Literature Review on PACE Model

皇丽萍

摘要：PACE is the abbreviation of Presentation， Attention， Co-construction and Extension. It integrates explicit grammar teaching with implicit grammar teaching and pays attention to grammatical form， meaning and use.

關键词：PACE model

1 The Definition of PACE Model

The PACE teaching model was first put forward in 1994 by American linguists Adair-Hauck， B.， and Donato， R. （1994）. PACE is the abbreviation of Presentation （presenting meaningful language materials）， Attention （paying attention to the language form in language materials）， Co-construction （constructing grammatical rules by teachers and students together） and Extension （carrying out extended practice activities）. It’s based on the theories of input， noticing， constructivism and output. Firstly， the PACE model emphasizes that students should be exposed to natural and real language situations and pay attention to the meaning of language. Secondly， teachers use some attention strategies to make students pay attention to the grammatical forms. Thirdly， teachers and students sum up and understand grammatical knowledge through the negotiation and interaction. Finally， students consolidate and use grammatical through extended language practice activities.

2 Principles of PACE Model

The PACE model advocates grammar instruction should integrate explicit grammar teaching with implicit grammar teaching and conform to the principles of integrity， meaning core and guiding.

（1）The Principle of Integrity

There are two meanings about the principle of integrity in the PACE teaching model. The first meaning refers to teachers are supposed to focus on the integrity of grammar teaching materials in grammar instructions. That is to say， teachers should teach grammar in a certain context. The second meaning means grammar teaching is a process from the whole to the part and then to the whole， and its teaching process is a cyclic process.

（2）The Principle of Meaning Core

PACE teaching model takes account of grammatical form， meaning and use. The principle of meaning core requires that meaning should be taken first and then form and use in the procedures or order of grammar teaching. It is beneficial to let students first obtain grammatical meaning and the pay attention to the form. First， it can stimulate students’ interest by presenting meaningful grammar teaching materials which bring students into rich language situations. Second， it provides a complete language background for the learning of grammatical form. Third， it can better promote the students’ grammar competence in the grammar use.

（3）The Principle of Guiding

The teacher provides explanation for learners in explicit grammar teaching， which overemphasizes the role of teachers in students’ grammar learning. In implicit grammar teaching， the teacher is only a provider of language materials， which overestimates the role of comprehensible materials and students’ learning ability. In the PACE teaching model， both students and teachers are participants in the grammar learning process. When teachers carry out grammar teaching， they should integrate explicit teaching and implicit teaching according to different individual characteristics and different stages.

3 Teaching Procedures of PACE Model

The teaching procedures of PACE model compose four steps， which are presentation， attention， co-construction and extension.

P： Presentation of Meaningful Language

The first step of the PACE model is presentation of meaningful language. Teachers let students immerse in the real and natural contexts by showing a large number of real and meaningful language materials， such as English songs， stories， pictures， videos and other multimodal forms. The purpose of the presentation is to maximize students’ understanding the situations of the language use.

A： Attention

Based on students’ understanding of materials， attention is the second step of PACE model that guides students to pay attention to the form of grammar and improve the accuracy of grammar learning. In order to draw students’ attention， the target grammar points are presented in a conspicuous way， such as underlined， bold font color， font color transformation and so on.

C： Co-construction

Based on the above two steps， the step of co-construction between teachers and students plays a key role， which stresses communication and cooperation. In this stage， the teacher has changed from the lecturer of grammar to the promotor and helper in the students’ learning process. Teachers and learners collaborate on and co-construct the grammar explanation. The purpose of the co-construction is to let students construct the understanding of the grammatical rule and explain the rule by themselves

E： Extension.

The extension stage of PACE model emphasizes the use of grammar knowledge in certain contexts or situations. Students deeply understand the use of grammar by doing the communicative practice activities. Communicative practice is different from traditional mechanical practice. Communicative practice is guided by communicative teaching method and pays attention to the cultivation of students’ grammar competence.