EDU5FFE Forms and Functions of Language in Education - Teaching The Second Conditional of “if clauses” - Assignment Help

Content and Context

Teaching a grammar point is a way of introducing new knowledge to learners, who may either just acquire it or also use it in their daily life. My grammar point is “if clauses”, particularly, in the second conditional. The language taught will be English, specifically as a second language. The target learners will be adult international students at the intermediate level. The lessons will take place in a language center in Melbourne, Australia. There could be three lessons per week, three hours long. The aims of these lessons are for international students to acquire the ability to communicate as much as they wish, to provide them other forms of using English, therefore enhancing their overall knowledge. English is considered the main language spoken and written in Melbourne, so the students, with a learning of high intensity, would apply the new knowledge in their everyday lives. 

Why is it interesting to teach and useful for learners?

Teaching conditionals, also known as "if clauses", describes something that might happen, in the present or future, or that might have happened in the past but did not happen. There are five main kinds of expressing conditionals: the zero, the first, the second, the third, and the mixed conditional. This lesson will focus on the second conditional, which is formed by the formula if + past simple … would + happen. The tense is used to express unreal situations that happen now, or always. For example, “If it rained, I would get wet”. This is true for now and for every single day that it rained; although it is not raining right now, we imagine it does, which makes it a conditional: if it did, the second clause would be true. It can also be used in a situation when something in the present is impossible because it simply is not true. 

Teachers may have a serious challenge to teach “if clauses” because there are different forms to produce it (Norris, 2003). The main difficulties are forms, meaning, oversimplified explanations, and time-tense relationships (Norris, 2003). International students may face these challenges. To begin with, I start with a simple example which gives the students a clear idea: “If I had money, I would buy a Ferrari”. In this sentence, something obvious is stated: I don’t have money. Students will hear this conditional in a wide range of situations that combine these two basic meanings, but it might be confusing- at the beginning (the intention of the speaker might not be clear). Students can get the point after hearing another example, this is likely to happen if they use English often, since the second conditional is common and flexible with its meaning. Acquiring this specific knowledge is therefore needed: when, without it, students try to use the structure, fossilized mistakes might begin to appear, and although the communicative problem might be momentarily solved, more problems will appear in their English in the long run. It is recommended to being working with that tense, once students are familiarized with the past, present and future tenses, which are essential to deal with conditionals. 

In addition to, this grammar point is presented in both books and online websites. British council is a first example in presenting the grammar point.