The effect of pair work and group work activities on the reading comprehension skills of weak esp students at saigon technology university

VIETNAMESE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES ***** DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAM IN TESOL ***** THE EFFECT OF PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES ON THE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS OF WEAK ESP STUDENTS AT SAIGON TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY M.A.THESIS IN TESOL SUBMITTED IN A PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF TESOL Submitted by NGUYỄN KHƯƠNG UYỂN Supervisor CHU THỊ LÊ HOÀNG, M.A Ho Chi Minh City, June 2006 VIETNAMESE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES **** DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAM IN TESOL *** THE EFFECT OF PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES ON THE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS OF WEAK ESP STUDENTS AT SAIGON TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY A thesis submitted in a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master TESOL Submitted by NGUYEÃN KHƯƠNG UYỂN Supervisor CHU THỊ LÊ HOÀNG, M.A Ho Chi Minh City, June 2006 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF MASTER’S THESIS I certify my authorship of the Master’s thesis submitted today entitled: “THE EFFECT OF PAIR WORK AND GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES ON THE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS OF WEAK ESP STUDENTS AT SAIGON TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY” In terms of the statement of requirements for thesis in Master’s program issued by the High Degree Committee of Department of English Linguistics and Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University of Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh, June 2006 NGUYỄN KHƯƠNG UYỂN i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Nguyễn Khương Uyển, being a candidate for the Degree of Master of Arts (TESOL), accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s thesis deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my master’s thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis Ho Chi Minh City, June 2006 NGUYỄN KHƯƠNG UYỂN ii ABBREVIATIONS B.S : Bachelor of Science CD : Compact Disc CLT : Communicative Language Teaching CWPT : Class Wide Peer Tutoring EAP : English for Academic Purposes EBE : English for Business and Economics EFL : English as a Foreign Language EOP : English for Occupational Purposes ESL : English as a Second Language ESP : English for Special Purposes EST : English for Science and Technology ESS : English for Social Science HCM : Ho Chi Minh PALS : Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies SLT : Second Language Teaching STU : Saigon Technology University TTT : Teacher Talking Time TESOL : Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages VCD : Video Compact Disc CNTP : Công Nghệ Thực Phẩm iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the process of doing this research, I receive a great deal of a support from a lot of people to whom I would like to acknowledge my debt First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Chu Thi Le Hoang, for her generous assistance and invaluable devotion to guiding me through the preparation and completion of this thesis over a long period of time She has been a source of ideas and support at every stage of development of the study Without her whole-hearted guidance, enthusiastic encouragement and constructive criticism, my achievement would have been impossible I would like to thank the organizers of this master course, the Department of English Linguistic and Literature of University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Saigon Technology University I also indebt to Ms Le Thi Ngoc Phuong, the manager of Educational Training, who provided me with data about the EFL teachers and the students at STU, Mr Luu Trong Tuan, the Chief of Foreign Language Instructors, and all my EFL teaching colleagues and second-year students of Food Technology Department at STU who were kind enough to support and cooperate with me in this study Although their names are not specified here, their cooperation has played the decisive roles in the conducting of the research Finally, I am especially grateful to my family, my dear husband and all of my steady friends for their love, understanding, sympathy and constant encouragement which have been a motivational inspiration to me iv ABSTRACT This study examined the effectiveness of pair and group work activities on weak ESP students’ reading comprehension skills in an ESP course We were particularly interested in assessing how the use of pair and group work activities affected students’ performance and interests in pursuing reading comprehension relating their major We found that the students using pair and group work activities produced better attitude towards English and ESP, were more confident in their learning English, and enjoyed completing the assignments more than non - pair and group working students Moreover, paired and grouped students attended the course regularly than non - pair and group working students, and consequently to pass it Among those who completed the course, paired and grouped students were more likely to get higher scores on the final exam than non - paired and grouped students For pair and group work to succeed it also had to ensure that: (1) the students became more independent; (2) their selfesteem was raised; (3) the students had a greater chance of receiving help; (4) the classroom became more manageable and cohesive; (5) and the lessons became more enjoyable for the students and for myself Our findings suggest that not only does pair and group working motivate and activate students’ learning, but that it may enhance the quality of their reading skills and encourage them to continue learning English in general and reading in particular The research was conducted in intact classrooms The data for the study came from a number of sources: class observation notes, questionnaires to survey students’ attitudes towards pair and group work, a series of interviews with the participants, and three texts the students completed individually The approach to data analysis was qualitative and quantitative The results also had important pedagogical implications, particularly for the practice of using pair and group work activities in reading comprehension tasks in ESP classrooms v LIST OF TABLES Chapter Table 4.1 Subjects in the study 33 Table 4.2 The first year final exam results 34 Table 4.3 The pre-test results 35 Table 5.1 Places where students attended high school 45 Table 5.2 Students’ starting point of learning English 46 Table 5.3 Experience of learning activities in previous English classes 49 Table 5.4 Common ways of learning reading in English classes 50 Table 5.5 Learning English is one of the great needs for students 51 Table 5.6 Level of enjoyment of reading books in English or ESP 51 Table 5.7 Frequency of reading English books besides the textbook 53 Table 5.8 Students’ experience of reading comprehension skills 54 Table 5.9 Controlled group’ attitude towards learning in pairs and groups 59 Chapter Table 5.10 Experimental group’s attitude towards learning reading comprehension skills in pairs and groups 61 Table 5.11 Experience of EFL teachers’ teaching English at STU 66 Table 5.12 Teachers’ opinion about teaching reading comprehension 67 Table 5.13 Ways of teaching ESP reading texts of the teachers at STU 70 Table 5.14 Teachers’ experience of pair and group work activities 71 Table 5.15 Purposes of the use of pair and group work activities in teaching reading comprehension of the teachers at STU Table 5.16 Way of pairing and grouping the students 72 73 Table 5.17 Activities EFL teachers often use to improve weak students’ reading comprehension skills 74 vi Table 5.18 Teachers’ attitude towards advantages and disadvantages of pair and group work activities in teaching ESP texts 79 Table 5.19 The pre-test results 81 Table 5.20 The mid-term test results 81 Table 5.21 The final test results 81 Table 5.22 The experimental group’s mean score of three tests 82 Table 5.23 The controlled group’ s mean score of three tests 82 Table 5.24 Division of time for the teachers and students in every reading lesson 85 vii LIST OF FIGURES Chapter Figure 4.1 The first year final exam results 34 Figure 4.2 The pre-test results 35 Figure 5.1 Places where students attended high school 45 Figure 5.2 Students’ starting point of learning English 47 Figure 5.3 Frequency of learning activities in previous English classes 49 Figure 5.4 Level of students’ enjoyment of reading English or ESP books 52 Figure 5.5 Frequency of reading books in English besides the textbook 53 Figure 5.6 Students’ attitude to the current material 56 Figure 5.7 Students’ problems in learning ESP texts in their textbooks 57 Figure 5.8 Reasons for enjoying doing pair and group work activities of Chapter the experimental group Figure 5.9 60 Controlled group’s expectation and belief in improving reading comprehension skills via pair and group work activities 63 Figure 5.10 Experimental group’s recommendations for modifications to the implementation of pair and group work activities 64 Figure 5.11 Difficulties teachers meet while teaching reading 69 Figure 5.12 Students’ attitude and reaction to pair and group activities 74 Figure 5.13 Teachers’ belief in using pair and group activities to improve weak students’ reading comprehension skills 75 Figure 5.14 Open responses from the students advocating pair and group work activities 78 Figure 5.15 Variation in two groups’ pass rates of three tests 82 Figure 5.16 Variation in two groups’ fail rates of three tests 82 viii Reading 5: (1 75 marks) OXYGEN Oxygen is invisible and has no smell, but it makes up about a fifth of the air around us Oxygen is the most common element on the planet that can combine with all other elements Water, for example, is a combination of the elements oxygen and hydrogen Rust is oxygen combined with iron All living things need oxygen Animals that live on land breathe oxygen from the air into their lungs Plants that live on land take in oxygen through tiny openings in their leaves Insects have tiny holes in their shells in which allow oxygen to seep Animals and plants that live underwater absorb oxygen that is dissolved in water Animals, including humans, breathe in the oxygen Animals breathe out carbon dioxide Plants use the carbon dioxide to make more oxygen Anything that burns needs oxygen Hospitals give oxygen to patients who are short of breath Some pilots and mountain climbers need to breathe oxygen from special tanks in order to travel at high altitudes where the air is too thin to breathe Divers need tanks containing oxygen so that they can spend time exploring underwater • Comprehension check : True (T) or false (F) _ Oxygen is makes up 20% of air around us and a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas _ Oxygen is the only element on earth that can combine with all other elements _ All living things on earth cannot live without oxygen _ Only human beings breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide _ Some kinds of animals and plants can live underwater because they take in oxygen in water _ Without oxygen we cannot burn anything _ Divers can breathe in the oxygen dissolved in water, but they still use tanks containing oxygen when being underwater The end A 40 Appendix 2c Final test SAIGON TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY CLASS : _ NAME : _ ENGLISH IN CHEMISTRY TEST - 60 minutes I GRAMMAR: Choose the best suitable answer (2 marks) Oxygen combines hydrogen to form water a for b at c with d after Litmus is a dye that is extracted _ lichens a in b on c from d to The people _ we met at the party were very friendly a who b that c which d a and b are correct What’s the name of the man _ car you borrow? a who b whose c that d whom It was a great holiday We had _ good time a so b such c such a d all are correct It was I wanted another cup a such good coffee that b such a good coffee so c so good coffee d very good coffee that Your English is very fluently I wish I could speak you a as b like c as if d look like There are twenty students in that class Half of them are from Cambodia, some come from Laos, _ come from Thailand, and are from Vietnam a other/the other b others/ others c another/the others d others/the others By the time Jason arrived to help, we _ moving everything a already finished b had already finished c has already finished d is already finishing A 41 10 My parents a house in the countryside, but now they in Ho Chi Minh City a have/ are living b have /live c had lived/ are living d have/ live II Reading:(8 marks) Reading 1: (1.5 marks) NUTRITION You need to eat some of each of these different kinds of foods to get chemicals called nutrients Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water are nutrients Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are your body’s main source of energy Carbohydrates come from starches and sugars Starchy foods are breads, cereals, pasta, corn, beans, peas, and potatoes Sugars are in fruits, honey, maple sugar, and the sugar in your sugar bowl Many vegetables and milk products also have some sugars Your body breaks down the carbohydrates in sugars and starches to make a very simple kind of sugar called glucose Glucose goes into your bloodstream Your blood carries glucose to your brain and your muscles for energy Extra glucose gets changed so it can be stored in your liver and fat cells You can use this stored energy later Proteins: Proteins build and repair body tissues, from hair and fingernails to muscles Proteins also fight infection and carry oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body You get proteins from food that comes from animals, such as eggs, milk, meat, fish, and poultry You can also get proteins from plants, such as vegetables, grains, beans, and rice Some people called vegetarians not eat foods from animals Vegetarians can get all their proteins by eating grains, dried peas and beans, rice, nuts, and tofu • Choose the best suitable answer: We eat different all kinds of foods to get a vitamins b carbohydrates c proteins d nutrients Carbohydrates are vitally important to our body because it is a our body’s main source of energy b our daily meals c the combination of starches and sugars d all are correct Sugar can be found in a fruits b vegetables c milk products d all are correct A 42 _ can be stored in our livers and fat cells as stored energy for later use a Carbohydrates b Glucose c Extra glucose d Energy Proteins _ a build and repair body tissues build and repair body tissues b fight infection c carry oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body d all are correct We can get proteins from food that comes from a animals b plants Reading 2: (1.5 marks) c grains d all are correct NUTRITION (cont.) Fats: Fats pack more energy than any other kind of food Fats play an important role in protecting your cells Fats help blood to clot if you cut yourself Fats also help your body take up certain vitamins There are different kinds of fats Animal fats come from eggs, dairy products, and meats These foods are high in saturated fats and cholesterol Nutritionists believe that eating too much saturated fat and cholesterol is bad for your health Vegetable fats come from such foods as avocados, olives, nuts, and vegetable oils These foods contain different kinds of fat that are healthier Vitamins: Your body needs small amounts of vitamins and minerals for good health Vitamins are chemicals that help your body use carbohydrates, proteins, and fats You need certain vitamins to build blood cells and body chemicals such as hormones Not getting enough vitamins can cause serious diseases e.g scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C Anyone who not have fresh food suffer from scurvy Their gums bled and their teeth fell out They bruised easily Many people die from scurvy A doctor in the 1700s discovered that lime juice could prevent scurvy Citrus fruits like limes are full of vitamin C • Choose the correct answer: Fat plays an important role in our body because it a can protect our cells b help blood to clot c help our body take up some kinds of vitamins d all are correct A 43 are high in saturated fats and cholesterol a Animal fats b Foods c Meals d All are correct Eating too much is bad for your health a animal fat b vegetable fat c vegetables d none is correct help our body use carbohydrates, proteins, and fats a Vitamins b Chemicals c Minerals d Blood cells _ are body chemicals which are built by some kinds of vitamins a Blood cells b Hormones c Diseases d all are correct Anyone who not have enough suffer from scurvy a vitamin C b carbohydrates c proteins d food Reading 3: (2 marks) PROPERTIES AND CHANGES Matter can be described and identified by physical and chemical properties Physical properties have to with appearance You can observe many physical properties with your senses and by measuring the length, (1) _, height, mass and density of a substance Physical properties include color, shape, smell, texture, taste and size The state of matter (whether it's a solid, (2) , or gas) and the (3) _ at which the substance boils, melts or freezes are also physical properties Magnetic properties are physical properties as well (4) properties, on the other hand, have more to with the atomic or molecular composition of matter Chemical properties deal with how substances react with other (5) _ such as water, air or fire A physical change has occurred when a substance changes color, size, shape, (6) _ or state A (7) _change has occurred when a substance has changed into something new or (8) _ so that the original substance is gone Digestion and combustion are examples of chemical changes A chemical change takes place in a battery to produce electricity when you turn on a flashlight Chemical changes are sometimes represented by a chemical formula: 2H2 + O2 = 2H2O A 44 This formula states that two hydrogen gas molecules react with one oxygen gas molecule to produce two molecules of water • Choose one word that is most suitable for the blank: a chemical b properties c substances d textures a water b molecule c liquid d atom a time b temperature c design d cylinder a chemical b physical c substance d gaseous a properties b physicals c degrees d substances a temperature b physical c chemical d colour a chemical b matter c described d physical a similar b different c familiar d original Reading 4: (1.5 marks) COPPER Copper is a reddish-yellow metal When it’s found in pure form in the ground, it’s called native copper Usually, though, copper is found combined with other elements in rocks These rocks are called copper ores When combined with other elements, Copper is often greenish in color Its greenish color comes from copper combined with the element oxygen from the air Pure copper is a soft metal Copper is discovered to be much stronger when mixed with other metals People made bronze by combining copper with tin They made brass by combining copper with zinc Today, bronze and brass often contain other metals But copper is still their main ingredient Copper has long been used for making coins Copper coins were always less valuable than silver or gold coins, because silver and gold are rarer metals Copper became more valuable in the late 1800s when people discovered how to use electricity Of all metals, copper is the second-best conductor of electricity (Silver is better, but copper is much cheaper.) Most copper mined today is used in the electrical industry The wires in power lines are mostly copper So is the wiring in electrical appliances and cords A 45 • Answer the following questions: What name is the copper found in pure in the ground? What colors are copper ores? Why does it have such color? What are bronze and brass? What copper is stronger, pure copper or compounds of copper? Which metal is the best conductor of electricity? Why is copper popularly used in the electrical industry? Reading 5: (1.5 marks) SILVER Silver, symbol Ag, is a white, lustrous metallic element that conducts heat and electricity better than any other metal Silver is one of the transition elements of the periodic table The atomic number of silver is 47 With the exception of gold, silver is the most malleable and ductile of all metals Its hardness ranges between 2.5 and 2.7; it is harder than gold but softer than copper Silver melts at about 962° C (about 1764° F), boils at about 2212° C (about 4014° F), and has a specific gravity of 10.5 The atomic weight of silver is 107.868 Chemically silver is not very active It is insoluble in dilute acids and in alkalis but dissolves in concentrated nitric or sulfuric acid, and does not react with oxygen or water at ordinary temperatures Sulfur and sulfides attack silver, and tarnishing is caused by the formation of silver sulfide on the surface of the metal Silver has been known and valued as an ornamental and coinage metal since ancient times It is usually alloyed with small amounts of other metals to make it harder and more durable Silver is also widely used in the circuitry of electrical and electronic components A 46 •Comprehension check : True (T) or false (F): _ Because silver conducts heat and electricity better than any other metal, it is widely used in the circuitry of electrical and electronic components _ From the property measurements of silver, we can know that silver belongs to the alkali metal group of the periodic table _ Silver, which is harder than gold but softer than copper, is the only malleable and ductile of all metals _ Silver becomes liquid at about 962° C (about 1764° F) _ Because silver is not very chemically active so it reacts not only with oxygen but also with water at ordinary temperatures _ To make silver harder and more durable, people usually combine it with small quantities of other metals The end A 47 Appendix Unit three ATOMIC THEORY: THE EARLY DAYS By Anthony Carpi, Ph.D Until the final years of the 19th century, the accepted model of the atom resembled that of a billiard ball- a small, solid sphere In 1897, J.J Thomson dramatically changed the modern view of the atom with his discovery of the electron Thomson’s work suggested that the atom was not an ‘individual’ particle as John Dalton had suggested, but rather a jigsaw puzzle made of smaller pieces Thomson’s notion of the electron came from his work with a 19th century scientific curiosity: the cathode ray tube For years, scientists had known that if an electric current was passed through a vacuum tube, a stream of glowing material could be seen, however, no one could explain why Thomson found that the mysterious glowing stream would bend towards a possibly charged electric plate Thomson theorized, and was later proven correct, that the stream was in fact made up of small particles, pieces of atoms that carried a negative charge These particles were later named electrons Thomson had imagined that atoms looks like pieces of raisins bread, a structure in which clumps of small, negatively charged electrons (the ‘raisins’) were scattered inside a smear of positive charges (the ‘bread’ - Eugen Goldstein had discovered that atoms had positive charges in 1886) In 1908, Ernest Rutherford, a former students of Thomson proved Thomson’s raisin bread structure incorrect Rutherford performed a series of experiments with radioactive alpha particles While it was unclear at the time what the alpha particle was, it was known to be very tiny Rutherford fired tiny alpha particles at solid objects such as gold foil He found that most of the alpha particles passed right through the gold foil, a small number of alpha particles passed through at an angle (as if they had bumped up against something) and some A 48 bounced straight back like a tennis ball hitting a wall Rutherford’s experiments suggested that gold foil, and matter in general, had holes in it! These holes allowed most of the alpha particles to pass directly through, while a small number ricocheted off or bounced straight back because they hit a solid object In 1911, Rutherford proposed a revolutionary view of the atom He suggested that the atom consisted of a small, dense core of positively charged particles in the center (or nucleus) of the atom, surrounded by a swirling ring of electrons The nucleus was so dense that the alpha particles would bounce off it, but the electrons were so tiny, and spread out at such great distances that the alpha particles would pass right through this area of the atom Rutherford’s atom resembled a tiny system with the positively charged nucleus always at the center and the electron revolving around the nucleus Interpreting Rutherford’s Gold Foil Experiment The passively charged particles in the nucleus of the atom were called protons Protons carry an equal, but opposite, charge to electrons, but protons are much larger and heavier than electrons In 1923, James Chadwich discovered a third type of sub-atomic particle which he named the neutrons Neutrons help stabilize the protons in the atom’s nucleus Because the nucleus is so tightly packed together, the positively charged protons would tend to repel each other normally Neutrons help to reduce the repulsion between protons and stabilize the atom’s nucleus Neutrons always reside in the nucleus of atoms and they are about the same size as protons However, neutrons not have any electrical charges, they are electrically neutral Atoms are electrically neutral because the number of protons (+ charges) is equal to the number of electrons (- charges) and thus the two cancel out As the atom gets larger, the number of protons increases, and so does the number of electrons (in the neutral state of atom) A 49 Atoms are extremely small One hydrogen atom (the smallest atom known) is approximately x 10 ¯ mm in diameter Most of the space taken up by an atom is actually empty because the electron spins at a very distance from the nucleus Atoms of different elements are distinguished from each other by their number of protons (the number of protons is constant for all atoms of a single element, the number of neutrons and electrons can vary under certain circumstances) To identify this important characteristic of atoms, the term atomic number (z) is used to describe the number of protons in an atom For example, z = for hydrogen and z = for helium Another important characteristic of an atom is its weight, or atomic mass The weight so an atom is roughly determined by the total number of protons and neutrons in the atom While protons and neutrons are about the same size, the electron is more 1,800 times smaller than the two Thus, the electrons’ weight is inconsequential in determining the weight of an atom ATOMIC THEORY C 430 BC Greek natural philosopher Empedocles (d c 430 BC) proposes that all matter consists of four elements: earth, air, fire, and water C 400 BC Greek natural philosopher Democritus of Abdera (c 460-370 BC) proposes that all matter consists of atoms 306 BC Greek philosopher Epicurus (c 342-270 BC) champions Democritus’ atomic theory 1649 French philosopher Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655) proposes an atomic theory (having read Epicurus) 1803 John Dalton proposes Dalton’s atomic theory 1897 J J Thomson discovers the electron A 50 1904 J J Thomson proposes his ‘plum pudding’ model of the atom, with electrons embedded in a nucleus of positive charges 1911 New Zealand-born physicist Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) discovers the atomic nucleus 1913 Niels Bohr proposes model of the atom with a central nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons British physicist henry Mosley (1887-1951) equates the positive charge on the nucleus with its atomic number Frederick Sobby discovers isotopes 1916 German physicist Arnold Sommerfield (1868-1951) modifies Bohr’s model of the atom specifying elliptical orbits for the electrons 1919 Ernest Rutherford discovers the proton 1920 Ernest Rutherford postulates the existence of the neutron 1926 ErwinSchrÖdinger proposes a wave-mechanical model of the atom (with electrons represented as wave trains) 1932 British physicist James Chadwick (1891-1974) discovers the neutron Werner Heisenberg proposes a model of the atomic nucleus in which protons and neutrons exchange electrons to achieve stability 1939 Neils Bohr proposes a ‘liquid drop’ model of the atomic nucleus 1948 German-born US physicist Marie Goeppert-Meyer (1906-72) and German physicist Hans Jensen (1907-73) independently propose the ‘shell’ structure of the nucleus 1950 US physicist Leo Rainwater (1917-86) combines the ‘liquid-drop’ and ‘shell’ models of the nucleus into a single theory A 51 Vocabulary Read the passage Find the words that match these definitions: a Rebound _ b Center _ c Push something away from itself _ d Neutralize _ e Revolves rapidly _ f Unimportant _ Comprehension • Say whether the following statements are true or false according to the information given in the passage a J J Thomson accepted the solid sphere of the atom b John Dalton suggested that atom was the smallest particle of matter c Rutherford suggested the atomic structure in which negatively charged electrons were scattered inside an area of positive charges d Positive charges in the atom had not been discovered until Thomas found a glowing stream would bend toward a positively charged electric plate if an electric current was passed through a vacuum tube e According to Rutherford, most alpha particles pass through the gold foil because they were so tiny f Rutherford’s atom had three sub-atomic particles g neutrons are much larger than electrons h Neutrons help to reduce the repulsion between protons and electrons in an atom i The number of electrons is constant for all atoms of a single element A 52 j Atomic weight is determined by the total number of protons and electrons in the atom Language focus • Other ways of expressing ‘cause and effect’: SO……THAT and SUCH….THAT ‘The nucleus was so dense that the alpha particles would bounce off it, but the electrons were so tiny, and spread out at such great distances that the alpha particles would pass right through this area of the atom.’ (a) Because the weather was nice, we went to the zoo (b) It was such nice weather that we went to the zoo • Example (a), (b), and (c) have the same meaning (c)The weather was so nice that we went to the zoo (d) It was such good coffee that I had another cup (e)It was such a foggy day that we couldn’t see the road • Such …… that encloses a modified noun: Such +adjective +noun + that (f) The coffee is so hot that I can’t drink it (g)I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse (h)She speaks so fast that I can’t understand her (i) He walked so quickly that I couldn’t keep up with him (j) She made so many mistakes that she failed the exam (k) He has so few friends that he is always lonely (l) She has so much money that she can buy whatever she wants or: • So …… that encloses an adjective or adverb: So + adjective/adverb + that • So … that is used with many, few, much, and little • Such … that is used with a lot of (m) She has such a lot of money that she can buy whatever she wants (n) He had so little trouble with the test that he left A 53 twenty minutes early (o) It was such a good book (that) I couldn’t put it down • Sometimes, (p) I was so hungry (that) I didn’t wait for dinner to eat something primarily in speaking, that is omitted • Combine the following sentences by using so…that or such….that I have to wear my wool coat It was a cold day The weather was hot You could fry an egg on the sidewalk I don’t feel like going to class We’re having beautiful weather Grandpa held me tightly when he hugged me I couldn’t breathe for a moment I could stand her She talked too fast The audience booed the actors It was a bad performance I’ve met too many people in the last few days I can’t possibly remember all of their names It took only ten minutes to get there There was too little traffic I can’t figure out what the sentence says His handwriting is eligible 10 Too many people came to the meeting There were not enough seats for all people 11 During the summer, we had hot and humid weather It was uncomfortable just sitting in a chair doing nothing 12 In some countries, few students are accepted by the universities As a result, admission is virtually a guarantee of a good job upon graduation 13 Ted couldn’t get to sleep last night He was worried about the exam 14 The tornado struck with great force It lifted automobiles off the ground 15 The classroom has comfortable chairs The students find it easy to fall asleep A 54