PATTERN GRAMMAR: HOW TO TACKLE IT SYSTEMATICALLY IN THE CLASSROOM.

1. PATTERN GRAMMAR: HOW TO TACKLE IT SYSTEMATICALLY IN THE CLASSROOM. Dave Willis dave@willis-elt.co.uk www.willis-elt.co.uk

2. Three facets of the learning process Recognition System building Exploration

3. Recognition = Knowledge of a ‘fact’ about language: • The existence of a phrase (look for) • A specific use of a tense form (interrupted past) • An interlingual insight (going to for future)

4. System building = Conscious knowledge about language which help the learner to make predictions about the language in general. • Meaning and use of for. • Mental state verbs are followed by the to-infinitive. (want, hope  expect, wish) • ‘Interruptedness’ is a feature of continuous aspect. • The relationship between going to and other ways of expressing the future.

5. Exploration: Experience of language in use which both contributes to and overrides system-building. • The relationship between going to and other ways of expressing the future. • Use of the past perfect. • Use of the article system. • Verbs followed by for.

6. Recognition: Noticing something useful. System building: Forming explicit hypotheses about the language. Exploration: Acquisition. Making sense of input. Adjusting output.

7. How can teaching help? Recognition: Highlight. Encourage identification. Controlled practice. System building: Offer useful generalisations. Grammar focused activities. Consciousness-raising. Exploration: Provide rich exposure and opportunities for use. Encourage speculation.

8. Patterns QUANTITY A of …………. CONTAINER The PART of the …………..

9. a pound of cheese a box of matches an ounce of common sense a month of Sundays the end of the day the corner of the room the middle of the road the beginning of the end

10. NOUN + of + ….ing I have no intention of asking for help. There’s a serious danger of losing your way. We’re looking for a way of finding more money. certainty, chance, danger, dislike, fear, idea, intention, likelihood, means, method, opportunity, possibility, probability, risk, thought, question, way,hope Can you group together words with similar meanings? Thinking and saying; Possibility; Way;??

11. Thinking and saying: hope, idea, intention, thought, question. Possibility: certainty, chance, danger, likelihood, opportunity, possibility, probability, risk. Way: means, method, way. ??: dislike, fear.

12. The aim of pattern grammar is to identify patternings, the systems that lie behind patterns.

13. ABOUT 1 On or concerning a particular topic: I read an article about that in The Guardian. I’ll think about it 2 Approximately: It takes about two hours by car. It’ll cost about a hundred euros. 3 General spatial orientation: There’s nobody about. We were just walking about town.

14. 1 read; think; forget; talk. book; article; programme; story; advice; idea. happy; pleased; sorry; worried. 2 hundred; thousand; kilometre; hour. 3 stand; wait; hang; mess; lie.

15. ask; know; talk; think  mutter; quibble; whinge. book; story; letter  anecdote; fable; yarn happy; sad; worried; angry  bullish; leery; phlegmatic; effusive.

16. Most patternings involve the use of: Prepositions: about; as; at; between; by; for; from; in; off; on; over; through; to; with etc. Clauses introduced by that or a wh- word. -ing forms and the to infinitive.

17. 1 Some patternings are ‘transparent’. e.g. noun/verb + about noun/verb + against 2 Some patternings are complex but can be systematised. e.g. verb/noun/adjective + for

18. 3 Some patternings are so complex that they need to be broken down. e.g. noun + of 4 Within some of those patternings we can identify patterns that are so frequent and central that they justify teaching time on their own. e.g. noun + of + …ing a + QUANTITY/CONTAINER + of + noun the + PART + of + noun

19. dave@willis-elt.co.uk www.willis-elt.co.uk