This assignment focuses on your ability to analyse language for teaching purposes and to devise ways of checking meaning with students.
Analyse the following language items: NB Target language is underlined; where the examples are paired, you will need to contrast them. 1. I was going to phone you yesterday, but I forgot. 2. She must have gone home by now. 3. Lend us a fiver will you? Do you think you could see your way to lending me £5.00? 4. She’s phoned 3 times today. She phoned 3 times today. 5. We’ve run out of milk. Don’t worry. I’ll get some on my way home.
Include the following in your analysis: 1. Generative context 2. Meaning 3. Form 4. Phonetic Transcription 5. Concept checking questions (with answers), and, where appropriate, time lines, diagrams, pictures, etc 6. Typical student mistakes and student problems (and possible reasons) 7. Level at which you would teach this language
Example of analysis: She shouldn’t have walked home alone 1. Context: A woman student in Brighton walked home by herself late at night and was mugged. She was carrying a lot of cash, didn’t tell her friends she was leaving the disco and walked down some dark steps.
(How many examples of should (n’t) have… can you make?) 2. Meaning: Completed past action, which was considered inadvisable by speaker. 3. Form: should (not) + have + past participle (walked) modal negative present perfect 4. Phonemic transcription
Note: contraction “n’t” and weak form of “have” /v/ 5. Concept checking questions • Did she go home by herself? Yes • Was it dangerous? Maybe • Was it a good idea? No 6. Typical mistakes and student problems • Confusion with other modals re meaning e.g. she mustn’t have gone home alone last night • Confusion with form modal + verb e.g. she shouldn’t go home alone last night