Teach English in Longtanhe Zhen - Zhangjiajie Shi

For this summative task, I chose the subject which relates to sentence structure, because I see it as an important point in the journey of English language learning. The syntax is situated on the grammar side of the English language which refers to the correct ordering of words in a sentence to be able to achieve an understandable construction to native speakers. Sentence structure is following a set of predefined rules and processes to govern the context. There are multiple ways to write a sentence while maintaining the rules of grammar. The arrangement of words in sentences, clauses, and phrases, and the study of the formation of sentences must be in relationship with their component parts. Sentences are usually constructed from phrases or groups of words that have a closer relationship to each other than to the words outside the phrase. A sentence consists of a subject and a predicate. At the most basic level, the English sentence structure follows a simple rule, we have a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and then we have a verb (what is that subject doing/did/will do). For example in the sentence "Joey sings wonderful songs", here "Joey" is the subject of the sentence and "sings wonderful songs" is the predicate. The simplest way to begin teaching sentence structure to English students is to provide pictures of people or objects and pictures of actions and have the students put the two together. Many children begin learning English by memorizing words and phrases; it’s our responsibility as teachers to ensure that the students understand the meaning and usage of the words. As teachers, we must include more vocabulary than what’s available in a child’s textbook, and instruct students how to alter sentences to fit different situations. Just because a student knows a word doesn’t mean he or she knows how to use it in a sentence. English speakers learn syntax through repetition before they learn the parts of speech and rules of grammar. Young ESL students generally have little understanding of nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs in their native languages, so there isn’t a reason to teach them that the adjective must precede the noun. The students will, however, notice that colors come before objects in a sentence through recognition of repeated sentence structures. As this concept is reinforced through classroom exercises, the students will utilize the structure when creating their own sentences as they continue learning the language. When the structure is reinforced at a younger age, ESL students will develop a natural inclination to use the correct syntax. As students get older and progress with English, it becomes more difficult to correct syntax problems. Putting students to review the vocabulary and phrases from the curriculum constantly will give them the ability to replace one or two words in a sentence and this will help reinforce the structure of the sentence through basic memorization, also it is important to give it a lot of practice time applying their knowledge of sentence structures. Now I will talk a bit about sentence structure levels. These can be exemplified in four tiers as follows: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex. Simple sentences are formed from a single subject and a single Verb, it must show one independent clause and express a complete thought. Example: Joey drinks juice. Compound Sentences are formed from two independent clauses joined with a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon; both of these clauses express a complete thought. The conjunction stands as a word used to connect sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause. Conjunctions are: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So, also please note that a comma (,) must usually come before the coordinating conjunction. Example: Joey drank lemon juice, but Amy drank cola. Complex sentences contain one independent and at least one dependent clause (sometimes called a subordinate clause). An independent clause is a phrase that would make sense if it were a sentence on its own, whereas a dependent clause will not form a sentence on its own. When these two types of clauses appear in a sentence, we achieve a complex sentence. Example: Although Joey was considered dumb, he passed all his exams. Compound-complex sentences are the most sophisticated type of sentence we can use. A compound-complex sentence is comprised of at least two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses, another important factor is to use correct punctuation because they are normally longer than other sentences. Example: Though Joey prefers to swim in the sea, he made a monthly subscription to the college pool, and he enjoyed it very much. Overall sentence types, especially complex and compound-complex need a lot of time to learn, but if they are taken slowly success can be achieved by both young or old learners.