Common errors in the use of wh questions made by the eleventh grade students at tran hung dao high school

For the reasons above, this study is conducted, which mentions to errors in the use of wh-questions among the students in grade 11at Tran Hung Dao High School.. Some questions are raised

I also would like to express my sincere thanks to the teachers of English at Tran Hung Dao High School, especially Mrs Pham Thi Luan for her help and guidance while I was carrying out the survey

I wish to thank all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2, especially the lecturers in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicated instructions during my years of university work

I am particularly grateful to my friends for their collaborating, constructive ideas

in helping me collect valuable reference documents and data

Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge my beloved family for the source

of happiness and support which they have been giving me

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ABSTRACT

The wh-questions is an interesting category of English grammar It is obvious that students apply the wh-questions much into learning English process and in real life However, the uses of the wh-questions referred to in some books have not been dealt with in full and sometimes cause confusion to learners of English

As a result, students of English often make errors when they use the questions Therefore, this research work entails studying the uses of the wh-questions and conducting a survey for error analysis

wh-Based on the results of the survey, the types of errors and causes have been found Solutions to the problems have been suggested

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

PART ONE INTRODUCTION I.RATIONALE 1

II RESEARCH PRESUPPOSITION 2

III AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 3

IV SCOPE OF THE STUDY 3

VI METHODS OF THE STUDY 3

VII SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH 3

VIII DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH WORK 4

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I.1.LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF 5

I.2 Wh-questions 6

I.2.1 Definition 6

I.2.2 Types of Wh-questions 7

I.2.2.1 Wh-information questions 7

I.2.2.2 Repeat please questions 8

I.2.2.3 Elaborate please questions 8

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I.2.3 Form 9

I.2.3.1 Wh-questions about an object 9

I.2.3.2 Wh-questions about a subject 11

I.2.3.3 Wh-questions with How + Adjective/ Adverb 11

I.2.4 Functions of wh-question words 11

I.2.4.1 As a subject 11

I.2.4.2 As a direct object 12

I.2.4.3 As an indirect object 12

I.2.4.4 As a subject complement 12

I.2.4.5 As an object complement 13

I.2.4.6 As an object of preposition 13

I.2.5 Uses of wh-questions 13

I.2.5.1 Seeking information 13

I.2.5.3 Beginning a conversation 16

I.2.5.4 Making a comment 16

CHAPTER TWO COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF WH- QUESTIONS II.1 Survey 17

II.1.1 Purpose of the survey 17

II.1.2 Population of the survey 17

II.1.3 Type of survey 18

II.1.4 Construction of the survey 18

II.1.5 Preparation of the survey 18

II.1.5.1 Test items 18

II.1.5.2 Arrangement of the survey 19

II.1.6 Administration of the try-out 19

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II.1.6.1 Preparation of the try-out 19

II.1.6.2 Try-out 19

II.1.7 Method of data analysis 20

II.1.8 Results of the survey 20

II.2 Common errors and causes 21

II.2.1 Errors in the use of question words as objects of prepositions 21

II.2.2 Errors in using What and Which, Who and Whom 22

II.2.4 Errors in the use of main verb in wh-questions 23

II.2.5 Errors in the use of how much and how many 23

II.2.6 Errors in the use of what and how 24

II.2.7 Errors in answering questions with why as a suggestion or invitation 24

II.2.8 Errors in the use of how as a greeting rather than a question 25

II.3 Suggested solutions 25

II.3.1 Suggested solutions 25

II.3.2 Suggested exercises 27

PART THREE CONCLUSION REFERENCE 30

APPENDICES 32

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 32

SUGGESTED EXERCISES 38

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PART ONE INTRODUCTION I.RATIONALE

The English language is considered to be one of the most important languages in the world There are other languages such as French, Spanish, Chinese etc, but they are not important for the same reasons as the English Language English is a universal language that links the world together which is the most important fact considering the changing times

We know that, studying English nowadays has become an essential demand for everyone However, most people beginning to study this language find that it’s difficult to speak it well and fluently Although learning English is not very easy, a lot of people have been eager to learn it

Learning English is very important It’s simple because English is one of the most popular, important international languages and it’s most used not only all over the world but also in many fields such as in business, in international conferences or

to communicate with foreigners when they come to our country or when we go abroad

Moreover, if we know English well, we can read newspapers, magazines and reference books or listen to the radio in English to enlarge our knowledge and especially it’s easy to get a job in a foreign company with a- high salary

However, it is proved that English grammar is complex and often causes embarrassment to students The wh-questions is one of the language categories that students at high schools have to learn much The "grammar" used with wh-questions depends on whether the topic being asked about is the "subject" or "predicate" of a sentence Due to its various uses, it is assumed that there are many errors which may

be made In fact, many students confess that the wh-questions is one of the biggest problems of English grammar and they often make errors in the use of wh-question

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For example:

What hobbies does Tom have?

How does the radio works?

From who did you obtain the information?

Moreover, as a prospective teacher, I would like to make a contribution to the English teaching in Vietnam For the reasons above, this study is conducted, which mentions to errors in the use of wh-questions among the students in grade 11at Tran Hung Dao High School

II RESEARCH PRESUPPOSITION

With regard to the errors quoted above, the problem is with grammatical structures The correct versions could be:

Which hobbies does Tom have?

How does the radio work?

From whom did you obtain the information?

Some questions are raised:

1) What kinds of errors in the use of wh-questions are made by the grade students at Tran Hung Dao High School in the academic year of 2012/2013?

eleventh-2) What kinds of errors in the use of wh-questions is the most often made by the eleventh-grade students at Tran Hung Dao High School in the academic year of 2012/2013?

3) What are the causes of the errors in the use of wh-questions made by the eleventh-grade students at Tran Hung Dao High School in the academic year of 2012/2013?

Based on the questions above, I am eager to learn about the problems and make

an error analysis in questions so that the major errors in the use of wh-questions may

be found

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III AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study aims to find out mistakes in using wh-questions made by learners and determine whether the learners are aware of their mistakes or not The study is expected to answer the following questions:

1) What are the mistakes in using wh-questions by learners?

2) To what extent, are the learners aware of their mistakes?

It is expected that after exploring the mistakes and the awareness of learners of their mistakes, the study can suggest some solutions to solve the problems of making mistakes

IV SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The general research area of this study is grammar

The phenomenon is errors in the use of wh-questions made by the eleventh-grade students at Tran Hung Dao High School in the academic year of 2012/2013 Others relating to the wh-questions are also briefly mentioned

The population involved in the study is one hundred eleventh-grade students of English at Tran Hung Dao High School

VI METHODS OF THE STUDY

To conduct this study, a variety of methods have been applied I rely, firstly, on library research, consultation to supervisor and teachers to get ideas and data, exchanging ideas with friends, conducting a survey and analyzing the results

VII SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH

Errors in any language teaching and learning, particularly in English as a foreign language, are sometimes predictable and sometimes unpredictable It is, therefore, essential for teachers to have better treatment to anticipate errors After the research, it

is hoped that the result will be helpful to provide:

1) Input for learners of English in order to minimize their errors in the use of questions

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2) Input for teachers of English with the information on error types and solutions

to the problems so that they can have good methods of teaching the wh-questions This study is also beneficial to anyone who is interested in the wh-questions in English

VIII DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH WORK

The research work has three main parts, namely: Introduction, Development and Conclusion The part “Development” consists two chapters Chapter one is entitled

“Theoretical Background” It consists two sections Section one reviews literature in brief The second one deals with things related to the wh-questions such as definition, formations, types, functions and uses of the wh-questions

Chapter two is named “Common Errors in the Use of Wh-Questions” It has 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 the wh-questions

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PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I.1.LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF

Wh-questions have been described by many grammarians like L G Alexander (1990), John Eastwood (1994), Raymond Murphy (2000), Elaine Walker & Steve Ellsworth (2000) and so on They each have their own way to describe the wh-questions Generally, they focus their attention on the definition, formation , function, types and usages of the wh-questions Sometimes, they also mention to intonation in expressing the wh-questions

In the book Longman English Grammar Practice for Intermediate Students, L

G Alexander gives definition of wh-questions Beside, in the 2nd edition of the Grammar Book, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman list some of the kinds of information that can be sought with wh-questions along with some of the settings where they are used Wh-questions, remember, are used to get specific information-

who, what, when, where, why, and so on

Mark Lester (2008) in the book McGraw-Hill’s Essential ESL Grammar shows

main functions of wh-questions that are quite understandable for learners namely subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, object complement and object of preposition In addition, he spends much his attention on distinguishing

function of subject/object questions between who and whom,which and what This

often makes students confused when doing exercises

In the book The Teacher’s Grammar of English: A Course Book and Reference Guide, Ron Cowan (2008) mentions to three main formations which are wh-

questions about an object, wh-questions about a subject and wh-questions with how + adjective/adverb of wh-questions Moreover, he pays much attention to patterns

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(count or noncount, singular or plural nouns) that are preceded by question phrases ( how much, how many) because wh-questions can be classified into two kinds: question words (who, what, which, when, etc.) and question phrases (what color, what time, how many, etc.) In this book, he also introduces many types of exercises for the students practicing

Celce-Murcia, M & Larsen- Freeman, D (1999) in Applied English Grammar

start a chapter on “ Questions and Commands: with a section called “ Importance of wh-questions” and then immediately follow that with a section on “Purposes of wh-questions” The purposes or uses that they list include seeking information, beginning

a conversation, and making a comment In this book, they also mention to why in combination with Negative Questions in order to make a request or invitation Furthermore, in some cases, one question word is used with many different purposes and it is not easy, therefore, for learners to avoid errors which they sometimes make

In the book The Teacher’s Grammar of English: A Course Book and Reference Guide , Ron Cowan (2008) shows three main types of wh-questions Wh-questions

can be categorized according to the purpose they serve for an asker Three types exist:

wh-information questions, repeat please questions, and elaborate please questions Elaine Walker & Steve Ellsworth (2000) in Grammar Practice for Intermediate Students give short, clear explanations all of cases using of wh-questions

In brief, much research has been done on the wh-questions but only John Eastwood (1992) points out errors in the use of wh- questions In fact, there are far more errors that learners of English often make when they use the wh-questions Therefore, it is essential to have a comprehensive study of common errors in the use

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Grammar Practice for Intermediate are questions that begin with any of the words

“who, what, when, where”, etc or phrases “ what time, how many, how much, how often”, etc For instance:

What did you do last evening?

When do you arrive?

Where are you now?

Who is that?

How many students are there in your class?

I.2.2 Types of Wh-questions

In the book The Teacher’s Grammar of English: A Course Book and Reference Guide , Ron Cowan (2008) shows types of wh-questions Wh-questions can be

categorized according to the purpose they serve for an asker Three types exist:

information questions, repeat please questions, and elaborate please questions

I.2.2.1 Wh- information questions

Information wh-questions are the basic type They are used to request information that has not been previously mentioned, and they take the different forms considered thus far

Unlike yes/no questions, wh-information questions always contain a

presupposition For instance, when we ask the question what did John do? we

presume that John did in fact do something

a How did they do it? They did it somehow

c Whose book was stolen? Someone’s book was stolen

d What has he done? He has done something

e Who is doing it? Someone is doing it

Information wh-questions have up-fall intonation, as shown in (a), (b), and (c)

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or down-rise intonation, as shown in (d) and (e)

a How can they do it?

b What did she want?

c How long did the meeting last?

d Where did John go?

e What has Julia done now?

I.2.2.2 Repeat please questions

Repeat please questions are often uttered when the asker either did not hear or

understand the information she or he was given or is having difficulty accepting it

This type of wh-question frequently functions as a request for verification Repeat please questions can have two word orders: question word order with the wh-word

fronted, as in (2a), or normal declarative statement word order, shown in (2b) Both have rising intonation A greater degree of stress on the wh-word and a higher rise in the intonation patterns signal a greater degree of surprise on the part of the asker (2) Fred: When did Susan come home this morning?

Alice: At five o’clock

Fred: a When did she get in?

b She got in when?

I.2.2.3 Elaborate please questions

Elaborate please questions are used when the asker has already been told

something but needs more information regarding what was said A question is then posed about someone, something, or somewhere mentioned by the speaker In (3), Al

is trying to sell his car, and Fred has found a prospective buyer He tells Al that this person will come and look at the car tomorrow Al wants more information about the time that has been arranged for the inspection In (4), the police officer needs more precise information about the person before he or she can act

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(3) Fred: He’ll come by tomorrow and have a look at the car

Al: when will he come by?

(4) Susan: Officer, that guy over there just stole my purse

Police Officer: Which guy?

Elaborate please questions can either consist of a longer sentence such as (5a) or

a shorter answer such as (5b) The wh-word is always stressed, and questions consisting of two or more words carry up-fall intonation

(5) Sandra: We lived for over a year in France

Joan: a Where in France?

b Where?

I.2.3 Form

Ron Cowan (2008) describes in detail the formation of the wh- questions

Consider the declarative sentence , in (1)

(1) The boy lost his bicycle

Notice that there are various constituents in (1) that could be questioned with a wh-question For instance, we could pose a question about the subject NP ( the boy),

as in (2a), or we could ask about the object NP ( his bicycle ) with (2b)

(2) a Who lost his bicycle?

b What did the boy lose?

I.2.3.1 Wh- questions about an object

When any object (i.e., direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition ) in

a declarative sentence is questioned and the sentence contains an auxiliary verb, a

modal verb, or copular be, two rules come into play: wh- movement and subject- aux inversion For example, the wh-question in (3a) asks for information about the direct

object in sentence (3b) The steps that are followed to produce (3a) are shown in (3c) and (3d)

(3) a What are you watching?

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b You are watching something declarative sentence

c What you are watching _? Wh-movement

d What are you watching? subject- aux inversion

First, the object, something, is converted into the appropriate wh- question word, what, and this is moved to the beginning of the sentence by the process of wh- movement ( also referred to as wh- fronting ) Subsequently, subject- aux inversion switches the positions of the subject, you, and the auxiliary verb, are

If the underlying sentence does not contain an auxiliary verb, a model verb, or copular

be, then a slightly different process is applied to create a wh- question This process is

shown in (4)

(4) a Who did you see?

b You saw someone declarative sentence

c Who you saw Wh- movement

d Who did you see? do insertion, saw becomes see Wh- movement is applied in (4c), followed by do insertion and a change of the

verb to its bare infinitive form, shown in (4d)

Wh-questions usually begin with a wh- word, but there are exceptions For

instance, when asking a question about the object of a preposition in a declarative sentence, as in (5), two possible question patterns may be used

(5) a You went to the concert with someone declarative sentence

b Who did you go to the concert with?

c With whom did you go to the concert?

In (5a), someone is the object of the preposition with In (5b), we see that someone has been converted to the wh-question word who, which has been moved to the front of the sentence However, in (5c) the preposition with has been moved to the

front of the sentence along with the wh- word The wh-word has been changed from

who to whom Both of these question forms are grammatically acceptable, but (5c) is

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considered by some to be more appropriate for formal or academic writing

I.2.3.2 Wh- questions about a subject

When the subject of a declarative sentence is questioned, no fronting or inversion rules apply The subject is simply converted into the appropriate wh-word This is illustrated in (6)

(6) a Who needs a lift?

b Someone needs a lift declarative sentence

c who needs a lift? subject, someone, becomes who

I.2.3.3 Wh- questions with How + Adjective/ Adverb

How combines with adjectives and adverbs to form questions beginning with how many, how long, how often, and so on, as shown in (7)

(7) a How long did the press conference last?

b How many stamps did she take?

I.2.4 Functions of Wh-question words

I.2.4.1 As a subject

Mark Lester (2008) in the book McGraw-Hill’s Essential ESL Grammar give

quite understandable picture of functions of wh-questions He says that Who, Whose, Which, What used as subjects - are normally followed by an affirmative, not an interrogative, verb:

For example: Who pays the bills? (affirmative verb)

Whose/Which horse won? (affirmative verb) Which pigeon arrived first? (affirmative) What happened?/ What went wrong? (affirmative verb; possible answers: We missed the train/ had an accident.)

But with Who, Whose etc + be + noun or personal/distributive pronoun, an interrogative verb is used:

Who are you?

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Whose is this?

What is that noise?

I.2.4.2 As a direct object

The direct object is the noun that receives the action of the transitive verb

Typically, a direct object follows the verb and can be found by asking who or what received the action of the verb For example:

What do you want to eat?

Who did you see?

Whose umbrella did you borrow?

Which hand do you use?

Whom did the committee appoint?

I.2.4.3 As an indirect object

An indirect object precedes the direct object and tells to Whom or for Whom the action of the verb is done and who is receiving the direct object There must be a direct object to have an indirect object Indirect objects are usually found with verbs

of giving or communicating like give, bring, tell, show, take, or offer An indirect

object is always a noun or pronoun which is not part of a prepositional phrase Wh- words asked play a role as an indirect object in the sentence

For example: Who did the faculty give the prize to?

Or To whom did the faculty give the prize?

I.2.4.4 As a subject complement

Martin J Endley (2010) states that a subject complement is an expression that describes the subject in a clause Subject complements can follow linking verbs such

as be, look, feel, get, become, sound, smell, appear, seem, prove, taste, come, fall, go, grow, keep, remain, and turn They can be either personal pronouns or demonstrative

pronouns The Wh-words in Wh-questions as a subject complement is normally used before the verb be It can function as a predicate For instance:

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Who is he?

What is that?

Whose umbrella is this?

I.2.4.5 As an object complement

An object complement is a noun, pronoun, or adjective which follows a direct object and renames it or tells what the direct object has become It is most often used

with verbs of creating or nominating such as make, name, elect, paint, call, etc When

the word follows the direct object and it tells what the direct object has become, it is the object complement Here, wh-word is used as an object complement

For example: What did you call your last book?

How did he make you? → He made me happy

I.2.4.6 As an object of preposition

When a question word is the object of a preposition, the preposition usually comes at the end of the sentence, especially in an informal style For example:

What are you looking for?

Who were you speaking to?

Which pictures are you talking about?

Who(m) did you go to the restaurant with?

In formal English we use preposition + Whom:

With whom did you go?

To whom were you speaking?

But in ordinary English we usually move the preposition to the end of the sentence The whom then normally changes to who:

Who did you go with?

Who were you speaking to?

I.2.5 Uses of wh-questions

I.2.5.1 Seeking information

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In the 2nd edition of the Grammar Book, Celce- Murcia and Larsen- Freeman list some of the kinds of information that can be sought with wh- questions For example:

What asking for information about

something

What is your name?

confirmation

What? I can't hear you You did what?

What for asking for a reason, asking why What did you do that for?

Where asking in or at what place or

position

Where do they live?

want?

Who asking what or which person or

people (subject)

Who opened the door?

Whom asking what or which person or

people (object)

Whom did you see?

Whose turn is it?

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Why asking for reason, asking what for Why do you say that?

asking about condition or quality How was your exam? How + adj/adv asking about extent or degree see examples below

Bangkok?

How long length (time or space) How long will it take?

have?

How come

(informal)

asking for reason, asking why How come I can't see her?

I.2.5.2 Making a suggestion or invitation

Almost Wh-questions are used for seeking information but in the cases Why in combination with negative questions, they are used for a suggestion or invitation For example:

Why don’t you call the service center? → a request

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→ I already did, but there was no answer

Why don’t we go out for a meal? → an invitation

→ That sounds good

How about some cake to go with it?

→ OK, why not I.2.5.3 Beginning a conversation

In general, a conversation is necessary for people to communicate with each other Questions are asked with the purpose of finding information to show care about heath, job, old, etc Beside, a question is a greeting to begin a conversation rather than

a question when two people are introduced

For example: A: How do you do?

B: How do you do?

I.2.5.4 Making a comment

People use the grammar structure What + be like? to give a request for a description or comment:

For example: What was the exam like? → It was very difficult

What’s the food like in your hostel? → It’s quite good

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CHAPTER TWO: COMMON ERRORS IN THE USE OF WH-QUESTIONS

This chapter presents the finding of the practical research with the students in the grade 11 at Tran Hung Dao High School It falls into three sections Section II.1 deals with the survey questionnaire, which was designed to map out some common errors made by the eleventh-grade students at Tran Hung Dao High School Section II.2 presents common errors and causes Section II.3 provides students and teachers with some suggested solutions to minimize the errors in the use of wh-questions

II.1 Survey

As it was mentioned in chapter one, the study does not only help students have a deep insight into the wh-questions but also find out errors in the use of wh-questions Due to the framework of the thesis, to map out all the mistakes made by student at all educational levels is impossible Therefore, this thesis is only focused on common errors in the use of wh-questions made by the eleventh-grade students at Tran Hung Dao High School To find out the errors made by those students, a survey questionnaire was conducted

II.1.1 Purpose of the survey

The overall objectives of the survey questionnaire are to test students’ understanding of the wh-questions and find out common errors made by the eleventh-grade students at Tran Hung Dao High School in the school year of 2012/2013

II.1.2 Population of the survey

The number of the students participating in the survey questionnaire is one hundred students in grade 11 at Tran Hung Dao High School They have to learn English for six years Some have learnt English for eight years Therefore, the expected English level among them is intermediate Naturally, they have been taught some of the wh-questions uses Some of them are really good at grammar but some

of them are bad at grammar in general, and wh-questions in particular

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II.1.3 Type of survey

To collect data, a completion test was used It involves such activities as choosing the correct answer, making questions with wh-question words in bracket and filling in the blanks with question words

II.1.4 Construction of the survey

The material used in the test was taken from grammar books concerned with the wh- questions The survey is divided into two parts Part A, which consists of three sentences, is designed to get general information about informants and their English competence Part B is conducted to find out how much the students have known and mastered the wh-questions This part has three exercises

1) Exercise 1: Choose the correct answer

This exercise consists of twenty items

2) Exercise 2: Make questions with wh question words in bracket

This exercise has twenty five items

3) Exercise 3: Fill in the blanks with question words

This exercise consists of fifteen items

II.1.5 Preparation of the survey

II.1.5.1 Test items

There are many possible errors in the use of wh-questions that survey cannot find out Thus, it is necessary to predict possible errors and include them in the survey In this survey, possible errors were classified into the following categories

1) Errors in the use of question words as subjects

2) Errors in the use of question words as objects of prepositions

3) Errors in using What and Which, Who and Whom

4) Errors in the use of how much and how many

5) Errors in the use of main verb in wh-questions

6) Errors in the use of what and how