SKKN Typical forms of reduced relative clauses and types of applied exercises in english at the upper Secondary level of education Teaching Experience Initiative School year 2015 2016 Le Thi Lan Anh M[.]
Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 “Typical Forms of Reduced Relative Clauses and Types of Applied Exercises in English at the Upper-secondary Level of Education” ☼☼☼☼☼☼ PART I: INTRODUCTION I Rationale for selecting the topic of the study: 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 multiple clauses Clauses in English are divided into two major types, main clauses and subordinate ones As it can be seen, there are a variety of subordinate clauses Among these subordinate clauses are adjective clauses, also called relative clauses The module of Relative Clauses is an important content constantly appearing in a number of units in the English textbooks in upper-secondary education One of the most important part related to this content is probably the very diversity of forms of reduced relative clauses which is considered as the most confusing to learners A variety of forms of reduced relative clauses, in fact, are frequently used in everyday communications, in written English, as well as tested in students’ tests and examinations With my own practical teaching in the recent years, I notice that in order to avoid misunderstanding others in communications and getting into big troubles in tests and examinations related to the phenomena of relative clause reduction, students are required to have a thorough knowledge of all the aspects of the relative clauses such as relative pronouns and adverbs, different types of relative clauses, distinctive features of each type that are important determinants of the way how a relative clause is reduced, etc… Although much attention has recently been paid to learning English, Mai Anh Tuan high school students’ knowledge of English, in general, is rather limited, even some of them have a lack of the basic knowledge Thus, studying the reduction of relative clauses and solving exercises or questions related to this grammatical knowledge seem to be a big challenge that may make the students extremely confused and nervous Moreover, the English textbooks at high school only introduce the topics without any detailed explanation or instruction, it is undoubtedly difficult for students to study, understand clearly and thoroughly, and memorize the lessons just by mechanically following some examples given in the textbook What is more, in the textbooks, applied exercises focus on only some basic forms of reduced relative clauses while there is actually a wide range of other forms also commonly used It will be better if students know and use them correctly and flexibly The facts mentioned above have constantly encouraged me to find out a solution to better the situation, which leads to my decision to select the topic “Typical Forms of Reduced Relative Clauses and Types of Applied Exercises in English at the Uppersecondary Level of Education” to study more thoroughly in my teaching experience initiative Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 II Purposes of the study: This study has been conducted with a strong desire that I can help my students be aware of the importance of forms of reduced relative clauses in everyday communications, in written English, as well as in their tests and examinations On that basis, they will gradually be able to raise their awareness of practicing and improving their skills in solving relevant exercises and questions Besides, I would like to provide the students with a detailed and logical system of adequate theoretical contents and typical skills related to this topic for them to learn, use and apply in practice rapidly and productively Furthermore, through this experience initiative, I hope to contribute some of my personal ideas on issues of forms of reduced relative clauses to teaching experience sources for my teacher colleagues to use as a reference in the English teaching process III Objects of the study: In this teaching experience initiative, researching a system of theoretical points and practical skills related to forms of reduced relative clauses, and supplementary exercises based on these points and skills for further practice has been specially focused on IV Scope of the study: The topic was studied in the English programme for high school students at Mai Anh Tuan High School in the school-year 2015-2016, and through English tests, examinations of all kinds at Mai Anh Tuan High School and other schools in Thanh Hoa province as well as other provinces all over the country in the recent years V Bases of the study: The experience initiative has been studied based on my own practical teaching experiences, referring to documents related to the researched topic, observing other teachers’ lessons, and consulting my colleagues PART II: DEVELOPMENT To use typical forms reduced relative clauses correctly and flexibly, firstly, it is necessary for students to understand what a relative clause is, what type of relative clauses it is, what distinctive features each type of relative clauses has, and how to use relative pronouns and adverbs A Relative Clauses Overview: I Relative Clause Definition: A relative clause, also known as an adjective clause, is a subordinate clause that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase and is introduced by a relative pronoun (who, whom, which, that, whose), a relative adverb (when, where, why), or a zero relative pronoun (a relative in which the relative is omitted) Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 A relative clause follows the noun (phrase) it modifies, and can come both at the end and in the middle of the sentence, and often follows one of these common patterns: Relative pronoun/adverb + Subject + Verb +… Relative pronoun (as subject) + Verb +… Ex: This is the man who lives near my house (extracted from Oxford.edu.vn) Here is the laptop (which) I bought years ago (extracted from Oxford.edu.vn) II Types of relative clauses: Relative clauses are classified depending on their relationship with the nouns or noun phrases they modify They are traditionally divided into two types: defining relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses Defining relative clauses: A defining relative clause is a subordinate one that identifies or categorizes its noun (phrase) That means it tells us about the specific person or thing we are talking about in a larger group of people or things If a defining relative clause is removed from the sentence, the meaning of the sentence changes significantly This clause is not separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma or commas In a defining relative clause, a relative pronoun functioning as an object can be omitted if it does not come right after a preposition Ex: The doctor who helped me while I was in sick was very kind The girl (that) I met in Paris has already been engaged Non-defining relative clauses: A non-defining relative clause a subordinate clause that is used to give additional information about the noun or noun phrase but not to identify it or to create categories That means it provide us with more information about the person or thing we are talking about If a non-defining relative clause is removed from the sentence, we lose some details, but the overall meaning of the sentence remains the same Non-defining relative clauses are always set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma or commas In non-defining relative clauses, a relative pronoun functioning as an object cannot be omitted Non-defining relative clauses often follow such antecedents as below: a proper nouns: Ex: Mrs Beckett, who is a detective, is working for NYPD b nouns or noun phrases modified by possessive adjectives: my, your, her, his,… Ex: My mother, who is a farmer, has lived on her farm for all her life c nouns or noun phrases modified by demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these those Ex: That film star, whom I met at the news conference, has just won a big cinema prize Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 d nouns or noun phrases modified by possessive cases Ex: Mary’s cat, which she loves very much, is very clever and lovely e nouns or noun phrases modified by adjective phrases Ex: The woman in white, who came to meet you, is my aunt III Common Relative Pronouns and Adverbs Overview: Relative Pronouns & Adverbs Who Whom Antecedent modified Person/People Person/People Which Thing(s) Functions Prepositions Types of Relative Clauses applicable Subject cannot come before “who” Defining and Non-defining Object can come before “whom” Defining and Non-defining Subject cannot come before “which” Object can come before “which” Object (informal) Subject That Person/People and thing(s) Whose Person/People and things When Where Why Le Thi Lan Anh Defining and Non-defining Defining Object cannot come before “that” Replacing possessive adjectives/cases can come before “whose” Defining and Non-defining Time Replacing adverbs of time cannot come before “when” Defining and Non-defining Place(s) Replacing adverbs of place cannot come before “where” Defining and Non-defining Replacing the phrase “for the reason(s)” cannot come before “why” Reason(s) Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Defining Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 B Typical Forms of Relative Clauses: Generally, relative clauses are widely used in both spoken and written English to make sentences become clear in meaning and easy to understand Relative clauses can be spoken or written in the reduced forms However, not all relative clauses can be reduced The reduction of relative clauses can only be applied to subject relative clauses not object relative clauses A subjective relative clause is a relative clause with the relative pronoun serving the function of the subject Although it is not possible to omit the relative pronoun in the subject relative clauses, we can, if we want, omit an even larger piece of the relative clause and still retain a grammatically acceptable sentence In fact, there are a variety of ways to reduce the subject relative clauses Below are typical forms of relative clauses, and necessary steps to practise the reduction effectively and accurately in certain situations I Reduced relative clauses in the form of nouns or noun phrases: When a non-defining relative clause is in the form that follows, it can be reduced to a noun or noun phrase …who/which + be/ linking V + N(Phr)… = …N(Phr)… Practical steps of reduction: Step 1: Identify the relative clause starting with a relative pronoun “who/which” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which” from the relative clause Step 3: Leave out the verb “be” or the linking verb from the relative clause Ex: Full Sentence: Lee Davis, who is a business teacher, wrote this book Step 1: The relative clause is “who is a business teacher” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun-“who is a business teacher” Step 3: Leave out the verb “be”-“is a business teacher” Reduced Sentence: Lee Davis, a business teacher, wrote this book II Reduced relative clauses in the form of preposition phrases: A relative clause in the form that follows can be reduced to a preposition phrase … who/which/that + be + Prep.Phr = …Prep.Phr Practical steps of reduction: Step 1: Identify the relative clause starting with a relative pronoun “who/which/that” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which/that” from the relative clause Step 3: Leave out the verb “be” from the relative clause Ex: Full Sentence: Please pass me the document that is on the desk Step 1: The relative clause is “that is on the desk” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun-“that is on the desk” Step 3: Leave out the verb “be”-“is on the desk” Reduced Sentence: Please pass me the document on the desk Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 III Reduced relative clauses in the form of adjectives or adjective phrases: Reducing a relative clause to an adjective (phrase) is quite confusing because it is rather complicated and depends on a number of certain factors Here are some typical forms of reduction commonly used Form 1: A reduced relative clause in the form of an adjective (phrase), standing right after its antecedent A relative clause reduced to an adjective (phrase), standing right after its antecedent if: its antecedent is an infinite pronoun: something, someone, anyone,… its antecedent is a proper noun: Sue, David, James… it is a non-definite relative clause with at least two adjectives it is a relative clause with the adjective phrase that is in a complicated form (containing a noun/noun phrase ), or modifies the be verb in the negative form … who/which/that + be + Adj (Phr) … = … Adj (Phr) … Practical steps of reduction: Step 1: Identify the relative clause starting with a relative pronoun “who/which/that”, paying attention to its antecedent, the type of this clause, and the form of the adjective phrase Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which/that” from the relative clause Step 3: Leave out the verb “be” from the relative clause Ex: Full Sentences: I know there is something that is wrong with you My grandmother, who is old and sick, never goes out of the house Small distinctions among stamps, which are unimportant to the average person, would mean a great deal to the stamp collector Step 1: The relative clause: “that is wrong with you”, after the antecedent “something” “who is old and sick”, there are two adjectives “old and sick” “which are unimportant to the average person”, the adjective phrase contains a noun phrase “the average person” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun: “that is wrong with you” “who is old and sick” “which are unimportant to the average person” Step 3: Leave out the verb “be”: “is wrong with you” “is old and sick” “are unimportant to the average person” Reduced Sentences: I know there is something wrong with you My grandmother, old and sick, never goes out of the house Small distinctions among stamps, unimportant to the average Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 person, would mean a great deal to the stamp collector Form 2: A reduced relative clause in the form of an adjective (phrase), standing right before the noun it modifies A relative clause reduced to an adjective (phrase), standing right before the noun it modifies if it is a non-defining relative clause with only one single adjective, or a defining relative clause with one or more than one single adjectives …N(,) + who/which/that + be + Adj (Phr)… = … Adj (Phr) + N… Practical steps of reduction: Step 1: Identify the subjective relative clause starting with a relative pronoun “who/which/that”, paying attention to whether the relative clause is defining or non-defining, and has one or more than one single adjectives Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which/that” from the relative clause Step 3: Leave out the verb “be” from the relative clause Step 4: Place the adjective or adjective phrase before the noun it modifies Ex: Full Sentences: That lady, who is old, is living in a nursing home Jane has just bought a pair of glasses which is beautiful and fashionable Step 1: The relative clause is: “who is old”, a non-definite relative clause with one single adjective “old” “which is beautiful and fashionable”, a definite relative clause with more than one single adjectives “beautiful and fashionable” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun: “who is old” “which is beautiful and fashionable” Step 3: Leave out the verb “be”: “is old” “is beautiful and fashionable” Step 4: Place the adjective or adjective phrase before the noun it modifies old lady beautiful and fashionable glasses Reduced Sentences: That old lady is living in a nursing home Jane has just bought a pair of beautiful and fashionable glasses IV Reduced relative clauses in the form of compound adjectives: Sometimes, learners not pay much attention to this type of reduction, however, it is very common in both spoken and written English that a relative clause can be reduced to a compound adjective and placed in front of the antecedent noun …N1 (,) + who/which/that + be/have/last/… + Cardinal + N2… = …Cardinal-N2(sing) + N1 Practical steps of reduction: Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 Step 1: Identify the relative clause starting with a relative pronoun “who/which/that”, and containing a phrase formed from a cardinal and a noun Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which/that” from the relative clause Step 3: Leave out the verb “be/have/last/…” from the relative clause Step 4: Form the compound adjective from a cardinal and a noun in the relative clause by placing a hyphen between them, the noun must be in the singular form Step 5: Place the compound adjective in front of the antecedent noun Ex: Full Sentence: They have a house which has five rooms Step 1: The relative clause is “which has twenty rooms” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun-“which has five rooms” Step 3: Leave out the verb-“has five rooms” Step 4: Form the compound adjective-“ five-room” Step 5: Place the compound adjective before the antecedent noun-“ five-room house” Reduced Sentence: They have a five-room house V Reduced relative clauses in the form of paraphrases: It is also common in English that a reduced relative clause can be in the form of a paraphrase, a statement that expresses something that somebody has written or said using different words, especially in order to make it easier to understand When the verb “have” meaning possession, we can omit relative pronoun and “have” and use with(+) or without(-) … who/which/that + have(+/-) + N(Phr)… = …with/ without + N(Phr)… Practical steps of reduction: Step 1: Identify the relative clause in the form “…who/which/that + have(+/-) + N(Phr)” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which/that” from the relative clause Step 3: Leave out the verb “have(+/-)” from the relative clause Step 4: Use “with/without” in front of the noun/noun phrase of the relative clause “With” is used for the affirmative form of the verb “have”, and “without” for the negative Ex: Full Sentences: The man likes bikes which has new wheels and tires He puts new tires on bikes which don’t have good tires Step 1: The relative clause is: “which has new wheels and tires” “which don’t have good tires” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun: “which has new wheels and tires” “which don’t have good tires” Step 3: Leave out the verb “have(+/-)”: “has new wheels and tires” “don’t have good tires” Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 Step 4: Use “with/without” in front of the noun/noun phrase where it is suitable with new wheels and tires (affirmative) without good tires (negative) Reduced Sentences: The man likes bikes with new wheels and tires He puts new tires on bikes without good tires VI Reduced relative clauses in the form of infinitive phrases: This form of reduced relative clause is very familiar to learners due to its frequent appearance, however, mistakes are unavoidable because they fail to recognize the major factors related to and only applicable to this form Relative clauses can be changed to infinitive phrases when they follow the antecedents with ordinal numbers, the phrase “the only”, or the superlative An infinitive phrase can be a reduction of a relative clause when this clause express necessity/duties/ purposes/ permission In this case, the main clause has the verb “have” and the relative clause contains modal verbs such as can, could, must, have to,…; or the sentence usually starts with “Here + be”/ “There + be” A reduced relative clause can be in the form of either active or passive infinitive phrase, which depends on whether the form its main verb is active or passive Reduced relative clauses in the form of active infinitive phrases: …the first/ last/ only/ most/…+ N + who/which/that + V(active)+ … = …the first/ last/ only/ most/…+ N + (for + O) + to Vinf + … Practical steps of reduction: Step 1: Identify the relative clause starting with “who/which/that”, with its main verb in the active form, and either its antecedent standing after the ordinal number/ “the only”/ the superlative, or it expresses necessity/ duties/ purposes /permission Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which/that”, the subject, and the modal verb (if there is a modal verb) If there is a preposition before the relative pronoun, move it to the end of the relative clause before omitting the relative pronoun Step 3: Change the form of the main verb in the relative clause to “to Vinf”, then add the phrase “for + O” in front of “to Vinf” if the subject of the main clause and that of the relative clause are not the same The object following “for” comes from the subject omitted with the modal verb of the relative clause Ex: Full Sentences: Jimmy is the youngest person who takes part in the marathon They need a large yard in which they can dry rice Here are some accounts that you must check Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 Step 1: The relative clause is: “who takes part in…”, standing after its antecedent with the superlative “in which they can dry rice”, expressing necessity, the relative pronoun stands after a preposition “that you must check”, expressing a duty Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun, the subject, and the modal verb; and move the preposition to the end of the relative clause if necessary: “who takes part in the marathon” “which they can dry rice in” “that you must check” Step 3: Change the form of the main verb in the relative to “to Vinf”, put the phrase “for + O” in front of “to Vinf” if necessary: “ to take part in…” “ to dry rice in” “for you to check” Reduced Sentences: Jimmy is the youngest person to take part in the marathon They need a large yard to dry rice in Here are some accounts for you to check Reduced relative clauses in the form of passive infinitive phrases: …the first/ last/ only/ most/…+ N + who/which/that + V(passive)+ … = …the first/ last/ only/ most/…+ N + to be Vpp + … Practical steps of reduction: Step 1: Identify the relative clause starting with “who/which/that”, with its main verb in the passive form, and either its antecedent standing after the ordinal number/ “the only”/the superlative, or it expresses necessity/ duties/ purposes/ permission Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which/that” from the relative clause Step 3: Change the form of the passive verb in the relative clause to “to be Vpp”, then put the rest part of the relative after “to be Vpp” Ex: Full Sentence: That tree was the only one which was blown down in the storm last night Step 1: The relative clause is “which was blown down in the storm last night”, standing after its antecedent with the phrase “the only” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun-“which was blown down in the storm…” Step 3: Change the form of the passive verb in the relative to “to be Vpp”: “ to be blown down in the storm last night” Reduced Sentence: That tree was the only one to be blown down in the storm last night Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 10 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 VII Reduced relative clauses in the form of present participle phrases: A relative clause with the active form of the main verb can be reduced to a present participle phrase in cases that follow: - its main verb is in a progressive tense - its main verb expresses a permanent situation, long action or frequent event - its main verb expresses a wish/ hope/desire… … who/which/that + V(active) +… = …V-ing Phr… Practical steps of reduction: Step 1: Identify the relative clause starting with a relative pronoun “who/which/that” and containing an active verb in the cases mentioned above Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which/that” from the relative clause Step 3: Change the verb form of the relative clause to “Ving” If the verb is in a progressive tense, only omit the be verb from its form If the verb is in another tense, change its form to its infinitive form, then add “ing” to form “Ving” Ex: Full Sentence: The student who is singing on the stage comes from my school We stood on the bridge which connected the two halves of the city Minh, who wants to get a pay rise, is trying his best to work Step 1: The relative clause with an active verb is: “who is singing on the stage” (present progressive) “which connected the two halves of the city” (permanent situation) “who wants to get a pay rise” (wish) Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun: “who is singing on the stage” “which connected the two halves …” “who wants to get a pay rise” Step 3: Change the verb form of the relative clause to “Ving” “singing on the stage” “connecting the two halves of the city” “wanting to get a pay rise” Reduced Sentence: The student singing on the stage comes from my school We stood on the bridge connecting the two halves of the city Minh, wanting to get a pay rise, is trying his best to work Note: A present participle phrase cannot be used to replace a relative clause expressing a single completed past action In this case, it is better to keep the full relative clause Ex: Full Sentence: The police wanted to interview the people who saw the accident The Reduced Sentence that follows is not correct Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 11 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 The police wanted to interview the people seeing the accident VIII Reduced relative clauses in the form of past participle phrases: A relative clause with the passive form of the main verb can be reduced to a past participle phrase … who/which/that + V(passive) +… = …Vpp Phr… Practical steps of reduction: Step 1: Identify the relative clause starting with a relative pronoun “who/which/that” and containing a passive verb Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun “who/which/that” from the relative clause Step 3: Change the verb form of the relative clause to “Vpp” by omitting the verb “be” and other auxiliary verbs that the relative clause may have Ex: Full Sentence: Two boy who was attacked by a dog was taken to hospital Step 1: The relative clause with an active verb is “who was attacked by a dog” Step 2: Leave out the relative pronoun-“who was attacked by a dog” Step 3: Change the verb form of the relative clause to “Vpp” by omitting the verb “be” - “was attacked” Reduced Sentence: Two boy attacked by a dog was taken to hospital In general, it is rather easy for students to practise doing exercises required to apply a certain form of the relative clause reduction However, mixed exercises related to all the relative clause reduction forms are really a big challenge to them It is advisable that students should try to recognize the distinctive features of each form because these important determinants will help them choose a suitable way to reduce a relative clause C Common Types of Applied Exercises: To help students systematically consolidate and memorize the knowledge of the above forms of reduced relative clauses, practising with different types of applied exercises would probably be one of the best ways The exercises designed on various levels will encourage students gradually to overcome the challenge facing them Below are samples of types of applied exercises Solving exercises and questions related to each certain form of reduced relative clauses may not be a very complicated task, however, mixed ones can hardly be easy for students to get right answers To deal with these complex exercises effectively, they should find out the relative clause in each sentence first, then identify what type of relative clause it is and what significant feature(s) it has to select to apply a suitable form of reduced relative clauses mentioned in Part B I Applied exercises following a certain form of reduced relative clauses Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 12 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 Exercise 1: Reduce the following sentences to nouns or noun phrases Hanoi, which is the capital of Vietnam, is a major trade center in the country I read a book by Mark Twain, who is a famous American author The pyramids, which were the monumental tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs, were constructed more than 4,000 years ago Exercise 2: Reduce the following sentences to preposition phrases My office, which is on the second floor of the building, is very small The path that is at the end of the street leads to the river The people who were in the botanical garden had much pleasure Exercise 3: Reduce the following sentences to adjectives or adjective phrases My teacher of Literature, who is clever, has a sharp tongue Fruit that is fresh tastes better than old, soft, mushy fruit The manager wants to see the architect who is responsible for the project Exercise 4: Reduce the following sentences to compound adjective phrases The students have four short breaks which last minutes Have you ever seen a dog which has six legs? The Soviet cosmonaut who was 27 years old was the first human in space in 1961 Exercise 5: Reduce the following sentences to paraphrases I like the people who have a great sense of humor His wife did not want to live in a house which did not have a private reading room We all praised the collection which has a variety of old stamps Exercise 6: Reduce the following sentences to infinitive phrases We had a river in which we could swim This is the best book which you can read on the long flight (Grade 11 Examination of Quality Survey, Mai Anh Tuan High School, school-year 2015-2016) I was the only one who realized him Exercise 7: Reduce the following sentences to present participle phrases They called a lawyer who lived nearby The man that is wearing a blue jumper is in the garden The woman who wants coffee is over there Exercise 8: Reduce the following sentences to past participle phrases We live in a house which was built by my grandfather The money that was found in the street has been given to charity The robber who was seen by David ran away II Mixed exercises following all the reduced relative clause forms Exercise 9: Reduce the following sentences to phrases I really loved the flowers which were grown in London Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 13 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 The man who had one eye looked at the children angrily He is the only man who can solve this problem Mr Jackson, who is a professor, is travelling in the Mideast this year Exercise 10: Write sentences with full relative clauses using the words/phrases given Then reduce the relative clauses to phrases My/radio/very old/recently/stop/work The clothes/be/leave/behind/be/at/ reception desk Brighton/be/on/south coast/be/popular/holiday/resort I/not/like/people/not/have/sense/responsibility Exercise 11: Reorder the words/phrases given to make sentences with full relative clauses Then reduce the relative clauses to phrases Dr Stanton/,/the university/will come/the president/of/soon/is/here/,/who The/finishes/person/first/be/will/winner/the/who Sue/the/at/stayed/hotel/had/which/swimming/pools/two They/house/the/in/that/was/lived/in/built/1995 Exercise 12: Choose the best sentence that is made from these given words bridge/build/50 years ago/collapse/last storm/./ A The bridge built 50 years ago was collapsed in the last storm B The bridge which built 50 years ago was collapsed in the last storm C The bridge built 50 years ago has collapsed in the last storm D The bridge built 50 years ago collapsed in the last storm (Trial Examination of English, Phan Chau Trinh High School, Da Nang, 2012) Thermometer/something/measure/temperature/./ A The thermometer is something that it measures temperature B The thermometer is something used for measuring temperature C The thermometer is something in which is used for measuring temperature D The thermometer is something can be used for measuring temperature (Trial Examination of English, Thang Long Cultural Center, Hanoi, 2012) Number/factor/relate/voice/reveal/personality/speaker/./ A A number of factors that related to the voice revealed the personality of the speaker B The number of factors related to the voice revealed the personality of the speaker C A number of factors related to the voice reveal the personality of the speaker D A number of factors relating to the voice revealed the personality of the speaker (Trial Examination of English, Le Quy Don, Quang Tri, 2013) Exercise 13: Make one sentence with a reduced relative clause from two sentences given I didn’t talk to the man The man was sitting next to me on the plane There are some words These words are very difficult for us to translate Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 14 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 Art Golding was a famous actor He played the ship’s captain in “Iceberg” The book has just been published It has 500 pages Exercise 14: Decide which can be reduced, then reduce them The company sent me a brochure which contained all the information I needed This is Mr Carter, about whom I have told you The window which was broken in the storm last night has been repaired The accident in which nobody was injured was not very serious Exercise 15: Complete the sentences in PART II with reduced relative clauses by using the information in PART I Use commas if necessary (Practical English Usage, Michael Swan) PART I: It had a green cover He designs houses, buildings or bridges They are made in China It is the highest mountain in the world PART II: Mt Everest _ is in Himalayas Helen picked up the book _ We don’t sell any goods _ An architect is a person _ Exercise 16: The following passage contains 10 unnecessary words Find and write down the words (From English Examination for Grade 12 Gifted Students, Thanh Hoa province, 2015-2016) As you will see from my curriculum vitae, I have attended university, where I studied English and Law After finishing my course, I took a job in a travel agency in Paris and now I organise few hours for people who wanting to go to Australia and the United States Although I enjoyed this very much, I feel I need to get more experience and it would seems to me that working as a specialized tour guide in England would help me for that I would rather work in an English-speaking country, as I need to practise much conversation classes and at first I thought that I would find them difficult However, they turned out to be very enjoyable I will have no any difficulty in coming to England for an interview if you will let me know in plenty of the time I enclose details of my present employer who will be too pleased to send you a reference Exercise 17: Identify one error in each of the following sentences, and correct it My favourite teacher, was Ms July, was always willing to help me after class It is important to be polite to people live in the same building Lady Astor was the first woman taking her seat in Parliament Natural resources provide the raw material are needed to produce finished goods Exercise 18: Choose one underlined part that needs correcting I went to a reunion (A) for students educating (B) in the physics (C) department during (D) the 1980s.(English 11 Exercises, Mai Lan Huong) The 14th Asian (A) Games, holding (B) in Korea in 2002 (C), attracted (D) many participants (Grade 11 Examination of Quality Survey, Mai Anh Tuan High School, 2015-2016) Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 15 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 The stadium (A) is (B) in bad (C) condition needs to be (D) upgraded The first recorded (A) use of natural gas lighting (B) street lamps was (C) in the (D) of Frederick, New York, in 1825 (Grade 12 Trial Test, Thang Long Cultural Centre, Hanoi 2013) Exercise 19: Complete each sentence with a suitable word or phrase in the box arrested the nearest planet a glove maker wanting Mercury, _ to the Sun, is also the smallest of the nine planets orbiting the Sun Any student not _to go on the trip should inform the office Two-thirds of those _ for car theft are under twenty years of age William Shakespeare’s father, _, owned a shop in Stratford-upon-Avon Exercise 20: Complete each sentence with a suitable form of the word in the box interest speak teach grow Rice _ in many countries is staple food throughout much of the world Did you met anyone _at the party last night? Professor Wilson, an excellent , does volunteer work at the hospital for children Andrew, _ Russian, applied for the job Exercise 21: Choose the best option to complete each sentence below for their strong fiber include flax and hemp A Plants are grown B Plants grown C Plants that grown D To grow plants (English Examination for Grade 12 Gifted Students, Thanh Hoa Province, 2015-2016) Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut _ onto the moon A to step B stepping C stepped D steps (Grade 11 Trial Test, Mai Anh Tuan High School, school-year 2015-2016) They are going to make excursion next month A a two-weeks B two-weeks C two weeks’ D a two-week (English Examination for Grade 10 Gifted Students, Mai Anh Tuan High School, 2015-2016) The man the bank is a millionaire (Textbook, English 11) A is entering B entering C to be entered D to enter Exercise 22: Choose the sentence which is closest in meaning to the printed one(s) Einstein, who failed his university entrance exam, discovered relativity A Einstein, failed his university entrance exam, discovered relativity B Einstein, that failed his university entrance exam, discovered relativity C Einstein, failing his university entrance exam, discovered relativity D Einstein, his university entrance exam, discovered relativity We all praised the cake which was baked by my mother A We all praised the cake that was baked by my mother B We all praised the cake was baked by my mother C We all praised the cake baked by my mother D Both A and C are correct Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 16 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 David was the first student who came to class yesterday A David was the first student came to class yesterday B David was the first student coming to class yesterday C David was the first student to come to class yesterday D David was the first student to class yesterday He read The Old Man and the Sea, which is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway A He read The Old Man and the Sea, a novel written by Ernest Hemingway B He read The Old Man and the Sea, is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway C He read The Old Man and the Sea that is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway D He read The Old Man and the Sea, it is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway My grandparents’ lake house was built in 1953 It was completely destroyed by the forest fire A My grandparents’ lake house was built in 1953 and completely destroyed by the forest fire B My grandparents’ lake house, built in 1953, was completely destroyed by the forest fire C My grandparents’ lake house was built in 1953, so it was completely destroyed by the forest fire D The forest fire destroyed my grandparents’ lake house was built in 1953 Exercise 23: Write a new sentence with a full relative clause from each sentence with a reduced relative clause below (inspired from the book “Ôn tập bồi dưỡng học sinh giỏi trung học phổ thông môn Tiếng Anh” by Le Van Canh-Nguyen Quoc Tuan) The people in this village are very poor My aunt, a widow, loves to play badminton The nurses working in this hospital are very kind The wind, blowing strongly a minute ago, has died down Exercise 24: Rewrite each of the following sentences in such a way that it means the same as the sentence printed before it, using the word(s) given A big red car was parked outside the house (parked) There was _ I play with the children who often swim in the river near my house (swimming) I play John’s flat, in the same block as mine, is much larger (which) John’s flat _ We were taking the first train to London that left at 6.00 (to leave) We were Exercise 25: Talk or write about a certain topic, trying to use as many relative clauses or phrases as possible Write about your collection of books/stamps (based on the topic of unit 13- English 11) Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 17 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 Many species are in danger What should be done to protect them? (based on the topic of unit 10- English 12) Write about a sport that you like most (based on the topic of unit 12- English 12) In about 140 words, write a paragraph about the benefits of reading books The following prompts might be helpful to you: - Widening knowledge, - Improving language, - Relaxing (National General Certificate of Secondary Education Examination of English, 2015) In the teaching process, to warm up the learning atmosphere and to avoid the students feeling that lessons are too difficult and complicated, types of the abovementioned exercises are designed in the form of games such as Lucky Numbers, Who will be the Millionaire?, Role-plays, Picture-description, Head and Tail,… Thus, the students seem to learn the lessons at their ease, and acquire knowledge better PART III: CONCLUSION I Study results: In my English teaching process at Mai Anh Tuan High School, I have gradually provided the students a system of knowledge of English and useful suggestions for practice that step by step help them get familiar with and consolidate the theory of the relative reduction as well as improve their practical skills Various goals have been set for different students based on their own levels of English After applying the method to English teaching for some time, I notice that most of the students have had a thorough grasp of basic knowledge and certain skills to solve problems related to the reduction of relative clauses However, it is quite difficult for weak students to understand and to apply these skills in practice because to practise well with these skills, the students must have a wide range of knowledge covering various contents in English Thus, through my lessons, I constantly help the students revise and consolidate the knowledge that they have learnt and improve their practical skills Below are some achieved results of the study after being applied to English teaching and revision in classes 12D and 12K at Mai Anh Tuan High School in the school-year 2015-2016 These results are based on the 10 question tests related to typical forms of relative clauses at different levels of difficulty the students did at different points in time during this school year Test results at the beginning of the school-year 2015-2016: (before applying the initiative) Class 12D No of students 40 Le Thi Lan Anh Number of correct answers to questions related to the reduced relative clause forms-(%) 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 (15%) 11 (27.5%) 11 (27.5%) 10 (25%) (5%) (0%) Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 18 Teaching Experience Initiative 12K 46 15 (10.9%) (32.6%) 12 (26.1%) School-year: 2015-2016 11 (23.9%) (6.5%) (0%) Test results at the end of the 1st semester of the school-year 2015-2016: (after applying the initiative for a semester) Class No of students Number of correct answers to questions related to the reduced relative clause forms-(%) 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 12D 40 (5%) (22.5%) 13 (32.5%) 12 (30%) (10%) (0%) 12K 46 (2.2%) 11 (23.9%) 13 (28.3%) 15 (32.6%) (13%) (0%) Test results in the middle of the 2nd semester of the school-year 2015-2016 (after applying the initiative for a semester and a half) Class Number of correct answers to questions related to the reduced relative clause forms-(%) No of students 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 12D 40 (2.5%) (12.5%) 12 (30%) 16 (40%) (12.5%) (2.5%) 12K 46 (0%) (15.2%) 15 (32.6%) 16 (34.8%) (15.2%) (2.2%) Test results at the end of the 2nd semester of the school-year 2015-2016: (after applying the initiative for the whole school-year) Class No of students Number of correct answers to questions related to the reduced relative clause forms-(%) 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 12D 40 (0%) (5%) 11 (27.5%) 17 (42.5%) (17.5%) (7.5%) 12K 46 (0%) (4.3%) 11 (23.9%) 18 (39.1%) 10 (21.7%) (10.9%) The results mentioned above have indicated that the number of students who have had more correct answers to questions related to the reduced relative clause forms Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 19 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2015-2016 has been gradually increasing through time and the number of students who have had a few correct answers has been declining Although the initial results seem not to be very impressive, I would like to share this teaching experience initiative in the hope that it could help contribute a little to improving the quality of teaching English at the upper secondary education Moreover, I wish that the study would be of some value to both teachers and students in their English teaching and learning process II Suggestions: Obviously, the study still has certain limitations Thus, it would be my pleasure to get as many pieces of contributive advice or suggestions as possible to better and help it become more productive in the English teaching and learning process at high schools in the future I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for all the constructive ideas! Thanh Hoa, June 10th 2016 The author Le Thi Lan Anh Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School SangKienKinhNghiem.net Page 20 ... Defining and Non-defining Time Replacing adverbs of time cannot come before “when” Defining and Non-defining Place(s) Replacing adverbs of place cannot come before “where” Defining and Non-defining... cannot come before “who” Defining and Non-defining Object can come before “whom” Defining and Non-defining Subject cannot come before “which” Object can come before “which” Object (informal) Subject... and thing(s) Whose Person/People and things When Where Why Le Thi Lan Anh Defining and Non-defining Defining Object cannot come before “that” Replacing possessive adjectives/cases can come before