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In my country, where English is not an official language although I am a native English speaker, sentence structure of non-native English speakers is the first mistake I notice when they speak to me in English. Therefore, for my Summative Task, I felt it was a pertinent topic to explore more in depth, thinking about how I might be able to teach this topic in a classroom. For this Task, I will explain the basics of English sentence structure and the ways to teach it in a classroom through a patchwork ESA lesson, with an Engage-Study-Activate-Study-Activate order, which would work well in a more advanced class with at least one hour together. If time is more limited, this lesson can be shortened to Engage, the first Study, and the final Activate. I have provided several alternatives for each stage. Some of these activities would have to be modified for a younger class or a beginner level class. In the first stage, Engage, students will be asked to do “word linking” with names of English-speaking countries, States and cities. For example, the first student would say “California,” the next, “Anchorage,” then England, Delaware, Edinburgh, etc. Another version of this could be to go around the room and list the same sorts of places in alphabetical order. For example, Alaska, Birmingham, Canada, Dublin, etc. In the first Study stage, students will work in pairs to complete a short worksheet of sentences related to world travel. As a teacher, I will make sure to explain to the students that the simplest structure of a sentence includes a subject and a verb. The worksheet can use gap-fills, example sentences in which they will be able to identify parts of speech and a third section of sentences for identifying mistakes and correcting them. Alternatively, the first Study stage may include a game of Hangman, using written submitted suggestions from the class of words relating to travel or places they would like to visit, which would utilize a white board and full-class participation. In the first Activate stage, students will discuss their ideal vacations, which will help them practice conversational skills. At this point in the lesson, my role as a teacher will be at the side as much as possible and very relaxed. If needed, I may help facilitate the conversation by asking questions to prompt further discussion. In this conversation, students will be speaking freely, though they should be aware of the placement of words and clauses in their sentences. Alternatively, this stage may include a story-building exercise in which students follow one another and add on to the previous student’s sentence or clause. Again, in keeping with the theme, this story might revolve around world travel or vacation. It could be an exercise in which students are provided with a very simple prompt sentence and must elaborate with adjectives, adverbs or comparisons. In the second Study stage, students will be divided into pairs. Each pair will choose either a pop song or clip from an American/English TV show with a sheet of the lyrics or transcript, respectively. Students will first listen to the song or watch the clip, then read through the lyrics or dialogue with one another and identify the various parts of speech and components in each line or sentence, such as subject, object, noun, clause, auxiliary verb, etc. In the final Activate stage, students will divide in two “teams” for a debate about vacationing. The two teams may be “hot vs. cold places,” “museums vs. hiking,” “group vs. lone traveling,” or anything else relevant. In this debate, each team member will have to provide at least one argument for their team, ensuring as much participation as possible. As mentioned above, teaching sentence structure is incredibly important. The example lesson I have outlined here can be expanded, minimized, or adapted for any class of any size or level. The key educational components are the various parts of speech and their placement in a sentence. Most importantly, sentence structure cannot be taught in one class. This will be a topic that most students will have to learn over a period of time with a lot of practice and effort.
