Консультации по английской грамматике В помощь учителю иностранного языка (стр. 2 из 10)
Here is one other poem, this time about a dictionary.
Dictionary
William Jay Smith
A Dictionary's where you can look things up
To see if they're really there:
To see if what you breathe is Air,
If what you sit on is a Chair,
If what you comb is curly Hair,
If what you drink from is a Cup.
A Dictionary's where you can look things up
To see if they're really there.
Let us try to see how much information the verb "to explain" as a dictionary entry contains (the information comes from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English by A.S.Hornby).
explain vtl VP6A, 9, 8, 10, 14
2 VP6A, 15B
The symbols are deciphered in the dictionary as follows:
VP6A S + vt n/pr A dictionary tries to ~ the meanings of words.
VP8 S + vt inter.pr/adv + to-infinitive
He ~ed what to do.
VP9 Subject + vt that clause
He ~ed that he .had been delayed by the weather.
VP10 Subject + vt dependent clause/question
Please, ~ what this means.
VP14 Subject + vt DO prep noun (phrase/clause)
Please, ~ this problem to me.
Subject + vt prep + noun DO
I ~ed to him the impossibility of granting his request
As is seen from the presented material, a lot of terms and shortenings are used. They may seem elementary for those who have a good command of the language, but they will probably cause beginners and students of intermediate level a lot of trouble. Try to make this process easier for them, help the students, explain what the terms and symbols mean and how to use them.
Another example.
experience n 1 U process of gaining knowledge or skill by doing and seeing things; knowledge or skill so gained. We all learn by ~. Has he had much ~ in work of this sort? He has not enough ~ for the position. A man of your ~ ought to do well. Only women with ~ of office work need apply for the position. 2 С event, activity, which has given one ~ (1); event that effects one in some way: an unpleasant/ trying/unusual ~.
We understand from the explanations that "experience" in meaning 1 is used only in the singular and can be associated with "much" and can't be used with the indefinite article. "Experience" in meaning 2 may be used in the singular and in the plural, with the indefinite article if required, with the adjective "many."
One other example.
ill adj 1 (usu pred) in bad health; sick. She was ~ with anxiety. 2 (attrib) bad: ill health, in an ill temper/humour; ill repute; do sb an ill turn; have ill luck; a bird of ill omen.
A conclusion is that when "ill" is used as a predicative, it has one meaning; but when it is used attributively, its meaning will be different.
Seemingly easy words have been chosen, often used and learnt at the beginner's level, which differ from corresponding Russian words and may, therefore, be difficult to learners.
A teacher can use a dictionary asking students to correct their own written work. The teacher doesn't correct it, but returns the test-books with the incorrect places underlined in red. Provide the students with dictionaries, ask them to do correction work in class. Teach the students to work on their own, without the teacher's guardianship.Teach them to be responsible for their knowledge. They will understand then that dictionaries are not for the meaning only, they are perfect grammar books containing wells of exciting information. That will teach your learners to understand that languages are not each other's substitutes, they are different living organisms and should be treated as such.
Certain class activities may be helpful in the students' endeavours to master different aspects of the English parts of speech system.
Mime actions, substances, properties, emotions, etc. Describe them using words. Draw them on the board with crayons.
Read the story and say what parts of speech the words in it are.
The Stag's Antlers
A stag admired his reflection in a pool of water one day. "My! But my antlers are very handsome," he thought. "Just look at my poor skinny legs, though. They look as if they could hardly bear my weight." Just then a lion leaped from the bushes at the edge of the water hole, and the frightened stag ran across the open field. He could run much faster than the lion, who was quickly left behind. But when the stag ran into the forest at the other side of the field, he ran into trouble. His antlers became tangled in some vines hanging from a tree. As the lion was catching up with him, the stag struggled frantically to free himself, and thought: "What a fool I am! As long as I could use my skinny legs, I could outrun that lion. But here I am now, trapped by the antlers I admired so much."
A TPR activity: Practise the conjunction "and" showing that it can connect words of the same parts of speech.
Listen
1. Listen.
2. Jump and hop.
3. Hop and clap.
4. Clap and run.
5. Run and sing.
6. Sing and sit down.
7. Clap and rest.
8. Get up and walk.
9. Walk and clap.
10. Run and sing.
11. Sit and rest.
In this activity you need pictures of a cat, fish, dog and bird.
Pick the Animal Up
1. Look at the cat and the dog.
2. Pick up the cat and the dog.
3. Put the cat and the dog down.
4. Pick up the fish and the cat.
5. Don't let the cat get near the fish.
6. Put the cat and the fish down.
7. Pick up the fish and the bird.
8. Put the fish down.
9. Pick up the cat.
10. Look at the cat and the bird.
11. Don't let the cat eat the bird!
12. Put the bird and the cat down.
13. Oh, that's better.
Write a sentence on the board. Write symbols of parts of speech of which the sentence consists.
Write a model of a sentence including as many symbolic presentations as you can. Decipher it. Use concrete words instead of symbols.
Play a game. You need a playing board, a dice and a set of rules for a group of four students.
The Rules. 1. Put all your counters on START.
2. Decide who is going to begin and in which order you are going to play.
3. If you are the first player, roll your dice and move forward the number of squares indicated.
4. If you land on a symbol or a term, say what it means.
5. Your group must decide if you are right or not. Ask your teacher only if you are completely unable to arrive at a decision. If your group agrees with you, roll your dice again and make another move forward. If they disagree, move back three squares. (Your turn is now finished, so if you have now landed on another symbol/ term, you may not give an opinion on its correctness).
6. If you land on a blank square, you simply stay where you are until your next turn. If you land on a square where another person's counter is already standing, move on one square. This rule applies whether you land on a symbol/term or on a blank square.
7. Each player proceeds the same way, starting always at square 1 (START).
8. To finish, you must land directly on square 64. If you are on square 62 and throw a six, count two forward and four back to land on square 60 (and hope you throw a three on your next turn).
Ask the class to write grammar terms on pieces of paper, collect them, jumble and ask each student to draw one and explain what it means. The class will guess what term it was.
Test yourselves as to whether you can use the indefinite article with the following. Consult an English-English dictionary:
advice, author, barley, bath, beef, birth, bread, care, chalk, crayon, chat, felicity, geography, work, interest, trunk, surprise, vase, news, patience, principle, repair, weather.
Test yourselves and say whether the following verbs can be used in the active and passive voice:
belong believe
contain know
consist love
cost mean
depend need
exist own
happen understand
lack want
possess
resemble
seem
The deep understanding of the features of parts of speech helps people foresee what the speaker will say next. This ability of ours may be realized in the assignment of the restoration of the text/ story/conversation from which some notional or all formal words have been deleted. This type of activity is called a cloze and is based on the natural ability of the listener to fill in the following word if you are an attentive listener and are aware of the topic. The assignment can be looked upon as a teaching exercise or a test to see whether or not the learners have acquired the offered material. It has a number of variations. This test is always included in the EFC and its value may be high only because of it.
Complete this text. Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning 0.
Are You a Lark or an Owl?
Do you read the newspaper 0 while you have breakfast? If you do then you 1 ... be a "lark," or morning type of person. "Owls," or evening types, tend not to spend much time over breakfast. They 2 ... little appetite then, and, 3 ... they are usually late risers, they are short 4 ... time anyway. Around half of the adult population are either morning 5 ... evening types; the rest fall somewhere 6 ... the middle. 7 ... can be up to a twelve hour difference in the time of the day when the two types reach the point when they are most alert and mentally at their 8 .... Larks tend to reach this point in the late morning, while owls 9 ... it around 10 pm. For reasons 10 ... are unknown, evening types tend to be more adaptable 11 ... morning types. For example, evening types can usually cope much better with shift work and jet lag, and 12 ... is easier for an evening type to become a morning type than the other way 13 ... . Are we born 14... these differences, or are they just formed 15 ... habit? We don't really know.
Key: 1 may/must; 2 have; 3 because/since/as; 4 of; 5 or; 6 in; 7 There; 8 best/peak; 9 reach; 10 which/that; 11 than; 12 it; 13 round; 14 with; 15 by/from.
Fill each gap in this story with one word only. The first is done as an example:
We were late as 1 usual. Michael had insisted on doing his packing by 2 ... , and when he discovered that he couldn't manage he'd asked me for help at the last 3 ... . So now we had an hour to get to the 4.... Luckily, there wasn't much traffic on the 5 ... and we were able to get there just in 6 ... . We checked in and went straight to the departure 7 ... to wait for our 8 ... to be called. We waited and waited but no announcement was 9 .... We asked at the information 10 ... and the girl there told us that the plane hadn't even arrived yet. In the 11 ... there was another announcement telling us that passengers waiting for Flight LJ 108 could collect a 12 ... meal voucher and that the plane hadn't left Spain because of 13 ... problems. We thought that meant that it wasn't safe for the plane to 14 ... . We waited again for 15 ... until late evening when we were asked to report to the 16 ... desk again. They told us we would be spending the 17 ... in a hotel at the airline's 18 ... .
The next morning after a sleepless 19 ... because of all the planes taking off and landing, we reported back to the airport. Guess what had 20 ... while we were 21 ... ! Our plane had arrived and taken off again leaving us 22 .... All the other 23 ... had been woken up in the night to catch the plane, but for some 24 ... or other we had been forgotten. You can imagine how we felt!
Key: (some variations are possible): 1 usual; 2 himself; 3 moment; 4 airport; 5 road; 6 time; 7 lounge; 8 flight; 9 made; 10 desk; 11 end; 12 free; 13 technical; 14 fly; 15 ages; 16 information; 17 night; 18 expense; 19 night; 20 happened; 21 asleep; 22 stranded; 23 passengers; 24 reason.
Fill each gap with one word only.
The first thing you notice 1 ... him is his smile. He's slim, quite tall and very athletic. He talks fast and is very funny. He's 2 ... actor, but he usually plays the same kind 3 ... roles. 4 ... fact, it's difficult to separate the character 5 ... the man 6 ... the characters he plays 7 ... his films. You know that he's going to win every argument and get 8 ... of any difficult situation 9 ... getting hurt. He's 10 ... of today's most popular American film stars.
You can't help 11 ... impressed by her good looks and her voice. Her style is modern and 12 ... clothes are very unusual: she sets the fashion 13 ... than following it. She's not only 14 ... popular with young people, but she's so talented 15 ... even older people appreciate her. The break-up of her 16 ... came as no surprise to anyone — she 17 ... so much publicity that it's impossible for someone 18 ... her to have a private 19 ... . When ordinary people have similar problems, it's only their friends and 20 ... who get to hear about it.
Key: 1 about; 2 an; 3 of; 4 In; 5 of; 6 from; 7 in; 8 out; 9 without; 10 one; 11 being; 12 her; 13 rather; 14 very/extremely/terribly etc.; 15 that; 16 marriage; 17 gets/receives/has; 18 like; 19 life; 20 relations/relatives/acquaintances/colleagues.
Fill each of the numbered blanks in the following passage. Use only one word in each space.
Many years ago when summers seemed longer and life was 1 ... complicated, we had rented a cottage by a river in the heart of the country where we were going to 2 ... three weeks' holiday. There were four of us: me (age 9), Mum and Dad and Mum's 3 ..., Auntie June. Oh, and I mustn't forget to 4 ... Spot, our little dog. I was allowed to go off by 5 ... all day, 6 ... that I promised to be careful and took Spot with me for 7 ... .
One day I was out fishing with Spot when we heard a lot of shouting in the 8 ... followed by a scream and a splash. I was a bit 9 ... so I called Spot and we both hid 10 ... a bush where we could see but not be 11 ... . After a few moments a straw hat came floating down the river, followed by an oar, a picnic basket and 12 ... oar. Then came the rowing boat itself, but it was floating 13 ... down. A few seconds later my Dad and Auntie June came running 14 ... the river bank, both wet 15 ... . Spot started 16 ... so I came out of hiding and said hello. My Dad got really angry with me for not 17 ... to catch the boat as it went past. Luckily, however, the boat and both oars had been caught by an overhanging tree a little further downstream, but not the hat or the picnic basket. So I had to let them 18 ... my sandwiches. Dad and Auntie June both made me 19 ... not to tell Mum what had happened in 20 ... she was worried.
Key: 1 less; 2 spend; 3 sister; 4 mention; 5 myself; 6 provided/ providing; 7 company/protection; 8 distance; 9 scared/frightened; 10 behind; 11 seen/observed; 12 another; 13 upside; 14 down/ along; 15 through; 16 barking; 17 trying/managing; 18 share; 19 promise; 20 case.
Read the text below. Use the word at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same line. There is an example at the beginning 0. Write your word on the separate answer sheet.
Example: 0 professional
Translation Work
Usually, 0 ... translators work from a foreign profession
language into their mother tongue to reduce 1 ... accurate
translation and for better style. Much translation science
is of 2 ... or commercial material and this kind of understand
work often requires an 3 ... of technical vocabulary special
and 4 ... language, employ
Not all translators are in full-time 5 ... but those industry
who are usually work for large 6 ... concerns or
for public organizations.
The main personal characteristic needed to be success,
a 7 ... translator is a 8 ... to attend to detail. In willing
addition, it is 9 ... for translators to know at least desire
two foreign languages. The wider the 10 ... of vary
languages they can offer, the greater the likelihood
that work will be available.
Key: 1 inaccurate; 2 scientific; 3 understanding; 4 specialized; 5 employment; 6 industrial; 7 successful; 8 willingness; 9 desirable; 10 variety.
Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each space. There is an example at the beginning (0). Write your word on the separate answer sheet.
Example: 0 of
Keeping Fit
Bodies are made to move! They are not designed for sitting around in front 0 … the television or reading magazines. Keeping fit doesn,t 1 … you have to be a super- athlete, and even a 2 exercise can give you a lot of fun. When you're fit and healthy, you'll find you look better and feel better. You'll 3 ... more energy and self-confidence.