Making grammar real

As part of my webinar Make Language Real, I shared some ideas for making grammar real.

I’d like to share them in this post.

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First of all, I shared a short review exercise from Prepare 3 Students’ Book page 30.

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I asked teachers to say which grammar points had been covered in the first four units – each sentence refers to a different grammar point.

Key:

1 = present simple and continuous  AND verbs not used in continuous.

2 = verbs not used in continuous

3 = past simple

4 = there is/are

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Next, I shared some ideas for making this language relevant and real for students.

Here are some suggestions, which I think could be used for any grammar point.

1   Make the sentences true for you.

Students rewrite sentence one for their hobby, e.g.

I like to watch videos about skating because I skate too.

Or make the sentence negative if that’s true for them.

e.g. I don’t like to watch swimming competitions because I don’t swim.

2   Make the sentences true for someone else.

e.g. Of course, my cousin Lucas wants to have more friends.

For shyer students, the second option might be the best.

3   Change 2-4 words in every sentence. 

e.g.  The food was really expensive but I still had a good time there.

4   Change the conjunction in 1 and 3.

e.g. The weather was really hot, and we went swimming.

5   Choose a sentence and continue/put it in a paragraph.

e.g. In my town, there are a lot of shopping centres and sports centres.  The biggest shopping centre is called Valle Real and there’s a big supermarket and lots of clothes shops.  The nearest sports centre is the Alday Centre.  I play tennis and go swimming there.

6   Add adjectives to sentences 1, 2, 4.

e.g.  Of course, everyone wants to have more close friends.

7   Add another thing to each sentence.

e.g. Everyone wants to have more friends and more money.

8   Disagree with each sentence.

e.g. No you don’t!  You stopped swimming years ago!

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I then shared another exercise from Prepare 3, page 15.

And shared an activity for this:

Personalisation

Write sentences about you using all the verbs you circled.

Tell learners that all their sentences must be about the same topic. 

I belong to a football team.       I want to be a professional footballer.

I have a training session this afternoon.  I prefer matches to training.

I need to get some new football boots.   I hate cleaning my boots.

 You could put the sentences into a bag – mix them up – students take one sheet and guess whose sentences they are.

Read out the sentences, starting with the last sentence.

How many sentences do you need hear to discover the topic?

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You can watch the recording of my webinar here.

Thanks to Cambridge University Press ELT Ukraine for inviting me to deliver the webinar.