Unit 04 TEFL Training - Gotoco Camp China€¦ · Participles can function as part of a verb, or they can be a noun or adjective. The participle modiﬁes the verb, verb phrase, noun,

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describinglanguage

unit 4 – describing language

introduction

grammar issues

nouns

pronouns

verbs

adverbs

punctuation tips

conditionals

questions

contents

unit 4describinglanguage

in this unit:

Learn common grammatical errors so as to �x them in class

Learn the grammar Chinese students often struggle withto help focus your teaching

Learn the varied verbs, nouns, pronouns and other parts of speech

describinglanguage

For this fourth unit we will review the way to describe language, based on its different parts. We will review the different parts of speech so as to afford a better understanding of each aspect of a sentence for teaching and review.

You must consider that some students have had a better education than others.

Some have a very good understanding of their own language and some do not.

A student may ask you what type of word ‘under’ is. You may tell them it is a

preposition, drawing blank looks. Even if you looked up the Chinese term for this

‘jie ci’ (介词) they still might have no idea what you are talking about so it’s always

important to review the very basics of a language and know how to explain them

to a foreign learner. Most students will understand the basic ideas of nouns,

verbs and adjectives, but making sentences is not so easy. Students that are not

so natural with learning sentence structures will constantly need to be reminded

of basic concepts such as verb agreement, i.e. 'I play', 'he plays', and

subject-verb-object sentences.

talking about language

Teachers and students need to know how

to describe language in order to teach

and learn. Without the ability to describe

each component of a new language,

teachers cannot answer students’

questions. Teachers need to understand

language in order to explain something

new and to correct mistakes. This

includes knowing the different sounds in

language, knowing why we say sentences

in certain orders, and why certain phrases

are used like ‘big sale’ as opposed to

‘strong reduction’, as would be literally

translated from other languages.

In order to talk about language, teachers

must know each element of language.

While this seems remedial, the learning

process of language elements for

teachers was taught so long ago (or

maybe not at all) and has become a

natural process in the brain. Most native

English speakers would not be able to

explain exactly how and why they use

certain grammar structures in everyday

life. This chapter will not explain

everything, but will show you which

elements Chinese students struggle with

and why.

Check out the links in the text below for

more grammar tips

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/

english-grammar

https://www.englishclub.com/

Example

Example

the order of sentences

‘The cat chased the mouse.’

Here ‘the cat’ is the subject, ‘to chase’ is the verb, and ‘the mouse’ is the object.

Verbs with objects are referred to as ‘transitive’.

Complements are used with verbs such as ‘seem’, ‘look’, or ‘be’. The intent is to

provide information about the subject.

‘She seems mad.’

Here the verb is ‘to seem’ and the complement is ‘mad’.

Below we have emphasised the grammar points which challenge Chinese

students the most. Watch out for the ‘China focus’ boxes.

In English the order of sentences is often described in the following terms:

Subject Verb Object/Complement/Adverbial phrase

Example

Example

Example

Example

Example

Sentences can exist with only a subject and verb. These are called ‘intransitive’.

‘He cried.’

There are two types of objects

1. Direct

Direct objects refer to things or people who are affected by the verb.

‘He loved her.’

2. Indirect

Indirect objects are the people or things which benefit from the action.

‘She drew him a picture.’

Adverbial phrases are those which complement the verb much the same as a

‘complement’ complements the subject.

‘She lived in Frankfurt.’

In the sentence above ‘in Frankfurt’ is adverbial of place.

Multi-clause sentences are those which have more than one clause.

‘They enjoyed a meal.’

‘The man met the woman.’

When reviewing grammar, teachers need to know different parts of speech. This

begins with nouns.

noun identificationNouns are, as we are taught in

school, a person, a place, or an

object. They can also be a quality,

an idea, or even an activity. For

example: Mark is a person,

navigation is an activity,

independence is an idea and a

desk is an object.

nominal wordsNominal words are those words

or word groups which are used as

a noun. So, ‘Mark runs’ includes

the nominal word ‘Mark’.

common nounsCommon nouns refer to general

names such as ‘house’ or ‘table’.

These nouns can be abstract or

concrete.

concrete nounsConcrete nouns are, as the name

would suggest, an object which

you can physically see or touch.

abstract nounsAbstract nouns are qualities or

ideas. For example:

‘independence’ or ‘freedom’.

collective nounsNouns can be countable or

uncountable. The name implies all

you need to know: countable

nouns can exist as multiple

individual units, meaning they can

be counted. Uncountable nouns

cannot be divided into separate

elements, so cannot be made

plural.

The word ‘apple’ is

countable because you

can say ‘two apples’ or

‘twenty apples’. But the

word ‘food’ is

uncountable; you

cannot say ‘two food’

or ‘twenty food’.

pronounsPronouns assume the place of

nouns, which are often referred to

as the antecedent. For example:

John questioned whether he

would make it to work on time.

In the example above, John and

‘he’ are the same, but ‘he’

appears instead of John.

Example

pronoun formsThere are nine pronoun forms and

they are: demonstrative, indefinite,

intensive, interrogative,

possessive, relative, and reflexive.

Whenever you are writing or

speaking, the pronoun has to

agree with the antecedent. This

means that should your

antecedent be plural, the pronoun

must be too; if the antecedent is

female, the pronoun must be too.

nominative pronoun caseWhen pronouns take the

nominative case they exist in the

form of:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who

In this case, the nominative case

pronoun is the subject for your

sentence. For example: She went

to the yoga class.

nominativeIhe/sheityouwe theywho

objectivemehim/herityouusthemwhom

possessivemy, minehis/her/hersitsyou/yoursour/ourstheir/theirswhose

objective noun caseWhen pronouns take the objective

case they exist in the form of:

Me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom

In this case, the objective case

pronoun is the direct or indirect

object of your sentence. For

example: He offered her a ride home

As the name would suggest, the possessive noun case indicates possession.

For example: That is my dog. Here, personal pronouns refer to the individual who is speaking in

first person, to the individual spoken to in second person, or to the individual about whom the

speaker is talking in third person.

reflexiveIf the subject completes an action for

itself or to itself, then it becomes

reflexive, such as ‘myself’, ‘ourselves’,

‘yourself’, or ‘yourselves’.

possessive noun caseWhen pronouns take the possessive

case they exist in the form of:

indefinite pronounsIndefinite pronouns are often found in

sentences which contain ‘any’, ‘all’, ‘none’, or

‘some’ and do not have a specific antecedent.

They include things such as ‘somebody’,

‘another’, ‘everyone’, ‘no one’, etc. For

example: ‘Somebody took the dogs’.

If they are used alone, they are indefinite

pronouns, but if they are used in conjunction

with a noun, they are indefinite adjectives. For

example: ‘Somebody found some keys’.

There are several in the cupboard. (indefinite

pronoun)

There are several people in the square.

(indefinite adjective)

I found some in the draw. (indefinite pronoun)

I noticed some paper on the table. (indefinite

adjective)

interrogative pronounsThese are pronouns used to ask questions. They

can be personal or they can be non-personal.

Who/Whoever: Personal subject

Whom/Whomever: Personal object

Whose: Personal possessive

Which: Non-personal subject

What: Non-personal subject

For example: Which student has the drawings?

Questions

Chinese students struggle with questions but

thankfully there are many variations of

activities to include them for practice.

Questions in English are difficult due to

auxiliaries required for verbs, adjectives and

nouns.

Closed questions require a yes or no answer

whereas open questions use what, where,

when, why, who, how, whose and which.

‘To be’ questions: use the auxiliary particles

‘am’/’is’/’are’ when the key element of the

question is a noun or adjective

What is your name?

Is she sad?

How is the weather?

‘To do’ questions: the auxiliaries ‘do’/’does’

are employed with questions that focus on

verbs

Do you like eggs?

Does Tommy write a diary?

When does she work?

Which carpet colour do you prefer?

If students can grasp this logic it’s fairly

straightforward to make past tense questions

by changing the auxiliary to the past tense:

‘am’/’is’—‘was’, ‘are’—‘were’,

‘do’/’does’—‘did’

verbsVerbs are action words. They

express actions, states of being, or

relationships between two items.

transitive verbsTransitive verbs are those which take

objects. For example: ‘Mark took the

toys’.

intransitive verbsThese verbs do not take an object.

Instead, they express action which

does not require someone to be

doing something to anyone else. For

example: ‘Mark left’. The verb here is

‘to leave’. Or ‘Jane is sleeping’.

linking verbsLinking verbs are verbs which link

the agent to the remainder of your

sentence and explain the link

between the remainder of your

sentence and your subject. For

example: with the verb ‘seem’, you

can form the sentence ‘John seems

tired from work’.

participlesParticiples can function as part of a

verb, or they can be a noun or

adjective. The participle modifies the

verb, verb phrase, noun, or noun

phrase. It is a non-finite verb form.

I saw David eating noodles.

I have eaten lunch already.

active and passive voice

Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have

'active forms' and 'passive forms'. The concept of passive

sentences is slightly different in Chinese Mandarin as compared to

English, so ensure you explain it clearly to your students.

In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the

sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most

sentences are active.

[subject (doing the action)] + [verb] + [object (receiving the action)]

For example

David cleans the house.

Tracy learns English.

In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject

of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally

included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive

form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more

important or should be emphasised. You can also use the passive

form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not

want to mention who is doing the action.

[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] +

[thing doing action]

For example

John was taught how to read.

Kevin was hit by the ball.

Both passive and active forms can occur in a range of different

tenses so make sure you always pay attention to them when

teaching different tenses.

CHINA FOCUSEnglish has 14 tenses which is somewhat daunting for someone

whose language does not employ tense in the same way, such as

Mandarin. Mandarin, and other forms of ‘Chinese’ languages,

often uses time references, such as ‘today’ or ‘last week’, to

indicate time or a particle that can express an action has been

completed, but there are no formal tense structures.

It is important to remember that your students will usually range

from complete beginners through to intermediate learners. They

will usually be learning or need to learn the more basic tenses

such as the simple present, present continuous, the simple past,

the simple future and the present perfect. You may have more

advanced students, in which case knowledge of more difficult

tenses will be necessary, such as the past perfect: had done.

Below, we briefly introduce some of the most important tenses,

which you will use most commonly while teaching.

The simple present.

There are two main uses for the simple present:

1. An action that is regular or repeated

‘She goes to school on weekends’

‘I often visit my grandmother’

2. Facts, truths and things

‘He’s my real father’

‘Dogs eat meat’

‘She does not like eggs’

Key point: Chinese people do not conjugate their

verbs, so naturally forget all the time to add an ‘s’

to verbs with he, she or it as their subject.

The Present Continuous

This tense is also known as the present progressive and has

several different uses:

1. An action happening ‘right now’

‘Look, the cat is dancing’

‘I’m reporting for the news channel’

2. An action happening around now or continuously over a period

of time

‘Hi, mother, I’m in China studying Chinese, teaching English and

learning to cook’

‘I’m teaching a class right now so I cannot speak on the phone’

Key point: the first usage is fairly straightforward but

it is important to make students understand that this

tense can also be used to talk about things that are

not happening ‘right now’ but ‘around now’. It would

be very strange if someone asked ‘What are you

doing?’ on the telephone and someone replied ‘I’m

talking to you’, rather they are more likely to say ‘I’m

doing the gardening’. This is an action which is not

literally still happening at that moment, but it is

happening ‘around now’.

3. The present continuous is also used to talk about the future

‘Tomorrow I’m playing football so I cannot meet you’

4. It can also be used to talk about changes over time.

China is becoming richer

Children are getting naughtier etc

The Simple Past

This tense is employed for actions that happened in a specific

finished time and are themselves finished.

He ate dinner at six o’clock (the dinner is gone and the time is a

finished past time).

He ate the dinner (this sentence does not have the specific

finished time in it but we can guess from the context or the

speaker when the finished time was—maybe the speaker

previously told us).

Regular verbs often just add ‘ed’ but many common verbs are

irregular and the forms must be learnt: ‘sell’—‘sold’,

‘buy’—‘bought’, ‘see’—‘saw’, ‘catch’—‘caught’, etc.

Common finished time phrases should be made clear to the

students: yesterday, last week/month/year, When I was+age,

when I was in/at +place, …ago

The Simple Future

We talk about the future using ‘will’ to indicate things that are

regular but will happen in the future e.g. I will go to work on

Monday (I always go to work on Monday) or ‘we will meet again’

We also use it for natural states or truths in the future, e.g. ‘We will

all die one day!’, or ‘I will be in the hospital at 6.00pm’.

We can talk about plans and decisions using the ‘be going to’

structure.

‘I’m going to buy that jacket’

‘She’s going to Italy in July’ (We could also use ‘she will go to Italy’

but this would indicate she regularly goes. Here, it is her plan).

Key point: students should be aware of the difference

between ‘going to’ and ‘will’ but they should not

worry too much as most native speakers do not

consider this when they use one or the other.

However, sometimes it may sound unnatural for this

reason.

The Present Perfect

This tense is a tricky one but also commonly used so it cannot be

overlooked.

Students often get confused between its different uses.

The tense is always formed in the following way:

Subject+have/has+past participle

1. I have lived here for 4 years.

She has had that jumper forever

Here, an action which started in the past continues up until now

and, maybe, into the future. Most Chinese students with a level

above beginner have some idea of this tense. However, its second

usage is a little more perplexing.

2. Students often learn the ‘I have done something’ usage early

on as it is so important in English. Consider ‘I have been to +

place’

However, they rarely fully understand its usage.

‘I have seen the movie Frozen’ is clearly a finished action from the

past, so this sentence has a different usage to the first example. It

is not still happening now.

These actions were finished in the past but..

are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…

change or influence...

…the present

We often do not need to know when the action happened but just

want to know if it happened or not.

For example, ‘I have seen that movie’ is both important now and

influences now. Because you have seen it, we might not watch it

again. When you watched the movie is not important.

Key point: In contrast to the simple past which is

always paired with specific finished times the present

perfect is often used with unfinished (or non-specific)

time phrases such as this week, this year, in my

career, in [year], etc. We often see the pattern with

the present perfect that there is a connection

between the past and the present. All these time

phrases indicate a time that is still happening now

despite the action happening in the past. ‘In my life’

is a phrase we may not say but it is implied in

experiences: ‘I have been to France three times (in

my life)’. We do not need the ‘in my life’ but it is

implied in most statements about experience.

The above explanations are fairly brief and have a limited number

of examples. For further study and research see:

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar


Gerunds

From a beginner level to the most advanced, gerunds are an

essential piece of grammar that many students neglect.

Gerunds are verbs that are used in a similar fashion to nouns,

always in the format: verb+ing.

Gerunds are not only very useful but can also be essential in some

sentences.

They can be subjects (Swimming is fun), objects (I love dancing)

and complements (My biggest flaw is being late). There are other

specific grammatical uses but these are the basic ones that

Chinese students need to know and often have problems with.

Consider this question and its answer: What makes you angry?

Breaking a glass makes me angry. If we were to try to say this

without a gerund we might have to make a longer and more

cumbersome sentence like ‘when I break a glass I feel angry’ or ‘if

I drop a glass I get angry’ and this would not exactly correlate with

the question asked. Gerunds often form a natural part of speech.

A common mistake which is difficult to master but nevertheless

important and worth spending time on is how verbs are followed

by -ing forms (doing) or infinitives (to do)

Consider: ‘She likes baking cakes’ and ‘she likes to bake cakes’.

Both sentences are fine grammatically.

However ‘she suggested to go to France’ is incorrect.

‘However’ can only be followed by an -ing form: She

suggested going to France.

‘We are preparing having a party’ is also incorrect because

‘prepare’ can only be followed by an infinitive: We are

preparing to have a party.

It doesn't matter what the tense of the main verb is but we

should know if it is followed by an infinitive or an -ing form.

Below is a link to a useful list of verbs that use an infinitive,

gerund or both, sometimes with a change to the meaning and

sometimes without. For example ‘he stopped playing football’

and ‘he stopped to play football’ have very different meanings

http://www.engvid.com/english-resource/verbs-followed-by-g

erunds-and-infinitives/

English has 14 tenses which is somewhat daunting for someone















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’









tenses




of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.













































The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























tenses (cont)
















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























tenses (cont)
















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























tenses (cont)
















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























tenses (cont)
















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























Adverbs are used to describe a verb, adjective or another

adverb. This kind of grammar is suitable for beginners, if

presented in a simple format, right through to intermediate or

advanced students.

Key points: teachers should be able to identify and

present irregular adverbs like well, fast, hard as

students usually think adverbs end in -ly. However,

many words look like adverbs but are, in fact,

adjectives, like motherly, friendly, lively etc. The

hard part with adverbs is their position which is

covered in detail in this link:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-gra

mmar/adverbs-and-adverb-phrases-position

adverbs
















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























Some adverbs are necessary at a beginner level such as

adverbs of indefinite frequency: always, never, sometimes,

often, rarely, seldom, occasionally etc., and definite frequency:

three times a week, once a month, everyday etc.

Many common adverbs are so important students learn them

almost naturally such as adverbs of time like ‘today’ which fit

in the end position of the sentence or at the beginning if we

want to emphasise the time.

Teachers can also focus on adverbs of manner which show

how we do something:

‘He ran to the bus stop quickly’

These are often in the end position but can also fit in the

‘mid-position’ before the verb: ‘He dangerously balanced on

the edge.’

Other adverbs of manner: well, angrily, cheerfully, slowly etc.

This website gives more details on usage and position

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/

adverbs-and-adverb-phrases-position

Adverbs can also describe adjectives (‘It was terribly scary’) or

adverbs themselves. For example: ‘He did it thoroughly well’.

Here, ‘well’ is the adverb of manner and ‘thoroughly’

describes how well he did it

adverbs
















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























PUNCTUATION TIPS

brackets

( )full stop

.comma

,

exclamationmark

!speechmarks

”

”

questionmark

?
















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























commasRely on commas to connect two ideas into one sentence. If you have a

conjunction, the comma goes before it in order to insert a quick pause

in-between the two ideas.

This is not the only time a comma can be used. You can also use it to

make a list. For example: The zoo has dogs, cats, boa constrictors, and

alligators.

,

using the semicolon:Semicolons are intended to connect two independent clauses together.

This means that your two sentences can be separated by a period, but

with the semicolon, you just get rid of the pause one would normally take

when a period is present and show the two clauses are closely related.

For example:

‘My mother came over today. She is still glowing after her wedding last

week.’

Without the semicolon this sentence is read like:

‘My mother came over today.*pause* She is still glowing after her

wedding last week.’

With the semicolon this sentence is read like:

‘My mother came over today; she is still glowing after her wedding last

week.’

Another way of looking at this is that in place of the semicolon, you might

have put a conjunction like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘yet’.

So how do you use it?

If you have two independent clauses, or sentences that can stand alone

on their own, you can use the semicolon.

;

For example:

The sentence ‘My mother came over today’ works as a complete

sentence.

As does, ‘She is still glowing after her wedding last week’.

Do not use the semicolon with a conjunction. In this case, you want to

use a comma because you have a conjunction separating your two

clauses.

For example:

‘My mother came over today, and she is still glowing after her wedding

last week.’

In the example above, the conjunction ‘and’ exists, so you use a comma

and not a semicolon.

So when can you get away with the semicolon? Use it whenever you

want to establish a link between two statements that either contrast one

another or link to one another.

For example:

‘His uncle came over for lunch today; his beard is completely white.’

In the example sentence above, the two sentences can function on their

own, in an independent fashion. However, you are using the semicolon to

make the connection for your reader that you noticed the white beard on

the uncle because he came over for lunch.

*Note: both the comma and the semicolon initiate a pause when reading

or speaking. The comma means a short length pause while the

semicolon means a medium length pause. A period is a complete stop.

You can also use a semicolon to connect sentences that already have

punctuation in them. This is typically seen when two sentences are

connected, inside of which one has a list and a comma or two.

For example: When Mark was upset as a child, he would often run to his

room, lock the door, and scream; he had difficulty communicating his

emotions.

In the example above, if you had attempted to use a comma in place of

the semicolon, it would have resulted in what is called a comma splice

and that would mean the connection between your two clauses would be

lost as well.

You can also use the semicolon to make a list of items you want to

separate. This is something typically seen when listing dates, names, or

locations.

For example: While looking for the best burritos in the world I travelled to

Los Angeles, California; Rota, Spain; Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

E.g.

‘e.g.’ means ‘for example’ and should be used as such. For example:

‘When eating burritos, Tim always adds extra toppings, e.g. spicy salsa’.

Parentheses or Commas for ‘i.e.’ and ‘e.g.’

You can use either in either case. For example: (e.g. your list of things

here) or e.g., your list of things here.

If you are using a comma, you want one after ‘e.g.’ or ‘i.e.’.
















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























Semicolons are intended to connect two independent clauses together.




For example:


week.’






week.’






;

For example:


sentence.




clauses.

For example:


last week.’






For example:














emotions.




lost as well.



locations.



E.g.






















The simple present.







‘Dogs eat meat’












of time


learning to cook’

















The Simple Past















The Simple Future







structure.









reason.

The Present Perfect


overlooked.












place’






are important…

are connected to…

are related to…

are relevant to…


…the present























Gerunds






sentences.






























Semicolons are intended to connect two independent clauses together.




For example:


week.’






week.’






For example:


sentence.




clauses.

For example:


last week.’






For example:













;


emotions.




lost as well.



locations.



E.g.







conjunctionsUse conjunctions to link two ideas with the same S + V + O combination.

For example: “Tim visited his friend, but I did not like his friend’.

Conjunctions should follow the first idea and a comma. They include

words such as: for, and, but, or, nor, so, yet.

conditionals

Conditionals are very confusing for new learners as they have their

own special grammatical rules that need to be taught and are not

easily picked up.

Textbooks and teaching guides often point teachers and students

in the direction of the first, second and third conditional rules

which are as follows:

First conditional: ‘If he comes, we will all hide’

The structure is formed as follows: If+subject+present

tense+will+infinitive Usage: for events that are likely to

happen, or where if they happen, another event will

happen in the future.

Second conditional: ‘If I were a woman, I would wear a

dress everyday.’

The structure is formed with the past tense to show

some ‘distance from reality’:

If+subject+simple past+would+infinitive

Usage: for situations that are unreal, unlikely, or even

impossible. The simple past distances the grammar from

‘reality’ and note that, ‘was’ is altered to ‘were’ to further

it from ‘reality’. This is a purely grammatical usage called

the subjunctive.

Third conditional: ‘If Tony had not lied, we would not have

gone to the party.’

If+subject+past perfect+would have+past participle

In this conditional usage we focus on an unreal situation

in the past. If it happened then another thing would have

happened, but neither did as they are both unreal

situations in the past.

This condition is usually reserved for more advanced

learners.

CHINA FOCUSThese are three common structures using conditionals but teachers

should be aware that there are others. There are many scenarios

with an ‘if’ that are real, or not imaginary: ‘if you need to borrow a

tennis racket, you can have mine’. Here both tenses are simple

present. (this is sometimes known as ‘zero conditional’).

Another example using different tenses that does not fit into the first,

second or third conditional concept: If you didn’t take the exam then

you can’t get this position in our company. In this sen-tence the

condition is a realistic situation in the past that does not allow the

person to get the job in the present.

Here are some websites with more information and examples:

http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/Grammar%20Guides/3.08%20If.htm

http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/conditional/

Conditionals are very confusing for new learners as they have their

own special grammatical rules that need to be taught and are not

easily picked up.

Textbooks and teaching guides often point teachers and students

in the direction of the first, second and third conditional rules

which are as follows:

First conditional: ‘If he comes, we will all hide’

The structure is formed as follows: If+subject+present

tense+will+infinitive Usage: for events that are likely to

happen, or where if they happen, another event will

happen in the future.

Second conditional: ‘If I were a woman, I would wear a

dress everyday.’

The structure is formed with the past tense to show

some ‘distance from reality’:

If+subject+simple past+would+infinitive

Usage: for situations that are unreal, unlikely, or even

impossible. The simple past distances the grammar from

‘reality’ and note that, ‘was’ is altered to ‘were’ to further

it from ‘reality’. This is a purely grammatical usage called

the subjunctive.

Third conditional: ‘If Tony had not lied, we would not have

gone to the party.’

If+subject+past perfect+would have+past participle

In this conditional usage we focus on an unreal situation

in the past. If it happened then another thing would have

happened, but neither did as they are both unreal

situations in the past.

This condition is usually reserved for more advanced

learners.

conditionals

These are three common structures using conditionals but teachers

should be aware that there are others. There are many scenarios

with an ‘if’ that are real, or not imaginary: ‘if you need to borrow a

tennis racket, you can have mine’. Here both tenses are simple

present. (this is sometimes known as ‘zero conditional’).

Another example using different tenses that does not fit into the first,

second or third conditional concept: If you didn’t take the exam then

you can’t get this position in our company. In this sen-tence the

condition is a realistic situation in the past that does not allow the

person to get the job in the present.

Here are some websites with more information and examples:

http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/Grammar%20Guides/3.08%20If.htm

http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/conditional/

Teaching grammar is one of the key building blocks of establishing yourself in the

classroom. Knowledge of grammar gives you confidence to think of examples and

authority in students’ eyes. There is often one student who thinks they know

everything and may even try to undermine your position in the class. If you are

stuttering over your grammar you may find this problematic.

The above issues range from beginner to advanced level so making sure you have

the right grammar activities for the right level is paramount. A general tip is to make

activities easier than what you think the students’ level is. Firstly, as an important

review of grammar they may have forgotten or is inherently tricky. Secondly, as

when you meet students you may find they appear to have a good standard of

English, but they may only be using a limited range of vocabulary and grammar

that they have perfected. Therefore, you need to test their grammar and push them

out of their comfort zone through simple conversation or writing activities. Once

you know the problems they have, you can create more activities to help them

improve in a way specific to their needs.

With the lowest level beginners and newcomers to the language, remember and

try to understand they know nothing and even very simple grammar structures

may be very difficult. Focus on the basics of s-v-o, the basic tenses, agreement (he

plays), countable and non-countable nouns and basic vocabulary.

Teachers must understand common grammatical issues in the English language, issues which often need refreshing before stepping into the classroom.

Teachers must know the different parts of speech and the order of a sentence.

Teachers must be able to teach each part of speech and make edits to student work.

Chinese students often struggle with tenses, adverbs, questions and conditional sentences so teachers need to make sure they explain these clearly, giving lots of examples

summary

worksheetunit 4

Describe the following nouns and give an example of each in a sentence:Common Nouns

Concrete Nouns

Abstract Nouns

Collective Nouns

Possessive Nouns

Countable Nouns

In your own words, explain the difference between Unfinished Action and Past.

List the nine pronoun forms and when you would use them.

Explain why it is important for teachers to know the different parts of a sentence.

Documents

Unit 04 TEFL Training - Gotoco Camp China€¦ · Participles can function as part of a verb, or they can be a noun or adjective. The participle modiﬁes the verb, verb phrase, noun,