M03 — Teach grammar and functions
Grammar and functions
Module outcome: explain and practise language accurately in context. Meaning first, form second, and checks that do not need language harder than the thing being checked.
Prerequisite: a lesson context from M02. Planned module budget: about 16 of the 200 activity hours. Built today: nothing complete. One outline page exists; the four units below are specifications.
M03-U01 · Explain meaning in context
Specification. An outline page exists; the full unit is not built yet. Treat the outline as a preview, not a lesson.
Planned content: analyse a sentence within a message, identify its intended meaning before naming form, and supply meaning checks that do not require more difficult language than the target. Evidence to keep: a meaning explanation, checks, and a message with contrasting examples.
M03-U02 · Notice grammar across a text
Specification. The unit page does not exist yet.
Planned content: track pronouns, tense and linking relations, and explain how they hold a text together. Evidence to keep: a reference-chain annotation and a repaired paragraph.
M03-U03 · Teach functions for readers
Specification. The unit page does not exist yet.
Planned content: compare requests, explanations and clarification; preserve purpose while changing register. Evidence to keep: two audience-specific messages and a request ladder with context.
M03-U04 · Move from control to transfer
Specification. The unit page does not exist yet.
Planned content: use focused practice after diagnosis, then check the target in a different writing or speaking task. Evidence to keep: a delayed transfer sample, a practice item and a new scenario.
Game · Grammar auction
Teams of three or four, ten sentence slips, 100 points per team, 15 minutes. Half the sentences are correct; half carry the errors francophone adults actually make: “I am here since March”, “She explained me the problem”, “We discussed about the offer”. Teams inspect the sentences, then bid for the ones they believe are correct. Reveal after the last lot: a correct sentence pays double the bid, an error costs it. Then each team repairs the errors it bought.
The auction forces a judgement before a correction, which is exactly the U01 skill: decide what a sentence means and whether it works, in context, before touching its form. Trainee note: the sentences the team buys wrongly are the ones to teach, because they are the ones the team could not see.
Format adapted from sentence-auction activities in Grammar Games and Activities for Teachers (Peter Watcyn-Jones).
Play it now: sentence auction
You have 100 points. Ten sentences go up for sale, one by one. Half are correct; half carry the errors francophone adults actually make. Bid on the sentences you believe are correct. A correct sentence pays you back your bid; an error costs you the bid and goes to your repair list. No timer: judgement before correction is the whole point.
The team version with paper slips is above.
Answer key for this round
Interactive version built for this course; format adapted from the sentence-auction genre attributed on this page.
How to work through this module
Nothing here is a built unit yet. Use the four specifications as your teaching checklists now: context before form, meaning checks no harder than the target, functions for real readers, and a transfer task after every practice round. The auction works today with any class at A2 or above.
Sources and review status
Source anchors C1, D2 and D6 in the evidence register. No source certifies this module. Educator review pending. Corrections go to the contact page.
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