This is pure grammar! How do I teach it?

By Enrique Rojas R.

What English teacher hasnt had problems presenting the combination of one verb
following another, particularly to speakers of Spanish? You have to tell your
students that some verbs are necessarily followed by an infinitive while others are
ineludibly tailed by a gerund. The trouble is if you have analytical learners
within your pupils who ask what the criterion is to decide which verbs take one or
the other, you have to confess that you have no idea. In fact, nobody in the world
seems to know that. There is a list and you just have to learn it and use it. Not
an answer full of logic.

But the conumdrum doesnt end there. It turns out that certain magnanimous verbs
allow you to take your pick of infinitive or gerund without changing their meaning,
while others, quite more sternly, provide different meanings when followed by an
infinitive or a gerund.

And to make matters even worse, some verbs are followed by infinitive with to, some
others without to, some others by a gerund but with an object pronoun in between
the verb and the gerund, then the gerund becomes infinitive (required writing /
require her to write)

Not in vain our colleague blogger from Spain, Cristina Cabal has said about it: I
always claim that English grammar is easy, especially when compared to the Spanish
or French grammar, but it gets a bit messy when it comes to verbs followed by
infinitive or gerund. (Cabal).

The use of the gerund has some basic differences in English and Spanish. In cases
in which in English you can use an infinitive or a gerund interchangeably, in
Spanish only an infinitive is possible. In the language of Shakespeare both, the
infinitive and the subject take the function of a noun although they retain their
verb meaning and so, they can be subjects of sentences (Exercising / To exercise is
healthy) or direct objects (My mother wanted me to call her / I enjoy driving). In
the language of Shakespeare only the infinitives (or subjunctives) are appropriate
for that purpose. And that is the reason why your students tend to overuse the
infinitives in English.

Then the only solution appears to be giving your pupils the wearisome lists of
verbs followed by infinitives / gerunds, etc. to be memorized by them on their own,
that it constitutes for them a huge, lifeless and humdrum job. But we figure that
is the textbooks fault that this is a topic that teachers have to deal as one
whole big chunk. As a rule of thumb, the natural way is usually the best way. And
the manner in which native speakers learn this is not memorizing lists, but as
collocations. They listen to it, they learn it and then they use it. For this
purpose they dont even have to know what a gerund or infinitive is.

We think that if we dont focus on teaching the grammatical process but just in
associating the use of certain verbs with gerunds or infinitives, we dont have to
wait until the intermediate level. They can start as basics with verbs such as
like, enjoy, adore, hate, cant stand to learn activities, sports, foods and
others, and work their way up with more complex verbs maybe to express opinions,
for instance. The important thing would be to make the collocations memorable and
you achieve this through extensive practice of these structures. For that you can
use fill the blank exercises, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar
meaning as the first, etc. Although we prefer oral practice, like, for example you
ask the first student: What do you like doing in the evenings? He/she answers and
then asks the next student: What do you like doing on weekends? and so on.

Some may think that this is drilling and dream negative reminiscences of audio-
lingual practices, but put your mind at rest! Not all drilling has to be bad,
especially if students are communicating what they really do or like, etc. Remember
that two factors spur the memory: interest and repetition. Just try to do the
reiteration as enjoyable as possible. For this very purpose you can use stories,
bingo, dominoes, hobbies cards, multiple answers with flashcards and other
resources that have been specially designed to teach this and you can find in the
internet free of charge

REFERENCES

Cabal C. Grammar for Intermediate Level: Gerunds and Infinitives

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vt324noiOq7md4DL9K9e2GbOx51O7NgGGNjulWAxOVE/edi
t#

Cabal, C. Some Activities to Teach Gerunds and Infinitives. C. Blog de Cristina

http://www.cristinacabal.com/

Gerunds and Infinitives

http://www.really-learn-english.com/gerunds-and-infinitives.html

Gerund and infinitive Dominoes. TEACHTHIS. EFL/ESL Resources

https://es.scribd.com/document/340843349/Gerund-and-Infinitive-Dominoes

Gerund and infinitive Master. TEACHTHIS. EFL/ESL Resources

https://www.teach-this.com/grammar-activities-worksheets/gerunds-infinitives

Gerunds and Infinitives Worksheet

https://store.really-learn-english.com/pages/gerunds-and-infinitives-worksheet

How to Teach Gerunds and Infinitives to ESL Students Without Confusing Them.
FluentU English Educator Blog.
http://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-gerunds-and-infinitives/

Infinitives and Gerunds. Grammar and Beyond Communicative Activities Cambridge

University Press 2012 http://www.cambridge.org/grammarandbeyond/wp-
content/uploads/2012/09/Communicative_Activity_Hi-BegIntermediate-
Infinitives_Gerunds.pdf

Joyce B. I Like Swimming. 3 Tremendous Techniques for Teaching Gerunds and

Infinitiveshttp://busyteacher.org/10729-teaching-gerunds-infinitives-3-
tremendous.html

Some Activities to Teach Gerunds and Infinitives

http://www.cristinacabal.com/?p=8975

Song Worksheet: Gerunds or Infinitives?

http://busyteacher.org/20512-gerunds-or-infinitives-songs.html

Trusler, T. Gerunds and Infinitives: Helpful Teaching Tips

http://blog.esllibrary.com/2013/02/21/gerunds-and-infinitives-helpful-teaching-
tips/

Use of gerunds in Spanish

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/292984/use-of-gerunds-in-spanish
BIOGRAPHICAL DATA
Graduated in Journalism at the PUCP, Peru, Enrique Rojas R. holds a MA in
Journalism and MA in Inter American History from Southern Illinois University, USA;
an MA in Literature from University of the Americas, Puebla, Mexico, all the
coursework for a MA in TEFL at Universidad de Piura, Peru and BA in Education from
Universidad Federico Villarreal. He has also obtained Certificates of Proficiency
in English both from Cambridge University and the University of Michigan and the
Diploma for EFL Teachers from Universidad del Pacifico. He is an Oral Examiner for
the Cambridge University exams and has been awarded the title Expert in E-Learning
from Asociacion Educativa del Mediterraneo and Universidad Marcelino Champagnat. He
has worked as a professor in universities in Peru, Mexico and the United States; as
a newscaster and a producer in radio and television stations in the United States
and Mexico, and as a writer and editor in daily newspapers of the same countries.
He has been in the staff of CIDUP for 18 years teaching English and Spanish
specializing in International Exams, English for Business, ESP and Teacher
Training. He has been a speaker in every Congress of English for Special Purposes
organized by Centro de Idiomas de la U.P. He is also a member of its Research Area.

.
Publicado por Research Centre Cidup en 20:38:00
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Etiquetas: learning gerunds and infinitives, practicing gerunds and infinitives,

teaching gerunds and infinitives, Teaching grammar-
mircoles, 2 de agosto de 2017
Speaking Naturally: Idioms and Collocations

By Zarela Cruz

Dont you feel good when your students use idioms and collocations in class? Isnt
it worth to see them making such an effort to find the most accurate expression
they are capable of? The big question is: How can students learn them? The answer
is easy: by reading and listening to the most language resources they can. Once
students start using them, we can be sure that they have grasped cultural aspects
and underlying principles of the language since these idioms are usually
metaphoric; needless to say, they have a figurative meaning as well. The key is to
learn them by chunks, as units of the language, not as separate words.

Lets start with some collocations:

Why did she burst into tears?

Are you fully aware of the implications of your action?

The Titanic sank on her maiden voyage.

There are many kinds of collocations; among them:

verb + adjective: seems different

adjective + noun: excruciating pain
noun + noun: a surge of anger
noun + verb: lions roar
verb + noun: commit suicide
verb + expression with preposition: burst into tears
verb + adverb: wave frantically

And what about idioms? You can classify them by topics. For instance: idioms about
weather, idioms with parts of the body, food idioms.the list is endless.

At the tip of my tongue

Have your head on the clouds
To be full of beans
A piece of cake

Ready for a mini-test?

Which one is correct:

Fast train or quick train?

A round of applause or
a round of claps?
It is raning dogs and cats or It is raining cats and dogs?
Gentlement and ladies or ladies and
gentlemen?
Flesh and blood or Blood and flesh?
Butter and bread or Bread and butter?

Have fun while learning! And most importantly: show your students that some
combinations of words convey the precise meaning in a given situation. Encourage
them to give it a try!

Are you up to it?

Try this quiz:

https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/collocations-quiz.htm

Too easy? Too difficult? Or was it just right? Let us know your strategies to get
the right answers!

References
Retrieved from http://www.vocabulary.cl/english/weather-idioms.htm
Retrieved from http://www.smart-words.org/quotes-sayings/idioms-meaning.html

Biodata
Zarela Cruz graduated from Ricardo Palma University as a translator. She also
finished her masters studies in Linguistics and took some specialization diplomas
in English and Spanish. She has also completed a number of online certificates:
Teaching the Working Adult, Online, Hybrid and Blended Education, among other self-
study courses. She has taught different courses, programs and levels and has been a
teacher trainer, a lecturer and online instructor. This article aims to reflect on
the teaching of idioms and collocations to sound more natural when speaking in
English.

Publicado por Research Centre Cidup en 15:51:00

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Etiquetas: chunks, idioms and collocations, units of the language, Use of English
viernes, 28 de julio de 2017
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