Ron's ESL Blogs

Here is tip #4 on how to increase interest, involvement and results when teaching grammar:

Tip #4

Go step by step.

Yes, there are many different grammar topics.

And yes, your student won’t master English until they understand and can use many of them.

But in this case quality is more important than quantity.

Go over each subject until your student truly gets it. Until They can use it easily when reading, writing, or speaking English.

Even after you fully cover a certain rule, go back to it in future lessons, and reinforce your student’s understanding.

“Use It or lose It!” is the motto, so make sure the student continues to USE what they learn.

Finally, I am now going to share with you one final message on this important topic.

It will help you construct your lessons and make them more fun!

You can use sentence diagramming to teach grammar systematically.

It’s basically a visual way to show how all of the parts of a sentence are related. It can also get kind of addictive because diagramming a sentence is like solving a puzzle.

Click here to find out more about sentence diagramming and how it can help you.

So here is tip #3 on how to increase interest, involvement and results when teaching grammar:

Tip #3

Give plenty of examples. And make sure the student makes plenty of example sentences of their own.

An incorrect way to do this would be to teach a new grammar rule and then give an example or two.

You should get much better results if you show the student many practical examples, and then have them make at least 5-10 examples of their own.

For instance, in this English Verb Tenses section each tense has many illustrated examples, as well as example sentences. Such as:

• Present Perfect Tense
• Present Perfect Example Sentences

Don’t neglect the student’s own examples, as they are key to mastering any subject.

Here is tip #2 on how to increase interest, involvement and results when teaching grammar:

Tip #2

Teach for a reason. There is a reason for teaching and knowing each grammar rule, other than passing the test.

Each grammar rule is taught for a reason. If your student knows that reason, they will be more motivated to understand and use what you teach.

For example, why do we teach the English parts of speech?

Because a person who knows the parts of speech understands the building blocks of the language. Moreover, when using the dictionary, they can find the right meaning more easily.

For example, Lisa reads the sentence “They water the plants.”

She’s not sure what “water” means in this case, so she looks it up in a dictionary.

Since the dictionary has the words organized according to their part of speech, she will have an easier time locating the correct definition if she know that “water” is used as a VERB.

So make sure your students actually know why they study each grammar topic in the first place!

Click here for more tips and articles on how to teach English.

Grammar is sometimes known to be not so interesting . . .

I must disagree, though, because in most cases I find grammar absolutely fascinating.

But if you, or your students, are not in the same opinion as me, there are some things you can do to increase interest and involvement (not to mention results!):

Tip #1

Make sure the student understands all the words and terms in the subject you are trying to teach.

Incorrect example: teaching the passive voice without explaining what “voice” actually means in this context.

Correct example: explaining what a “voice” means first. Also, make sure the student fully understands the terms SUBJECT and OBJECT, since they will encounter them shortly

And by the way, a voice in this context means:
The form of a verb that shows whether the subject of a sentence performs the action  or is affected by it.

If it performs the action – we call it the active voice.

If it is affected by the action – we call it the passive voice.

Click here for more tips and articles on how to teach English.

Some words are generally considered as uncountable, but you can add “-s” or “-es”. When you do that, you change the meanings of those words. Here are a few examples:

water  - waters

It is clear that “water” is uncountable, but when we talk about the water in the oceans, in the seas, we must add “-s”. So we say “sea waters”. Here is an example from the Bible – God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” God was talking the waters in the ocean. He used its plural form.

wood – woods

“Wood” is material for furniture. It is uncountable. When we add “-s”, the meaning changes. “Woods” refers to trees and plants in a wooded area, a small forest.

glass – glasses

When we talk about window glass, “glass” is uncountable. However, in ” Would you like a glass of water?” “glass” is countable here. You can say: “Three glasses of water!” Here the meaning has already changed. The glass is the container of the drinking water. Another example is “a pair of glasses”. Here you must always use the plural form when you talk about the glasses you are wearing.

There are some other strange words. “Mail” is uncountable, but nowadays, we use “emails” all the time. “change” is countable. We say “many changes”. But when we talk about money: “Do you have some change?” The “change” is uncountable. You don’t say “Do you have some changes? (wrong)” We can “small talk”, but we don’t say “small talks”.

Some words are countable, but you never add “-s” even though you are using them as countable nouns. “Police” is such a word. You say “Police are coming!” Not “Police is coming!” (wrong). “Cattle” and “aircraft” are two other examples: ”Japanese aircraft were strong on maneuverability.” ”Cattle were inclined to remain in the territory.”

“People” is a countable noun, but you don’t need to add “-s”. When you add “-s”, it means peoples from different nations.

– Ron Lee