Relative clauses with types of exercises and some tips

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HÓA TRƯỜNG THPT NGUYỄN THỊ LỢI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM RELATIVE CLAUSES WITH TYPES OF EXERCISES AND SOME TIPS Người thực hiện: Nguyễn Thị Xuân Chức vụ: Giáo viên SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực (mơn): Tiếng Anh THANH HĨA NĂM 2021 CONTENTS Page PART I: INTRODUCTION .1 Reasons for studying: 1.1 Reasons for the theoretical side .1 1.2 Practical reasons .1 1.3 Reasons for urgency .1 1.4 Reasons for the condition and capacity of the instructor .2 Aims of the study Methods of the study Scope of the study .2 4.1.Subjects of study: grade 11 students .2 4.2 Scope of study: practice test and semester exam questions New features in the study’s result .2 PART II: CONTENT 2 Relative pronouns and relative clauses .3 2.1 Types of relative clauses and pronouns 2.2 Use of the relative pronouns Some suggestions to doing types of exercises effectively 3.1 Completing each blank with a suitable relative pronoun 3.2 Joining two or more single sentences into a compound sentence appropriate relational pronouns 3.3 Finding a mistake in each sentence .11 3.4 Omission of relative clause 12 PART III PROCEDURE 13 Experimental time: months 13 Arrange the experimental groups 13 Educational effects of the study 13 PART IV CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS .17 Conclusion 17 Suggestions .17 REFERENCES: 18 DANH MỤC SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM 19 PART I: INTRODUCTION Reasons for studying: 1.1 Reasons for the theoretical side In the trend of globalization today, the importance of English cannot be denied and ignored because it is widely used everywhere in the world Along with the development of technology, medicine, engineering and education, English plays a very important role Therefore, learning English becomes even more necessary than ever In Vietnam, as in many Asian countries, English is now taught as a compulsory school subject from an early age (it is officially taught from grade onwards) (Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), 2008), and many changes have been initiated in the teaching of the subject in the last few years Implement multiple-choice test for English subjects becomes popular and compulsory in high school graduation exams, university exams, and colleges of the Ministry of Education and Training In today's high school English program, relative clauses are a very important part of knowledge, included in graduation exams and university and college exams To well in multiple-choice exercises on relative clauses, students need to understand the basics of relative pronouns, relative clauses in English, and change from the form of exercises Based on the results of the tests, lesson plans, assessments on the receptive ability of Nguyen Thi Loi School students and observation of the students’ activities in choosing the best answer in each test of grade 11 students, the conductor can recognize the difficulties of students in the process of solving different types of exercises related to relative clauses Therefore, I decided to choose the topic: “Relative clauses with types of exercises and some tips” 1.2 Practical reasons With the direction of the Ministry of Education on innovating the teaching methods of English subject under the 2020 project and the changes in the forms of tests, the grammatical knowledge plays an important role 1.3 Reasons for urgency According to the Department of Education's guidelines for the 2014-2015 school-year assessment innovation and the changes in the form of tests, the grammatical knowledge account for 60% of the 45-minute tests and semester exams as well as national examination Therefore, it is essential for learners to focus on improving the effectiveness of grammatical classes 1.4 Reasons for the condition and capacity of the instructor Based on the results of the tests, lesson plans, assessments on the receptive ability of Nguyen Thi Loi School students and observation of the students’ activities in solving grammatical exercises related to relative clauses of grade 11 students, the conductor can recognize the difficulties in the process of teaching and learning relative clauses with different exercises Aims of the study The aims of this research are to investigate which difficulties students have in doing exercises concerned with relative clauses and to provide students some tips to choose the best answer Methods of the study - Observe grammatical classes - Consult many documents, especially methods of study - Study colleagues’ experience Scope of the study 4.1.Subjects of study: grade 11 students The research has been carried out in classes of grade 11: 11A (in the controlling group) and 11G (in the experimental group) at Nguyen Thi Loi High School 4.2 Scope of study: practice test and semester exam questions New features in the study’s result In the study with the researcher’s innovation, the new approaches help students to identify the types of exercises and to solve situation better PART II: CONTENT General difficulties in the process of teaching and learning relative clauses 1.1 On the learner's side: Nguyen Thi Loi High School is located in a tourist area, Sam son beach, so most of the students don’t focus on studying seriously because of their part time jobs It is the thinking of earning money early and easily that makes them neglect study They spend the less time doing homework and preparing lessons before class Besides, high school students have too many subjects to learn during the school year The passive learning attitude during lessons in some classes observed by the teachers also shows that learners not seem to pay adequate attention to self-improvement in the learning process As a result, learners can’t understand and remember the content of lesson Another drawback is that learner don’t focus on enriching their vocabulary, so it’s difficult for them to understand the text In my observation in each lesson, learners remember relative pronouns and relative clauses mechanically Therefore, they often mistake the types relative pronouns and the use of relative clauses 1.2 On the teacher's side The application traditional methods in language teaching makes learners feel boring and it’s difficult for them to understand lesson Some teachers, although are aware of the need to change teaching methods, they cannot apply many effective measures to change the situation due to the limited time in class Some teachers only pay attention to good learners not to bad students Therefore, most of learners don’t have understand lesson and get bad mark By analyzing subjective and objective difficulties in the process of teaching and learning reading, focusing on four basic types of exercises: Completing each blank with a suitable relative pronoun, Joining two or more single sentences into a compound sentence appropriate relational pronouns, Finding a mistake in each sentence and Omission of relative clause The aim of the research is to suggest some solutions to help students relative – clause exercises more effectively and eventually improve their results and grades in exams Relative pronouns and relative clauses To help students exercises better, I use some mind maps to teach relative pronouns and clauses: 2.1 Types of relative clauses and pronouns Relational clauses in English include the following three types: + Defining clause (defining clause) + Definite clause (non-defining clause) + Connective clause (connective clause) In study, I only mention two types of relative clauses with the following map: Relative clauses Non - defining + The information given is not essential + Comma is compulsory Defining + They give us essential information + No comma Relative Pronouns: Who/ Whom/ That/ Whose Relative adverbs: Where/ When/ Why Relative Pronouns: Who/ Whom/ Whose Relative adverbs: Where/ When/ Why 2.2 Use of the relative pronouns 2.2.1 Defining relative clause The teacher can use the following tables to help students understand the use of each relative pronouns better: Table 1: Functions of relative pronouns Person Thing Subject Who/ that Which/ that Object Who/ whom/ that Which/ that Possessive Whose Whose/ of which Table 2: places of relative pronouns put after prepositions: whom/ which Relative pronouns not put after prpositions: who/ that/ whose omission: they are objects they are subjects not ommission they are put after prepositions Table 3: Notes of “that” it can replace the nouns: person/thing (subjetc or onject) it can't be put after comma and preposition That it's required to put after indefinite pronouns, the superlative Ex 1: I don’t like the man I met yesterday at the party last night A who B whom C which D A and B In this example, students see “the man/ I” before and after the gap, so they choose “D” Ex 2: The novel you told me about was interesting A which correct B that C no pronoun D all are Ex 3: The novel about you told me was interesting A which B that C whom D A and B 2.2.2 Non - defining relative clause Table 4: Functions of relative pronouns The teacher can use the following tables to explain the use of the non – defining relative clause more clearly: In the table and 5, students can know when they choose “who/ whom/ which” and which function of each pronoun in the relative clause Person Thing Subject Who Which Object Who/ whom Which Possessive Whose Whose/ of which Table 5: cases of using non – defining relative clause put after proper nouns relative pronouns put after "possessive adjectives + Noun" or possessive case demonstrative adjectives + Noun Ex: Peter, _everyone suspected, turned out to be innocent A who B whom C which D A and B In this example, students see “Peter/ everyone” before and after the gap, so they choose “B” 2.2.3 Use of the relative adverbs To explain the use of the relative adverbs, the teacher can use the following table: =in/at/on+which W here =in/at/on+which W hen =forwhich W hy place time reason Ex: I returned to the hometown I was born A which B where C when D why Some suggestions to doing types of exercises effectively 3.1 Completing each blank with a suitable relative pronoun This is a form of exercise that requires students to understand how to use relative pronouns, functions, for people or for things and in different types of relative clauses, which relative pronoun is appropriate Students can apply the knowledge provided above to this type of exercise Step 1: Identify the noun that refers to person or thing Step 2: Which function of relative pronoun Exercise 1: Choose the best answer They live in a house _ roof could collapse at any time A whose B which C whom D who This university has over 6,000 students, many of _ come from overseas A who B which C that D whom Lam had a notebook, _ he wrote new words A when B which C in that D in which The girl _ photo was in the local paper lives near my house A who B whose C whom D which What’s the name of the man _? A whom Annie works B that Annie works C Annie works for D for who Annie works Post office is a place _ you can buy stamps, mail letters and packages, and receive mail A that B which C where D whom My uncle _ you met yesterday is a lawyer A which B to whom C whose D whom I can answer the question _you say is very difficult A which B whom C who D whose This is Mr Jones, _invention has helped hundreds of deaf people A which B that C whose D whom 10 The doctor is examining a patient _was taken to hospital last night A which B who C whom D whose 21 She cycled from London to Glasgow, is pretty good for a woman of 75 A that B what C which D where 22 Most folk songs are ballads have simple words and tell simple stories A what B when C where D that 23 I think the reason we get on so well is that we both enjoy talking A why B which C that D what 24 Keith studied well at university, made his parents happy A which B whom C where D that 25 That house, was built 10 years ago, is still in good condition A which B that C where D when 3.2 Joining two or more single sentences into a compound sentence appropriate relational pronouns This is a form of exercise, when teaching I usually have students it in the form of an essay, and instructions to it in the form of an essay Then apply it as a multiple choice exercise Usually, this type of exercise when moving to a multiple-choice test is usually written: giving two single sentences and then choosing the best matching option To this exercise type, students need to know how to match two or more single sentences into complex sentences using appropriate relational pronouns Specifically, the steps are as follows: Step 1: Identify the similarity between the two sentences In general, students can identify the repeat of the noun or the pronouns: he, she, it, they, her, him, it or possessive adjective: his, her, its, their in the second sentence Step 2: Replace the repeating noun or pronoun with an appropriate relative pronoun In this step, the second sentence is used as a relative clause Step 3: Insert that relative clause into the first sentence Step 4: Observing the noun put before the relative pronoun to decide whether to use the comma or not An example is given below: Ex 1: I like the novel My sister bought it for me yesterday The pronoun it used in the second sentence refers to the noun the novel In other words, they both denote the same thing It is the object of verb “bought” Therefore we use a subject relative pronoun like which or that to replace it  I like the novel which/ that my sister bought for me yesterday Another example is given below: Ex 2: My friend John has just written a best – selling novel He went to the same school as me The pronoun he used in the second sentence refers to the noun My friend John In other words, they both denote the same person He is the subject of verb “helped” Therefore we use a subject relative pronoun like who or that to replace it However, in the first sentence, “My friend John” is used here, student only choose “who”  My friend John, who went to the same school as me, has just written a best – selling novel Exercise 2: Combine the sentences using a suitable relative pronoun The old man is a famous doctor He lives next the door He is the only man He can solve this problem 10 The man is intelligent He loves you I know the boy You are talking about him The man is my eldest brother You spoke to him in the street His book is the best one It has ever been written on that subject He is one of the men I feel I can trust Those classrooms haven’t been in use yet They were built last year This is my book I lent you it last week 10 His stepmother is not very kind to him He is living with her 3.3 Finding a mistake in each sentence * Guide students: In this case students should pay attention to the nouns put before and after the relative pronoun, preposition and comma Ex: Today we (A) know that (B) the Earth is one of nine planets who (C) orbit (D) the Sun In this example, “planets” referring to thing is put before “who”, so “who” is replaced “which/that” Exercise 3: Find a mistake in each sentence Baseball is the only sport in which I am interested in A B C D I can assure you that John is a man who you can absolutely depend in A B C D My sister has two children, who their names are Ali and Tally A B C D 11 I would like to write about several problems which I have faced them since A B C I came to United States D If you need any information, see the librarian sits at the central desk on the A B C 3.4 Omission of relative clause Step 1: Identify the relative clause Step 2: Observe the noun put the before the relative pronoun: + If that noun is used with “the first, the second / the only or the superlative” or “” S + modal verb + V + O”, omission of relative clause with “to verb” is the best + If that noun is not used with “the first, the second / the only or the superlative”, we will consider the verb in the relative clause In the case, the verb is in the passive, omission of relative clause with past participle is the best; the verb is in the active, we choose present participle Ex 1: The man who is sitting next to you is my uncle  The man sitting to you is my uncle Ex 2: The books which were written by To Hoai are interesting  The books written by To Hoai are interesting Ex 3: He is the first student who can find out the solution for that problem  He is the first student to find out the solution for that problem Exercise 4: Rewrite the sentences using present and past participles Do you the man who is talking to my father? Applications which were sent after 23rd will not be considered The equipment which belongs to the club is insured 12 He was the second man who was killed in this way My sister was the youngest player who won the gold medal last year He was the last person who left the classroom PART III PROCEDURE Experimental time: months Arrange the experimental groups There are two groups in these experiments The first group consists of 37 students, class 11A For this group, the researcher still uses the traditional methods while teaching The second group with 45 students is taught by mind maps and new methods Class is divided it into or groups, which is depend on the content of each lesson and teacher uses the tables above and gives specific steps for each type of exercises to helps students remember the knowledge better Educational effects of the study The first test is taken at the beginning of the experiment in January 2021 and the other is implemented in April, after one year school The achievement in the experiment is divided into levels: very weak mark is from 1,0 to 3,0 points; weak mark is from 3,5 to 4,5 points; average mark is from to 6,5 points; good mark is from to 10 points 13 Graph Result of tests after months of the first groups (11A) *Test in January 2021, the beginning of the experiment 18 18 16 Test in Jan Test in Apr 16 14 13 12 10 10 8 very weak weak average good *Test in April 2021, the final test after the experiment’s time The graph shows and compares the results of the two tests taken at the beginning of the experiment in January 2021 and in April 2021, after a term of the first group As can be seen from the column graph, most of the students (24 students =64,9 %) in this groups get very low mark after months , from to 4,5 points when doing the tests in the experiment and a moderate percentage (10 students = 27%) could get the average mark because the teacher still uses the traditional methods in teaching reading lessons Only students (8,1%) get good mark after months with different tests about relative pronouns and clauses It is obvious that without innovating techniques to practice during grammatical classes, little progress is seen in this group after a term 14 Graph Result of tests after months of the first groups (11G) *Test in January 2021, the beginning of the experiment 25 23 Test in Jan Test in Apr 20 16 15 10 10 10 6 very weak weak average good * Test in April 2021, the final test after the experiment’s time The graph shows and compares the results of the two tests taken at the beginning of the experiment in January 2021 and in April 2021, after a term of the second group As can be seen in the graph, this group of students has made great progress in grammatical tests about relative pronouns and clauses after a term thanks to the applying the new methods and mind maps From the compared numbers, it is clear that the number of students with very weak and weak points has reduced from 35 (77,8%) to 16 students (35,6%) While, the number of students getting average grade has significantly increased, from students (20%) to 23 students (51,1%) students (13,3%) have got good mark in the reading test at the end of the year, compared with only student (2,2%) at the beginning 15 Graph Compare the results of two groups through the test in April 2021 *Group 1: the controlling group *Group 2: the experimental group 25 23 Group test in Apr Group test in Apr 20 16 15 10 10 10 6 very weak weak average good The graph compares the results of the test in April of the two groups, after a term applying solutions with group In the graph, the most outstanding feature is the number of average students in the experimental group, 23 students ( 51,1%), more than double the number of the controlling groups with only 10 students (27,%) While, it is easy to see that the percentage of very weak and weak students in the group is only 16 students (35,5%), compared with 24 students in the group (64,9%) The number of students reaching good mark in group is twice as high as the number of group (6 students of group but only of group 1) It can be seen clearly that application of mind maps and new methods, the quality of the second group has been improved significantly after a term PART IV CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS Conclusion On the whole, from the result gained before and after the application of the new ideas in the study, the quality of each grammatical lesson about relative 16 clauses in grade 11 has been significantly improved The number of very weak and weak students has dropped drastically from 24 (64,9%) students to 16 (43,2%) students The number of students gaining good grades doubled from (8,1%) to (16,2%) students All these are evidences to prove that the introduced mind maps and new methods to help student improve their quality of the grammatical lessons and the attitude of the students Suggestions The study has been carried in months with groups of students Through the results, the researcher suggests that the following proposals should be implemented so that the quality of grammatical classes and tests, especially types of exercises related relative clauses could get better in the following academics years For the teachers, they should, before the class, make the lesson plans carefully, apply the new techniques which have been experimented with good feedback in this study to guide students during grammatical class In addition, it’s necessary for them to use the suitable mind maps in each grammatical lesson THE PRINCIPAL'S CONFIRMATION Thanh Hoa, May 5th 2021 Undertaking not to copy Nguyễn Thị Xuân 17 REFERENCES: English vocabulary in use (Michael McCarthy/ Felicity O’Dell, Cambridge University Press) Harmer, Jeremy: The Practise of English Language teaching, Longman, 1993 Longman: Preparation course for the TOEFL TEST – Deborah Phillips Fundamentals of English Grammar – Betty Schrampfer Azar Understanding and using English Grammar – Betty Schrampfer Azar 18 DANH MỤC SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM NGÀNH GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO HUYỆN, TỈNH VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả: Nguyễn Thị Xuân Chức vụ đơn vị công tác: Giáo viên Tiếng Anh – Trường THPT Nguyễn Thị Lợi, Tp Sầm Sơn, tỉnh Thanh Hóa TT Tên đề tài SKKN MỘT SỐ GIẢI PHÁP NÂNG CAO CHẤT Cấp đánh giá xếp loại (Ngành GD cấp huyện/tỉnh; Tỉnh ) Sở GD&ĐT Thanh Hóa Kết đánh giá xếp loại (A, B, C) Loại B Năm học đánh giá xếp loại 2016 2017 LƯỢNG SINH HOẠT CHI BỘ TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT NGUYỄN THỊ LỢI 19 ... exams Relative pronouns and relative clauses To help students exercises better, I use some mind maps to teach relative pronouns and clauses: 2.1 Types of relative clauses and pronouns Relational clauses. .. types of exercises related to relative clauses Therefore, I decided to choose the topic: ? ?Relative clauses with types of exercises and some tips? ?? 1.2 Practical reasons With the direction of the... .3 2.1 Types of relative clauses and pronouns 2.2 Use of the relative pronouns Some suggestions to doing types of exercises effectively 3.1 Completing each blank with