If you are a language trainer, you in all probability presently use intellect maps to help your college students master vocabulary. These intellect maps are often referred to as “vocabulary networks” or “word maps”. Just one well-liked use of these types of mind maps is organising vocabulary teams, e.g. your central concept is “food” and your sub-themes are “meat”, “fruit”, “veggies” etc. A further way could possibly be to associate the many nouns, adjectives and verbs with your central concept, e.g. television, programme, movie, switch on, view, fascinating, dull…

But have you regarded working with head maps for teaching grammar points? Any one with a TEFL qualification will be common with utilizing thought issues to enable pupils have an understanding of a challenging component of grammar in English. For instance, when giving advice, an English speaker invariably takes advantage of the modal verbs must or ought to. There are likely no equal verbs in your students’ language, so you would check with concept inquiries to check that they have understood:

you should see a physician

  • Is it an obligation to see a physician? – no
  • Is it a fantastic notion to see a doctor? – indeed

By answering these two inquiries, the learner has a very good notion of when to use should really. But putting these thoughts into a thoughts map will assistance your learner to equally visualise the concepts and keep them for foreseeable future use. In my courses, I produce up two inquiries aspect by facet and circle them. The thoughts are, “Is it essential?” and “Is it authorized?” I then get started to make my brain map by writing the only two attainable responses, certainly or no? I then consider to elicit the modal verbs, have to, mustn’t, have to, you should not have to, can, are unable to, in accordance to the answer, and generate them in the suitable area on the thoughts map.

Possibly my explanations in this article are not really very clear. That is specifically why intellect-mapping is a improved way to aid your college students visualise the principles. You can test to make clear until finally you are blue in the experience, but a easy diagram does the trick immediately and correctly. You can see an case in point of a intellect map that I established on my site – genuinely, a photo does paint a thousand text!

Feel about what points of grammar you are owning trouble instructing and start off developing strategy thoughts that you can set into a thoughts map. For my French college students, the current great leads to no stop of confusion, simply because they use the very same construction to speak about completed earlier steps – yesterday, I have been to the cinema. What principle queries do you think could help them see the change between “I went” and “I have been”? It’s up to you to use your creativity!