Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s)
he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter
meaningful for students.
Rationale
In Artifact I for the this standard, I discussed my belief that the most critical knowledge
for my future career relates to second language acquisition/teaching and my students, and I
presented a rationale for Artifact I that demonstrates my knowledge about my future student
second language teaching, specifically with regards to teaching English as a second language.
In support of Standard 1, Knowledge of Subject Matter, I offer the artifact “Final Paper
TSL612,” that I created for TSL612 Options in the Teaching of Grammar. TSL612 is one of the
required courses for the MATL program. I would count this course as one of the most important
acquiring grammar, and discusses the various aspects of English grammar that can cause
problems for the ESL/EFL learner. This course helped me in so many ways; it took away the
irrational grade school ‘fear’ of grammar that I still had, it also expanded my knowledge of
grammar and I began to see it as fun topic and brainstorm ways in which I could make it fun for
my future students. Artifact II is the final paper I wrote for TSL612. It is a combination of an end
of seminar perspective and an ESL textbook enhancement activity. I feel this artifact strongly
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
supports Standard 1- knowledge of subject matter, because with this knowledge I can now create
meaningful (and hopefully fun) language learning experiences focused on English grammar for
my future students.
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Joely C. Rogers
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Abstract
This paper presents the an end of seminar perspective on grammar in the teaching of second/
foreign languages, and includes eight enhancements to the grammar exercises in an English as a
Second Language (ESL) textbook called Intermediate English Grammar for ESL Learners by
Robin Torres-Gouzerh. The end of seminar perspective is a discussion about grammar and
grammar teaching practices, and the eight enhancements focus on a topic from English grammar
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Introduction
This paper is divided into 2 sections. The 1st section of the paper presents an end of
seminar perspective on grammar in the teaching of second/ foreign languages following her
completion of TSL 612 Options in the Teaching of Grammar. Since I am not officially teaching
yet, the paper is written from the perspective of a ‘learner’ who is gathering information about
grammar and grammar teaching practices. The questions/topics discussed in the first section are:
1) What is Grammar? 2) Should grammar be taught the adult second language (SL) classroom?
Each discussion is fortified with references from current researchers and classroom
instructors working in the fields of linguistics, 2nd language acquisition, and teaching
my personal experience as a 2nd language learner of French, and my experiences with the ESL
students I tutored during my stints as a volunteer English writing tutor, and ESL conversation
The 2nd section of the paper features eight enhancements to the grammar exercises in an
English as a Second Language (ESL) textbook called Intermediate English Grammar for ESL
Learners by Robin Torres-Gouzerh. Each enhancement exercise focuses on a topic from English
grammar called ‘the passive voice’. A brief discussion paragraph describing each enhancement is
included in this section. The actual enhancements are found at the end of the paper labeled as
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
The seminar course TSL 612 Options in the Teaching of Grammar provided a thorough
overview of current theories and research on grammar in the teaching of second/ foreign
languages. Since I am not officially teaching yet, the paper is written from the perspective of a
‘learner’ who is gathering information about grammar and grammar teaching practices. The
questions/topics discussed in the first section are: 1) What is Grammar? 2) Should grammar be
taught in the adult second language (SL) classroom? 3) Focus-on-Form FonF and 4) Teaching
Grammar in Adult ESL Classes. Each discussion is fortified with references from current
researchers and classroom instructors working in the fields of linguistics, 2nd language
What is Grammar?
Upon hearing the word ‘grammar’, some of us may experience an involuntary shudder of
disgust, followed by an uncontrollable expulsion of the word “yuck”. Prior to this seminar course
on grammar, my experiences with it were limited to college freshman English Composition I &
II, and my K-12 years at the Stone county school system in Wiggins, Mississippi. My
recollections of grade school grammar are mostly a blur of sentence diagramming and rule
repetition, which I drudged through while struggling to stay awake in a stifling, un-air-
conditioned south Mississippi classroom. The reason for these grammatical rules and why they
were so important was never defined by any of my grade school teachers. In this section, I
attempt to answer the question “What is grammar?” and demonstrate that it has a much more
The linguist Noam Chomsky (2006) defines grammar as “a system of rules that generates
an infinite class of potential percepts, each with its phonetic, semantic, and syntactic aspects”
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
(p. 150). More of a layman’s definition of grammar comes from Trask & Mayblin (2005), who
call it “a set of rules for combining words into sentences, for modifying the forms of the words
for particular purposes, and for interpreting the result” (p. 77). The word that each of these
definitions has in common is ‘rule.’ Grammar is about rules and structure, it is, literally, the
skeleton of a language. There are two types of grammar: prescriptive and descriptive, both are
Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams (2007) define prescriptive grammar as “rules of grammar
brought about by grammarians’ attempt to legislate what speakers’ grammatical rules should be,
rather than what they are” (p. 557). The words ‘should be’ stand out starkly in Fromkin et al’s
definition and are the probably the easiest way to remember the meaning of prescriptive
grammar. Prescriptive grammar was created by grammarians and is what we may be most
familiar with from our grade school language classes. For example, in English we are told that
double negatives are not proper grammar. Prescriptive grammar had a strong influence on
language attitudes in Europe and the United States during 18th – 19th centuries, and its influence
Descriptive grammar, rather than prescribing what ‘should be,’ attempts to demonstrate
‘what is.’ Fromkin et al (2007) call descriptive grammar “the speaker’s mental grammar”
meaning it is what a language’s speaker inherently knows about the language, including its units,
structures, and rules (p. 543). Pinker (2007) alludes to descriptive grammar when discussing the
way children learn their native language “they have to extract a set of rules that will allow them
to understand and express new thoughts, and do it in a way that is consistent with the speech
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
During my volunteer stints over the past two semesters as an English writing tutor and
ESL conversation partner I heard much grumbling about grammar. I now understand that most of
this grumbling has to do with prescriptive grammar. Grammar is rules and structure, two things
that people, in general, find tedious and annoying. Rules, however, are critical, because without
them we cannot hope to play game of language. Perhaps if instructors took the time to emphasize
what students already know about grammar, i.e. descriptive, and then pointed out the fact that
language learning is a fun game requiring a basic understanding of some rules, i.e. prescriptive,
From our general discussion about the definition of grammar we move to the question of
whether or not grammar should be taught in the adult SL classroom. This question has been a
subject of much debate between second language acquisition (SLA) researchers, and L2 teachers.
Hinkel & Fotos (2002) say that some proponents of communicative language teaching feel that
“teaching grammar does not correlate with acquiring grammar” (p. 17). Zhonggang-Gao (2001)
echoes this sentiment by saying that “some 2nd language instructors do not consider grammar a
necessary or important part of the curriculum, subscribing instead to the theory of holistic
From the standpoint of SL learning in adults, this means that instructors subscribing to
limited/zero grammar instruction have the expectation that adults learn a SL with the same ease
as children learn their native language. Researchers, however, believe that childhood language
learning differs from adult learning because childhood learning is supposedly facilitated by a
language acquisition device (LAD). The LAD is theorized as a biologically-based innate system
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
acquired a sufficient vocabulary (Berk, 2007). Zhonggang-Gao (2001) says that the LAD
becomes inaccessible after childhood, and grammar instruction can function in its place enabling
Aside from the presumed role of the LAD, research exists that shows “L2 learners,
particularly adults, fail to achieve high levels of grammatical competence even if they have
ample opportunity to learn the language naturally” (Hinkel & Fotos, 2002, p. 18). My belief
about the importance of grammar instruction is based on the aforementioned research, and on my
communicative classroom. I have resorted to external grammar studies of the French language,
because I feel the lack of focus on grammar in my class has limited my competence in the
language.
Focus-on-Form (FonF)
seminar. FonF can be a little tricky to define, but the main point to remember is that it is used in
Doughty & Williams (1998) say that FonF “consists of an occasional shift of attention to
linguistic code features – by the teacher and/or one or more students – triggered by perceived
problems with comprehension or production” (p. 3). Shak & Gardner (2008) call FonF “an
instructional treatment that overtly draws students’ attention to linguistic elements as they arise
I feel that concept of FonF is best understood in the classroom, rather than in theoretical
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
classroom situation. The study investigates a group of children’s attitudes towards four
Shak & Gardner (2008) conducted a research study of children’s attitudes towards four
FonF tasks to determine “what specifically in a FonF task would stimulate or attract children’s
attention and learning motivation” (p.389). The four FonF tasks they examined were:
all the tasks is that they hold ‘noticing,’ the central cognitive construct in FonF, as an essential
The results indicate that the familiarity of a task led to an increase in positive perceptions
of it, indicating to the researchers that task familiarity can enhance enjoyment, performance and
motivation (Shak & Gardner, 2008). Doughty & Williams (1998) say that “meaning and use
must already be evident to the learner at the time that attention is drawn to the linguistic
What I perceive from this study and Doughty & Williams’ comment is that FonF is not a
substitute for teaching, and that some additional pre-teaching may be in order before attempting
a FonF task in the classroom. FonF helps notice linguistic features, but does not teach them.
Shak & Gardner (2008) appear in agreement with this statement about FonF “what it strives for
is the heightening of learners’ awareness to facilitate further noticing and analysis of the target
This final section is a short commentary on teaching grammar in adult ESL classes;
something I hope to eventually do - if I can make it through the MATL program! In my home
state of Texas a large number of ESL learners are adult immigrants from Mexico, who come to
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
the U.S. with little or no knowledge of English. Additionally, their metalinguistic knowledge
about the their native Spanish may be limited due to interruptions in primary school education.
Even though these learners are in an immersion environment, it may be difficult for them to
acquire language naturally because of marginalization from the dominant culture, i.e. English-
speaking Americans. This marginalization from the native population means that, in a sense,
ESL learners in this part of the country operate more like the general SL learner population.
In this paper we have examined evidence indicating that grammar is a critical part of the
adult SL classroom. I believe that grammar instruction in the adult ESL classroom (in Texas) is
doubly critical because of the type of issues faced by the learners. It should not, however, be
exercises and FonF actives structured to help them grasp the nuances of culture and
Conclusion
This concludes the 1st section of the paper, which was written from the perspective of a
‘learner’ who is gathering information about grammar and grammar teaching practices. In
summary, my final beliefs about grammar and grammar teaching include: that grammar is the
skeleton of language, and without mastering its rules we cannot hope to master the language; that
grammar should be taught in the adult SL classroom because it is a critical tool enabling adults to
become more successful SL learners; and that while FonF is an excellent tool for heightening
learner awareness about language structures, it is not a substitute for teaching grammar or
grammar teaching. We now move to the 2nd section of our paper, the ESL textbook enhancement
exercises.
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
as a Second Language (ESL) textbook called Intermediate English Grammar for ESL Learners
by Robin Torres-Gouzerh. A soft copy of the original chapter and the textbook cover are
attached in the Blackboard as a separate file. Publisher information for this textbook is located in
Each enhancement exercise focuses on a topic from English grammar called ‘the passive
voice,’ chosen in light of my experiences with ESL learners who frequently complained about
the difficulty of this concept. The first enhancement was adapted from the featured textbook, the
rest are meant to build the student’s knowledge cumulatively from the first. A brief discussion
paragraph describing each enhancement is included in this section. The actual enhancements are
Appendix A: Enhancement Exercise One - This exercise defines passive and active voice. It asks
the student to determine from a list of ten sentences which ones are passive and which ones are
active.
Appendix B: Enhancement Exercise Two - This exercise asks the student to underline the
recipient of the action in the sentence. The purpose of this exercise is to prepare the student to
Appendix C: Enhancement Exercise Three - This exercise asks the student to underline the
performer of the action in the sentence. The purpose of this exercise is to prepare the student to
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Appendix D: Enhancement Exercise Four – This exercise asks the student to rewrite a list of
Appendix E: Enhancement Exercise Five – This exercise asks the student to rewrite a list of
Appendix F: Enhancement Exercise Six – This exercise asks the student to underline all of the
Appendix G: Enhancement Exercise Seven - This exercise asks the student to rewrite a group of
Appendix H: Enhancement Exercise Eight - This exercise asks the student to write a one
paragraph short story using at least 3 - 4 passive sentences, and then rewrite the passive
Footnotes
A footnotes section has been added for material I felt was useful to the reader, but would
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
References
Berk, L.E. (2007). Development through the lifespan. (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Chomsky, N. (2006). Language and mind (3rd ed.).Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, D. (2005). How language works. Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press.
Doughty, C. & Williams, J. (Eds.). (1998). Focus on form in classroom second language
Trask, R.L. & Mayblin, B. (2005). Introducing linguistics. Cambridge, UK: Icon Books.
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R. & Hyams, N. (2007). An introduction to language (8th ed.). Boston:
Thomson Wadsworth
Hinkel, E. & Fotos, S. (Eds.). (2002). New perspectives on grammar teaching in second
Hodges, J.C., Whitten, M.E. & Webb, S.S. (1986). Hodges’ Harbrace college handbook (10th
Pinker, S. (2007). The stuff of thought. New York: Penguin Group Inc.
Schneider, J. (2005). Teaching grammar through community issues. ELT Journal, 59(4), 298-
304.
Shak, J. & Gardner, S. (2008). Young learner perspectives on four focus-on-form tasks.
Torres-Gouzerh, R. (2008). Intermediate English Grammar for ESL Learners. New York:
McGraw Hill.
Zhonggang-Gao, C. (2001). Second language learning & the teaching of grammar. Education,
122(2), 326-336.
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Appendix A
Passive voice is defined as the form of the verb which shows that its subject does not act but is
the object or receiver of the action: “The bread was sliced by Angela.” Active voice is defined as
the form of a transitive verb indicating that its subject performs the action the verb denotes:
Instructions: Circle P if the sentence is in the passive voice; circle A if the sentence in the active
voice. 2
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Appendix B
Instructions: Underline the recipient of the action in the sentences below. For example, in the
sentence “The cake was decorated by Edward.” The recipient of the action is “the cake”.
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Appendix C
Instructions: Underline the performer of the action in the sentences below. For example, in the
sentence “The cake was decorated by Edward.” The performer of the action is “Edward”.
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Appendix D
When a sentence is changed from active to passive, the tense of the active sentence is retained in
Instructions: All of the sentences below are written in the active voice. Rewrite each sentence in
the passive voice while keeping the same tense. [Answers are in italics.]
3. Dr. Miles graded the paper. [The paper was graded by Dr. Miles.]
4. The horse jumped the fence. [The fence was jumped by the horse.]
5. Jamie sold the last box of cookies. [The last box of cookies was sold by Jamie.]
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Appendix E
Instructions: All of the sentences below are written in the passive voice. Rewrite each sentence
in the active voice while keeping the same tense. [Answers are in italics.]
2. The big package was delivered by UPS. [UPS delivered the big package.]
5. The last beer was stolen by Andrew. [Andrew stole the last beer.]
6. The groceries were bagged by the stock boy. [The stock boy bagged the groceries.]
8. Dehydration is caused by not drinking enough water. [Not drinking enough water causes
dehydration.]
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Appendix F
Ten students from the University of Southern Mississippi spent the week after final
exams partying on a beach in Mexico. Swine flu was contracted by the students. When the
students tried to cross the U.S. border, they were detained by the border patrol. The border
patrol put the infected students in quarantine. There was nothing to do in quarantine but watch
TV and write letters. Many letters were written by the bored students.
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Appendix G
Ten students from the University of Southern Mississippi spent the week after final
exams partying on a beach in Mexico. Swine flu was contracted by the students. When the
students tried to cross the U.S. border, they were detained by the border patrol. The border patrol
put the infected students in quarantine. There was nothing to do in quarantine but watch TV and
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Appendix H
Instructions: Write a one paragraph short story using at least 3 - 4 passive sentences. Beneath
this paragraph rewrite the passive sentences in active form. The story can be on anything you
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Standard 1 – Knowledge of Subject Matter Artifact 2 Joely Rogers
Footnotes
1
The definitions of passive and active voice were taken from the Harbrace College
Handbook, 10th edition, edited by Hodges, Whitten, & Webb. Additional publisher information
community issues” by Jason Schneider. Additional publisher information can be found in the
reference section.
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