Foundations Grammar 1.

Level

            Foundations: Grammar 1 is designed to meet the needs of lower-level- EFL classes. While the introduction of structures and vocabulary is directed toward the elementary-level students in the first part of the book, it also can be used with lower-intermediate students as a quick review and expansion of structure usage.

          Foundations: Grammar 1 is the first in a series of three EFL grammar books. The second in the series is Foundations: Grammar 2, which is directed toward lower-intermediate and intermediate students. The third one is for upper intermediate through advanced students.

Presentation of Grammar

Each unit is organized around a group of related structures and usages. The book is designed to be taught in the order in which it is presented; structures and vocabulary in earlier units serve as the basis for material in later units. However, if your class is lower-intermediate rather than beginning/elementary, you may wish to change the order of presentation somewhat to suit the needs of your students and your purposes.

Grammar receiving major emphasis is presented in charts consisting of examples accompanied by explanations. The examples are designed to be almost self-explanatory. The explanations are simplified as much as possible, with a minimum of terminology. Still, the students may not be able to grasp some parts of the charts by themselves at first. The charts are designed to be used as a springboard in class. You may wish to discuss your own examples drawn from the immediate classroom context and relate them to the examples in the book as preparation for usage exercises. At times you may wish to delve into a usage exercise immediately, discuss form and meaning during the course of the exercise, and then return to a chart for the purpose of making certain generalizations.

The grammar charts serve various functions for various students. Some students devour the charts, while others pay little or no mind, depending upon their learning strategies. Some students need to gain initial understanding from the charts before risking use, while others freely risk anything during usage exercises and refer to the charts only incidentally. In any case, the charts are not intended to be “learned” as an out-of-class homework assignment. A chart is only a starting point and a later reference source.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary development is an integral part of the development of structure usage ability. Vocabulary is introduced and reinforced regularly. At times you will find it necessary to spend time in class discussing new vocabulary during exercises. The introduction of vocabulary is controlled so that it can easily be handled in the classroom and so that students should not have to spend a great deal of time at home looking up words in their dictionaries. Some exercises are specifically designed to enhance vocabulary acquisition while the students are practicing structure usage. For this reason, many exercises are accompanied by pictures/illustration to facilitate teaching/learning vocabulary.

Exercises

The objective of the exercises is to get students talking about themselves – their activities, their ideas, their environment – as soon as possible, using the target structures. In general, the exercises in any given unit move from ones that focus almost entirely on manipulation of form and meaning to ones that demand more independent usage and involve a combination of skills.

Most of the exercises, those other than the oral exercises, are intended for out-of-class preparation and then in-class use. Typically, a teacher might discuss the grammar in a chart, have the students do the first two or three entries of an exercise in class, and then assign the rest of the exercise to be prepared for the next class. Usually students benefit more from preparing exercises at home than they do from going through exercises “cold” in class. Exercises that the students have prepared at home take less class time to discuss and lead to more fruitful discussion.