Malcolm Mann: Effective ways of teaching grammar and vocabulary for the Russian State exams

Effective ways of
teaching grammar and
vocabulary for the
Russian State Exams
March 2015

blurb
In this session, we'll explore what different kinds
of grammar and vocabulary are explicitly tested
in the GIA and EGE exams.
We'll look at some of the more effective ways to
prepare students for the 'use of English' aspect
of the exams and develop their grammatical,
lexical and lexico-grammatical skills.
We'll also ask the question: does developing
these skills inevitably have to be dry and boring,
or can we bring some fun and enjoyment into
our grammar and vocabulary work?

title
Effective ways of teaching
grammar and vocabulary for
the Russian State Exams

alternative title
Teaching grammar and
vocabulary systematically for
the Russian State Exams –
what’s the point?

PowerPoint slides
There’s no point writing everything down.
PDFs available on Macmillan Russia website.
You don’t even need a ball***** pen!
At this ***** , …

Russian State Exams – use of English tasks
Grammar
transformation
Word formation Gap fill – 4-option
multiple choice
GIA 1 text – 9 items
A1+ to A2
1 text – 6 items
A1+ to A2
-------
EGE 2 texts – 7
items (usually
one narrative,
one factual)
A2-B1
1 text – 6 items
B1 to B1+
1 text – 7 items
B1+ to B2

Grammar transformation
* pronoun change (I to MY/ME/MINE/MYSELF)
* tense change (THINK to THOUGHT, HAVE to HAD)
* person change (HAVE to HAS)
* regular or irregular comparatives and superlatives
(STRANGE to STRANGEST, BAD to WORST)
* modal changes (CAN to COULD)
* cardinal to ordinal numbers
(ONE to FIRST, TWO to SECOND)
* irregular plurals
(MOUSE to MICE, TOOTH to TEETH)
Based on the grammar syllabus for the level
(provided by Ministry of Education in a bullet ….)

Word formation
X irregular plurals
X tense changes (eg past simple /
past participles)
✓ Ministry specifies acceptable
word formation types at each level

GIA word formation
Verb affixes:
re-, dis-, mis-, -ize/ise
Noun affixes:
-er/or, -ness, -ist, -ship, -ing, -sion/tion, -ance/
ence, -ment, -ity
Adjective affixes:
-y, -ic, -ful, -al, -ly, -ian/an, -ing, -ous, -ible/
able, -less, -ive, inter-, un-, in-/im-
Adverb suffix:
-ly
Number suffixes:
-teen, -ty, -th

EGE 3rd task
X Straight/traditional grammar
Example: It would never test a
verb in 4 different tenses.

EGE 3rd task
Lexis and lexico-grammar
Confusable words
The scoring system of tennis is
complicated, but basically a
player is trying to get more ___
than his/her opponent.
A goals B tries C runs D ???

EGE 3rd task
Collocations
The focal ___ of the room is a big
painting on the wall.
A spot B mark C place D ???

EGE 3rd task
Patterns (colligations)
There’s no ___ in asking Don. He
won’t know!
A reason B idea C aim D ???
Compare: It’s pointless asking…

EGE 3rd task
Prepositional phrases
Stop waffling! Get ___ the point!
A on B to C at D in

EGE 3rd task
Other phrases, expressions, idioms
We’ve ____ the point of no return.
A arrived B achieved
C reached D made

EGE 3rd task
Phrasal verbs
I’d just like to ____ out that you’ve
made a mistake.
A state B tell
C mention D ???

Key principles - 1
We cannot just do exam practice.
Exam practice doesn’t develop
grammar, lexis and lexico-
grammar systematically.
In the years before the exam, we
have to make a p**** of developing
grammar, lexis and lexico-grammar
systematically and methodically.

Controlled exam
practice as
consolidation

Key principles - 2
Teaching is not the same as testing.

•  Focus on
students’ existing
knowledge and
skills
•  Students work
individually
•  Silence
•  No teacher input
•  Boring!
Testing
•  Focus on increasing
students’ knowledge
and skills
•  Students can work
together
•  Lively atmosphere
•  Teacher input
•  Fun and motivating!
Teaching

Key principles - 2
Teaching is not the same as testing.
e.g. phrasal verbs
Testing: fine to contrast 4 verbs
with ‘set’ or ‘get’ or ‘take’ etc
Teaching: not a good idea to group
phrasal verbs by main verb
See my ‘Phrasal verbs’ webinar for more info.

Top Tip
Allow – and encourage! – students in
the classroom (and at home) to refer
to reference materials if required.

Exam practice
Task-based language and exam
skills development (non-
systematic)
í î
Pre-task Post-task

EGE gap-fill pre-task
Could also be done post-task instead (before or
after going through the answers to the exam
practice task).

Exam practice
Task-based language and
exam skills development
* Understanding gist
* Understanding text logic
* Gap analysis
* Analysing textual clues
* Suggesting possible correct/incorrect
answers for gaps
* Giving clues regarding the gaps/answers
* Language development (eg irregular
plurals, negative prefixes, collocations,
patterns, etc)
Etc etc etc…

Exam practice – Top Tip
Students read the text quickly in order to get
a general understanding. Test their
understanding in a variety of fun ways.
Example 1: You read out a short summary,
containing factual mistakes. Every time there’s
a mistake, they shout out the correction.
Teacher: It’s about a film called ‘Game Point’…
Students: ‘Match Point’!

They read the text quickly in order to get a
general understanding. Test their
understanding in a variety of fun ways.
Example 2: The students come up with a summary.
Each student can only say three words.
Student 1: It’s about a…
Student 2: kind of dog…
Student 3: called an English…
Student 4: Pointer. … etc

Vary the way you do this:
“No, I will not tell you the answer,” she said
_____. POINT
POEYDINTL
Anagram

_____. POINT
(9 letters)
How many letters

_____. POINT
Easier: PNTDLY
More difficult: OIE
Only consonants or vowels

In the exam, they’re on their own –
with no help or guidance from the
teacher or materials.
Question:
If a student does badly in one or
more of these GIA/EGE tasks, what
have they probably done wrong?
In the actual exam

Fundamental exam skills for
GIA/EGE use of English tasks
Quickly read the text to get a
general understanding before
you try to fill any gaps.

Do the easiest ones first
– the ones you're
absolutely sure about.

Don't leave any blanks.
You don't get any points for
a blank answer.

Make an educated guess even if you
aren't sure. Look for clues. Ask
yourself key questions about:
* text logic (are we talking about
something positive or negative?)
* surrounding text (if I need a
comparative, where's than?).

With EGE multiple choice gap fill,
don’t chose an option ‘randomly’.
Discard the obviously wrong ones.
Ask sensible questions about each of
the remaining options to make an
‘educated’ guess.

When you've filled every gap,
read through the whole text
again inserting the answers.
Does it sound right? Does it
make sense?
If not, think further about
answers that are clearly wrong.

Be very careful
transferring answers
to the answer sheet.

Key principles - 3
The more we can get students to
understand the fundamental
principles behind the language, the
better they’ll be able to make an
educated guess if they’re not sure
of the answer (particularly in EGE
gap-fill task).
See my ‘Metaphor’ and ‘Phrasal verbs’ webinars
for more info.

Example of a fundamental principle
up = positive (emotion)
down = negative (emotion)
Feel down (in the dumps)
Feel high (as a kite)
Under the weather
Down and out
Things are on the up
Do up a house

Rebus
me
.
you
.
before
after
youme
. .

PDF of all the slides
Macmillan Russia
website

Malcolm Mann: Effective ways of teaching grammar and vocabulary for the Russian State exams

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