TEFL & ICT Master Program 2012-2013

General English course

Prepared by Abdelaziz Ait Taleb

Supervised by: - Ms Jennifer Evans- Youssef Tamer

Outline Introduction / DefinitionI- Cleft sentences:

A- Form of cleft sentences.B- Uses of cleft sentences.

II- FrontingA- Commonly fronted constituents.B- Uses of fronting.

III- InversionsA- Lexical inversionsB- Stylistic InversionsC- Information packaging inversions

IV- Problems that ESL/EFL students have with focus structures

What’s the difference between these two sentences:

• A- A Criminal robbed a bank last night.

• B- It was a bank that a criminal robbed last night.

In the second sentence, “The bank” isgiven more prominence.

Definition of focus structures:

• They are the type of sentences that place certain elements of the basic version of the sentence (S+V+O) in different positions in order to make them more prominent.

Example: a-I need some rest. ( Basic version)

b- It’s some rest that I need. (it-cleft)

c- What I need is some rest. (Wh-cleft)

Cleft-sentences are a variation of basic declarative sentences. They give prominence to a focused element through changes that include splitting the sentence.

a- It clefts:

Example:Part 1 Part 2

a- Mr Smith has bought a villa. (Basic form)

b- It’s a villa that Mr Smith has bought.(Focused structure)

Rule: It + Be+ The focused element ( a villa)+that+ the rest of the sentence.

Elements that can be focused: Noun phrases:

eg. It was Ikram who won the first prize.

Time adverbials:It was last year that he got promoted.

Adjuncts of purpose:It’s to cooperate that I ask you to work in groups.

Prepositional phrases:It was for his family’s comfort that he was working hard.

Adjective phrase:It’s flaming red that is her favorite color.

Subject interrogative clause: It’s how you organize your ideas that matters.

Adverbial subordinate clause:

It’s because the event is special that I have decided to attend.

B- Wh-clefts:Example:

Part 1 Part 2

a- She bought a beautiful necklace. The focused element

B- What she bought was a beautiful necklace.

Rule: Wh-word +Part1+ Be + Part2

Elements that can be focused:

Noun phrases (object/ subject):-What people need is social justice. (object)- Who won’t be at the party is Bob. (subject)

Infinitive complement:what she hates is to be late.

That complement:what he claims is that the Moroccan football team can win the CAN.

Interrogative complement:what I don’t understand is why you always blame me.

Gerund complement + Subject gerund clause: -what I really hate is being kept waiting for such a long time!-what stresses me is having to explain all these details.

Verb phrases:- what he does is repair cars.

Adjective and prepositional phrases are not easily focused:- What her boss is, in my opinion, is extremely arrogant. (Adj P)- When I revise my lessons is at night (PP)

Reversed wh-clefts:Many wh-clefts can be reversed. The focused element occurs at the beginning followed by be+ what:example:

- what I really need is a vacation.

-A vacation is what I really need.

Uses of it-clefts:Contradict:

“No, it was Tom who called me, not Bob.”Argue a point.

Eg: it is lack of communication between cultures that leads to misunderstanding

Establish a topic ( eg. A lead in sentence to an article)

Uses of wh-clefts:

Resume a topic. Present the gist of preceding conversation.

Eg: “so, what you are saying is that…..”

Contradict something and present an alternative interpretation.

Clarify a possible misunderstanding ( what I meant is…)

Express the speaker’s stance or attitude. (What surprises me is that...)

II- Fronting:

Fronting refers to the movement of an element to the start of a sentence to give it prominence.

A- Commonly Fronted Constituents:

:I don’t understand him Him I don’t understand

:He runs along the road Along the road he runs

:He wasn’t smart Smart he wasn’t.

:In order to succeed, you have to work hard.

:-Why he is absent I don’t know. (interrog. complement)-That she is honest I don’t doubt. (that complement)

:Discovered quite by accident, the new substance has revolutionized the computer industry.

Uses of Fronting:

Why he disappeared no one knows.

:Pretty they aren’t, but affordable they are.

:Overwhelmed by years of oppression, people in some Arab countries rushed to streets to protest against their rulers.

and provide a smooth transition between old and new information. (at the beginning of a paragraph)

III- Inversions:

Inversion moves elements to the beginning of a sentence (like Fronting). In addition, it simultaneously moves the subject to follow the verb.Ex: a- George Price is sprawled in the foreground.

B-Sprawled in the foreground is George Price.

emphasized emphasized

They are triggered by the presence of a particular word, including:

here/there used with ‘come’, ‘go’ ‘be’ or ‘lie’. ( Ex: Here come the cops! )

eg: never, seldom, rarely , not often, only.Example: Never have I seen such a terrific player.

: not only, neither, nor, so, as.

Example: he doesn’t understand, and neither do I .

They are alternatives to specific grammatical structures, used by the writer to achieve a stylistic effect. They include:

.E.g: Had Merry respected the regulations, she

wouldn’t have been fired.

, used in poetry.E.g: -into the valley of death rode the six hundred. (inverted)

-The six hundred rode into the valley of death (uninverted)

They are different inversions which distribute the information in the sentence in a way more appropriate to the discourse context. They are journalists’ favorite device. These include inversions used :

eg: Down with the ball comes Roan.

Eg: investigators were at the scene of the crash by 10 am. Dead were the pilot, Ralph Halsott,29, Kankakee; and two passengers, Susan Galston,43,Milwaukee; and William Johnson,52, Chicago.

Example:Reports show that many passengers sustain trauma to the body and broken limbs in this type of all roll-over accident. Far more serious are the severe head injuries that cause bruising of the brain

E.g:

• Complicating the white house calculus is soaring hostility on Capitol Hill, which some officials call “off the charts”

( inverted sentence)

• Soaring hostility on Capitol Hill, which some officials call “off the charts”, is complicating the White House calculus.

( uninverted sentence)

that they are witnessing an event unfold before their eyes, and achieve the immediate observer effect.

•

Example:Ludio is conscientious. He bends closely to his work. He unscrews the plate and removes it from the door. Behind the plate is a chiseled cavity. Inside the cavity is a polythene bag. Inside the bag are several smaller bags. Inside each of them is a …..

IV-Problems that ESL/EFL students have with focus structures:

Although this area hasn’t been widely investigated, the new research has revealed that:

ESL/EFL learners tend to avoid using focus structures because they are infrequent. They don’t use them productively.

Even advanced learners aren’t sufficiently aware of the discourse functions of the focus constructions.

• Inversion with Negative Adverbs (Portuguese, Spanish)Example:

-Raramente o jorge esquece de fazer o seu dever de casa

rarely George forgets to do his homework

This example shows that In Portuguese, the subject-verb inversion does not occur in sentences that begin with negative adverbs. Therefore, Portuguese speakers tend to make mistakes when they produce such English sentences.

Notice:

The activities related to this presentation are scheduled for the next class.

So, Get well prepared!