Introduction
It has been well documented that there are three main kinds of conditional sentence. The first one is the verb in the main clause is “will” or “shall” and the verb in the conditional clause is in the simple present tense. Secondly, in the main clause the verb is “should” or “would” and in the conditional clause the verb is in the simple past tense. Last but not the least, the verb in the principle clause is “should have” or “would have” while in the conditional clause is in the past perfect tense (Sinclair, 2011). The statement is largely correct, however, it can not conclude some normal patterns which still popular in the utterance.
There are many variations in the conditional clauses, which can be inserted into many parts in the whole sentence. It can exist at the beginning of the sentence, in the middle of the sentence and at the end of the sentence (Hewing, 2002), which increases the difficulty for students to understand. Also, Chinese do not have conditional sentences, so it might be difficult for learners to understand. In fact, there are some points which can help student have a comprehensive overview to the conditional sentence, as long as students master those learning skills, they would have better understanding of it.
This paper will discuss the essential components of grammar in conditional clauses not only in sentence but also in discourse level. The paper mainly contains two parts within six sections. The first part of this paper intends to evaluate Miss Wong’s teaching approach of the conditional clauses, which indicate the merits and demerits for her teaching method. Then the impact of Miss Wong’s approach on student learning would be included. Another part of the paper is more important, it would c...
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...d guide the students know their merits and demerits.
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In this essay, I shall argue that there is no established truth-functional account of the meaning of indicative conditionals that is not subject to criticism but that the equivalence thesis - a truth-functional account of the meaning of indicative conditionals - is worth saving.
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Before coming into English 1101, I was pretty confident in my grammar abilities. However, during the beginning of the semester, I failed to spot some simple grammar mistakes due to my carelessness which significantly hurt the essay’s legitimacy. I learned to spend more time editing my papers with more cautiousness of these errors. Peer editing other classmates’ paper helped me learn about my own mistakes, because I learned to spend more time on it, providing more insightful feedback. The peer review exhibit demonstrates my growth on finding these errors. After identifying the errors, I gave the author suggestions to how she could improve her
These rules allow linguists to properly assess the efficiency of English speakers. Labov make sure to take into account the “full knowledge that people do indeed make violations, and that one can interpret such violations,”(25). These rules are as follows: categorical, semi-categorical, and variable. These rules allow linguists to properly assess the efficiency of English speakers. Categorical rules are rules that are never broken by native English speakers. Semicatagorical are intra-systematic and violations are more frequent than categorical. Variable rules are sociological and unreportable. These rules are used regardless of what dialect speakers are using. This creates a common ground between Standard English speakers, those who have learned English as a second language, and AAVE speakers. Each dialect its own rules which are similar to the Standard English template they are based on, but are also varying in the manner they are applied in specific situations. Labov describes several instances where AAVE violates the type II (Semicatagorical) behavioral rule. For example, AAVE calls for “be” in place of “am, are, and is”. This can create much confusion between student and teacher. Dialect literature can help students better understand the Standard English translations of AAVE. This a variation of teaching that resembles teaching English as a second language. The biggest difference
Grice’s theory of implicature centers on what he has named the “Cooperative Principle,” and how it relates directly to conversational implications that occur in our daily speech. In the implicature section of his essay “Logic and Conversation,” Grice explains that there are common goals of conversation that we try to achieve within our discussions. For example, some of these common goals are that there is a shared aim of the conversation, each person’s contributions to the conversation should be dependent upon each other, and the conversation continues until it is mutually agreed that it is over. In order to preserve these goals, we find it easiest, as cooperative human beings, to stick to the Cooperative Principle, and along with it, the maxims that Grice lays out. Based on an assumption that we do not generally deviate from this Cooperative Principle without good reason, we can find out things that are implicitly stated. Implicature is the part of our spoken language when these maxims are broken purposefully, and it involves the implicitly understood form of communication: things that are implied or suggested. While Grice’s theory of implicature is a very careful assessment of implied statements, there are some faults that are found within his argument. Because of these issues, Grice’s theory neither offers a solution to the formalist and infomalist problems, nor provides an infallible method of evaluating implicature in everyday conversation.
The lesson is designed to give implicit exposure of grammatical features to the students. In some sections of the lesson (e.g. warming up activity and transi...
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What this paper will do is to find effective methods that can help students comprehend Type 2 conditional sentence better. Firstly, there will be a critique of Miss Wong’s teaching approach, and then you will see a detailed design of a grammar activity. Following it, a discussion and its theoretical rationale will be presented. Finally, a summary about the effective ways will be made.
A large part of an English teacher’s job deals with helping students find their own voices amidst the many teachings of their parents and peers. A student’s voice can be their values, their interests, and their perspectives of the world in which they live. Their voice can be their critical questioning of the many situations they face, whether in a text, the school cafeteria, or a park after school. It is the job of an English teacher to aid in finding this voice through their writing. It is by putting words and thoughts down on paper that a student can sometimes feel comfortable enough to take risks and find their true voices. Although traditional grammar instruction has long been thought to improve this skill, this is no longer the case. Instead, by providing a classroom environment in which students are immersed in classic literature from many genres including poetry, short stories, and novels, students will learn how to harness grammar for their own purposes of finding their voice in their writing.
Teaching English If-conditional sentences to Chinese students is always a challenge for English teachers. English teachers are still continuously seeking for an effective method to make the language point more understandable for students. The probability approach put forward by Mei Wu (2012) provides a clear classification of conditional sentences. Based on her theory, conditional sentences can be mainly divided into four types. In terms of probability, type 1 is the factual conditionals (zero condition) which mean the event is definitely happen to meet the condition stated in the if-clause. Type2 is the predictive conditionals which refer to the event that has high possibility to happen in the future while type 3 is the hypothetical conditionals (second conditional) which used to describe the situation which has low probability to become true. Both type2 and type 3 use past tense to express different meaning. Then, past perfect tense is used in the situation which is impossible to take place in the past in type 4. (Wu, 2012)
Stojkovic, S., & Lovell, R. (2013). Corrections: An introduction. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc
While languages do essentially have the same building blocks, the arrangement of words can range. Some languages begin with clauses by naming a subject such as a noun, which would make it the topic of the sentence. However, other languages begin clauses with words that name the action in a specific sentence (Freeman & Freeman, 2014). For example, English syntax is different from Spanish syntax. This means that confusion may result for students whose L1 is Spanish. For example, in English “red shirt” is used, but in Spanish, the phrase is inverted to “shirt red”. This may result in non-standard syntax when Spanish learners speak or write English. Another difficulty may be faced if a student does not understand that a structured sentence is needed. A student may not see the purpose of saying “I want to get a dog” when simply the words “want dog” would suffice. The problem with this is because syntax is a part of grammar, there is a set of internalized rules that people acquire (Freeman & Freeman, 2014). Within time, students will discover that a full sentence is needed instead of just two words. However, this is something that cannot be simply taught, as a student requires this throughout time and