Groveton, Texas TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

This unit briefly went over some of the parts of grammar and sentence structures used in the English language and different ways that they are classified. It contained what its title quite plainly implies, which stressed the importance of being able to analyze language as a teacher in order to provide insight into how/what we should teach and how to better align ourselves with our students’ perspectives. First the grammar structure of the basic sentence was introduced (i.e., subject, verb, and object) and then the chapter dove into the different classifications for words. There were nine (9) main types of words discussed: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, gerunds, prepositions, conjunctions, and articles. These different types of words (e.g., nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.) were broken down into different sub-types (e.g., countable and uncountable nouns, personal and possessive pronouns, comparative and superlative adjectives, transitive and intransitive verbs, etc.). Many example sentences and some charts helped explain the function of all the different parts of speech and the different structures used to convey ideas and information, and really illustrated the complexity of the language. I found the diagrams of the different verb forms and pronouns to be particularly interesting. They really displayed how difficult it must be for a non-native speaker of English to pick up the language. Just seeing a selection of all the irregular verbs with their mismatched simple past and past participle forms seemed daunting. The spelling of words based on the location of consonants, vowels and where they are stressed seems to be an unnecessary challenge as well. Another thing I found important to note is how some words can be considered different parts of speech depending on their placemen in a sentence. For example, adding ‘ing’ to the base form of a verb can either create the present participle or the gerund of that verb. While the speaker or teacher may know what he or she in referring to when discussing a word in this state, perhaps the class will find it difficult, so an example sentence to stress what part of speech the word ‘going’ is may be necessary for instance. This point was really driven home at the end of the video accompanying this unit. Explanations for types of words, such as articles, were also useful. Even if a native speaker can use them well and has an understanding of their functions, it remains difficult to effectively explain how they work in a concise manner. I have yet to teach a grammar class where I work as my main purpose is to be a model, but this chapter helped me put what my students are up against into perspective. (By the way, I accidentally submitted my former test in the middle of writing my final answer. I apologize for the mistake.)