the study common errors of reported speech made by grade 11 students at doc binh kieu high school, kien giang province

1 INTRODUCTION There are six parts in the introduction. They are motivation for the study, aims of the study, scope of the study, significance of the study, related previous studies and organization of the study. 1. Motivation for the study Today English is the language widely used in the world. English is not only the national or official language of some countries, which have different cultures, but it is also the international language of communication in many fields including science, technology, business, entertainment and so on. Since Viet Nam joined World Trade Organization (WTO), the need for learning English has been considerably increasing among Vietnamese because their proficiency in English can help them get good jobs. Therefore, learning English is very necessary. However, it is not easy to master this language. In order to become good English learners, besides proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, they must use grammar properly although English grammar can be difficult. Numerous studies show that the use of poor grammar in spoken and written statements reflects negatively on the speaker or author, and that people who use bad grammar are instantly perceived as being less intelligent, less reliable or less trustworthy than people who use proper grammar. Consequently, it is essential for English learners to master grammar. English grammar includes a lot of points. One of them is reported speech. Reported speech is important but rather difficult because it involves a lot of elements which causes students to feel confused and make many errors. Making so many errors of reported speech is not good because when someone reports incorrectly what someone else has said, it is difficult for listeners to understand or it is even easy for them to misunderstand, causing serious consequences. In addition, reported speech often appears on tests in class, final tests and tests in the entrance exams to universities and colleges. If students do not master this grammar point, they may lose marks relating to reported speech easily. For those reasons, the researcher decided to study the topic “Common Errors of Reported Speech Made by Grade 11 Students at Doc Binh Kieu High School, Tien Giang Province”. This study is aimed at searching for the 2 grade 11 students‟ common errors and suggesting some solutions to help the students use reported speech better. 2. Aims of the study - To find out grade 11 students‟ common errors in using reported speech. - To suggest some solutions to help the students avoid these errors. 3. Scope of the study The study is about common errors of reported speech based on the exercise the researcher gives grade 11 students at Doc Binh Kieu High School. 4. Significance of the study The study including the solutions suggested will help students avoid common errors of reported speech. Some solutions are suggested for teachers so that they can apply to help the students in learning reported speech. 5. Related previous studies Many theses relating to reported speech have been studied. The research “Teaching Reported Speech” done by Dan Rej Regmi was about the major mistakes made by the learners of Grade XII of Management stream. However, the researcher only gave suggestions for teachers to teach their Nepalese students in order to help them understand and use reported speech precisely. In Vietnam, Le Thi Thu Quynh, student of Ho Chi Minh University of Education did the research “Indirect speech in English and Vietnamese: A comparative contrastive analysis” in 2010. In this research, the researcher has pointed out basic similarities and differences in indirect speech between Vietnamese and English as well as some major mistakes made by Vietmanese. However, the subjects were Vietnamese learners in general and the researcher gave a general suggestion instead of specific ones to help them avoid those errors. The suggestion was that Vietnamese people have to pay more attention to grammar structure when they want to change an English indirect speech into the direct one. 3 6. Organization of the study INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of reported speech 1.2 Types of reported speech 1.2.1 Reported statements 1.2.2 Reported imperatives 1.2.3 Reported questions 1.2.4 Reported exclamations 1.2.5 Mixed types of reported speech 13. Changes of direct speech when turned into reported speech 1.3.1 Pronoun changes 1.3.2 Adjective changes 1.3.3 Tense changes 1.3.4 Modal verb changes 1.3.5 Adverb changes 1.3.6 Exceptions Chapter 2 METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research questions 2.2 Research participants 2.2.1 The researcher 2.2.2 The subjects 2.3 Data collection instruments 2.3.1 The questionnaire 2.3.2 The mini-test 2.4 Research procedure 2.4.1 The questionnaire 2.4.1 The mini-test 4 Chapter 3 RESULTS, DISCUSSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 3.1 Results 3.1.1 Results collected from the questionnaire 3.1.2 Results collected from the mini-test 3.2 Discussions 3.2.1 The questionnaire 3.2.2 The mini-test 3.3 Suggestions 3.3.1 For the teachers 3.3.2 For the students CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS REFERENCES APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2 APPENDIX 3 5 Chapter 1 LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, the theory of reported speech is presented including definition of reported speech, types of reported speech and changes of direct speech when turned into reported speech. 1.1 Definition of reported speech Reported speech or indirect speech refers to using a noun clause to report what someone has said. No quotation marks are used. ( 3 ) Example: Direct speech: She said, “She hasn‟t met Susan for two years.” Reported speech: She said (that) she hadn‟t met Susan for two years. 1.2 Types of reported speech 1.2.1 Reported statements Statements (“S + V”) Reported speech Examples: Direct speech: “I‟m waiting for my mother,” he said. Reported speech: He said that he was waiting for his mother. Direct speech: Rick said to me, “Anne has written Jim a letter.” Reported speech: Rick told me that Anne had written Jim a letter. Direct speech: She hopes, “I will pass the exam.” Reported speech: She hopes that she will pass the exam. 1.2.2 Reported imperatives Affirmative imperatives (“V……”) Reported speech S + say / said / + (that) + S + V tell + O / told + O /… think / thought /… hope / hoped /… ……………. 6 Examples: Direct speech: The teacher said to me, “Show me your notebook.” Reported speech: The teacher told me to show her my notebook. Direct speech: He said to me, “Remember to come here on time.” Reported speech: He asked me to come there on time. Direct speech: “Please give me some money,” said the old man to us. Reported speech: The old man begged us to give him some money. Direct speech: The boss tells me, “Come in!” Reported speech: The boss tells me to come in. Negative imperatives (“Don’t + V…/ Never + V…/ ”) Reported speech Examples: Direct speech: She said to her husband, “Don‟t drive too fast.” Reported speech: She told her husband not to drive too fast. Direct speech: The teacher says to her students, “Never go to school late.” Reported speech: The teacher tells her students never to go to school late. S + tell / told / … + O + to + V ask / asked / … beg / begged / … order / ordered / … ……………. S + tell / told / … + O + not to + V never to ask / asked / … beg / begged / … order / ordered / … ……………. 7 1.2.3 Reported questions Yes-No Questions (“Auxiliary + S + …?” ) Reported speech Examples: Direct speech: She said to me, “Are you hungry?” Reported speech: He asked me if / whether I was hungry. Direct speech: He said to himself, “Will she arrive on time?” Reported speech: He wondered if /whether she would arrive on time. Direct speech: He enquires, “Does the train stop at York?” Reported speech: He enquires if / whether the train stops at York. Or-Questions (“Auxiliary + S …+ or + …? ” ) Reported speech Examples: Direct speech: Mary‟s mother said to her, “Do you like the blue hat or the green one?” Reported speech: Mary‟s mother asked her if/whether she liked the blue hat or the green one. Direct speech: “Would you rather travel by car or by train?” she asks me. Reported speech: She asks me if/whether I would rather travel by car or by train. S + ask / asked + ( O ) + if + S +V whether enquire / enquired / … wonder / wondered / … want to know / wanted to know / … ……………. S + ask / asked / … + (O) + if + S +V + or +… whether enquire / enquired / … wonder / wondered / … want to know / wanted to know /… ……………. 8 Wh-Questions ( “ Question words + auxiliary + S + …? ” ) Reported speech Examples: Direct speech: “Who is going to live in the big house?” he enquired. Reported speech: He enquired who was going to live in the big house. Direct speech: “Who does English belong to?” our teacher has just said to us. Reported speech: Our teacher has just asked us who English belongs to. Direct speech: “How do you learn English?” she asks him. Reported speech: She asks him how he learns English. 1.2.4 Reported exclamations Exclamations(“ …!”) Reported speech S + ask / asked / … + (O) + enquire / enquired / … wonder / wondered / … want to know / wanted to know /… ……………. S + ask / asked / … + (O) + enquire / enquired / … wonder / wondered / … want to know / wanted to know /… ……………. who + V what which who + S + V what which whom where when why how … S + exclaim / exclaimed /… + (that) + S + V say / said / ……………. 9 Examples: Direct speech: He said, “What a dreadful idea!” Reported speech: He exclaimed that it was a dreadful idea. Direct speech: She says, “What a beautiful dress!” Reported speech: She says that it is a very beautiful dress. 1.2.5 Mixed types of Reported Speech Direct speech may consist of statement + question, question + imperative, imperative + statement or all together. * Rule1 Often each type requires its own introductory verb and the conjunction „and‟ is used to link them. Examples: Direct speech: “ I‟m a stranger. Can you tell me how to get to the post office?” she said. Reported speech: She said she was a stranger and asked if I could tell her how to get to the post office. * Rule2 When the second clause is a statement explaining the first, the conjunction „ as‟ can be used instead of a second introductory verb Examples: Direct speech: “Don‟t turn off the light. It is dark here.” my sister said. Reported speech: My sister told me not to turn off the light as it was dark there *Rule3 Sometimes the second introductory verb can be a participle Examples: Direct speech: “Please, please don‟t smoke. Remember that it is harmful to your health,” his wife said. Reported speech: His wife begged him not to smoke reminding him that it was harmful to your health 10 1.3 Changes of direct speech when turned into reported speech 1.3.1 Pronoun changes  Personal, reflexive and possessive pronoun changes * Rule1: First person pronouns in the direct speech change from the first person to the person of the subject of the reporting verb in the reported speech. Example: Direct speech: He said, “I am a student.” Reported speech: He said that he was a student. * Rule2: Second person pronouns in the direct speech change from the second person to the person of the object of the reporting verb in the reported speech. Example: Direct speech: She said to me, “You are very kind.” Reported speech: She told me that I was very kind. * Rule3: Third person pronouns in the direct speech will not change in the reported speech. Example: Direct speech: The manager said, “They are hard workers.” Reported speech: The manager said that they were hard workers. * Notes: - The new (changed) pronoun will have the same case and number as the original one. Example: Direct speech: He said, “This book is mine.” Reported speech: He said that that book was his. - In some cases, to avoid confusion, we can use the former and the latter instead of the pronouns mentioned in the rules above. Examples: Direct speech: Tom said to Peter, “Miss White wants to meet me in the office.” Reported speech: Tom told Peter that Miss White wanted to meet the former in the office. Direct speech: Tom said to Peter, “Miss White wants to meet you in the office.” [...]... A They have only mentioned the students errors and the students have had to correct them by themselves B They have given the students the answers and asked the students to repeat them C They have given the students the answers and asked the student to repeat them before the students have been given some more exercises of the same kind D Others: ………………………………… 34 A They have only mentioned the students ... Figure 3.8: How the students can recognize their errors of reported speech 33 How the students can recognize their errors in reported speech is presented on Figure 3.8 All the students can do it with the help of their teachers, which accounts for 100% of the students options Fewer students have their friends help recognize their errors or do it by themselves with 44.3% and 36.7% of the students options... errors of reported speech? Table 3.8: How the students can recognize their errors of reported speech Options Count (C) Percentage (%) A.With the help of their teacher 79 100 B.With the help of their friends 35 44.3 C By themselves 29 36.7 D Others: ………… 1 1.2 100 (%) 90 80 70 60 50 100 40 30 44.3 20 36.7 10 0 1.2 A with the help of their teacher B with the help of their friends C by themselves D Others:... students errors and the students have had to correct them by themselves 0, 0% 17.7% B They have given the students the answers and asked the students to repeat them 57% C They have given the students the answers and asked the student to repeat them before the students have been given some more exercises of the same kind 25.3% D Others: ………………………………… Figure 3.9: How teachers’ve corrected their students errors. .. respectively The smallest percentage is in option D (Others) Only 1.2% of the students recognize their errors by using the Internet From Figure 3.8, it can be concluded that many students didn‟t really identify their errors of reported speech by themselves Item 9: How have your teachers corrected your errors of reported speech? Table 3.9: How teachers’ve corrected their students errors of reported speech. .. 20% of the students think that reported speech is very difficult and 43% of them think that it is difficult It means that a lot of students still have difficulty using reported speech Item 3: How many opportunities of practising reported speech were you given in your lesson about reported speech? 28 Table 3.3: The degrees of opportunities of practising reported speech the students were given in their... research is done by Nguyen Thi My Hanh, a fourth year student of English class 2009A of Foreign Language Faculty at Dong Thap University 2.2.2 The subjects of the research The subjects of the research are 79 students of class 11A9 and 11A13 at Doc Binh Kieu High School, Cai Lay Town, Cai Lay District, Tien Giang Province The students in these two classes are chosen to participate in my study for two main... Both of the classes have been following the basic syllabus by Ministry of Education and Training, which is suitable for the purpose of the study All the copies of the questionnaire were collected one day later so that the respondents could complete the questionnaire more comfortably Furthermore, they weren‟t influenced by their classmates‟ ideas Therefore, this might help make the result of the study. .. students errors of reported speech Figure 3.9 shows three ways teachers have used to correct their students errors of reported speech More than half (57%) of the students said that their teachers had given them the answers and asked them to repeat before they had been given some more exercises of the same kind Meanwhile, about a quarter (25.3%) of the students chose option B and only 17.7% of the students. .. Figure 3.6: The types of reported speech the students think most difficult Figure 3.6 shows the type of reported speech the students think most difficult 48.1% of the students chose questions Meanwhile, only 6 students thought statements were the most difficult element with 7.6% of the students options It means that students are afraid of questions most This may be they have to notice a lot of things . marks relating to reported speech easily. For those reasons, the researcher decided to study the topic Common Errors of Reported Speech Made by Grade 11 Students at Doc Binh Kieu High School,. is about common errors of reported speech based on the exercise the researcher gives grade 11 students at Doc Binh Kieu High School. 4. Significance of the study The study including the solutions. There are six parts in the introduction. They are motivation for the study, aims of the study, scope of the study, significance of the study, related previous studies and organization of the