Session #4

Session #4-
Grammar vs Grammaring
LARSON FREEMAN’S 3 DIMENSIONAL MODEL
Our goal: to achieve a better fit between grammar
and communication
► not helpful to think of grammar as a discrete set of meaningless,

decontextualized, static structures.
► Or as prescriptive rules about linguistic form (e.g. splitting infinitives or ending
sentences with prepositions)
► Grammatical structures not only have morphosyntactic form, they are also
used to express meaning (semantics) in context-appropriate use (pragmatics).
► An approach to teaching grammar that strives to meet this definition
Larsen Freeman’s 3 Dimensional Model
Form/structure
Symtax &
Morphology
Lexical &
Function/
grammatical
use/Context
Meaning
Pragmatics
Semantics
The influence of pragmatics
1. When or why does a speaker/writer choose a particular grammar structure over another that could
express the same meaning or accomplish the same purpose?
What factors in the social context might explain a paradigmatic choice such as why a speaker chooses a yes-no question
rather than an imperative to serve as a request for information
Do you have the time? versus Please tell me the time?
2. When or why does a speaker/writer vary the form of a particular linguistic structure?
What linguistic discourse factors would result in a syntagmatic choice such as the indirect object being placed before the
direct object
Jenny gave Hank a brand-new comb versus Jenny gave a brand-new comb to Hank
Grammaring vs Grammar
By thinking of grammar as a skill to be

mastered, rather than a set of rules to be
memorized, we will be helping ESL/EFL
students go a long way toward the goal of being
grammar as a skill
able to accurately convey meaning in the
manner they deem appropriate. or grammar as
competence
The Learning process
1.- Learners do not learn structures one at a time.

Not a matter of accumulating structural entities.
Learners don’t master the definite article, and when that is mastered, move on to the simple past tense.
From their first encounter with the definite article, learners might master one of its pragmatic functions
(to signal the uniqueness of the following noun)
not likely that they will always produce the definite article when needed because learners typically take
a long time before they are able to do this consistently.
learning is a gradual process involving the mapping of form, meaning, and use; structures do not
spring forth in learners' interlanguage fully developed and error-free.
2.-Backsliding occurring with the introduction of new forms to the learners' interlanguage .
the learner mastered the third person singular marker on present-tense verbs,
BUT likely to over-generalize the rule and apply it to newly emerging modal verbs, thus producing errors, such as:
She cans speak Spanish.
Teachers should not despair at regressive behavior on the part of their students.
Well-formedness is usually restored once the new additions have been incorporated and the system self-
organizes or restructures.
3.-Second language learners rely on the knowledge and the experience they have.
They will rely on their L1 as a source of hypotheses about how the L2 works; when they are more advanced, they
will rely increasingly on the L2. In understanding this, the teacher realizes that there is no need teach everything
about a structure to a group of students; rather, the teacher can build upon what the students already know.
The Teaching of Grammar
1.-Scheduled or derivative?
Does it arise from an error (error correction or remedial work) or is it planned and scheduled and the teacher will bring it to the
students' attention, or to promote their noticing of some feature of a grammatical structure or to highlight it in a text in some
fashion. Enhancing the input to promote noticing, a practice sometimes called input flooding.
2.-Consciousness-raising task
Students' job to induce a grammatical generalization from the data they have been given
Ask students to work out the rule for indirect object alternation in English
They gave a gold watch to him. Vs. They gave him a gold watch.
3.-The garden path strategy
giving students information about structure without giving them the full picture, thus making it seem easier than it is, or in other
words, "leading them down the garden path." If students were told that the English past tense is formed with -ed, this would be
leading students down the garden path as there are many irregular verbs in English where this rule will not work to produce the
past tense. Why only a partial explanation? They are more likely to learn the exceptions to the rule if they are corrected at the
moment the overgeneralization error is made than if they are given a long list of "exceptions to the rule" to memorize in advance.
✔ Activities where the need for some grammar structure is the prompt or motivation to learn
✔ not enough to have awarenesses raised if students can't produce the language.
✔ Output production is extremely important, because it pushes students to move beyond semantic processing to
syntactic processing
✔ When students attempt to produce structures, they get to test their hypotheses on how the structure is
formed or what it means or when it is used
✔ can receive feedback on their hypotheses and modify them as necessary.
✔ students' participation in collaborative dialogue, through which learners can provide support for each other,
has spurred development of learners' interlanguage both a cognitive tool and a means of communication
which can promote grammatical development
✔ grammar teaching can better be thought of as developing "grammaring," i.e., helping students be
able to use grammar skillfully, a goal that requires significant practice.
✔ Has been argued that practice of grammatical patterns can lead to automatization of certain aspects of
performance, which frees up students' attentional resources to be allocated elsewhere.
✔ Rules and forms learned in isolated meaningless drills may be harder to retrieve in the context of
communicative interaction
✔ student motivation is likely to be enhanced if students are able to interact in a way that is meaningful
to them.
✔ They are likely to be more attentive if they are saying something meaningful.
Grammar Activities
► Activities to practise FORM

regarding the skill acquisition theory, fluency or proceduralization of declarative knowledge (e.g. knowledge of a grammar rule or pattern)
requires practice in which students use the target language point meaningfully while keeping the declarative knowledge in working memory:
games, problem solving, cusinaire rods
► Activities to practise MEANING
realia and pictures are very useful. Example: the semantics of comparative forms in English to support some communicative task or content, T
might show students pairs of pictures and work with them to make comparisons using the form that reflects the relation depicted
► Activities to practise USE
Working on use will involve students learning that there are options to be exercised and that they must select which best suits a given context.
relevant practice activities will provide students with an opportunity to choose from two or more forms the one most suitable for the context
and how they wish to position themselves (e.g., in a cooperative way, a polite way, an assertive way, etc.).
Students would receive feedback on the appropriateness of their choice.
Example: choosing between ACTIVE and PASSIVE Voice
Food for thought
Professional Development
How much Grammar do I know? How much do I know about the use of the language?
If you can't fill in all the circles in the Freman’s 3-dimensional pie chart for a given structure, you can consult
reference grammars. There are many gaps in what is known about the three dimensions. In particular, there is
much to learn about the pragmatic conditions governing the use of particular structures. The pie chart can also
be used to generate items for a research agenda. By exploring the three dimensions of grammar and how to teach
them, teachers will continue to develop their professional knowledge base, which will, in turn, benefit their
students as they strive to enhance their grammatical proficiency.
Break-out rooms
1.- The effect of the native language on second language learning has traditionally been seen to be one of
interference. How does observation 3 on the learning process (pp. 255-256) differ in its perception of L1
influence?
2. Why was it stressed that the repetition in a practice activity for working on form should be meaningful?
3.-Analyze restrictive or defining relative clauses in terms of the three dimensions of the pie chart. What
has been the most challenging dimension for you?
The seminar I didn’t attend turned out to be the best one
4. Design practice activities for dealing with the pragmatics of the following:
indirect object alternation
I gave the lovely present from Harrogate to my daughter
I gave my daughter the lovely present from Harrogate

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Session #4-

► not helpful to think of grammar as a discrete set of meaningless,

By thinking of grammar as a skill to be

1.- Learners do not learn structures one at a time.

► Activities to practise FORM

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