Live TESOL Webcast

Please join Pearson Longman for a Live TESOL Webcast titled:
Real Grammar: Teaching how we really write and speak by Douglas Biber

Date and time: Thursday, March 25, 2010 11:00 am Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00)

Please download the event materials before the webcast.

Event Materials: Article on Corpus Linguistics by Doug Biber and Susan Conrad

More about the Presentation

Abstract:

How can we help students become more native-like in their speech and writing? The presenters describe a new course based on the idea that students should learn how grammar really works. They show the benefits of their corpus-based approach and demonstrate examples from academic writing and informal speech.

Presenters:

Douglas Biber, Professor, Northern Arizona University, Douglas.Biber@nau.edu

Summary:

As students become more proficient in English, their use of appropriate grammar does not always keep up. They reach a kind of grammar plateau.

This plateau is characterized by grammar that is often accurate but not always register-appropriate. Students may write academic papers using expressions from informal spoken English. They may also make mistakes in verb aspect or article use that reflects a basic familiarity with the rules, but not the kind of nuanced understanding that native speakers possess.

This presentation describes how a better grammar curriculum can make a difference. The presenters describe their corpus research into register-specific grammar. They show how traditional grammar books provide a good background to English but necessarily over-generalize.

Specific examples are provided of how the grammar of different registers really plays out in authentic contexts. These are followed by targeted exercises to help students analyze discourse and produce more appropriate English for varied contexts