Some practical experiences used to taech relative claused to grade 11th students at ham rong high school

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HÓATRƯỜNG THPT HÀM RỒNG ---*****---INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE Subject: Some practical experiences used to teach relative clauses to grade 11 students at Ham Ro

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HÓA

TRƯỜNG THPT HÀM RỒNG

-***** -INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE Subject: Some practical experiences used to teach

relative clauses to grade 11 students at

Ham Rong High School

Người thực hiện: Phạm Thị Ngọc Yến Chức vụ: Tổ phó Tổ Tiếng Anh

SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực môn: Tiếng Anh

THANH HÓA NĂM 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Reason for choosing the topic

1

4.Types of relative clauses

4

4.2 Non-defining relative clause 7

PART III: IMPLEMENTING SOLUTION 8

1 Instruct students on how to organize learning in pairs and

2 Implement some methods to introduce new materials in a

3 Teach students how to do exercises related to relative

PART IV RESULTS, FINDING, CONCLUSION AND

1 Results 11

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Reason for choosing the topic

It is undeniable that English is an international language, which plays

an important part in social life It links people all over the world in many fields such as science, technology, business, communication, education, and

so on It also helps people to approach the endless knowledge of human beings Therefore, teaching and learning English have become the necessity

in every country

In Vietnam, English is one of the foreign languages, which is compulsory from primary to university In secondary school, Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Language Focus are what students have to learn when they learn English Language Focus seems difficult Many of the students make mistakes and find it difficult in doing grammar exercises such as Active voice, Passive voice, Reported speech, Relative clauses etc

Relative clauses are an extremely useful structure for ESL students to learn early in their English studies They may not make for the most simple grammar lesson, but they are infinitely practical for students who are still learning ESL students will find two situations in which relative clauses help them communicate First, your ESL students may find that they do not know

a particular piece of vocabulary for a word they are trying to say In this case, the relative clause can provide the definition even when students do not know the word and thus help the listener to understand the speaker’s meaning

Being a teacher of English, I find it necessary, meaningful, and practical

to do a research named “Some practical experiences used to teach Relative Clauses to grade 11 students at Ham Rong High school” I hope that this

research can give benefits to teachers, students and people concerned about this field

2 Objective of the study

This study is aimed to identify present English teaching and learning situation of the grade 11students at Ham Rong upper secondary school And then, some of learning relative clause experiences and doing relative clause exercises are given

3 Methods of the study

The major method is used in this study is quantitative one That is all considerations, comments, remarks, assumptions, suggestions and conclusions given in the study are largely based on the data analysis Data collections for analysis in the study come from the following methods: Theoretical study; Teacher interview; Class observation

4 Scope of the study

This study only focuses on how to teach relative clauses to the grade 11

students at Ham Rong upper secondary school.

5 Overview of the study

The study includes three main following parts:

Part I is the introduction which includes rationale, research questions,

objectives of the study, methods of the study, scope of the study and overview

of the study

Part II is the main content referring to the definition of clause, relative

clauses, relative pronouns and main types of relative clauses

Part III is the implementing solution instructing students on how to organize

learning in pairs, groups and how to arrange desks and chairs during English classes, applying some methods to introduce new materials in a lively and attractive way and teaching students how to do exercises related to relative clauses

PART IV is the results, findings, conclusion and proposals

PART II: MAIN CONTENT

1 What is a clause?

A clause in English grammar is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition Generally, a simple sentence consists of a single clause while a more complex sentence may contain a multiple clauses Clauses in English are divided into two major types; subordinate clause and main clause

2 What is a relative clause?

Relative clauses are sometimes called adjective clauses and follow the noun which they describe They are dependent clauses which give additional information about a noun in the main clause, and the follow that noun in the complex sentence they create Dependent clauses start with a relative pronoun:

“that, which, where, when, who, and whom” (though “whom” has fallen out of everyday use and often sounds overly formal when used) “Whose” is also used as a relative pronoun but must be followed by a noun in the dependent clause The correct relative pronoun depends on what noun the relative clause describes It is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun or a noun phrase

Example:

The man who is smoking is the murderer

The noun the man is modified by the relative clause who is smoking.

Relative clauses give essential information to define or identify the person or thing we are talking about There are two types of relative clauses They are defining clause and non-defining clause

2

3 Relative pronouns

who subject or object

pronoun for people I told you about the woman who lives next

door

which subject or object

pronoun for animals and things

Do you see the

cat which is lying on the

roof?

which referring to a whole

sentence He couldn’t read , which surprised me

whose possession for people

animals and things Do you know the boy whose mother is a

nurse?

whom object pronoun for

people, especially in non-defining relative clauses (in defining relative clauses we

colloquially prefer who)

I was invited by the

professor whom I met at

the conference

that subject or object

pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses

(who or which are also

possible)

I don’t like the

table that stands in the

kitchen

4 Types of relative clauses

4.1 Defining relative clause

4.1.1 Definition

A defining relative clause gives essential information about the noun or

noun phrase it modifies, without which the sentence wouldn't make sense as the listener or reader would not be able to identify the noun in the sentence

Example: The hotel that we stayed in wasn't bad (‘that we stayed in' tells the

listener which hotel we are talking about; it defines the hotel)

'Who', 'whose' and 'that' can be used for people 'which', 'whose' and 'that' can

be used for things

4.1.2 Notes

4.1.2.1 Defining relative clause doesn’t have two commas or one comma Example: The man who is sitting next to me is my brother.

4.1.2.2 Defining relative clause goes with the pronoun “that” to indicate

people or things

Example: The girl who/that often goes to school with me is my sister.

4.1.2.3 Subject of the defining relative clause is often “The + noun”.

Example: The girl who/that often goes to school with me is my sister.

4.1.2.4 If the relative pronoun is the object of the verb in the defining relative

clause, it can be omitted

Example: The girl (who/that/whom) you saw yesterday often goes to school

with me

4.1.2.5 If preposition stands in front of the relative pronoun, to indicate person

we use “whom”, to indicate things we use “which”

Example: The girl with whom I often go to school is my sister.

4.1.2.6 If preposition stands at the end of the relative clause, we can omit the

relative pronoun

Example: The girl (who/whom) I often go to school with is my sister.

4.1.2.7 Reduced relative clause has three main forms:

4.1.2.7.1 Relative clauses replaced by present participle phrase V-ing is used

with the active reduced relative clause

Form: S1 + Relative pronoun + V + V1

 Reduced form: S1 + V-ing + V1

Example: The girl who went out with me yesterday is my sister.

 Reduced form: The girl going out with me yesterday is my sister

4.1.2.7 2 Relative clauses replaced by past participle phrase V-ed/Past

participle is used with the passive reduced relative clause

Form: S1 + Relative pronoun + be + V-ed/Past participle + V1

 Reduced form: S1 + Relative pronoun + V-ed/Past participle + V1

Example: The house which was built last year collapsed in the terrible storm

two days ago

 Reduced form: The house built last year collapsed in the terrible storm two days ago

4.1.2.7.3 To +V is used with the reduced relative clause.

Form: first

second third

…

last adj-est most adj

4

 Reduced form:

first

adj-est

Example: The first person who can answer this question may be given the

prize

prize

4.2 Non-defining relative clause

4.2.1 Definition of non-defining clause

A non-defining relative clause gives extra information about a noun or noun

phrase and has commas at both ends It isn't essential for understanding who or what we are talking about

Example 1: My sister, who lives in France, is coming to stay with me next

week ('who lives in France' is not essential, which means that I only have one sister and she does not need to be defined by the relative clause)

Example 2: My grandfather, who's 87, goes swimming every day Example 3: This house, which was built in 1883, has just been opened to the

public

Example 4: The award was given to Sara, whose short story impressed the judges

4.2.2 Notes

4.2.2.1 We always use a relative pronoun or adverb to start a non-defining relative clause: who, which, whose, when or where (but not that)

Example: My teacher, who (not that) talked to you yesterday, comes from

Hanoi

4.2.2.2 We use commas to separate the clause from the rest of the sentence Example: Lan, who speak English very well, is my sister.

4.2.2.3 We can use who to talk about people, which to talk about things and whose to refer to the person or thing that something belongs to.

Example 1: Yesterday I met my new boss, who was very nice.

Example 2: My next-door neighbour, whose children go to school with ours,

has just bought a new car

Example 3: After the port there is a row of fisherman's houses, whose lights

can be seen from across the bay

4.2.2.4 We can use which with a preposition to talk about places and times In these cases it's more common to use where or when instead of which and the

preposition

Example 1: City Park, which we used to go to, has been closed down.

Example 2: City Park, where we used to go, has been closed down.

Example 3: December, which Christmas is celebrated in, is a summer month

for the southern hemisphere

Example 4: December, when Christmas is celebrated, is a summer month for

the southern hemisphere

Example 5: However, when we use which without a preposition, we can't

use where or when

Example 6: Centre Park, which we love, is always really busy on Saturdays Example 7: February, which is my favourite month, lasts 29 days this year 4.2.2.5 'who' and 'whose' are used for people, 'which' and 'whose' are used for things 'that' cannot be used in a non-defining relative clause.

From the situation of studying English for students at our school, I would like to offer the following solution to improve the quality of teaching and learning about relative clauses in English textbook grade 11

1 Instruct students on how to organize learning in pairs, groups and how to arrange desks and chairs during English classes.

Example 1: Unit 12: Part E: Language Focus – Exercise 1 – Page 144 – English

textbook 11

Purpose: Omission of relative pronouns.

I divide the class into small groups of 6 students After that I gave each group a handout containing Exercise 1 (page 144 English textbook 11) and give them a time limit of 5 minutes to do this exercise

HANDOUT: Complete each of the following sentences, using a suitable sentence

in the box to make a relative clause without a relative pronoun

6

3 The short story………… was very funny.

7

2 Implement some methods to introduce new materials in a lively and attractive way

Example 2: Unit 11: Part E: Language Focus – Exercise 1 – Page 311 – English

textbook 11

Purpose: Shorten the relative clauses, using reduced relative clauses.

Students are asked to work in pairs Each pair makes two sentences with two minutes given to them They discuss with each other to find the answer in the exercise After two minutes, they stop working in pairs And then two pairs are called to present their answers One student reads the original sentence; the other reads the shortened sentence This method can help them practise speaking

English, train their confidence when speaking in front of the crowd Moreover, the learning atmosphere is changed in positive way As a result, it promotes learning and teaching process in the communicative approach

Task 2: Rewrite the following sentences, using reduced relative clause with either

present participle, past participle or To-infinitive phrase (V-ing/V-pp/To+V)

 The boy………

 Do you know……….?

 The people………

 The man………

 The last person………

 Do you like………?

 We have an apartment………

3 Teach students how to do exercises related to relative clauses

Example 1: Unit 10 – Part E: Language Focus – Exercise 2 – Page 122 – English

textbook 11)

whom/which

 The movie………

 I’ll give you the address………

 The man………

Example 2: Unit 9 – Part E: Language Focus – Exercise 3 – Page 109 – English

textbook 11)

Purpose: Combine the following sentences, using relative pronouns.

 Some people………

 The bus………

 The man………

PART IV: RESULTS, FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND PROPOSALS

1 Results

At Ham Rong School I teach English in three classes: 11A8, 11A9, and 11A10 In these classes, 11A10 only learn English to pass National examination for GCSE The other two classes learn English to pass entrance examination into university During my teaching course, I have taught 11A8, 11A9 basic knowledge of relative clauses in English As for 11A10 apart from basic knowledge, they are taught advance knowledge of relative clauses in English

It is undeniable that with different objects of students, the requirement of knowledge is also different With students studying not very well and badly,

or students learning English to pass GCSE exam, I only teach them how to use relative clauses which is included in the textbook But with students studying English quite well or excellently to pass entrance examination to enter university which requires broad knowledge of English, I introduce reduced forms of relative clauses, the omission of relative pronouns and teach them how to combine two sentences using relative clauses

After teaching relative clauses to students in three classes I have obtained the following results when they have tests or exams:

It can be seen from the table that in each class, the number of the students receiving good marks on the English tests is increasing steadily As for 11A8 students who do not use English to pass the entrance examination to enter university, they only learn how to use the basic forms of relative clauses, the number of students receiving good marks on test about relative clauses is

8