Teaching Grammar

1. Teaching Grammar Article Usage Eunju Rose Helen David

2. Conventional View on Articles • Indefinite article: with singular countable nouns • -a: with consonant sounds ex) a box, a university • -an: with vowel sounds ex) an apple, an hour • Definite article: a unique referent • ex) the box, the boxes, the information • Zero article • -with non-countable nouns • Substance ex) water, beer • Abstract concepts ex) love, happiness, money • -with proper nouns ex) Tom, Korea • -with plural nouns ex) boxes, classes

3. What is wrong with this view on the Indefinite and Zero article? • The same noun could be used as countable or non-countable ex) There is an apple. She fed the baby a teaspoon of apple. Countability is not a fixed property of English nouns. Instead, it could be changed according to how it is used.

4. What are Countable Contexts? Individuation -The process of classifying as a single unit • The characteristics of an individual unit • -clear boundaries • -no part equals the whole • -often treated as concrete Of course, individual units are countable while non-individual units are non-countable.

5. How do we use this concept? • An individual unit receives the indefinite article while a non-individual unit gets nothing • Notice that the same word could be used as individual or non-individual unit in different contexts ex) Coffee, please. A coffee, please.

6. Activity 1: Shopping List Countability and Individuation

7. Shopping List • Objective: Raise awareness of countability • Activity type: pairwork • Time: approx. 15~20 minutes • Materials: worksheets • Learner Profile: • -Intermediate-low • listening: low intermediate • speaking: novice high • reading: low intermediate • writing: novice high • -middle school 1st or 2nd graders • Grammar points: count and non-count nouns containers (food)

8. Procedure • Activate students’ schema about grocery shoppingex) Have you gone grocery shopping? How many times do you go grocery shopping in a week? • Work together as a pair. Look at the shopping list. • Ask each other about the shopping list.ex) What do you need to buy? • Hand out the worksheet. Find out the differences between mother’s shopping list and what her son bought. • Fill out the blanks with proper nouns. • Evaluate whether the son is a good shopper or not. • Have students make their own shopping lists using containers.

9. One day a mother asked her son to do the weekly grocery shopping, instead. She gave him a list of things to buy for the three of them. • Fill in the blanks what he bought. • He bought : • 7 _________ / 7 cartons of _______ • ________ / a dozen of _______ • 9 ________ / 9 blocks of _______ • 3 ________ / 3 jars of ________ • 7 ________ / 7 cartons of ________ • 8 ________ / 8 boxes of ________ • 5 ________ / 5 heads of ________ • 4 ________ / 4 bottles of ________ • 2 ________ • 7 ________ • 3 ________ • If you were his mom, would you let him do the shopping again? • Why? Why not? Then, write down your own shopping list using • container

10. What is wrong with the conventional view on the Definite article? There are some uses of the definite article where a unique referent does not exist ex) He likes to read the newspaper in the morning. He likes to read a newspaper in a morning.

11. When do we use a/an or the? The concepts of classifying and identifying • Classifying: process by which we name a thing or things as belonging to a class of objects • Identifying: process by which we distinguish a thing or things from the same class of objects

12. How do we use these concepts? Use the indefinite article for classifying and the definite article for identifying ex) What’s making that noise? a. It’s probably a dog outside. b. It’s probably the dog outside.

13. Classifying and Identifying Functions of Articles

14. Activity 2: Matching Game Objects shared experience

15. vacuum the floor do the dishes make the bed mop the floor do the grocery shopping rake the leaves feed the dog do the laundry mow the lawn take out the trash sweep the floor dust the furniture clean the windows wash the dog water the grass

17. Meanings in Context • Classifying • NEW INFORMATION (first mention) a. An accident occurred yesterday. b. I spotted a cat in a tree. • Identifying • GIVEN INFORMATION subsequent) a. The accident involved a truck, bus, and a duck. b. The cat jumped off and lunged at me.

18. Activity 3: Fill in the Blanks

19. Activity 4: Reordering

20. Does classifying occur before identifying? • Generally, yes (classify then identify) • a. There was a news report about a man and a dog. • What’s weird is that the man bit the dog. • But not always (identify then classify) • A: Wait out there, I need to set the trap. • B: Wha? • A: Oh, sorry. I’ve got a giant rat in my house and I need • to set a trap to catch it.

21. New as Old: Inferring • Under assumptions of shared background knowledge, new information is treated as given a. I noticed a brand new bicycle just lying there. b. The handle and the tires fell off when I tried to pick it up.

22. Perspective a. As I was walking home, I spotted a cat in a tree. b. The cat jumped off and lunged at me. c. It ran away after the attack. d. So I chased after the little ankle biter and I ran into an exhausted-looking man. e. I asked the man, “Did you see a cat run by?” f. And he said, “No, but did you see a dog run by?

23. Already Given: uses of ‘the’ • ANAPHORIC: refer back a. There was a mouse and a cat in the yard, but ironically, the little rodent was chasing the feline. • CATAPHORIC: forward a. The fuming squirrel with the bloody hatchet lurched towards the napping man.

24. Too Obvious to Mention • Zero article for “the clearest cases of given information” “Dispense into palm and rub hands together. Apply shampoo to wet hair, massaging scalp with fingertips. Work lather through to ends. Rinse thoroughly and repeat if desired.” http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=94

25. Activity 5: Recipes

26. How to make kimchi fried rice 1. Chop kimchi, onion, ham, and mix. 2. In large pan, heat oil and fry prepared ingredients. 3. Add cooked rice. 4. Add salt and pepper. 5. Remove onto plate. 6. Fry eggs in pan. 7. Place eggs on fried rice and serve.

27. New indefinite article • ‘this’ highlights a particular entity • as the main focus of attention a. So there’s this guy at work... b. Chris knew this girl back home... c. Out of nowhere this thing jumps out...

28. "There was this one time, at band camp..." http://www.dontquoteme.com/search/quote_display.jsp?quoteID=7190&gameID=1