Saturday Seminar Series 2020/2021 (Sem II) - Cohort 4

The first session will focus on the principles and concepts underpinning approaches to teaching grammar in context. The session will also include hands-on strategies of how the concepts can be applied to the Hong Kong teaching classroom. The first strategy introduced is “Sequencing” which emphasizes how the sequence of elements in a text can alter the meaning of that text.

The second session will introduce the participants to strategies that focus on how grammar makes meaning in texts. “Building up Texts” will give participants hands-on exploration of how grammar is more than only forms or rules. Similarly, in the strategy, “Creating Context” participants will create contexts that extend beyond the sentence level to make meaning, facilitating communication and comprehension.

The strategies included in this session include those that can be used in a broader Language Arts context, making grammar learning more authentic and interesting. These strategies include the “Dictogloss”; how songs can be used to teach language; and other language arts related strategies.

In this session participants will experience strategies that focus on how meaning will be altered if grammar elements are either crossed out or added into a text. A “compare/contrast” strategy will also be introduced which highlights how changes in choices of grammatical form will in turn change intended meaning.

The final session will include a variety of language games and activities with the emphasis on participation. Students learn language through active engagement in making meaning in context, and in this session teachers will experience some of these principles themselves. The session will also give time for participants to showcase their own ideas and how they may apply the strategies from the seminar to their own diverse teaching contexts.