M2 - Pedagogical Grammar 2300-GPTE-M2-PG

The course is intended for speakers of English who already know and use the whole grammar of the English language. It focuses on increasing the students’ awareness and understanding of grammar and their knowledge of metalanguage, in order to enable them to discuss grammar issues at all levels of expertise. The course provides an overview of the English grammar which is usually covered by syllabi, but also sheds light on the problem areas which are important in learning and communication but are not usually explicitly taught, such as word grammar, word order changing the meaning, etc.
The teaching skills practised in the course will be divided into two parts. The skills involved in overt grammar teaching, such as explanation, analysis, giving examples, correcting mistakes and identifying the problems, structuring the practice or explaining differences between structures, will be practised along with the grammar overview, which will take about 2/3 of the course; this part finishes with an assignment which the students must pass at 90%. The subsequent part of the course will focus on the skills involved in covert grammar teaching, such as gauging comprehensible input to the level of the learners, finding multiple ways to express the same meaning, or analysing the difficulty of authentic materials and adapting them to the level of the learners.
The aims of the course:
• to focus the students’ attention on the grammar of English as a means to carry meaning
• to enhance the students’ conscious knowledge of English grammar aiming at increasing the quality of their language output and their understanding of the grammar of English
• to build or expand the students’ knowledge of metalanguage and the skill to use it in discussing grammar issues
• to create and/or exchange ideas how to teach, practise and test the new grammar structures
• to build the skill of making clear, correct, contextualised, probable, self-explanatory, memorable examples of grammatical structures illustrating their meanings, also in contrast to other structures, likely to be confused by learners
• to build and enhance the skill of explaining grammar rules with or without using metalanguage
• to build the skill of explaining the differences between grammar structures
• to build the skill of identifying grammatical mistakes in pieces of writing or speech, explain them to the learner and suggest remedial action
• to create opportunities for students to get acquainted with resources, such as reference books, books with activities, practice tests, helpful in preparing explanation and practice for learners
• to practise the skill of preparing the situational presentation of a grammar structure using inspiration from available sources
• to build the skill of using various language means to impart the same meanings, i.e. concept checking, paraphrasing, gauging the level of difficulty in the comprehensible input etc.
• to build the awareness of the levels of challenge presented by certain grammar structures and the skill of adapting the text to the level desired in the situation (i.e. lowering or increasing the challenge)