Activity 1.................................................................................A Look at Personal Letters
Activity 2...........Comparing the Language of Personal Letters and Encyclopedia articles
Activity 3....................................................................................Examining Noun Phrases
Activity 4............................................................................Ordering Attributive Adjectives
Activity 5......................................................................................................Article Recipe
Activity 6............................................................................Give Me the Book That's Mine
Activity 7.................................................Practice with the Formation of Relative Clauses
Activity 8.................................................................................................Definitions Game
Activity 9................................................................................................Writing Definitions
Activity 10.............................................................................Writing a Description of GSU
Activity 11....................................................................................Verbs in Scientific Texts
Activity 12......................................................................Having a Ball with Passive Verbs
Activity 13......................................................................................Her Purse Was Stolen!
Activity 14..............................................Practice with the Formation of the Passive Voice
Activity 15................................................................The Passive Voice in Scientific Texts
Activity 16............................................................................................Doers and Causers
Activity 17.......................................Practice with Processes through Video and Roleplay
Activity 18....................................................................................Writing about a Process
Activity 19.............Reduced Relative Clauses Known as Past Participial WHIZ Deletions
Activity 20.................................................................................................Research Paper
The focus of this course is informational text. However, in order to introduce informational discourse, it could be contrasted with involved. Involved discourse is probably more familiar to some of your students, especially those in ESL settings who have learned a significant amount of English through interaction with native speakers. Students like these, who may have gone to high school here, may have a much higher proficiency in Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS), experiencing greater success in social communication withing a given context. The skills necessary in a social context are very different from those needed to complete academic tasks, referred to as CALP, or Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency, which "involves the ability to communicate messages that are precise and explicit in tasks that are context-reduced and cognitively demanding" (Cummins, as cited in Ellis, 1994, p.696).
Therefore, contrasting conversational speech and the text style of personal letters with the language of academic texts may be a good starting place for these students who tend to consider the use of slang expression, contractions, and other informal language structures to be a way of sounding like native speakers, when in fact it may have the opposite effect in academic writing tasks. Pointing out the differences between academic writing and the language of advertisements, something which students are frequently exposed to, may be helpful to those students who insist that gonna is a grammatically correct contracted form of going to after seeing it written in a magazine or on a billboard.
Advertisements are probably easier to find than personal letters, with possible sources including magazines, newspapers, the World Wide Web, and TV commercials. However, I like the idea of using personal letters to demonstrate the contrast between informational and involved texts. Students may not have any in English if they have not lived in the U.S. for an extended period of time. In this case, the teacher would need to supply examples of informal letters. Excerpts from letters are provided as samples in Activity 1. If this module were part of a longer term, a more substantial amount of time could be dedicated to involved writing, and the materials resulting from dialogue journals between students, or communication via letters or e-mail with penpals in other classes or schools, could in turn function as the basis for discussion in this module. Students may wish to volunteer materials for examination by the class, or students could be asked to bring a letter to class and to examine it for the characteristics of involved writing, as a basis for comparison in the following activity.
Goal: Point out a few of the features of involved discourse while preparing students for the subsequent comparison of involved and informational texts.
A sample of a personal letter has been provided in this activity. However, student writing could be substituted, such as print outs of e-mail letters.
Read the short personal letter below and follow the directions. When you have finished, get in a group with two other people and discuss what you have found.
Emily-
Hi, there! Sorry I have been so bad about keeping in touch with you! What"s going on in your life these days? How's school? How's work? Any new boys in the picture? Keep me posted on everything, okay?
Things here in New York are pretty much the same--BUSY! I just finished 2 classes this week (yea!) and business is coming along although we're really behind schedule. What's new? I'm stressing out a lot, but I am trying hard to remain SANE! My parents are now in California, moved into their new house and enjoying themselves. Hopefully I'll get to visit sometime next year. Anyhow, that's my life in a nutshell -- I'll write more later--
Take care!
Anna
Directions:
Goal: Increase awareness of the differences between involved and informational discourse
Part A:
Read the excerpt from the encyclopedia entry below. Answer the same questions that answered about the personal letter, and then think about the differences between the two texts.
Rain
Rain is liquid water that falls from the clouds to the ground. Rain is a form of precipitation. Rain is the earth's major source of fresh water. Without rain, life on earth would be impossible.How rain forms.
The sun's heat is constantly causing evaporation of water from the oceans and other bodies of water and from the moist earth. This evaporated water, called water vapor, is always present in varying amounts in the air. As the air rises, it cools and cannot hold as much water vapor. At a temperature known as the dew point, the water vapor condenses on tiny particles in the air, forming water droplets. These particles, called condensation nuclei, include soot, dust, and salt. The water droplets gather together, forming clouds. If the water droplets become supercooled--that is, they remain liquid below the freezing point of 32 F. [0 C]--they combine, and may be heavy enough to fall to the ground as rain or snow. If the temperature drops low enough, the water droplets may form ice crystals, which may fall to the ground as hail or snow.An important condition of rain formation is the lifting of air. This lifting results in cooling and thus the condensation of water vapor. Lifting happens in several ways.
Orthographic lifting occurs when air is forced upward by a natural barrier, such as a mountain...(adapted from The Raintree Illustrated Science Encyclopedia, vol.15, 1991, p.1496).
Directions:
Students will discover that no contractions are found in this excerpt. The personal pronouns (I, you, etc.) referring to people do not appear, although the pronouns it and they are used to refer to the inanimate objects mentioned. There are also more long words in the encyclopedia entry.
While discussing question #4, the teacher can direct the students attention to the differences between the two texts regarding the writer/reader relationship and the related assumptions. For example, the encyclopedia author assumes that the reader knows little or nothing about the topic, which is why s/he is looking it up in the encyclopedia. Therefore, the writer's goal is to help the reader understand by communicating specific information. However, the writer and reader of personal letters share a significant amount of common knowledge. Excerpts like the following can be a humorous way of pointing out the assumptions of shared knowledge that are made by a letter writer.
Part B:
David Robert is a total sweetheart! It's amazing how much he understands at only 17 months. Actually, I've said that at 16, 15, 14, months! He's up at 6 a.m., ready to go-go-go!! We try to take a 1-hour walk every day or go to the park. He crashes for a two hour nap and then is up till 8:30 p.m. I work M-T-W-F 11a.m.-7:30 p.m., so David comes home at 10:15 and takes over untile 3:30 p.m. when Keri, our babysitter, arrives. She is wonderful with him!! And it's wonderful for David to be able to spend so much time with David Robert -& of course vice versa. Heidi has done extremely well with having a brother! Believe me, she takes some serious abuse at times!!
Ask the students to try and figure out who the letter writer and reader are, as well as who David Robert, David, and Heidi are. They will probably be able to ascertain that the writer is a mother, the reader is her friend, David Robert is her baby, David is her husband, and will assume that Heidi is the David Robert's older sister. They may be amused to find out that Heidi is actually the much loved family dog.
Goal: Draw attention to the lengthy noun phrases in informational prose and discuss their purpose
1. Begin by generating class discussion about noun phrases:
2. Ask students to look back at the texts used in Activity 1 and 3 and working in pairs, underline the noun phrases in the first 5 sentences of each. Then discuss questions such as the following:
Goal: Increase comprehension of the order in which adjectives should appear when more than one occurs before a noun
Sources: Lester, M. (1990). Grammar in the Classroom. New York: Macmillan.
Murphy, R. (1989). Grammar in Use. New York: Cambridge University Press.
1. The first part of this activity can be structured differently depending on whether you wish to appeal to inductive or deductive learning styles. The following information regarding the ordering of attributive adjectives according to their class can be presented to students. The other option is letting them come up with this order based on examination of noun phrases containing several adjectives (examples can be taken from the encyclopedia readings).
determiner -> number -> general -> age -> color -> material -> origin -> noun
2. Introduce the following rule and provide examples from the texts.
Multiple adjectives from the same class (called coordinate adjectives) must be separated by commas; adjectives from different classes are not separated by commas. (Lester, p.44)
3. Explain the two tests that can be employed to identify coordinate adjectives --reversing the adjectives and putting and between them. If you can do both of these things and keep the same basic meaning, then they belong to the same class and there is no set order in which they must appear.
4. Practice exercise:
Directions: Put these mixed-up groups of adjectives back in order. Add commas as necessary.
These noun phrases were taken from an encyclopedia entry on glass (Raintree Illustrated Science Encyclopedia, vol. 7, 1991, pp.781-4). For further practice, the students may benefit from doing another version of the same activity, this time ordering adjectives that they come up with as a group to describe the campus, the cafeteria food, etc. Not only will the vocabulary be more familiar and meaningful to them since they are generating it, but this will help prepare them to compose descriptions of the university in Activity 10.
Goal: Provide practice with article choices as well as a self-analysis of areas of difficulty
Source: pp. 18-20 of Pennington, M. (1995). New Ways in Teaching Grammar. Alexandria, VA: TESOL. [Link to Copy of Original Activity]
This activity provides a series of exercises designed to develop knowledge of articles that appeal to a variety of learning styles. The first part involves a review of the reasons for article choices, through examination of the Recipe Handout in Appendix A and the Review of Grammar Terms Handout in B. Prior to the independent student work, I would want to examine a scientific text as a class and discuss the reasons for the high frequency of generic nouns and of nouns that are made definite due to the fact that they are "unique for everyone in the world" (Byrd & Benson, 1992, p.223), such as, the clouds, the ground, the earth's major source, and the sun's heat in the cloze activity below. For the following activity I would substitute a scientific text, such as the rain entry from the Raintree Illustrated Science Encyclopedia, in place of the sports column reading mentioned. Though it is unclear in the text's activity description, this exercise would consist of choosing articles for completion of a cloze activity, such as the one seen below.
Rain
Rain is - liquid water that falls from the clouds to the ground. Rain is a form of precipitation. Rain is the earth's major source of - fresh water. Without - rain, life on earth would be impossible.How rain forms.
The sun's heat is constantly causing evaporation of - water from the oceans and - other bodies of water and from the moist earth....(adapted from The Raintree Illustrated Science Encyclopedia, vol.15, 1991, p.1496).
As mentioned, students can complete the cloze activity independently and then discuss the answers in pairs, which would satisfy both individual and group learners, as well as visual and auditory learners. Finally, completion of the Article Choice Charts in Appendix C gives students the opportunity to pinpoint their areas of difficulty. (Please note that Chart 1 would need to be reworked to include generic, definite, and indefinite. Information from this self-analysis can be used by the student as well as the teacher to determine what further review is necessary.
Goal: Demonstrate that relative clauses can be used to be specific, and provide examples of their formation through an oral activity.
Source: pp. 32-3 of Pennington, M. (1995). New Ways in Teaching Grammar. Alexandria, VA: TESOL. [Link to Original Activity]
This lesson stresses to students the usefulness of relative clauses to specify which noun is being referred to. Following the activity the instructor should generate discussion about how this activity relates to the use of relative clauses in informational writing, i.e. the scientific texts previously discussed.
Goal: Give students the opportunity to master the form of relative clauses before they are asked to produce them when writing definitions.
Source: p. 125 of Raimes, A. (1992). Grammar Troublespots: An Editing Guide for Students. New York: St. Martin's Press.
After reviewing the relative pronouns and their use in restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses, some practice should be given embedding relative clauses in independent clauses. Raimes' exercises include sentences such as the following:
The woman is a teacher.
The woman lives next door to me.
which when combined become ->
The woman who lives next door to me is a teacher.
This format could be adopted but with content relevant to your course's subject matter. For example:
Snow is tiny crystals of frozen water.
This frozen water falls from the sky.
which when combined become ->
Snow is tiny crystals of frozen water that falls from the sky.
Keeping in mind the two topics that I have chosen for this module, a second practice exercise would include sentences describing Georgia State University.
Georgia State University has a compact concrete campus.
The campus is located in downtown Atlanta.
Which when combined become ->
Georgia State University has a compact concrete campus which is located in downtown Atlanta.
Goal: To become familiar with the pattern of definitions that include relative clauses
Source: pp.30-1 of Pennington, M. (1995). New Ways in Teaching Grammar. Alexandria, VA: TESOL. [Link to Original Activity]
This activity gives students a chance to read lots of examples of definitions containing relative clauses, familiarizing them with these patterns. This will begin to prepare them for writing definitions, a task that is frequently required on university level tests. Again this activity can be adapted to the content you have chosen. For example, the main clause Snow is tiny crystals of frozen water would be written on one card, to be matched with the relative clause that falls from the sky on another card.
Goal: Practice writing definitions as is often required in university-level coursework
1. Students can practice defining objects in the classroom using the relative clause pattern: A desk is a table that is used by students in a classroom.
2. Assign a reading on a scientific topic of interest and a list of words to be defined using the format above.
Goal: Complete a writing assignment in the informational discourse style, using the noun cluster information studied up until this point in the course
Students will be asked to compose a letter to a friend of their grandmother's friends grandson who lives in their native country and is planning on coming to Georgia State University to study. Since they have never met this person and this person has never visited the United States, there is a very limited amount of knowledge shared by the letter writer and the reader, and they must be very specific in their descriptions. Ask them to write a one to two page letter including a physical description of GSU, a description of the ESL courses, and other any information they think is important.
Goal: To comprehend why the present tense is used to define and describe scientific subject matter.
1. Give students a scientific reading, such as the first two paragraphs of the snow entry.
2. Ask students to work individually underlining all of the verbs.
3. Working in pairs, the students check that they have found all of the verbs and determine what tense they are.
4. Discuss as a class why the present tense is used in this text and in the definitions written in Activity 9, reviewing the concept of General Truth.
Snow is tiny crystals of frozen water that falls from the sky. Snow forms when water vapor in the air crystallizes. The crystals are usually hexagonal (six-sided). However, they may form an infinite variety of shapes. No two snowflakes are exactly alike.
The air temperature between the clouds and the ground must be at or below 32 F. [0 C], the freezing point of water, for snowflakes to form. If the temperature is near or at the freezing point, the snowflakes are large and wet. At colder temperatures, the snow is fine and dry. If the ground is cold enough, the snow may collect and get very deep. Freshly fallen snow reflects about 95 percent of the sun's heat back into space. This is one reason why the temperature often drops so low on winter nights. (adapted from The Raintree Illustrated Science Encyclopedia, vol.15, 1991, p.1645-6).
Goal: Introduce the difference between the active and passive voices.
Source: pp.139-40 of Pennington, M. (1995). New Ways in Teaching Grammar. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
Although the content matter is not related to the themes of this module, this activity seems to be an effective way of explaining the active/passive distinction and introducing the formation of the passive voice with agents, i.e. that include the by-phrase.
Goal: To comprehend why the agentless passive is sometimes used.
Source: pp. 30-4 of Celce-Murcia, M. And Hilles, S. (1988). Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Though lengthy, I have decided to include the following excerpt from Celce-Murcia and Hilles describing moment by moment, the engaging presentation used by one teacher when introducing the passive and its use without the by-phrase
Goal: Focus on the forms by providing practice changing sentences from the active to the passive voice
Source: p. 288 of Byrd, P. and Benson, B. (1992). Applied English Grammar. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
The following exercise format gives students focused practice on the formation of the passive voice, while asking them questions about the transformation process to check for understanding. The content can be changed to suit your purposes, as in this example.
In 1936, Ukichiro Nakaya, a Japanese physicist, produced the first artificial snow in a laboratory. (from The World Book Encyclopedia, 1993)
a. What is the subject of the active sentence?
b. What happens to the subject to make a passive sentence?
c. What is the direct object of the active sentence?
d. What happens to the direct object to make a passive sentence?
e. What is the verb of the active sentence?
f. How is the verb changed to make the passive sentence?
Passive version: _______________________________________________________
Goal: To comprehend why the passive voice is frequently used to define and describe scientific topics and processes.
1. Give students a scientific reading, such as the second two paragraphs of the snow entry.
2. Ask students to work individually underlining all of the verbs.
3. Working in pairs, the students check that they have found all of the verbs and determine whether they are in the active or passive voice.
4. Discuss as a class why the passive is used in this text.
5. Re-examine the personal letters used in Activities 1 and 2. Discuss why the active is used in these samples of involved writing.
Snow has a number of benefits. Accumulated (collected) snow insulates plants and hibernating animals during the severe winter months. Mountain snow is an important water source for rivers when the snow melts in the spring. Snow also provides a natural method of fertilization. When snowflakes are formed, some nitrogen from the air is contained in each flake. Later, when the snow melts, some of this nitrogen enters the soil along with the water. This nitrogen is used by plants for growth.
Permanent snow exists at the north and south poles, in Greenland, and on some mountaintops. Snow falls during the winter in most regions with moderate climates. In the United States, heavy snowfalls are usually associated with blizzards and other winter storms. A blizzard is a storm with high winds and temperatures well below freezing, as well as large amounts of snow. The snow is blown about by the fierce winds, making it difficult to see anything at a distance. The snow may be blown into huge piles called drifts. Such a storm can bring people's normal activities to a standstill. (adapted from The Raintree Illustrated Science Encyclopedia, vol.15, 1991, p.1646).
Goal: Understand the concept of ergative verbs (verbs that have the same meaning whether used transitively or intransitively) and use this information to recognize why the passive voice is required to describe some processes and the active voice to describe others.
Source: pp.129-33 of Pennington, M. (1995). New Ways in Teaching Grammar. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
Encyclopedia readings such as the entry on the rain cycle or how glass is made could have been used in the earlier activities focusing on the noun cluster. If this is done, students will already be familiar with the vocabulary and content of the readings, easing their understanding of the concepts presented at this time.
Goal: Gain greater familiarity with the passive voice as used to describe processes completed by people or machines.
1. Show a video demonstrating how something is made, either by people, a machine, or a combination of the two. Some stores have videos which demonstrate how a product (such as dishes or a food item) is manufactured.
2. Ask for volunteers to pantomime the steps involved in the process, while other students write sentences describing the process on the board.
Goal: Produce a text using the appropriate verb forms that describes a process, either natural or done by people or machines.
1. Provide information about a process, in the form of additional videos on reserve or readings (encyclopedia articles or manufacturers'brochures).
2. Working in pairs, students choose a topic, such how glass is made, how ceramics are made, plastic, paper, etc.
3. After viewing the video or completing the reading, students describe the process using text accompanied by rough diagrams drawn on poster board.
4. Students explain their processes to the class.
Goal: Recognition of the meaning behind past participial WHIZ deletions
In this activity students discover that reduced relative clauses in the form of participial WHIZ deletions (at the temperature known as the dew point) have the same meaning as relative clauses containing the passive voice (at the temperature which is known as the dew point).
1. Give students a text that contains examples of relative clauses containing the passive voice. The text can be an adaptation of one that originally contained past participial WHIZ deletions.
2. Ask students to identifying relative clauses in a text, by underlining them, and then circle the ones that contain the passive voice.
3. Hand out the version of the text with the past participial WHIZ deletions and ask them to compare it to the version that they just analyzed. What changes were made?
Goal: Complete a short research paper like those required in college classes, synthesizing all of the features of informational and narrative writing that have been studied during the quarter.
Students could be asked to complete one or both of the following assignments, as time allows.
1. A two-to-three page research paper on a scientific topic, including a definition and a description, as well as a historical overview of the related research or developments up to this point in time.
2. A two-to-three page research paper on a place, such as a city or state that they would like to visit, including historical background information.