Some practical expenenees in teaching active and passive voice to students

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ TRƯỜNG THPT HÀM RỒNG INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE SOME PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES IN TEACHING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE TO STUDENTS AT HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL Người thực hiện: Nguyễn Văn Toàn Chức vụ: TTCM – Giáo viên SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực môn: Tiếng Anh THANH HOÁ NĂM 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION PAGES I Reason for choosing the topic II Aims of the research III Objects of the research IV Scope of the research V Research method PART B: CONTENT I Theoretical background Definition of active voice 2 Definition of passive voice II Five steps used to teach Passive and Active voice III The structure of active and passive voice IV How to change regular active sentences into passive ones The rules of changing into passive voice Students should note some problems V Irregular passive voice Causative form Verbs of opinion Verbs of perception The passive voice with NEED The passive voice with MAKE/SEE/HEAR Structure “Let somebody something” Verbs of liking/loving/wanting/wishing + object + V-inf Verbs: advise/order/recommend/urge + O(1)+to +V+O(2) 9 Verbs: advise/insist/recommend/suggest/decide + V-ing +O 10 Imperative verbs in passive voice 11 Structure: It is your duty to + V 12 Structure: It is impossible to + V 13 Structure: It is necessary to + V V Results 10 VI Finding 11 PART C: CONCLUSION AND PROPOSALS 11 Conclusion 11 Proposals 12 PART A I Reason for choosing the topic English is known as the worldwide spoken language nowadays and almost all of the people need to know this language so as to communicate and integrate Therefore, English has become a compulsory subject applied across the whole educational system in Vietnam When learning English, students focus on learning active voice sentences and active structures It is usually the easiest way for them to phrase sentences But when students progress in their study, they will encounter passive voice sentences, especially irregular passive structures To the multiple choice exercises well, they need to understand the issues relating to active and passive voice in English Passive voice is one of the most difficult grammar points that make students confused so much about both its function and its equivalent meaning when they translate a passive sentence into an active one in Vietnamese To help the students of my school study Passive voice in English more easily, I have chosen “Some practical experiences in teaching active and passive voice to 12 th grade students at Ham Rong High School” to be my research theme in this initiative experience II Aims of the research I have done this research to help my students know how to use passive voice correctly not only in their daily communication but also in their exams Moreover, this research may encourage students to be interested in learning English and I hope to share teaching experiences with my colleagues III Objects of the research This research is concerned with the active and passive voice and their usage IV Scope of the research This research is done in the process of teaching active and passive voice and their usage to 12th grade students at Ham Rong High School V Research method This research is done by reading reference books applied in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences PART B: CONTENT I The theoretical background Definition of active voice Generally, we tend to use the active voice – one of the two voices of verbs (active and passive voice) When the verb of a sentence is in the active voice, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb In grammar, an active voice is a type of a clause or sentence in which a subject performs an action and expresses it through its representative verb To simply put it, when a subject performs an action directly, it is in active voice It then uses transitive verb to show the action By definition, the “voice of a verb tells whether the subject of the sentence performs the action or is acted upon” (Fowler and Aaron 242) Active voice involves agents performing the action using action verbs (e.g., Protesters unified their efforts to pass the regulation) Passive voice involves disguised, unknown, or relocated agents acted upon by “to be” and past participle verbs (e.g., Votes are counted by the volunteers) Helping verbs may also exist in passive expressions (e.g., Votes have been counted by the volunteers) As shown in some passive expressions, the agent (volunteers) appears as an object in a prepositional phrase (by the volunteers) Some passive expressions contain no agent (e.g., Votes are counted), indicating that it is unknown, unimportant, or unreported Definition of passive voice The passive voice is a grammatical voice of verb where what would be the object of a corresponding active sentence becomes the subject of a sentence in the passive voice The passive voice is formed with the appropriate tense of the verb to be + past participle A passive voice is a type of a clause or sentence in which an action (through verb), or an object of a sentence, is emphasized rather than its subject Simply, the subject receives the action of the verb The emphasis or focus is on the action, while the subject is not known or is less important “Voice refers to whether the subject of a sentence is on the giving or receiving end of the action” (Stilman, 2010) “In a passive construction, the person or object that is actually performing the action may be named in the sentence, but is not the focus of it.” (Stillman, 2010) II Five steps used to teach Passive and Active voice STEP 1: Recognizing the Active Structure Not all sentences can be changed to the passive voice Only an active voice sentence with a direct object can be made passive Your students will have to learn to recognize active structures with direct objects before they can restructure these sentences into the passive voice In English, the subject always comes first in the sentence (with some exceptions that we will not address here) After that is the verb which is sometimes followed by a direct object and/or an indirect object Active sentences that have a subject, verb, and direct object can be restructured using the passive voice The direct object is essential because it becomes the subject of the passive sentence, so if an active sentence does not have a direct object, it cannot be restructured in the passive voice To practice determining if an active sentence can be made into a passive sentence, review the parts of a sentence with your students Give them several examples both with and without direct objects Be sure that everyone can identify the direct object before moving on to STEP 2 STEP 2: Make the Object the Subject Restructuring the active to the passive includes two major changes in a sentence’s structure The first is taking the direct object of the active verb/sentence and making it the subject of the passive sentence Once your students can correctly identify the direct object in an active sentence, they should be able to easily determine the subject of the passive sentence STEP 3: Changing the Verb When changing an active sentence to a passive sentence, the tense of the verb changes Every passive sentence contains a “be” verb To change an active verb to a passive verb, use the correct form of “be” and the past participle of the original active verb For example, “eat” becomes “is eaten”, “give” becomes “was given” and so on Let your students practice changing active verbs to passive verbs in various tenses and using them with the correct passive subject STEP 4: When the Subject Remains If a speaker or writer wants to include the noun performing the action (the subject in the active sentence) in a passive construction, they must include it in a “by” phrase after the passive verb The original subject becomes the object of the prepositional phrase, and it comes after the passive verb Take this active sentence, for example “George Orwell wrote 1984.” George Orwell is the subject (performing the action of writing) In the passive sentence, 1984 was written by George Orwell, this subject appears in a “by” phrase after the main verb The by phrase is optional in the passive sentence though in this case the information (the author’s name) is important and should be included STEP 5: When to Use the Passive Though we are usually told to use active sentences, there are times when using the passive is actually more logical In active sentences, both the one performing the action (the subject of the active verb) and the recipient of the action (the direct object of the active verb) are important Passive sentences are different Using a passive sentence makes sense when the noun performing the action is not important For example, “The test was administered.” (It doesn’t matter who administered the test.) Also, if a person does not know who performed the action, the passive is the construction to use “My purse was stolen.” (We not know who stole the purse.) A third reason to use the passive voice is that the one performing the action is obvious “She was fired.” (She could only be fired by her boss.) III The structure of active and passive voice Active voice Passive voice S O(S) V BE O V-ed/PII IV How to change regular active sentences into passive ones Tenses Active voive Passive voice Present simple S + V(s/es) + O S + am/is/are + P2 Present continuous S + am/is/are + V-ing + O S + am/is/are + being + P2 Present perfect S + have/has + P2 + O S + have/has + been + P2 Past simple S + V(ed/Ps) + O S + was/were + P2 Past continuous S + was/were + V-ing + O S + was/were + being + P2 Past Perfect S + had + P2 + O S + had + been + P2 Future simple S + will + V-inf + O S + will + be + P2 Future perfect S + will + have + P2 + O S + will + have + been + P2 Near future S + am/is/are going to + V-inf + O S + am/is/are going to + be + P2 Modal verbs S + Modal verbs + V-inf + O S + Modal verbs + be + P2 The rules of changing into passive voice - Determination of S , V , O in the initiative - The object (O) of the active is the subject (S) of the passive - Putting the verb to be into the same tense as the active verb and adding the past participle of the active - The subject of the active verb becomes the ‘agent’ of the passive verb The agent is very often not mentioned When it is mentioned it is preceded by by and placed at the end of the clause Example 1: My father waters this flower every morning  This flower is watered (by my father) every morning Example 2: John invited Fiona to his birthday party last night  Fiona was invited to John's birthday party last night Example 3: Her mother is preparing the dinner in the kitchen  The dinner is being prepared (by her mother) in the kitchen Students should note some problems 2.1 When S of the active is the pronouns (he, she, you, they, we ) and some words such as “someone, somebody, anyone, anybody, everyone, everybody” is omitted by O in the passive, if not stated agent Example 1: Someone has sent me the flowers  I have been sent the flowers Example 2: She must all homework before going to bed  All homework must be done before going to bed 2.2 Adverb of place is placed before “by + O” Example 1: The police found him in the forest  He was found in the forest by the police 2.3 Adverb of time is placed after “by + O” Example: Mr Brown bought the house last week  The house was bought by Mr Brown last week 2.4 Adverb of manner is placed between “BE + PP” Example: The boss has treated them badly  They have been badly treated by the boss 2.5 Note that in theory a sentence containing a direct and an indirect object, such as: Example: He sent me a postcard This sentence could have two passive forms  I was sent a postcard  A postcard was sent to me Note: The first of these is much the more usual V Irregular Passive voice Causative form: “Have” or “Get” 1.1 Have * Active: S + have + somebody + V-inf + something * Passive: S + have + something + past participle Example: Active: I had him repair the roof yesterday Passive:  I had the roof repaired yesterday 1.2 Get * Active: S + get + somebody + to- inf + something * Passive: S + get + something + past participle Example: Active: I will get her to cut my hair Passive:  I will get my hair cut Verbs of Opinion: say, think, believe, know, report, rumour, consider, expect, report * Active: S1 + V of pinion + (that) + clause (S2+V + O) * Passive: or: It + be + V of opinion (PP) + (that) + clause S2 + be + V of opinion (PP) + to-inf to have + PP Example 1: Active: They say that John is the brightest student in class Passive: → It is said that John is the brightest student in class Passive: → John is said to be the brightest student in class Example 2: Active: They knew that Mary won the competition Passive: → It was known that Mary won the competition Passive: → Mary was known to have won the competition Verbs of perception: see, watch, hear, * Active: S + V + O + bare - inf / V-ing * Passive: S + Be + V (PP) + to-inf/ V-ing Example 1: Active: People saw him steal your car Passive: → He was seen to steal your car Example 2: Active: The teacher is watching them working Passive: → They are being watched working by the teacher The passive voice with NEED After the verb “need + V-ing” the sentence is passive meaning (Or need + to be + PP) Example: The windows need cleaning (Or The windows need to be cleaned) * The verbs “require and want” is the same as “need” Example: These letters require typing (Or These letters require to be typed) The passive voice with MAKE/SEE/HEAR MAKE/SEE/HEAR is followed by To – infinitive when it is used in the passive voice Example: Active: My boss made me work hard Passive: → I was made to work hard by my boss Structure “Let somebody something” Example: Active: He let me go Passive: I was let go/ I was allowed to go Verbs of liking/loving/wanting/wishing + object + V-inf Active: S + like/would like/would love/want/wish + somebody + to V + O Passive: S + like/would like/ would love/want/wish + O + to be + V-pp + (by sb) Some verbs: advise/order/recommend/urge + O(1) + to +V +O(2) are changed into passive in two ways - Active: S + advise/order/recommend/urge + O(1) + to +V +O(2) - Passive: O(1) + be + advised/ordered/recommended/urged to +V +O(2) OR: S + advise/order/recommend/urge + that + O(2) + should be +V-pp Some verbs: advise/insist/recommend/suggest/decide + V-ing + O - Active: S + advise/insist/recommend/suggest/decide + V-ing + O - Passive: S + advise/insist/recommend/suggest/decide that + O should be + V-pp 10 Imperative verbs in passive voice - Active: V + O… / Do not + V + O + … - Passive: Let + O + be + Ved/pp / Let + O + NOT + be + V-ed/pp Example 1: Put your pen down → Let your pen be put down Example 2: Do not take this item → Let this item not be taken 11 It's your duty to + Vinf  Passive: You're supposed to + Vinf Example: It's your duty to make tea today  You are supposed to make tea today 12 It's impossible to + Vinf  Passive: S + can't + be + P2 Example: It's impossible to solve this problem  This problem can't be solved 13 It's necessary to + Vinf  Passive: S + should/ must + be +P2 Example: It's necessary for you to type this letter  This letter should/ must be typed by you V RESULTS At Ham Rong School I teach English in four classes: 12B1, 12B9, 12B11 and 12B12 In these classes, 12B1 only learn English to pass National examination for GCSE The other three classes learn English to pass entrance examination into university During my teaching course, I have taught them basic knowledge of active and passive voice in English It is undeniable that with different objects of students, the requirement of knowledge is also different With students studying not very well and badly, or students learning English to pass GCSE exam, I only teach them how to change regular active voice into passive ones which is included in the textbook But with students studying English quite well or excellently to pass entrance examination to enter university which requires broad knowledge of English, I introduce irregular passive voice to them clearly After teaching " passive voice " to 12th grade students in four classes I have obtained the following results: Class Total Good Fair Normal Poor 12B1 50 sts 10 20 10 10 12B9 39 sts 22 10 10 12B11 45 sts 25 15 12B12 48 sts 30 15 It can be seen from the table that in each class, the number of the students receiving good marks on the English tests is increasing steadily As for 12B1 students who not use English to pass the entrance examination to enter university, they only learn how to change regular active to passive voice, the number of students receiving good marks on test about active and passive voice is only 10 students per total 50 students whereas 12B12 has the biggest number of students getting good marks (30 per 48 students) The most important thing is that when teaching them how to use both regular and irregular passive voice, students will avoid mistakes doing passive voice exercises (poor marks: 12B1: 10 students, 12B9: students, 12B11: student, 12B12: student) VI FINDING Sentences can be active or passive Mostly we use active sentences in our conversation, but sometimes we have to use passive sentences Passive voice plays a very important part in forming a term exam or an GCSE exam For example, English 12, unit 4: Lesson E: Language Focus: Exercise 1,2,3 (pages 50,51), English 10, unit 10: Lesson E: Language Focus (page 111), and many other exercises in official national paper examination to enter university PART C: CONCLUTION AND PROPOSALS CONCLUSION English - Course helps us to increasingly integrate into the modern world The language proficiency at a basic level in secondary schools will help high school students to learn better and can get a good job after graduation Compared with previous years, the situation of English teaching has many positive, paying special attention to training for students four skills: Listening - speaking – reading - writing and the teaching of grammar also indispensable, not be underestimated So teachers are always positive, proactive innovative teaching 11 methods, explore, creative ways of organizing teaching to suit each student subjects and teaching conditions in the locality But there are still many aspects need to discuss further measures to be feasible on the basis of theoretical as well as practical experience of teaching to better, more effective The content that I presented above is just the experience itself, the narrow scope of the study, briefly, so little documentation will definitely flawed But for the purpose of improving the quality of education, I hope this subject can contribute little teaching experience I hope to receive many valuable comments from friends and colleagues THE PROPOSALS - Schools and classroom should have adequate investment in infrastructure and teaching facilities to meet the increasing requirements in the education towards innovation today - Teachers must prepare carefully for their lesson by mastering the content, the focus of the lesson knowledge They must be scientific editors of exercises on PowerPoint - Students must promote positive elevation in the study They voluntarily participate in practice, and are not afraid of making mistakes The preparation of the lesson at home of the students is also essential - Parents must really be interested in learning English of their children 12 XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ Thanh Hóa, ngày 10 tháng năm 2020 TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác (Ký ghi rõ họ tên) Nguyễn Văn Toàn 13 REFERENCE English 10 - Education Publishing House- 2006 Hoang Van Van (chief editor) Teaching training materials- Education Publishing House- 2006 Hoang Van Van (chief editor) Preparation for high school graduation and university entrance exam - Education Publishing House- 2006 - Nguyen Hai Chau (chief editor) Some types of English tests 10 – Education Publishing House Do Tuan Minh (chief editor) A course in language teaching – Penny Ur References Raimes, A., & Jersey, M (2009) Keys for Writers China: Lyn Uhi Stilman, A (2010) Grammatical Correct: The Essential Guide to Spelling, Style, Usage Ohio: Writer's Digest Books Wilbers, S (2007) Keys to Great Writing Ohio: Writer's Digest Books Yates, J (1997) Master the Basic English Massachusetts: Barron's Hương, M L., & Loan, N T ( 2003) Ngữ Pháp Tiếng Anh Ho Chi Minh city: Publisher of Youth Tuc, H D (2003) Vietnamese- English Bilingualism New York: Routledge Curzon DANH MỤC CÁC ĐỀ TÀI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG ĐÁNH GIÁ XẾP LOẠI CẤP SỞ GD&ĐT VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả: Nguyễn Văn Tồn Chức vụ đơn vị cơng tác: Giáo viên Trường THPT Hàm Rồng TT Tên đề tài SKKN “Some techniques of Kết Cấp đánh đánh giá giá xếp loại xếp loại (Phòng, Sở, (A, B, Tỉnh ) C) Năm học đánh giá xếp loại Sở C 2014 – 2015 Sở C 2017 – 2018 teaching and learning vocabulary” “Some strategies used to teach Reading Skill to 10 th grade students at Ham Rong High School”  ... of active voice 2 Definition of passive voice II Five steps used to teach Passive and Active voice III The structure of active and passive voice IV How to change regular active sentences into passive. .. a passive sentence into an active one in Vietnamese To help the students of my school study Passive voice in English more easily, I have chosen ? ?Some practical experiences in teaching active and. .. The structure of active and passive voice Active voice Passive voice S O(S) V BE O V-ed/PII IV How to change regular active sentences into passive ones Tenses Active voive Passive voice Present