My thoughts about a Good Grammar Text for English Learners

For many years in the past – especially in the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) settings – the language teaching and learning had focused on the ability to use it for real-life communication with less or little attention on the grammar skill, and advocated proficiency-oriented language programs. However, the pendulum of language study has recently swung back to the importance of grammar, which definitely helps enhance the learners’ metalinguistic knowledge of the language and furthermore improve their speaking competency for communication.

One of the characteristics frequently observed among the intermediate-level students is that they are getting better at beginning conversations as well as able to respond to questions with longer answers or even ask questions of their own to keep the conversation going. Even if the intermediate-level students feel successful using a certain grammatical structure, sometimes they find themselves totally embarrassed about losing or forgetting the structure a few days later. In this respect, a good grammar text needs to focuses not only on the forms of the structures per se but also on the meaning as well as where, when, and why they are used to improve. That is, I believe that grammar textbooks are supposed to present clear authentic (=real-life) examples as well as clear explanation. Through a wealth of exercises for practice and keeping the amount of metalinguistic terms, concepts, and analysis to the minimum, the English learners will be able to take the load off and find what they need without knowing every grammar terms or grammarians’ jargon.

As Wilkins (1976) writes, “grammar is the means through which linguistic creativity is ultimately achieved.”, and I am a firm believer that grammar text should lead ESL/ EFL students away from the beginner’s concern or burden with form and dependence on memorization, to a new awareness of the meanings and uses of structures and a new creativity in communication.

Reference

Wilkins, D. (1976). Notional syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bland, S. (1996). Intermediate Grammar. NY: Oxford University Press

Expressions

metalinguistic knowledge: the learners' ability to correct, describe, and explain second language (L2) errors (Roehr, 2007)

per se: in itself, of itself, by itself

a wealth of something: a lot of something

jargon: special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand

Dr. Jedidiah's Diary Episode #7

Dr. Jedidiah’s Diary

Dr. Jedidiah is a psychiatrist who loves traveling, meeting new people, and exploring different cultures. As a single father who lost his wife to drug overdose 10 years ago, he has not been his old perky self for the last decade. During those hard years, he has met hundreds of, thousands of people from various walks of life around all over the world. Meeting new people and listening to their stories outside his office have given him different feelings from the ones through the formal encounter groups or support groups for therapy. These people he has accidentally come across were the paths through which Dr. Jedidiah could look back on his own life, being truly honest with himself. Here is Dr. Jedidiah’s monologue that has left him with some food for thoughts in life….or some fodder to justify his own mistakes in the past.

Episode # 7: About Silence in Life

I met this lady named Lily in my hiking cohort when I had been struggling to fight loneliness deep in the swamp that I called “the fear of being a widower” back then. Being surrounded by talkative hikers filled with vim and vigor every Saturday was my one and only hideout from the fear. I was not a so-called great mountaineer, but I attended the hiking meets just to forget not only my emotional anguish but also to attain the bittersweet physical pain accompanied by laborious hours of reaching the mountain tops.

Among the happily noisy friends was this quiet woman, Lily, who had the reticulation of lines and wrinkles on her face, which must have been formed by hardships in her life.  She was not easily caught talking with the others or actively participating in our conversations. I thought she was painfully unsociable or still reeling from her own turmoil in life. On the contrary, I was always in the middle of talkers, sometimes even aggressively debating with them while hiking. Not a single moment was taken by me to see and savor the beauty of the wild flowers or grandiose trees around on my way up to the top. When I came back home from the mountain meets, I fall back into my own deep cave, feeling the inescapable loneliness that had become even bigger than before the moment I headed out to meet the group. I turned TV on and pretended that I was interacting with characters from the show that happened to be on the air at that moment. Every Saturday night, I found myself writhing and sinking deeper and deeper into the pit of despair.

One day, I came up to Lily and asked “Hey, Lily, how are you doing today?” She just smiled saying quietly “Couldn’t be better”, and then crooned a song to herself looking around the trail as if I was asking the stupidest question in the world. I felt like a fool asking a rhetorical question but kept asking how she had always been so calm, relaxed, and unperturbed without exchanging feelings or ideas with other friends there. Lily smiled again and asked me back “Are you happy talking and being surrounded by noise, either intended or unsolicited?” I stopped for a second and tried to say yes….but wasn’t able to answer her question with confidence. For all those years, I had been constantly feeling sad, mad, frustrated, and even dizzy with nothing going on around me. I dreaded the idea of being alone or in any place with no sound filling the void. I feared any kind of emptiness. Lily looked me in the eye for a few minutes and said “Dr. Jedidiah, you need to live in complete silence from time to time. I don’t mean you should shut yourself away from social life or people. I mean….savoring the “silence” given or even when not given in life is important to us all. I don’t feel lonesome when I am hiking alone or strolling in the trail. Submerging myself in complete serenity away from worldly noise makes me happy all the time.” She went on to say that her Aha moment came when she met a man one Sunday at church, who happened to be a philosopher. The man told her how his life became peaceful by turning inwards toward inner silence and uncovering forgotten sides of a universe just as mysterious as outer space. He was the art collector and author Erling Kagge.

Lily’s words brought a whole new world to me. Nothing physically changed around me but my own attitude in life started to take a different angle in approaching each moment given to me. I gradually came to get out of the feeling of loneliness with or without people next to me. Since I learned what Lily was doing to stay calm against all odds, I have been zoning out in the midst of unnecessary debates, listening to the breeze through the leaves, being fully satisfied in my own rocking chair with no TV, no radio, and laptop turned on in front of me, but rather be all ears to what my mind says to me at the end of the day. I started to see some flick of hope through silence in this noisy world.

Expressions

   1.   reticulation: (noun) a pattern or arrangement of interlacing lines resembling a net

   

   2.   to reel from …: (phrasal verb) to move from side to side as if you are going to fall while walking or standing to escape from shock/ trauma

   

   3.   to writhe: (verb) respond with great emotional or physical discomfort to (a violent or unpleasant feeling or thought).

   

   4.   to croon: (verb) hum or sing in a soft, low voice, especially in a sentimental manner

   5.   rhetorical question: (noun) a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer

   

   6.   unperturbed: (adjective) not worried, upset, or disquieted

   

   7.   unsolicited: (adjective) not asked for or requested

   8.   to submerge: (verb) to put under water

Candy Quiz

Do you love sweet treats? Let us solve candy quiz this week! 😊 Actually, these candies are made in the States. I know this could be a culturally biased quiz for EFL students though... 

How many candy bars can you name from the following clues? Choose from the answers given in the box.

Chunky,     PayDay,  Bit-O-Honey,   Hersey’s Kiss,  Clark Bar,    M&M’s,  5th Avenue,    Almond Joy,    Milky Way,    Mars,     3 Musketeers,    Mounds,    Baby Ruth,    Butterfinger,   Snickers,    Oh Henry!,     Kit Kat,    Life Savers,    Hersey’s,   Nestle’S Crunch,    Milk Duds,    Sugar Daddy,   Starburst

   1.   A famous swashbuckling trio of old

   2.   Indian burial grounds

   3.   Galaxy

   4.   Red planet

   5.   Not laughing out loud

   6.   Can’t hold on to anything

   7.   A famous author

   8.   A famous former baseball player

   9.   A famous New York street

   10.               Twin letters

   11.               Superman’s other identity

   12.               A sweet sign of affection

   13.               A favorite day for working people

   14.               What bees make

   15.               Nut happiness

   16.               Pleasingly plump

   17.               Two female pronouns

   18.               A feline

   19.               Single women look for him

   20.               Round floatation devices

   21.               Sun explosion

   22.               Bite with a crackling noise

   23.               Dry cow

  

  Answer Keys

   1.   3 Musketeers

   2.   Mounds

   3.   Milky Way

   4.   Mars

   5.   Snickers

   6.   Butterfinger

   7.   Oh  Henry!

   8.   Baby Ruth

   9.   5^th Avenue

   10.               M&M’s

   11.               Clark Bar

   12.               Hersey’s Kiss

   13.               PayDay

   14.               Bit-O-Honey

   15.               Almond Joy

   16.               Chunky

   17.               Hersey’s

   18.               Kit Kat

   19.               Sugar Daddy

   20.               Life Savers

   21.               Starburst

   22.               Nestle’s Crunch

   23.               Milk Duds

Time to get English slang and idioms down pat! 😊

When I was teaching English in Seoul long ago, one of the American instructors working with me at the language institute said his English vocab and expressions had been too outdated to teach young people “today’s English” that were being used as he spoke in the States. It is because he had lived in Korea too long to be “idiom or slang- savvy” in English. Yes, looking back on what he said, I guess I would be totally lost in front of a Korean young ones who spit out fast a series of Korean slang or internet-based idioms or clipped words of which I would never get the meaning. 

This week, let us take a gander of some frequently used idiomatic expressions in English that are often used in the States today.

(*Source fromhttps://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/1026523/100-words-from-urban-dictionary-that-changed-the-world/2) 

   1.   to play hard ball: (phrase) you are going to get really serious and make every possible effort to get what you want

   2.   a dime a dozen: (phrase) cheap and common

   3.   to get one’s ducks in a row: (phrase) to complete one's preparations, become efficient and well 

   4.   It’s all good.: (sentence) It’s alright/ No problem/ It’s okay.

   5.   I’m good:(e.g., When asked if you want a refill for your drink, and you don’t want the offer) No thanks, I don’t want what you are offering.

   6.   cyberslacking: Using a companies’ computer and Internet for personal activities when one should be doing work.

   7.   cray-cray: (adjective) short for “crazy”.  By making it double as “cray- cray”, you would mean to say “that is super crazy!”

   8.   designated drunk: (noun) the individual who drinks all offers of free drinks sent to the designated driver

   9.   duck face: (noun) a face made by pursing and pouting one's lips in an attempt to make them appear fuller or to make the cheekbones appear more prominent (frequently utilized by young women in selfies or other photos in an attempt to look flirty or more model-esque)

   10.               extra: (noun=adjective) over-the-top, excessive behavior

   

   11. P.H.A.T.: (adjective)  (adjective) abbreviation for “Pretty Hot And Tempting or Thick” to describe a very beautiful girl

Why don’t we put the above expressions into practice? Fill in the blanks with proper phrases.

   1.   Why does Melissa always make that ____________ face in each of her selfie? I think she is so _____________ to look fab.

   2.   The team director hit the roof this afternoon when he found out that Tom had been _____________________ most of the time at work.

Tom was always on the social network on his work PC.

   3.   A: Sorry, I’m late. I snoozed the alarm twice this morning.

B: No, it’s ______________________. You’re only 10 minutes behind the meeting.

   4.   Rich should not be so arrogant and obnoxiously proud of himself. He’s just a ________________ a dozen in fashion industry.

   5.   Make sure to get all your ______________ in a row before the race. Check your bib, running gear, hydration and nutrition level, and you name it.

   6.   A: Did you hear that Josh was caught while DWI last weekend? He was _________________!!! How dare he even thought about drinking 3 bottles of wine and driving?!!

B: OMG! Wasn’t there a ____________________drunk in his company?

   7.   Waiter: Care for refills?

Diner: No, I’m _________________.

   8.   You’d better not mess with Peter. If you get him mad, I bet he will play _______________ to get even with you.

   9. A: Would this tankini make me look fat?

  B: No way! That would make you look _______________! Where did you get        that? Looking so dope!

Answer Keys

   1.   duck, extra

   2.   cyberslacking

   3.   all good

   4.   dime

   5.   ducks

   6.   cray cray, designated

   7.   good

   8.   hardball

   9.  P.H.A.T.