Professors Deborah Singer Pires and Susan C. Khodabakhshi Union County College. pires/khodabakhshi 2012

Transcription

1 EASY ERROR CORRECTION with Professors Deborah Singer Pires and Susan C. Khodabakhshi Union County College pires/khodabakhshi 2012

2 X- Word Grammar Part of a larger grammatical description of the English language called Sector Analysis Developed by Robert L. Allen of Teachers College, Columbia University in the 1960 s Describes the language more accurately than traditional grammar Gives teachers tools to correct students errors Gives students tools to self-analyze and self-correct 4 basic systems: x-words, verbs, word order, sentence combining from: Get Healthy Learn English, Pires/Khodabakhshi, 2012 After today s presentation, you will know everything you need to know about x-word grammar and these systems. pires/khodabakhshi 2012

3 ERROR CORRECTION FOR ESL STUDENTS How would you explain these grammar mistakes to your students? How would you help them make corrections? 1. He last month went to a podiatrist. 2. In England rains a lot. 3. We been studying present perfect all semester. 4. Because is snowing. 5. What did you bought at the bookstore? 6. She grew up with her sisters, they always took care of each other.

4 ALL ABOUT X-WORDS Choose a secretary for your group. Only the secretary will write the questions. Write twenty questions that can be answered yes or no. Start each question with a different word. Do not use contractions. Do not use negatives.

5 ALL ABOUT X-WORDS There are a few systems in English. This is the Auxiliary System or the X-Word System. It is especially important in writing. There are twenty X-Words. They are divided into four families. BE FAMILY HIDDEN FAMILY HAVE FAMILY MODAL FAMILY am do have can could is does has shall should are did had will would was may might were must

6 WHAT DO X-WORDS DO? X-Words tell us about the structure of English X-Words make Yes/No Questions. X-Words make Information Questions. X-Words make negatives. X-Words make statements. X-Word Families determine the tense verb form. Once you master the form, you can produce content endlessly. Stanley Fish, from his book, How to Write a Sentence

7 MAKING QUESTIONS Move the x-word in front of the subject to make the yes/no and wh questions. Ellen has exercised her whole life. Has Ellen exercised her whole life? What has Ellen done her whole life? Jim and Carlo have bought healthy food since they started exercising. Have Jim and Carlo bought healthy food since they started exercising? Why have Jim and Carlo bought healthy food since they started exercising? QUESTION WORD ORDER IS DIFFERENT FROM STATEMENT WORD ORDER: Put the x-word BEFORE the subject.

8 MAKING QUESTIONS WITH HIDDEN X-WORDS The x-words in this family make questions the same way that all x-words make questions. They move in front of the subject to make the question. However, they are HIDDEN INSIDE THE VERB in the affirmative statement. We see them in the question, in the short answer, and in the negative statement. QUESTION WORD ORDER IS DIFFERENT FROM STATEMENT WORD ORDER: Put the x-word BEFORE the subject.

9 MAKING QUESTIONS WITH HIDDEN X-WORDS 1. They feel stressed. S (Hidden X-Word) Do they feel stressed? Yes, they do. X X They don t feel relaxed. X 2. She meditates every day. (Hidden X-Word) Does she meditate_ every day? Yes, she does. X She doesn t get nervous anymore. X 3. He walked a mile this morning. (Hidden X-Word) Did he walk_ a mile this morning Yes, he did. X He didn t sleep late. X X X

10 MAKING NEGATIVES x-word + not = negative Present Perfect: have, has, had + not = negative Examples: Ellen s husband hasn t exercised for several years. We haven t gone to the dentist since last year.

11 VERB FORMS There are five forms of every verb: V = the base form Vs = the third person singular form (simple present) Ving = the ing form Ved = the simple past form Vpp = the past participle form The x-word family determines the verb form that immediately follows the x-word.

12 X-WORDS EXAMPLE SENTENCES Be Family am, is are + was, were Ving (active) Vpp (passive) No Verb The doctor is examining the patient. The patient was seen by two doctors. I am happy about my test results. Hidden Family Invisible (do) (does) (did) Visible do, does, did + V Vs Ved V I live near a hospital. He lives near a hospital. I joined a gym last week. We don t live near a gym. Does she exercise regularly? They didn t see a doctor. Have Family have, has, had + Vpp We have just joined a gym. He has been taking yoga classes. He hadn t exercised before. Modal Family can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must + V I can t pay for a gym membership. He may join that health club. They should be exercising more.

13 VERB TENSES X-words and verbs give information about time. There are three time frames in English past, present, and future. Each time frame is divided into three parts perfect, simple, and continuous. PAST PRESENT FUTURE perfect simple continuous perfect simple continuous perfect simple continuous before in during before in during before in during

14 THREE WAYS OF TALKING ABOUT THE PAST Past Perfect: She had suffered from tension headaches for several years before she learned to meditate. Past Perfect Continuous: She had been meditating for twelve minutes when the phone rang. Past Simple: She meditated for six minutes in class yesterday. Past continuous: She was meditating when her mother asked her to take out the garbage.

15 THREE WAYS OF TALKING ABOUT THE PRESENT Present Perfect: She has not had any tension headaches for a long time. Present Perfect Continuous: She has been doing two- minute exercises for a month. Present Simple: She practices her relaxation exercises every morning before work. Present Continuous: Please don t make any noise. She is meditating.

16 THREE WAYS OF TALKING ABOUT THE FUTURE Future Perfect: By 8:30 A.M., she will have completed her relaxation exercises. Future Perfect Continuous: By 8:20 A.M., she will have been practicing her exercises for five minutes. Future simple: She will practice her exercises at the same time tomorrow. Future continuous: She will be practicing her exercises tomorrow morning while we are eating breakfast.

17 WHAT IS A SIMPLE ENGLISH STATEMENT? A simple English statement is a group of words with one subject and one x-word. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. Example: Who is from Brazil? Juliana is. S X [complete statement] There must be a subject and an x-word in every statement. A statement may also have a verb, object, place, or time. Word order is important in English. If you mix up the word order, people will not understand you. Punctuation: How do we know where one sentence ends and the next one begins? A NEW SUBJECT + A NEW X-WORD = A NEW SENTENCE

18 WORD ORDER Subject X-Word Verb Object Place Time. S X V O P T Susan and are going to their bikes in the park after work. Mike ride Victoria won t eat fast food. Juliana and Nick haven t gone to the gym since last year. Sophie (hidden x-word) left her cell phone at work. Time can come at the beginning of the statement, usually followed by a comma if it s more than two words.

19 PHRASES AND CLAUSES SIMPLE SENTENCES Every simple sentence has one subject and one x-word. Example: Jane will listen to music. S x SOPHISTICATED SENTENCES: Two ways to make sophisticated sentences: 1. Add information into a simple sentence with prepositions: Prepositions can introduce phrases. Example: Jane will listen to music on her ipod after dinner. Preposition Prep. 2. Combine two or more simple sentences with clause words: Clause words can introduce clauses. Each clause has a subject and an x-word. Example: Jane will listen to music because it relaxes her. S X Clause Word S (X)

20 PHRASE A group of words that does NOT have a subject, x-word, or verb Examples: at the doctor s office during the operation Prepositions can introduce phrases. Prepositions can be followed by a noun.

21 CLAUSE A group of words that has a subject, x-word, and maybe a verb Examples: she went home she was sick Add capital letters and periods, clauses become simple sentences. Make sophisticated sentences by combining simple sentences with a clause word. She went home because she was sick. S (x) clause word s x

22 CLAUSE WORDS Clause Words introduce clauses Clause words can combine two or more simple sentences to make one sophisticated sentence. Each time we add a sentence, we need to add another clause word or one of these connectors: and but or so

23 Get Healthy - Learn English, Pires/Khodabakhshi, 2012 Deborah S. Pires pires@ucc.edu Susan C. Khodabakhshi khodabakhshi@ucc.edu