Adult Literacy Rs/L1.1 Use implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge

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Adult Literacy>Reading>Sentence Focus>Grammar & Punctuation   
Rs/L1.1 Use implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge (e.g. of different sentence forms, types of word, verb tense, word order), along with own knowledge and experience, to predict meaning, try out plausible meanings, and to read and check for sense.

• Understand that knowledge of sentence patterns and word order can help to predict unknown words and get meaning from text 
• Understand that some sentence structures and types of word will occur more often in some types of text than others 
• Understand that grammatical and semantic clues can be used alongside whole-text and word-level clues, to make sense of individual words and complete sentences 
• Understand the terms tense, negative, adverb, pronoun, phrase.

Related Adult ESOL curriculum element: ESOL Rs/L1.1a Use implicit & explicit grammatical knowledge to predict meaning & check for sense

Example of application and level:

Read with understanding a variety of straightforward continuous texts encountered in their own life, e.g. a letter from their child's school, an insurance policy renewal.

Sample activities

• Highlight imperatives, adverbs and adverbial phrases in an instructional text and discuss their effect, e.g. lift carefully; place the side panel at right angles to the front; lightly whisk for five minutes.
• Investigate the use of negative verbs, e.g. in warning notices, small print conditions on insurance policies, and discuss their purpose.
• Highlight verbs and identify tense in a narrative and a descriptive text. Compare findings with their teacher/other learners.
• Annotate a persuasive text to indicate how the order of points is developed, by highlighting linking words and phrases, e.g. therefore, however, if, unless, because, finally, whatever, as a result of.
• Compare sentence length and structures in a story written for a very young child with one for an older child. Discuss their findings and draw some conclusions.
• When reading different types of text underline unknown/difficult words and phrases and discuss with partner how to use surrounding sentence, context, text- and word-level clues to interpret these, using a dictionary to check meanings where necessary, e.g.: [from an invitation to an Open Afternoon at a local school]
• At 2.30pm the Mayor, Councillor Mrs Jane Brown, will be at the school to see the sculpture that has been made this term by our Artist in Residence, Mr Wayne Stockwell, working with the children.
• We would like you to walk round the school to see the splendidly refurbished Literacy and Numeracy areas, which some of our parents have helped decorate, and look at displays of children’s work.

Source: Department for Education and Skills (2001) Adult Literacy core curriculum. London DfES.