One of the shortest but most useful sayings by legendary French teacher Susan Gross, is, “Shelter vocabulary, not grammar.”

It is important to teach and use verbs as vocabulary, rather than as drilled formulas. When the sound/meaning pair is different, verbs may need to be presented explicitly—but this is not how language is acquired for fluency. If verbs are presented with techniques like classical Total Physical Response gesturing, students will pick up the sound/meaning pairing quickly and even beginners can begin reading independently very soon.

This also goes for upper levels. A frequent weakness with students in levels 3-AP is that they cannot produce the essential verbs in varying tenses or moods because they have not had enough repeated, meaningful exposures. Exposing students to these verbs in the context of interesting stories, whether oral or written, is how to get this done.

Brief TPR lessons at the beginning of nearly every class also help.

Many authors of language learner literature get this and are using what we used to think of as “advanced” grammar in their beginning easy reader novels. These authors do this with an ear for language ─ keeping it comprehensible, while slipping in “advanced” verb forms in a natural way. Students that have had experience reading interesting and comprehensible materials with advanced tenses in lower levels are able to recognize and manipulate those verbs easily when they get to higher level classes and take high-stakes tests. These authors shelter the vocabulary in their stories, but not the grammar.

With children, we would not think twice about doing the same ─ communicating with simple vocabulary and what we language teachers would consider complex grammar:

Parent:                What did Momma say? She said, ‘Eat your vegetables.’ I would like you to eat your vegetables, too. Do you remember what we talked about? I told you that if you hadn’t finished eating your vegetables by the time the rest of the family had eaten, you wouldn’t be able to have any ice cream. So, what would you like to do? Have you decided what you’re going to do yet? Will you be eating your vegetables or not? I hope you do, because I want to go eat some ice cream with you.

3 ½ year-old child:  < Completely understanding the simple high-frequency vocabulary and multiple

          verb moods and tenses, pushes the plate away and begins to cry. >

That is sheltering vocabulary, not grammar. And it happens all the time with natural language use. It is using high-frequency vocabulary with complex grammar in a compelling message: just a few high-frequency verbs and nouns, but all kinds of verb tenses and moods in the grammar.

Just as we would not prevent a child from hearing complex grammar, we need not shy away from using the appropriate grammar when the meaning can be clear to novice level students due to context and similar sound/meaning pairing of words—especially when it adds to the flow of the message.

This is an excerpt from my book Hi-Impact Reading Strategies.