- readi ng tas ks:

. GRAMMAR
context?

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c) What types of contexts
1
~
tthe momenti
are most effective?
know what
I am supposed to be doing _
I have been given a task. I
.
Acapulco! Where IS horne? What on
earth is going on: Ah. wait a minute.
The next sentence in the list might help.
: have created a title. I have a Don't eat that _.1'0/1'/1 he ill. Hmm. Not
: clear picture of what I am trying to really, Unless. of course. the person
convev to vou. I have a reason for who will be at home tomorrow had
saying what I am saying. I am real. I been warned yesterday not to eat some
have a context. And you are aware of old yoghurt. had not taken the
the context. so you are likely to have warning. and was now in bed with
some idea of what I am going to say. severe stomach cramps ., ..

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E Noel G~odey insists So-called 'real language'. the We need a context Wllnot.:l o nc.
language oi the home and the street. random sentences have most: Ii not all.
I 0
o that teaching grammar invanably has J context. It IS spoken or of their meaning stripped away
"'0 written by a particular person for a Without context. meaning can never be
it c: without context has no particular purpose. It would therefore complete. Indeed. I would maintain
CO be a good idea to try to reflect this that the de-contcxtualiscd sentence FI!
it 0,) meaning. element of reality in our classrooms be at home tomorrow has no usable
and in our books. rncarnng.
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it ......
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...... CO In search of a context Without context,
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Our students naturally seek a context
to bolster their understanding of the
foreign words we offer them. All these
meaning can never
it ~'Q)
words! Who is talkinc? Who are thev
talking to? Where ar; thev? Whv ar~
becomple t e j
Q)
'0: they saying these things?
it So often in grammar books and in A well-chosen context does four
s: the classroom. too. a list of random things:
it~ examples with no unifying context is It quiten~turally providesii"erali
given to illustrate a grammatical exairiples &r the grammatical
structure. /,11 be at home tomorrow. structure under review.
it Who will be at home? Is it a man or a By its very nature. it illustrates the
woman speaking? Why will they be at meaning o(each of those examples.
~ home? Why won't they be at work? and. in this way. both form and'
Have they broken their leg? Are they meaning are clarified.
it telling the.truth? Perhaps they will be in It automatically offers stimulation ror
-students' curiosity- it enables them
it 'I'll be at home tomorrow.'
to find out who is talking and why.
Random examples. along with (he
students' interest. stop at the L'll
~ 'Don't eat that - you'll be ill.' stop. for students know they w::: f::(
no answers as to 'who' and 'wh ..'. ,. t>
~

I ENGUSH fEIo.CHING
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prole .I.IIOr.:1! 7

 Grammar practice
and presentation
In context
It makes the language it presents <
more memorable. Random sentences.
like random notes of music. are
heard and then forgotten. Bur
arrange those notes into the context
of a catchy melody. and the tune will
stick in the mind.
What kind of context?
As I said at the beginning. in context I
am real. Of course. my reality will not
be yours. Having a context [or a series
of sentences is all very well. but what
about. the nature of the context: You
may consider mine to be boring. _ _
i_rr_eleyan.tAfivo!ou5. totally devoid of
Random sentences, like random notes of
music, are heard and then forgotten
value, If you do. then for you. my
choice of context was a mistake. You
will yawn. groan. shrug. resolve to
cancel your subscription to the
magazine. or quite simply <urn the
page. Do these reactions ring a bell?
feu have seen it all before. ha veri't
you. in the classroom - students
yawning. groaning. shrugging. listlessly
turninz pae~The 5?ntF~l$ we choose
must .iQ,.~hc~~lye itirlld,'the ,'.'
}i""~I~~"'1,~::~:'
'\.:,,?!:all~~~!t}r
Will I'Olir children he with
, '
-}~s. thevll be here.
Here's (J cake for your birthday.
; - Oh. I Iron I eat it. l haven't got any
teeth. PUI it on the table. The rat .....ill
eat it.
Here. there is every chance that the
future form and use will be remembered.
thanks to the mental picture of the rat
munching the birthday cake.
We normally associate language in
context with the material we find in
coursebooks, But I see no good reason
why it should not eXl~l_iD_grammar - _ - _~- -p'lCiUre-transcends the artist's paint!
r-eference--:fncrpracllce books as well.
Indeed. since context is the principal
ingredient oi meaning. then it is in
grammar reference and practice books
that it ought to be found. Here.
grammatical structuressho~ld. be
pre~ented and practisedin'c~ritext. At
the prese~ta:tion stage students 'a~e
made aW3"rcof hp~',I,he_St.f}\S!.LI,re, can be
used, .Then'
the practice, s\~ge .ro~SI. gtr er
th,~,.~.~e.Q.~D?(,~~,FXsi~~~,~i\~b~"'ithjts
00Nn ~lea( COn~e;.l;-;to demoristrate (be
va;I~li:9f possible )J~S 'lh(S(NCiuf~"
"Zta"N'tillhft.i;tenYd' 'i '~tBfi~r(,~~i
..;.:.>,,',{_'''' ..~, ...'' "'C>.-"
1'011 Of course. everything 1 have sa
here about books applies equally lC
way we, as teachers. present and pr
gr..imm,\r in the classroom, using 0
own id;e4 It will take a little time
a
find, useful context. But it is time
spent .. for every sentence needs a he
an~, every student needs.a picture.
Pictures in the mind
Language needs forrn. but language
lives onlv when rneaninc breathes l
i into form;tnd_t.raRs~end-s-iT.1UsfiS
'brushes. sr:ol~ilr,i~"Presenlc \\lM"
practJsed(wels'h~dijif~m~t1fve-rfudC
the picture, in the form of context.
then the use of the paints and brus
becomes clearer, Much of language
the translation of pictures in the rm
As language teSchers. we must evok
the minds of our students a whole
of pictures. for without them there
be no successful language learning.
The Lexical Approach Michael LewIS
LTP 1993
Noel Goodey and
author Oavid BoItO
have recently wrin
Intermed~te I.vel
gl1lmmar book (En
GilImmar In Sreps)
gl1lmmar pl1lctJce
(GramlJ16T Prac:rn:

moment:
a for Conrext) where fu
contutualisatlon
main feature. Bortl
'l~9B~qijf&~J?iSJM
a ,P,llt",F.m.~.JJl~iF.J.tg published by Rietv
ut occasionally.
the bizarre There are. serious questions to be PublishIng.
an the unashamedly unreal situation raised about the use of de-
can help to implant a grammatical contextualised sentences for
structure's meaning and form in the grammatical practice. If sentences are THIS IS YOUR MAGAZINE
memory. We must never be afraid of to function as utterances, part of WE WANT TO HEAR FROM Y
extended discourse, then all practice It you have any questions. commen
being daft now and again.
materials which claim to attend to the suggestions, please wnte, fax or Em
meaning of sentences must use only ENGLISH TEACHING prot
An example of context sentences which occur with co-text. The Swan Business Centr
This statement dismisses the value for , Fishers Lane
Why not talk about the future from the
meaningful grammatical practice of , Chiswick .
viewpoint of an elderly woman. her London W4 1RX
birthday and her pet rat? - many. If not most. of the grammar
England
exercises in textbooks and practice
Hello. Mrs Fr.!: HoII' old will you be
books whIch are currently available. Fax +44 (0) 181 995 1137
tomorrow? Email 1017Z3.563CCompuServe.Q)o
I'll be a hundred and one,
(Micllacl LMs n~ UTi(a) Approadt paae IJS)

Post-reading task: . '

Brainstorm a list of contexts for different language areas
that your students find stimulating.