Teacher Discussion Forums

know that there are implications in saying I have been to London and I was in London, good, we can explain it, we can resort to other examples so that our pupils will eventually catch the nuances of the language much farther than explaning when to use the article 'a' instead of 'an'.

But when do you nod your head, shake your arms look at that specific students who keeps asking the reasons 'why' and say 'it's only because English is like this'?

Many colleagues of mine tell their students straightforthly this, as if they were afraid of any deeper explanation and yet waist too much time explaning something that first place can be difficult for the pupils, 'you can'
t handle the truth'. But sometimes students are left hopeless, wishing something else, I used to be this kind of student ( I mean, I still am). Some people say you can learn English better if you accpet the language as it is, what do you have to say about it?

José

PS I posted the same on the pronunciation forum, I must have been drunk...

Metamorfose wrote:know that there are implications in saying I have been to London and I was in London, good, we can explain it, we can resort to other examples so that our pupils will eventually catch the nuances of the language much farther than explaning when to use the article 'a' instead of 'an'.

But when do you nod your head, shake your arms look at that specific students who keeps asking the reasons 'why' and say 'it's only because English is like this'?

Many colleagues of mine tell their students straightforthly this, as if they were afraid of any deeper explanation and yet waist too much time explaning something that first place can be difficult for the pupils, 'you can'
t handle the truth'. But sometimes students are left hopeless, wishing something else, I used to be this kind of student ( I mean, I still am). Some people say you can learn English better if you accpet the language as it is, what do you have to say about it?

José

PS I posted the same on the pronunciation forum, I must have been drunk...

I would say that some choices in English are arbitrary and to try to explain them would be fruitless.

There are times when a long explanation would be fruitless - if a student asks why we use 's to denote possession you can either go into long explanations about the history of the language and case systems in Old English, or you can say "because that's how we do it in English." It depends whether you are teaching the language or its history

There are times when an explanation might lead to some insight. For example, the famous "rule" about Past Simple vs Present Perfect with definite Past time reference is not arbitrary but actually reveals a lot about the difference in meaning between the two structures. In fact, a lot of the mistakes our students make can be considered as conflicts of meaning rather than infractions of the "rules". Simply telling the students "you can't use Present Perfect with definite past time references so don't do it or you'll lose marks" is not the whole story.

At the end of the day how far you want to go will depend on your students' needs and interests. If they just need to pass a test then telling them the "rule" might be enough (but warn them it's a guideline). If the students have a genuine interest in the language then explain as much as you can.

At the end of the day how far you want to go will depend on your students' needs and interests. If they just need to pass a test then telling them the "rule" might be enough (but warn them it's a guideline). If the students have a genuine interest in the language then explain as much as you can.

I guess it's the right thing to do, as you said, if they are to pass an exam, so I just need the guidelines, the hints (you can't use any definite time with the present perfect..), if they are to seriously learn the big picture, I can provide them to as much information as I am gathering here

José