Namangan davlat universiteti ingliz filologiyasi fakulteti amaliy ingliz tili kafedrasi

Choose Your Weapon

When students have a handle on the thought process behind choosing the correct grammatical structure, they are ready to make their own choices. We still need to keep the exercises controlled, however, and limited to the similar structures in question. Don't go throwing in something from the past, and definitely don't confuse them by adding in curve balls you haven't taught yet.
Here are some ideas for activities:

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  Fill-in-the-Blank Sentences - If you're working on two different verb tenses, give students the base form of the verb for each blank, and let them choose the correct tense. For more of a challenge, give them a word bank full of base verbs, and they must put the correct verb in the correct blank in the correct tense.
  
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  Circle the Correct Answer - Give the students sentences with two choices in parentheses. Students must circle the correct choice to complete the sentence.
  
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  Multiple Choice Sentence Completion - Give students the beginning of a sentence, and they must choose the correct ending, A, B, C or D.
  

Edit for Correctness

When students have gotten pretty good at choosing the correct grammar structure for sentences and paragraphs, it's time to see how good they really are. Start with numbered sentences with structure underlined. Students must decide whether the structure used is correct or incorrect.

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  If it is correct, they do nothing.
  
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  If it is incorrect, they must correct it.
  

Then move on to paragraphs with both structures used, some correctly, some incorrectly. Students must find a specified number of mistakes in the usage of the structures being practiced.
Editing practice will serve the students well later on when they must edit their own work.
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Produce Language

Now your students are ready to start producing their own sentences with the two grammar structures they've learned. To get them started, you can ask them to:

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  Answer questions
  
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  Finish sentences
  
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  Write questions for given answers
  
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  Write short paragraphs
  
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  Write stories, letters or essays
  

There are a lot of similar grammar structures in English that cause confusion for ESL students. When you're introducing new ones, try to stick to a comparison of only two at a time. You could easily teach the differences between Present Simple, Present Perfect, Past Simple and Past Continuous; but, that could get very confusing very quickly.
A good place to start is comparing Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous, then Present Perfect and Past Simple, then Past Simple and Past Continuous. When students have a firmer grasp on each one, then you can mix and match.