How can teachers encourage students to use complex, more advanced grammatical structures in speaking?
Over the years, I've come across various classroom ideas ranging from giving students a checklist of target language items to tweaking the task requirements so that students have to produce certain advanced grammatical structures.
I've also heard some teachers complaining about the contrived nature of the above ideas. While these may force students to produce the target advanced grammatical structures in the lesson, students are unlikely to be able to use such structures naturally once they leave the classroom. What's the missing link then?
If language production involves formulation of mental ideas prior to realisation of such ideas with language, teachers need to connect grammatical structures to their use(s).
Here are four ways in which students can use complex grammar or sentences in speaking:
- add information about someone/something using the (non-defining) relative clauses;
- give examples using the conditional structure;
- introduce contrast by using subordination or concession (e.g. Although and Despite), rather than co-ordination (e.g. But and However); and
- give opinion using the 'which'-relative clause in the tail part of an utterance.