Формирование грамматических навыков на начальном этапе обучения иностранному языку

Appendix

Introducingnew language: examples.

(a) Physical surroundings: prepositions.

Theteacher starts by producing some objects. They can be very ordinary,for example a stapler, a pen, a bag, a pencil, a pencil case, etc.The teacher elicits the words for these objects from the students andif they do not know them models the words and leads choral and/orindividual repetition.

The teacher gives one of the objects (a book.for example) to one of the better students and then says somethinglike “Put the book on the table.” If the student docs notunderstand the teacher helps by pointing and by gesture. When thestudent has put the book on the table the teacher says “Welldone” and then chooses another student who is told to “Putthe ruler in the box”, etc. As the students gradually do whatthey are asked they are getting wonderful listening practice.

Theteacher now asks the students if they can give instructions thuseliciting the new language. When the students give their instructionsthe teacher will decide whether it is necessary to interrupt andmodel some or all of the new language or whether to move straight onto the immediate creativity stage where students are giving whateverinstructions they want (within reason!).

As a writtenstage the teacher can write up some instructions on the board asmodels. Students can now be asked to write their own instructionswhich they give to their classmates whothen have to do what is written there.

(b)Likes and dislikes

Thispresentation will consist of two stages. In the first students willlearn to

say“Do you like ______?” and in the second they will bepresented with “He/she likes/doesn't like ____”.

Theteacher starts the sequence by asking students “Do you likecoffee?”. With mime and expression he or she will soon conveythe meaning of the question and a student will answer “Yes”or “No”. The teacher then gets

choraland individual repetition of the answers (“Yes I do/No, Idon't”) if this is necessary. For a very brief period theteacher asks students questions and they give their answers. Then theteacher elicits the question (which the students have heard theteacher using). If necessary the question is explained and theteacher goes through the accurate reproduction stage, cueing studentsto ask and answer different questions. The students then work inpairs doing the same thing. This is a form of immediate creativity.

Whilethe students are working in pairs the teacher puts the following onthe blackboard:

NAME	FISH	CAVIAR	SPAGHETTI	LIVER	BANANAS

Theteacher selects a student, for example, Carlos, and puts his name inthe name column. The other students now ask him whether he likes theitems on the chart and the teacher puts a tick (V) if he does and across (X) if he doesn't. The procedure is now repeated with otherstudents until the chart looks like this:

NAME	FISH	CAVIAR	SPAGHETTI	LIVER	BANANAS
Carlos	V	V	X	V	X
Maria	V	X	V	X	V
Juan	X	X	V	V	V
Ctl'WI	V	V	V	V	V

Theteacher then asks the students what they can say about Carlos andfish, hoping to elicit 'Carlos likes fish'. This new presentation (ofthe third person singular of the present simple with 'likes') nowproceeds in the normal way using Carlos' likes and dislikes for theaccurate reproduction stage and the other preferences for immediatecreativity.

Theteacher can later introduce the question 'Does Carlos like fish?',etc.

Forthe introduction of writing the teacher can use the fill-in idea (see(a) above) or the students can see the following model:

Carloslikes fish, caviar and liver, but he doesn't like spaghetti orbananas.

Theycan then be asked to write similar sentences about one of the othernames on the list. This is a simple form of parallel writing.

(c)Using hands and gestures

Teacherscan use their hands and various gestures to make grammatical formclearer.

One of thethings we often need to do is to show how a full grammatical form iscontracted in speech.

Oneway of explaining this to beginning students is to use the fingers ofone hand to represent the different parts of the sentence, e.g.

do

not

like

pears

I

Figure

As wesay the words we point to the fingers of the hand which representthose words.

Nowwe canshow how “I do not like pears” becomes “ I don’tlike pears”

don’t

like

I

pears

Figure

The use ofthe fingers has given a graphic description to the class.

We can pretend to hold the word ‘do’ inone hand and ‘not’ in the other. By bringing the handstogether we show how ‘don't’ is formed.

(d)Explaining statements

Inthis case the teacher wishes to explain such model as:

Shegoes to school.

Hereis a procedure we can follow:

StageI Theteacher says the sentence in a normal way with a clear voice usingcorrect stress and intonation. This may he done two or three times.

Stage2 Theteacher isolates a particular feature of the model.

Stage3 Theteacher distorts this feature showing how it is constructed.

Stage4 Theteacher returns to the isolated element.

Stage5 The teacher gives the normal model again.

W

Tnormal

model

e can represent this procedure in Figure :

Isolation

Distortion

Treturns to

isolatedelement

Tnormal model

Figure

Sometimes,however, the teacher may not have to distort the isolated feature(where it is only a one syllable word).

Wherethere is more than one item that needs isolating the teacher goesthrough the procedure in Figure.with the first item to be isolated and then repeats the sequence withthe second item.

The following example clearly shows the procedure inaction. The teacher wishes to isolate both the verb form and thepronunciation

T: Listen … she goes toschool … she goes to school … listen …goes …goes … go … /z/ …go … /z/ … goes …she goes to school … listen … she goes to school.

Theteacher may back up this oral explanation by writing the following onthe blackboard:

Shegoes to school.

Theuse of a box to highlight the main grammar points helps to focus thestudents' attention on that point.

(e)Explaining question forms

Whenwe have to do the same kind of explanation for a question form we mayfollow the same procedure as for (a) above. However, particularlywhere a question form is taught after the affirmative version of thesame grammar point has already been the subject of practice, someextra techniques may help the students to understand the form of thequestion.

Unlikemany languages English uses inversion to signal a question. Thus ifwe take an affirmative sentence such as "He is running" wefind that the equivalent question form has the subject and theauxiliary in a different order, e.g. 'Is he running?'. Even where weput a question word (such as ‘which’, ’what’,‘how’, ‘when’, etc.) at the beginning of thequestion this inversion is still used. Students of English frequentlyfind this confusing.

Whenintroducing a question teachers will follow the same procedure as for(a) above. They will, however, isolate and distort in a slightlydifferent way, and it will be advisable to use the blackboard and/orgesture to make the inversion clear.

Supposewe wished to 'explain' the question model 'Is he running?' We mightdo it in the following way:

T: Listen ... Is he running? Is he running? ... listen ... he isrunning? ... no (teachershakes head and crosses arms in un 'inversion'gesture}... Is he running? ... Is he running?

We canwrite the following on the blackboard at the same time:

Heis running

Is he running

	Thereceptive grammar skills		Thereproductive grammar skills
	Task1	Task2	Task3	Task4	Task5
Yura	3	3	2	3	3
Tanya	3	3	3	3	3
Andrey	3	3	2	3	3
Maxim	1	2	1	1	2
Sasha	2	3	1	2	2
MishaAg	1	2	2	2	2
Yana	3	3	3	2	3
Dima	3	3	3	2	3
Sveta	3	3	3	3	3
Zhenya	3	3	3	3	3
Natasha	3	3	3	2	3
Vova	2	2	2	2	2
Tolya	3	3	3	2	3
Vasya	3	3	2	3	3
MishaAb	3	3	3	3	3

“1”- more than 3 grammar mistakes

“2”- 1-2 grammar mistakes

“3”- 0 grammar mistakes

Theresults can be commented in levels.

80%- those children who have the receptive grammar skill

20%- those children who have a part of the receptive grammar skill

71%- those children who have the reproductive grammar skill

20%- those children who have a part of the reproductive grammar skill

9%- those children who have no reproductive skill

Conclusion.

In order to understand a language and expressoneself correctly one must assimilate the grammar mechanism of alanguage. Indeed, one may know all the words in a sentence and yetfail to understand it, if one does not see the relationship betweenthe words in the given sentence. And vice versa, a sentence maycontain one, two, and more unknown words but if one has a goodknowledge of the structure of the language one can easily guess themeanings of these words or at least find them in a dictionary, Nospeaking is possible without the knowledge of grammar, without theforming of a grammar mechanism. Children need grammar to be able tospeak, and write in the target language.

Ouraim is to form grammar skills and prevent children from makinggrammar mistakes in their speech. The aim of foreign languages inprimary schools is to develop pupils’ skills in order tounderstand speech and participate in conversation.

Themethod and techniques the teacher should use in teaching children ofprimary school is the direct method and various techniques which candevelop pupils’ listening comprehension and speaking.

Wehave examined two kinds of grammar skills: the reproductive andreceptive grammar skills. The reproductive grammar skills give pupilsan opportunity to make up their own sentences in oral and writtenforms in other words to communicate and the receptive grammar skillsgive them an opportunity to read texts or aud and understand it.

Tomaster the reproductive grammar skills one should study the basicsentences or models (grammar is presented as itself in the basicsentences), to master the receptive grammar skills one shouldidentify and analyze the grammar item. We teach children to read bymeans of grammar. It reveals the relationship between the words inthe given sentence.

Wehave such a conclusion that the forming of grammar skills depends ontraining. Training is of great importance to realize the grammaritem. We must use a lot of training exercises for the assimilation ofgrammar. We should provide the motivation of learn English, encouragechildren to communicate and remember that the correction of errors inthe early stages of a language course may foster the followingnegative aspects:

 childrenlose confidence when they have fear of making grammar mistakes.

 Childrenbecome reluctant to take risks: they only the say the informationthey know they can say.

Schoolpractice helped me to realize the importance of training exercisesand the role of the individual approach to teaching the children ofthe primary school, Besides, the teacher must have a clear idea ofthe grammar of the language, its structure and usage; everything heteaches must be based on it; he should always be conscious ofintroducing or practicing some point of grammar.

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Theoreticalpart

3. Practicalpart

4. Conclusion

5. Appendix1

6. Appendix2

7. Bibliography

Introduction.

Language is the chief means by which the humanpersonality expresses itself and fulfills its basic need for socialinteraction with other persons.

The aim of the foreign language is primaryschools is to develop pupils` skills and understanding English speechand participating in conversation based on the topics covered.

Robert Lado wrote that language functions owingto the language skills. A person who knows a language perfectly usesa thousand and one grammar lexical, phonetic rules when he isspeaking. Language skills help us to choose different words andmodels in our speech.

In my diploma paper I examine the forming ofgrammar skills. Grammar is known to be an important component of thelanguage as a system. Communicative skills without regular usinggrammar are limited.

It is clear that the term “grammar”has meant various things at various times and sometimes severalthings at one time. This plurality of meaning is characteristic ofthe present time and is the source of confusions in the discussion ofgrammar as part of the education of children. There have been takingplace violent disputes on the subject of teaching grammar at school.

The ability to talk about the grammar of alanguage, to recite its rules, is also very different from ability tospeak and understand a language or to read and write it. Those whocan use a language are often unable to recite its rules, and thosewho can recite its rules can be unable to use it. Nowadays we canhear the following opinions among teachers of foreign language: Oneteacher says, “ I do not favor teaching any grammar beforethe fifth grade, and not much then,” another is likely toreply, “But if you do not, how will your students learn tocapitalize correctly, to punctuate sentences, or to spellaccurately?” Another teacher remarks,

“If you teach no grammar, how can you expectto have correct usage in speech and writing?”

In the elementary grades the major emphasiswill be upon the actual use, rather than upon knowledge of thelanguage itself and attention to restrictive rules. Grammar of theanalytical and structural sort will have little place or no place inthe elementary grades, but the oral and written conventions ofEnglish, those which function in actual speaking and writing, will beof chief concern.

Grammar organizes the vocabulary and as aresult we have sense units. There is a system of stereotypes, whichorganizes words into sentences. But what skill does grammar develop?

First of all it gives the ability to make upsentences correctly, to reproduce the text adequately.(the development of practical skills and habits)

• The knowledge of the specific grammarstructure helps pupils point out the differences between the mothertongue and the target language.

• The knowledge of grammar develops abilitiesto abstract systematize plural facts.

Examining the problem of grammar skills we mustacquire how they are defined in literature. We must differentiatetheir kinds, features, and the conditions under which they areformed, the steps of forming grammar skills, and the grammar minimumfor the primary school.

Learning grammar and forming grammar skills areimportant tasks of the subject “Foreign language” at theprimary school. It is necessary for children not to make grammarmistakes. Roberto Lado wrote that a mistake is the wrong skill theaim of my diploma paper is to prevent children from making grammarmistakes, i.e. to form grammar skills. I think that the best way toform grammar skills is to use a lot of training exercises andindividual approach in teaching grammar.

T

Theoretical part

heImportance of Grammar in Learning a Foreign

Language.

To judge by the way some people speak, there is noplace for grammar in the language course nowadays; yet it is, inreality, as important as it ever was exercise of correct grammar, ifhe is to attain any skill of effective use of the language, but heneed not know consciously formulated rules to account to him for thathe does unconsciously correctly.

In order to understand a language and toexpress oneself correctly one must assimilate the grammar mechanismof the language studied. Indeed, one may know all the words in asentence and yet fail to understand it, if one does not see therelation between the words in the given sentence. And vice versa, asentence may contain one, two, and more in known words but if one hasa good knowledge of the structure of the language one can easilyguess the meaning of these words or at least find them in adictionary.

No speaking is possible without the knowledgeof grammar, without the forming of a grammar mechanism.

If learner has acquired such a mechanism, he canproduce correct sentences in a foreign language. Paul Roberts writes:“ Grammar is something that produces the sentences of alanguage. By something we mean a speaker of English. If you speakEnglish natively, you have built into you rules of English grammar.In a sense, you are an English grammar. You possess, as an essentialpart of your being, a very complicated apparatus which enables you toproduce infinitely many sentences, all English ones, including manythat you have never specifically learned. Furthermore by applying yourule you can easily tell whether a sentence that you hear agrammatical English sentence or not.” *¹

A command of English as is envisaged by theschool syllabus cannot be ensured without the study of grammar .Pupils need grammar to be able to aud, speak, read, and write in thetarget language.

*1Roberts P. English Sentences. New York, 1962, p.1

ABrief Review Of The Major Methods

OfForeign Language Teaching.

The grammatical systems of Russian and English arefundamentally different. English is an analytical language, in whichgrammatical meaning in largely expressed through the use ofadditional words and by changes in word order. Russian is a syntheticlanguage, in which the majority of grammatical forms are created through changes in the structure of words, by means of a developedsystem of prefixes, suffixes and ending. ( p. 121,

Brown C. and Jule “Teaching the spokenlanguage”, Cambridge, 1983)

No one knows exactly how people learn languagesalthough a great deal of research has been done into the subject.

Many methods have been proposed for theteaching of foreign language. And they have met with varying degreesof success and failure.

We should know that the method by whichchildren are taught must have some effect on their motivation. Ifthey find it deadly boring they will probably become de-motivated,whereas if they have confidence in the method they will find itmotivating. Child learners differ from adult learners in many ways.Children are curious, their attention is of a shorter duration, theyare quite differently motivated in, their interests are lessspecialized. They need frequent of activity; they need activitieswhich are exciting and stimulating their curiosity; they need to beinvolved in something active.

We shall examine such methods as “TheGrammar – Translation Method”, ”The Direct Method”,“The Audio-lingual Method”. And we pay attention to theteaching grammar of the foreign language. We shall comment thosemethods, which have had a long history.

TheGrammar Translation method will be discussed.

This method was widely used in teaching theclassics, namely Latin, and it was transferred to the teaching ofmodern languages when they were introduced into schools

Inthe grammar-translation mode, the books begin with definitions ofthe parts of speech, declensions, conjugations, rules to bememorized, examples illustrating the rules, and exceptions. Ofteneach unit has a paragraph to be translated into the target languageand one to be translated into native one. These paragraphsillustrate the grammar rules studied in the unit. The student isexpected to apply the rules on his own. This involves a complicatedmental manipulation of the conjugations and declensions in the ordermemorized, down to the form that might fit the translation. As aresult, students are unable to use the language, and they sometimesdevelop an inferiority complex about languages in general.Exceptionally bright and diligent students do learn languages bythis method, or in spite of it, but they would learn with anymethod.

(R.Lado)

W

1. Classesare taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of thetarget language.

2. Muchvocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.

3. Longelaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given.

4. Grammarprovides the rules for putting words together, and instructionoften focuses on the form and inflection of word.

5. Readingof difficult classical texts is begun early.

6. Littleattention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated asexercises in grammatical analysis.

7. Oftenthe only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentencesfrom the target language into the mother tongue.

8. Littleor no attention is given to pronunciation.

Brown H.,Douglas ‘Principles of language teaching’, N.Y., 1987

e list the major characteristics of Grammar Translation.

The grammar-translation method is largelydiscredited today. With greater interest in modern languages forcommunication the inadequacy of grammar-translation methods becameevident.

TheDirect Method.

The Direct Method appeared as a reactionagainst the grammar-translation method.

There was a movement in Europe that emphasizedlanguage learning by direct contact with the foreign language inmeaningful situations. This movement resulted in various individualmethods with various names, such as new method, natural method, andeven oral method, but they can all be referred to as direct methodsor the direct method. In addition to emphasizing direct contact withthe foreign language, the direct method usually deemphasized oreliminated translation and the memorization of conjugations,declensions, and rules, and in some cases it introduced phonetics andphonetic transcription.

The direct method assumed that learning aforeign language is the same as learning the mother tongue, that is,that exposing the student directly to the foreign language impressesit perfectly upon his mind. This is true only up to a point, sincethe psychology of learning a second language differs from that oflearning the first. The child is forced to learn the first languagebecause he has no other effective way to express his wants. Inlearning a second language this compulsion is largely missing, sincethe student knows that he can communicate through his native languagewhen necessary.

1. Classroominstruction was conducted exclusively in the target language.

2. Onlyeveryday vocabulary and sentences were taught.

3. Oralcommunication skills were built up in a carefully gradedprogression organized around question-and-answer exchanges betweenteachers and student in small, intensive classes.

4. Grammarwas taught inductively, i.e. the learner may discover the rules ofgrammar for himself after he has become acquainted with manyexamples.

5. Newteaching points were introduced orally.

6. Concretevocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures;abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas.

7. Bothspeech and listening comprehension were taught.

8. Correctpronunciation and grammar were emphasized.

The basic premise of Direct Method was that second languagelearning should be more like first language learning: lots of activeoral interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no translationbetween first and second languages, and little or no analysis ofgrammatical rules. We can summarize the principles of the Direct

Method:

The Direct Method enjoyed considerablepopularity through the end of nineteenth century and well into thisone.

Now we shall discuss “TheAudiolingual Method”.

The Audiolingual Method (It is also calledMimicry-memorization method) was the method developed in theIntensive Language Program. It was successful because of highmotivation, intensive practice, small classes, and good models, inaddition to linguistically sophisticated descriptions of the foreignlanguage and its grammar.

1. Newmaterial is presented in dialog form.

2. Thereis dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases andoverlearning.

3. Structuresare sequenced by means of contrastive analysis and taught one at atime.

4. Structuralpatterns are taught using repetitive drills.

5. Thereis a little or no grammatical explanation: grammar is taught byinductive analogy rather than deductive explanation.

6. Vocabularyis strictly limited and learned in context.

7. Thereis much use of tapes, language labs, and visual aids.

8. Greatimportance is attached to pronunciation.

9. verylittle use of the mother tongue by teachers is permitted.

10. Successfulresponses are immediately reinforced.

11. Thereis a great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances.

12. Thereis a tendency to manipulate language and disregard content.

Grammar is taught essentially as follows: Some basicsentences are memorized by imitation. Their meaning is given innormal expressions in the native language, and the students are notexpected to translate word for word. When the basic sentences havebeen overlearned (completely memorized so that the student can rattlethem off without effort), the student reads fairly extensivedescriptive grammar statements in his native language, with examplesin the target language and native language equivalents. He thenlistens to further conversational sentences for practice in listening. Finally, practices the dialogues using the basic sentences andcombinations of their parts. When he can, he varies the dialogueswithin the material hr has already learned. The characteristics ofALM may be summed up in the following list:

Grammarexplanations as used in the major methods.

We shall briefly review the treatment ofgrammatical explanations by some of the major methods. This is notmeant to be an exhaustive study of all available methods; rather itis an attempt to show the variety of ways in which different methodsdeal with grammar explanations and may help teachers in evaluatingavailable materials.

1. Grammar translation is associated withformal rule statement. Learning proceeds, deductively, and the ruleis generally stated by the teacher, in a textbook, or both.Traditional abstract grammatical terminology is used. Drills includetranslation into native language.

2. The direct method is characterized bymeaningful practice and exclusion of the mother tongue. This methodhas had many interpretations, some of which include an analysis ofstructure, but generally without the use of abstract grammaticalterminology.

3. T

   Table

   he audio-lingual method stresses an inductivepresentation with extensive pattern practice. Writing is discouragedin the early stages of learning a structure. Here again, there hasbee considerable variation in the realization of this approach. Insome cases, no grammatical explanation of any kind is offered. Inother, the teacher might focus on a particular structure byisolating an example on the board, or through contrast. Whengrammatical explanation is offered it is usually done at the end ofthe lesson as a summary of behavior (Politzer, 1965), or in laterversions of this method the rule might be stated in the middle ofthe lesson and followed by additional drills.

	Consciousgrammar explanation	Isolation of (rule ofstructure)	Deductiveor Inductive presentation	The“explainer”	Languagetype used for explanation	Oral orwritten explanation
Grammar-translation	Yes	Yes	Deductive	Bookand/or teacher	Abstract	Written
Directmethod	Yes or no	Yes	Inductive(if at all)	Teacher(when done)	Non-abstract	Oral-written
Audio-lingual	Yes or no	Yes	Inductive	Teacher	Example ornon-abstract	Oral-written

Each method is realized in techniques. By atechnique we mean an individual way in doing something, in gaining acertain goal in teaching learning process. The method and techniquesthe teacher should use in teaching children of the primary school isthe direct method, and various techniques which can develop pupils`listening comprehension and speaking. Pupils are given variousexercises, connected with the situational use of words and sentencepatterns.

Teachinggrammar patterns.

We’llexamine "Teaching Grammatical Patterns" by Robert Lado(Chapter 10 "From Sentences to Patterns")

RobertLado thinks that even children who have never studied the rulesgrammar make use of the grammar of the language. This is seen in themistakes they make. When a child says, Hegoed,he is forming a "regular" preterite on the pattern: showed,weighed, served: "goed."His error reveals the fact that he has been applying the pattern eventhough he is not able to describe it.

Patternsand Sentences

Agrammaticalpattern is an arrangement of parts having linguistic significancebeyond the sum of its parts. The parts of a pattern are expressed bywords or classes of words so that different sentences often expressthe same pattern. All the sentences of a language arc cast in itspatterns.

Johntelephoned, The boy studied.

Weunderstood are different sentences expressing the same statementpattern in English.

Apattern is not a sentence, however. Sentences express patterns. Eachsentence illustrates a pattern. To memorize a sentence does not implythat a pattern has been memorized. There can be countless sentences,each unique, yet all constructed on the same pattern.

Patternsand Grammar

Childrenlearn the grammatical patterns of their language before they studygrammar in school. When a child says goedinstead of wentor knowedinstead of knew,he is applying the regular preterite pattern on the analogy,

open:opened = go: goed

Patternsarc learned in childhood. Adults no longer have to learn newpatterns; they learn new words that are used in old patterns. Thatthe old patterns are alive is shown by putting unknown words andphrases into them.

Andwhat is the role of the native language in learning the patterns of aforeign language?

NativeLanguage Factor

The most important factor determining ease anddifficulty in learning the patterns of a foreign language is theirsimilarity to or difference from the patterns of the native language.When the pattern in the target language is parallel to one in thenative language, the student merely learns new words which he putsinto what amounts to an extended use of his native pattern. Since hisword learning capacity is not lost, he makes rapid progress. When,however, the native language pattern does not parallel that of thetarget language, the student tends to revert to his native languagepatterns through habit.

Gradingthe Patterns

Thereis no single grading scale for teaching the patterns of a foreignlanguage. Any systematic cumulative progression, taking into accountthe structures that are difficult, would be satisfactory from alinguistic point of view.

Pattern-practice

ApproachThe mimicry-memorization exercise tends to give the same amounts ofpractice to easy as well as difficult problems. It also concentratesunduly on the memorization of specific sentences, and not enough onthe manipulation of the patterns of sentences in a variety of contentsituations. For those patterns that arc functionally parallel to thenative language, very little work needs to be done, and very littleor no explanation is necessary. On the other hand, for those patternsthat are not parallel in the two languages, more specificunderstanding of the grammatical structure points at issue is neededwhilethesentences are learned and not before or after. And more practice withthe pattern is necessary before it is learned, that is, used without

attentionto its structure.

Basicsentences

The memorization of sample sentencesthat contain the grammatical problems to he mastered is commonto both pattern practice and mimicry-memorization. For this practicethere is ample justification in linguistics and in psychology. Theutterances have to become readily available if the student is to usethem in the rapid sequence of conversation.

Teachingthe patterns

Asentence can be learned as a single unstructured unit like a word,but this is only the beginning. The student must acquire thehabit of constructing sentences in the patterns of the targetlanguage. For this he must be able to put words almost automaticallyinto a pattern without changing it, or to change it by making thenecessary adjustments.

Teachinga. problem pattern begins with teaching the specific structurepoints where a formal change in the pattern is crucial and where thestudent is not able to manipulate the required changes. The steps inteaching problem patterns are (1) attentionpointer,usually a single sentence calling the students' attention to thepoint at issue; (2) examples,usually minimally contrastive examples showing a pair of sentencesthat differ only on the point or points being made; (3) repetitionbythe class and presentation of additionalexamples ofthe same contrast;

(4)commentsor generalizationelicited inductively from the students and confirmed by the teacher;(5) practice,with attention on the problem being taught.

Thesesteps an intended to clarify the crucial point of contrast at thetime when sentences are being learned. They should take only a smallportion of the class time—no more than 15 per cent.

RobertLado accents that many teachers make the mistake of trying to explaineverything at length while the class listens passively. Longexplanations without active practice arc a waste of time, and evenwith practice they are inefficient. Most of the class should bedevoted to practice. The following are brief descriptions of some ofthe more effective types of exercises.

Themore effective types of exercises according to R.Lado:

• Listening

It is understood that the student doesnot invent the target language. He must listen to good models.Random listening helps, but selective listening followinginstructions is more effective. Listening is assumed to he mosteffective when it is in preparation for speaking.

Listeningcan be combined with other activities.

• OralrepetitionIn this practice the student repeats the pattern sentences providedorally by the model. This is the most basic and important of allexercises. It begins with the presentation of the very firstsentence of the pattern, the basic sentence, and continues throughall other examples of the pattern taught for speaking.

• OralsubstitutionOnce the student can speak the basic sentence by repetition, oralsubstitution becomes the most useful and powerful drill available topractice the pattern. It is fast, flexible, and versatile, and itapproximates conversational use of the language. Several variationsare described for the reader: simple substitution, substitution invariable position, substitution that forces a change, substitutionrequiring a change, and multiple substitution.

• Transformation

• Speechpractice and etc.

T

1.Lado R. and Fries C.C. “English pattern practice. Establishingthe patterns as habits.”, 1970. pXV

he idea of learning the pattern rather than just sentences isclearly stated by C.C.Fries. Carles Fries and Robert Lado wrote what“We offer them [patterns] with confidence in theirextraordinary effectiveness. They represent a new theory of languagelearning,the idea that to learn a new language one must establishedorally the patterns of the language as subconscious habits.”^*1 C.C.Friesthinks that one must practice the patterns of the language until hecan use them little or no effort.

ThePsychological characteristics of grammar skills.

To develop one’s speech means to acquireessential patterns of speech, and grammar patterns in particular.Children must use these items automatically during speech-practice.The automatic use of grammar items in our speech (oral and written)supposes mastering some particular skills – the skills of usinggrammar items to express one’s own thoughts,in other words tomake up your sentences.

We must get so-called reproductive or active grammar skills.

A skill is treated as an automatic part ofawareness. Automatization of the action is the main feature of askill.

The nature of automatization is characterized bythat psychological structure of the action which adopts to theconditions of performing the action owing frequent experience. Theaction becomes more frequent, correct and accurate and the number ofthe operations is shortened while forming the skill the character ofawareness of the action is changing, i.e. fullness of understandingis paid to the conditions and quality of performing to the controlover it and regulation.

To form some skills is necessary to know thatthe process of the forming skills has some steps:

1. Only some definite elements of the action areautomatic.

2. The automatization occurs under moredifficult conditions, when the child can’t concentrate hisattention on one element of the action.

3. The whole structure of the action is improvedand the automatization of its separate components is completed.

What features do the productive grammar skillshave?

During our speech the reproductive grammarskills are formed together with lexics and intonation, they mustexpress the speakers intentions.

The actions in the structural setting of thelexics must be learnt.

The characteristic feature of the reproductivegrammar skills is their flexibility. It doesn`t depend on the levelof automatization, i.e. on perfection of skill here mean the originalaction: both the structure of sentence, and forms of the words arereproduced by the speaker using different lexical material. If thechild reproduces sentences and different words, which have beenlearnt by him as “a ready-made thing” he can say thatthere is no grammar skill. Learning the ready-made forms, wordcombinations and sentences occurs in the same way as learning lexics.

The grammar skill is based on the generalconclusion. The grammar action can and must occur only in thedefinite lexical limits, on the definite lexical material. If thepupil can make up his sentence frequently, accurately and correctlyfrom the grammatical point of view, he has got the grammar skill.

Teaching grammar at school using thetheoretical knowledge brought some critical and led to confusion. Allthe grammatical rules were considered to be evil and there were somesteps to avoid using them at school.

But when we learn grammatical items in modelswe use substitution and such a type of training gets rid of grammaror “neutralize” it. By he way, teaching the skills tomake up sentences by analogy is a step on the way of forming grammarskills. It isn’t the lexical approach to grammar and it isn’tneutralization of grammar, but using basic sentences in order to useexercises by analogy and to reduce number of grammar rules whenforming the reproductive grammar skills.

To form the reproductive grammar skills we mustfollow such steps:

1. Selection the model of sentence.

2. Selection the form of the word andобразованиесловоформ.

3. Selection the auxiliary words-preposition,articles, and etc. and their combination with principle words.

The main difficulty of the reproductive(active) grammar skills is to correspond the purposes of thestatement, communicative approach (a questionananswer and so on), words, meanings, expressed by the grammaticalpatterns. In that case we use basic sentences, in order to answer thedefinite situation.

The main factor of the forming of thereproductive grammar skill is that pupils need to learn the lexic ofthe language. They need to learn the meanings of the words and howthey are used. We must be sure that our pupils are aware of thevocabulary they need at their level and they can use the words inorder to form their own sentence. Each sentence contains a grammarstructure. The mastering the grammar skill lets pupils save time andstrength, energy, which can give opportunity to create. Learning anumber of sentences containing the same grammatical structure and alot of words containing the same grammatical form isn’trational.

But the generalization of the grammar item canrelieve the work of the mental activity and let the teacher speed upthe work and the children realize creative activities.

The process of creation is connected with themastering of some speech stereotypes the grammatical substrat ishidden in basic sentences. Grammar is presented as itself. Such apresentation of grammar has its advantage: the grammar patterns ofthe basic sentences are connected with each other. But this approachgives pupils the opportunity to realize the grammar item better. Theteaching must be based on grammar explanations and grammar rules.Grammar rules are to be understood as a special way of expressingcommunicative activity. The reproductive grammar skills suppose tomaster the grammar actions which are necessary for expressingthoughts in oral and written forms.

The automatic perception of the text supposesthe reader to identify the grammar form according to the formalfeatures 9 words, word combinations, sentences) which must becombined with the definite meaning. One must learn the rules in orderto identify different grammatical forms. Pupils should get to knowtheir features, the ways of expressing them in the language. We teachchildren to read and aud by means of grammar. It reveals the relationbetween words in the sentence. Grammar is of great important when oneteaches reading and auding.

The forming of the perceptive grammar andreproductive skills is quite different. The steps of the work ismastering the reproductive skills differ from the steps in masteringthe perceptive skills. To master the reproductive grammar skills oneshould study the basic sentences or models. To master the perceptivegrammar skills one should identify and analyze the grammar item.

Though training is of great importance torealize the grammar item.

Introducingnew language structure.

We will consider ways in which children can beintroduced to new language structure.

Theimportance of language awareness

Whenwe present grammar through structural patterns we tend to givestudents tidy pieces of language to work with We introduce grammar,which can easily be explained and presented. There are many differentways of doing this, which do not (only) involve the transmission ofgrammar rules.

Itis certainly possible to teach aspects of grammar - indeed that iswhat language teachers have been doing for centuries - but languageis a difficult business and it is often used very inventively by itsspeakers, In other words real language use is often very untidy andcannot be automatically reduced to simple grammar patterns. Studentsneed to be aware of this, just asthey need to be aware of all language possibilities. Such awarenessdoes not mean that they have to be taught each variation andlinguistic twist, however. It just means that they have to be awareof language and how it is used. That is why reading and listening areso important, and that is why discovery activities are so valuablesince by asking students to discover ways in which language is usedwe help to raise their awareness about the creative use of grammar -amongst other things.

As teachers weshould be prepared to use a variety of techniques to help ourstudents learn and acquire grammar. Sometimes this involves teachinggrammar rules; sometimes it means allowing students to discover therules for themselves.

Whatdo we introduce?

Ourjob at this stage of the lesson is to present the pupils with clearinformation about the language they are learning. We must alsoshow them what the language means and how it is used; we must alsoshow them what the grammatical form of the new language is, and howit is said and/or written.

Whatwe are suggesting here is that students need to get an idea of how henew language is used by native speakers and the best way of doingthis s to present language in context.

Thecontext for introducing new language should have a number ofcharacteristics It should show what the new language means and how itis used, for example. That is why many useful contexts have the newlanguage beingused in a written text or dialogue.

Agood context should be interesting for the children. This doesn'tmean that all the subject matter we use for presentation should bewildly funny or inventive all of the time. But the pupils should atleast want to seeor hear the information.

Lastly,a good context will provide the background for a lot of language useso that students can use the information not only for the repetitionof model sentences but also for making their own sentences.

Oftenthe textbook will have all the characteristics mentioned here and theteacher can confidently rely on the material for the presentation.But the textbook is not always so appropriate: for a number ofreasons the information in the book may not be right for our studentsin such cases we will want to create our own contexts for languageuse.

Types of context

Contextmeans the situation or body of information, which causes language tobe used. There are a number of different context types, but for ourpurposes we will concentrate on three, thestudents' world, the outside world andformulatedinformation.

Thestudents' world can be a major source of contexts for languagepresentation. There are two kinds of students' world. Clearly we canuse the physicalsurroundingsthat the students are in - the classroom, school or institution. Butclassrooms and their physical properties (tables, chairs, windows,etc.) are limited. The students'livesare not constrained in the same way, however, and we can use factsabout them, their families, friends and experiences.

Theoutside world provides us with rich contexts for presentation Forexample, there is an almost infinite number of storieswe can use to present different lenses. We can also create situationswhere people speak because they are in those situations, or where thewriter describes some special information. This is especially usefulfor the practice of functional language, for example.

Wecan ask students to look at examplesof languagewhich show the new language in operation, though this last categorycan sometimes have no context. These three sub-categories, story,situation or language, can be simulatedor real.Most teachers are familiar with 'made-up' stones which arc oftenuseful for classwork: real stories work well too, of course. In thesame way we can create the simulation of an invitation dialogue, forexample. But here again we could also show students a real invitationdialogue. In general we can say that real contexts are better simplybecause they are real, but they may have complexities of language andcomprehensibility which can be avoided by simulated contexts -life-like but clearly mode-up to some extent.

Formulatedinformationrefers to all that information which is presented in the form oftimetables, notes, charts etc. Once again we can use real charts andtimetables, growth statistics, etc. or we can design our own whichwill be just right for our students.

Thereare variations on these different kinds of context, of course, but wecan broadly summarize what we have said so far in the following way:

Context

Theoutside world

Thestudent’s world

Formulatedinformation

Physicalsurroundings

Student’slives

Stories

Situations

Languageexamples

R

S

R

R

R

S

S

S

Figure 1

Contextsfor introducing new language

Thepresentation of structural form.

Oneof the teacher's jobs is to show how the new language is formed - howthe grammar works and how it is put together.One wayof doing this is to explain the grammar in detail, using grammaticalterminology and giving a mini-lecture on the subject. This seemsproblematical, though, for two reasons; firstly many pupils may findgrammatical concepts difficult, secondly- such explanations forbeginners will be almost impossible.

Amore effective - and less frightening - way of presenting form is tolet the students see and/or hear the new language, drawing theirattention in a number of different ways to the grammatical elementsof which it is made. For whilst advanced students may profit fromgrammatical explanations to a certain extent, atlower levels we must usually find simpler and more transparent waysof giving students grammatical information.

Ageneral model for introducing new language.

Themodel has five components: lead-in,elicitation, explanation,accuratereproduction,and immediatecreativity.

Duringthelead-inthe context is introduced and the meaning or use of the new languageis demonstrated. This is the stage at which students may hear or seesome language (including the new language) and during which studentsmay become aware of certain keyconcepts.The key concepts are those pieces of information about the contextthat are vital if students are to understand the context and thus themeaning and use of the new language.

During the lead-in stage, then, we introduceour context (making sure that key concepts are understood) and showthe new language in use.

Duringthe elicitationstage the teacher tries to see if the students can produce the newlanguage. If they can it would clearly be wasteful and de-motivatingfor them if a lot of time was spent practising the language that theyalready know. At the elicitation stage - depending on how well (andif) the students can produce the new language - the teacher candecide which of the stages to go to next. If the students can'tproduce the new language at all, for example, we will move to theexplanation stage. If they can, hut with minor mistakes, we may moveto the accurate reproduction stage to clear up those problems. Ifthey know the new language but need a bit more controlled practice inproducing it we may move directly to the immediate creativity stageElicitation is vitally important for it gives the teacher informationupon which to act: it is also motivating for the students andactively involves their learning abilities.

Duringthe explanationstage the teacher shows how the new language is formed. It is herethat we may give a listening drill or explain something in thestudents' own language; we may demonstrate grammatical form on theblackboard. In other words, this is where the students learn how thenew language is constructed.

Duringthe accuratereproductionstage students are asked to repeat and practise a certain number ofmodels. The emphasis here will be on the accuracy of what thestudents say rather than meaning or use. Here the teacher makes surethat the students can form the new language correctly, getting thegrammar right and perfecting their pronunciation as far as isnecessary.

Correction.

Duringthe accurate reproduction phase there are two basic correctionstages: showing incorrectness (indicating to the student thatsomething is wrong) and using correction techniques.

(a)Showing incorrectness

Thismeans that we will indicate to the student that a mistake has beenmade. If the student understands this feedback he or she will beable to correct the mistake and this self-correction will be helpfulto him or her as part of the learning process.

Thereare a number of techniques for showing incorrectness:

1Repeating:Here we simply ask the student to repeat what he or she has justsaid by using the word 'again'. This, said with a questioningintonation, will usually indicate that the response wasunsatisfactory (although it could be misunderstood as onlyindicating that the teacher has not heard the student's response).

2Echoing:We will be even clearer if we repeat what the student has just said,using a questioning intonation since this will clearly indicate thatwe are doubting the accuracy or content of what is being said.

Sometimes we can echo the completestudent response, probably stressing the pan of the utterance thatwas incorrect, for example:

She goto school?

Another possibility is to echothe student's response, but only up to the point where the mistakewas made,ftor example:

She go…?

Echoing, in its various forms, isprobably the most efficient way of showing incorrectness.

3Denial:We can simply tell the student that the response was unsatisfactoryand ask for it to be repeated. This seems somewhat drier than thetechniques so far discussed; it may be a bit more discouraging.

4Questioning:We can say 'Is that correct?' asking any student in the class toanswer our question. Thishas the advantage of focusing everybody's mind on the problem,though it may make the student who made the mistake seem somewhatexposed.

5Expression:Many teachers indicate that a response was incorrect by theirexpression or by some gesture. This is very economical (and can bequite funny) but can be dangerous if the student thinks that theexpression or gesture is a form of mockery.

Ingeneral, showing incorrectness should be handled with tact andconsideration. The process of student self-correction, which itprovokes, is an important and useful part of the learning process.Showing incorrectness should be seen as a positive act, in otherwords, not as a reprimand.

Frequently,however, we find that showing incorrectness is not enough for thecorrection of a mistake or an error and the teacher may thereforehave to use some correction techniques.

(b)Using correction techniques

Ifstudents are unable to correct themselves we can resort to one ofthe following techniques.

1Studentcorrects student:we can ask if anyone else can give the correct response. We can askif anyone can 'help' the student who has made the mistake. Ifanother student can supply the correct information it will be goodfor that student's self-esteem. However, the student who originallymade the mistake may feel humiliated if thistechniqueis used insensitively.

2Teachercorrects student(s):Sometimes we may feel that we should take charge of correctionbecause the students are extremely mixed-up about what the correctresponse should be. In that case we can re-explain the item oflanguage, which is causing the trouble. This will be especiallyappropriate when we see that a majority of the class are having thesame problem. After the re-explanation we can move to choral andindividual repetition (if necessary) before moving on.

The object of usingcorrection techniques, of course, is to give the student(s) a chanceto (know how to) get the new language right. It is important,therefore, that when we have used one of the techniques suggestedabove, we ask the student who originally made the mistake to give usa correct response.

Whenthechildren and teacher are confident that the children can form thenew language correctly they will move to immediatecreativity.Herethey try to use what they have just learned to make sentences oftheirown,ratherthan sentences which the teacher or book has introduced as models.

Itis at this stage that both teacher and student can see if thestudents have really understood the meaning, use and form of the newlanguage. If they are able to produce their own sentences they canfeel confident that the presentation was success.

Wecan represent the model for introducing new language in diagramform:

Students perform well

Lead-in

Elicitation

Explanation

Accuratereproduction

Immediatecreativity

Studentsperform badly

A general model for introducing new language

Noticeagain that if the students perform well during elicitation theteacher can move straight to immediate creativity. If at that stagethey perform badly the teacher may find it necessary either toreturn to a short accurate reproduction stage or. in extreme cases,to re-explain the new language.

TheContent of Teaching Grammar.

Before speaking about the selection of grammarmaterial it is necessary to consider the concept “grammar”,i.e., what it meant by “grammar”.

By grammar one can mean adequate comprehensionand correct usage of words in the act of communication, that is,intuitive knowledge of the grammar of the language. It is a set ofreflexes enabling a person to communicate with his associates. Suchknowledge is acquired by a child in the mother tongue before he goesto schools.

This “grammar” functions withoutthe individual’s awareness of technical nomenclature, in otherwords, he has no idea of the system of the language, and to use allthe word-endings for singular and plural, for tense, and all theother grammar rules without special grammar lessons only due to theabundance of auding and speaking. His young mind grasps the factsand “makes simple grammar rules” for arranging the wordsto express carious thoughts and feelings. This is true becausesometimes little children make mistakes by using a common rule forwords to which that rule cannot be applied. For example, a littleEnglish child might be heard to say Two manscomed instead of Two men come,because the child is using the plural srule for man to which the rule does notapply, and the past tense ed rule forcome which does not obey the ordinaryrule for the past tense formation. A little Russian child can sayножовinstead of ножейusing the case-ending овfor ножиto which it does not apply. Such mistakes are corrected as the childgrows older and learns more of his language.

By “grammar” we also mean thesystem of the language, the discovery and description of the natureof language itself. It is not a natural grammar, but a constructedone. There are several constructed grammars: traditional,structural, and transformational grammars. Traditional grammarstudies the forms of words (morphology) and how they are puttogether in sentences (syntax); structural grammar studiesstructures of various levels of the language (morpheme level) andsyntactic level; transformational grammar studies basic structuresand transformation rules.

What we need is simplest and shortest grammarthat meets the requirements of the school syllabus in foreignlanguages. This grammar must be simple enough to be grasped and heldby any pupil. We cannot say that this problem has been solved.

Since graduates are expected to acquirelanguage proficiency in aural comprehension, speaking and readinggrammar material should be selected for the purpose. There existprinciples of selecting grammar material both for teaching speakingknowledge (active minimum) and for teaching reading knowledge(passive minimum), the main one is the principle of frequency, i.e.,how frequently this or that grammar item occurs. For example, thePresent Simple (Indefinite) is frequently used both in conversationand in various texts. Therefore it should be included in the grammarminimum.

For selecting grammar material for reading theprinciple of polysemia, for instance, is of great importance.^*1

Pupils should be taught to distinguish suchgrammar items which serve to express different meanings.

For example,

[

]

Presentprogressive

Verbalnoun

Gerund

ParticipleI



-ing 



[

]

ParticipleII

-ed Past Simple (Indefinite)

Pluralsof nouns

The3d person singurar of Present Simple (Indefinite)



-s (es) 



The selection of grammar material involveschoosing the appropriate king of linguistic description, i.e., thegrammar which constitutes the best base for developing speechhabits. Thus the school syllabus reflect a traditional approach todetermining grammar material for foreign language teaching, pupilsare given sentences patterns or structures, and through thesestructures they assimilate the English language, acquire grammarmechanisms of speech.

*1See:Общая методикаобученияиностраннымязыкам., М. 1967, гл.VII,с.332-346

The content of grammar teaching is disputable among teachers andmethodologists, and there are various approaches to the problem,pupils should, whatever the content of the course, assimilate theways of fitting words together to form sentences and be able toeasily recognize grammar forms and structures while hearing andreading, to reproduce phrases and sentences stored up in theirmemory and say or write sentences of their own, using grammar itemsappropriate to the situation.

TheMost Common Difficulties Pupils Howe in

AssimilatingEnglish Grammar.

The chief difficulty in learning a newlanguage is that of changing from the grammatical mechanism of thenative language to that of the new language. Indeed, every languagehas its own way of fitting words together to form sentences. InEnglish, word order is more important than in Russian. The wordorder in Tom gave Helen a roseindicates what was given (a rose), to whom (Helen), and by whom(Tom). If we change the word order and say Helengave tom a rose, we shall change the meaning of the sentence.In Russian, due to inflexions, which are very important in thislanguage, we can say ТомдалЛенерозуor ЛенедалТомрозуwithout changing the meaning of the sentence, as the inflexion “e”in the word Ленеindicates the object of the action.

The inversion of subject and finite verb inAre you… indicates the questionform. In speaking English, Russian pupils often violate the wordorder which results in bad mistakes in expressing their thoughts.

The English tense system also presents a lotof trouble to Russian-speaking pupils because of the differencewhich exists in these languages with regard to time and tenserelations. For example, the pupil cannot at first understand why wemust say I haveseen him today and I saw him yesterday.For him the action is completed in both sentences, and he does notassociate it in any way with today oryesterday.

The sequence of tenses is another difficultpoint of English grammar for Russian speaking pupils because thereis no such phenomenon in their mother tongue. Why should we say Shesaid she was busy when she isbusy?

The use of modal verbs in various types ofsentences is very difficult for the learner. For example, he shoulddifferentiate the use of can and maywhile in Russian the verb may coversthem both. Then he should remember which verb must be used inanswers to the questions with modal verbs. For instance, MayI go home? No, you mustn’t. May I take your pen? Yes, you may.Must I do it? No, you needn’t.

The most difficult point of English grammar isthe article because it is completely strange to Russian-speakingpupils. The use of the articles and other determiners comes first inthe list of the most frequent errors. Pupils are careless in the useof “ these tiny words” and consider them unimportant forexpressing their thoughts when speaking English.

English grammar must begin, therefore, withpupils’ learning the meaning of these structural words, andwith practice in their correct use. For example: Thisis a pen. The pen is red. This is my pen and that is his pen.

Correct selection of grammar teaching materialis the first step towards the elimination of mistakes.

SomeGeneral Principles of Grammar Teaching

andHow to Use Them.

Teaching grammar should be based upon thefollowing principles:

1. Conscious approach to the teaching ofgrammar.

This means that in sentence patterns teachingpoints are determined so that pupils can concentrate their attentionon some elements of the pattern to be able to use them as orientingpoints when speaking or writing the target language. For example, Ican see a book. I can see many books.

The teacher drawspupils’ attention to the new element in the form of a rule, avery short one. It is usually done in themother tongue. Forexample:Помни, что вомножественномчисле к существительномуприбавляетсяокончание –s[s,z]или –es[IZ].Or: Помни,чтовотрицательныхпредложенияхставитсявспомогательныйглагол“do not” (“does not”) The rule helpsthe learner to understand and to assimilate the structural meaningof the elements. It ensures a conscious approach to learning. Thisapproach provides favourable conditions for the speedy developmentof correct and more flexible language use. However it does not meanthat the teacher should ask pupils to say this or that rule, Rulesdo not ensure the mastery of the language. They only help to attainthe practical goal. If a pupil can recognize and employ correctlythe forms that are appropriate, that is sufficient. When the learnercan give ample proof of these abilities we may say that he hasfulfilled the syllabus requirements.

Conscious learning is also ensured when agrammar item is contrasted with another grammar item which isusually confused. The contrast is brought out through oppositions.For example:







ThePresent Simple is contrasted with the Present Progressive.

Iget up at 7 o’clock.

It’s7 o’clock. I am getting up.







ThePresent Perfect is contrasted with the Past Simple.

Hehas come.

Hecame an hour ago.







G

Theindefinite article is contrasted with the definite article.

ive me a book (to read into the train).

Giveme the book (you have promised),

I







Thezero article is contrasted with the definite article.

like soup (more than any other food).

Ilike the soup ( you have cooked).

Rule for theteacher:

The teacher shouldrealize difficulties the sentence pattern presents for his pupils.Comparative analysis of the grammar item in English and in Russianor within the English language may be helpful. He should think ofthe shortest and simplest way for presentation of the new grammaritem. The teacher should remember the more he speaks about thelanguage the less time is left to practice. The more the teacherexplains the less his pupils understand what he is trying toexplain, this leads to the teacher giving more information than isnecessary, which does not help the pupils in the usage of thisparticular grammar item, only hinders them.

2. Practical approach to theassimilation of grammar.

It means that pupilslearn those grammar items which they need for immediate use eitherin oral or written language. For example, from the first steps oflanguage learning pupils need the Possessive Case for objects whichbelong to different people, namely, Mike’stextbook, Ann’s mother, the girl’s doll, the boys’room, etc. The teacher masters grammar through performingvarious exercises in using a given grammar item.

Rule for theteacher:

The teacher shouldteach pupils correct grammar usage and not grammar knowledge.

3. Structural approach to the teachinggrammar, i.e. grammar items are introduced and drilled instructures or sentence patterns.

It has been proved and accepted by themajority of teachers and methodologists that whenever the aim toteach pupils the command of the language, and speaking inparticular, the structural approach meets the requirements.

Pupils are taught to understand English whenspoken to and to speak it from the very beginning. This is possibleprovided they have learned sentence patterns and words as a patternand they know how to adjust them to them to the situations they aregiven.^*1

*1See:Вятютнев М.Н.Модели обученияин.языкам вработах Г.Пальмера,Ф.Френча, А.Хорнби,Г.Менона, Ч.Фризаи Р.Ладо; БессмертныйА.З. Усвоениеречевых моделейс помощью наглядныхпособий.-«Иностранныеязыки в школе»,1963, №3

In our country the structural approach to the teaching of grammarattracted the attention of many teachers. As a result structuralapproach to grammar teaching has been adopted by our schools sinceit allows the pupil to make up sentences by analogy , to use thesame pattern for various situations. Pupils learn sentence patternsand how to use them in oral and written language.

Rule for the teacher:

The teacher should furnish pupils with wordsto change the lexical (semantic) meaning of the sentence pattern sothat pupils will be able to use it in different situations. Heshould assimilate the grammar mechanism involved in sentence patternand not the sentence itself.

4. Situational approach to the teachingof grammar.

Pupils learn a grammar item used in situations.For example, the Possessive Case may be effectively introduced inclassroom situations. The teacher takes or simply touches variousthings and says This is Nina’s pen;That is Sasha’s exercise-book,and so on.

Rule for the teacher:

The teacher should select the situations forthe particular grammar item he is going to present. He should lookthrough the textbook and other teaching materials and find thosesituations which can ensure comprehension and the usage of the item.

5. Different approach to the teachingactive grammar (grammar for conversation) and passive grammar(grammar for reading).

Grammar items pupils need for conversation aretaught by the oral approach, i.e., pupils aud them, perform variousoral exercises, finally see them printed, and write sentences usingthem.

For example, pupils need the PresentProgressive for conversation. They listen to sentences with theverbs in the Present Progressive spoken by the teacher or thespeaker (when a tape recorder is used) and relate them to thesituations suggested. Then pupils use the verbs in the PresentProgressive in various oral sentences in which the PresentProgressive is used. Grammar items necessary for reading are taughtthrough reading.

Rule for the teachers:

If the grammar item the teacher is going topresent belongs to those pupils need for conversation, he shouldselect the oral approach method for teaching.

If pupils need the grammar item for reading,the teacher should start with reading and writing sentences in whichthe grammar item occurs.

While preparing for the lesson at which a newgrammar item should be introduced, the teacher must realize thedifficulties pupils will meet in assimilating this new element ofthe English grammar. They may be of three kinds: difficulties inform, meaning, and usage. The teacher thinks of the ways to overcomethese difficulties: how to convey the meaning of the grammar itemeither through situations or with the help of the mother tongue;what rule should be used; what exercises should be done; their typesand number. Then he thinks of the sequence in which pupils shouldwork to overcome these difficulties, i.e., , from observation andcomprehension through conscious imitation to usage in conversation(communicative exercises). Then the teacher considers the form inwhich he presents the grammar item – orally, in writing, or inreading. And, finally, the teacher plans pupils’ activitywhile they are learning this grammar item (point): their individualwork, mass work, work in unison, and work in pairs, always bearingin mind that for assimilation pupils need examples of the sentencepattern in which this grammar item occurs.

Typesof Exercises for the Assimilation of Grammar.

The following types of exercises may besuggested.

1. Recognition exerciseswhich are the easiest type of

exercises for pupilsto perform. They observe the grammar item in structures (sentencepatterns) when hearing or reading. Since pupils only observe the newgrammar item the situations should be natural and communicative. Forexample:

• Listen to the sentences and raise your handswhenever you hear the verbs in the Past Simple.

Mikelives in Pushkin street. I lived there last year. Ann gets up at 7o’clock in the morning. She got up at half past sevenyesterday., etc.

It is desirable that sentences formed shouldconcern real situations and facts.

Pupils listen to the teacher and raise theirhands when they hear a verb in the Past Simple. The teacher can seewhether each of his pupils has grasped the sentence.

• Read the sentences and choose the correctform of the verb. The following sentences may be suggested:

1. I (go, went) toschool yesterday.

2. Tom (takes, took)a bus when he goes to school.

3. She (got, gets, gets)up at 7 o’ clock every day.

Pupils should read the sentences and find thesignals for the correct choice of the form. Since the necessary formis suggested in each sentence they should only recognize the onethey need for a given context.

Recognition exercises are indispensable aspupils retain the grammar material through auditory and visualperception. Auditory and visual memory is at work.

2. Drill exercisesare more completed as they require reproduction on the part of thepupils. In learning a foreign language drill exercises areindispensable. The learners cannot assimilate the material if theyonly hear and see it. They must reproduce it both in outer andinner speech. The more often they say it the better they assimilatethe material. Though drill exercises are those in which pupils haveonly one difficulty to overcome, they should also be graded:

(a) Repetitive drill. Pupils pronounce thesentence pattern after the teacher, in imitation of the teacher,both individually and in unison. For example:

Teacher: They aredancing in the park.

Class: They aredancing in the park.

Individuals: Theyare dancing in the park.

Or pupils listen to the dialogue and say itafter the speaker.

-Is Ann dancing now?

-No, she isn’t.

-What is she doing?

-She is watchingtelevision.

Attention isdrawn to the correct pronunciation of the sentence pattern as asense unit, as a statement ( sounds,stress, and melody).

(b) Substitution. Pupils substitute the words orphrases in a sentence pattern. For example:

The children are dancing inthe park.

The children are dancing inthe garden.

The children are dancing inthe street.

Thechildrenare dancingin the yard.

Thechildrenare dancingin the hall.

Thechildrenare dancingafter classes.

Thechildrenare dancingat the party.

Apupil substitutes a phrase, the rest may say it in unison. Then theyare invited to replace the word dancingwith other words.

Theyare singing in the park.

Theyare working in the park.

Theyare walking in the park.

Theyare playing in the park.

Theyare running in the park.

Theyare talking in the park.

Theyare watering flowers in the park.

Theyare planting trees in the park.

Theyare helping the workers in the park.

Theuse of a particular verb is stimulated with pictures (or a Russianword). Quick revision is achieved with a small expenditure ofeffort. In this way they review many words and phrases. As pupilshave only one difficulty to overcome the work does not take muchtime. Or pupils are invited to replace the words in the dialoguewith those given in columns

(seethe dialogue above).

helpingher mother

doingher homework working on the farm reading a book

listeningto the radio washing windows

Kate

Yoursister

This girl

Theywork in pairs.

Thereis one more advantage in performing this type of exercises—pupilsconsolidate the grammar item without thinking about it. They thinkof the words, phrases, but not of the form itself, therefore,involuntary memory is at work.

(c)Completion.Pupils complete the sentences the teacher utters looking at thepictures he shows. For example:

Teacher:Look at the picture.

Mike is... ... .

Pupil: Mike is getting up.

Class: Mike is getting up.

Teacher:Mike is ... ... .

Pupil: Mike is dressing.

Class: Mike is dressing.

Attentionshould be given to the use of isin this exercise. The teacher should pronounce Mikeis ...to prevent the typical mistake of the pupils (Mikedressing).This is essential structural element of the tense form of thePresent Continuous; Russian-speaking pupils, however, do not feelany necessity to use it.

(d)Answeringthe teacher's questions.

Forexample:

Teacher: Is Mike getting up?

Pupil: Yes, he is.

Teacher: Who is getting up?

Pupil: Mike is.

Teacher: What is Mike doing?

Pupil: He is getting up.

Drillexercises may be done both orally and in written form. Pupilsperform oral exercises during the lesson and written ones at home.For example, they ate told to write five or seven sentences on themodel given.

During the next lesson the work done at homeis checked orally. In this way pupils have practice in pronunciationwhile reading their own examples, and in auding while listeningto their classmates.

Creativeexercises (speech exercises). This is the most difficult type of exercises asit requires creative work on the part of the learners. These may be:

(a)Making statements either on the picture the teacher shows, or onobjects. For example, the teacher hangs up a picture and askshis pupils to say or write three or five statements in the PresentContinuous.

(b)Asking questions with a given grammar item. For example, pupils areinvited to ask and answer questions in the Past Indefinite.

(c)Speaking about the situation offered by the teacher. For example,one pupil gives commands to perform this or that action, the othercomments on the action (actions) his classmate performs.

Pupil1: Go to the door, Sasha.

Pupil2: Sasha is going to the door.

Pupil3: Open the door.

Pupil4: Sasha is opening the door.

(d)Speaking on a suggested topic. For example, a pupil tells the classwhat he did yesterday.

(e) Making dialogues using thegrammar item covered.

(f)Telling the story (read, heard).

(g)Translating into English.

(h)Participating in free conversation in which pupils are to use thegrammar item they have learned. E. g., pupils have learned sentencepatterns with the impersonal it.(It'scold. It's late. It's winter).

Teacher: What'sthe weather like, children? Is it cold today? Do you like it whenit's cold?

Throughthese questions pupils are stimulated to speak about the weather anduse the grammar item they have learnt.

Allthe exercises of the creative type are designed for consolidatinggrammar material pupils need for hearing and speaking.

All the exercises mentionedabove are designed:

(1) to develop pupils' skills inrecognizing grammar forms while auding and reading English texts;

(2) to accumulate correctsentence patterns in the pupils' memory which they can reproducewhenever they need these patterns for speaking or writing;

(3) to help the pupils toproduce sentences of their own using grammar items necessary forspeaking about a situation or a topic offered, or writing an essayon the text heard or an annotation on the text read.

Grammartests. A check on the assimilation of grammar material iscarried out through:

(1) auding (if a pupilunderstands what he auds, he knows grammar);

(2) speaking (if a pupil usesthe grammar item correctly, he has assimilated it);

(3) reading (if a learnerunderstands what he reads, he knows grammar);

(4) tests.

Testsallow the teacher to evaluate pupils' achievement in grammar, thatis, how each of them has mastered forms, meaning, and usage. Testsin grammar may involve: filling in the blanks; opening the brackets;transformation (e. g., make it negative, change into plural, etc.);

extension(e. g., / liketo read books — I like to raid English bocks in our library);completion (e. g., WhenI came home ...);making statements on the pictures given; translation.

43

Introduction.

Language is the chief means by which the humanpersonality expresses itself and fulfills its basic need for socialinteraction with other persons.

The aim of the foreign language is primaryschools is to develop pupils` skills and understanding English speechand participating in conversation based on the topics covered.

Robert Lado wrote that language functions owingto the language skills. A person who knows a language perfectly usesa thousand and one grammar lexical, phonetic rules when he isspeaking. Language skills help us to choose different words andmodels in our speech.

In my diploma paper I examine the forming ofgrammar skills. Grammar is known to be an important component of thelanguage as a system. Communicative skills without regular usinggrammar are limited.

It is clear that the term “grammar”has meant various things at various times and sometimes severalthings at one time. This plurality of meaning is characteristic ofthe present time and is the source of confusions in the discussion ofgrammar as part of the education of children. There have been takingplace violent disputes on the subject of teaching grammar at school.

The ability to talk about the grammar of alanguage, to recite its rules, is also very different from ability tospeak and understand a language or to read and write it. Those whocan use a language are often unable to recite its rules, and thosewho can recite its rules can be unable to use it. Nowadays we canhear the following opinions among teachers of foreign language: Oneteacher says, “ I do not favor teaching any grammar beforethe fifth grade, and not much then,” another is likely toreply, “But if you do not, how will your students learn tocapitalize correctly, to punctuate sentences, or to spellaccurately?” Another teacher remarks,

“If you teach no grammar, how can you expectto have correct usage in speech and writing?”

In the elementary grades the major emphasiswill be upon the actual use, rather than upon knowledge of thelanguage itself and attention to restrictive rules. Grammar of theanalytical and structural sort will have little place or no place inthe elementary grades, but the oral and written conventions ofEnglish, those which function in actual speaking and writing, will beof chief concern.

Grammar organizes the vocabulary and as aresult we have sense units. There is a system of stereotypes, whichorganizes words into sentences. But what skill does grammar develop?

First of all it gives the ability to make upsentences correctly, to reproduce the text adequately.(the development of practical skills and habits)

• The knowledge of the specific grammarstructure helps pupils point out the differences between the mothertongue and the target language.

• The knowledge of grammar develops abilitiesto abstract systematize plural facts.

Examining the problem of grammar skills we mustacquire how they are defined in literature. We must differentiatetheir kinds, features, and the conditions under which they areformed, the steps of forming grammar skills, and the grammar minimumfor the primary school.

Learning grammar and forming grammar skills areimportant tasks of the subject “Foreign language” at theprimary school. It is necessary for children not to make grammarmistakes. Roberto Lado wrote that a mistake is the wrong skill theaim of my diploma paper is to prevent children from making grammarmistakes, i.e. to form grammar skills. I think that the best way toform grammar skills is to use a lot of training exercises andindividual approach in teaching grammar.

T

Theoretical part

heImportance of Grammar in Learning a Foreign

Language.

To judge by the way some people speak, there is noplace for grammar in the language course nowadays; yet it is, inreality, as important as it ever was exercise of correct grammar, ifhe is to attain any skill of effective use of the language, but heneed not know consciously formulated rules to account to him for thathe does unconsciously correctly.

In order to understand a language and toexpress oneself correctly one must assimilate the grammar mechanismof the language studied. Indeed, one may know all the words in asentence and yet fail to understand it, if one does not see therelation between the words in the given sentence. And vice versa, asentence may contain one, two, and more in known words but if one hasa good knowledge of the structure of the language one can easilyguess the meaning of these words or at least find them in adictionary.

No speaking is possible without the knowledgeof grammar, without the forming of a grammar mechanism.

If learner has acquired such a mechanism, he canproduce correct sentences in a foreign language. Paul Roberts writes:“ Grammar is something that produces the sentences of alanguage. By something we mean a speaker of English. If you speakEnglish natively, you have built into you rules of English grammar.In a sense, you are an English grammar. You possess, as an essentialpart of your being, a very complicated apparatus which enables you toproduce infinitely many sentences, all English ones, including manythat you have never specifically learned. Furthermore by applying yourule you can easily tell whether a sentence that you hear agrammatical English sentence or not.” *¹

A command of English as is envisaged by theschool syllabus cannot be ensured without the study of grammar .Pupils need grammar to be able to aud, speak, read, and write in thetarget language.

*1Roberts P. English Sentences. New York, 1962, p.1

ABrief Review Of The Major Methods

OfForeign Language Teaching.

The grammatical systems of Russian and English arefundamentally different. English is an analytical language, in whichgrammatical meaning in largely expressed through the use ofadditional words and by changes in word order. Russian is a syntheticlanguage, in which the majority of grammatical forms are created through changes in the structure of words, by means of a developedsystem of prefixes, suffixes and ending. ( p. 121,

Brown C. and Jule “Teaching the spokenlanguage”, Cambridge, 1983)

No one knows exactly how people learn languagesalthough a great deal of research has been done into the subject.

Many methods have been proposed for theteaching of foreign language. And they have met with varying degreesof success and failure.

We should know that the method by whichchildren are taught must have some effect on their motivation. Ifthey find it deadly boring they will probably become de-motivated,whereas if they have confidence in the method they will find itmotivating. Child learners differ from adult learners in many ways.Children are curious, their attention is of a shorter duration, theyare quite differently motivated in, their interests are lessspecialized. They need frequent of activity; they need activitieswhich are exciting and stimulating their curiosity; they need to beinvolved in something active.

We shall examine such methods as “TheGrammar – Translation Method”, ”The Direct Method”,“The Audio-lingual Method”. And we pay attention to theteaching grammar of the foreign language. We shall comment thosemethods, which have had a long history.

TheGrammar Translation method will be discussed.

This method was widely used in teaching theclassics, namely Latin, and it was transferred to the teaching ofmodern languages when they were introduced into schools

Inthe grammar-translation mode, the books begin with definitions ofthe parts of speech, declensions, conjugations, rules to bememorized, examples illustrating the rules, and exceptions. Ofteneach unit has a paragraph to be translated into the target languageand one to be translated into native one. These paragraphsillustrate the grammar rules studied in the unit. The student isexpected to apply the rules on his own. This involves a complicatedmental manipulation of the conjugations and declensions in the ordermemorized, down to the form that might fit the translation. As aresult, students are unable to use the language, and they sometimesdevelop an inferiority complex about languages in general.Exceptionally bright and diligent students do learn languages bythis method, or in spite of it, but they would learn with anymethod.

(R.Lado)

W

1. Classesare taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of thetarget language.

2. Muchvocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.

3. Longelaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given.

4. Grammarprovides the rules for putting words together, and instructionoften focuses on the form and inflection of word.

5. Readingof difficult classical texts is begun early.

6. Littleattention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated asexercises in grammatical analysis.

7. Oftenthe only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentencesfrom the target language into the mother tongue.

8. Littleor no attention is given to pronunciation.

Brown H.,Douglas ‘Principles of language teaching’, N.Y., 1987

e list the major characteristics of Grammar Translation.

The grammar-translation method is largelydiscredited today. With greater interest in modern languages forcommunication the inadequacy of grammar-translation methods becameevident.

TheDirect Method.

The Direct Method appeared as a reactionagainst the grammar-translation method.

There was a movement in Europe that emphasizedlanguage learning by direct contact with the foreign language inmeaningful situations. This movement resulted in various individualmethods with various names, such as new method, natural method, andeven oral method, but they can all be referred to as direct methodsor the direct method. In addition to emphasizing direct contact withthe foreign language, the direct method usually deemphasized oreliminated translation and the memorization of conjugations,declensions, and rules, and in some cases it introduced phonetics andphonetic transcription.

The direct method assumed that learning aforeign language is the same as learning the mother tongue, that is,that exposing the student directly to the foreign language impressesit perfectly upon his mind. This is true only up to a point, sincethe psychology of learning a second language differs from that oflearning the first. The child is forced to learn the first languagebecause he has no other effective way to express his wants. Inlearning a second language this compulsion is largely missing, sincethe student knows that he can communicate through his native languagewhen necessary.

1. Classroominstruction was conducted exclusively in the target language.

2. Onlyeveryday vocabulary and sentences were taught.

3. Oralcommunication skills were built up in a carefully gradedprogression organized around question-and-answer exchanges betweenteachers and student in small, intensive classes.

4. Grammarwas taught inductively, i.e. the learner may discover the rules ofgrammar for himself after he has become acquainted with manyexamples.

5. Newteaching points were introduced orally.

6. Concretevocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures;abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas.

7. Bothspeech and listening comprehension were taught.

8. Correctpronunciation and grammar were emphasized.

The basic premise of Direct Method was that second languagelearning should be more like first language learning: lots of activeoral interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no translationbetween first and second languages, and little or no analysis ofgrammatical rules. We can summarize the principles of the Direct

Method:

The Direct Method enjoyed considerablepopularity through the end of nineteenth century and well into thisone.

Now we shall discuss “TheAudiolingual Method”.

The Audiolingual Method (It is also calledMimicry-memorization method) was the method developed in theIntensive Language Program. It was successful because of highmotivation, intensive practice, small classes, and good models, inaddition to linguistically sophisticated descriptions of the foreignlanguage and its grammar.

1. Newmaterial is presented in dialog form.

2. Thereis dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases andoverlearning.

3. Structuresare sequenced by means of contrastive analysis and taught one at atime.

4. Structuralpatterns are taught using repetitive drills.

5. Thereis a little or no grammatical explanation: grammar is taught byinductive analogy rather than deductive explanation.

6. Vocabularyis strictly limited and learned in context.

7. Thereis much use of tapes, language labs, and visual aids.

8. Greatimportance is attached to pronunciation.

9. verylittle use of the mother tongue by teachers is permitted.

10. Successfulresponses are immediately reinforced.

11. Thereis a great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances.

12. Thereis a tendency to manipulate language and disregard content.

Grammar is taught essentially as follows: Some basicsentences are memorized by imitation. Their meaning is given innormal expressions in the native language, and the students are notexpected to translate word for word. When the basic sentences havebeen overlearned (completely memorized so that the student can rattlethem off without effort), the student reads fairly extensivedescriptive grammar statements in his native language, with examplesin the target language and native language equivalents. He thenlistens to further conversational sentences for practice in listening. Finally, practices the dialogues using the basic sentences andcombinations of their parts. When he can, he varies the dialogueswithin the material hr has already learned. The characteristics ofALM may be summed up in the following list:

Grammarexplanations as used in the major methods.

We shall briefly review the treatment ofgrammatical explanations by some of the major methods. This is notmeant to be an exhaustive study of all available methods; rather itis an attempt to show the variety of ways in which different methodsdeal with grammar explanations and may help teachers in evaluatingavailable materials.

1. Grammar translation is associated withformal rule statement. Learning proceeds, deductively, and the ruleis generally stated by the teacher, in a textbook, or both.Traditional abstract grammatical terminology is used. Drills includetranslation into native language.

2. The direct method is characterized bymeaningful practice and exclusion of the mother tongue. This methodhas had many interpretations, some of which include an analysis ofstructure, but generally without the use of abstract grammaticalterminology.

3. T

   Table

   he audio-lingual method stresses an inductivepresentation with extensive pattern practice. Writing is discouragedin the early stages of learning a structure. Here again, there hasbee considerable variation in the realization of this approach. Insome cases, no grammatical explanation of any kind is offered. Inother, the teacher might focus on a particular structure byisolating an example on the board, or through contrast. Whengrammatical explanation is offered it is usually done at the end ofthe lesson as a summary of behavior (Politzer, 1965), or in laterversions of this method the rule might be stated in the middle ofthe lesson and followed by additional drills.

	Consciousgrammar explanation	Isolation of (rule ofstructure)	Deductiveor Inductive presentation	The“explainer”	Languagetype used for explanation	Oral orwritten explanation
Grammar-translation	Yes	Yes	Deductive	Bookand/or teacher	Abstract	Written
Directmethod	Yes or no	Yes	Inductive(if at all)	Teacher(when done)	Non-abstract	Oral-written
Audio-lingual	Yes or no	Yes	Inductive	Teacher	Example ornon-abstract	Oral-written

Each method is realized in techniques. By atechnique we mean an individual way in doing something, in gaining acertain goal in teaching learning process. The method and techniquesthe teacher should use in teaching children of the primary school isthe direct method, and various techniques which can develop pupils`listening comprehension and speaking. Pupils are given variousexercises, connected with the situational use of words and sentencepatterns.

Literature.

1. Rogova,G.V., “Methods of teaching English”; М.,1970

2. Harmer,Jeremy, “the practice English language teaching”;London-New York; Longman,1991

3. Синявская,Е.В. и др., «Вопросыметодики обученияиностраннымязыком за рубежом.»/сост.: Е.В.Синявская,М.М. Васильева,С.В.Калинина/;М., Просвещение,1978

4. Handschin,Charles H., “Methods of teaching modern languages.”;N.Y.,World Book Co.,1926

5. Bennett,William Arthur., ”Aspects of Language and language teaching.”;London-New York., Cambridge univ. press, 1968

6. LadoRobert and Fries Charles C., “English pattern practices.Establishing the patterns as habits.”; The univ. of Michiganpress, 1970

7. F.LBillows., “The Techniques of Language Teaching.”;Longman, 1962

8. Fries,Charles Carpenter., “Teaching and Learning English as aforeign language.”; The univ. of Michigan press, 1964

9. JackC. Richards and Theodore S. Rogers., “ Approaches and Methodsin Language Teaching.”; Cambridge univ. press, 1986

10. ElaineTarone and George Yule., “Focus on Language Learner.”;Oxford univ., 1991

11. MichaelH. Long, Jack C. Richards., “Methology in Tesol: A book ofReadings.”; USA., 1987

12. Pooley,Robert., “teaching English grammar.”; N.Y., Appleton –Century – Crofts, 1957

13. F.Genesee.,“Educating second language children: the whole child, thewhole curriculum, the whole community.” Cambridge, 1994

14. Griffith,S.“Teaching English Abroad”; Oxford,1991

15. Rivers,Wilga M., “Speaking in many tongues: Essays inforeign-language teaching.”; 3rd ed., Cambridge, 1983

16. Rixon,Shelagh., “How to use games in language teaching.”;London, The Macmillan press,1981

17. Applegate,Maurel., “Easy in English. An imaginative approach to theteaching of language arts.”; N.Y.,1960

18. GeoffreyBroughton, Christopher Brumfit, Roger Flavel, “TeachingEnglish as a foreign language.”; London, 1981

19. SwanM., Smith B., “Learner English. A teacher’s guide tointerference and other problems.”; Cambridge, 1987

20. BrownC. And Jule., “Teaching the spoken language.”;Cambridge, 1983

During my practice I examined the group ofchildren of 9-10 year old. The children have been studying Englishfor two years (the 3d form).

I used the test to receive some results and topoint out the level of the forming of grammar skills on theme “thedegrees of comparison of adjectives”. The test consisted of 5tasks.

Task 1

The aim: to control the listeningcomprehension.

Listen.

Agree or disagree.

1. The elephant is the biggest animal.

2. the biggest cat is the tiger.

3. The monkey’s tail is longer than thecat’s.

4. Dogs are clever than cats.

5. Cats are funnies than monkeys.

1. Yes, it is.

2. Yes, it is.

3. Yes, it is.

4. Yes, it is.

5. No, it isn’t.

Task 2

Theaim: to control the reading skill and the level.

Thepassage from “Why Rabbits have Got Short tails” (p.211“English I” I.N.Vereschagina, T.A.Pritykina, Москва;Просвещение,1994)

Readand translate

Oncethere lived a Rabbit, His name was Bunny. He was grey and big, biggerthan his brother Bonny. But he had no tail. And he wanted to have along tail, longer than that of Mrs. Fox.

Oneday Bunny went for a walk. He saw Mrs. Fox.

“Hello,Mrs. Fox”, he said, “Where are going?”

“I’mgoing shopping.’

“Whatare you going to buy?”

“I’mgoing to buy a tail.”

“Butyou’ve got a tail! I think it’s the longest and the mostbeautiful tail!”

“Well,but I want a new one, alonger and more beautiful one than my oldtail.”

Task 3

Completethe table.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
…	…	Thekindest
…	Slower	…
Big	…	…
Popular	…	…
…	Better	…
Dry	…	…
Beautiful	…	…

Task4

Compare these funny fellows (picture 1)

Nickand Rick make statements on the given picture:

Weak,strong; thin, fat; short, tall; young, old; good, bad.

Task 5

Choosethe correct word and copy the sentences.

1. Lionsare (clever, cleverer, the cleverest) than tigers.

2. The(big, bigger, biggest) animal is the elephant.

3. Thegiraffe’s neck is (long, longer, the longest) than thetiger’s.

4. The(clever, cleverer, cleverest) wild animals are monkeys.