You can't learn language just through doing verb drills

Don't just teach and use verb drills... How to teach deductive grammar successfully! 

To what extent can a learner use a grammatical rule in speaking and writing after practising with just verb drills? The answer is... very little! So often, teachers TEACH a grammatical concept to a class and provide grammar drills for practice and then expect learners to be able to use it. 

Sik (2015) found that teachers "feel better" when they teach grammar deductively and we're not wrong, the same study showed slightly higher academic success through deductive grammar teaching. However, in the same study, it is suggested that teachers need to be more aware of the needs of their students. How can we ensure that they can USE these new concepts? If we want students to build towards using these elements to communicate, what is the best approach?

Get the verbs off the page!

There are so many issues with only relying on grammar drills prior to productive use. 

Here are some scenarios:

- the grammatical rule may be too high order thinking at that time. For example, asking a student who hasn't yet accurately used present tense indicative to use the subjunctive. 

- students haven't identified this grammatical concept as something they need for their own production

- the student feels overwhelmed by the amount they feel they have to learn because the teacher is telling them they should know it

But, using grammar drills through deductive grammar teaching is not an incorrect practice! So how do we get the balance right for our students?

What is deductive grammar teaching? 

It's when learners are given a grammar rule, which is then applied to specific language examples and narrow exercises. 

When is it a good idea to use deductive grammar teaching?

• To increase awareness of grammatical concepts
• To show linguistic diversity between languages
• When students identify a gap in their own grammatical knowledge
• When students want to further their use of a particular grammatical concept
• When students wish to increase in linguistic sophistication
• To understand a grammatical form that they read or hear

Ideally, verb drills are only a small drop in the ocean and their purpose is for students to gain an understanding of the rule. 

Here are the steps you can take in teaching with deductive grammar -  a focus on form with a communicative goal:

Understanding phase

1. Understanding the concept - provide students with the grammar rule

2. Study Grammar Drills - give students varied ways to practice and understand the grammar rule. Provide them with plenty of listening input, as I do through my verb drill worksheets

Students create their own flash cards for understanding, accountability, assessment and use. 

3. Build Cue Cards - ask your students to create some cue cards to identify the 'chunks' that they want to learn. E.g., if they are learning the passé composé, they can create a few cards with high-frequency verbs and common scenarios: J'ai mangé, tu as vu, il a pris, je suis allé(e), tu es rentré(e), il est parti...

Ask them to only make enough cue cards for their learning. For example, 10 to begin should be enough.

Memorisation phase

4. Memorisation - students use the cue cards to memorise the spelling and speaking of the verb chunks. 

Assessment phase

5. Self-Assessment - the student tests their memory through spelling and speaking and only move on when they have 100% passed stage 5.

6. Peer-Assessment - the student hands their cards to a partner and they spell and say the verb chunks aloud.

Production phase

7. Oral Production - the student now has a goal to use the chunks in any upcoming speaking task, either informally in class or in speech or in an upcoming oral assessment.

8. Written Production - Also, the student must aim to use these chunks in writing, in either formative or summative assessment.

Remember, not all of your students need to learning the same grammatical concept at the same time. Why not let your students identify their own gaps through a productive task (speaking and writing) and ask them what they want to develop next? Just make sure that you see that they have arrived at the productive stage! You could provide your students with a tick list to stick in to their books. Which grammatical construct are they currently focused on? Which phase are they are up to? What should the teacher be looking out for when the student speaks and writes?

I have used this technique with my students and it works! Think more guided practice for your juniors and more independant study for your seniors.

Do you teach grammar for communication? What do you find are the elements that work and don't work in your French classroom?

5 ways to use dictation in your languages' classroom

MYTH! Dictation is only for motivated and academic students. 

The truth is, you will most likely find that not only will your students LOVE dictation, but that they will find it helpful in learning ABOUT language.

Dictation increases student awareness. We can use it as a tool for phoneme awareness (foreign sounds), word placement (syntax) and accuracy, as well as showing students a tool to increase memory power (see activity 5). 

Remember, dictation is most effective if the input is comprehensible, so think carefully about which words or sentences you are using. If a student doesn't understand the meaning of the words at all, then they will probably be more aware of what they don't know rather than becoming more aware of what you want them to be aware about!

Here are 5 easy and effective ways to implement dictation in your classroom:

1. Minimal pairs

Minimal pairs are two words with one sound (phoneme) difference. 

In this activity, students listen to two words. They try to spell both words that they hear and highlight which sound is different. 

For example:

1. L'amour / la mort (low vowels and article awareness)

2. cheveux / chevaux (good one after watching Extr@!)

3. bulle / boule (difficult vowels for English speakers)

You could focus on the common errors in pronunciation that you hear in your own classroom or use this task to increase awareness of phonemes.

As a post-task, ask your students to pronounce the minimal pairs with a partner, but ensure that you are listening and helping with accent or provide recordings. Help them to hear and articulate the differences in their own output!

2. Gender agreement

Feed language in small chunks to grab their attention on grammatical gender agreement. For anglophone students, it's so important to help them become aware of how agreements transfer across a whole noun phrase. Particularly in the French language where so many final sounds are silent.

Read aloud a noun with a few descriptions and get your students to work out the agreements in writing.

For example:

1. Il est intelligent > elle est intelligente

2. Le chat noir > les chats noirs

3. Elles sont intelligentes, bavardes et souriantes.

I am always surprised as to how much my students like this style of dictation at ALL LEVELS! Ensure that the language is comprehensible to make the task challenging but attainable (and memorable!).

3. Syntactical awareness

How many of your students have shown you the reel, "Le ver vert va vers le verre vert" ?

Why do they like this sentence so much?

Because the placement of each word defines the meaning (word classes), even when the words are homophones. 

There are many homophones in French, as in English (there/their/they're), to get your students thinking about the importance of grammar.

For example:

1. In short sentences, such as: "L'eau au supermarché"

2. In tongue twisters (vire-langue), such as: "Si ces six saucissons-ci sont six sous..."

4. Running dictation

Why not make dictation a GAME and get students out of their seats and working together?

Hang a few words, sentences or paragraphs on the wall.

In teams of 2-3, 1 student will be the runner, 1 student is the writer, and you can have a third student as a spelling helper.

The runner goes to the text on the wall, memorises a chunk and heads back to the writer. 

The runner then dictates what they have just memorised.

The writer (and helper) must listen and write what they have just heard.

This continues until time runs out. Use a timer to add in a challenge or to ensure that the game doesn't continue forever! 

You can ask you students to focus on fluency OR accuracy OR both.

5. Delayed dictation

Instead of your students writing down immediately what they hear, why not add in a 5-10 second delay?

Why the delay, you ask?

The student is focused on holding the sound in their memory (using the phonological loop), reproducing it until it can be written down. 

It can be a quick challenge and motivational for students. It can also be tiring for some though, so I advise using delayed dictation to start a lesson or once 10 minutes in to the lesson.

You can also get students to chorally say the words or sentences aloud before the delay or sing the words (if you're crazy like me!). This helps to strengthen the phonological loop for working memory. Make sure you're listening to their pronunciation though!

But what do I do with that one student who HATES dictation and can't sit still?

Give them to job of REFEREE! 

Give this student the answers and tell them when to wander the classroom, showing peers where they have made errors or just when they are correct. Or give them the option for timing delayed dictation. You can also ask this student to write the answer on the board, if you trust them with your markers!

Alternatives to paper?

Invest in mini whiteboards for your classroom or use an app on the iPad or computer. Students love the chance to write using different tools and also gives them less pressure to be correct all the time. If you can rub out a word, it feels a lot less permanent.

Do you use dictation in your languages' classroom? Which is your go-to activity? Do you tend to have problems with dictation? Write below!