That was very well written but the kind of thinking it express actually "causes" to some extent the faltering speech that is so characteristic of second language learners. What you want to create in your students is a "feel" for the structure of the language, rather than declarative knowledge of it.I am not saying that grammatical analysis like this isn't useful at all, sometimes it is. But you always want to back that up with loads of examples.That way analytically inclined people can make use of the explanations and less analytically inclined people can simply absorb through the examples. And of course the examples are crucial for the analytically minded people as well. The other thing I would mention is that it would be nice if every example sentence was accompanied by pin1yin1, with tones. Anyway, that was an enjoyable read. You seem to be one of a rare breed of truly bilingual people. 

Just wanted to add that we should probably talk about "grammar" mistakes rather than "grammatical" mistakes because the word "grammatical" has two senses. One sense is "pertaining to grammar" and the other is "conforming to the standards of grammar". By the second sense a grammatical mistake could be one that conforms to the standards of grammar. It could be argued that nobody would interpret it that way but in fact I "do" automatically interpret it that way. Always have to shake my head a bit when I see the combination "grammatical mistake". 

This is a finicky point perhaps but we are, afterall, English teachers. It's our job to be a bit finicky.      

Why are you calling tone mistakes "grammatical"?

Nice enough article. However, let's stop confusing people by saying that English is not tonal. That only confuses learners. English, does actually have tones, the difference is just that our use of them doesn't change the meaning of words to the extent that tones do in Chinese. For example, the English word "what" with a down town conveys anger. Like, "WHAT!!!" We'd never say "what" in anger but with an up tone, because "what" with an up tone conveys the idea of surprise, or that you didn't hear someone and you'd like them to repeat themselves.. Like, "What? I didn't hear you.“  Point is, we don't speak like robots, and showing how we DO use tones in English really is the key to understanding how to use them in Chinese. 

... Seriously, now I'm on a rant! haha. Mr. David teacher is right! I believe the reason many Chinese language learners have so much trouble with tones is BECAUSE they are told tones don't exist in their native language, and that leads people to the conclusion that there is some totally different concept that they must grasp, when in fact.... there isn't it.

One quick example for thought: Say the word "water" to yourself, but stress the second syllable instead of the first syllable. Sounds weird right? "waTER" !! haha.

That same weirdness you feel when you hear "water" pronounced "waTER" is very similar to the weirdness Chinese people feel when they hear a word pronounced with the wrong tones. Anyway, good luck! Feel free to private message me if you'd like more information about helping your students increase their understanding of Chinese tones!

Paul