Common errors in the use of adjectives made by the students in grade eleven at Hoang Quoc Viet high school

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N°.2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY DUONG THI THU CUC COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF ADJECTIVES MADE BY THE STUDENTS IN GRADE ELEVEN AT HOANG QUOC VIET HIGH SCHOOL

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N°.2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

DUONG THI THU CUC

COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF ADJECTIVES MADE

BY THE STUDENTS IN GRADE ELEVEN AT HOANG

QUOC VIET HIGH SCHOOL

(Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree

of bachelor of arts in English)

SUPERVISOR: PHI THI THO, B.A

Hanoi, May 2013

PART ONE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this chance to express my greatest gratitude to Mrs Phi Thi Tho, B.A., my supervisor for her invaluable support and careful guidance as well as encouragement, suggestions and advice throughout the process of writing this thesis Besides, I would like to thank to the librarians of Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2 who have helped me in the preparation and writing this thesis

I would like to express my thanks to my all beloved lectures who always

motivated and suggested me to finish my thesis soon Furthermore, I would like to

thank all my friends who never stop encouraging me to finish my thesis

In addition, I want to express my special thank to students in class 11 at Hoang Quoc Viet High School because of their support in the survey

Last but not least, I own a debt of gratitude to my beloved family, for their whole — hearted encouragement and endless support

ABSTRACT

It is a fact that adjective is one of the essential parts to form a sentence in

English grammar Adjective is frequently used in daily life such as describing things, objects, or expressing feeling, emotion As well known, English adjectives are

diversified in many forms, meanings as well as usages It takes learners quite a long time to understand adjectives deeply

As a result, students of English often make errors when they use adjectives Therefore, this research work is focused on investigating common errors in the uses

of adjectives Actually, the most important purpose is to show how to use the

adjectives and to suggest some solutions to the problem

Based on material analysis and error analysis, the types of errors and causes have been found Solutions to the problems have been suggested

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Title: Common errors in the use of adjectives made by the students in grade

eleven at Hoang Quoc Viet High School (Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor

of Arts in English)

I certify that no part in this thesis has been copied from any other person’s work without acknowledgement and that the thesis is originally written by me under the instructions from my supervisor

Date submitted: May 2013

Duong Thi Thu Cuc Phi Thi Tho

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACGROUND 1.1 Literature review in ĐrÏ€Ÿ s cSxnnnHnHnnHnHnHn n nngnren 4

1.2.3.4 Adjectives are placed after to be and linking verbs - - « 12

1.2.3.5 Adjectives are placed after the objects (used as an object complement 12 1.2.3.6 Adjectives are placed after Indefinite pronOUns - - «<< «<<s£+s+ 12 1.2.3.7 Adjectives are placed after adverbs - - «ch SH HH ng rưy 13

1.2.4.1 Adjectives used attributively and predicatively - ++-++<s<+s<+<+ 13 1.2.4.2 Adjectives used only attrIDutÏV€Ïy << xxx r rxy 13 1.2.4.3 Adjectives used only predICafIV€Ïy - scStk* vn HH r rxy 13 1.2.4.3.1 Predicative adjectives beginning wIth “*a”” - «sec seecse 14 1.2.4.3.2 Predicative adJectives describing health - 6+5 << eseese 14 1.2.4.3.3 Predicative adjectives describing fellings 5 +55 <<+<s+e sex 14 1.2.4.4 Adjectival partieiples ending in “-ed” and “-ing ««+x<<<<s<sx+ 14 1.2.4.5 Present participle verbs and past participle verbs used as adjectIves 15 1.2.4.6 Nouns that behave like adjectives

1.2.4.7 Adjectives used as nouns

IV N00 16 1.2.5.2 The use of commas and “and” to separate adjecfiV€S 5< <<+ 17 1.2.5.2.1 Separating adJectives used aftrIbutiV€Ìy - - «xxx eskerserse 17 1.2.5.2.2 Separating adjectives used predicativeÌy - c+ccsccssxsssrseres 17

CHAPTER TWO

COMMON ERRORS IN THE USES OF ADJECTIVES

IS) 18 II.I.I Purposes Of the SUTV€V - Án TH HH HT TH rưy 18

ID Population of the SUrVey 19

II.I.6 Administration Of the fTÿ OUI - -c <6 x1 1911 11 1 1 nh nh tr rưy 21 IL.1.6.1 Preparation of the try OU - 5 - <6 x1 12 11 1 1 nh nh ng ng rưy 21 I2) 21

INR.S C0 Toà 2a 8 21 IHI.2 Common err0rs and €auS€S . G 1 22 211211251251 511 re 25

IL.2.2 Errors in placing adjectives before indefinite pronouns . 25

“33

IL2.3 Errors in the use of predicative adjectives beginning with “a” as

attributiveadjectives 25 IL2.4 Errors in the use of adverbs instead of adjectives after linking verbs 26 IL2.5 Errors in the use of ““The” + adj€CfIVe - SĂ Ăn Ss sexy 26 IL2.6 Errors in the distinction of predicative adJectives and attributive

E01 27 IL2.7 Errors in the use of adverbs instead of adjectives after the objects (as

J0j[sufeUij011xi) 011077 27

IL.2.8 Errors in the use of adjectival participles ending in “-ed” and “-ing”

I1.2.9 Errors in placing adjectives before adverbs .ececceeceeccececeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeees 28

II.3 Suggested solufions and suggøested exerciS€S -Ă Ăn 28

IL3.1 Suggested 000 1n 28 IENAS)2 20 30

SUGGESTED EXERCISES 2 2S se 4Ù

INTRODUCTION

I Rationale

English is used as an international language in many countries all over the world In Vietnam as well as in other countries, there is a greater and greater need to learn English English is used in politics, business dealings, and everyday life No one can deny the importance of learning English in Vietnam at present Therefore,

English is being taught at every educational level

We know that, studying English nowadays has become an essential demand for everyone However, each language has its own origin, characteristics and values leading to Vietnamese learners have to face many difficulties when they learn this international language It is proved that English grammar is complex, so it often

causes embarrassments to learners Adjective is one of the essential parts to form a

sentence in English grammar that students have to learn too much at schools English adjectives are diversified in many forms, meanings as well as usages Therefore, using adjectives correctly and effectively is rather complex Though Vietnamese learners are trying to study English, the result does not come up to our expectation due to both subjective and objective causes Due to its various uses, it is assumed that there are many errors which may be made

As a student in the Foreign Language Faculty, this thesis is accomplished with the hope of making a contribution to the process of teaching English especially in teaching adjectives for students in high schools For these reasons above, this study is

conducted with the aim of focusing on error in using English among the students of

English in grade 11 at Hoang Quoc Viet High school

II Research presupposition

Some questions are raised:

1 What kinds of errors in the use of adjectives are made by the students in grade

11 at Hoang Quoc Viet?

2 What are the causes of the errors in the use of adjectives by the students in grade 11 at Hoang Quoc Viet High School?

3 What are the effective ways to minimize the errors made by the students in grade 11 at Hoang Quoc Viet High School?

III Research objectives

The study is aimed at the following goals:

1 To find out the main errors in the use of adjectives made by the students in grade 11 at Hoang Quoc Viet High School

2 To find out the causes of the errors in the use of adjectives by the students in

grade 11 at Hoang Quoc Viet High School

3 To offer some suggestions to minimize the errors made by the students in grade 11 at Hoang Quoc Viet High School

IV Research scope

The general research area of this study is grammar The phenomenon is focused

on the errors in using adjectives made by the students in grade 11 at Hoang Quoc Viet High The population involved in the study is 92 students

V Research tasks

The study involves the following tasks:

1 Studying the definition, formation, classification and meaning of adjectives in English

2 Studying the grammatical features of adjectives in English

3 Conducting a survey to find out error types and causes of the uses of

adjectives in English

4 Suggesting some solutions to minimize the students’ errors

VI Research methods

To achieve the objectives of the study, the following methods have been applied:

1 Synthesizing theoretical materials on English grammar and linguistics

2 Conducting test survey and analyzing the results

3 Offering suggestions and solutions to the problems

VII Research significance

This study is hoped provide the following:

1 Input for learners of English in order to have better understanding about

adjectives in English, specially at high school level

2 Input for learners in order to minimize their errors in using adjectives

VIII Research design

The research work has three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion The part Development has two chapters

Chapter one Theoretical Background consists of two sections Section one

presents literature review in brief and section two deals with adjectives in English in

definition, classification, position, usage, and order

Chapter two is Common errors in the use of adjectives It describes the research method It is composed of three sections Section one is devoted to the survey The second deals with error types and causes

The last one is solutions to the problems and suggested exercises on adjectives

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 Literature review in brief

Adjectives have been described by many grammarians like Sinclair (1990), Thomson and Martinet (1989), Alexander (1988), Kam Chuan Aik and Kam Kai Hui (1999) They each have their own ways to describe adjectives It is visible that their contributions are so great Generally, they often focus their attention on the definition, classification and the uses of adjectives

In the book Collins Cobuild English Grammar, Sinclair (1990) studied the classification as well as the uses and the order of adjectives

Thomson and Martinet (1989) in the book A Practical English Grammar paid much attention to the position of adjectives They also focused on the kinds of adjectives and the orders of adjectives

In the book Longman English Grammar, Alexander (1988) gave a quite full picture about adjective He introduced the definition of adjectives, the classification and the uses of adjectives Moreover, the order of adjectives was also given in this book

Kam Chuan Aik and Kam Kai Hui (1999) in the book Longman Dictionary of Grammar and Usage discussed the definition as well as the classification of adjectives He focused on the positions, the uses and the order of adjectives Besides, they pointed out some errors in the use of adjectives that are errors in placing adjectives before adverbs, and the use of adverbs instead of adjectives after linking verbs

Susan, Douglas and Geoffrey (2002) in the book Longman Student Grammar

of Spoken and Written English introduced the classification of adjectives They pay much attention to the syntactic roles of adjectives Besides, the uses of adjective were focused as well

In short, much research has been done on the adjectives but some of them pointed out errors in the uses of adjectives In fact, there are far more errors that learners of English often make when they use the adjectives Therefore, it is essential

to have a comprehensive study of common errors in the use of adjectives

(Alexander, 1988) Age: a young man, a new handbag

(Alexander, 1988) Temperature: a cool evening; a hot day

(Alexander, 1988) Shape: around table; a square box

(Alexander, 1988) Colour: blue eyes; a white horse

(Alexander, 1988) Origin: a Japanese camera, a Swiss watch

(Alexander, 1988)

An adjective can also describe the idea(s) contained in a whole group of words,

Professor Roberts’ lecture on magnetism is fascinating

(Alexander, 1988)

To maintain that we can survive a nuclear war is absurd

(Alexander, 1988)

Many adjectives can answer the question “what like?” and, depending on context, can give general or precise information:

What is Tom like (to look at)? -He is dark/ short/ tall

(Alexander, 1988) What is Pam like (as a person)? -She is clever/ kind/ witty

(Alexander, 1988) What is the car like? -It is new/ old/ red

(Alexander, 1988) What is the car like to drive? - It1s difficulU fasU slow

(Alexander, 1988) 1.2.2 Classification of adjectives

1.2.2.1 Descriptive adjectives

Descriptive adjective describes a quality of the person, thing or idea it describes It tells us what kind of person, thing or idea is referred to

For examples:

An angry person (what kind of person? Angry person)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

A silly argument (what kind of argument? Silly argument)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

A rusty handle (what kind of handle? Rusty handle)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

Many descriptive adjectives have no special ending, for examples, old, young, large, short, long, safe, white, hard, soft, dad, rich, hot, cold

However, other descriptive adjectives have endings that show that the words are adjectives Here are the main endings:

-able : changeable, comparable

-ible : visible, possible

-ful : plentiful, eventful

-less : endless, helpless

-ly : friendly, yearly

-al : mental, national

-ary : legendary, elementary

-ic : automatic, magnetic

-ous : dangerous, poisonous

-some : gruesome, bothersome

-ish : yellowish, bluish

-Ive : interactive, passive

-y : sunny, smoky

-en : golden, wooden

1.2.2.2 Limiting adjectives

1.2.2.2.1 Demonstrative adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives point out the things, persons or ideas they are referred

to It answer the question “Which?”

Definite Demonstrative Adjectives

I want this car, not that car

(Aik and Hui, 1999) These books are mine, and those books are yousr

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

You should not say such things

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

On yonder hill was an old fort

(Aik and Hui, 1999) Indefinite Demonstrative Adjectives

Some man told me that story

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

Any student can answer this question

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.2.2.2 Possessive adjectives

My, his, her, your, its, and these are called possessive adjectives because they

are used to show ownership or possession

Your book (Which book? Your book)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

His pen (which pen? His pen)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.2.2.3 Interrogative adjectives

Whose, which and what are call interrogative adjectives when they are used with

nouns to ask questions:

Whose project is this?

(Aik and Hui, 1999) Which metal has the highest density?

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

What size do you want?

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.2.2.4 Quantitative adjectives

Quantitative Adjectives

Cardinal numbers: two books, five hats, fourteen people

Ordinal numbers: the first reason, the second thing, the fourth

Fraction: one third (G) one fifth GQ)

Indefinite Quantitative Adjectives

All - whole

Have you done all your exercises? (Murphy, 2000)

Tell me the whole story

(Murphy, 2000) Half

I invited 2o, but only half showed up

(Murphy, 2000)

There are some apples on the table

(Murphy, 2000) You can park on either side of the street

(Murphy, 2000) Neither answer is correct

(Murphy, 2000)

1.2.3.2.6 Proper adjectives

Proper adjective is formed from a proper noun; it identifies a noun as a part of

an official place or group and begins with a capital letter

We attended the Shakespearean Drama Festival

(Alexander, 1988) The Victorian Era in England lasted from 1837 to 1991

(Alexander, 1988) 1.2.3 Position of adjectives

1.2.3.1 Adjectives before the nouns

Adjectives are placed before the nouns they modify:

As the above examples show the adjectives are normally placed immediately

before the relevant noun

1.2.3.2 Adjectives after the nouns

1.2.3.2.1 Adjectives after the nouns of measurement

When adjectives are used to show measurements, they may be put after the noun

of measurements:

Twenty kilometers deep

(Aik and Hui, 1999) Fifty kilometers long

(Aik and Hui, 1999) Five years old

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.3.2.2 Adjectivs are placed after the nouns in certain set phrases

In certain set phrases, the adjectives is always placed after the noun: Heir Apparent, Time Immemorial, God Almighty, Body Politic, Governor General,

President Elect, Asia Minor, Poet Laureate (Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.3.2.3 More than one adjective is used to modify a noun

More than one adjective is used to modify a noun; the adjectives are sometimes placed after the nouns to emphasize the qualities described:

The boys, hungry, tired and dirty, were glad to be back at the camp (hungry, tired and dirty modify boys)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

The prince, ambitious and cunning, seized the throne when the king was away (ambitious and cunning modify prince)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.3.3 Adjectives can come before or after nouns

1.2.3.3.1 Adjectives before or after nouns with no change in meaning

A limit number of adjectives, mostly ending in —able and —ible can come before

or after nouns, usually with no change in meaning Some of these are available,

taxable, eligible, and imaginable

For example:

I doubt whether we can complete our contract in the time available/ in the available time (Alexander, 1988)

1.2.3.3.2 Adjectives before or after nouns with a change in meaning

A few adjectives change in meaning depending on whether they are used before

or after a noun Some of these are concerned, elect, involved, present, proper, and

responsible

For example:

It is a proper (= correct) question

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

The question proper (itself) has not been answered

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.3.4 Adjectives are placed after to be and linking verbs

Linking verbs are a type of intransitive verb Their function is to link a subject to

a complement In grammar, the word “complement” is often used to mean subject complement A subject complement is a word or group of words which is used after

linking verbs (such as is, was, were, become, seem, sound, taste, look, smell, fell,

keep).Adjectives may be used as subject complements In other word, they are placed

after linking verbs to describe the subject of the sentence

For example:

John is handsome (handsome modifies John)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

Mai looks healthy (healthy modifies Mai)

(Aik and Hui, 1999) 1.2.3.5 Adjectives are placed after the objects (used as object complement)

An object adjective complement completes the meaning of a sentence by telling

us something about the object of its transitive verb

Adjectives may be used as object complements In other words, they are used to complete the meaning of a sentence by revealing something about the object Such adjectives are placed after the

For example:

They made me happy

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

We painted the wall red

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.3.6 Adjectives are placed after indefinite pronouns

Adjectives used with someone, something, everyone, everything, anyone,

anything, no one, and nothing are placed after these words

For example:

I want something good

(Aik and Hui, 1999) There is nothing new under the sun

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.3.7 Adjectives are placed after adverbs

All adverbs are placed before the adjectives they modify For examples:

The show was very exciting

(Aik and Hui, 1999) The test was rather difficult

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.4 The uses of adjectives

1.2.4.1 Adjectives used attributively and predicatively

The term attributive and predicative refer to the position of an adjective in a phrase or sentence We say that an adjective is used attributively when it comes before a noun

This ticket is old/ your mother seems angry.(Aik and Hui, 1999)

Most adjective can be used either attributively or predicatively; some of them

change their meaning when move from one position to an other

For example:

A small farmer (is a man who has a small farm) and the farmer is small (he is a small man physical) (Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.4.2 Adjectives used only attributively

Some adjectives that are always used attributively These adjectives are main,

former, latter, utter, lone, outdoor, eventual, outer, and inner

For example:

The main road (correct) / The road is main (wrong)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

My former classmate (correct)/ My classmate is former (wrong)

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.4.3 Adjectives used only predicatively

1.2.4.3.1 Predicative adjectives beginning with “a”

Adjectives like the following are used only predicatively like afloat, afraid,

alight, alike, alone, ashamed, asleep, awake and a few others

The following are used predicatively in connection with health like faint ill,

poorly, unwell, and well

(“well”, meaning “in good health”, is an adjective and should not be confused with “well”, the adverbial counterpart of “good”.)

For example:

What is the matter with him? He is ill/ unwell

He feels faint

(Alexander, 1988) 1.2.4.3.3 Predicative adjectives describing feelings

Some adjectives describe feelings, for examples, content, glad, pleased, sorry, upset, and a few others are normally used only predicatively

Common pairs of —ed/-ing adjectives are amazed/ amazing; annoyed/ annoying; bored/ boring; excited/ exciting; interested/ interesting; pleased/ pleasing; tired/ tiring

Similar pairs are delighted/delightful; impressed/ impressive; upset/ upsetting Adjectives ending in —-ed often combine with personal subjects and those ending

in —ing often combine with impersonal ones

For example:

Iam interested in learning English/ Learning English is interesting

(Alexander, 1988) 1.2.4.5 Present participle and past participle verbs used as adjectives

In the book Longman English Grammar, Alexander (1988) said that most

present participles can be used as adjectives, for examples, breaking glass, frightening stories Many past participles of verbs can be used as adjectives, for

examples, a broken window (a window which are broken); a frozen lake (a lake

which is frozen), a looked door (a door which is locked) However note that some adjectives ending in —ed are not past participles, for examples, an aged parent, a crooked path, a learned professor, a naked man, a ragged urchin, a wicked witch 1.2.4.6 Nouns that behave like adjectives

Nouns sometimes used as adjectives, they do not have comparative or superlative forms; they can not be modified by “very”, they remain essentially noun and often modifying other nouns, for examples, a book salesperson, a table lamp, a university library, a glass bottle, a shoe factory, ,

1.2.4.7 Adjectives used as nouns

1.2.4.7.1 “The” + adjective

Adjectives like the following are used after “the” to represent a group as a whole, for examples the blind; the deaf; the living/ the dead; the rich/ the poor; the young/ the old; the unemployed So “the deaf” means a group of people who are all deaf For example:

Andrew was sent to a special school for the deaf

We can never use these adjectives on their own to refer to single individuals If

we wish to refer to single individual, we must use adjective + noun

For example:

He is a young man with a lot of success

(Alexander, 1988) 1.2.4.7.2 Adjectives referring to colors

All adjectives that refer to colors can be used as nouns

For example:

The woman in red is very beautiful

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

There are patches of blue and yellow all over the tabletop

(Aik and Hui, 1999)

1.2.5 The order of adjectives

1.2.5.1 The order of adjectives

When both limiting and descriptive adjectives are used together, the limiting adjective should be placed before the descriptive adjective

1.2.5.2 The use of commas and “and” to separate adjectives

1.2.5.2.1 Separating adjectives used attributively

When we have two or more adjectives in front of a noun we only need commas

to separate those, which are equally important (where the order of the first two could easily be reversed)

For example:

Joy is engaged to a daring, attractive young Air Force pilot

(Alexander, 1988) That is we put a comma after the quality adjectives We never use the comma after the adjective that comes immediately before the noun

For example:

The hotel porter led me to a beautiful, bright new room

(Alexander, 1988)

1.2.5.2.3 Separating adjective used predicatively

If there are two adjectives used predicatively, we separate them with “and” For example:

My shoes are dirt and old

CHAPTER TWO: COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF ADJECTIVES

It is a fact that adjective is one of the essential parts to form a sentence in English grammar Adjective is frequently used in daily life such as describing things, objects or expressing feelings, emotions As well known, English adjectives are diversified in many forms, meanings as well as usages It takes learners quite a long time to understand adjectives deeply It therefore seems that the uses of adjectives are still too difficult for students This is the reason why much research needs to be done

to find out prospective and feasible solutions Due to the framework of the thesis, this study is focus on the errors related to the use of adjective without comparison of adjective This chapter has three sections Section II.1 deals with the survey questionnaire, which was designed to map out some common errors made by the students at grade 11 in Hoang Quoc Viet High School Section II.2 points out common errors and causes Section II.3 provides students and teachers with some suggested solutions to minimize such errors

II.1 Survey

As mentioned above, the study does help students of English to have a deep insight into the use of adjectives in English In the process of providing students with knowledge of adjectives, the thesis has identified common errors made by Vietnamese students Making errors in the use of English adjectives is unavoidable However, due to the framework of the study, it is impossible to map out errors made

by learnersof English at all educational levels Therefore, the thesis only focuses on common errors in the use of adjectives made by the students at grade 11 in Hoang Quoc Viet High School A survey was conducted to serve the purpose

II.1.1 Purpose of the survey

The survey questionnaire was designed to test the student’s understanding of the use of adjectives and to find out common errors made by the students at grade 11 in Hoang Quoc Viet High School Then, it will be background for introducing possible solutions to these mistakes