Substitution table

A substitution table is used while teaching structures of English.^[1][2] Substitution tables were invented by Harold E. Palmer,^[3] who defines substitution as "the process by which any authentic sentence may be multiplied indefinitely by substituting for any of its words or word-groups others of the same grammatical family and within certain semantic limits".^[4]

Procedure for preparation

Language components to be taught must be used in a grammatically correct model sentence. Simple structures or language components must be the ones taught in initial stages, with only one item covered at a time. A word, phrase, idiom, or vocabulary item may be used as a tool. The words of a model sentence are substituted for by other words. The substitution words are of the same grammatical family in which the model sentence is drawn. The components (structure/words) must be simple so that the pupil can easily understand them.

Types of Substitution tables

• Simple Substitution Table
• Compound Substitution Table
• Grammatical Substitution Table
• Perfect Substitution Table
• Imperfect Substitution table