Angela Generoso Eng 653 Dr. Olsher 12-19- 11 Relative Clauses Intended Audience: This lesson is intended for high intermediate students at a private language school in San Francisco. The class is medium- sized and very diverse, with 17 students from Korea, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, France, Germany and China. Their ages range from 15-24, with two exceptions in their early 30s. Most of the students are looking to pursue a career in business or computer science, and all are highly ambitious. The class takes place Monday through Thursday from 9:00-11:00 without a break in- between. Linguistic Description A relative clause is defined by their role as either restrictive or non- restrictive. Restrictive clauses identify the reference of the head noun and are also called defining or limiting. For example, Richard hit the ball on the car that was going past. Non- restrictive relative clauses, however, bring about a much more elaborate description that informs the reader about a head noun which has already been introduced or assumed to be known. They are also referred to as non- limiting or non- defining. For example, He looked into her mailbox, which she
Lesson Plan 2 never locked. Here mailbox is identified by the possessive pronoun her and the non- restrictive relative clause is used to provide additional, descriptive information. (Biber, Conrad & Geoffrey, 2002) In writing, non- restrictive relative clauses are less common than restrictive relative clauses. Newspaper stories tend to use non- restrictive clauses to a greater extent than other registers as well. For example, American Airlines, which began the daily flights to Chicago less than a year ago, accused the government of being partly to blame. Rationale Avoidance of relative clauses is contributing to short, choppy sentences. Avoidance of using other relative pronouns other than which is contributing to an avoidance of relative clauses as well. They know the rule and how to apply it, but in practice, there are few examples of relative clauses used properly in their writing assignments. Objectives Students will be able to use both relative clauses as well as non- relative clauses correctly in writing. They will be able to identify and correctly use relative pronouns other than which.
Lesson Plan 3 Lesson 9:00am Warm- up Activity (5 min) Present a photo and ask students individually to describe something that is shown With a photo of a classroom, for example: T: Who is this? S: the teacher. T: What is she doing? S: She is pointing at the blackboard and talking. After this I would say the same thing using a relative clause. For example: The teacher, who is pointing at the blackboard, is talking. Or The person who is pointing at the blackboard and talking is the teacher. 9:05-9:20 Inductive Presentation I would present different sentences on the board that (10 minute dictation; 5 minute induction) could be possibly combined by relative clauses. After providing a few examples, students will help with changing the sentences around using relative clauses. 9:25 Grammar Presentation (5 min) Give out handouts of the charts detailing both restrictive and non- restrictive relative clauses with examples of each
Lesson Plan 4 and discuss them (as seen in Appendix A and Appendix B) I would ask them questions, such as: What are the differences between restrictive and non- restrictive relative clauses? Who can give me an example of each in a sentence? What punctuations are used in the two lists? How are they different? I would also present them with a list of the relative pronouns as well. 9:30 Controlled Practice (5 min) Students are given handouts with text full of relative clauses. Students must identify the noun in which is modified by the relative clause and identify the relative clause in the sentence. 9:35 Communicative Practice (25 min) This is a group activity called Description Task. Each student is given a specific picture that they need to describe. They are given 10 minutes to scribble out a description of the photo and must use at least two different relative pronouns, and five relative clauses. After the ten minutes is up, Students must get into groups of 4 or five and then individually give an oral presentation to the other students about their picture using the relative clauses they have learned. After everyone in the group has finished their oral presentation, students are given time to ask questions of one another. Example: A: Who is the woman holding the apple? B: The woman who is holding the apple is a doctor.
Lesson Plan 5 10:00 Recap (5-10min) After the students have regrouped, some students will be asked to present about something specific they wrote from their photos to the entire class. Evaluation The group work might take longer depending on how descriptive the students get with their photos, but it will be good for them to practice relative clauses amongst each other. This activity will help them in forming more complex sentences and broaden their horizons with their knowledge of pronoun usage. While students are presenting in their groups I will come around and offer help and advice for those stuck on using relative clauses appropriately. The recap at the end will help with this, in determining when relative clauses were used correctly and incorrectly during the group activity.
Lesson Plan 6 Appendix A Restrictive and Non- Restrictive Relative Clauses Restrictive Identifies the intended reference of the head noun Ex: Richard hit the ball on the car that was going past (pinpoints the particular car being referred to) Also called defining or limiting Not set off from main clause by commas Uses relative pronouns Non- restrictive Add elaborating, descriptive information about a head noun that has already been identified or is assumed to be known Ex: He looked into her mailbox, which she never locked (mailbox is identified by the possessive pronoun her) Also called non- defining or non- limiting Set off from main clause by commas Cannot use that only uses which, whom, etc (Biber, Conrad & Geoffrey, 2002) Relative Pronouns Who Whom Human An agent of action General reference, classifying Who + subject NP + human Whom + object NP + human Ex: The woman who is speaking is my mother. Ex: I know the student to whom you loaned the book. Which Non- human Non- human like (collectives) Which + subject NP Ex: The shop which was just opened had a robbery last night. That Neutral
Lesson Plan 7 Human or non- human That is often preferred over which or whom in writing That + subject + NP Ex: The team that won was the Giants. Whose Human head noun, but can be used for non- human referents Ex: I found an old coin whose date has become worn and illegible (Celce- Murcia & Larsen- Freeman, 1999)
Lesson Plan 8 Appendix B Function of head noun in main clauses Subject Direct Object Indirect Object Object of a Preposition Subject The girl who speaks Basque is my cousin The man who(m) you met is my teacher The man that I gave the book to is over there The place which you spoke about is Denver Direct Object I know the girl who speaks Basque I know the place that you mentioned. I gave the main that you mentioned the book. I know the place which you spoke about. Indirect Object We gave the boy who broke the window a warning. I sent the boy that Mary saw a letter. I told the boy that you gave the book to a story. I gave the boy that you were talking about the book. Object of the preposition I talked with the girl who speaks Basque. I work for the man that you met. Mary knows about the boy that I gave the book to. I know the place which John spoke about. Predicate noun Mr. Thomas is a teacher who prepares his lessons. Latin is the subject that Mr. Thomas teaches. He s the boy that I gave the present to. Denver is a place which you ll wan to go. (Celce- Murcia & Larsen- Freeman, 1999)
Lesson Plan 9 References Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Geoffrey, L. (2002). Longman student grammar of spoken and written English. (pp. 279-280). Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited. Celce- Murcia, M., & Larsen- Freeman, D. (1999). The grammar book: an esl/efl teacher's course. (pp. 571-585). Heinle & Heinle Publishers.