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Introductory Text as a Motivational Tool in Teaching Grammar

based on the analysis of the dialogue from “Discover the Grammar”, Unite 8, “Past Progressive Tense”, Keith Folse’

(2012) Clear Grammar 2. Michigan: Michigan University Press.

The issue of motivation is still problematic and widely discussed in teaching second language.

Natalia Reilly UCF MATESOL 2012

according to Guilloteaux and Dornyei (2008)

Some of the problems are:

The diversity of interpretation of motivational techniques

The lack of theoretical support for the motivational strategies and techniques

The lack of specific ways by which motivational strategies and techniques can be used with students or can be taught to teachers

( Guilloteaux and Dornyei, 2008)

Problems & Suggestions for Solutions The diversity of interpretation of motivational techniques

The lack of theoretical support for the motivational strategies and techniques

The lack of specific ways by which motivational strategies and techniques can be used with students or can be taught to teachers The parse, analysis, and synthesis of a motivational introductory text actively involving students into the learning process

Inductive method, creativity theory, and Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory to support the motivational value of the introductory text

The introductory text here is the plausibly casual and engaging yet carefully structured dialogue.

The text is: loaded with target syntax modeling real life situations drawing students’ attention

Thus, in Clear Grammar 2, the Unit 8 “Past Progressive Tense” begins with the section “Discover the Grammar” where the dialogue of 21 lines is presented, and students are asked to read it and then to answer several questions (Folse, 208-209). The dialogue occurs between two friends Kay and Liz.

The Introductory Text & its Qualities

Kay: So, Liz, did you have a good time on vacation?

Liz: Oh, yes! I went to Vancouver, Canada. And

guess what? I saw Brad Pitt there!

Simple Past UsageUsageactions

completed in the past

Do we see past progressive here? NO

colloquialism

Kay: Are you serious? Brad Pitt was in Vancouver? What

was he doing there? Was he making a movie?

Liz: I don’t know. No one was filming or acting.

Past Progressive

1) in simple sentences

2) in interrogative form

3) dropped final -e

Usage

Usageactions going on at

a certain time in the past

4) was as main & auxiliary

Kay: So what was he doing?

Liz: When I saw him he was shopping.

Past Progressive

1) in compound sentences2) in complex sentence

Kay: Shopping?

Liz: Yes, he was with his children and they were shopping.

Kay: What were they shopping for? Sports cars? Designer watches?

Liz: No, they were buying some cheap t-shirts. I was looking at some shoes, and I just looked over, and there he was!

compound

complex

compound

3) doubled final consonant

Usage

Usageactions going on in the

past were interrupted by ‘simple past’—another

action in the past4) colloquialisms

5) was/was/were main/auxilliary/singl/pl

UsageUsage

actions going on at a certain time in

the past

Past Progressive

Kay: And … you’re sure it was Brad Pitt?

Liz: Oh, yes. I was reading a magazine article last week I went to have my hair cut, so I saw some recent photos of him. The man who was shopping looked exactly the same.

Kay: Well, if you are sure.

Liz: Oh, I am. It’s funny because I was dreaming about him all summer after I saw his last movie. Then I actually got to see him! I’m so lucky!

Kay: Yes, you are.

1) in ‘double’ complex sentences

complex

complex

2) in an adjective clause3) colloquialisms

Usage

Usageactions going on at

a certain time in the past

The Result:Students begin to see the PP pattern

Usageactions going on in the

past were interrupted by ‘simple past’—another

action in the past

Also the humor of the situation, when the superstar is caught in the process of buying cheep t-shirts, is a motivational component stimulating learning. One of the functions of humor is motivational; as Bell (2011) quotes Martin (2007), humor possesses “cognitive and social benefits of the positive emotion of mirth” (p. 145).

Exercises The Result:the PP pattern becomes clear

Grammar Rules

More exercises follow

The Result:the active usage of

the PP pattern

The Final Result:the fluent usage of

the PP pattern

Motivation Orientation of Language Teaching (MOLT)

Let’s see how the introductory text

fulfills the criteria of motivation

Tea

cher

dis

cour

se

Asking the class questions to which the teacher does not already know the answer, including the questions about the students’ lives.

Referential Questions

(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

Offering students a choice of activities, involving them in making decisions regarding the timing of an activity, having them use the internet or do research (e.g. for oral presentations, projects, and displays).

Promoting Autonomy


Setting up a cooperative learning activity, or explicitly encouraging students to help one another, offering suggestions on how best to do this.

Promoting Cooperation


Providing appropriate strategies and / or models to help students complete an activity successfully (e.g. the teacher thinks aloud while demonstrating, reminds students of previously learned knowledge or skills that will help them complete the activity, or has the class brainstorm a list of strategies to carry out the activity.

Scaffolding


During the presentation of an activity, raising the students’ expectations that the upcoming activity is going to be interesting and/ or important (e.g. by asking them to guess what they are going to do next, or by pointing out fun, challenging, or important aspects of the activity or contents to be learned.

Arousing Curiosity or Attention


Promoting contact with L2 speakers and cultural products and encouraging students to explore the L2 culture and community.

Promoting Integrative Values


Connecting what has to be learned to the students’ everyday lives (e.g., giving grammatical examples with references to pop stars).

Establishing Relevance


While presenting an activity, mentioning its communicative purpose, its usefulness outside the classroom, its cross-curricular utility, or the way it fits into the sequence of activities planned for the lesson.

Stating Communicative Purpose or Utility of the Activity


Stating the lesson objectives explicitly or giving retrospective summaries of progress already made toward realizing the objectives.

Signposting


Having an informal (often humorous) chat with the students on matters unrelated to the lesson.

Social Chat


Theory-Based Framework

The inductive method in teaching grammar

The Vygotsky’s socio-cultural / cognitive theory

The theory of creativity

Inductive Method in Teaching Grammar

In traditional (Deductive Method)grammar rules are introduced first

In Inductive Method text w/target syntax is introduced first

Disadvantage: Students might be bored, discouraged & alienated from the learning

Advantage:Students might be stimulated and interactively involved into collaboration

The text should be: loaded with target syntax modeling real life situations drawing students’ attention

Inductive Method is the inference of general laws (grammar rules) from practical instances

Theory of Creativity

Inductive Methodmeans synthesis, -- the combination of ideas to form a theory or system

Creativitymeans “bringing something new into being” (May, p. 39)

Inductive Method is the inference of general laws (grammar rules) from practical instances

Stages of Creative Process: Encounter subject-object Chaos Creation of a new form

Theory of Creativity

Stages of Creative Process: Encounter subject-object Chaos Creation of a new form

According to Rollo May, “Creativity occurs on an act of encounter and is to be understood with this encounter as its center” (May, 1975, p.77).

Also, according to the same author, “One distinguishing characteristic of the encounter is the degree of intensity, a quality of commitment” (May, 1975, p.87).

students-text

grammar rules

Vygotsky’s SocioculturalTheory (Interest in the Task)

Functions of Scaffolding: Recruiting interest in the task Maintaining pursuit of the goal Marking critical features Demonstrating an idealized version

Scaffolding “is the process of supportive dialogue which directs the attention of the learners to key features of the environment, and which prompts them through successive steps of a problem” (Wood, 1976, as quoted in Mitchell & Myles, 2004, p.197).

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (What Causes

Learning) Zone of Proximate Development – the zone where learning occurs. The learning is impossible without students’ active social interaction because the ZPD is an open system – teachers are not supposed to establish “a glass ceiling”.

According to Nassaji and Swain, 2000, the ZPD is “not a fixed trait of the learner but an emergent and open-ended one that unfolds through interaction and expands the potential for learning by providing opportunities which were not anticipated in the first place” (p. 36).

Well-designed introductory text gives students a lot of opportunity to freely and creatively express themselves and contribute into social interaction which causes learning.

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (Role of Written Text)

In the ZDP the new knowledge emerges not only in peer-peer or teacher-pupil collaborative interaction, but also in human being – written text interaction. According to Vygotsky, a written text is one of the symbolic socio-cultural mediating tools.

How the processes of interaction and scaffolded help occur via communication with a written source is explained by the post-modern notion, “One of the consequences of the post-modernist movement … is the recognition of the possibility that meaning does not reside in texts per se, but is created through some type of reader-text interaction” (Appel & Lantolf, 1994, p. 449).

Well-designed introductory text creates the sociocultural collaborations: Teacher-student

Peer-peer Student-written text

Teacher-written text

The creative process of analysis and synthesis of a grammatically structured, vivid, and humorous text awakens students’ curiosity, immerses them into a state of affairs modeling real life, and makes students aware of the syntax – from simpler to more complicated structures – through the portrayed situation.

Conclusion

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