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2. 1. Grammar Items

            The certain detailed questions are prepared to enlighten this “Grammar Items” part.

*What grammar items are included? Do they correspond to students’ language needs?:  The books are prepared for  young-adults & adults which are secondary school students/high school students and university students. From Elementary to Upper-Intermediate different and various grammar items are studied from simple to complex.

* Are they represented in small enough units for easy learning?: Via “Grammar Spots” with its “Grammar Reference” for students to learn in detail there are small enough units for easy learning. However there can exist  danger if it  should not be kept short; in that case students  are bored and/or confused.

As an example to that boredom case Pre-Intermediate Unit 12 should be given. 50 % of the unit is completely about “Conditionals-If Clauses”. Easy learning ? Yes! But it is “a must” to represent in small pieces for the young learners. But situation is quite different for the adult learners, they like to learn in this way as to write down certain rules and have certain combination. So it seems there is a paradox between the learners       

* Is there an emphasis on language form?: There is an emphasis on language form with;

 Grammar Spots:       These are the parts which give grammar explanations or instructions for grammar tasks. To give an example:

* Or there are some practises serving only to the knowledge of grammatical items such as the following one:

* On p.31 in Elementary level      “ Make the sentences opposite.”

Or some practises dependent on the knowledge of differentiating the right form from the wrong one. For instance:

On p.39 in Elementary Level there is a “ Tick the correct sentence” section which regularly emerges in that book. Once more example is presented below from Pre-Intermediate Level

* Is there an emphasis on language use (meaning)?: Not only on the form but also on language use there is an emphasis. It is generally provided  by means of  “Everyday English” sections by taking into account the social expressions. Therefore meaning is also one of the items on which the importance is put. Every unit in all levels has these sections; and the aim is to interact the students amoung themselves. Examples are;

*How balanced is the treatment of form and use?: Balance between form and use is successfully provided by means of  “  Grammar & Grammar Practice” sections. To give  examples from Elementary Level;

on  pp.74-5 in Elementary Level; students learn both “Comparatives and Superlatives” as language form and they produce their own sentences by expressing (using speaking skill) their own ideas on the given subject by answering the following question:

“What do you think? Tell the class.

            I think it is safer in the country, but the city is more exciting.”

   Grammar Practice with “connections”, “grammar spots”:

On p.76 in Elementary level:

 “Write the sentences again, using the correct form of have got.” 

Students needs should also kept in mind:

0n p.78  reading cultural  so it attracts attention now unknown but also Ss’ needs should be kept in mind .

on p.80 both form and use by Group Work are practised.  

       When again we look at “Everyday English”(on p.81) we see that by focusing on “prepositions”, usage is also practised, but aim tends to achieve linguistic goal rather than functional. Therefore it can be said that form is dominant although it gives place to usage. 

For the further levels form and function relation is acquired and understanding is accomplished more easily,as the reading passages supports the grammatical knowledge and carries them to the real life use and world knowledge:

 (Pp:62-67) -Pre.Intermediate- Unit 8 focuses upon “Do’s and Don’ts” and there are matching, fill in blank ..so on  exercises. Then this subject is realized and bring upon to the dailt usage in the title of “DILEMMAS”. All of the students then directs their attentions to this subject and indirectly get exposed to that new item.

* Are newly introduced items related to and contrasted with items already familiar to the learners?: Newly introduced items & familiar items are studied together as it is in the following example:

on p.66 in Elementary level       “Do you like…? / Would you like … ?” are studied together.

Here “Would you like…?” is the newly introduced item whereas “Do you like…?” is the familiar item for students since it was studied before.

Another example comes out from the Intermediate Level Unit 10. The Subject is the teaching of “Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous Tenses”. While the students are having some more practice they are to remember the “Passives”;

a) x has finally passed x                                      c) x have been answered x  (passive)

b) x haven’t seen x                                               d) x has been celebrating x

* Where one grammatical form has more than one meaning, are all relevant meanings taught? 

Not generally all the functions of one grammatical item are studied at the same time. To give an example, it can be useful to have a look at Unit 6 in Elementary Level. In this unit, “Can” is studied with an ability form of it and the “request” function of it is not mentioned in the same part. However in “Everyday “English” section with “On the phone” topic request is also studied even the emphasis in this unit is given to the ability function.

            Another example to claim that there is not an aim to teach the relevant meanings and usages is “must”. As “must” has two functions one of which is being used for obligation and the other is probability. Intermediate Level Unit 4 is presenting only modals-obligation- and on page 147 though there is a matching between “have to” and “must” it is not mentioned about the usage of “must” for probability ( It is in the Unit 9 ).

2.1.       Vocabulary

One of the main points that the producers realized is the importance of the “vocabulary” whilst learning a foreign language. Therefore the users of “New Headway Series” are very chanceful. In each unit there is a separate part focused on “Vocabulary” teaching. During the search it is realised that in all New Headway series, there is a very strong lexical syllabus, there are at least 2 vocabulary exercises in every unit. Another important point is that vocabulary and pronunciation elements are not so much seperated and moreover there is a correlation between the usage of the grammatical item thought and vocabulary.

             For the teaching of vocabulary there seems three approaches that are adopted;

1) New words are presented in a lexical set such as weather, sports, clothing;

 2) Encouraging good vocabulary learning habits;

The students are tempted to use dictionaries; motivated and directed to have notebooks in order to write down the words -even the expressions- they come across; prompted to write diaries to make their passive vocabulary active and to be more fluent.

On p.42 Intermediate Level, there is a piece from a dictionary to show the students how dictionary is used can be given as a single example to that study and aim.

3) Working on the systems of vocabulary such as synonyms, homonyms,multi-word verbs etc;

 Is vocabulary learning material included in its own right?

 *How much vocabulary is taught?

*Is there any principled basis for selection of vocabulary?

*Any distinction between active and passive vocabulary or classroom vocabulary?  In reading passages generally passive vocabulary  also emerges. But in especially Vocabulary section and Everyday English or Post Script sections active vocabulary is chosen which is closely related with everyday use.

 Class Vocabulary is  not purposed to be taught. All kinds of situations are regarded .

*Presented in a structured, purposeful way ?

*Are learners sensitized to the structure of the lexicon through vocabulary learning exercises based on:

-semantic relationships:

-formal relationships:

-collocations:

-situation-based groups:

*Does the material enable students to expand their own vocabularies independently by helping them to develop their own learning strategies?: This is provided with Vocabulary and Pronunciation part. To give an example:

on p.42 in Intermediate level, There is a part showing way/s to students to form a new word. It does this by showing the difference between  “verb and noun”, “adjective and noun”. A students who knows the verb form can form another word buy constructing its noun form such as:

verb                            noun

behave                         behaviour

arrange            arrangement

                        or

noun                            adjective

difficulty                       difficult

foreigner                      foreign

Students can make this table after being presented with the rules and examples of forming such words.

2.2.       Phonology

 This part is presented to the students integrated  with “Vocabulary” sections. To give an example:

0n p.87-8 in Elementary           Vocabulary Teaching  is related with the song listened previously. (Real & authentic voc.)( see appendix**** to see the song and vocabulary that are aimed to be taught)

 *How thoroughly and systematically are each of the following aspects of the phonological system covered:

-articulation of individual sounds :

-word stress: It gives place to such practise. For instance;

on p.103 in Intermediate New Headway there is an instruction as,

“Listen to the words. Where is the stress?”. As it is seen students are made to find where the stress of the words are taking place.

-weak forms

-sentence stress

-intonation

*Is the emphasis on areas of pronunciation that are important to meet learners’ needs and help avoid misunderstandings?

Teacher’s book ıntermediate

 *Is the pronounciation work built on to the other types of work , such as listening , dialogue practice,etc. or does it stand seperately?

It is studied together with  Vocabulary; no separate Phonology teaching occurs.

e.g. on p.59 of Intermediate New Headway, there is a “Vocabulary and Pronounciation” part which aims to teach the words that go together. After studying these words, students are confronted with the following instruction which shows an example of the parallelism between Vocabulary and Pronunciation teaching:

“Listen and Check your answers. Work with a partner and practise saying some of the dialogues, paying particular attention to the intonation.

(see appendix *** to get more detailed idea)

However in work books, Pronunciation is studied apart from vocabulary. To give an example;

On p.9 in Intermediate Workbook, phonetic transcription is given and students are made to write the word next to them.( see appendix ****to see the examples of such an activity)

*Is the phonemic alphabet used? If so, are students given any training in learning it?: Even it is not seen in every level of New Headway books, it is possible to see the examples of such activity in Elementary level:

on p. 58 again in “Vocabulary and Pronunciation” part, it is seen that the phonemic alphabet together with the vocabulary is given.(see appendix***)

*Does the material use a diagrammatic system to show stress and intonation? No diagramic system is found.

* Are there cassettes for pronunciation practice?: Every level has their cassettes in parallel with the book.  

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