Teaching simple present tense in class

Posted by Winnie Melda on March 28th, 2019

Introduction:

Teaching is regarded as a process in which a teacher passes knowledge on a given topic to students or learners. The role of a teacher is usually formal and takes place at a school or any other formal education. Teachers facilitate student learning and this objective is achieved through formal or informal approach to learning. These learning approaches include lesson plan and course study that teaches knowledge, skills, and/or thinking skills. When choosing the method to be used in teaching, a teacher should consider the students’ background knowledge, their learning goals, environment, and standardized curriculum as provided by the relevant authority. These factors affect the students understanding as well as their ability to use what they learn in class in daily language use. Non- native students may have a rough time in understanding the content of the language they are learning. Therefore, these students require special attention and more informed strategies to facilitate their learning. The teacher should develop an appropriate teaching method that would accommodate the needs of these students. A teacher is required be prepared before he or she delivers his or her service to the learners. Similarly, a teacher needs to understand the structure of the class to be able to ensure that the learners grasp the knowledge passed to them.

In most cases, the majority of language teachers put more emphasize in teaching grammar. Grammar consists of the set rules that govern the composition of clauses, words and phrases in any language. The rules studied in grammar lies under the fields of morphology, syntax, and phonology. Grammar teaching has an important role in teaching English as a Foreign Language. This is because the language use would be constrained if there were no good command of grammar. Teaching grammar involves teaching language rules which are also known as sentence patterns language rules are essential to define use and meaning of the language.

In this lesson, we will focus on the simple present. The present simple expresses an action taking place in the present either once or several times. It also gives facts in the present and also describes actions taking place one after the other and actions that are set in a timetable or a schedule.

Teaching context:

My teaching context consists of eight Asian children who have enrolled in English center for children which is a private program that assist non-English speaking students to learn how to speak and write English. These children are aged between ten and fourteen years of age and are enrolled in different primary schools in the neighborhood. Theparents of thesestudentswant them to learn how to speak and write English language as they view English to be a tool for upward mobility within the society. Though the children are attending different elementary schools, there are no inclusive programs that could assist them in learning the foreign language. The parents feel that the little they learn in school could drag their learning. The sessions take place in a rented classroom and the learning takes place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm. The class uses jump start with CNN intermediate textbook. The students do not have many resources related to the target language outside this classroom. Most of the students speak in their native language back at home and much of the movies and television they watch are aired in their native language. However, they have a local movie theater that shows English movies. In addition, thestudentshaveaccess to a library which houses English books for all levels and also they can access computer labs where they can generate information that helps them sharpen their skills.

Grammatical structure:

Grammatical structures are building blocks making up a language. The grammatical structures include words, phrases, clauses and sentences. In this session, we will learn about clauses. A clause is a set of words that include a subject and a verb. Aclause is distinguished from a phrase because it contains a subject and a verb while the phrase does not. For example, in a sentence like `John is drinking from a bowl while watching the news’, `drinking from a bowl’ is a phrase while John is drinking from a bowl is a clause. On the other hand, a clause can be part of a sentence or can be a complete sentence by itself. Clauses that make a complete sentence are said to be an independent clause as it expresses a complete thought. On the contrary, clauses that are parts of a sentence are said to be dependent clauses as they usually support a sentence and cannot have a meaningful proposition. The following are examples of independent clauses.

• Mike was jailed after he was found guilty of robbery. (Mike was jailed is an independent sentence because it stands as a lone sentence).
• Eventhough her motherused to be an English teacher, Mary failed in her English paper. (Mary failed in her English paper is an independentclause).
• Shealwaysgoes to school on foot, eventhough her father has a fleet of cars. (She alwaysgoes to school on foot is an independentclause).

From the three examples, it is evident that a sentence may not be complete if it lacks the independent clause.

Examples of dependent clauses include:

• Mike was jailed after he was found guilty of robbery. (After he was found guilty of robbery is a dependent clause).
• Eventhough her motherused to be an English teacher, Mary failed in her English paper. (Even though her motherused to be an English teacher is a dependentclause).
• Shealwaysgoes to school on foot, eventhough her fatherowns a fleet of cars (Even though her fatherowns a fleet of cars is a dependentclause)

The dependent clauses also known as subordinate clauses could be independent clauses if the opening words were removed. The opening words i.e. after and even are known as subordinating conjunctions and they turn a clause from being independent to dependent.

Usage of clauses in a sentence:

Clauses serve a number of functions in a sentence. A clause can either be a noun, an adjective or an adverb.

Noun clauses:

A noun clause is a clause that acts a noun. For example:

• Themanwhowontheracewenthome with a hundred thousand dollars. (The manwhowontherace is a nounclause).
• I have met the boy who committed suicide (the boy who committed suicide is a noun clause).

Compare the sentences above with these.

• Peter went home with hundred dollars
• I have met Christine.

The word Peter and Christine are nouns. The clauses `the man who won the race’ and the boy who committed suicide’ acts as the nouns making them noun clauses.

Adjective clauses:

An adjective clause is a clause that serves the purpose of an adjective. For example:

• Thewoman, whostabbed her husband to death, wasarrested. (The clause `whostabbed her husband to death’ playstherole of an adjective).

Compare the sentence with this:

• Thewomankillerwasarrested. (Killer is theadjective).

The adjective clause can be removed from a sentence without destroying the meaning of the sentence. This is because the adjective clauses give additional information and should be offset by commas, brackets or dashes. If a clause is safely removable from a sentence, it is referred to as non-restrictive clauses. A restrictive clause is a set of words that consist a verb and a subject and cannot be removed from the sentence since it is essential to the sentence. For example:

The woman who stabbed her husband to death was arrested. You cannot remove “who stabbed her husband to death’’ because it is not offset by commas making it essential to the sentence. Therefore, it is a restrictive clause.

Adverb clause:

An adverb clause is a set of words with a verb and subject and acts as an adverb. For example:

• Eva and I will go for dinner after attending the church service. (After attending the church service is an adverb clause). Compare the above sentence with this:
• Ava and I will go for dinner later. (Later is an adverb of place).

After attendingthechurchservice, plays the role of the adverb `later’. Therefore, it is an adverb clause. Adverb clauses can also replace other types of adverbs in a sentence. These other adverbs include adverb of reason, adverb of time, adverb of condition, adverb of concession, adverb of degree and adverb of manner. Examples of adverb clauses in the types of adverbs include:

• I will preach the gospel of God wherever I go. (Wherever I go is an adverb clause that replaces adverb of place)
  
  She acted like it was a joke. (Like it was a joke is an adverb clause replacing an adverb of time).
  
  She behaves much better than what f her elder brother behaves. (“Than what her elder brother behaves” is an adverb clause that replaces an adverb of degree).
  
  If she does not get well, she will be transferred to another hospital. (If she does not get well, is an adverb of condition clause).
  
  Although acquiring education was seen as the key to success, many learned people are poor in their entire lives. (Although acquiring education was seen as the key to success is an adverb of concession clause).
  
  Since Serena won all her games of the season, she is unbeatable. (Since Serena won all her games of the season was an adverb of reasoning clause.
  
  From the examples above, one can conclude that adverb clauses start with a subordinating conjunction, they cannot stand alone as independent sentences, and they can be removed without affecting the grammar of the sentence.
  
  Aim of the lesson:
  
  During this lesson, we will learn present simple tenses in different clauses and how they change depending on the person. Similarly, the lesson will involve learning about simple present tenses in their singulars and plurals.
  
  Teaching simple present:
  
  Simple present tense is the tense that is used when action is happening or when the action regularly happens. This tense is formed by adding –s or -es to the root form depending on the person. The persons involved, in this case, include the first person, the second person and the third person. There are two types of verbs involved in the simple present. These verbs are the regular verbs and the irregular verbs. The regular verbs are verbs that use the root form for all persons except the third person singular that ends with –s. for example:
  
  I write (first person singular)
  
  You write (second person singular)
  
  He/she/it writes (third person singular)
  
  We write (first person plural)
  
  You write (second person plural)
  
  They write (third person plural)
  
  These sentences imply that I write you write or they write on regular basis.
  
  The irregular simple present verbs are words like to be which change with each person. For example:
  
  I am (first person singular)
  
  You are (second person singular)
  
  He/she/it is (third person singular)
  
  We are (first person plural)
  
  You are (second person plural)
  
  They are (third person plural).
  
  These sentences show what is happening now.
  
  When one is teaching the present simple, the primary goal is to ensure that students understand that this tense is used to describe habits, daily activities, routines and general truths. The teaching activity will involve introducing an action like reading a book and asking the students what you are doing. They will say you are reading a book. Then introduce the present simple (first person). Tell them “I read the book every day.” the students will then make a list of what they do every day. The students should understand that these are habitual actions done either daily or on a weekly basis.
  
  After this is done, the present simple (second person singular) is introduced. I will then give a sentence like I read the book every day and the students will respond, “You read the book every day.” Afterward, the students are given a general truth and they are required to answer with a general truth about the teacher. For example:
  
  Me (teacher): “David, you live in Queens.”
  
  David (student): “you live in Queens too.”
  
  Me: “Mary, your hair is long."
  
  Mary: “your hair is short."
  
  Thenthestudents are divided into pairsand each student give the other sentences in second person singular.
  
  Similarly, introduce present simple (third person)
  
  A sentences kike “I read the book daily. Mary reads the book daily.” It is ensured that the students notice that s has been added for the third person singular. More examples are given using examples with other students before introducing the irregular verbs. Examples like “John has a dog” are given. Then, the students are required to give more examples from the information shared by their friends.
  
  The same is done for the plural persons. Students with short air are required to stand. Then I point to myself and the standing students and say, “we have short air.” Then, those with blonde hair are asked to stand, and then I say, “You have blonde hair.” Finally, those with black are asked to stand and then I say “they have black air.”
  
  This process is repeated with the present simple negatives for all persons both in singular and plural.
  
  Lesson Outline:
  
  Level of students:
  
  Children between ten to fourteen years
  
  Time:
  
  4.30 To 6.30 pm (2hours)
  
  Introduction:
  
  We will learn the usage of present simple in clauses and sentences.
  
  Guiding questions:
  
  What are present simple? How do they change from a particular person to the other? How do they change in plural and singular and in negative?
  
  Learning objectives:
  
  At the end of this lesson, the young learners should be able to use the present simple with all the three persons in both singular and plural. The students should also be able to use the present simple negatives for all persons and in both singular and plural.
  
  Materials and resources:
  
  The following materials will be needed during the lesson:
  
  Reading textbooks
  
  Writing materials such as notebooks and pens
  
  Powerpoint presentation
  
  Projector
  
  Laptop
  
  Screen
  
  Rationalefortheactivityandthe methodological choices:
  
  Tenses are important aspects of grammar. English speakers use these tenses to express time in their language. The tenses are important in every language as they indicate when certain actions take place. Tenses make communication effective and efficient as people can comprehend the message presented by the communication. The present simple helps people to comprehend communication accurately as they tell that a certain action is a habit or routine that takes place daily or after a given time of period. The present simple will help the children who are learning English as their second language to communicate effectively by comprehending the actions being explained by other as well as explaining actions in the right context. The present simple would help to lay the grammar foundation for these young learners.
  
  Contextual teaching will be used in this lesson. The contextual teaching will assist the student to relate the present simple with their daily actions. Using the examples that relate to the students activities and facts would assist them quickly to understand the present simple and how they are used in all the persons and both in plurals and singulars. This is because they can relate the present simple with their daily actions. Therefore, the contextual learning would offer an effective technique of instilling the knowledge to the young learners.
  
  Conclusion:
  
  Teaching is said to be a process in which a teacher passes knowledge on a given topic to students or learners. The role of a teacher is usually formal and takes place at a school or any other formal education. Whenmaking a decision on which method to use in teaching, a teacher should consider the students’ background knowledge, their learning goals, environment, and standardized curriculum as provided by the relevant authority. These factors affect the students understanding as well as their ability to use what they learn in class in daily language use. This calls fortheteacher to prepare adequately for the lesson and use the most appropriate method to ensure that students grasp what he or she has learned in class. Such measures are important in teaching of grammar especially to young children learning their second language. Grammar is the backbone of every language; therefore, more professionalism and accurate choice of teaching methods is necessary.
  
  

  Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in write my nursing research paper services. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from essay already written services.