English 205 - Communicative Grammar and Phonetics

Comprehensive Exam
July 23, 2021

SECTION 1 – GRAMMAR

A. Subject-Verb and Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

is

is

is he or she
 patients

they

these

patients

have

his or her

B. Prepositions *when would be enough to

connect the clauses

“In” should be omitted and “which should be

used to connect the two clauses

to

In

in
“In” is correct but “which
were” should be omitted.
 for school

at school

which

In

C. Parallelism

..minerals also originate, grow, and alter.

..and high temperatures (from100-1300C). *can’t type the symbol

result

.., saturated with gas and water vapor.

…of different silicates and oxides.

move …and forming new compounds

SECTION 2 – ESSAY

Structuralism is based on the idea that there is an underlying structure in every

language and its proponent, Ferdinand de Sausseure, believe that knowing these
structures and its underlying components would enable us to understand it. Language
is composed of underlying structure: Everything we hear, read, write and listen has
structure and identifying these would enable to fully grasp a language, create meaning
out of it and understand other languages with the same structure.
A best example of this would be teaching grammar which is an essential part of
language learning. When teaching grammar, before its usage, we have to introduce
structure of a grammar concept first and ask students to create similar structure. Say
when we are teaching sentence structure, we introduce S-V or S-V-O first, then proceed
to asking students to create sentences with the patterns.
Following the patterns would enable students to create and understand
comprehensive writings or utterances which will eventually lead them to becoming
better users of a language.

I am a believer of Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory; I believe that

learners have different skills and abilities of which should be acknowledged by
educators. As we have different multiple intelligences, we also have different
preferences in learning, some students are visual learners – they learn better when
through pictures and other written forms, while others might be kinesthetic learners –
hence they understand better when presentation concepts are paired with physical
activities. With this, I believe that there is no best approach to teaching grammar. The
approach educators should utilize in the classroom must be based varying needs and
abilities.
Our learners’ varying needs did not stop linguists from proposing approaches
that would assist teachers in grammar lessons and among those the Inductive and
Deductive Approaches are most common. In presenting concepts using the Deductive
Approach, teachers would first present grammar rules, give students examples for
students’ deeper understanding, and ask students to create their own examples to
check comprehension. This approach can save teachers time but would not develop
students critical thinking skills as rules will be spoon-fed by the teacher. The Inductive
Approach opposes the prior as examples are given first before students are asked to
create meaning and rules based on the given examples. This could consume too much
time as analyzing concepts are not easy feat. However, this would promote a deeper
understanding of the concepts as in Bloom’s Taxonomy, creating is the highest form of
learning.
The table below would further explain these approaches:

A Language Lesson on Adjectives for Grade 2

Inductive Approach Deductive Approach
1. Show pictures to students and write 1. Define adjectives and its uses
descriptive words below them. 2. Show pictures to students and write
2. Give more example of phrases and descriptive words below them
sentences. 3. Give more example of phrases and
3. Let students define adjectives and sentences.
create rules on its usage based on the 4. Activities that would enable them to
given examples. sue adjectives
4. Activities that would enable them to
sue adjectives

There is no perfect approach to teaching grammar, hence, it is our duty to assess

our students to be able to apply the appropriate approach in the classroom.
 Natural Approach claims that language is learned naturally and we eventually
develop the ability to communicate as we interact with the people around us. This
approach is rooted in Krashen’s Language Acquisition Theory which states that
language is innate – it is inborn. We have this natural ability to learn a language without
undergoing formal language instructions in a classroom. Applying it in the classroom,
teachers must not impose or create limitations as to have students understand grammar
concepts, instead they should let the students process concepts naturally and wait for
them until they are ready to produce and create meaning from the concept. Moreover, it
sees learners as a whole and does not acknowledge student varying learning needs.
Eclectic Approach, on the other hand, is a of two or more approaches in
implementing grammar lessons. It recognizes students’ varying levels and needs, so
educators would therefore apply various strategies and methods that would be suitable
for students.

Grammar is an integral part of an English lesson. One of the main reasons

why English is part of a curriculum is to develop students’ communicative
competence, and to achieve that one should be able to organize his or his thoughts
properly with the correct grammar. With the numerous theories and approaches
introduced over the years, we can definitely create lessons plan that would be highly
suitable to our students’ varying needs.
There are two common approaches which are adapted in teaching grammar,
namely the inductive and the deductive approach. I prefer using the inductive
approach in making grammar lesson plans, thus, presenting students with various
examples and patterns, then letting them conceptualize each and create meaning
and grammar rules out of materials given. This approach might be time-consuming
 but it would develop student’s high retention of the concepts as they themselves
create meaning form the context. This could create misconceptions of the grammar
rules but I could definitely guide them upon the implementation of the lesson.
Moreover, the Three-Dimensional Model (Form-Meaning-Use) is highly
effective in teaching grammar, hence, this should be incorporated in implementing
grammar lessons in the classroom. Say, if you are teaching the modal verb “may,”
you must start by presenting its form (may + base for of the verb), then its meaning (it
is a modal verb used to ask/give permission), and lastly its use (when asking
permission to go to the toilet during a class -May I excuse myself). Using this model
in inductive approach, would make grammar lessons more relevant more to the
students, thus would result to higher retention of the grammar concept taught.

Writing is one of the four macro-skills that students should masters to be able to
become a competent language user. Writing is utilized in almost all aspects of our life –
applying for work, reading announcement on the streets, etc. Herewith, it is highly
important the assess students’ writing and introduce to them its process. Knowing the
process would enable them to organize their ideas better. Proper organization of ideas
would help in the comprehensibility of the text and would promote smooth
communication which is the primary purpose of learning a language.

By: Myla Mae C. Andicoy