technology-enhanced grammar practice for esp

Academica Science Journal

No. 1 (6) – 2015

Psychologica Series

ISSN: 2285-8083

TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED GRAMMAR PRACTICE FOR ESP

Anișoara POP, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Tîrgu Mureș, Gh.Marinescu St. 38, Tîrgu Mureş, Mureş, România.

Cristina BERARIU, Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bodoni Sandor 3-5, Tîrgu Mureş, Mureş, România.

Abstract: Grammar practice that often surfaces in needs analysis as a necessity, can be transferred to the digital domain for various reasons pertaining to customization, extension of exposure, reflection and autonomy. The paper will showcase digital grammar practice activities (writing, wiki- and blog-based) conducted with ESP students ranging from communicative, i.e hidden grammar practice and quizzes to more controlled grammar exercises focusing on form in the case of beginner and intermediate proficiency students. Questions about how much grammar students should be taught and how to raise the inservice students’ awareness about grammar mistakes they make, will also be considered.

Keywords: grammar skills, ESP, technology in ESP, blog, Padlet, quizzes

INTRODUCTION Opinions about teaching or not teaching grammar, about how, when and how much grammar to teach have always been the focus of debates, with trends changing from explicit to background and communicative grammar teaching. Despite being considered obsolete, grammar teaching/learning has given generations of fluent foreign language speakers, although some such methods such as the teaching of sets of rules failed to make more fluent speakers and writers and were, thererfore, discontinued. Grammar skills are important for accurate communication in ESP and research in the filed has demonstrated (Pienemann, 1984) that students who were taught grammar made more rapid progress (two weeks) versus the untutored control group who passed to the next stage after a much longer period (several months). A difficult decision for each ESP teacher as far as grammar teaching/learning is concerned is related to what structures are most important to rehearse since ”80% of spoken communication in English among native speakers makes use of just four tenses–present simple, present continuous (or progressive), past simple and present perfect” [4]. When deciding how much grammar to teach, errors that impede/distort communication should be given priority.Comprehensibility and acceptability (Mart, 2013) are key concepts in international business and tourism communication, where professionals work with resumes, references, reports, which presuppose that the information conveyed is precise and reliable. Therefore, grammar teaching remains an open, problematic issue as does finding the best practices in teaching it. From the learners’ perspective, grammar teaching/learning should help students to: Page 76

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No. 1 (6) – 2015

Psychologica Series

ISSN: 2285-8083

understand difficult structures; feel motivated and engaged when learning and repeating structures; be able to use structures correctly and systematically and not only grammar rules and knowledge; feel more secure, not frustrated in professional communication.

The next section will exemplify how grammar was approached with lower to intermediate level ESP students in class practice and then through extension, in the digital out-of-class independent practice.

COMMUNICATIVE GRAMMAR IN CLASS According to Swan (2006): “the more learners know, the more effectively grammar work can be integrated into other, more communicative activities. The lower their level, the more likely they are to benefit from separated-out syllabus-based explanations and practice”. In our context, class grammar practice took the form of: a) grammar focus (e.g. ”Write down 3 sentences about what you used to do as a child/people used to do in the communist regime”) or more complex guessing games (e.g. you are at: a funeral, what are the people around you doing? Write 3 sentences – the other students will have to guess where you are – Present Continuous); group work on the daily programme of a very busy CEO (simple rd present 3 person) b) „Find someone who” game which is explicit, awareness-raising and equally motivating as it gives students the opportunity to produce language and personalize questions and examples.The following examples are written on the whiteboard and students have to think of other such instances and communicate with colleagues: Find someone who ............works in a tourism company. Find someone who............ is working on a project at the moment. Find someone who.............went to the job market last month. Find someone who ..............has obtained an Erasmus mobility. c) Controlled grammar practice through drilling, in a meaningful and purposeful way, e.g. drilling with video – Real English (Fig.1) – Students watch interviews with real people being asked the same question: “What are you doing right now?”

Fig. 1 – Controlled grammar practice with Real English New context for students: Reporting from home or from a hot-spot in the world, e.g.: ” It's Saturday afternoon, 5:00 pm and I am inside, preparing the lesson for you. The TV is on and my husband is watching the news......”.

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No. 1 (6) – 2015

Psychologica Series

ISSN: 2285-8083

d) Movie segments to teach/learn grammar. Many researchers stress the fact that learners need to experience grammatical conventions in various contexts in order to control and use them correctly. (Anderson, 2005). Movie segments to assess grammar goals by Claudio Azevedo [2] combines movie watching, listening to authentic language with application of a certain tense or construction and vocabulary acquisition. Watching an interesting movie segment followed by practising a certain grammar structure is less boring than common controlled grammar practice, can be a fun and challenging activity and students are exposed to the target language in an authentic setting. The next section offers insights about forming the grammar skills by customizing activities in the digital domain according to level.

2. TRANSFERRING ESP GRAMMAR PRACTICE TO THE DIGITAL DOMAIN Striking a balance between grammar teaching and grammar use is a crucial issue especially with adult HE students who are in the last stage of their formal education. Due to the large-sized, mixed ability groups (A2B2) in the case of students of medicine (Medical English, i.e. ME), business (BE), law (LE), and geography tourism (GT) in both undergraduate and MA programmes, most of the Grammar practice was transferred to the digital platforms for a more individualized approach. For just-in-time autonomous access, tutorials (audio and written materials) as well as models were uploaded on the learning management system in use (blog, wiki, Edmodo), followed by grammar practice in a progressive degree of complexity. We were aiming to a full context-based grammar through exploration of different tools (ESL video, Storybird, Padlet) which, besides boosting accuracy in oral and written expression, were hypothesized to raise students’ awareness about grammar rules and revigorate and motivate their language practice. The next section of the paper will showcase digital grammar practice activities (writing, wiki- and blog-based) conducted with ESP students ranging from controlled grammar exercises focusing on form in the case of beginner and intermediate students, to communicative, i.e hidden grammar practice and quizzes.

2.1. GRAMMAR PRACTICE WITH TECHNOLOGY – FROM SIMPLE TO COMPLEX The starting principle in providing students optional opportunities to form their grammar skills was that “Grammar instruction should be included during various phases of writing” (Weaver, 2008), i.e. learners must master at least basic grammatical structures to be able to communicate correctly in speaking and writing. Creating simple balanced sentences (versus fragments, frequently found in tourism advertising) can be difficult for lower and advanced students alike but equally motivating if the activity is accompanied by pictures relevant and important to the learners’ lives. Such an activity we developed was the The six word story [5] (Fig.2) based on personal or CC Flickr images. This simple activity proved to be extremely empowering: students felt proud to disclose, mull and synthesize on different aspects of their lives and preoccupations and demonstrated resourcefulness, creativity, and sensitivity. It demonstrated once again that grammar focus can enhance creativity [6] http://www.dltk-kids.com/articles/why_grammar.htm)

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Fig. 2 The six word story If-clauses and hypothetical constructions are among constructions that students find difficult and need longer time to master. The aim of grammar practice in such cases is to raise students’ awareness about the correct use/s of the target structure through meaningful repetition. Padlet (Fig. 3) is a wall that visualizes all the students’ contributions, so that students read and are exposed to previous posts before they create their own, which makes error unlikely. Wall posting is attractive as it allows embedding of images and video and is easy to access since no Sign up/log in is necessary. However, the teacher can choose to moderate comments in order to prevent unwanted content being posted on the wall.

Fig. 3 Padlet wall to practise hypothetical constructions Memorable examples make an impact on adult learners and sharing personal experiences fosters group cohesion. For if-clauses, songs (e.g. ”If I could turn back time”) with Esl video quizzes were used (Fig. 4). Quizzes based on songs are a pleasant and effective way of revising these difficult constructions with simple, uncomplicated and reiterated words. A business-related topic (money) was used with BE students and the quiz was embedded in the class blog (http://www.English4usdc10.blogspot.com ):

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Fig. 4 ESL video quiz Interesting, personalized responses were generated, which demonstrate that students were thinking of the content rather than the structure in focus: If I had a million dollars I wouldn’t feel very safe. Even if I had a million dollars nothing could make me happy if I couldn’t buy love or health. If I had a million dollars I would definitely try to make more. An important principle to be considered when accuracy in writing is the main goal was that “Grammar conventions are applied most readily when taught in conjunction with editing” (Weaver, 2008). Fig.5 shows error correction with Dental medicine students (ME) on the class blog (http://medicalenglishumf.blogspot.ro/) with the purpose of raising their awareness for the mistakes that are most often made and for the need of successive editing in achieving success in academic writing.

Fig. 5 Awareness-raising for error correction in English for Medical Purposes

2.2. GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT - MORE COMPLEX STORIES: NARRATIONS OF PAST EVENTS Students may often stumble in juggling between irregular and regular forms of the past in narrations and sometimes a mixture of present and past is the case as a result of negative transfer from Romanian. Hidden grammar extensive practice on the class blog such as “What did you do last summer” worked well with both Page 80



No. 1 (6) – 2015

Psychologica Series

ISSN: 2285-8083

beginners and advanced students (Fig. 6). The underlying principles for grammar teaching were: a) „Teaching grammar divorced from writing doesn't strengthen writing and therefore wastes time”, and b) ”Grammar conventions taught in isolation seldom transfer to writing” (Weaver, 2008). Asynchronous blog writing allowed students to revise form and save when satisfied with their production, which is starting solid premise for more accurate past tense employment but also attractive and meaningful communication of their past experiences.

Fig. 6 Past Tenses in narrations – blog writing

2.2.1 Creative stories Grammar exercises help learners not only to form correct sentences, but also to use them correctly in context in real life situations.Exploring artistic images such as Storybird (Fig.7) in conjunction with a preset topic for less controlled practice on narrative tenses has the advantage of unleashing the students’ imagination and flexibility. Students enjoyed to be published authors and receive comments from international readers.

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Fig. 7 Creative stories – “Storybird”

2.2.2 Present Perfect A difficult distinction to make with Romanian students is the difference between Simple Past and Present Perfect as there is no perfect overlap between these and past tenses in Romanian. Posts on recently finished activities were designed for lower proficiency students in order to offer them a lot of exposure (listening: fig.8, as well as modeling by the teacher). Since many existing materials on the Internet are designed for young students and are therefore improper for adult learners, the challenge for the teacher was to find relevant and engaging inputs: A) What has just happened? Reporting from home or from an imaginary hot-spot about actions that have just taken place were scaffolded as follows : 1) watching and listening a YouTube videoclip (Fig.8);

Fig. 8 Listening to the target structure 2) modeling by the teacher: I am at home reporting on things that have just happended around me. It’s 6:00 pm: “A little kid has just cried out for her mom in the playground near my block. The ambulance has raced past, I’ve heard its siren. The news reporter has announced the number of victims in Japan. I’ve also Page 82



No. 1 (6) – 2015

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read on Yahoo news that UN forces have hammered targets in Lybia. Now it’s your time, tell us what you have done, heard, seen, read... etc.” Impressive extension of written grammar practice was obtained: 29 comments were generated, e.g. ”It’s Tuesday 23:55 PM and I have just arrived home. My sister is sleeping and my dog is barking outside, probably he has seen a cat or a robber (I hope it’s a cat). I have started to read an article about an officer who has been shot in the head during a mission”. B) Backgrounded Present perfect with the class blog for reflection on experiences and lessons learnt (32 comments):

Fig.9 Hidden grammar: reflections

CONCLUSIONS Grammar skills are an essential part of ESP language competence. Busy teachers appreciate models they can adopt and adapt to assist the formation of their ESP students’ grammar skills. This paper has presented some simple easy-to-use in-class and technology-enhanced examples of teaching grammar explicitly and communicatively mainly in writing, for lower to intermediate adult students. It concentrated basically on grammar structures which pose problems to students in oral communication (simple past vs present perfect, if-clauses, wish-constructions). Applying technology, besides offering students additional, level-customized language practice is motivating and engaging as it exploits the visual aspect of communication. Personalization, field relevance and task attractiveness through superimposition of music and images can also act as triggers of successful production in task-based grammar practice irrespective of the students’ level. Although mastery of grammar takes time, our students became more confident and made significant improvements in expressing themselves. What is extremely important, they felt motivated to bring significant, original and creative contributions in writing whenever grammar practice was integrated with movies, images or sound.

AUTHORS - Anișoara POP is an Associate Professor of English at The University of Medicine and Pharmacy of TîrguMureș, România. She is interested in needs analysis-based syllabus design and applying emerging technologies in ESP learning - Cristina BERARIU is a University Lecturer at Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bodoni Sandor 3-5, Tîrgu Mureş, Mureş, România. She is interested in autonomous learning design for adult ESP students. Page 83



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BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES 1. Anderson, J. Mechanically Inclined. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers, 2005. 2.Azevedo, C. Movie segments http://moviesegmentstoassessgrammargoals.blogspot.ro

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6. Grammar can Enhance Creativity - http://www.dltk-kids.com/articles/why_grammar.htm) 7. Mart, C.T. - Teaching Grammar in Context: Why and How? in ”Theory and Practice in Language Studies”, Vol 3, No 1 (2013), 124-129, doi:10.4304/tpls.3.1.124-129, http://ojs.academypublisher.com/index.php/tpls/article/view/tpls0301124129/6205 8. Pingle, K., "Teaching Grammar in Context". Honors Theses. Paper 2352, 2013 9. Swan, M. Does Teaching Grammar Work? ”Modern English Teacher”, 15/2, 2006 10. Weaver C. Teaching Grammar in Context, Portsmouth NH, Boynton/Cook, 1996 11. Weaver C. Grammar to Enrich and Enhance Writing, Heinemann, Portsmouth NH, 2008

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