Teaching EAL students the art of the craft: Tried and tested activities that work! Part 4

Teaching grammar, explicitly, helps EAL students understand the framework upon which language is built. Part 3 of this series explains the importance of grammar instruction and practice in the EAL classroom. But let’s face it – grammar lessons can very easily become boring, tedious, and a chore, sucking the joy out of learning a language. I remember my French classes at the Alliance Fran?aise, with grammar exercises and drills done under the extremely observant and pedantic eyes of the teacher. Then, just as I thought the nightmare had ended, I was assigned, at the end of the session, another set of grammar drills to be completed as ‘devoir’ (which, when literally translated, is the verb “to have to” but is also used to mean homework – the connection between the two usages is self-explanatory!)

Yet, I must thank my French classes and the tutelage of the meticulous teachers at this French language institute for the perspective that I, in my role as an EAL teacher, have towards grammar and its unquestionable role in language acquisition. Strange as it might sound, the degree of confidence I have in teaching English grammar must be completely credited to my French teachers. Even today, I remember how they interspersed fun activities amongst the mundane grammar exercises, to make this learning fun, interactive, and to ensure that grammatical rules stuck in their students’ brains long after the lesson was done.

One such lesson was when we were introduced to the imperative tense; we walked into the classroom to see the teacher's table filled with vegetables and fruits, some cheese and salad dressing. There were bowls, graters, measuring cups, knives, salad spoons … all laid out neatly on the table, silently piquing our curiosity and our appetites!

Our teacher then began the creation of a beautiful and delicious salad, peeling, cutting, slicing, grating, and mixing the different ingredients, even as she explained what she was doing, in slow, clear phrases in French:

“épluchez des concombres.” (Peel the cucumbers.)

“Coutez des tomates en tranches.” (Cut up the tomatoes in slices.)

“Ajoutez de la vinaigrette.” (Add some salad dressing.)

The emphasis, as she spoke, was on the verbs at the start of each sentence. We also got a chance at taking part in the actual cutting, peeling, mixing, and adding – a hands-on way to demonstrate our understanding of these new verbs as we literally showed our teacher through our actions that we understood these words in French. We were then given handouts with the recipe in written form, and the dissection of the imperative tense – its purpose, its construction, its usage – was done in detail even as the fresh and delicious salad that we had made together as a group was consumed with gusto. Along with learning a wide range of vocabulary – names of fruits and vegetables, names of utensils, commonly used cooking verbs – we also understood how the imperative is constructed and used. And this understanding stuck … for good!

While this kind of lesson cannot be delivered in a Victorian classroom (the risks associated with bringing food to share with students make this an impossibility, not to mention that the very idea of knives in a classroom full of students is preposterous!) the concept behind this activity can be modified to best suit our current context. My EAL students were given a copy of three different recipes and were asked to note all the similarities that existed between these texts.

While some were easily identified – list of ingredients, measurements, steps written in order – it took a while for the students to discover the lack of a subject before the verb. This led to further discussions regarding specific contexts when the imperative is used, and why this tense is used, on most occasions, for the second person. We also worked out together the reason why, if used for the first person, the imperative can only be constructed in its plural form.

But how to make all this new information stick? There was no demonstration, no sensory activities, no delicious snack to help my students remember this lesson.

Role play of different scenarios using the imperative is an effective way to reinforce new learning. It also provided much entertainment as we employed a variety of tones. Sentences in the imperative were used in commanding tones – a school principal talking to recalcitrant students, in beseeching tones – a teenager entreating their parents for a later curfew, in sarcastic tones – a dialogue between a couple going through a breakup – there was much laughter as students played their parts to perfection.

?After this aural activity, we moved on to a written one - an extension activity that worked brilliantly with this particular EAL cohort. They were asked to create their own recipe … ?with a twist. They were to write down, not a recipe for a dish, but a recipe for a person! What goes into the making a successful leader, parent, sportsperson, teacher, artist, etc.? What ingredients are needed and how much of each one? What steps, in chronological order, are required, for this creation?

While the focus was on the correct use of the imperative tense when writing down the recipe, this twist forced students to think about the correct use of nouns and adjectives when using these as the necessary ingredients, another opportunity to reinforce this aspect of grammar that trips up many an EAL student. It forced students to look beyond oft-used nouns such as honesty, friendliness, kindness, etc. and to look more closely at what each profession/role required as key elements for success.

Ingredients that go into the making of a teacher included, among others, knowledge, patience, leadership and organizational skills, and passion.

Ingredients for a parent included, among others, discipline, understanding, awareness, ability to balance strictness and care, and stamina.

An actor required 50% of the total ingredients to be a great physique and attractive face, 25% network connections, while the remaining 25% was split up evenly between determination, acting ability, good voice, patience, and resilience.

A successful president required, among others qualities, critical thinking and public speaking skills, patriotism, intelligence, and generosity!

The steps that each student wrote down for the making of their successful person of choice offered insight into the deep reflection that underpinned the work of the students. See below the steps listed for the making of an effective president. The order in which the ingredients are added, the time needed for the “cooking process” for each stage, and the inclusion of generosity as the final step paved the way for some rich discussions.

Grammar teaching and learning can be fun, creative, memorable even. More importantly, explicit grammar instruction provides EAL students with not just the opportunity to strengthen their language skills but also, to boost their confidence level when communicating complex and sophisticated ideas in English, with clarity and poise.