1. Introductory Text as a Motivational Tool
in Teaching Grammar
based on the analysis of the dialogue from “Discover the
Grammar”, Unite 8, “Past Progressive Tense”, Keith Folse’
(2012) Clear Grammar 2. Michigan: Michigan University Press.
The issue of motivation is still problematic and widely
discussed in teaching second language.
Natalia Reilly
UCF MATESOL
2012
according to Guilloteaux and Dornyei (2008)

2. Some of the problems are:
 The diversity of interpretation of motivational
techniques
 The lack of theoretical support for the motivational
strategies and techniques
 The lack of specific ways by which motivational
strategies and techniques can be used with students
or can be taught to teachers
( Guilloteaux and Dornyei, 2008)

3. Problems & Suggestions for Solutions
 The diversity of interpretation of motivational
techniques
 The lack of theoretical support for the motivational
strategies and techniques
 The lack of specific ways by which motivational
strategies and techniques can be used with students
or can be taught to teachers
 The parse, analysis, and synthesis of a motivational
introductory text actively involving students into the
learning process
 Inductive method, creativity theory, and Vygotsky’s
socio-cultural theory to support the
motivational value of the introductory text

4. The introductory text here is the plausibly casual
and engaging yet carefully structured dialogue.
The text is:
 loaded with target syntax
 modeling real life situations
 drawing students’ attention
Thus, in Clear Grammar 2, the Unit 8 “Past Progressive
Tense” begins with the section “Discover the Grammar”
where the dialogue of 21 lines is presented, and students
are asked to read it and then to answer several questions
(Folse, 208-209). The dialogue occurs between two
friends Kay and Liz.
The Introductory Text & its Qualities

5. Kay: So, Liz, did you have a good time on vacation?
Liz: Oh, yes! I went to Vancouver, Canada. And
guess what? I saw Brad Pitt there!
Simple Past
Usage
Usage
actions
completed
in the past
Do we see past progressive here? NO
colloquialism

6. Kay: Are you serious? Brad Pitt was in Vancouver? What
was he doing there? Was he making a movie?
Liz: I don’t know. No one was filming or acting.
Past Progressive
1) in simple sentences
2) in interrogative form
3) dropped final -e
Usage
Usage
actions going on at
a certain time in
the past
4) was as main & auxiliary

7. Kay: So what was he doing?
Liz: When I saw him he was shopping.
Past Progressive
1) in compound sentences
2) in complex sentence
Kay: Shopping?
Liz: Yes, he was with his children and they were shopping.
Kay: What were they shopping for? Sports cars? Designer watches?
Liz: No, they were buying some cheap t-shirts. I was looking at
some shoes, and I just looked over, and there he was!
compound
complex
compound
3) doubled final consonant
Usage
Usage
actions going on in the
past were interrupted by
‘simple past’—another
action in the past
4) colloquialisms
5) was/was/were main/auxilliary/singl/pl
Usage
Usage
actions going on at
a certain time in
the past

8. Past Progressive
Kay: And … you’re sure it was Brad Pitt?
Liz: Oh, yes. I was reading a magazine article last week I went to
have my hair cut, so I saw some recent photos of him. The man
who was shopping looked exactly the same.
Kay: Well, if you are sure.
Liz: Oh, I am. It’s funny because I was dreaming about him
all summer after I saw his last movie. Then I actually
got to see him! I’m so lucky!
Kay: Yes, you are.
1) in ‘double’ complex sentences
complex
complex
2) in an adjective
clause
3) colloquialisms
Usage
Usage
actions going on at
a certain time in
the past
The Result:
Students begin to
see the PP pattern
Usage
actions going on in the
past were interrupted by
‘simple past’—another
action in the past

9. Also the humor of the situation, when the superstar
is caught in the process of buying cheep t-shirts, is
a motivational component stimulating learning.
One of the functions of humor is motivational; as
Bell (2011) quotes Martin (2007), humor possesses
“cognitive and social benefits of the positive
emotion of mirth” (p. 145).

10. Exercises The Result:
the PP pattern
becomes clear

11. Grammar Rules
More exercises
follow
The Result:
the active usage of
the PP pattern
The Final Result:
the fluent usage of
the PP pattern

12. Motivation Orientation of Language Teaching (MOLT)
Let’s see how the
introductory text
fulfills the criteria of
motivation
Teacherdiscourse

13. Asking the class questions to which the teacher
does not already know the answer, including the
questions about the students’ lives.
 Referential Questions
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

14. Offering students a choice of activities, involving
them in making decisions regarding the timing of
an activity, having them use the internet or do
research (e.g. for oral presentations, projects, and
displays).
 Promoting Autonomy
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

15. Setting up a cooperative learning activity, or
explicitly encouraging students to help one another,
offering suggestions on how best to do this.
 Promoting Cooperation
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

16. Providing appropriate strategies and / or models to
help students complete an activity successfully
(e.g. the teacher thinks aloud while demonstrating,
reminds students of previously learned knowledge
or skills that will help them complete the activity,
or has the class brainstorm a list of strategies to
carry out the activity.
 Scaffolding
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

17. During the presentation of an activity, raising the
students’ expectations that the upcoming activity is
going to be interesting and/ or important (e.g. by
asking them to guess what they are going to do next,
or by pointing out fun, challenging, or important
aspects of the activity or contents to be learned.
 Arousing Curiosity or Attention
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

18. Promoting contact with L2 speakers and cultural
products and encouraging students to explore the
L2 culture and community.
 Promoting Integrative Values
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

19. Connecting what has to be learned to the students’
everyday lives (e.g., giving grammatical examples
with references to pop stars).
 Establishing Relevance
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

20. While presenting an activity, mentioning its
communicative purpose, its usefulness outside the
classroom, its cross-curricular utility, or the way it fits
into the sequence of activities planned for the lesson.
 Stating Communicative Purpose or
Utility of the Activity
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

21. Stating the lesson objectives explicitly or giving
retrospective summaries of progress already made
toward realizing the objectives.
 Signposting
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

22. Having an informal (often humorous) chat with the
students on matters unrelated to the lesson.
 Social Chat
(Guilloteaux, Dornyei, 2008, p. 63)

23. Theory-Based Framework
 The inductive method in teaching grammar
 The Vygotsky’s socio-cultural / cognitive theory
 The theory of creativity

24. Inductive Method in Teaching Grammar
In traditional (Deductive Method)
grammar rules are
introduced first
In Inductive Method text w/target syntax is introduced first
Disadvantage: Students might be bored,
discouraged & alienated from
the learning
Advantage:
Students might be stimulated and
interactively involved into
collaboration
The text should be:
 loaded with target syntax
 modeling real life situations
 drawing students’ attention
Inductive Method is the inference of general laws (grammar rules)
from practical instances

25.  Theory of Creativity
Inductive Method
means synthesis, -- the combination of ideas
to form a theory or system
Creativity
means “bringing something new into being”
(May, p. 39)
Inductive Method is the inference of general laws (grammar rules)
from practical instances
Stages of Creative Process:
 Encounter subject-object
 Chaos
 Creation of a new form

26.  Theory of Creativity
Stages of Creative Process:
 Encounter subject-object
 Chaos
 Creation of a new form
According to Rollo May, “Creativity occurs on an act of encounter
and is to be understood with this encounter as its center”
(May, 1975, p.77).
Also, according to the same author, “One distinguishing
characteristic of the encounter is the degree of intensity, a quality of
commitment” (May, 1975, p.87).
students-text
grammar rules

27.  Vygotsky’s SocioculturalTheory (Interest in the Task)
Functions of Scaffolding:
 Recruiting interest in the task
 Maintaining pursuit of the goal
 Marking critical features
 Demonstrating an idealized version
Scaffolding “is the process of supportive dialogue which directs the
attention of the learners to key features of the environment, and
which prompts them through successive steps of a problem” (Wood,
1976, as quoted in Mitchell & Myles, 2004, p.197).

28.  Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (What Causes
Learning)
Zone of Proximate Development – the zone where learning occurs.
The learning is impossible without students’ active social
interaction because the ZPD is an open system – teachers are not
supposed to establish “a glass ceiling”.
According to Nassaji and Swain, 2000, the ZPD is “not a fixed trait
of the learner but an emergent and open-ended one that unfolds
through interaction and expands the potential for learning by
providing opportunities which were not anticipated in the first
place” (p. 36).
Well-designed introductory text gives students a lot of opportunity
to freely and creatively express themselves and contribute into
social interaction which causes learning.

29.  Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (Role of Written Text)
In the ZDP the new knowledge emerges not only in peer-peer or
teacher-pupil collaborative interaction, but also in human being –
written text interaction. According to Vygotsky, a written text is
one of the symbolic socio-cultural mediating tools.
How the processes of interaction and scaffolded help occur via
communication with a written source is explained by the post-
modern notion, “One of the consequences of the post-modernist
movement … is the recognition of the possibility that meaning does
not reside in texts per se, but is created through some type of
reader-text interaction” (Appel & Lantolf, 1994, p. 449).
Well-designed introductory text creates the sociocultural
collaborations: Teacher-student
 Peer-peer
 Student-written text
 Teacher-written text

30. The creative process of analysis and
synthesis of a grammatically structured,
vivid, and humorous text awakens
students’ curiosity, immerses them into a
state of affairs modeling real life, and
makes students aware of the syntax – from
simpler to more complicated structures –
through the portrayed situation.
Conclusion