Meaningfull pattern practices

According to the many theories of second language acquisition, learners need to be exposed continuously to meaningful (i.e., authentic, natural) input and to engage in meaningful (i.e., not contrived) discourse. Both of these needs, however, are sometimes difficult to satisfy in an ESL classroom. Engaging in authentic discourse must not be structure-less. Mastery of the syntax of a new language requires a certain amount of drilling or repetition. Unfortunately, drills are often uninspiring and contrived. What is needed is a means of drilling in meaningful contexts grammatical patterns that students will probably hear and use when engaging in discourse. Meaningful Pattern Practices is designed as a resource book to address this need. Teachers will find over 200 pages of pattern practices devoted to the major grammatical patterns used in everyday spoken English and intended for use with all levels. A special section at the end of the book provides "picture cues" for use when doing a given practice. However, each of these picture cues can also be used in approaching many of the other pattern practices. Teachers will find useful notes explaining how to make practices more relevant to students.