PEDAGOGICAL GRAMMAR SYLLABUS 2021
COURSE: Pedagogical Grammar
LEVEL: LITTI 1 (English level required C1+)
TEACHER: MARÍA NOEL TARANTO
CONTACT : lataranto@[Link] & info@[Link]
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
i)DEFINITIONS OF THE CONCEPT OF“GRAMMAR”.
ii)DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION OF MAIN APPROACHES TO GRAMMAR:
COMMUNICATIVE, PRESCRIPTIVE, DESCRIPTIVE AND PEDAGOGICAL.
iii)THE DISCUSSION AND PRACTICE (THROUGH EXERCISES AND ACTIVITIES)
OF PROBLEM AREAS IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
iv)AN OVERVIEW OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SYSTEM:
A) PARTS OF SPEECH, VOCABULARY, MORPHOLOGY.
B) VERBS: TYPES, TENSE AND MODALITY (USES AND FUNCTIONS OF
TENSES AND MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS. TIME REFERENCE.
C) STRUCTURE AND SYNTAX.
D) MEANING IN GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY: AMBIGUITY, MULTIPLE
MEANINGS OF WORDS, SEMANTIC PRECISION
v) A PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH TO LEARNERS’ DIFFICULTIES AND
LEARNING STRATEGIES. (BASED ON ONLINE READINGS AND OTHER
SOURCES)
vi) LEARNING TO GRADE AND ADAPT MATERIALS.
vii) ERRORS: CORRECTION AND (GENERAL) ANALYSIS.
LEARNING GOALS:
TO IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS ANY DIFFICULTIES OR WEAKNESSES IN
TRAINEES’ OWN COMMAND OF THE LANGUAGE.
TO IMPROVE THEIR PRESENT COMMAND OF ENGLISH AND ACQUIRE THE
NECESSARY TECHNICAL VOCABULARY TO MAKE PRESENT AND FUTURE
PROGRESS IN THEIR CAREERS.
TO LEARN AND PUT TO PRACTICE A VARIETY OF TEACHING/ PRACTICE
CLASSROOM TECHNIQUES.
ASSESSMENT:
i)Continuous assessment in the classroom.
ii)PAPER 1: A DETAILED WRITTEN ACCOUNT OF USES AND FUNCTIONS OF
ALL VERB TENSES AND MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS. INDIVIDUAL.
iii)PAPER 2: THE CREATION AND PERFORMANCE OF A MINI GRAMMAR/
VOCABULARY LESSON. TEAM WORK.
iv) A FINAL EXAM WITH BOTH THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL QUESTIONS.
METHODOLOGY:
THE TRAINER WILL BE A FACILITATOR AND WILL ALSO PROVIDE
GUIDANCE AND INFORMATION WHENEVER NECESSARY.
LESSONS WILL BE IN THE FORM OF WORKSHOPS, WHERE STUDENTS
WILL DEAL WITH GRAMMAR CHALLENGES, ERROR ANALYSIS AND
CORRECTION, AND PEDAGOGICAL PROBLEM SOLVING ACTIVITIES.
STUDENTS WILL ALSO BE REQUIRED TO PRESENT SEVERAL KEY
GRAMMAR POINTS.
THERE WILL BE ON LINE ACTIVITY FOR FURTHER REINFORCEMENT
AND HELP.
PROCEDURES:
GENERAL DISCUSSION OF APPROACHES TO GRAMMAR AND TEACHING IN GENERAL.
EXERCISES. GROUPWORK, PAIRWORK AND PLENARY, AS APPROPRIATE.
OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE:
A) THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF GRAMMAR AND APPROACHES
(DEFINITIONS, DESCRIPTIONS, ETC)
B) MAJOR GRAMMAR POINTS: PARTS OF SPEECH, MODALS, VERB
TENSES AND RELEVANT STRUCTURES.
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS, GROUP WORK AND EXERCISES TO
ADDRESS ANY DIFFICULTIES.
UNITS One, Two, Three “DISCOVER ENGLISH”*
C) MEANING AND GRAMMAR, AMBIGUITY, PUNCTUATION AND
MEANING, REGISTER.
WRITTEN VS. SPOKEN LANGUAGE. USE AND USAGE.
D) ERRORS AS A LEARNING OPPORTUNITY. ERROR ANALYSIS,
APPROACHES TO CORRECTION AND REMEDIAL WORK.
UNITS Four, Five and Six IN “DISCOVER ENGLISH”*
E) PRESENTATIONS, MINI-GRAMMAR LESSONS; DISCUSSION AND
FEEDBACK.
F) GENERAL REVISION, SAMPLE PED. GRAMMAR TESTS FOR
STUDENTS TO REVIEW AND STUDY.
RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
“Discover English” Bolitho, R and Tomlinson, B. ....Heinemann 1994*
“A Humanistic Approach to Errors” Taranto, MN..... Editorial Fin de Siglo
1996 (available on pdf only)
“How to Teach Grammar” Thornbury, S. ....Longman 1999
“Grammar for English Language Teachers” Parrott, M ......CUP 2000
“Advanced language Practice” Vince, M..... MacMillan 2003
©María Noel Taranto 2021
