean I’ve failed at
everything else.
Just because I’m a man it doesn’t mean I can’t cook.
Just because you're a black boy / Just because you're a
white / It doesn't mean you've got to hate him / It doesn't
mean you've got to fight
GO across a place
Much of the usage is taken by a very small number of verbs
(go, move, travel) that primes other uses.
(6) Discourse
While some believe that . . . it nevertheless seems true that .
..
According to your website, the rooms were supposed to
come with en-suite bathrooms. However, in reality, we
ended up having to use outside toilets!
Where are you from?
Whereabouts?
And are you from there originally?
(7) Genre dependence
Texting, notes, informal conversation, advertising, letters to
newspapers and so on all have their own their own
conventions, and this includes grammatical (or lexicogrammatical) conventions.
For example: a feature of letters to newspapers is ellipsis.
Little account is taken of children's potential interests and
capacities, or of the fact that young children need to relate
abstract ideas to their experience, lives and activity.
Classroom implications
(1)The road is long
Competence clearly ISN’T simply learned by studying rules,
forms and meanings.
Rather, it’s learned slowly . . . from input.
Whole sentences. Discourse.
Lexis with the grammar it’s used with.
Grammar with the lexis it’s used with.
Priming and noticing. Reading!
Other things that might help
(1)Explanation and learning rules
Especially early on. Just be aware of limitations!
(2) Context and eliciting
PPP can also be for things like Sorry. I’m in a rush.
(3) Noticing
This includes noticing grammar in vocab exercises
(4) Guided discovery / Inductive learning
Basically, turning rules into questions.
Other things that might help
(5) Two-way translation
I haven’t seen you for ages!
(6) Cloze exercises
Good for the kind of off-canon bits we often miss
(7) Gap fill / Choose the best form / Transformations
I’d rather not (prefer) / Do you want to go out? (fancy)
(8) Drills
Showing phonetic envelopes and varying chunks
(9) Negotiate meaning and correct
Reformulate, interrupt, point out, TEACH!
A note of caution: ELF / Level / Interlanguage
There’s an issue when it comes to thinking about ELF and
what correct grammar is as grammar hardly ever causes
problems in communication.
Vocabulary and pronunciation does far more!
Are we worrying about the right thing?
Some advice from an ex-poet laureate
(and an example of creativity from slot filling!)
They fuck you up, your language teachers./
They may not mean to, but they do.
They plague you with their rules of grammar
With extra homework, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn/
By fools in old-style hats and coat,
Who half the time had games and fun
And half Murphyed you round the throat.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t obsess ‘bout grammar yourself.
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