An analysis of errors related to the uses of english prepositions at, on, in produced by elementary level students at foreign languages & informatics center vinh city

SCOPE OF THE STUDYThe study mainly deals with three prepositions “AT, ON, IN” of time and place.The survey is carried out at Language and Informatics Center-Vinh City.. OBJECTIVES The ob

TABLES OF CONTENT

Acknowledgement

Table of contents

List of tables, charts and figures

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Rationale for the study

1.2 Scope of the study

1.3 Research Questions

1.4 Aims and objectives of the study

1.5 Structure of the thesis

Chapter Two: Literature review

2.6.1 Interlingual Errors and First Language Interference

2.6.2 Intralingual Errors and developmental Errors

2.7 The concepts of Prepositions

2.7.1 Syntactic characteristics of Prepositions

2.7.2 Semantic characteristics of Prepositions

2.8 The Spatial Prepositions “AT, ON, IN”

2.8.1 Usage of AT

2.8.2 Usage of IN

2.8.3 “AT and IN” in comparison

2.8.4 Usage of ON

2.8.5 “IN and ON” in comparison

2.9 “AT, ON, IN” as temporal prepositions

iiiiii991010101112121313141616161820212223262728303033

2.10 Spatial and Temporal Prepositions in Vietnamese

2.10.1 Spatial Prepositions

2.10.2 Temporal Prepositions

Chapter Three: Research Methodology

3.1 Participants

3.2 Instruments of data collection

3.3 Methodology of Data analysis

Chapter Four: Findings and Discussion

4.1 Errors related to the use of spatial prepositions

4.1.1 Analysis of Data

4.1.2 Analysis of Errors

4.1.2.1 Interlingual Errors and First language Interference

4.1.2.2 Intralingual and Developmental Errors

4.2 Errors related to the use of Temporal Prepositions

LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES

ABBREVIATIONS

Table 2.1 Usage of AT and IN in comparison

Table 2.2 Usage of IN and ON in comparison

Table 2.3 Usage of temporal AT-IN - ON in comparison

Table 2.4 Some expressions of temporal AT

Table 4.1 Results of multiple-choice 1

Table 4.2 Results of cloze-exercise

Table 4.3 Results of picture description

Table 4.4 Errors related to the use of Spatial Prepositions Their frequency, sourcesand percent

Table 4.5 Results of Multiple choice 2

Table 4.6 Results of Sentence building

Table 4.7 Errors related to the use of temporal Prepositions Their frequency,sources and percent

Figure 2.1

* : ERRORNEOUS SENTENCE

X : no preposition

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Test 1

Appendix 2: Test 2

Appendix 3: Drawings and Pictures

(to teach the meanings and usage of prepositions “AT, ON, IN”)

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY

The center for Languages and Informatics – Vinh City is an address for learners atdifferent ages that have need of learning English We offer them general Englishcourses along with the book New Headway Elementary 3rd Edition which provides afoundation in the structure of the language, gradually builds student’s understanding

of the basic grammar, vocabulary and functions of English

We observe that the elementary-level students meet a lot of difficulties in learninggrammar In particular, preposition usage is one of the most challenging aspects ofEnglish grammar During the courses, we have detected common errors in using theprepositions AT, ON, IN It seems that these errors occur frequently andsystematically They are exemplified as follow:

(1) IN is used in contexts where ON and AT are required (>50%)

* in TV (on)

* in this time (at)

* in a sunny morning (on)

* in the farm (on)

* students in Vinh University (at)

(2) ON is used in contexts where IN/ AT is required (> 70%)

* on many ways (in)

* on that place (in)

* going on cars (in)

* on the sky / mountain / the world (in)

(3) AT is used in contexts where IN /ON is required (> 60%)

* at the evening (in)

* at the first of March (on)

(4) AT, ON, IN are used in contexts where no prepositions are required ( > 55%)

1.2 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study mainly deals with three prepositions “AT, ON, IN” of time and place.The survey is carried out at Language and Informatics Center-Vinh City

1.3 OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the thesis are:

- Identifying the errors in using the prepositions of place and time: “AT, ON, IN”

by Vietnamese learners at our English center

- Finding the causes of their errors.

- Proposing pedagogic solutions for the teaching and learning of the prepositions

“AT, ON, IN” at our English center

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

The above mentioned objectives can be elaborated into the following researchquestions:

1 What errors do elementary learners are likely to make in using the prepositions

“AT, ON, IN”?

2 What are the possible causes of the errors?

3 What are the possible solutions to students’ errors related to the use of “AT, ON,IN” as prepositions of place and time?

1.5 THESIS STRUCTURE

The thesis consists of five main chapters as follows:

- Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

In this introductory part, the rationale of the study is presented The aims, scopes ofthe study are then identified

- Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides an in-depth review of the relevant literature related to theissue under investigation A review of English prepositions “AT, ON, IN” providesthe theoretical background for the recognition of the errors that students are likely tomake Error Analysis as the main theoretical tool for analyzing data will also bereviewed

- Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the main principles and techniques for conducting theresearch

- Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter is spared for the presentation of major findings and proposal ofpossible solutions to students’ errors related to the uses of “AT, ON, IN” as placeand time prepositions

- Chapter 5: CONCLUSION

The chapter will present recapitulation, conclusions on each of the objectives setforth as tasks assigned to the study, implications for teaching and therecommendation for further research

Error analysis may be carried out in order to (1) find out strategies which learnersuse in learning a language, (2) find out the causes of learner errors and (3) obtaininformation on common difficulties in language learning, as an aid in teaching or inthe preparation of teaching materials.

Error analysis was claimed to be used as a primary pedagogical tool because ofthree arguments: (1)Error Analysis not only restrict to errors caused by interlingualtransfer, it also brings to light many other types of errors such as intralanguageerrors and some arising from the particular teaching and learning strategyemployed (2) Error Analysis provides data on actual, attested problems andtherefore forms a more efficient and economical basis for designing pedagogicalstrategies (3) Error analysis is not confronted with the complex theoreticalproblems (Richards 1975:17)

According to Corder (1971b: 154 & 166), the learner’s errors are evidence of thesystem, and the investigation of the language of second language learners wouldrely heavily on Error Analysis

2.2 THE NOTION OF ERRORS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

There is a variety of definitions of errors According to Norrish (1987:7), error is asystematic deviation, when a learner has not learnt something and consistently gets

it wrong” Cunningworth (1987:87) states the same view point as errors aresystematic deviations from the norms of the language being learnt Dulay et Al(1982: 138) states that errors are understood as the flawed side of learners’ speechand writing, those parts of conversation or composition that deviate from someselected norms

The above definitions have a common idea that errors are deviations from the norm

of the target language The norm is understood as the standard form of the languageused by native speakers In the context of the study, utterances which are deviantfrom the standard form will be considered errors even though they do not affectintelligibility or communication

Like the child struggling to acquire his language, the second language learner is alsotrying out successive hypotheses about the nature of the target language, therefore,the learner’s errors (or hypotheses) are not only inevitable but are a necessary part

of the language learning process (Richards et al , 1974:17)

Corder (1967:167) noted that errors could be significant in three ways: (1) theyprovided the teacher with information about how much the learner had learnt; (2)they provided the researcher with evidence of how language was learnt; (3) theyserved as devices by which the learner discovered the rules of the target language

2.3 ERRORS VS MISTAKES

Corder (1967:167) makes a distinction between “errors” which are systematicdeviations from the target language revealing the learner’s transitional competenceand “mistakes”, which are the product of chance circumstances or failure ofperformance owing to lapses of memory, inattention, fatigue, etcetera, and as suchare unsystematic

Ellis (1997:17) expresses the same view: “errors reflect gaps in a learner’sknowledge, they occur because the learner does not know what is correct; mistakesreflect occasional lapses in performance, when the learner is unable to perform what

he or she does know”

The term “error “refers to some idiosyncratic or “un-nativelike” piece of languageproduced regularly and systematically by a number of learners This means onlylearners of a foreign language commit errors “Mistake” refers to occasional actionswhich are not systematic Native speakers as well as foreign language learners maymake mistakes

Corder (1967:167) insisted that mistakes are of no significance to the languagelearning process, mistakes can readily be corrected by the learner when his attention

is drawn to them On the contrary, errors are significant to the process of languagelearning (Corder 1967:167) Errors cannot be self-corrected until further relevantinput has been provided and converted into intake by the learner (C James1998:83)

To distinguish between an error and a mistake, Ellis (1997:17) suggest two ways.The first one is to check the consistency of learner’s performance If he sometimesuses the correct form and sometimes the wrong one, it is a mistake However, if healways uses it incorrectly, it is then an error The second way is to ask learner tocorrect his deviant utterance himself Where he can, they are mistakes; where hecannot, they are errors

From the above-mentioned definitions, it can be concluded that mistakes are nonsystematic deviations from the norms of the language; therefore they are of nointerest to the Error Analysis The objects of Error Analysis are Errors

2.4 CLASSIFICATION OF ERRORS

Richards et al (1974:17) believed that both children learning the first language, and children and adults learning foreign languages likely to produce errors of following types:

i) The omission of grammatical morphemes;

ii) The double marking of a given semantic feature;

iii) The over generalized application of irregular rules;

iv) The use of one form for several required;

v) The wrong word ordering

Corder (1973:273) classifies the errors in terms of the difference between thelearners’ utterance and the reconstructed version Therefore, errors fall into fourcategories:

i) Omission of some required element;

ii) Addition of some unnecessary or incorrect element;

iii) Selection of an incorrect element (substitution);

iv) misordering of the element

However, he adds that this classification is not enough to describe errors Heincludes the linguistics level of the errors under the sub-areas of morphology,syntax and lexicon (Corder, 1973:273)

Ellis (1997:20) states that “classifying errors in these ways can help to diagnoselearner’s learning problems at any stage of their development and to plot howchanges in error patterns occur over time” The categorization can be exemplified asfollows:

i) Omission (morphological and syntactical omission)

ii) Addition (in morphology, syntax and lexicon)

iii) Selection (in morphology, syntax)

iv) Ordering (in pronunciation, morphology, syntax and lexicon)

Brown (2000:222) views errors as either global or local Global errors violate thecomprehension of the overall structure of a sentence as in the following instance:

* The policeman was in this corner whistle … (Ellis 1997:20)

On the contrary, local errors do not prevent the message from being understood.The hearer can guess the intended meaning since only a single constituent in thesentence is wrong For example:

* The plane is flying on the sky.

Corder (1971:155) suggests two other categories: overt and covert errors The

former are unquestionably ungrammatical at the sentence level For example: * I runned all the way The latter are grammatically well-formed at the sentence level but are not interpretable within the context of communication For example, * “It was stopped” is apparently grammatical until it becomes clear that “it” refers to the

“the wind”

Associate Professor Vo Dai Quang in his “Issues of Applied Linguistics” (2006:93)classifies errors into categories such as referential errors, register errors, socialerrors, textual errors

2.5 PROCEDURE FOR ERROR ANALYSIS

Corder (1974:175) described the procedure for Error Analysis as six-step method asfollow:

(1) Selection of data for error analysis.

(2) Identification (Recognition) of Errors

2.6.1 Interlingual errors and first language interference:

This class of errors is also known as errors of transfer from the source language, orerrors caused by interference of learner’s first language (Dictionary of LanguageTeaching and Applied Linguistics (1992))

When the learner tries to create new knowledge about the target language, he firsttries to make some hypotheses by using prior knowledge He uses his previous firstlanguage experience as a means of organizing the second language By transferringthe rules of the first language into the second language, his learning task canbecome simpler In the case that the two systems have similar devices, the learnerbenefits from positive transfer However, when there are differences between thefirst and the second language, the learner commits errors Lado (1957:1) claims that

“errors are originated in the learners’ disposition to transfer forms and meanings,and the distribution of forms and meanings of their native language and culture tothe foreign language and culture”

Interlingual errors may occur at the levels of pronunciation, morphology, syntax,vocabulary and meaning (Richards, 1971: 10)

In addition to the differences between the first and second language, there are fourother factors that may be the source of the first language interference in producingthe second language (Dulay et al, 1982:110)

Firstly, it is the performance pressure In classroom settings, the learners may beasked to perform tasks they are not willing to or their linguistic competence does

not meet the demand; therefore, they makes use of the language which is previously

familiar to them Secondly, the limited foreign language environment is also afactor leading to errors It is understood as the lack of authentic linguistic inputswith native speakers The elements results in learners’ recourse on their language.Thirdly, language tasks assigned for the learners have a significant affect on theirverbal performance Among these tasks, translation is thought to “increase theforeign language learners’ reliance on first language structures” (Dulay et al.,1982:110) Lastly, Dulay et al (1982:110) considered the monitor as “an importantfactor associated with the learner’s use of foreign language acquisition” Learnerstrend to think in the first language and try to put the idea in the target language

To summarize, interlingual errors are derived from negative transfer from the firstlanguage to the second language The effect of the first language on the second

language learning is also conditioned by four main factors: performance pressure, limited language environment, manner of eliciting verbal performance and the monitor use.

2.6.2 Intralingual errors and developmental errors:

Interference from the leaner’s own language is not the only reason for committingerrors Richards (1971a:174) describes these errors as those which reflect thegeneral characteristics of rule learning such as faulty generalization, incompleteapplication of rules and failure to learn conditions under which rules apply.Developmental errors illustrate the learner attempting to build up hypotheses aboutthe English language from his limited experience of it in the classroom ortextbooks

He presents the different types of the above errors in terms of: (1) generalization, (2) ignorance of rule restrictions, (3) incomplete application of rules,(4) false concept hypothesized

over-(1) OVER-GENERALIZATION:

Jakobovists defines generalization as “the use of previously strategies in newsituation, some of these strategies will prove helpful in organizing the facts aboutthe second language, but others, perhaps due to superficial similarities will bemisleading and inapplicable”

Over-generalization covers instances where the learner creates a deviant structure

on the basis of his experience of other structures in the target language since hewants to decrease his linguistic load Over-generalization generally involves the

making of one deviant structure in place of two regular structures For example: *he can sings, * we are hope, * he come from.

Over-generalization is associated with redundancy reduction For instance, it mayoccur with items which are contrasted in the grammar of the language, but which do

not carry significant and obvious contrast for the learner * Yesterday I go to the pub and I meet my best friend Therefore, the learner cuts down the tasks involved in

sentence production Ervin-Tripp (according to Oller, 1973:20) suggests that

“possibly the morphological and syntactic simplifications of second languagelearners correspond to some simplifications common among children (i.e mothertongue speakers) learning the same language”

Certain types of teaching techniques increase the frequency of over-generalizedstructures Many pattern drills and transform exercises are made up of utterancesthat can interfere with each other to produce hybrid structures:

He walks quickly Change to continuous form * He is walks quickly This has been described as overlearning of a structure At other time, he walks may

be contrasted with he is walking, he sings with he can sing, and a week later, without any teaching of the forms, the learner produces * he can sings, * he is walks.

(2) IGNORANCE OF RULE RESTRICTIONS

Closely related to the generalization of deviant structures, is failure to observe therestrictions of existing structures; that is, the application of rules to contexts wherethey do not apply

For example:

* The man who I saw him, violates the limitation on subjects in structure with Who.

* I made him to do it ignores the restrictions on the distribution of make.

Ignorance of rules occurs when learners completely forget these rules and thusproduce deviant sentences haphazardly Some rule restriction errors may beaccounted for in terms of analogy, other instances may result from the rote learning

of rules

Analogy seems to be the major factor in the misuse of prepositions The learner,encountering a particular preposition with one type of verb, attempts by analogy touse the same preposition with similar verbs

For example: He showed me the book ->* He explained me the book.

He said to me -> * He asked to me.

We talked about it -> * We discussed about it.

(3) INCOMPLETE APPLICATION OF RULES

It involves a failure to learn more complex types of structure because the learnerfinds he can achieve effective communication by using relative simple rules

(4) FALSE CONCEPT HYPOTHESIZED

In addition to the various intralingual errors, there is a class of development errorswhich derive from faulty comprehension of distinction in the target language Theseare sometimes due to poor gradation of teaching items, premature contrastivepresentation

This occurs when teachers either fail to transfer correct pattern and concepts to theirstudents or do not emphasize patterns which have been introduced correctly (i.e bygiving sufficient exercises and drilling) Therefore, the students cannot grasp suchconcepts properly They may get confused and misunderstand

Richards (1971:21) suggests that to minimize risks of confusion, teacher shouldselect non-synonymous contexts for related words, treat them at different times andavoid exercises based on contrast and transformation

2.7 THE CONCEPT OF PREPOSITIONS

Let us examine a piece of text in the book New Headway Elementary:

Seumas lives and works on the island of Gigha in the west of Scotland Only 120 people live on Gigha but in summer 150 tourists come by boat every day.

Every weekday Seumas gets up at 6.00 and makes breakfast for the hotel guest At 8.00 he drives the island’s children to school At 9.00 he collects the post from the boat and delivers it to all the houses on the island He also delivers the beer to the island’s only pub Then he helps Margaret in the shop.

He says: “Margaret likes being busy, too We never go on holidays and we don’t like watching television In the evenings Margaret makes supper and I do the accounts At 10.00 we have a glass of wine and then go to bed Perhaps our life

isn’t very exciting, but we like it.”

Prepositions in English have a wide variety of meanings and functions According

to Cuyckens and Radden (2002:15), English prepositions can be seen from twodifferent perspectives One is the syntactic-semantic, where prepositions are defined

by their function as head of prepositional phrases The other one is the semantic, where the polysemy of prepositions is explained as a network ofmeanings The basic meaning is spatial and other meanings can be derived fromthis one

cognitive-2.7.1 Syntactic Characteristics of Prepositions:

Quirk et al (1976:142) states that a preposition describes relationships between twoentities One of these entities is called the prepositional complement and it relates

to another part of the sentence The prepositional complement is often a nounphrase, a nominal WH-clause, a nominal –ing clause, or rarely, an adjective oradverb

Preposition Prepositional Complement

English prepositional phrases may function as:

On the other hand, he made no attempt to help the victim or apprehend her attacker.

(iv) postmodifier in a noun phrase

The weather in April is usually warm and sunny

They can act as the complement of a verb (insist on eating out), of a noun (a hunger for money), of an adjective or adverb (attentive to their needs) or of another preposition (until after midnight).

From the syntactic point of view, the prepositions are classified as simple and

complex Simple prepositions are single word ones such as across, after, at, before, between, by, during etc Complex prepositions consist of more than one word They can be adverbs of PREP + PREP as along with, as for, away from, out of, up to etc, VERB/ADJECTIVE/ CONJUNCTION + PREP as owning to, due to, because of etc, PREP + NOUN + PREP as by means of, in comparison with, in front of, etc.

2.7.2 Semantic Characteristics on Prepositions

Patrick Saint-Dizier (2006:2) states that “Prepositions can be viewed as a semanticrelation between a structure that precedes it (e.g a verb) and another one thatfollows it (e.g an Noun phrase) This relation can be represented as a conceptualrelation.”

Prepositions are used to express a wide range of semantic relations between theircomplement and the rest of the context It can be said that most prepositions arehighly polysemous By semantic classification, prepositions can be named of:

- Spatial relations: location (inclusion, exclusion, proximity), direction (origin, path,

end point): in, on, at, into, onto, along, under, through, above, over, across …

- Temporal relations: at, in, after, before, for, during, since ….

- Recipient, goal, target: for, to, at

- Support, opposition: for, with, against ….

- Agent: by, with…

- Instrument, means, manner: in, by, with, according to…

- Cause, purpose: for, because of, since ….

- Reference: with regard to, as to, as for ….

Priska-Monika Hotteroh (1993:179) presents three basic problems for the semantics

of prepositions as follows:

(1) Prepositions offer a considerable variability of context-dependent interpretation

It means that the individual preposition can express a wide range of relations

(2) There is a very close semantic interaction between the preposition and itslinguistic context, especially between the preposition and its argument For instance,

we cannot think of the meaning of a spatial preposition without bearing in mindsome place or thing The meaning of a preposition cannot be conceived withoutreference to the internal argument

(3) One and the same spatial situation can be viewed from different perspectives, or

in other words, it can be conceptualized in different ways Different mentalstructures can be created to interpret an extra linguistic scene and correspondingly,

in a number of cases different preposition can be used to refer to one and the sameextra linguistic situation

For example: something in / on the mirror

Some one in / on the island Something in / on the tree Some one in / on (the) bed

2.8 THE SPATIAL PREPOSITIONS “AT, ON, IN”

“AT, ON, IN” are the basic and most general SPATIAL prepositions They usuallyappear with static verbs to form “state” prepositional phrases.

Indifferent (Point) X AT

Area or Volume Interior

The following relationships are illustrated in the Figure 2.1

(i) An object can be related to a point, positioned at this point

(ii) An object can be related to an enclosed area (a two-dimensional area or dimensional volume) being positioned in it

three-(iii) An object can be related to a line or a surface, supported by or attached on it

AT as the most “neutral” place preposition, denotes place as a point of orientation,disregarding its physical shape For instances, “at the station” in Langacker’strajector and landmark view point, the station is taken as an orientation point forsome trajectory, but does not denote whether it is near or far, inside or on top of thestation (René Dirven, 1993:74)

According to Close (1977:147), AT is used to express the idea of a stationaryrelationship with an unspecified dimension

AT extends from an orientation point in space to one in time, further into state, area,etc, as illustrated below:

(a) Point as place: at the station

(b) time-point: at 9 o’clock

(c) State: at work/ rest/ war / lunch

(d) Area: (good/ bad/ an expert) at English

(e) Manner: at low speed

(f) Circumstances: at these words

(g) Causes: laugh at, aim at …

With AT, all the prepositional predicates denote a more or less clearly delimited and

“active” state, the subject is usually human and engages in some form of organizedactivity

IN conceptualizes space as an enclosure or volume, denotes the enclosure of thetrajector in the landmark, therefore views the landmark as two or three-dimensionalspace This basic characteristic pervades all its extension:

(a) Enclosure space: in London

(b) Time: in spring, in 1998

(c) State: in love / sorrow / fun / peace

(d) Area: specialize in English Methodology, rich in generosity …

(e) Manner / means: write in pink, in agreement …

(f) Circumstances: in silence, in the dark …

(g) Cause/ reason: in delight, in triumph …

ON denotes physical contact between trajector and landmark (the trajector issupported by or attached to the landmark) It is used in reference to a line (one-dimensional space) e.g “ON the way” or a two-dimensional area e.g “ON thefarm”, also “On the bus” (horizontal) and “ON the TV (vertical) (Close, 1977:156)

ON can have the following extensions:

(a) Contact with line/surface: on the floor

(b) Period of time: on Sunday

(c) State: on display / show / sale / hire / duty / trial

(d) Topic or area: lecture on history / a report on development / concentrate on thelesson …

(e) Manner/means: diet on bananas, go on foot

(f) Circumstances: on arrival, on my return, on the condition that …

(g) Cause/ reason: congratulate some one on his performance

ON is more concrete than AT and IN since it has the notion of “physical contact” Itdenotes “passive” states: things are or can be displayed, shown, sold, hired, etc.Within this thesis, we concentrate ONLY on the spatial and temporal usage of theprepositions AT, ON, IN

2.8.1 Usage of “AT”

Pattern 1: at + the + place within a city or town

 The women are at the supermarket.

Nouns commonly used with this pattern:

Apartment, bus stop, factory, hospital, hotel, house, mall, office, park, parking lot, restaurant, cinema, theater, school, station, store, university etc

Pattern 2: at + an address

 She lives at 3756 Oxford Street.

Pattern 3: at + the + place within another place

 He was waiting in the room at the door.

 She likes to sit in her apartment at the window watching the street.

Nouns commonly used with this pattern: counter, desk, table, window etc

Pattern 4: at + the + back, bottom, end, front, and top + of (different parts of a place)

 Mrs Castle was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

 They escaped by a window at the back of the house.

 I saw a taxi at the end of the street.

Pattern 5: at + a place or meal of regular attendance

 The children are at school.

 You shouldn’t watch TV at dinner.

Nouns used with this pattern are: church, class, home, practice, school, work, breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Pattern 6: at + noun of event

 They are at the movies.

 She was at a party when I called.

Nouns commonly used with this pattern are:

Celebration, concert, conference, dance, debate, dinner, forum, function, funeral, game, lecture, meeting, movies, parade, party, play, program, reunion, show, wedding etc

2.8.2 Usage of “IN”

Pattern 1: in + names of countries, continents

 I usually work in England but sometimes I work abroad.

Pattern 2:  in + names of towns, villages, cities

 I’ve been teaching at a college in London.

 She lives in Mendoza with her family.

Pattern 3:   in + named places:

 The royal lives in Buckingham Palace.

Pattern 4:  in + streets, roads, avenues:

Moniuszki, Fish Street etc e.g in Stratford Avenue

Pattern 5: in + the + rooms / an area of a room; buildings:

 They were sitting having dinner in the restaurant.

Pattern 6: in + containers

 She kept the cards in a little box

Pattern 7: in + a/the + types of transport (the vehicle one cannot walk around): Car,van, lorry, aeroplane, boat etc

 I’m sitting in a taxi waiting for him.

Pattern 8: in + parts of the body (a bodily attack): his foot, her leg, our heads etc

 Mr John has a problem in his left leg.

Pattern 9: In + the south/north/east/ west

 In the south of China they eat rice, but in the north they eat noodles.

 In North America, Australia, and Europe there are two or more courses to

every meal.

2.8.3 “AT” and “IN” in comparison

(1) IN emphasizes the places as enclosed spaces, whereas AT relates the places topeople’s activities or events Let us examine the examples as follow:

 I had a hard day at the office (the office as a working

place)

 I left my coat behind in the office (the office is considered as a building)

 There’s a good film at the cinema (the cinema as a public place for seeing

films)

 It was very cold in the cinema (the cinema as a building.)

 Where are you? – We are at the supermarket (the activity of shopping)

 There were a lot of people in the supermarket when the fire went up (the

supermarket as a building)

 I was at Tom’s house last night

 The rooms in Mary’s house are luxurious.

(2) AT is used to give the house number; IN is used with the name of the streetwhen talking about addresses

 They used to live at 5, Weston Road.

 She got a job in Oxford Street.

However, American English uses ‘on’: ‘He lived on Penn Street.’

(3) AT is used to show where something happens, for instances, with meetingplaces or points on a map)

 My plane stopped at Dubai and Hanoi.

 The meeting took place at the company’s headquarters.

(4) The other differences between AT and IN are shown in the table 2 1

At school / at university (attending school) in the school (building)

At church (attending church service) in hospital (patient) / in prison

(prisoner)

at the seaside / at sea in the river / the lake / the sea / the

ocean

at the top of the page / of + N

at the end of the road

at the corner of the street in the corner of the room

at the front / at the back of a building, hall,

group of people In the front / the back of a car

Table 2.1: Usage of AT and IN in comparison (source: http// englishclub.com)

For example:

 Joanne’s front door is at the top of the plane’s steps.

 Two hours later, a police car stopped at her house.

 When I arrived in Berlin, many people were attacking the wall with stones.

2.8.4 Usage of “ON”

Pattern 1: on + a/the + surface of a place or object

 There was a “no smoking” sign on the wall

Nouns commonly used with this pattern are: shelf, wall, floor, ceiling, door, table, menu, cover, page …

Pattern 2: on + the directions: left/right/other side/nearside/far side: e.g on the left

 Go down Third street and you’ll see the General Hospital on the left.

 Pattern 3: on + levels of a building: first floor, second floor, top floor etc

 The headquarter is on the top floor.

Pattern 4: on + parts of the body: his foot, her leg, our heads

 Look! There something on your head.

 Pattern 5: on + a/the + types of transport (vehicles one can walk around)

 Joanne Ussery, 54, from Mississippi is a big favorite with her two grandsons because she lives on a jet plane.

On + individual vehicle: horse, bicycle, train, foot etc e.g on the ferry, on a horse

2.8.5 “IN” and “ON” in comparison

(1) Both ON and IN can be used for types of transport and parts of the body:

For example:

Peter travelled to London on the train – type

John sat in the last carriage of the London train – position

Joanna has a cut on her left arm – part of the body

Annie has broken a bone in her wrist – position in the body

(2) The contrast between ON and IN has various implications due to context, asthese examples show:

IN/ ON the window/mirror:

There is a hair on the mirror / I look at my new hair cut in the mirror.

IN / ON the island:

We caught some fish, and then landed on one of the islands.

She was born in Phu Quoc Island.

IN / ON the wall

I keep the photo of my grandparents on the wall in my living room.

The man shot, and a hole appeared in the wall.

IN / ON the tree

Red apples hang on tree.

Birds are singing in the trees.

IN / ON the bed

I like having my breakfast on the bed on Sunday mornings.

She stayed in bed for weeks because she was ill.

IN / ON the river:

London is on the river Thames

Look at the girl swimming in the river

(3) Some other differences between IN and ON are shown in the table 2 2

in a car / in a taxi on a bus / on a train

In the north, south, east, west On the side/ left, right/north etc side

in the newspaper/ story on the radio, on television

in the sky, the river, the water, the

in Oxford Street/ in the street on the way (enroute)

In the corner (of the room) On the corner (of two streets)

In the front/ back (of the car) On the front/ back (of a piece of paper)

Table 2.2: Usage of IN and ON in comparison

(source: http// englishclub.com)

For examples:

 The author’s name is on the cover of the book.

 There are no prices on this menu.

 You are standing on my foot

 I live on the 7 th floor at 21 Oxford Street in London.

2.9 “AT, ON, IN” as THE TEMPORAL PREPOSITIONS

According to cognitive linguists, prototypical knowledge is embodied in ourphysical, everyday experiences and then mapped onto target domains that aretypically abstract Therefore, concept of space maps onto concept of time

According to Tyler (2005), the spatial and temporal uses are closely connected in

meaning and they share the abstracted meaning features of point/target, coverage/contact, and containment/enclosure.

Let us examine the example: “Bill arrived on Friday in the afternoon at 5 o’clock”.

The preposition AT in its temporal use specifies a point in time in the same way thatspatial AT specifies a point in space The preciseness and zero-dimensional havebeen mapped from the spatial usage onto the temporal usage

AT is regarded as a precise point on the timeline, especially when they refer toclock time Therefore, the event can only be a punctual event

The preposition ON mainly specifies days We have: on my birthday, New Year’s Day, Christmas day The day in English is regarded as prototypical time unit that

expresses a stretch of time since our routines activities are mainly organized arounddays In other words, ON describes contact of the activities with the most prominentunit of time or days, as well as spatial ON describes contact of a trajectory with alandmark

IN selects unit larger than days such as weeks, months, years, centuries, etc andunits smaller than a day like mornings, afternoon, hours, minutes, seconds, etc All

of these bounded units are thought as time spans Time spans are conceptualized as

a container which has boundaries that enclose certain events

The usage of AT, ON, IN are illustrated in the table 2.3

PRECISE

TIME

LONGER/SHORTER TIME

at 3 o’clock in the morning/ afternoon/

evening (s)

on Sunday morning/ evening (s)

on summer evenings

at noon in (the) summer/ winter on 6 March

at dinnertime/

at sunrise in the next century on Independence Day

at sunset in the Ice Age on my birthday/ holidays

at the moment in the past/future on New Year’s Eve

Table 2.3: Usage of temporal AT-IN - ON in comparison

(source: http// englishclub.com)

For examples:

 They went to bed at 11.00 last night.

 The shop closes at midnight.

 The kids went home at dinnertime.

 In the evenings Don and I usually relax but sometimes we visit friends.

 There’s the living room with four emergency exit doors, which she opens on

summer evenings.

 In Vietnam, it often rains in August and September.

 Do you think men will be househusband in the future?

 There should be a lot of progress in the next century.

 Bill Clinton has a lot of problems in his last years in the White House.

 She always gets home late on Saturdays.

 His birthday is on 31 st March.

 What will you do on New Year’s Day?

 She is chatting with some friends at the moment.

The use of the preposition AT can be seen in the standard expressions in table 2.4:

at night The stars shine at night.

At the weekend I don’t usually work at the weekend.

At Christmas/Easter I stay with my family at Christmas.

At the same time We finished the test at the same time.

At present He’s not home at present Try later.

At the age of … I could ride a bike at the age of five

Table 2.4: Some expressions of temporal AT (source: http// englishclub.com)

Prepositions of time are absent from adjuncts having the deictic last, next, every, this, that; and nouns having “last, next, this” as an element of their meaning:

yesterday/ today/ tomorrow (Quirk, 1976:155)

 She went to Singapore last July (not in last July)

 They are coming back next Thursday (not on next Thursday)

 People go home every Easter (not at every Easter)

 They’ll have a party this evening (not in this evening)

2.10 Spatial and Temporal Prepositions in Vietnamese

Although the English and Vietnamese may have similar experiences of time andspace, the ways that the two languages encode these relationships vary significantly.Traditional and cultural aspects characterize Vietnamese language, especially theprepositions used to denote spatial and temporal relationship

2.10.1 Spatial Prepositions

The preposition “Ở”/ “Taị” is most frequency used to indicate location and place It

is equivalent to English preposition AT

For example:

 They had met at the table d’hôte of an English Street “Delmonico’s”

o Họ gặp nhau tại quán cơm bình dân trên đường Số Tám.

 The Beatles first played at a night club called the Cavern and then travelled the world.

o Ban nhạc Beatles ban đầu chơi tại hộp đêm Cavern, sau đó mới lưu diễn quanh thế giới.

 When Hannah and her friends left, the DJ was waiting at the door.

o Khi Hannah và bạn bè về, người chơi nhạc đã đứng ở cửa.

“Ở” / “Tại” also take the same meaning as Preposition IN

 In a little district west of Washington Square the streets have run crazy and

broken themselves into small strips called "places."

o Tại một quận nhỏ nằm về hướng tây quảng trường Washington,

đường sá chạy rối loạn, quanh co, tròng tréo nhau tạo thành nhiều khu nhỏ, thường được gọi là những "cái ổ"

 The National September 11 Memorial opens to the public in New York City,

more than a decade after the twin towers of the World Trade Center were taken down by terrorists.

o Đài Tưởng niệm quốc gia ngày 11 tháng 9 ở thành phố New York đã

mở cửa cho công chúng vào thăm, hơn 10 năm sau ngày Tòa Tháp đôi của Trung tâm Thương mại bị bọn khủng bố đánh sập.

 Không khí lạnh sẽ gây mưa tại miền Bắc

IN is equivalent to “Trong” when the reference has clear shapes and contours as in

English (in the house = 3 dimension)

Preposition ON has an equivalent in Vietnamese as “Trên” For example:

 New Orleans stands on the banks of the Mississippi River.

o Thành phố New Orleans nằm trên đôi bờ dòng Mississippi