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An article by Tim Bowen on ways of exploiting texts for grammar practice. Introduction | Highlighting particular grammatical structures | Further practice | Advantages
Introduction
It has long been the practice for graded texts in coursebooks to contain numerous examples of the same grammatical structure in order to highlight the use of that structure in context. For example, a graded text might contain several examples of the construction used to to illustrate a past habit. Unless the text is skilfully written, this will often have the effect of making the style of the text rather stilted and unrealistic but the aim of highlighting the structure is nonetheless generally achieved with this type of presentation. Typically, the text is then followed by comprehension questions that again highlight the structure and then various grammar-based practice exercises to reinforce its use in some kind of context. In the case of authentic reading texts, however, it is rarely the case that a particular text will have numerous examples of the same grammatical structure. It is far more likely to employ a wide range of structures of varying complexity and may refer to past, present and future time and make use of both progressive and perfect aspects, as well as both active and passive voices.
4. Find a passive sentence in the present continuous tense. 5. When looking at the meaning and use in more depth, the teacher might ask questions like these: 6. Why does the author use the passive voice here? 7. Could the author use the active voice? If so, what would the sentence be like?
Further practice
In order to give further practice of the particular structure the teacher has chosen to focus on, it will almost certainly be necessary to prepare some kind of exercise based on the structure (perhaps using the same context as the text). There are several choices for exercise type here but some of these can be used:
The bomb was planted... ...by religious leaders. It was detonated... ...by ambulance. The casualties were taken to hospital... ...by a group of terrorists. The attack was criticised... ...by remote control.
The attack _____ criticised by religious leaders. The casualties ______ taken to hospital or The attack was ___________ by religious leaders. The casualties were ____________ to hospital.
The attack was criticised by religious leaders. Religious leaders criticised the attack.
The casualties were taken .... The attack was criticised ...
Advantages
The advantage of focusing on a structure or structures in an authentic text such as a newspaper article is that it enables the students to see these structures functioning in an authentic context. The disadvantage can be that it is rarely sufficient simply to observe or to notice and, in order to give further related practice, the teacher will almost certainly need to develop an exercise to go beyond the text, as exemplified above