Hi! Thank you for visiting this page. My name is Ken Paterson. For 20 years I was Director of English Language Teaching at the University of Westminster. My grammar practice books have been published by Oxford University Press, Macmillan and Delta Publishing.
‘Spoken grammar’ is the new research-based grammar that occurs in natural conversation, but is rarely featured in traditional teaching materials. ‘Business grammar’ focuses on the key grammar for business and management essays, and formal writing (such as reports) in the workplace.
The free lesson plans below are adapted from my two Udemy online courses for English language teachers. Both courses offer anytime access to pedagogical advice, downloadable teaching materials and a certificate of completion. They are inexpensive, and you may be able to claim the cost back from your college’s staff development budget. Just ask your boss! To see details of the courses, please click on the titles below:
Spoken Grammar: a Guide for English Language Teachers (reviews at the bottom of this page)
Teaching Grammar for Business Essays (and for formal business writing in the workplace)
6 free plans:
Please feel free to use the plans below with your college or workplace students in any way that suits your classroom or online requirements. You are welcome to copy, adapt and print them from the web pages or after downloading the Word documents below. (You may need to 'enable editing' in the Word doc to make changes and use any links.) If you would prefer to see free video versions of plans marked by an asterisk *, you will find them on the course landing page under 'Preview this course'. For videos on spoken grammar: click here. For videos on business grammar: click here.
LESSON PLANS ON SPOKEN GRAMMAR (for students at intermediate level and above):
Heads and tails: web page or Word doc *
Spoken discourse markers: web page or Word doc
Vague category language: web page or Word doc *
LESSON PLANS ON BUSINESS GRAMMAR (for students at upper-intermediate level and above):
Cautious or 'hedging' language in essays and formal business writing: web page or Word doc *
Compound adjectives and prepositional phrases in essays and formal business writing: web page or Word doc
Teaching impersonal subjects: web page or Word doc *
I hope you and your students enjoy these lessons!
Reviews of Spoken Grammar: a Guide for English Language Teachers
Dr Katherine Quigley (School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, in the TESOLANZ Newsletter, WINTER 2020):
“Overall I found this a highly interesting course which opened my eyes to many lexico-grammatical points I hadn't thought about before. In my opinion, taking this course would benefit all teachers of ESOL at Intermediate level and above, enriching their teaching of both grammar and speaking."
Pete Clements (ELT Planning.com, July 2019):
“Other things I like about the course: Everything! I think this course is essential for anyone taking, or thinking of taking, a DipTESOL. It is a great way to enhance your subject knowledge and offers some nice practical ideas to integrate the teaching of spoken grammar into your lessons." Rating: 5/5.
Hilary Livingston (IATEFL Voices, July/August 2019):
“I was truly impressed by the author's knowledge of the subject matter and his clear explanations in the videos. ... I think the information in this course would be great for providing teachers with the 'meat' to design a conversational speaking course that would be both practical and engaging for higher-level students."
Wayne Trotman (EL Gazette, January/February 2019):
“This guide would be useful on the electronic devices of all language teachers I know, and at any stage of their career, who have a distinct interest in teaching English as it is really spoken."
Teacher reviews on the Udemy website:
'This course has already saved my life, and I'm only two days in' (N.A) ‘It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!’ (H.O.) ‘Absolutely love the material. Very useful for teachers. Generous amount of material given for use in the classroom. Thank you!’ (A.S.) ‘A very well organised course with the type of information I've been looking for. I'm able to visualise using it with course groups and I appreciate the resources. Thank you very much.’ (M.B.) ‘The course is just great and practical . The simplicity and style of explanations are great, both for student and teacher’ (L.B.) ‘I'm enjoying this course very much. I'm learning a lot myself and am excited to share this knowledge with learners.’ (D.C.)