Education Bureau Funded Professional Development Programme

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Education Bureau Funded Professional Development

Programme

Grammar as Choice: The Role of

Grammar in Enhancing Students’ Writing in the Senior Secondary English

Language Classroom

Suzi Nicholson and Simon Chan Faculty of Education, HKU

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Warm-up reflections on teaching grammar in writing lessons

Read a teacher’s quote below. To what extent do you share this teacher’s view? How is this relevant to the teaching of grammar in your writing lessons?

“It’s easy if you ask them to rewrite the sentences, because they find it easy to follow… However, they just don’t know when we are supposed to use passive voice and when we are supposed to use active voice. And, one student even

asked me why we have to use passive voice in our daily lives.

I find this question difficult to answer, and in fact so do my colleagues. No one can give me a correct answer. I’ve

thought about it, but even now I really don’t know how to handle the question. I finish the worksheets with them and they know how to rewrite the sentences. But, I don’t know how to explain to them when it is used. ” (Andrews, 2007)

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Overview

1. The notion of text grammar: What is it and how can we promote it in our senior secondary writing

lessons?

2. Reflections on reading-to-write teaching units:

- Example A: A proposal letter

- Example B: A letter to the editor

3. Understanding the language criteria in the HKDSE Writing Paper with students’ sample essays

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1. What is text grammar?

• Teaching grammar through texts enables students to see how the choice of language items is

affected by the context and how it shapes the tone, style and register of a text. (CDC, 2017, p.68)

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A Functional View of Language in Context (Rose, 2005) (The Genre Egg Approach)

 Provide scaffolding to students through different levels

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CONTEXT

TEXT PARAGRAPHS

SENTENCE WORD GROUPS

SYLLABLESWORD LETTER PATTERNS SOUND PATTERNS

patterns within the sentence patterns

within the text

patterns within the word

Grammar is across all

levels of language.

Let’s take

‘short

stories’ as

an example!

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Grammar as Choice: Short Stories

• What can be the purpose of the short story that the students are to write?

• What can be its rhetorical structure?

• What sentence patterns/vocabulary can they use?

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Grammar as Choice: Other Genres

What can be the communicative purpose(s) of each of the genres? What are the grammar choices

writers use to achieve those purposes?

Debate speeches Procedural texts Expository essays Witness reports

Sometimes writers or poets intentionally break the typical grammatical conventions to create certain effects.

e.g. “I’m loving it”!

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How choice of language (i.e. grammar and vocabulary) shapes the tone, style and register of a text

Why do our secondary students need text grammar?

In the marking scheme of the Writing paper of HKDSE :

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• Language:

– Range of accurate and complex sentence structures

– Register, tone and style being appropriate to the text-type

• Organisation:

– Text being organised extremely effectively – Sophisticated cohesive ties

– Coherent structure appropriate to the text-type

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Where as can we find the criteria?

English Language KLA Curriculum Guide (CDC, 2017, A46) ¹⁰

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How can we promote text grammar in our secondary classrooms?

Reading-to-write tasks

Example A: A proposal letter

Example B: A letter to the editor

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2. Reading-to-write tasks:

Example A: A proposal letter

Example B: A letter to the editor

• Goal: Building students’ awareness of uses of grammar items in texts (through which

communication takes place)

• Strategy: Analysing texts and matching grammar items with their communicative purposes with the rhetorical structure of common genres

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Reading-to-write Example A

—A proposal letter

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Reading-to-write Example A—A proposal letter:

October 15, 2015 Mr. Nadim Dalwal

English Language Coordinator Dar Al-Jandal School, Riyadh Dear Mr. Dalwal,

Subject: Proposal To Hold An ELT Book Fair At Your School

Dar Al Jarad Publishing and Distribution House is pleased to invite your school to host an English Language Teaching (ELT) book fair.

We at Dar Al Jarad believe it is essential that we work directly with schools in Riyadh in order to enhance English literacy among students. We have chosen to approach your school to host one of these events because we are aware of your high educational standards and your interest in improving English literacy at your school.

Objectives:

Our objectives for holding the book fair at your school are as follows:

• To empower both teachers and students with our valuable ELT educational resources which include: readers, textbooks, support materials, and exam books.

• To introduce the students and the teachers to new ELT resources that are available on the market and how these resources can enhance literacy in the classroom.

• To familiarize parents with new ELT materials and the selection process that Curriculum Coordinators go through when developing an English program.

• Benefits:

Direct benefits that will come from hosting a book fair will be:

• The school will receive valuable publicity which will result in increased student enrolment.

• 15% of the proceeds from each title sold will go toward supporting the school’s English program.

• The school staff and administration will work closely with the ELT distributor which will enhance cooperation between the school and Dar Al Jarad.

• ….

•

Step 1: Reading a model text exemplifying typical genre features for

meaning!!!

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Reading-to-write Example A—A proposal letter:

Section Function in the text Typical language/sentence patterns (examples)

Subject To state what the letter is about

A noun phrase beginning with ‘Proposal to…’

e.g. Proposal To Hold An ELT Book Fair At Your School

Introduction (first two paragraphs)

To…

Objectives To…

Benefits To…

Arrangements To…

Conclusion To…

Step 2: Analysing grammar features typical of the

genre with the use of a sentence making table

How can we vary this step to cater for learner

diversity? ¹⁵

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Example for the use of writing frames: A proposal letter

_________________(Date)

_________________ (The receiver’s full name and position) _________________

_________________

Dear Mr/Ms___________,

Subject: _____________________________________________

(introduction)

I am_________________________________________________ (introducing yourself). Our group have_______________________________________. I am writing to________________________

__________________________________________________________ (state the reason for writing)

Objectives:

Our objectives for holding___________________________________________________:

- To…

- …

Step 3:

Guiding students to use the grammar features identified to write their text with a writing frame

How can we vary this step to cater for learner diversity?

The use of sentence-making tables

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Sentence making tables

Communication function Sentence patterns

Giving suggestions It is suggested/proposed that…

…is a good idea

Communication function Sentence patterns Giving explanations This results from…

This is due to…

Communication function Sentence patterns

Giving examples Take… as an example.

For instance,…

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Reading-to-write Example B

—A letter to the editor

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• We’re going to examine this example more closely from both the perspectives of the teacher and the senior secondary students.

You’ll switch roles between the two.

Reading-to-write Example B—A letter to the editor:

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Part 1: Read Text 1 “Key to a happy Hong Kong

family could be a mobile messaging group on WhatsApp or WeChat” and answer the following

questions.

1. Read line 18: “The quality of your family communication will be better” if ________________________________.

2. Identify two words in the text which can replace

‘enhance’ (Line 49).

the elderly are in a family messaging group.

improve (line 38) boost (line 26)

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3. The purpose of Text 1 is…

A) to promote the use of mobile messaging groups.

B) to report a study and a project launched by a university.

C) to explain how local families should take care of the elderly.

D) to ask for more resources from the Government on family service.

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4. Decide whether each of the following is true, false or not given.

True False Not given i) All Hong Kong families communicate

through mobile platforms like WhatsApp.

ii) The government’s integrated family service centres are currently not functioning well.

iii) Social workers will communicate with their clients more through

WhatsApp. ²²

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Part 2: Compare Texts 1-3. What do they share in common? What are the differences among them?

List as many points in the table below as you can.

You may find the following prompting questions useful:

Do the texts…

• focus on the same topic?

• target the same group of readers?

• adopt a subjective or objective tone?

• belong to the same text type?

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Similarities among the three texts:

Differences among the three texts:

Text 1 Text 2 Text 3

Same topic

Same target readers Different genres

Different purposes of writing

Different language styles/formalities Arguments supported by

evidence

Inclusion of quotation marks

What are the grammar

patterns suggesting these?

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Part 3: Read Text 2 and Text 3 again and answer the following questions.

1. What is the text type of both texts?

2. What is the purpose of this text type?

3. Circle/underline all the verb groups in Text 2 and Text 3. Then answer the following:

Letter to the editor

To express personal opinions on an issue

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3a) What tense(s) is/are used in this text type? For what kind(s) of meaning? Complete the following table.

Tense(s) used

Example(s) Meaning(s) expressed

Present simple The article refers to…;

People use… - Putting forward the writer’s arguments

- Describing what the writer thinks is true to support the arguments made Present

continuous I am writing to…;

…is increasing - Stating the writer’s intention - Describing trends

Past simple The researchers also emphasised…;

…said they were not

…

- Reporting survey/report results for supporting the writer’s arguments

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3b) Some verb groups are not in any tense. Can you identify them and the meanings they express?

Verb group type(s)

Modals, e.g.

can, should, may, might

can help boost…;

may not be able to…;

Why should people…

- Stating obligations, possibilities, abilities etc. in supporting the writer’s arguments

Imperatives Take action directly;

Care for people… - Making suggestions in relation to the writer’s arguments

To infinitives To answer Mr Wong;

To teach the elderly - Stating purposes Gerunds having no choice…;

Being able to stay in… - Describing phenomena, facts

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Tenses/Verb group type(s)

Suggestions on catering for learner diversity:

- For weaker students, teachers may focus on less verb forms or scaffold their students in completing the above two tables

- For more able students, teachers can focus on additional verb forms like those in conditional sentences and

present and past participles as verbal adjectives

Do these tables look like the sentence making tables

exemplified in Example A? ₂₈

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4. Circle/underline all the cohesive devices in Text 2 and Text 3. What meanings do they express?

Cohesive devices Meaning(s) expressed

And; also;

besides; too Introducing an additional point which is in line with the previous one

However Introducing a comment which contrasts with the previous one

As Because

When, if Introducing a condition for a consequence

They; many Referring to a group of people mentioned in the previous clause

Such as Introducing example illustrating the writer’s arguments This Referring to and summarising the ideas in the previous

clause/sentence

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4. Circle/underline all the cohesive devices in Text 2 and Text 3. What meanings do they express?

Cohesive devices Frequency of occurrence?

And; also;

besides; too

Which are the more frequently

used cohesive devises?

However As When, if They; many

Such as This

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5. Complete the following graphic organiser summarising the rhetorical structure of Text 2 and Text 3. You may use the information in the help box or your own words.

Major stages of the text

Special language features found in each stage Stage 1:

Stage 2:

Heading A simple statement or question with the use of a modal verb

Stating the purpose of writing and the topic of the text

A statement beginning with ‘I am writing to…’

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5. Reading-to-write Example B—A letter to the editor:

Major stages of the text

Special language features found in each stage Stage 3:

Stage 4:

Stage 5:

Stating the writer’s stance

on the topic

The adjective frames: ‘it would be + adjective + to…’

and ‘it is + adjective + that…’

Giving evidence justifying/illustra ting the writer’s

stance

Rhetorical questions (answers known to everybody already)

Summarising the text with the writer’s stance

restated

Conditional sentences: ‘If/when/no matter….,

…will…..’

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6. Do you know the meaning of the following expressions? If not, can you deduce their meaning from where they are found in Text 2 and Text 3:

…regarding the trend of… (Text 2, line 9)

…can benefit… (Text 2, line 20)

…is much more important and better than… (Text 2, line 26)

…is key for… (Text 3, line 10)

…may not be able to… (Text 3, line 11)

…means… (Text 3, line 20)

…help boost… (Text 3, line 25)

Rationale:

Introducing vocabulary at the phrase level (i.e. collocations)

that the students can make use of in the subsequent writing task; thereby achieving

lexico-grammar ³³

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Part 4:

With reference to the tables completed in Part 3

above, write your response to the following prompt:

“It has been claimed that in the workplace many

Hong Kong fresh university graduates are less hard- working and less willing to face challenges compared to those in the past.

You strongly disagree with this opinion. Write a letter to the editor of the Hong Kong Daily

disagreeing with this opinion. Support your view with three reasons and/or examples.”

(HKDSE 2017, Paper 2: Q8)

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Debriefing on Examples A & B

• Following a genre-based pedagogical approach

• Focusing on grammar items typical of the target genre(s), and the meaning functions they express within the rhetorical structure of the genre(s)

• Potential for promoting self-directed and self- regulated learning

• Useful references for promoting text grammar:

– Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Harlow:

Longman.

– Thornbury, S. (2001). Uncovering grammar. Oxford:

Macmillan Heinemann.

Let’s have our well-deserved break!

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