Does grammar matter? - Andreea S. Calude

Spoken language has been neglected and marginalized for much of our history on account of its perceived inferiority in comparison to written language. Written language was historically regarded as the language of the ‘learned,’ given that few people could read or write. It also had permanence (written records can be preserved for hundreds of years, and it is only recently that speech recordings became an achievable technology for most of us), and it was thought to be of a higher standard and quality (often summed up as having “better” or more “correct” grammar). You can read more about this biased view of written language over spoken language in the online book “The Written Language Bias” by Peter Linell. We all know that languages differ with respect to their grammar – we have all tried to learn another language only to be baffled not just by new vocabulary but also by the order and other quirks of how that language organizes its vocabulary – but what can and what does actually vary?

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Related: Grammar • Grammar • English

100 English Synonyms to Expand Your Vocabulary – Espresso English A synonym is a word with the same or a similar meaning as another word. For example, the words big and large are synonyms. Buy and purchase are also synonyms – although we tend to use “buy” in a more informal context, and “purchase” in a more formal context. Keep in mind that some synonyms in the list below might not be “perfect” synonyms – there may be slight differences in meaning and connotation. For example, the words smart and wise.

The Best Funny Videos To Help Teach Grammar – Help Me Find More Earlier today, I posted Weird Al Weird Al Yankovic’s new funny video teaching grammar (I’ve also posted it below). Then, Heather Wolpert-Gawron showed me another funny one, that’s also posted below. I figured there have got to be more out there, so I invite readers to contribute the ones you know about — I’ll post them here and, of course, give you full credit. These can certainly be useful in the classroom!

Present perfect tense – finished versus up to now time There have been many different attempts to explain the difference between the past simple and present perfect tenses to learners of English. I have tried to do this for example in my posts on present perfect basics, Present perfect tense vs Past simple or present perfect infographics. In the textbook New Inside Out pre-intermediate they try to introduce the concept of “finished” and “up to now” time expressions. I think, it is not a bad way to distinguish between the past simple and present perfect tenses.

10 Best Grammar Resources for Students - Grammarly Blog Something great happened on March 4, 2008. Martha Brockenbrough, through The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, established National Grammar Day in the United States. It’s a day to celebrate all that grammar does. Would you like to wish your friends a Happy Grammar Day? Make sure you don’t have any errors in your messages! Last Night by The Vamps This is a great song to review past verb tenses with your students. I have used a ‘wordle’ containing verbs only and pictures from the music video for prediction, followed by inserting these verbs in to a gap fill. Students then identify the past tense followed by a discussion about why they are using each specific tense.

BusyTeacher.org We can sort adjectives into several different categories one of them being possessive adjectives - ones that show ownership. There are lots of ways to practicing using possessive adjectives in class. What I’ve put together here are some fun and out of the ordinary games you can use to practice using possessive adjectives with your ESL students. 1Big Foot MatchThis game isn’t for every class, but if yours is fun-loving, they will enjoy this out of the box way to practice possessive adjectives. SVOMPT - word order in English SVOMPT rule is one of the most important rules in English. If students learn to follow this rule, their English will improve dramatically, and they will be understood. Once a student knows some words and follows the SVOMPT rule, we can say that he/she can speak English. I love Darren Crown’s explanation of the origin of the SVOMPT word order.

Digital Poets! Web Tools, Apps, & Lesson Ideas – Teacher Reboot Camp “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” by Robert Frost April is National Poetry month. I invite you to consider the possibilities of teaching with poetry. Poetry makes content come alive, because the poet has a deep connection with the subject matter. Poems can help students see what they consider a boring or tedious topic in a different light. Imagine students walking into math class and the teacher introducing long division with Bob Grumman’s long division Christmas poem. A Brief History of National Grammar Day National Grammar Day, which is celebrated on March 4, was established in 2008 by Martha Brockenbrough, the author of Things That Make Us [Sic] and founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG). Former President George W. Bush sent a letter commemorating the day in its inaugural year. In an interview with Grammarly last year, Martha explained that she founded the day because she wanted to help her students with their grammar in a lively and positive way.