Page 38 - ELG2503 March Issue 493

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RESOURCES

A match made in heaven

Teacher Terry McLean explains how he teaches sentence structure

through thought groups and writing.
T eacher: OK, let’s get into groups and

talk about wedding traditions around
the world.

Class: Great! Well, in Morocco, we…
Really? In Colombia, the bride wears…

And so goes a consistently successful group
discussion activity in my advanced EAL
speaking classes, especially ones in which
there are mature students from around the
world. I am sure that most teachers find
that students participate with more vigour
when they can relate to or identify with
certain personal topics, weddings being a
great one.
Getting students to talk about cultural
traditions has never been a problem for me;
however, what has been tricky is getting
students to think about their use of language
as they talk.
Usually, when sharing a memory of
attending a wedding or participating in a
ritual, students focus more on the story and
less on fluency. Indeed, it is not easy to spark
interest in the use of meta-language during a
group activity.
This is when I introduce the importance they are able to tell more personal stories in on notes rather than on complete sentences
of remembering our writing lessons when groups in a more natural way. in the future.
we communicate in the speaking ones. So, as I teach about prepositional phrases In addition, if the students have an interest
Yes, learning about phrases, clauses, and (on the table), dependent clauses (after I ate in music, this writing/speaking connection can
punctuation can help students improve dinner), and introductory phrases (ten years be reinforced with songs and lyrics. This ‘Voice
their speaking skills, which can also increase ago), I also emphasise how these are chunks of American – Learning English interview’
motivation to pay more attention in of language that carry meaning and that the provides a good example of the Beatles’ Can’t
writing class. pauses around them help the listener follow Buy Me Love. Students generally enjoy the
The is not a novel idea for teachers; the story. You can find a short lesson I use in opportunity to have a bit of fun in class, and
however, some students could benefit from a relation to this here. getting them to look at lyrics and poems can
reminder of the connection. One particularly successful activity involves turn into an enjoyable experience that melds
For me, there is no more enjoyable lesson having the students write a short paragraph speaking and writing skills.
than one in which I am waxing poetic about about a wedding that they have attended Indeed, for the musically inclined teacher
sentence structure; for many students, (or a vacation taken). (not me), karaoke in the classroom could be
however, this can be like watching paint dry I first teach about titles, topic sentences, just what the doctor ordered.
or sitting through a root canal. supporting details, and concluding Of course, I realize that speaking and
Nevertheless, I try to make writing classes sentences. Hopefully, the students will then writing are different animals; however, they
interesting, and this can effectively be done employ a variety of sentence types and cannot be entirely separated in the classroom.
by linking them to speaking activities. include vivid descriptions of people, food, From my experience, students tend to be
I attempt to show students how knowledge and atmosphere. more eager to participate in stimulating
of the pieces of sentences can help them After giving feedback on their writing, activities, and by introducing writing skills
communicate more clearly and effectively. I can then transition to a group speaking in a communicative way, I can parlay that
The most beneficial strategy for me has been activity in which the students share their eagerness into a great consolidation of
emphasizing thought groups—or ‘chunking’. stories with the encouragement to adlib language skills, both written and spoken.
Thought groups are groups of words that as they talk. That is, they should tell their So, should anyone know of any reason that
have a single thought or idea. For example, stories with stress and intonation as they add this couple should not be joined, speak now or
in the following sentence, there are three more details and what they had written as a forever hold your peace.
thought groups: general guide.
In this way, the students can practice Terence (Terry) McLean teaches English as
‘I ate breakfast in the kitchen with my cat.’ their speaking skills while paying attention an Additional Language (EAL) at MacEwan
to the phrases, clauses, and punctuation
After studying sentence structure, my students in their writing. Students who have University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
are able to parse utterances like this, and when difficulty speaking can start out by reading a A selection of his published writing can be
they learn how to use rhythm and pauses, then paragraph with the goal of moving to relying found here.
38 March 2025