luận văn ngôn ngữ anh COMMON ERRORS IN REPORTED SPEECH MADE BY 11TH GRADERS AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HO CHI MINH CITY

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE OF ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Lê Văn COMMON ERRORS IN REPORTED SPEECH SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HO CHI MINH CITY MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANG

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE OF ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Nguyễn Lê Văn

COMMON ERRORS IN REPORTED SPEECH

SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HO CHI MINH CITY

MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2020

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE OF ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Nguyễn Lê Văn

COMMON ERRORS IN REPORTED SPEECH

SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Field: English Language Code: 8.22.02.01

Supervisor: Lê Hương Hoa, Ph.D

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR

I declare that this thesis “Common Errors in Reported Speech Made by 11 th

Graders at an Upper Secondary School in Ho Chi Minh City” is carried out by

my own and I am the sole author of this thesis To the best of my knowledge of Reported speech grammar, I use some other author’s works to give two mini-tests for my study, and this thesis is submitted after a carefully checking progress in order to fulfill the requirements of the M.A degree

Author’s signature

Nguyễn Lê Văn

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Lê Hương Hoa, Ph.D

Date: ………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis is completed with lots of working hours and is contributed by a large amount of enthusiasm, effort and assistance from many people Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr Lê Hương Hoa for the all support of my research, for her patience, motivation, and immense knowledge Her guidance helped me in all the time of doing research and writing this thesis I also would like to send my special thanks to Dr Đặng Nguyên Giang, who gave me important help with some ideals and documents Additionally, I am so grateful for Mai Lan Hương, who wrote wonderful books which are loved by millions of teachers and students in Vietnam Her works are filled by deep feelings in the different ups and downs motions, especially during the process of my research It is the source of inspirations for me to fulfil this task Finally, I want to be grateful to my family for all, who are always supportive and enthusiastic during the progress of writing this thesis

Thanks to all

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT vi

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS USED IN THE THESIS ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the Study 2

1.3 Scope of the Study 2

1.4 Significance of the Study 3

1.5 Research Questions 3

1.6 Research Methods 4

1.7 Structure of the Study 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Previous studies related to reported speech 6

2.2 Errors 8

2.2.1 Classification of errors 8

2.2.2 Sources of errors 10

2.2.3 Error analysis 15

2.3 Reported speech 16

2.3.1 Definitions 16

2.3.2 Types of reported speech 17

2.3.3 Changes of direct speech when turning into reported speech 21

2.3.4 Summary of reported speech used in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 11” 31

2.4 Chapter summary 34

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 35

3.1 Research setting 35

3.1.1 An overview of Nguyễn Hiền Upper Secondary School 35

3.1.2 The teachers’ background and their teaching conditions 35

3.1.3 The students’ background 36

3.2 Methodology 38

3.2.1 Research questions 38

3.2.2 Subjects of the study 38

3.2.3 Data collection instruments 40

3.2.4 Data collection procedures 45

3.2.5 Data analysis 45

3.3 Chapter summary 45

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 46

4.1 Results and analysis from questionnaires 46

4.2 Results and analysis from two written mini-tests 55

4.2.1 Results and analysis from the first test 55

4.2.2 Results and analysis from the second test 56

4.2.3 Results and analysis from two written mini-tests 58

4.3 Chapter summary 84

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 86

5.1 Recapitulation 86

5.2 Concluding Remarks 88

5.3 Pedagogical Implications 89

5.4 Limitations and Suggestions for Further studies 92

REFERENCES 93

APPENDIX 1: TEST 1 I APPENDIX 2: TEST 2 IV APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRES VII APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW XII APPENDIX 5: WEBSITES OF REPORTED SPEECH XIII APPENDIX 6: PERCENTAGE CHARTS FROM QUESTIONAIRES XIV APPENDIX 7: RESULT TABLES OF TWO WRITTEN MINI-TESTS XX

ABSTRACT

English grammar is regarded as the most important factor to students’ learning English, in which reported speech grammar is one of the biggest points that is often used in tests and exams at schools, especially in entrance examinations However, 11 graders’ ability still have many limitations and need much more instruction from their teachers at an upper secondary school The findings of the study are concerned with recognizing common errors that students usually make when changing indirect speech statements into reported speech ones, and providing some solutions in order to help them avoid making errors in performing this kind of grammar point Besides, the research also helps teachers give useful pedagogical implications in improving the quality of lectures included in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 11” as well as lessons on reported speech grammar In addition, teachers can apply some suggested exercises in this study for their lessons

In this research, the researcher used two instruments, including the questionnaire and two written mini-tests for students The subjects involved in this study were 23 students of a class including 14 school-girls and 9 school-boys who are 11 graders at an upper secondary school in Hồ Chí Minh City They were invited to participate in the survey questionnaire as well as doing two written mini-tests Besides, some English teachers in the school also took part in

to give best advices in an interview for learning reported speech During giving the instruments, there were 23 participants handed in the questionnaire and the

mini-tests to the researcher in total, and five teachers teaching English for 11 graders finished the questions in the interview

Hopefully, the findings of the research will help both teacher in giving effective teaching lessons and students in learning and mastering reported speech grammar point

LIST OF TABLES

Page Table 9: Groups of students depending on their performing levels in English subject 69

Table 15: Comparison between 5 groups through two written mini-tests 77

Table 18: The order of ascending difficulty of changes 84

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS USED IN THE THESIS

HCM.C : Hồ Chí Minh City

% : Percentage

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

These days, English is the language widely used in the world English is not only the national or official language of some countries which have different cultures, but it is also the international language of communication in many fields including science, technology, business, entertainment and so on Since when Viet Nam joined in international commercial organizations such as World Trade Organization (WTO), Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) and Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM), the need for learning English has been considerably increasing among Vietnamese due to their proficiency in English which can help them get good jobs Therefore, learning English is very necessary

It, however, is not easy to master this language In order to become good English learners, besides proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, they must use grammar properly Numerous studies show that the use of poor grammar in spoken and written statements negatively reflects on the speakers or authors, and those people, who use imperfect grammar, are instantly perceived as being less intelligent, reliable or trustworthy than people who use proper grammar

Consequently, it is essential for English learners to master grammar Among the grammar points, reported speech is important but rather difficult now that it involves a lot of elements which causes students to feel confused and make a range of certain errors Making so many errors of reported speech is not good because when someone reports incorrectly what others have said, it is difficult

for listeners to understand or it is even easy for them to misunderstand, causing serious consequences In addition, reported speech often appears on common tests, final tests in classes and especially tests in the entrance exams to universities and colleges

Therefore, if students do not master this grammar point, they may lose marks relating to reported speech easily For those above certain reasons, the

researcher decided to study the topic “Common Errors in Reported Speech

1.2 Aims of the Study

The overall aim of the study is to help 11th graders at Nguyễn Hiền Upper Secondary School avoid making errors in preforming reported speech grammar With that aim achieved, the researcher will suggest appropriate teaching methods that meet students’ needs with the hope to enhance their ability of learning reported speech grammar point as well as quality of learning English grammar To achieve the above aim, the following objectives are set for exploration:

(1) To find out 11 graders’ common errors in using reported speech

(2) To suggest some solutions to help the students avoid these errors

(3) To improve the quality of teaching and learning English at the school

1.3 Scope of the Study

The study is about common errors of reported speech based on the exercises given by the researcher to 23 students who are 11th graders at Nguyễn Hiền Upper Secondary School

1.4 Significance of the Study

The findings of the study are focus on not only recognizing common errors that students usually make when changing indirect speech statements into reported speech, but also providing some solutions in order to help them avoid making errors in performing this kind of grammar point Furthermore, the research also helps teachers give useful pedagogical implications in improving the quality of lectures included in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 11” as well as lessons on reported speech grammar In addition, teachers can apply some suggested exercises in this study for their lessons

Hence, the findings of the research will help get deeper insights into students’ learning reported speech grammar towards the aforementioned solutions, which in turn stimulate the adjustment on the part of teachers to accord with students’ needs and wants The suggestion of appropriate solutions made by the writer of this paper will significantly contribute to reported speech grammar teaching and learning outcomes In short, valuable information from the questionnaires and the two written mini-tests will help shorten the gap between theory and practice at least in this context

1.5 Research Questions

The research is carried out to answer the three following questions:

(1) What is the students’ attitude towards learning reported speech?

(2) What are common errors that the 11 th graders usually make when dealing with changing direct speech into reported speech?

(3) What are some solutions to these problems?

1.6 Research Methods

This study is qualitatively and quantitatively conducted with the descriptive, analytical, synthetic, and inductive methods A survey with the questionnaires, interview and the two written mini-tests are carried out to investigate the common errors of reported speech made by 11th graders at Nguyễn Hiền Upper Secondary School

1.7 Structure of the Study

At this stage, it should be pointed out that in accordance with the research problems; the study is divided into five chapters:

Chapter 1: “Introduction” presents the reasons for choosing the study, the

aims, the research methods, and the scope of the study along with its design

Chapter 2: “Literature review” reveals the relevant literatures on reported

speech grammar carried out by both foreign and Vietnamese researchers in the past Besides, it also gives specific introduction about errors and research’s aspects on reported speech grammar such as definition of reported speech, types

of reported speech, changes of direct speech when turned into reported speech and especially summary of reported speech used in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 11”

Chapter 3: “Research Methodology” presents and describes the research

methodology that was used to carry out the study Moreover, it presents the population of the study, the research design, and the procedures that were used for gathering and analyzing the available data

Chapter 4: “Findings and Discussions” analyses the data gathered to answer

the research questions

Chapter 5: “Conclusion” summarizes the findings of the study while trying

to address its limitations, and proposes specific initiatives to improve the quality

of teaching, and open the door for further research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter, Literature Review, will present previous studies related to types of errors of indirect speech made in the context of foreign language teaching The literature review will initially look at the terms concerned in the study The pertinent literature will be reviewed and analyzed with the intention

of providing a theoretical foundation to the current study

2.1 Previous studies related to reported speech

In the past time, many studies relating to reported speech have been carried

out For instances, the study “Teaching Reported Speech” done by Dan Raj

Regmi was about the major mistakes made by the learners of Grade XII of Management stream in December, 2009 However, the researcher only gave suggestions for teachers to make clear how they teach their Nepalese students in order to help them understand and use reported speech precisely Besides, Dr Riskhi Anita Tirta Utama from Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta carried

out a research on “An Error Analysis of Indirect Speech Made by the Second Year Students of Sma Negeri 1 Wonogiri 2007/2008 Academic Year” in 2008 In

this research, the researcher made clear the types of errors of indirect speech made by the second year students and found the source of errors of indirect speech that helps students overcome the difficulties in working with Indirect speech sentences Also, this research was given to the second year students and

it just concentrated on copping with types of indirect speech, not specific aspects

of changes in reported speech grammar

Another study is “Error Analysis of Transforming Direct Speech into Indirect Speech in Narrative Dialogues at the Second Year Classes of English

Department” carried out by Elyza Martiarini and Risa Mufliharsi at University

of Indraprasta PGRI, Jakarta in 2017 Nevertheless, the findings errors of this research were classified into 4 aspects such as omission, addition, misformation, and misordering which differ with the classification that the writer uses for study at Nguyễn Hiền Upper Secondary School

In Vietnam, Lê Thị Thu Quỳnh, a student of Hồ Chí Minh University of

Pedagogy did the research “Indirect Speech in English and Vietnamese: A Comparative Contrastive Analysis” in 2010 In this research, the researcher

pointed out basic similarities and differences in indirect speech between Vietnamese and English as well as some major mistakes made by Vietnamese Also, Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Hạnh, a fourth year of English class 2009A of Foreign

Language Faculty at Đồng Tháp University gave a research “Common Errors of Reported Speech Made by Grade 11 Students at Doc Binh Kieu High School, Tien Giang Province” in 2013 In this research, the researcher gave result of

usual errors that students made when turning direct into reported speech The suggestion was that Vietnamese people have to pay more attention to grammar structure when they want to change an English indirect speech into the direct one However, the researcher gave a general suggestion instead of specific ones

to help learners avoid those errors and the subjects just for learners in Tiền Giang province, where students, generally, have lower levels at performing English grammar than those living in Hồ Chí Minh City (HCM.C), the biggest metropolitan in Vietnam

Until now, no research has been done on errors in reported speech made by

11th graders at an upper secondary school in HCM.C For the purpose of

investigating the common errors in reported speech made by 11th graders, the researcher has decided to conduct this study

2.2 Errors

2.2.1 Classification of errors

When a learner develops his second or foreign language system, he makes errors In first language learning, these errors are “lapses” or “slips of the tongue” due to physical or psychological reasons (Brown, 1980) However, in second language and foreign language learning, these errors are reviewed carefully Corder (1973) introduces the distinction between systematic and non-systematic errors Non-systematic errors occur in one’s native language, Corder calls these "mistakes" and states that they are not significant to the process of language learning They can be self-corrected when attention is called He keeps the term "errors" for the systematic ones, which occur in a second language He believes that errors are the evidence of the language system that the learner is using at a particular point in the course Corder (1973) refers to three types of errors These are: 1) transfer errors; 2) analogical errors and 3) teaching-induced errors Chomsky classifies learners’ errors into: 1) performance error and 2) competence error Competence is the ‘speaker-hearer’s knowledge of his language, while performance is the actual use of language in concrete situations Heaton (1998) and Littlewood (1984) divide errors into two main types: global and local errors Richard (1974) and some other researchers distinguish between interlingual errors and intralingual errors

Obviously, errors are classified differently according to perspectives On the whole, the most popular classification of written errors that earns scholars'

consensus prevailingly is the division of errors into interlingual errors and intralingual errors Because, two major factors that contributed to the presence

of errors in students’ written work are interlingual transfer and intralingual transfer

The elaboration of these categories is illustrated as below:

i) Interlingual Errors

According to Brown (1980, p.173) the beginning stages of learning a second language are characterized by a good deal of interlingual transfer from the native language Richard (1974, p.35) says that interlingual errors are errors due

to transferring rules from the mother tongue They are the incorrect elements under the influence of learners' native language Therefore, interlingual errors are errors which are caused by interference from native language to the target language they learn Therefore, before someone really master the concept of their target language they will always use the concept of their native language When it happens all the time and they do not realize it, it can be called interlingual errors

Obviously, the understanding of intralingual and interlingual error enables teacher to perceive language teaching form a two-way perspective, which is different from traditional teaching which only emphasizes target language This classification could help the teachers deal with the relationship between language 1 and language 2 in teaching practice, to trace the origin of errors, and

to decide what language points need more attention

ii) Intralingual Errors

After learning second language or foreign language for some time, learners’

previous experience and their existing subsumes begin to include structures within the target language itself According to James (1998, p.183), the less the learner knows about the target language, the more he is forced to draw upon any other prior knowledge he possesses While Brown (1980, p.173) says that it is clear that intralingual errors or intralingual interference-the negative transfer of items within the target language, or put another way, the incorrect generalization

of rules within the target language is a major factor in second language learning Intralingual errors refer to those out of the influence within the developmental system of target language, such as faulty generalization, incomplete application

of rules, and so on (Ellis, 1999, p.58)

2.2.2 Sources of errors

We all know that errors are unavoidable in language learning process These errors occur because of many reasons By identifying the sources of error, the teacher begins to know how learner’s cognitive and affective self relates to the linguistic system and also to formulate his process of learning a foreign language

However, it is by no means easy to identify the actual sources of written errors in the field of English language Teaching Different classifications of errors provide us with different perspectives to analyze the causes of errors Brown (1980, p.156) states that errors are caused by the lack of knowledge about the target language Edge (1989, p.7) claims that the source of learner’s errors is the interference from the speaker’s first language In tone with it, Richards (1974, p.174) says that the source of errors in studying a language

might be derived from the interference of the learners’ mother tongue and the general characteristics of the rule learning

In summary, errors can be ascribed to many factors Some of learners' errors are due to learners' language competence, some due to cultural interference; some are results of learners' learning strategies, while others are the products of communicative strategies Diverse as these viewpoints are, there should be an intersection among different schools of thoughts or a clear-cut justification among them so that these causes are figured out and proper error correction is offered

In general, the very causes of written errors can be summed up as below:

i) Interlingual interference

Interlingual interference is the interference of the learner’s first language or mother tongue onto the process of learning a second language Mother tongue interference is one of the major causes leading to learner’s committing errors Norrish (1987) states that learning a language (a mother tongue or a foreign language) is a matter of habit formation When learner strives to learn a new habit, the old ones will interfere with the new ones In other words, the term

"first language interference" best summarizes this phenomenon Besides, being able to express fully one's ideas in another language is always a demanding task Thus, when learners' second language is not sufficient in expressing themselves,

it is likely that they will rely on their first language to express their ideas Edge (1989: 7) is in line with this thought: "when people do not know how to say something in a foreign language, one possibility is to use words and structures from their own language and try to make them fit into the foreign language."

Moreover, the interference of mother tongue may result from the complication

of the structure of the target language as Abbort et al (1981: 230) argues that

"wherever the structures of the first language and target language differed, there would be problems in learning and difficulty in performance, and that the greater the differences were, the greater the difficulties would be."

Undoubtedly, differences and similarities between language 1 and language

2 will affect the learning of the target language greatly The consideration of the contrast and comparison between the two languages will for sure contribute to the analysis of learner' errors The differences between Vietnamese and English are manifested in pronunciation, grammatical rules, lexical meaning, and word order is considered another factor of the interlingual interference as well

ii) Intralingual Interference

Interferences from the students’ own language is not the only reason for committing errors During the process of analyzing the causes of errors, a large number of errors are found to be the result of intralingual interference within the target language As soon as the learner has begun to acquire some parts of the new language system, more and more intralingual interference will occur The errors from intralingual interference normally follow a natural route As the learner progresses in the second language, his previous experience and his existing knowledge begin to permeate for producing new progress, at the same time arousing new errors Intralingual interference is the negative transfer of items within the target language such as the overgeneralization, the wrong application of rules and results in false conceptualization on the part of the learner (Richards 1974:96)

According to James (1998), intralingual errors can be divided into 4 items: a) Overgeneralization

Another possible cause of written errors mentioned is overgeneralization It occurs when the learner creates a deviant structure on the basis of other structures in the target language It generally involves the creation of one deviant structure in place of two target language structures Consequently, students automatically apply rules wherein they are not allowed to For examples:

(1) She will cries aloud

(2) He can speaks English well

(3) We are hope to see you

In the examples, the learners overgeneralize that the simple present tense ‘s’ ending is required by the third person singular Whereas, the form of English sentences is not fully the same as they expect In addition, they may reduce their linguistic burden To know their mistakes in constructing sentences, the researcher gives the correct sentences as follows:

(1) She will cry aloud

(2) He can speak English well

(3) We hope to see you

b) Ignorance of rule restriction

This types of errors involves the application of rules to contexts where the learner does not apply Here the learner fails to observe the restrictions of existing structures For examples:

(1) He asked to me about my family

(2) She told to me her big problem yesterday

(3) He showed to me his new cars

In this case, they should reduce ‘to’ in the sentence “He asked to me” because he applied the same preposition to different verbs The following sentences are the correct forms of the sentences above:

(1) He asked me about my family

(2) She told me her big problem yesterday

(3) She showed me his new cars

c) Incomplete application of rules

This kind of intralingual error is converse of overgeneralization and represents the degree of development of the rule required to produce acceptable sentences It is typically related to analogy It involves a failure to fully develop

a structure Thus learners of language 2 English have been observed to use declarative word order in questions (for example, “You like to sing?”) in place

of interrogative word order (for example, “Do you like to sing?”) This type of intralingual error corresponds to what is often referred to as an error of transitional competence (Richards, 1971)

d) False concepts hypothesized

The last category of intralanguage error that is sometimes called semantic error is false concepts hypothesized It derives from incorrect comprehending of distinction in the target language These particular errors are the result of poor gradation of teaching items The form ‘was’ for example, may be interpreted as the marker of the past tense, as in “one day it was happened”

2.2.3 Error analysis

It is to S.P Corder that Error Analysis owes its place as a scientific method

in linguistics As Rod Ellis cites (p 48), "it was not until the 1970s that Error Analysis became a recognized part of applied linguistics, a development that owed much to the work of Corder" According to James (1998:7) error analysis

is a methodology for dealing with data rather than a theory of acquisition The data can be taken by conducting a test with the students as the respondents Further he (James 1998, p.1) says that the process of determining the incidence, nature, causes, and consequences of unsuccessful language learning While Brown (1980, p.166) states that error analysis is the fact that learner do make errors and that these errors can be observed, analyzed, and classified to reveal something of the system operating within the learners The purpose is to show some problems faced by the students It is a key to understand the process of foreign L acquisition

Richards (1985, p.96) states that Error Analysis is the study of errors made

by the second and foreign language learners Error Analysis may be carried out

in order to (a) find out how well someone knows a language, (b) find out how a person learns a language, and (c) obtain information on common difficulties in language learning, as an aid in teaching or in the preparation of teaching materials This definition stresses the functions of Error Analysis

From those explanations it can be concluded that Error Analysis is a methodology for dealing with data which can be observed, analyzed and classified to reveal or determine the incidence, nature, causes and consequences

of unsuccessful language learning within the learners In other words, Error

Analysis is an activity to identify, classify and interpreted or describe the errors made by someone in speaking or in writing and it is carried out to obtain information on common difficulties faced by someone in speaking or in writing English sentences

In this study, under the theory of error by Richards (1974), the errors due to incomplete application of Intralingual interference made by students in terms of reported speech was investigated

2.3 Reported speech

2.3.1 Definitions

Definition of reported speech (or indirect speech) is still controversial problem Each has their own opinion that leads having several definitions that are defined differently from one by one The researcher would like introduce some outstanding ones that are persuasive:

According to Cambridge Dictionary, “Reported speech is how we represent the speech of other people or what we ourselves say.”

As for Collins Dictionary, “Reported speech is speech which tells you what someone said, but does not use the person's actual words A few changes are necessary; often a pronoun has to be changed and the verb is usually moved back a tense, where possible.” with an illustrated example:

1) Direct speech: "I'm going to come."

→ Reported speech: He said that he was going to come

Moreover, Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries tells us, “Reported speech is a report of what somebody has said that does not use their exact words.”

In general, all the definitions that the researcher has just mentioned above have their own value certainly contributing to learning reported speech grammar point In this study, the researcher would like to use all the opinions above so that they will support for the research sufficiently and effectively most

2.3.2 Types of reported speech

Also, each one has different classification of reported speech As for Cambridge Dictionary, there are two main types of reported speech: Direct speech and indirect speech Whereas, according to https://efc.edu.vn/cau-tuong-thuat-trong-tieng-anh and https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/ grammar-lesson-reported-speech.php, there are various types of sentences of reported speech for us to use, we either report: statements, questions, requests/ commands (imperative) or other types

With other types of reported speech, the researcher would like to introduce some to make them clearer, for instances: reported exclamations and mixed types of reported speech that will be specifically presented as follow

i) Reported statements

S1 + said to/ told + O + (that) + S2 + V

Examples:

1) Direct speech: “I’m waiting for my mother,” he said

→ Reported speech: He said that he was waiting for his mother

2) Direct speech: Rick said to me, “Anne has written Jim a letter.”

→ Reported speech: Rick told me that Anne had written Jim a letter

ii) Reported imperatives

S + asked / told / ordered + O + (not) to–inf

a Affirmative imperatives

Examples:

1) Direct speech: The teacher said to me, “Show me your notebook.”

→ Reported speech: The teacher told me to show her my notebook.

2) Direct speech: He said to me, “Remember to come here on time.”

→ Reported speech: He asked me to come there on time.

3) Direct speech: “Please give me some money,” said the old man to us.

→ Reported speech: The old man begged us to give him some money.

4) Direct speech: The boss tells me, “Come in!”

→ Reported speech: The boss tells me to come in.

b Negative imperatives

Examples:

1) Direct speech: She said to her husband, “Don’t drive too fast.”

→ Reported speech: She told her husband not to drive too fast.

2) Direct speech: The teacher says to her students, “Never go to school late.”

→ Reported speech: The teacher tells her students never to go to school late.

iii) Reported questions

→ Reported speech: He asked me if / whether I was hungry.

2) Direct speech: He said to himself, “Will she arrive on time?”

→ Reported speech: He wondered if /whether she would arrive on time.

3) Direct speech: He enquires, “Does the train stop at York?”

→ Reported speech: He enquires if / whether the train stops at York.

2) Direct speech: “Would you rather travel by car or by train?” she asks me.

→ Reported speech: She asks me if/ whether I would rather travel by car or by train.

1) Direct speech: “Who is going to live in the big house?” he enquired.

→ Reported speech: He enquired who was going to live in the big house.

2) Direct speech: “Who does English belong to?” our teacher has just said to us.

→ Reported speech: Our teacher has just asked us who English belongs to.

3) Direct speech: “How do you learn English?” she asks him.

→ Reported speech: She asks him how he learns English.

iv) Reported Exclamations

S1 + exclaimed/ said (that) + S2 – V

Examples:

1) Direct speech: He said, “What a dreadful idea!”

→ Reported speech: He exclaimed that it was a dreadful idea.

2) Direct speech: She says, “What a beautiful dress!”

→ Reported speech: She says that it is a very beautiful dress.

v) Mixed types of Reported speech

Direct speech in the mixed types may consist of: Statement + Question, Question + Imperative, Imperative + Statement, or all together

a Rule 1: Statement + Question

Often each type requires its own introductory verb and the conjunction and

is used to link them For example:

1) DS: “I’m a stranger Can you tell me how to get to the post office?” she said

→ Reported speech: She said she was a stranger and asked if I could tell her how to get to the post office

b Rule 2: Question – Imperative

When the second clause is a statement explaining the first, the conjunction

as can be used instead of a second introductory verb For example:

1) Direct speech: “Don’t turn off the light It is dark here.” my sister said.

→ Reported speech: My sister told me not to turn off the light as it was dark there.

c Rule 3: Imperative – statement

Sometimes the second introductory verb can be a participle For examples:

1) Direct speech: “Please, please don’t smoke Remember that it is harmful to your health,” his wife said

→ Reported speech: His wife begged him not to smoke reminding him that it was harmful to your health

2.3.3 Changes of direct speech when turning into reported speech

1) Direct speech: He said, “I am a student.”

→ Reported speech: He said that he was a student.

 Rule 2

Second person pronouns in the direct speech change from the second person

to the person of the object of the reporting verb in the reported speech For example:

1) Direct speech: She said to me, “You are very kind.”

→ Reported speech: She told me that I was very kind.

 Rule3:

Third person pronouns in the direct speech will not change in the reported

speech For example:

1) Direct speech: The manager said, “They are hard workers.”

→ Reported speech: The manager said that they were hard workers.

 Notes

 The new (changed) pronoun will have the same case and number as the original one For example:

1) Direct speech: He said, “This book is mine.”

→ Reported speech: He said that that book was his.

 In some cases, to avoid confusion, we can use the former and the latter instead of the pronouns mentioned in the rules above For examples:

1) Direct speech: Tom said to Peter, “Miss White wants to meet me in the

b Demonstrative pronoun changes (this/ that/ these/ those) For examples:

1) Direct speech: She said, “This is Tom’s house.”

→ Reported speech: She said (that) that was Tom’s house.

2) Direct speech: He said, “These are my new pens.”

→ Reported speech: He said that those were his new pens.

ii) Tense changes

If the reporting verb is in the past tense, tenses of the verbs in the direct

speech will be changed into their corresponding past tenses in the reported speech The changes are shown in the following table

1 Simple Present: S + V(s/es)

Mary said, “I am a secretary.”

Simple Past: S + V2/ed Mary said that she was a secretary

2 Present Progressive

S + is/ am/ are + V -ing

Past Progressive

S + was/ were + V -ing

She said, “I am listening to

4

Present Perfect Progressive

S + have/has + been + V -ing

The clerk said, “I have been

learning English for ten years.”

Past perfect progressive

S + had been + V -ing

The clerk said that she had been learning English for ten years

5

Simple Past: S + V2/ed

My friend said, “My brother

bought a computer yesterday.”

Past Perfect: S + had + Vpp

My friend said that his brother had

bought a computer the day before

6

Past Progressive

S + was/ were + V -ing

He said, “We were having dinner

at 7 p.m yesterday.”

Past Perfect Progressive

S + had been + V -ing

He said that they had been having

dinner 7p.m the day before

7 Past perfect: S + had + Vpp Unchanged

He said, “I had turned off the TV

before 8 a.m.”

He said he had turned off the TV before 8 a.m

8

Past perfect Progressive

S + had been + V -ing

He said, “I had been waiting for

ten minutes when the bus

My mother said to me, “I will buy

you a new watch tomorrow.”

Modals verbs expressing future action in the past

 Exceptions

a There are no tense changes in the reported speech if the reported words are true at the time of reporting For example:

1) Direct speech: He said, “I am 24 years old.”

→ Reported speech: He said that he is 24 years old (Now he is 24 years old.)

b There are no tense changes in the reported speech if the reported words express a general truth For example:

1) Direct speech: Our geography teacher said, “The Earth revolves around the Sun.”

→ Reported speech: Our geography teacher said that the Earth resolves around the Sun.

c There are no tense changes in reported speech if the reported words refer

to unreal situations For examples:

1) Direct speech: My sister said, “If I were a billionaire, I would help the

d There are no tense changes in reported speech if the reported words

contain unreal past tenses after wish, would rather/ sooner and it is time

Examples:

1) Direct speech: Tom said, “I wish I could travel around the world.”

→ Reported speech: Tom said that he wished he could travel around the world 2) Direct speech: She said to him, “I would rather you did not smoke here.”

→ Reported speech: She told him that she would rather he did not smoke there.

3) Direct speech: He said, “It’s time the government did something to save the environment.”

→ Reported speech: He said that it was time the government did something to save the environment.

iii) Adjective changes

a Possessive adjective changes

The rule of possessive adjective changes in reported speech is the same as

that of possessive pronoun changes mentioned above For examples:

1) Direct speech: He said, “I haven’t finished my work.”

→ Reported speech: He said that he hadn’t finished his work.

2) Direct speech: My sister said to me, “Don’t put your bag here.”

→ Reported speech: My sister told me not to put my bag there.

3) Direct speech: Alice said, “I don’t know their names.”

→ Reported speech: Alice said that she didn’t know their names.

b Demonstrative adjective changes

The rule of demonstrative adjective changes in reported speech is the same

as that of demonstrative pronoun changes mentioned above For examples:

1) Direct speech: He said, “This room needs painting.”

→ Reported speech: He said that that room needed painting.

2) Direct speech: She said, “These books are mine.”

→ Reported speech: She said that those books were hers.

iv) Unchanged with the reporting verbs

If the reporting verb is in simple present, present continuous, present perfect and future tenses, tenses of the verbs in the direct speech will not be changed in

the reported speech For example:

1) Direct speech: He says, “I listen to the radio every day.”

→ Reported speech: He says that he listens to the radio every day.

v) Modal verb changes

a Rule 1

Modal verbs in the direct speech will be changed into the corresponding past forms in the reported speech if the reporting verb is in the past tenses The changes are shown in the following table For examples:

Our parents said to us, “You may

watch TV in your free time.”

might

Our parents told us that we could watch TV in our free time

must (obligation, present)

“Need I eat it all, mummy?” said the

must (obligation, future)

My father said to me, “You must

work harder next term.”

would have to/ had to

My father told me that I would have to/ had to work harder the next term

needn’t (necessity, present) needn’t/ didn’t have to

He said, “I needn’t be in the room till

5 p.m.”

He said that he needn’t / didn’t have to

be the room till 5 p.m.”

needn’t (necessity, future)

I said, “If you can lend me the

money, I needn’t go to the bank.”

needn’t/ wouldn’t have to

I said that if he could lend me the money, I needn’t / wouldn’t have to go

to the bank

shall (future)

I said, “I shall buy a new bicycle if I

have enough money.”

He said, “I shall buy a new bicycle if

I have enough money.”

(I/ we + would/ should) (You/ he/ she/ it/ they + would)

I said that I should / would buy a new bicycle if I had enough money

He said that he would buy a new bicycle if he had enough money

shall (offer, request for advice and

confirmation)

We asked his wife: “Where shall I

put this box?”

→ Reported speech: The doctor said that the children should/ had better go to bed early.

2) Direct speech: “They ought to widen this road,” she said.

→ Reported speech: She said that they ought to widen that road.

vi) Adverb changes

that day/ that night

She said that they study Geography that day

tomorrow

They said, “It may rain tomorrow.”

the next day/ the day after/ the