A. 1. The grammatical structure is a complex sentence.
2. The grammatical structure is a simple sentence.
3. The grammatical structure is a simple sentence (Parrot, 2010).
B. Grammatical structure is the manner in which meanings are encrypted into words in the English language. In English grammar, the structure of a sentence is the organization of clauses, words or phrases in a sentence. A structure may comprise of many components but the base of a sentence is the predicate and the subject. The subject is a number of words or a word that functions as a noun while the predicate is a verb and may comprise of modifiers and objects of the verb. The structure of a sentence is used to convey meaning. If arranged differently, the sentence structures convey different meanings (Eastwood, 2015).
Simple sentence
Compound sentence
Complex sentence
Compound-complex sentence
C. Students may face difficulties of comprehending clauses in the meaning of grammatical structure. The reason behind this is clauses make up a sentence and may be a challenge to fully understand. It is important that this bottleneck be solved to enhance the language skills of students. In solving this problem, the students will understand clauses and endeavor to write effective sentences. The problem would be solved as follows. In the process of helping student understand clauses, they should be taught about general problems with sentences. These problems may include fragmented sentences, loose sentences, and sentences with excessive subordination. Furthermore, it would be crucial that the students learn about run-on sentences, choppy sentences and sentences with a parallel structure.
D. 1. In a compound grammatical structure sentence, should the proceeding (second) clause be detached from the preceding one by a comma and just before the coordinating conjunction?
2. Can dependent clauses function as adverbs, nouns or adjectives in a sentence structure?
3. What types of clauses are there in grammatical structures and how do they make up the different types of structures in English grammar?
E. There exist four forms of grammatical structure which comprise of simple sentences, complex sentences, compound sentences and compound-complex sentences. The sentence structures are defined by clauses. There are two types of clauses. These are independent and dependent clauses (Aitken, 1992).
A simple sentence, for instance, consists of one clause. The clause is independent. Furthermore, the clause is the main one. In order to complete this kind of a sentence, it must comprise of a verb, usually one and a subject.
For instance: The woman kicked the can. The verb in this case is ‘kicked’ while the subject is the woman. It is important to realize that the whole sentence is an independent clause.
A compound sentence, on the other hand consists of two main clauses, usually independent clauses. Furthermore, the independent clauses are joined by subordinating conjunctions. The subordinating conjunctions are inclusive of but, nor, for, yet, and, so and more. An important note on this type of grammatical structure is that the second independent clause should be detached from the first independent clause by use of a comma just before the coordinating conjunction.
For instance: The woman kicked the can, and she felt excruciating pain. From the sentence, it is explicit that there are two independent clauses. The first independent clause is, ‘The woman kicked the can.’ The clause contains a subject and a verb. The woman is the subject and the verb is kicked. The second independent clause is, ‘she felt excruciating pain.’ It is clear that the verb in this case is felt and the subject is the woman represented by the pronoun ‘she’. It is important to realize that the two independent clauses have been separated by a subordinating conjunction ‘and’. A comma has been placed just before the subordinating conjunction (Eastwood, 2015).
F. One of the problems that students may encounter in the process of forming this structure is independent clauses. It is explicit that sometimes when students use language skills, they do not differentiate between independent and dependent clauses. Students may write dependent clauses and think that they are independent clauses. The solution for this is to teach the students how to form independent clauses. It is important that students realize what comprises of an independent clause. Independent clauses must contain a subject and a verb (Parrot, 2010).
For instance: The man bought a packet of milk. From the sentence structure, the man is the subject and bought is the verb. Therefore, this is an independent clause.
The second problem that students may encounter is not placing a comma just before the coordinating conjunction to detach two independent clauses. Based on the formation of independent clauses we have learnt in the latter paragraph, and then when forming a compound grammatical structure sentence, in between two independent clauses, a comma is placed before the conjunction.
For instance: The man bought a packet of milk, and the sales clerk gave him balance.
G. One of the features of pronunciation that would be highlighted when teaching this grammatical structure is consistency. This means that one spoken form shall be chosen and therefore highlighted while teaching. For instance: A woman went to the library. In this case, the stress for the word ‘library’ is on the first syllable. The word in some cases is pronounced as two syllables. It is ‘lai-bri’ and not ‘lai-bre-ri’ (Murphy, 2012).
H. One of the problems that the students may have with the pronunciation of this structure is the complexity of the words. For instance, the example provided for in the previous response is on the word library. The sentence was, ‘A woman went to the library’. The pronunciation as per the consistency principle is ‘lai-bri’, which is complex as to the expected pronunciation, ‘lai-bre-ri’. The latter pronunciation is not correct. Therefore, the sophistication of the pronunciation with this structure may be a problem for the students (Huy, 2016).
However, to solve the problem, the standard pronunciation features involved in the grammatical structures mentioned above would be outlined on the whiteboard and highlighted for the students to take note. This would be a solution for the bottlenecks of pronunciation of the structures discussed.
B2- Lexis (Vocabulary)
A. Thought nothing of- not paying any or much attention to an action, or think of the action as important or strange, albeit later on one may realize that the action was important or strange.
Deliberate- A deliberate action is one done intentionally and consciously. A deliberate action is intended and thought out in advance.
B. For the first phrase, thought nothing of, the students may think that it is a circumstance or situation when someone is not thinking at all. However, to solve the solution, I would ensure that the students look up the meaning and such other phrases that may pop up in the course of an English class.
For the second phrase, deliberate, the students may confuse the meaning of the word in this context. For instance, the students may think that it is undertaking an action unhurriedly and carefully or an engagement in a careful and long conversation. Therefore, as regards the correct meaning of this word, I would ensure that the students are able to look up the meaning in the dictionary and deliberate on the most suitable definition in this case. I would ensure that in the future, the students are able to tell apart the different meanings of the word, according to the dissimilar contexts (Murphy, 2012).
C. Why did Jeff Hughes think nothing of leaving cherry pips somewhere to grow?
When have you thought nothing of something?
Did Hughes deliberately drop the cherry pips?
Have you ever been deliberate on doing something?
What have you been deliberate on?
D. Fixed expression: Thought nothing of (of something or for doing something)
Deliberate: A verb (for doing something)
E. For the fixed expression, thought nothing of, students may not realize that the phase may only change with the tense that is being used. For instance, the only word that changes in the phrase, thought nothing of, is thought. The verb is, ‘think’. Therefore, according to the tense being used, the verb can change. For instance, a person may say the phrase as follows. I was thinking of nothing. Therefore, this may be a challenge to the students.
To solve the challenge, I would ensure that the common expressions including this one are highlighted on board to help the students better comprehend the expression (Parrot, 2010).
For the word deliberate, students may not realize that the word deliberate may be form adjectives from the verb form. For instance, the students may not realize that the word adjective ‘deliberately’ may be formed from the verb ‘deliberate’.
To solve the challenge, I would ensure that the adjective word ‘deliberately’ is highlighted on the whiteboard. Further, I would ask the students to make sentences using the adjective deliberate to ensure that they have comprehended the adjective form of the word ‘deliberate’.
F. For the phrase, thought nothing of, the students may pronounce the word ‘thought’ in other ways other than the provided one /θɔːt/
For the students to understand the pronunciation of the word, I would ensure to write up the sound of the vowels on the whiteboard under the word. Further, I would ensure to grill the word chorally.
Thought nothing of (for doing something or of something)
/θɔːt/
For the word deliberate, the students may unknowingly pronounce /dɪˈlɪbəreɪt/ the instead of pronouncing /dɪˈlɪb(ə)rət/. The two deliberate pronunciations give a totally different meaning from each other, albeit the word is the same.
To solve the challenge of the pronunciation of the word deliberate in this context, I would ensure that I write up the sound of the vowels on the whiteboard so that students comprehend the difference. Furthermore, I would ensure that the grill of the word is done chorally. This assist with familiarity in pronunciations (Swan, 2005).
References
Aitken, R. and Aitken, R., 1992. Teaching tenses. Addison Wesley Publishing Company.
Eastwood J., 2015. Oxford Practice Grammar Advanced. Oxford University Press
Huy, N.T., 2016. Using Timelines And Concept Questions In Teaching Present Tenses-A Theoretical Research. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Research, 4(3).
Murphy, R., 2012. English grammar in use. Ernst Klett Sprachen.
Parrott, M., 2010. Grammar for English language teachers: with exercises and a key. Ernst Klett Sprachen.
Swan, M., 2005. Practical english usage. Oxford Univ. Press.
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