Unit 9

Topic 1:

Rewritten story:

Last winter, his brother bought and sold land. John wants to fish successfully. He painted and shined his boat, “Troubled Waters.” John asked his brother what he thought of the new look. His brother laughed and said, “You fish for compliments.” John did not argue with his brother. He made more nets to increase his catch for the next day.

The first sentence could be confusing because it introduces his brother into the story which really has nothing to do with his fishing. Then it is confusing because of when his brother bought and then sold the land. Although the past tense is used the sentence can still be confusing. The next sentence is confusing because it states that he loves fishing, but longs to be more successful, so which comes first? They are actually happening simultaneously. Then the reader can get confused with when John is actually feeling down and when he painted and shined the boat. At the end, his brother’s response is an idiom of him fishing for compliments. The reader may be confused with the difference between John actually fishing and wanting compliments from his brother. The other metaphors that can bring confusion to ELL students is the relationship between the boat’s name and John’s life along with what it means when the economy literally crashes.

The various verb tenses of switching from the present to the past is confusing for them throughout the entire story. By discussing with students and breaking a part the story line by line on a Smartboard, student’s may begin to increase their comprehension of it.

Topic 2:

John is a fisherman. (simple present)

_________________________________X_________________________________

                                                            NOW

He hasn’t had much luck catching fish in the past few weeks. (present past perfect)

X____________________________________________________________________

He is hoping to catch more fish tomorrow. (present progressive)

____________________________________________________________________X

I think grammar should be taught as a balance between the two thoughts. Betty Azar made the point that knowing a lot of grammar is not the point. It’s to create an interlanguage that is increasingly fluent and accurate in the use of English structures n meaningful communication. She stated that it can be integrated. I believe it can be integrated within reading and written texts. Keith Folse stated that errors are systematic and when students make these grammatical mistakes, it’s important to reflect back to the native language to answer why they are making this mistake. Teaching the particular student their mistakes in isolation is acceptable. This connects to what Michael Swan stated that grammar teaching does make a difference and to pick out what they need most and teach it. He also used his brother n law as an example for how he continues to have difficulty with English grammar and he has been listening to it for years. This proves that grammar also needs to be taught in isolation. However, we should teach it based upon the individual student’s needs to it. I personally teach grammar by using examples within a Daily Language Review on the student’s instructional level. It encompasses many parts of the language. This would be considered teaching it in isolation. However, within a reading or context text, I will often teach grammar skills integrated within the text as well. I think teaching should be balanced, and no one theory is 100% correct.