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CHAPTER13

The tcacher then writes the numbers 1-12 on the board twice, once for each team. The two pilcs of envelopes are put at the front of the class. A student from each team comes up and selects an enveiope (they don’t have to choose them in order), and takcs it back to the team. When the team have rearranged the sentence and writtcn down on a piece of papę.- what they think it should be, they cross off the re!evant number of the envelope 011 the board.

The first team to finish gcts two bonus points. The teacher then looks at the sentcnces they have written down and each team gets a point for each correct sentence.

assorted ąuestions teenagers plus beginner to intonnediato

Examp!c 14: One question behind

Language:

Age:

Level:

This garnę, adapted from a television programme, involves easy mental gymnastics which 'make very drill-like activities palatable’ (Rinvolucri and Davis 1995: 96J. It is based on the simple idea that students should answer not the question they are being asked now, but the previous ąuestion.

Students are given the ąuestions in Figurę 24. For the first ąuestion, they either dont answer at all or they just say Mmmm. And then for the second ąuestion (Where do you eat?) they give the answer they would have given to the first ąuestion (In a bed).

Where    da    you    sleep?

Where    do    you    eat?

Where    do    you    go swimming?

Where    do    you    wash your    clothes?

Where do you. read?

Where do you cook?

Where do you listen to musie?

Where do ycu get angry?

Where do you do your shopping?

Where do you sometimes travel to?

figurę 24: Questions for One ąuestion behind, adapted from Morę Grammar Games by M Ruwolucri and P Davis (Cambridge Uniyersity Press)

We could add a competitive element to this gamę by timing it, or seeing who can shout out the One ąuestion behind answer first. But the fun of it is just trying to concentrate hard enough to remember what the previous ąuestion was.

We can choose whateyer grammar area we want to make the ąuestions with (or we can get students to write their own ąuestions to use with a partner or another team).

One ąuestion behind is very enjoyable, but remember not to let it go on for too long.

E Grammar books

Grammar books eonie in many shapes and sizes. They rangę from ones for students at lower levels (which tend to offer ąuick digestible cxplanations of grammar points and provide opportunities for practicc of these specific points) to works designed for the morę serious researcher, teacher or advanced student.

Many commentators make a distinction betwecn descriptive and pedagogie grammars. The

former ckscribe everything there is, the whole of the language and its workings, whcrcas the latter are designed specifically lo be of help to leachers and students of the language. The way in which grammar rules are olfered will depend on the level the grammar is designed for, of cotirse, and, as a resuli, compromises frequently have to be madę about the amount of detail we may want to give about a particular grammar point. If we give too much detail, we may confuse lower level students; if we give too little, we may not be rolling students things they ought to know.

Michael Swan, a noted author of pedagogical grammar materiał (see especially Swan 200511 - and Example 15 below), suggests tliat good grammar rules (for a pedagogie grammar) should exhibit sitnplicity, truth (because sonie grammar rules are morę True’ than others), clarity (because if a ruie is unclear, it doesn’t heip anybody) and relevance (because there are some things which ncither the students nor the teacher really need lo know) (Swan 1994). But, of course, a lot depends on what it is we are trying to explain. Por whereas the rules which govern the formation of the third person singular of the present simple (she speaks, he drives, ił watches) may be (iiirly easy to State, the rules for the use of some and any, for example, are somewhat morę complex. The question tliat grammar-focused writers have to ask themselves is how far they can simplify or complicate and stili write information which will be useful and appropriate.

In their grammar practice book for elementary students, Brigit Viney, F.laine Walker and Steve Elsworth discuss the use of alan, some, any and no with countable and uncountable nouns (see Figurę 25).

5 a/an, some, any, no

’ We've got some tomatoes, some bread and an orange.

We haven't got any bananas or any cheese. WeVe got no biscuits and no miik.

| Have we got any eggs? Have we got any juice?

« We use a/an with singular countable nouns (see Unit 2):

We haven' t got a melon.    We' ve got an orange.

o We use some with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns in affirmative sentences: We‘ve got some tomatoes. We’ ve got some bread.

• We use any with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns in negative sentences and ąuestions:

We haven’ t got any bananas.    We haven’ t got any cheese.

Have we got any eggs? Have we got any orange juice?

*> We use no with singular and plurai countable nouns and uncountable nouns, to mean ‘not one/not any’. We use no with an affirmativeverb:

We' ve got no biscuits. We've got no mitk. o We usually use some (not any) in ąuestions when we offer something to someone or when we ask for something:

Would you like some biscuits? Can i have some juice?

figurę 25: Some and any from Grammar Practice for Elementary Students by B Viney, E Walker and S Elsworth

(Pearson Education Ltd)

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