Grammar and Its Place in Japanese Classroom

What do you think? Do you agree or not?

Grammar is the most important part of learning a foreign language

There is a lot of grammar to teach

Grammar is the ‘heart’ of a language because it is the framework upon which the vocabulary sits.

Grammar is easy to teach

Grammar is easy to learn

Students should worry about their grammar mistakes

High school teachers have to teach a lot of grammar because that is what is tested on university entrance tests.

Vocabulary is more important than grammar and we should spend more time on it.

The task

In order to learn the language Japanese learners need:-

Grammar / syntax

The abstract patterns underlying how words go together.

Word order

Subject + verb + object

John boughta cake

Tenses

Subject+have auxiliary+past participle

Wehavewon!

Words and their collocations

blonde hair vs. yellow hair

great surprise vs. large surprise

renovate a building vs. renew a building

make a mistakevs. do a mistake

Colligation

depend on someone

give something to someone

take something back from someone

The grey area

In a manner of speaking,

If only I’d ……

What I found most interesting was …

I know what you mean.

Not only …… but also ………..

It’s as good as new

I really shouldn’t tell you this, but …

Well, as I was saying …

To put it bluntly,…

Research into language tells us that …

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

80% of tense use in English is either the present simple tense or the past simple tense
95% of the use of verbs in conversation are active, 5% passive
18% of verbs in academic text are passive
The present perfect tense is 9 times more frequent that the past perfect in conversation
Simple tenses are 8-9 times more common than progressive or perfect tenses in almost all genres.

2. Some grammar is late (or never) acquired

Articles
Third person ‘s’

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

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

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

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

Where’s the book?

Beg-
inner

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

There are similar patterns for forming questions, relative clauses, passives, tenses etc.

The point is that the elements of the grammar are picked up in pieces as each aspect is recognized, not as wholes. It will take time to go through the stages.

When we test students we only test for ‘correct’ language. Tests do not assess the movement / development between stages.

7. Students avoid tenses and verbs like the plague.

Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 1/22

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

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

My brother is sickIt is my brother that is sick.

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

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

Never before had I seen such a beautiful girl

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

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

11. Teach grammar ‘lexically’ sometimes

On my way to work I…

I’m afraid I don’t agree

I was in two minds

That’s just not true

By the end of the week

I’ll just get my……

It looks as if …….. is going to …….

I don’t suppose you’ve………, have you?

Vocabulary is not everything!

money, room, they,police, student, think, car, new, run

Add in word order

new, student, think, money, they, ran, police, car

Add definiteness, phrasal distribution patterning

The new student, think, the money, they, run, the police car

Add tense time and number

The new students, thought, the money, they ran, the police car

Add aspect and modality

The new students may have thought, the money, they ran, the police car

Add location and direction etc.

The new students may have thought about the money they ran to the police car.

Add clausal relations

The new students may have thought about the money while they ran to the police car.

What grammar do Japanese learners need?

Most important

Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 1/22

Questions

Negatives

S/V agreement

Possessives

Conjunctions

Comparison

Count/non-count

Simple tenses

Imperatives

Tag forms

Singular/plural

Adjective order

Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 1/22

Raise awareness of these (after the ones above are mastered)

Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 1/22

Complex NPs

Appositives
Participle descriptors
Relative clauses
Extraposition (heavy NPmovement)
Complement clause variation
Dummy IT subjects
Existential THERE
Passives
Modal uses and modality
Conditional clauses
Dative shift options
Use of articles
Use of prepositions

Use of phrasal verbs
Anaphora and referent tracking
Opening phrasal units
Unraveling complex sentences(identifying the main clause)
Recognizing definitions inclauses
Discourse organization markers and transition phrases
Location and use of adverbs and adverbial phrases
Given and new patterns of information
Tense shifts and alternation

Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 1/22

How easy is it to learn grammar?

The case of the present perfect tense

The government has created a new committee to …

He hasn’t seen her for a while.

Why haven’t you done your homework?

Have you seen Jane?

There’s been a big accident in Market street.

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

Have you got any brothers and sisters?

The present perfect tense varies by

Subject: government, he, you, there etc.
Object: committee, homework, Jane, him.
Aspect: e.g.

present perfect for experience, - have you ever ….

present perfect for news A plane has crashed into….

Active or passive:

The Reds have won …. Vs. The title has been captured by …

Question, negative and declarative forms:

Have you done…?

They haven’t tried …

I’ve just come back from Paris

Simple or continuous?

I have lived in Japan for 10 years

I have been living in Japan for 10 years

The Cycle of Learning

Looking at Japanese student errors

The childs are playing in park

I like dog

I came from Japanese

He goed to Kobe yesterday

Last weekend I played with my friends

Their mistakes are often consistent.

Students seem to invent a ‘working grammar’ which they use to speak English

But students often consistently make the same kinds of mistakes at the same level of development

They have created a grammar which works for them, which is not all English and not all Japanese, it’s a ‘between’ grammar. This is called interlanguage.

Real letters

I am glad to state that my husband died yesterday. I will be glad if you will get me a pension. If you don't hurry up with it I will have to get public resistance,

Please send a man with clean tools to finish the job and satisfy the wife.

I cannot get eternity benefit in spite of the fact that I saw the assistance officer. I have eight children. What can I do about it?

I am enclosing my marriage certificate with three children. One of them is a mistake as you will see when you look at it.

I saw a slow moving, sad faced old gentleman as he bounced off the roof of my car.

Signs

(In a church). This is to announce the birth of David Alan Belzer, the sin of Reverend and Mrs. Julius Belzer.

(Spotted in a safari park) Elephants, please stay in your car.

(In a Paris hotel elevator) Please leave your values at the front desk.

(In a church) Ushers will eat latecomers.

(In a club) Next Friday we will be serving hot gods for lunch.

Implications of the above for Japanese learners

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

When should we start to teach grammar?

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

I like …….

I like …ing

Do you want ….?

Have you ever ……-ed?

How many …….s do you have?

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

Section 2. Teaching grammar.

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

Learning about grammar.

Learning to use grammar

Ways to present grammar

A. Checking understanding – concept questions

I used to play the piano.

Does he play the piano now?No

Did he play the piano before?Yes

Has he stopped playing the piano?Yes

Now you try. Think of concept questions for these.

John, can I borrow your pencil?

John, would you lend me your pencil?

B. Inductive vs deductive

Inductive (They have to find the rules for themselves)

Why do we use be going to or will?

A: Do you have any plans for the weekend?

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

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

Deductive. (Tell them what the rule is)

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

C. Using timelines

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

Talked with talking movie

Keiko now

Past NowTonight

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

Now

Arrived

1990

continuing to live

3a. The train left when he arrived

He arrived The train left

Past Now

3b. The train had left when he arrived

The train leftHe arrived

Past Now

Make a time line for these

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

He was watching TV when the phone rang.

Suggested timelines

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

started readcontinue to read

Past Now Future

He was watching TV when the phone rang.

phone

was watching TV

Past Now Future

D. Mistakes as presentation

I have ever been to Tokyo

The government has been opening a new stadium

I have ever seen Disneyland

Best to deal with one kind of mistake rather than many at the same time.

e.g. past tense formation mistakes

past perfect vs past simple

Written vs spoken grammar

Text sample 1: NEWS REPORT

Mr Ladislav Adamec, the Czechoslovak Prime Minister, threatened to quit last night, as hard bargaining continued for a second day with the opposition over the shape of the new government.

Mr Adamec had talks with the opposition leader, Mr Vaclav Havel, on the cabinet lineup. He later went on national television to state that he would stand down unless his new government gained public backing.

The opposition Civic Forum, which rejected the Communist-dominated cabinet unveiled by Mr Adamec at the weekend, is demanding a, more representative government staffed mainly by experts.

Mr Adamec said that he was having trouble recruiting such experts into the cabinet. The Prime Minister's threat appeared to seek a weakening of the opposition demands, but may also have been directed at hardline elements in the Communist Party reluctant to yield any further to the opposition.

Text sample 2: CONVERSATION IN A BARBER SHOP

A1: I will put, I won't smile. – Tell me what would you like now?

B1: Erm — shortened up please Pete — erm — shaved a little bit at the backand sides — and then just sort of brushed back on the top a bit.

A2: Right, and when you say shaved a little bit

B2: Yeah yo- - you sort of just – got your thing and zazoom!

A3: Yeah but – is it that short really?

B3: Yeah to–, yeah and I

A4: <unclear> you want a number four?

B4: Yeah I think so.

A5: So yeah, I was well pleased, cos you remember the time before I said I wasn't perfect.

B5: <unclear>

A6: That's right yeah – yeah – I mean I'm being honest.

B6: Yeah – mm.

A7: But I was well pleased with this one.

B7: Yeah.

A8: I was – I thought it lookedgood – and I thought, I was quite confident that it would stay in very well, you know? –

B8: Mm.

Grammar and its place in Japanese Classroom 1/22