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1Teaching English in Elementary Grades

UNIT 1: FOCUS ON THE LANGUAGE

1.0 Intended Learning Outcomes
A. Compose a three-paragraph essay highlighting the roles of language in the
learners’ English language acquisition.
B. Classify the different forms and uses of English as second language in the
classroom.
C. Acknowledge the role of age in the acquisition of English as a second language.

1.1 Introduction
For most people, the essence of language lies in grammar. When someone
is said to “lack of skills in language,” or when the popular press devalues what it sees
as the declining standard of English, they are generally referring to an actual or
perceived decline in the ability of the individuals to express themselves grammatically.
It is therefore fitting that this module is made for you, as the prospective
elementary teacher, to help you examine your notions of English language as it will be
used as medium of instruction in delivering your lessons.

1.2 Topics/Discussion (with Assessment/Activities)

This unit will cover the following topics:
1.2.1. Grammar and grammaticality
- defining grammar
- grammar- a problematic concept
- grammar and discourse
- three dimensions of grammar: form, meaning, and use
1.2.2. Vocabulary
- vocabulary and grammar
- status of vocabulary within the curriculum
1.2.3. Pronunciation
- age and the critical period
- segmental and supra segmental phonology
- pronunciation and listening
1.2.4. Language as Discourse
- relationship between sentences and texts
- textual connectivity
1.2.5. Creating Cohesion
- reference
- substitution and ellipsis
- conjunction
- lexical cohesion
1.2.6. Speech Acts
- schema theory
- background knowledge and functional interpretation
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Let’s Get Down to the Business

1.2.1. Grammar and Grammatically

The notions of grammar and grammaticality have changed over the years. William
Cobbett, the author of the book “A Grammar of the English Language” said that “Grammar
teaches us how to make use of words; that is to say, it teaches us how to make use of them
in the proper manner”. Twenty-five years after Cobett’s pronouncement, a grammar for
schools appeared that reinforced the notion that grammar had principally to do with
correctness. Published in 1856, the English Grammar for the Use of Schools asserted that
the object of English Grammar was to teach those who use the English language to express
their thoughts correctly, either in speech or writing. For most of the history of language
teaching grammar has to do with correctness, and the role of the teacher was to impart the
rules that would result in correct usage.

Let’s Get Started

For you, what concept do you have in mind when you come across with the word
“grammar”?

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Defining Grammar
Grammarians at present times are a little more careful than in Cobbett’s day to focus
on describing language as it is used, rather than prescribing how it should be used. This is
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evident in the following entries from a recent dictionary of linguistic terminology:

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Grammar. (1) An analysis of the structure of a language, either as encountered in a corpus
of speech or writing (a performance grammar) or as predictive of a speaker’s
knowledge (a competence grammar). A contrast is often drawn between a
descriptive grammar, which provides a precise account of actual usage, and
a prescriptive grammar, which tries to establish rules for the correct usage of
language in society.
(2) an analysis of the structural properties which define human language (a
universal grammar).
(3) a level of structural organization which can be studied independently of
phonology and semantics.
Grammar. n a description of the structure of a language and the way in which words and
phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language (Richards, Platt
and Weber, 1985)
Grammaticality. The conformity of a sentence or part of a sentence to the rules defined by
a particular grammar of the language (Crystal 1992: 35-36).

Grammar: A Problematic Concept

Research over the last few years suggests that many of the assumptions that are
made about grammar and grammaticality are essentially problematic. This can be
demonstrated by simple introspective tests of grammaticality (Langunoff 1992, cited in Celce-
Murcia and Olshtain Oldin,1994; and Nunan,1993).

Let’s Try this Activity!

Direction: Determine whether the statement is grammatically acceptable or not. Mark (/)
before the number if it is grammatically acceptable, (x) if grammatically unacceptable.

1. The gang were plotting a take-over.

2. Everybody is ready now, aren’t they?
3. Neither Fred nor Harry had to work late, did they?
4. Someone has deliberately made themselves homeless.
5. Anyone running a business should involve their spouse.
6. My hair needs washed.
7. What the cat did was ate the rat.
8. COVID 19 is one of the pressing problem nowadays.
9. The President together with his Cabinet Members avoid the rally.
10. The protesters, not the CEO condemns the decision of the court.
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The results, which are set out in the next table are interesting. They indicate a large
measure of disagreement between both the native and non-native speakers of English,
although the majority of the 40 respondents believes that most of the sentences are
acceptable despite the fact that they violate a range of grammatical rules.
Table 1.1

Acceptable

Acceptable

Acceptable

Acceptable
Not

Not
Native Speakers = NS
Non-native Speakers = NNS NS NS NNS NNS
The gang were plotting a take-over. 34 6 30 9
Everybody is ready now, aren't they? 32 8 23 16
Neither Fred nor Harry had to work late, did they? 34 8 23 16
Someone has deliberately made themselves homeless. 24 16 24 15
Anyone running a business should involve their spouse. 33 7 25 14
My hair needs washed. 8 32 8 31
What that cat did was ate the rat. 10 30 15 24

Oldin (1994) in an investigation of grammaticality and acceptability concluded that

there are important limitations on the ability of “language experts” to provide reliable
judgements.
Three Dimensions of Grammar: Form, Meaning and Use
The most comprehensive recent conceptualization of grammar has been provided by
Larsen-Freeman (1995). She sees grammar as a higher-order concept within linguistics,
arguing that it has three interrelated dimensions: form, meaning and use. Her model thus
attempts to integrate three aspects of linguistics that have traditionally been kept separated:
syntax (study of form), semantics (the study of meaning), and pragmatics (the study of use).
It therefore shares a great deal in common with the model of systematic-functional linguistics
developed by Halliday.
Let’s Discover Together

Please use the link https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org to access Halliday 1985.

What is Grammar?

Grammar is the study of how syntax (form), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (use) work together to
enable individuals to communicate through language.
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1.2.2 Vocabulary
Vocabulary is more than lists of target language words. as part of the language system,
vocabulary is intimately interrelated with grammar. In fact, it is possible to divide the lexical
system of most languages into “grammatical words,” such as prepositions, articles, adverbs,
and so on. The “grammaticality” of vocabulary also manifests itself in word morphology, that
is, the grammatical particles that we attach to the beginning and end of the word in order to
form new words. The following task is designed for you on this aspect of language.

Let’s Try this Activity

Task 1 - Directions: Give the meaning (s) of the following prefixes
Prefix Examples Meaning Additional Example
a, ab, abs Abnormal, absent Away, from, off
ad, ac, as Advance, advantage To, towards, up
Ambi Ambivalent, ambidextrous
co, cor Correspond, correlate
Contra Contradict, contrary
ex, e External, exit
In, il, im, un Illegal, unhelpful
Inter International, interval
Mis Mislead, misunderstand
Ante Antecedent
Post Postcovid
Sub Submarine

Task 2:
What do the following suffixes mean? What does each suffix tell you about the word?
How many words can you think of that end in these affixes?
-ate
-tion
-less
-ness
-er
-or

(Source: Adapted from M. Hill. Learning Vocabulary. The English Centre, University of Hong Kong.)
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1.2.3 Pronunciation

Age and the Critical Period

In this section, we look at aspects of the phonological system of language. From a

language teaching perspective, the phonological system has tended to be viewed somewhat
differently from the grammatical and lexical systems.
This is probably due to the fact that the influence of the first language seems to be
apparent in the case of pronunciation than for grammar or vocabulary. There is also
the fact that learners who begin studying another language after the onset of puberty rarely,
if ever, achieve native-like levels of fluency. A number of researches have suggested that the
inability of learners to acquire a flawless pronunciation supports the notion of a “critical
period” for language acquisition.

What is Critical Period in Language Acquisition?

The critical period is a biologically determined period of life when language can be
acquired more easily and beyond which time language is increasingly difficult to acquire.
The critical period hypothesis claims that there is such a biological timetable. (Brown 1987:
42)

Segmental and Supra Segmental Phonology

Textbooks on phonetics and phonology typically distinguish between segmental and
supra segmental features of the language. Segmental phonology has to do with the
individual sounds of the language. Supra segmental phonology has to do with the stress,
rhythm, and intonation patterns in the language. In language teaching, at the level of
segmental phonology, tasks are designed that help learners discriminate, and, ultimately
produce words that differ only in single contrasting sound. These are known as minimal pairs.
The following task is a typical exercise for teaching minimal pair sound discrimination.

Let’s Try this Activity

Pair Work.
Directions: Select a partner. Using your cellphone read each sentence twice, choosing
one of the alternative words. Request your partner (from the other line of your phone)
to underline the word she/he hears.
1. There was something wrong with the (race, rice*).
2. That (vine, wine*) is very good.
3. It was ten o’clock when we (found*, phones) her.
4. Her (classes, glasses*) are too big.
5. It was his good (lock*, luck) that kept the money safe.

Note: words with( * ) are the correct answers

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Let’s Know More

Pronunciation and Listening

While the previous tasks are designed to help learners identify differences of meaning
based on differences in individual sounds, supra segmental tasks teach differences of
meaning based on stress, rhythm, and intonation. The following tasks, for example, show
learners how different stress and intonation patterns signal differences of function (in this
case, distinguishing between requests for information and checking for understanding).

Let’s Try this Activity

Directions: Listen to the pre-recorded audio that I will be uploading in our Group Chat.
Determine the function of each item. Write R before each item which is requesting for
information and write C for the item checking for information.
1. Where did Jim work last summer?
2. Where did you see Jim last summer?
3. What was the worst thing about your job?
4. How did you get the job?
5. How old were the kids you looked after?

1.2.4. Language as Discourse Textual Connectivity

The interconnections between sentences in discourse and the contributions they
make to coherence have been studied by Hoey (1983, 1994). In one study, he presented
over 200 undergraduates with the following sentences which had been jumbled up from their
original order, and asked them to reorder the sentences to make a coherent passage.

Let’s Try this Activity

Direction: Arrange the following sentences into its original order by numbering the brackets.

( ) In England, however, the tungsten-tipped spikes would tear the thin tarmac surfaces of
our roads to pieces as soon as the protective layer of snow or ice melted.
( ) Road maintenance crews try to reduce the danger of skidding by scattering sand upon the
road surface.
( ) We therefore have to settle for the method described above as the lesser of two evils.
( ) Their spikes grip the icy surfaces and enable the motorist to corner safely where non-
spiked tyres would be disastrous.
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( ) Its main drawback is that if there are fresh snowfalls the whole process has to be repeated,
and if the snowfalls continue, it becomes increasingly ineffective in proving some kind of
grip for tyres.
( ) These tyres prevent most skidding and are effective in the extreme weather conditions as
long as the roads are regularly cleared of loose snow.
( ) Such a measure is generally adequate for our very brief snowfalls.
( ) Whenever there is snow in England, some of the country roads may have black ice.
( ) In Norway, where there may be snow and ice for nearly seven months of the year, the
law requires that all cars be fitted with special spike tyres.
( ) Motorists coming suddenly upon stretches of black ice may find themselves skidding off
the road.
*Note: Answers will be revealed after checking the students’ responses Source: Hoey 1983:4

What is it in the sentence that enables the competent reader to order them into a
coherent passage? According to Hoey, it is the existence of certain “text-forming devices”.
Most the sentences can be connected to preceding ones by what are called anaphoric or
“backward pointing” devices, for example such, its, this.

The meaning of these words can only be determined by words or phrases in the
preceding sentences. The remaining sentences are linked by the simple repetition of words
or phrases. (Hoey 1983:6).

These “text-forming devices” are presented below.

Sentence black ice
Sentence black ice, skidding
Sentence skidding, scattering sand on the road
Sentence surface
Sentence such a measure
Sentence its
Sentence tyres
Sentence their, spikes
Sentence spikes
Sentence method described above

1.2.5. Creating Cohesion

In the preceding section, we learned that coherent texts (that is, sequences of
sentences or utterances that seem to “hang together”) contain what were called “text- forming
devices.” These are words or phrases that enable the writer or speaker to establish
relationships across sentences.

In this section, we shall look at these text-forming devices in greater detail.

The most comprehensive description and analysis of these devices is to be found in

Halliday and Hasan (1976). They identified five different types of cohesion. These are
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reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion.

The different types of cohesion to be discussed in this section are set out in the
following figure. In each instance, the underlined words can only be interpreted with reference
to prior information.
Categories Examples
Reference Personal “I just met your brother. He’s a nice guy.”
Demonstrative “You failed the test. This is a bad news.”
Comparative “I asked for this bag, but I got the other bag.”
Substitution Nominal “Can I have another drink? This one is finished.”
Verbal “You look great.” “So do you.”
Clausal “Is she happy?” “I think so.”
Conjunction Adversative “I didn’t study. However, I still passed.”
Additive “He didn’t study. And he failed.”
Temporal “She studied hard. Then she sat the test.”
Causal “They studied hard. Therefore they deserve to
pass.”
Lexical Reiteration “Hand me the book. That book on the table.”
Cohesion Collocation “The book arrived in the mail. The cover was ripped
off and the pages were torn.”
Figure shows Cohesion in English

Let’s Know More

 REFERENCE
If a single sentence is taken out of context and presented in isolation, it is likely to
contain elements that are difficult, if not impossible, to interpret. Consider the following
fragment:

He is near the end of the Cape Fear shoot, in front of a grocer’s stand just outside Fort
Lauderdale, Florida… He used to have Armani make his jeans, but he felt guilty wearing
them.

Who is this mysterious figure on the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale, who suffers guilt over
the wearing of jeans by a particular designer? In the above fragment, the pronoun he is
uninterpretable. However, if we have access to the context in which the sentence appears,
the question is quite straightforward.

Personal Reference:
Roni Size peers down from the top floor of a midtown Manhattan hotel at a
skyscraper across the street. ‘You could fit the whole of Bristol in that, he exclaims. (Rolling
Stone magazine, Issue 775, December 1997).
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Demonstrative Reference:
Roni Size peers down from the top floor of a midtown Manhattan hotel at a
skyscraper across the street. ‘You could fit the whole of Bristol in that, he exclaims. (Rolling
Stone magazine, Issue 775, December 1997).

Comparative Reference:
A: Would you like these seats?
B: No, as a matter of fact, I’d like the other seats.

These devices exist in both spoken and written discourse, as the following conversation
illustrates. The cohesive devices in the extract are featured in bold.
A: That’s a funny looking bottle.
B: Yes, it is, isn’t it. It’s beautiful. Beer’s nice too.

 SUBSTITUTION AND ELLIPSIS

There are three types of substitution: nominal, verbal, and clausal substitution.
Examples of each are as follows:

Nominal Substitution:
I’ll get you some bread rolls. These ones are stable. (ones = bread rolls)

Verbal Substitution:
A: I think you work too hard.
B: so do you! (do = work too hard)

Clausal Substitution:
A: Are we going to land soon?
B: I think so. (so = we’re going to land soon)

ELLIPSIS occurs when some essential structural element is omitted from a sentence or
clause and can only be recovered by referring to an element in the preceding text. Consider
the following discourse fragment and comprehension question.
Mary: “I prefer the green.”
Question: Select the correct alternative:
Mary prefers the green: (a) hat, (b) dress, (c) shoes.

As it stands, the question is impossible to answer. However, if we know what was said before,
it becomes a relatively straightforward matter to answer the question.
Sylvia: I like the blue hat.
Mary: I prefer the green.

As with substitution, there are three types of ellipsis: nominal, verbal, and clausal ellipsis. In
each example, the second sentence or utterance can only be interpreted with reference to
the one that precedes it.
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Nominal Ellipsis:
My kids play an awful lot of sport. Both (0) are incredibly energetic.

Verbal Ellipsis:
A: Have you been working?
B: Yes , I have (0).

Clausal Ellipsis:
A: Why’d you only set three places? Paul’s staying for dinner, isn’t he?
B: Is he? he didn’t tell me (0).

These elements are all cohesive in that they require other aspects of the discoursal
contexts in which they occur to be present in order to be interpretable. Without context,
interpretation is impossible.

 CONJUNCTION
Conjunction differs from reference, substitution, and ellipsis because it is not a device
for reminding the reader of previously mentioned items. In other words, it is not what linguists
call an anaphoric relation. However, it is a cohesive device because it signals relationships
that can only be fully understood through reference to other parts of the text. There are four
different types of conjunction, and they signal the following semantic relationships:
temporality, causality, addition, and adversity. Examples of each type of relationship follow:

Let’s Know More about Conjunctions

Adversative:
“I’m afraid I’ll be home late tonight. However, I won’t have to go in until late tomorrow.”
“I quite like being chatted up when I’m sitting in a bar having a drink. On the other
hand, I hate it if… you know… if the guy starts to make a nuisance of himself.
(The relationship signaled by however and on the other hand are adversative because
the information in the second sentence of each text mitigates or qualifies the information in
the first.)
Additive:
“From a marketing viewpoint, the popular tabloid encourages the reader to read the
whole page instead of choosing stories. And isn’t that what any publisher wants?”
(Here and signals the presentation of additional information.)

Temporal:
“Brick tea is a blend that has been compressed into a cake. It is taken mainly by the
minority groups in China. First, it is ground to a dust. Then it is usually cooked in milk.”
(Temporal relationships exist when the events in a text are related in terms of the
timing of their occurrence.)
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Causal:
Chinese tea is becoming increasingly popular in restaurants, and even in coffee
shops. This is because of the growing belief that it has several health giving properties.
(In this final type of conjunction, the relationship is one of cause and consequence.)

 LEXICAL COHESION
The final category of cohesion is lexical cohesion. Lexical cohesion occurs when two
words in a text are semantically related in some way. In other words, they are related in terms
of their meaning. In Halliday and Hasan (1976), the two major categories of lexical cohesion
are reiteration and collocation. reiteration includes repetition, a synonym or near synonym,
superordinate, and general words.

Repetition:
What we lack in a newspaper is what we should get. In a word, a “popular”
newspaper may be the winning ticket.

Synonym:
You could try reversing the car up the slope. The incline isn’t all that steep.

Let’s Know More about Lexical Cohesion

Superordinate:
Pneumonia has arrived with the cold and wet conditions. The illness is striking
everyone from infants to the elderly.
General Word:
A: Did you try the steamed buns?
B: Yes, I didn’t like the things much.

The second underlined word or phrase in each of these texts refers back to the
previously mentioned entity. Reiteration thus fulfills a similar semantic function as cohesive
reference.

 COLLOCATION

The second type of lexical cohesion is collocation.

Collocation can cause major problems for discourse analysis because it includes all
those items in a text that are semantically related. In some case this makes it difficult to decide
for certain whether a cohesive relationship exists or not. In the extract below, we could say
that the following items are examples of lexical collocation because they all belong to the
scientific field of biology.
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plants. . . synthesize. . .. organic . . . inorganic . . . green plants . . . energy . . . sunlight . .
.plants . . . energy . . . green pigment . . .chlorophyll . . . photosynthesis . . . light synthesis
. . .self- feeding . . . autotrophic

Meanwhile the actual paragraph states that:

Plants characteristically synthesize complex organic substances from simple inorganic

raw materials. In green plants, the energy of this process is sunlight. The plants can use this
energy because they possess the green pigment chlorophyll. Photosynthesis or “light
synthesis,” is a “self-feeding,” or autotropic process.

Animals, on the other hand, must obtain complex organic substances by eating plants
and other animals. The reason for this is that they lack chlorophyll. among these “other
feeders” or phagotrophs, are “liquid feeders” or osmotrophs. Whereas phagotrophic
organisms take in solid and often living food, osmotrophic ones absorb or suck up liquid food.
This is usually from dead or rotting organisms.

We are Down to the last Sub-topic!

1.2.6 Speech Acts

In the preceding section, we saw that explicit, cohesive links between utterances were
insufficient to account for the coherence of the discourse, that such coherence depends on
the ability of the language users to recognize the functional role being played by different
utterances within the discourse.

In this section, we shall look at the role of background knowledge in the interpretation
of the discourse. Before turning to the rule of background knowledge, however, I should like
to explore the issue of language functions, or speech acts, a little further.

Speech acts are simply things people do through language, for example, “apologizing”,
“complaining”, “instructing”, “agreeing”, and “warning”.

The term speech act was coined by the linguistic philosopher Austin (1962) and
developed by another philosopher, Searle (1969). The essential insight developed by these
philosophers was that, when using language, we not only make propositional statements
about objects, entities, state of affairs, and so on, but we also fulfill functions such as
requesting, denying, introducing, apologizing, and so on. Identifying the speech act being
performed by a particular utterance can only be done if we know the context in which the
utterance takes place. What the speaker actually wants to achieve in functional,
communicative terms is known as the illocutionary force of the utterance.
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However, as we also saw in the preceding section, functions are rarely explicitly
marked on the surface of the discourse. a given utterance or sentence can fulfill a multiplicity
of functions, and these functions can very often only be recovered from the context in which
the piece of language occurs.

Background Knowledge

Earlier in the chapter, we looked at the debate over the nature of discourse
coherence, and concluded that the language user’s knowledge of language and also of
content were needed for the interpretation of discourse. in this section, we look in greater
detail at the ways in which things we know about the world assist us in the interpretation of
discourse. The inadequacy of linguistic knowledge (that is, knowledge of the vocabulary,
grammar and discourse features) for interpreting discourse is demonstrated by the following
text.

Study this sample text:

If the balloons popped, the sound wouldn’t be able to carry since everything would be
too far away from the correct floor. A closed window would prevent the sound from carrying,
since most buildings tend to be well-insulated. since the whole operation depends on a steady
flow of electricity, a break in the middle of the wire would also cause problems. Of course, the
fellow could shout, but the human voice is not loud that a wire could break on the instrument.
Then, there could be no accompaniment to the message. It is clear that the best situation
would involve less distance. Then, there would be fewer potential problems. With face-to-
face contact, the least number of things could be wrong.

The passage is from a well-known study by Bransford and Johnson (1972) that
demonstrated the importance of context and background information for the interpretation of
the discourse. They found that subjects who were asked to listen to the text and recall it had
a great deal of difficulty. However, another group of subjects who were provided by a picture
were able to recall virtually all of the text. This picture showed a man serenading his girlfriend.
The girl was leaning out of the window of an apartment, and the sound was carried to her
through some speakers that were suspended by a bunch of balloons.

The studies showed that discourse comprehension requires more than a knowledge
of the words and grammatical structures used by the writer or speaker. It also requires the
listener or the reader to relate the context of the text to their knowledge of the world, that is,
to entities, states of affair, and so on that exist in the world outside the text.

Schema Theory

The most widely used term in the psychological and applied linguistics literature is
schema, a term that was coined as long ago as 1932 by the psychologist Bartlett in his classic
study of how human memory works. Like frame theory, schema theory suggests that the
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knowledge we carry around in our heads is organized into interrelated patterns. These are
constructed from all our previous experiences of a given aspect of the experiential world, and
they enable us to make predictions about future experience. giving the fact that making sense
of discourse is a process of using both our linguistic knowledge and our content knowledge,
these schemata of “mental film scripts” are extremely important.

The central insights provided by researchers using mental models such as frame and
schema theory is that meaning does not come neatly prepackaged in aural and written texts.
Widdowson (1978) has suggested that texts are little more than elaborate “signposts” to the
speaker or writer’s original meanings, and that the reader or listener must use their linguistic
and content knowledge to reconstruct the original meanings of the creator of the discourse.

Consider the following texts:

Statistical probability was discovered in a teapot. A postman saw it there and connected it
to a petrol pump. He was wearing silk pajamas at the time. They were old and dusty.

As Widdowson rightly points out, while the reader might be surprised by this surrealistic
piece of prose, there is no difficulty in identifying it with statistical probability, he with postman,
and there with teapot. Other cases are more difficult. What, for instance, does it refer to in the
following text?

Statistical probability was discovered in a teapot. A postman saw it there and connected
it to a petrol pump. It was old and dusty.

Determining what it refers to now becomes more difficult as there two possible antecedents
for the first it (statistical probability and a teapot) and three for the third (statistical probability, a teapot,
and a petrol pump). Because we cannot use our background knowledge to help us, we are unable to
say what it refers to. Consider now the third text:

Statistical probability was discovered in a teapot. A postman rinsed it out. He had no

idea what it was of course.

In this text we can appeal to our knowledge of the world to determine what it refers to.
We know that teapots are occasionally rinsed out, and therefore assume that the first it refers
to teapot. As we also assume that postmen are familiar with teapots, we should assign the
second it to statistical probability. The point of all this is that in many cases discourse
processing depends, not only on the identification of cohesive relationships, but also on our
knowledge of the world.

Teaching Language as a Set of Choices

As indicated in the preceding section, one of the reasons why it is difficult to give
learners hard-and-fast grammatical rules is because once grammar is pressed into
communicative service the choice, in many instances, will be determined by the meanings
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learners themselves wish to make. Ultimately, the answer to the question “Which form should
I use here?” will be “It depends on the message you wish to convey”.

In order to help learners see that alternative grammatical realizations exist and enable
them to make different kinds of meanings, and that ultimately it is up to them to decide exactly
what they want to convey, consider the following task.

Let’s Try this Activity

Directions: Decide (a) whether or not one of the items is ungrammatical, and (b)
whether there is any difference in the meaning of the two or three items.
1. a. In his 1925 study, Smith asserts that grammar and discourse are closely
linked.
b. In his 1925 study, Smith asserted that grammar and discourse are closely
linked.
2. a. Mr. Patten, a former governor of Hong Kong, was warmly greeted when he
arrived at London.
b. Mr. Patten, the former governor of Hong Kong, was warmly greeted when he
arrived at London.
3. a. You will be late tonight, won’t you?
b. You will be late tonight, will you?
4. a. The team are playing in Nagoya, tonight.
b. The team is playing in Nagoya, tonight.
5. a. You should call your parents, tonight.
b. You could call your parents, tonight.
6. a. The passive voice should be avoided in academic writing.
b. Academic writers should use the passive voice.
7. a. I’m going to study for the exam tonight.
b. I’ll study for the exam tonight.
8. a. Alice saw a white rabbit.
b. Alice saw the white rabbit.
9. a. My brother lives in New York, but he is visiting me in Hong Kong at present.
b. My brother, who lives in Hong Kong, is visiting me in Hong Kong at present.
c. My brother, who is visiting me in Hong Kong at present, lives in New York.
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Let’s Sum It Up

To sum up the lessons in Unit I, consider the following salient features of language
development:

1. Learners are exposed to authentic samples of language so that grammatical features

one is trying to teach are encountered in a range of different linguistic and experiential
contexts;
2. It is not assumed that once learners have been drilled in a particular form they have
acquired it, and drilling, if it is used, is seen only as a first step toward eventual mastery;
3. There are opportunities for recycling of language forms, and learners are engaged in
tasks designated to make transparent the links between form and function;
4. Learners are given opportunities to develop their own understandings of the grammatical
principles of English by progressively structuring and restructuring the language through
inductive learning experiences that encourage them to explore the functioning of
grammar in context;
5. Over time, learners encounter target language items in an increasingly diverse and
complex range of linguistic and experiential environments.

1.3 References
Bartlett, F.C. (1932). Remembering: A Study in Experiential and Social Psychology.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hoey, M. (1991). Patterns of Lexis in Text. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1995). Grammar Dimensions: Form, Meaning and Use. Boston.
Heinle & Heinle.
Nunan, D.(2011). Second Language Teaching and Learning. Philippines. ESP Printers
Inc.
Widdowson, H. (1984). Learning Purpose and Language Use. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

1.4 Acknowledgment
The images, tables, figures and information contained in this module were
taken from the references cited above.
 Teaching English in Elementary Grades 18
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Note: This portion should be detached from the Learning Packet ( LP ) and should be
returned to your instructor through the SSU-LGU link.

Name: Year and Section:

Address: Contact Number:

To check your understanding of the lesson, answer the following activities:

Directions: Read each item carefully, then encircle the letter of the correct answer.
1. Which of the following sentences is the most acceptable?
a. Everyone passed his or her paper on time.
b. Everyone passed his/her project on time.
c. Everyone passed their project on time.
d. All students passed their project on time.
2. Which of the following statements shows an error in subject-verb agreement?
a. Measles is contagious.
b. One hundred pesos are hard to earn in one day.
c. The committee works hard even on holidays.
d. My pajamas are still wet.
3. Which of the following is properly sequenced?
a. an old ugly gray wooden statue
b. an ugly old gray wooden statue
c. a wooden old ugly gray statue
d. a gray wooden old ugly statue
4. Which of the following phrases is syntactically correct?
a. the most perfect b. nearly perfect c. very perfect d. less perfect than
5. Father drove the car into the garage beside our house with its headlights on. The
reference of the underlined words is
a. headlights c. garage
b. car d. house

Directions: Give the meaning (s) of the following prefixes and provide examples.
Prefix Meaning (s) Example (s)
1. ambi
2. co, cor
3. contra
4. ex, e
5. In, il, im, un
6. inter
7. mis
8. ante
9. post
10. sub
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Directions: Identify three examples of referential cohesion, three of lexical cohesion, and
four conjunctions in the following passage.

A common criticism of the simple alternative-response type item is that a pupil may
be able to recognize a false statement as incorrect but still not know what is correct. For
example, when pupils answer the following item as false, it does not indicate that they know
what negatively charged particles of electricity are called. All it tells us is that they know they
are not called neutrons.

T/F Negatively charged particles of electricity are called neutrons.

This is another crude measure of knowledge, because there is an inestimable number

of things that negatively charged particles of electricity are not called. To overcome such
difficulties, some teachers prefer to have the pupils change all false statements to true. When
this is done, part of the statement is permissible to change. However, unless the key words
to be changed are indicated in the correction-type- true-false item, pupils are liable to rewrite
the entire statement. In addition to the increase in scoring difficulty, this frequently leads into
true statements which deviate considerably from the original intent of the item.

referential cohesion lexical cohesion conjunctions

Direction: Answer the following essay questions:

1. Why is the concept of grammaticality problematic? (5pts)

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2. What are speech acts? Why are they important in language teaching? (5pts)

3. Using the Critical Period Theory, explain the role of age in acquiring a second
language. (5pts)

4. Compose a three-paragraph essay highlighting the roles of language in learners’

second language acquisition. (10pts)