Unit 2 The Study of English

Module 1 Grammar

At the end of this module you will:-

a) understand the importance of knowing grammar b) have more understanding of grammatical terminology c) gain experience using a grammar reference book d) have begun to consider issues involved in teaching grammar

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GRAMMAR This module is designed to make sure that you are aware of your own English grammar, and aware that it is essential to get to grips with it. It is not absolutely necessary to teach your students grammatical terminology until they reach the upper-intermediate or advanced level. However you do need to know the terminology for yourself, both to be able to answer grammar-related questions if your students ask you and to be clear about what point you are teaching and why you are teaching it. Without having a solid model of English grammar in your mind, you won't be able to teach with confidence and, once the students have noticed gaps in your knowledge, your reputation may be at risk.

Reference books

In order to complete this module you will need to use a reference grammar. Unless you have already examined different grammars and can compare, we do not suggest that you buy one at this stage, as there are many on the market and you may not be comfortable with the first one you see. A good library will have a selection to choose from. We suggest that for this work you get hold of a copy of the fourth edition of English Grammar in Use by Murphy or the fourth edition of A Practical English Grammar by Thomson and Martinet, whichever you feel you can most comfortably use. If you are already working in the field of TESOL and have a different grammar you should be able to use that so long as it was not written by a contemporary of Shakespeare. The English language is not static and some older grammars will now be out of date - both in the language they choose to describe and the way they describe it. Check for example what your grammar book says about the difference between ‘will’ and ‘shall’. If it tells you that: the ‘correct’ way to use them is ‘shall’ with the first person - ‘I/we shall’ - and ‘will’ with other forms and gives examples like: ‘I shall not clean the kitchen, he will clean it,’ then you are in trouble and need a new book!

It is worth remembering that people enter the world of TESOL from a variety of backgrounds. Therefore some of you will find the tasks in this module quite straightforward due to your academic background, while others will need to

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spend time searching through a grammar in order to make sense of them. Take your time; that is the advantage of a Distance Learning Course. After you have studied a topic in your grammar book it is useful to give yourself time to listen out for it in daily life, just as your students try to do! There is no pressure to be the first to finish. But there may be pressure on you from students if you do not take time do this section well!

Inductive reasoning and inductive teaching Do not depress yourself with the notion that there is somewhere one ultimate set of grammatical rules which we 'know' and you must learn. This is not true. The famous adage 'rules are made to be broken’ was never truer than for English grammar. But there are useful rules to share with students, and knowing a rule can help them succeed. When you are teaching and you do not know the rule (let us assume this is a momentary lapse as you should know it!) use inductive reasoning to work out the rule. Before we consider what inductive reasoning is, there are two important terms to discuss: procedural and declarative knowledge.

If you are a native speaker, you have a perfect procedural knowledge of English. That means you can use English grammar correctly without considering how it works or why you are using it that way. Your problem is to see it as a foreign language, to understand the problems it poses to a foreign learner and to be able to explain it so that the foreign learner understands.

If you are a non-native speaker, who has been learning English as a foreign language, you have the distinct advantage of possessing a better declarative knowledge of English. That means you know the rules and you can explain why a particular tense, for example, should be used in a particular situation. You can relate to the problems of a foreign learner and explain how the English language works. You may still lack procedural knowledge of English as well as both procedural and declarative knowledge of some more advanced grammar. Always check out any grammatical structure which you are unsure of and are expected to teach. Have your own 'bible' of grammar rules, exercises, etc, which you can rely on as a reference before a lesson. You will need your grammar throughout your TESOL career.

But what happens if you haven't got your grammar reference with you?

If you do not know a particular grammatical structure well, but you wish to explain it to your students, try using inductive reasoning. This means

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working it out for yourself. Write yourself some examples and try to come up with the rule. One example is very dangerous in English; there is a good chance it will be an idiom or an exception. Two examples have a better chance of illustrating an emerging pattern, but there is still a chance that one will be an exception. Three examples are much safer; hopefully at least two of the three will illustrate the structure and you should then be able to explain it successfully. The more examples you come up with, the safer you can feel about your emergent rule.

For example, if you think of 3, 5 or 10 sentences using the past simple tense, you'll realise that it always refers to an action completed in the past. If you then compare your sentences with similar sentences using the present perfect tense, you may notice that while both tenses refer to past actions, the exact time of the action can only be mentioned in the past simple sentences. Or if you come up with several sentences using the comparative form of adjectives, you'll notice that for adjectives with three or more syllables it always takes the form more + adjective and never adjective+er, as it does with shorter adjectives. In theory it should never happen that you do not know a grammatical structure well enough to be able to explain it, exemplify it and name it. However, early on in your TESOL career it may happen. It may also happen if you are given no warning nor preparation time before a lesson, for example if you are substituting for an absent colleague or on badly organised summer schools. That's why you need to be able to improvise and to practise your inductive thinking. This inductive method is also linked to the inductive way of teaching grammar. There are two main ways to teach grammar:

deductive: you give a rule first, and your students are expected to produce examples for the rule

inductive: you give examples and see whether your students can work out the rule, prompting them when necessary In your teaching, you are likely to use a combination of both ways: give examples in context, then try to elicit the rule (or give the rule if it can't be elicited), then elicit more examples following the rule. It is often argued, however, that when students learn a rule inductively there is a better chance

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that they will remember it well and will be able to use it, as they will have discovered it themselves. Each time you introduce a new aspect of a grammatical structure to students, the previous forms should be practised again and consolidated. Each form should be taught as a definite rule which must be followed and only later do you point out and teach alternatives and exceptions. You usually work from the commonest first up to the more unusual forms. SELF-CHECK 2:1 1

Write three examples to show the use of 'some' and 'any' in each of these cases. Having written the examples, try to formulate the rule: 1. 'Some' in positive sentences (in contrast to 'a') – taught to beginners. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. 2. 'Any' in negative sentences – taught to elementary learners. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. 3. 'Any' in questions – taught to elementary learners. .................................................................................................................................. ..................................................................................................................................

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.................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. 4. 'Some' in questions (when you expect a positive answer) – taught to elementary

learners. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. 5. 'Any' in positive sentences – taught to intermediate learners. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. Try to use inductive reasoning and work out your rules.

Explain when to use the preposition 'at'

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Explain the use of the three prepositions 'on', 'in' and 'at' as used with expressions of time.

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Explain when a noun can be used without any article. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. ..................................................................................................................................

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.................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................................. SELF-CHECK 2:1 2

Now check your work with the reference grammar you have bought or borrowed. Correct your work and add in any other points that are in the grammar but that you did not think of.

Teaching grammar points and giving examples to students

The days are gone when teachers used to stand at the front of the class and ‘tell’ the students about grammar. That approach did not help the students to learn how to use grammar. These days we need to give clear examples of how grammar works in a context. Well-prepared example sentences, short texts and exercises can help students with their understanding of grammar. SELF-CHECK 2:1 3

Look at the exercises below. What is wrong with them? Why would they not help students with their articles or verb tenses very much?

Exercise 1 - Articles

Choose the correct article in brackets.

1. Jackie ordered (the / an / a) printer from Ebay.

2. Every day I exercise with (the / an / a) Denise Austin video I got for my birthday.

3. We enjoyed (the / an / a) lovely dinner with friends.

4. At the zoo, we saw (the / an / a) seal and (the / an / a) otter..

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Exercise 2 - Tenses

In these sentences fill in the verb in the correct tense.

1. John _________________ (play) tennis every Sunday.

2. I _____________________(live) in Egypt for 3 years.

3. I _____________________(play) football next Sunday.

4. I ______________________(have) coffee with my breakfast.

Problems:

COMMENT

The comment section does not appear for all self-check tasks but only for those where there are specific answers or discussion to be considered.

Did you spot the problems?

Articles exercise

It is very difficult to practice articles in short out of context sentences, as the article we choose depends on the context.

Jackie ordered (the / an / a) printer from Ebay.

The choice depends on whether the printer has been mentioned before. Look at the two options below. Option 1 A: Any news on the printer?

B: Jackie ordered the printer from Ebay rather than the one from the local shop in the end.

Option 2 A: How’s the business going?

B: Badly. Jackie ordered a printer from Ebay and it broke on the first day.

Every day I exercise with (the / an / a) Denise Austin video I got for my birthday.

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The article depends on how many videos there are. “Every day I exercise with the Denise Austin video I got for my birthday” - if the speaker got only one Denise Austin video. “Every day I exercise with a Denise Austin video I got for my birthday” - if the speaker got more than one Denise Austin video and exercises with one of them.

We enjoyed (the / an / a) lovely dinner with friends. The choice depends on whether the dinner has been mentioned before and whether it is shared knowledge of the speaker and the listener.

We enjoyed the lovely dinner with friends. (“Remember I told you about it last week”) We enjoyed a lovely dinner with friends. (The fact that there was a dinner is news to the listener).

At the zoo, we saw (the / an / a) seal and (the / an / a) otter. Are they 'those' seal and otter that the speaker and listener know about? (the seal and the otter) Or are they just 'one' seal and 'one' otter that the speaker saw unexpectedly? (a seal and an otter)

Tense exercises There are similar problems with these sentences. They do not have enough context to show students which tense to use.

John _________________ (play) tennis every Sunday. John is going to play/plays/will play/played/has played. There is no clue as to whether he has started playing yet, or finished it or is still in the habit of playing on Sundays.

I _____________________(live) in Egypt for 3 years. Is it 'I lived' (but not anymore), 'I have lived' (and still there) or 'I'm going to live' (plan to depart later this year)?

I _____________________(play) football next Sunday. This could be 'am going to' (plan), 'am playing' (diary arrangement), or 'will play' (promise to yourself or someone else).

I ______________________(have) coffee with my breakfast. The options include I have coffee with my breakfast. (every day) I had coffee with my breakfast. (this morning) I have had coffee with my breakfast. (so I don't want another) I'll have coffee with my breakfast. (selection from menu)

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So try to follow these rules when you are teaching grammar. Give more context when presenting or checking grammar. For example, use context words, such as ‘usually’, 'yesterday' or ‘next week’, to teach tenses; teach tenses or articles by giving a group of sentences or a paragraph, so the whole situation is as clear as possible. Sometimes give students a text and get them to pick out the tenses or other grammatical structures for themselves – discuss with them how each structure is used and why that particular structure is used in the context. It is also important to choose contexts which are familiar to students and which they can relate to. Thus Where were you last night? I only saw Peter at the party. is a more useful example than: Where was the orange last night? I only saw an apple. An important thing to remember is that the relationship between a grammatical structure and its meaning, or function, is not always clear-cut. Consider the following extract:

The linguist Peter Grundy reports the following conversation between himself ('me' in the extract) and a

student at the University of Durham where he worked some years ago:

ME: You're in a no-smoking zone.

FEMALE STUDENT: Am I?

ME: The whole building's a no-smoking zone.

FEMALE STUDENT: (extinguishing cigarette) Thanks very much.

(Grundy 1995: 96)

We know what the words mean, of course, but why exactly did Peter Grundy give the student the information

about the no-smoking zone? He clearly wasn't just offering information or passing the time. On the contrary,

his purpose was to stop the student smoking. And what are we to make of the student's second utterance? Is

she really thanking her lecturer for giving her information that she didn't have before? Or does her Thanks

very much really mean sorry? Perhaps its purpose is to indicate to her lecturer that yes, she knows she was

smoking in a no-smoking zone and since she's been 'caught', she has no option but to put out her cigarette?

Peter Grundy might have chosen different words for the purpose, especially if, instead of a student, he had

found the Dean, his boss, smoking in the corridor. Instead of stating, baldly, You’re in a no-smoking zone, he

might have said something like, Umm, not sure if I should point this out or not, but this building is a no-

smoking area or maybe he would have employed a different formula of words altogether to get his point

across.

The issue that faces us here is that the words we use and what they actually mean in the context we use

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them, are not the same thing at all. There is no one-to-one correspondence, in other words, between form

and meaning.

Form and meaning

Peter Grundy could have chosen a wide range of language forms to ask the student to stop smoking, e.g.

Could you put that cigarette out, please?, Stop smoking, Please extinguish your cigarette or If you want to

smoke, you'd better go outside. There are many different ways of saying the same thing.

This point is well exemplified by the different ways we have of expressing the future in English. Among the

many alternatives on offer, we might say I will arrive at eight o'clock (a simple statement of fact), I'm arriving

at eight o'clock (= that's the arrangement I have made), I'm going to arrive at eight o'clock (= that's my plan)

or I arrive at eight o'clock (= that's the itinerary). Each of these constructions indicates futurity, but each

means something slightly different, as we have shown.

If we take one of the grammatical constructions used to construct a future sentence, the present continuous

(I'm arriving at eight o'clock), another startling phenomenon becomes apparent. In our example, the

statement refers to the future, but if we say Look at John! He's laughing his head off at something, the

present continuous (sometimes called progressive) is referring not to the future, but to a temporary transient

present reality. A third possible meaning of the present continuous is exemplified by a sentence such as The

problem with John is that he's always laughing when he should be serious, which describes a habitual, not a

temporary action. And we can even use the present continuous to make a story about the past more dramatic,

e.g. So I'm sitting there minding my own business when suddenly this guy comes up to me ....

This same-form-different-meanings situation is surprisingly unproblematic for language users since the

context (situation) and co-text (lexis and grammar which surround the form, such as eight o'clock, Look at

John, etc.) usually resolve any ambiguity. Nevertheless, it makes decisions about what forms to teach, and

what meanings to teach them with, a major factor in syllabus planning.

The choice of which future form to use from the examples above will depend not only on meaning, but what

purpose we wish to achieve.

Purpose

Many years ago, the philosopher J.L Austin identified a series of verbs which he called 'performatives', that is

verbs which do what those same words mean. Thus, if a speaker says I promise, the word promise itself

performs the function of promising. If a celebrity says I name this ship 'Ocean 3', the use of the verb name

performs the function of naming.

The idea that language performs certain functions is not restricted to the kind of verbs Austin mentioned,

however. We saw above how This is a no-smoking zone had the purpose of having the student put out her

cigarette, just as a sentence like It's cold in here might, in certain circumstances, perform the function of a

request to the other person in the room to close the window.

One major result of this interest in purpose was to lead linguists to propose a category of language functions

such as inviting, apologising, offering and suggesting. Thus Would you like to come for a coffee? performs

the function of inviting, whereas I just can't accept that performs the function of disagreeing, with the purpose

of making your own opinion quite clear. Why don't you try yoga? performs the function of strongly suggesting,

where the purpose is to provoke action, and I'll do it if you want, is clearly offering help, with the purpose of

being helpful.

The study of functions and how they are realised in language, has had a profound effect upon the design of

language teaching materials, making language purpose a major factor in the choice of syllabus items and

teaching techniques.

Appropriacy and register

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A feature of language functions is that they do not just have one linguistic realisation; the following phrases,

for example, show only some of the possible ways of inviting someone to the cinema:

Would you like to come to the cinema?

How about coming to the cinema?

I was wondering if you might like to come to the cinema tonight?

Cinema?

There's a good film at the cinema.

Thus, when we attempt to achieve a communicative purpose (such as getting someone to agree to an

invitation), we have to choose which of these language forms to use. Which form, given our situation, is the

most appropriate. The same is true, of course, in our choice of language in letters, emails and text messages.

Six of the variables which govern our choice are listed below:

Setting: we speak differently in libraries from the way we do in night clubs. We often use informal and

spontaneous language at home, whereas we may use more formal pre-planned speech in an office or work

environment.

Participants: the people involved in an exchange - whether in speech or writing - clearly affect the language

being chosen. However egalitarian we may want to be, we often choose words and phrases in

communication with superiors which are different from the words and phrases we use when talking to, writing

to or texting our friends, members of our families or colleagues of equal status to us.

Gender: research clearly shows that men and women typically use language differently when addressing

either members of the same or the opposite sex. This is especially true of conversation. Women frequently

use more concessive language than men, for example, and crucially, often talk less than men in mixed-sex

conversations.

Channel: there are marked differences between spoken and written language. But spoken language is not all

the same: it is affected by the situation we are in. Are we speaking face to face or on the telephone? Are we

speaking through a microphone to an unseen audience or standing up in a lecture hall in front of a crowd?

Topic: the topic we are addressing affects our lexical and grammatical choices. The words and phrases that

we use when talking or writing about a wedding will be different from those we employ when the conversation

turns to particle physics. The vocabulary of childbirth is different from the lexical phrases associated with

football. The topic-based vocabulary we use is one of the features of register - the choices we make about

what language to employ.

Tone: another feature of the register in which something is said or written is its tone. This includes variables

such as formality and informality, politeness and impoliteness. For example, sophisticated women's

magazines may talk of make-up, but teenage magazines sometimes call it slap. Using high pitch and

exaggerated pitch movement is often more polite than a flat monotone when saying things such as Can you

repeat that?

These, then, are some of the factors that influence our choice of language. When we have our students study

the way language is used in speaking or writing, we will want to draw their attention to such issues. We may

ask why a speaker uses particular words or expressions in a specific situation. We may have our students

prepare for a speaking activity by assembling the necessary topic words and phrases. We may discuss what

sort of language is appropriate in an office situation when talking to a superior - and whether the sex of the

superior makes any difference.

Language is a social construct as much as it is a mental ability. It is important for students to be just as aware

of this in a foreign or second language as they are in their own.

Language as text and discourse

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Although, as we shall see, grammar and vocabulary are vital components of language (as are the sounds of

English in spoken discourse), we also need to look at language at the level of text or discourse (that is, texts

which are longer than phrases or sentences).

Discourse organisation

In order for collections of sentences or utterances to succeed effectively, the discourse needs to be

organised or conducted in such a way that it will be successful. In written English this calls for both coherence

and cohesion.

For a text to be coherent, it needs to be in the right order - or at least make sense.

However coherent a text is, however, it will not work unless it has internal cohesion. The elements in that text

must cohere or stick to each other successfully to help us navigate our way around the stretch of discourse.

One way of achieving this is through lexical cohesion, and a way of ensuring lexical cohesion is through the

repetition of words and phrases. We can also use interrelated words and meanings (or lexical set chains) to

bind a text together.

Grammatical cohesion is achieved in a number of ways. One of the most common is the concept of

anaphoric reference, where we use pronouns, for example, to refer back to things that have already been

mentioned, as in the following example:

Frank McCourt first emerged on the literary scene with his book Angela's Ashes, a memoir of a

childhood lived in poverty. It became an instant classic.

Another similar cohesive technique is that of substitution, using a phrase to refer to something we have

already written. For example:

There was nothing remarkable about my thirty years in the high school classrooms of New York

City. I often doubted if I should be there at all. At the end I wondered how I lasted that long.

Where ‘there’ refers back (and substitutes for) the classrooms of New York City, and ‘that long’ makes

reference and substitutes for thirty years.

These features are also present in spoken language, which also shows many examples of ellipsis (where

words from a written-grammar version of an utterance are missed out without compromising the meaning of

what is being said). The following two lines, for example, were spoken in a British pub:

A: Another round?

B: Might as well.

Another round? is probably an elliptical version of the question Shall we have another round? (a round is an

order of drinks for everyone in the group), and Might as well is an elliptical version of the sentence We might

as well have another round.

For conversational discourse to be successful, participants have to know how to organise the events in it.

They need to know, for example, how and when to take turns - that is when to interrupt, when to show they

want to continue speaking, or when they are happy to 'give the floor' to someone else. In order to do this

successfully, they need to be able to use discourse markers effectively. Thus, phrases such as anyway,

moving on and right are ways of beginning a new thread of the discussion (or sometimes of closing one

down); d'you know what I mean? OK? and Right? are ways of encouraging a listener's agreement and yeah,

but and OK (said with doubtful intonation) are ways of indicating doubt or disagreement.

Genre

One of the reasons we can communicate successfully, especially in writing, is because we have some

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understanding of genre. One way of describing this - and one much favoured by people who teach ESP

(English for Specific Purposes) - is to say that a genre is a type of written organisation and layout (such as an

advertisement, a letter, a poem, a magazine article, etc.) which will be instantly recognised for what it is by

members of a discourse community - that is any group of people who share the same language customs and

norms.

Genres give way to sub-genres. Within the genre of advertising, for example, there are many variations.

Textual success often depends on the familiarity of text forms for writers and readers of the discourse

community, however small or large that community might be. And so, when we teach students how to write

letters, send emails or make oral presentations, for example, we will want them to be aware of the genre

norms and constraints which are involved in these events. However, we need to make sure that we are not

promoting straightforward imitation, but rather making students aware of possibilities and opportunities. One

way of doing this is to show them a variety of texts within a genre rather than asking for slavish imitation of

just one type.

Whatever text we are constructing or co-constructing (as in a conversation, for example, where speakers

together make the conversation work), the sentences and utterances we use are a combination of grammar,

morphology, lexis and, in the case of speaking, sounds. And it is the first of these elements of language that

we are concerned with in this module.

Grammar

The sentence I will arrive at around eight o'clock depends for its success on the fact that the words are in the

right order. We could not say, for example *I arrive will at eight o'clock around (* denotes an incorrect

utterance) because auxiliary verbs (e.g. will) always come before main verbs (e.g. arrive) in affirmative

sentences. Nor can the modifying adverb around come after the time adverbial since its correct position is

before it. There is a system of rules, in other words, which says what can come before what and which order

different elements can go in. We call this system syntax.

Grammar is not just concerned with syntax, however. The way words are formed - and can change their form

in order to express different meanings - is also at the heart of grammatical knowledge. Thus, for example, we

can modify the form arrive by adding -d to make arrived, so that the verb now refers to the past. If we replace

e with -ing to make the form arriving, the verb now indicates continuity. We call the study of this kind of word

formation morphology. Speakers of a language have a good knowledge of morphology, for if they did not,

they would not be able to say I arrive, but then change this to he arrives. They would not be able to use the

different forms of the verb take (take, took, taken) without such knowledge, or be able to manipulate a word

such as happy (adjective) so that it becomes an adverb (happily), a noun (happiness), or has an opposite

meaning (unhappy).

Grammar can thus be partly seen as a knowledge of what words can go where and what form these words

should take. Studying grammar means knowing how different grammatical elements can be strung together

to make chains of words.

Choosing words

When we construct sentences, we are constantly making choices about, for example, singular or plural,

countable or uncountable, present or past, transitive or intransitive, and about exactly what words we want to

use (e.g. like, enjoy, say or tell).

A similar situation occurs with verbs which are either transitive (they take an object), intransitive (they don't

take an object) or both. The verb herd (e.g. to herd sheep) is a transitive verb. It always takes an object. The

verb open, on the other hand, can be either transitive or intransitive. The dentist says Open your mouth

(transitive), but we can also say The dentist's surgery opens at eight o' clock (intransitive).

Verbs are good examples, too, of the way in which words can trigger the grammatical behaviour of words

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around them. The verb like triggers the use of either the -ing form in verbs which follow it (I like listening to

music) or the use of to + the infinitive (I like to listen to music), but in British English like cannot be followed by

that + a sentence (we can't say *She likes that she sails). The verb tell triggers the use of a direct object and,

if there is a following verb, the construction to + infinitive (She told me to arrive on time), whereas say triggers

that + a clause construction (She said that I should arrive on time).

As far as possible, students need to understand at some level (consciously or unconsciously) what these

implications are. They need to be aware of rules. The problems arise, however, when rules are complex and

difficult to perceive. The fact that third person singular verbs in the present simple take an s in most varieties

(e.g. he plays the guitar; she sails ocean-going yachts) is a straightforward concept which is easy to explain

and easy to understand, but other rules are far less clear. Perhaps our greatest responsibility, therefore, is to

help students develop their language awareness. That is, their ability to spot grammatical patterns and

behaviour for themselves.

Adapted from The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer 2007, Longman.

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The tense challenge Before you begin working on the teacher-assessed part of the module, check how well you can identify tenses in English. When we introduce a tense to our students, we need to teach its form, meaning and pronunciation. However, when we read a text, we can distinguish one tense from another just by its form. For example, the present perfect continuous phrase always consists of 'have/has', 'been' and the main verb in its present participle form (verb-ing). So if you see the sentence We've been running, you know immediately it's the present perfect continuous even before considering what its grammatical meaning is or why it has been used here. SELF-CHECK 2:1 4 Tense exercise Read through the following article about using ICT in classrooms. Use your knowledge and/or your reference book to identify the tense in each underlined fragment. Write it in the blank space below the paragraph. (NB: this also includes conditional forms, in which case you need to identify whether it is the first conditional, second conditional or third conditional). The first one has been done for you.

Before I started teacher training, I thought a laptop was an optional extra, but I decided to buy one anyway. I’m glad I did. I’m using it constantly.

thought ….......................past simple.................................... decided …............................................................................. 'm …...................................................................................... ’m using …............................................................................. You often hear teachers saying how children have stopped reading. Well if I was a modern child, I would find looking at a black and white textbook a bit tedious! With a laptop and projector you have instant colour and a change of focus.

have stopped …....................................................................... if I was... I would find …............................................................ have …...................................................................................... To go back to last Monday. It started badly. I had intended to do a lesson based on a section of DVD, projected onto my white board, but it was not to be. If I had checked my materials properly, perhaps I wouldn’t have been caught out. Five minutes into the lesson, however, just as I was getting to the focussed scene, the system crashed.

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had intended …......................................................................... if I had checked … I wouldn't have been …........................... ................................................................. was getting …............................................................................ crashed ….................................................................................. I’ve learnt my lesson from this and I’m always going to have a backup plan from now on. What’s more, whenever I use the laptop, I’ll do a trial run first. 've learnt …................................................................................ 'm always going to have …......................................................... 'll do …........................................................................................ Luckily, next week our ICT co-ordinator is visiting the school. I’ll ask him to give me a demonstration of how to manage the equipment effectively. is visiting …................................................................................. 'll ask …....................................................................................... COMMENT Now check yourself and see whether you've identified the tenses correctly. thought ….......................past simple.................................... decided …..................past simple............................................ 'm …..............................present simple ................................... ’m using …....................present continuous ...........................

have stopped ….............present perfect.............................. if I was... I would find ….....second conditional....................... have …..........................present simple...................................

had intended …............past perfect........................................ if I had checked … I wouldn't have been …....................... ......................................third conditional.............................. was getting …...............past continuous….............................. crashed …....................past simple..........................................

've learnt ….....................present perfect..................................... 'm always going to have …......future simple with 'going to'......... 'll do …................................future simple with 'will'.....................

is visiting ….............present continuous (as a future form)................ 'll ask …....................future simple with 'will'...................................

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TASKS FOR SUBMISSION TO YOUR TUTOR NAME & ADDRESS..........................................................................................................

TASK 1

Look at the 10 multiple choice questions on the assessment sheet overleaf. This is part 1 of a level assessment which is sent out to our overseas students. You will obviously have no problem in finding the correct answer, but explaining your choice can be more problematic.

What do you think is being tested in each question? Explain in your own words or use grammatical terms if you know them.

That is, do NOT write what the correct answer is. Only write what students are being tested on in each multiple choice task. Your answer could be like this, for example: 'This tests students' knowledge of the difference between the second and third conditionals' or, if you don't know the terms, 'sentences with 'if' referring to the past and imaginary future'. 1................................................................................................................................. …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2................................................................………………………………………………. .................................................................……………………………………………….. 3..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………. 4..............................................................…………………………………………………. ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 5..............................................................…………………………………………………. ...............................................................…………………………………………………..

6..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………. 7..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………….

Unit 2 Module 1 19

8..............................................................…………………………………………………. ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 9..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………. 10.............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. Bear in mind that the situation/circumstances are important. In number 9, either b) and c) can be the correct answer. Under what circumstances is c) possible? Explain. ...............................................................………………………………………………….. ...............................................................………………………………………………….. ...............................................................………………………………………………….. ...............................................................………………………………………………….. ...............................................................………………………………………………….. ..............................................................……………………………………………………

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This is not a task for you! This is one of our assessments for homestay students. ASSESSMENT SHEET In order to help us to assess your level of English, and therefore your needs, please complete the following. If you cannot understand a question leave it out. Do not ask anyone for help and do not use a dictionary or any other book to help you. PART 1 Write the correct answer in the space provided. 1. Sally often ......................... her lunch in a restaurant. a) has got b) is having c) has d) have 2. My friend is going shopping ....................... 3 o'clock. a) to b) at c) in d) on 3. John plays badminton ......................... than Sam. a) worse b) badly c) bad d) worst 4. The girls have been students ......................... 1990 a) during b) by c) for d) since 5. I believe you went to the party. Did you both enjoy ...........? a) yourself b) ourselves c) yourselves d) you 6. Adam speaks excellent French, but he doesn't speak very ...... English. a) better b) good c) well d) best 7. There aren't ......................... biscuits on this plate. a) too much b) a lot c) enough d) some 8. I wanted to go out this evening but I haven't ......... money. a) any b) many c) some d) no 9. Before the film begins all the tickets ............ collected. a) had been b) will have been c) are being d) were being 10.The test was quite easy. ................ he got a few wrong. a) because b) in spite of c) although d) nevertheless

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TASK 2 Use an example of each of the following in a sentence and underline it. 1. an adjective 1..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………. 2. an adverb 2..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………. 3. a countable noun 3..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………. 4. an uncountable or mass noun 4..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………. 5. a conjunction

5..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… 6. a preposition of time 6..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………

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7. a preposition of movement 7..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… 8. a question tag 8..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………. 9. an auxiliary verb 9..............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… 10. a gerund (as subject of a sentence) 10.............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………..

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TASK 3 Write an example for each of the following:- 1. a positive statement 1..............................................................…………………………………………………. .....................................................................……………………………………………… 2. a negative statement 2..............................................................…………………………………………………. .....................................................................……………………………………………… 3. an interrogative 3..............................................................…………………………………………………. .....................................................................……………………………………………… 4. an imperative 4..............................................................…………………………………………………. .....................................................................………………………………………………

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TASK 4 Write as many ways of using the definite and indefinite articles as you can find in your grammar and explain each one. the definite article ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................…………………………………………………

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the indefinite article ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… ...............................................................………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………

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TENSE TASK 1 Write 2 sentences in each of the following tenses:- Try to give an example sentence that has a clear context and time reference. 1. present simple a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 2. present continuous or present progressive a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 3. past simple a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 4. past continuous (progressive)

a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................…………………………………………………..

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5. present perfect a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 6. present perfect continuous (progressive) a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 7. past perfect a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 8. past perfect continuous (progressive) a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................…………………………………………………..

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9. future simple with 'will' a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 10. future simple with 'going to' a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 11. present simple used as a future form a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 12. present continuous/progressive used as a future form a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................…………………………………………………..

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13. future perfect a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 14. first conditional (probable condition) a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 15. second conditional (improbable condition) a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 16. third conditional (impossible condition) a)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. b)..............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................…………………………………………………..

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TENSE TASK 2 Change the following from active to passive voice:-

Please note it is not always necessary to include who carried out the action. 1. We keep the milk in the fridge. 1. .............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 2. The boys kicked the ball through the window. 2. .............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 3. The workmen are repairing the road. 3. .............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................…………………………………………………..

TENSE TASK 3 Change the following from indirect to direct speech. 1. Jean said that she had lost her shoes.

1. .............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 2. Fred insisted that he would be driving his own car in the rally. 2. .............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 3. Sally shouted that she would be on the train. 3. .............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................…………………………………………………..

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Change the following from direct to indirect speech 1. She said, "I'm cold."

1. .............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 2. The officer said, " They look like fugitives from Alcatraz." 2. .............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................………………………………………………….. 3. "What are you doing?" asked Sally. 3. .............................................................................................................................… ...............................................................…………………………………………………..

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