Learning Passive Voice - Research Paper Example

Learning Passive Voice: materials that focus learners attention on and practice of passive voice PART INTRODUCTION Without grammar, nothing can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed (Thornbury, 1997; pp 56). It is meanings we wish to communicate, and meaning is expressed through vocabulary. When we hear an unfamiliar language being spoken, it seems to be a continuous stream of sound, with just few breaks. It is partly our syntactic but primarily our lexical knowledge that enables us to break down the continuous signal into separate stretches and make sense of them. We use the words we recognize as islands of knowledge, and try to build bridges from one to another. When it is our turn to communicate, the search for the right words to express our meaning can be intensely frustrating. Grammar of a language can be defined as a model, a systematic description of those linguistic abilities of the native speaker of a language, which enables him to speak and understand his language fluently. The linguistic abilities are the competence of the speaker which subsumes semantic, syntactic and phonological abilities. Language is studied as an internalized system that is the product of human mind. The ultimate goal is to exercise the nature of the internalized linguistic system which enables humans to speak and understand the native language. Grammatical terms are meant to simplify communication among specialists, to classify words and group of words in ways that make understanding grammar easier. Central to the study of grammar is grammar point, which is a term that refers to the pivotal elements of grammar. This includes Nouns, Articles, Quantifiers, Relative, clauses, Gerunds and Infinitives Passive (Azar, 2005; pp 78). The point of focus is passive voice, which is characterized by the structure of sentence with respect to subject, object and verb relationship. Passive voice finds a lot of applications in the current communication context, hence the need for mastery. This material presents a design for of materials that focus learners attention on passive voice. In this project, sixteen students between ages 9 and 11 will be taught. The language level is intermediate since they have passed the beginners level of introduction to English vocabulary. For these children, learning English grammar will involve constructing sentences from active to passive voice. The terms involved in passivization will not only help them understand how English works but also explain the details of English grammar considering the various constituents or elements that makes up sentences in English. The prerequisite of this lesson is mastery of basic sentence construction. There are various aspects that are central to processes of understanding passive voice, as a grammar point and which learners will need to know. The aspects of particular interest include the meaning of passive voice, basic structure of passive voice sentences and the context of application of passive voice. PART 2: DEFINING PASSIVE VOICE Passivization is the process of converting an active sentence into a passive one. The normal sentence order in English is S-V-O (Subject-verb-object). In most sentences, this is the order. Have a clear understanding of the relationship between the subjects and object will enable students understand the passive voice (Thornbury, 1997; 45). In simple, subject refers to the performer of the action while object refers to the place, thing or person, which is changed by other elements. The following example is important in elucidating this. For example; i) Mary baked the cake In this case, Mary is the subject, since she is the element that initiates the action. The cake is the object since it is the point of impact. Passivization in English moves an object into the subject position and that the active sentence subject may then appear in an agent by phrase. In this intermediate level, students will need to construct as many English sentences as possible within a chosen subject area to familiarize with the SVO order. Students can make constructions based on a particular city or town that is well known to them. After this, they will even be able to follow the steps for activating the passive voice. For example; ii) [Dad] [bought] [the knife] (active) S V O iii) [The knife] [was bought] by [dad] (Passive) O V S By often interacting with passive voice in a variety of semblances, the students become at ease in making use of passive voice and can continue on to really use it in verbal communication. The subject area must be defined and limited so that the task will not be too difficult. It is advisable to let students choose the subject because; students will improve their identification of the distinction between the passive sentence and active sentences with a special concentration to the past simple, the present and present simple, participle structures. They will also actively be able to evaluate passive structures .Students will swiftly examine the language used to communicate judgments (Butler, 2000; 177). Another thing is that Students will understand the use of passive voice by initially making guesses about the city and then extracting certain facts about the city in question. The focus of learning is directed at passive skills suited to the contexts of talking about something. PART 3: COMMON PROBLEMS IN LEARNING PASSIVE VOICE Students will have problems in the use of passive form in production practical. Being the class in intermediate level, students have primarily concentrated on obtaining spoken skills in the active voice. In this course, the teacher will choose the slight focus area of talking about a city to direct student toward a particular topic in the speaking context concerning. Another problem is that students might be inclined to placing the subjects of the passive sentences following the participle as they have been conditioned to considering objects to come after the verb. Learners may also have a hard task in to distinguish passive voice from present perfect active. Learners may alternate /d/ for /t/ in certain participle finishing with verbs like ‘send’. Depending on the region one comes from, making alterations in the subject, object and verb relationship can be a big problem. The results could be grammatical errors and sentences that do not make sense. PART 4: ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES RELATED PASSIVE VOICE EXERCISES A secret to mastery of passive voice lies in the observation of learning activities, which are informed by various learning models. It is imperative for the learners to go through these activities. These are documented as follows. For every activity, students should seek follow up exercises as guided. a) Guided noticing by the learner using examples This method involves dictogloss, or a form of dictation whereby students listen to the whole passage or spoken text and then reconstruct it again. Unlike traditional dictation where the teacher reads and transcribes clause-by clause or sentence by sentence, learners in this case are expected to process the whole of the text themselves. What the teacher intends the students to do is capturing the meaning rather than blindly memorize the whole thing. Practical 1: In regard to the activity, students should consult the article below and single out at least five (5) sentences that are passive voice. It is worth acknowledging that various studies have investigated the impact of music on the heart rate. In these studies, music has been applied in inducing stress or relaxation. Preceding studies have all shown that music can have a significant impact on the hart rate, as well as respiration. However, the techniques and elements that have been utilized in the investigations leave out a lot to question, as well as explore. It has been demonstrated the demonstrated that there is a significant relationship between the heart rate and music, and this depended on the type of music. In another study, 36 students were randomly selected and tested how their respiration activities and heart rate were affected by various genres of music. The study established that each music genre promoted the rate of respiration, as well as heart beat, but failed to find evidence of music genre reducing the heartbeat rate. Nevertheless, the study went further to infer that music could be utilized as a therapeutic agent to impart desirable changes on the heart beat and respiration complications. Music has a powerful coordinating impact on the functioning of the body. It could alter the rate of respiration and even heart rate, regardless of whether the body is at exercise or at rest. The afferent receptor feedbacks that are associated with the respiration processes could be changed by the personality, emotional state and behaviors of a person, all of which could be manipulated by music. In the cases of fatigue or stress, music is often accompanied by a distractive stimulus that diverts the attention towards the fatigue; hence, regulating the heart rate. In this case, regulation could include increasing or reducing the heart rate, yet the study fails to specify which music would reduce or increase heart rate. Practical 2: learners are required to respond to the following passage by rewriting them in passive voice Passage 1 John and Mary are planning for their wedding. Mary is against the wedding because it is an expensive affair in which they will have to strain their resources, organize fundraising meetings which are expensive and tedious to host. John decides that they see a marriage counselor, preferably a pastor to convince Mary to change her mind. Fortunately, Mary’s cousin happens to be a trained counselor. He calls the couple, counsels them and Mary gets convinced. The two continue with their wedding arrangements and are happily married (Alspach, 2007; pp 45). Passage 2 One of the widely suggested approaches to effective organization management is proficient leadership. Indeed, the pivotal position of leadership in the achievement of organizational success cannot be disputed. Any forms of organization failure are now attributed to failed organization leadership. Proficient leaders are those with the capability of enabling a group or an organization to make it, and this includes all the proficient managers. Areas that are particularly critical and that need proficient leadership pertain to the changing organization environment, the need to uphold desirable ethical organization culture, as well as the challenges and uncertainties that accompany the globalization process. Leadership is expected to drive organization and deliver them to success through such a demanding environment. Of course, not just any form of leadership would be appropriate. In this regard, I suggest that there is the need for organizations must seek to nurture organization leadership through formal and informal learning programs. b) Noticing from a text or “noticing the gap” Noticing the gap is very important in second language learners since the teacher is able to recognize the weaknesses of the students in regards to the subject. A teacher will distinguish between errors, mistakes, and slips of the tongue that learners make. Often the most common error is overgeneralization of rules. Practice: In class session, students would be asked to compose off-head passive voices sentence and present them aloud. c) Controlled drill leading to automatization and other remaining activities This involves using a sequence of oral drills. It is a sequence representing a classic progression of controlled drills. The teacher controls the language and dictates who speaks and when. The two types of control are considered important in audio-lingual practice if learners were to gain control over a targeted sentence pattern. The students are required to repeat the teacher’s model, first in chorus and then individually. This also related to the remaining activities Practice: The teacher will read the following work aloud and will be repeated by the students. Then the students would identify whether the sentence is in passive voice, giving a reason for the choices. Part 1: sentences 1. The lion came in leaps and Bound (adapted from Alspach (2007: pp 64) 2. The piece of work was well executed. 3. Men, we are done! Part 2: paragraph The evolution of the world has been accompanied by various developments. Some of widely acknowledged developments are the trending computer technologies. Currently, the popularity of computer technologies continues to grow, and this is depicted in their applications in various spheres of life. These include information and communication, as well as in the service automation and production. People are now increasingly looking to computers to improve current living conditions. For instance, in order to align the globe to sustainability, policy makers have widely asserted that the success rests upon technological development and innovation. They have asserted that only technology has the potential of increasing production efficiency, as well as reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution. It has further been argued that computer technology is everything that the world needs and this is depicted by the emphasis laid on various forms of technological capacity development. As if not enough, it is a common acknowledgement that technology has the capacity of improving education, communication and healthcare delivery. Besides, security departments are also looking to technology to curb crimes; road transport is looking to computer technologies to curb road carnage through detection and punishment of reckless drivers and so on. The list seems endless. One point that cannot be disputed is that the achievement of all these rests upon desirable supercomputing characteristics. Computer manufacturers have responded equally well by striving to produce unsurpassed systems in terms of performance. Such a race has given birth to state-of-the-art computer such as the Cray cool computers. This paper presents a report of performance evaluation of the cool computers. References Alspach G. (2007) Critical care nurses as coworkers. Are our interactions nice or nasty? Critical.Care Nurse. 27:10, 12-14. Azar, B. (2005). Basic English grammar. White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman. Butler, L. (2000). Grammar links 1: A theme-based course for reference and practice. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Hader R. (2009) Bullying is not found on the playground. Nursing Management 3(1): 40-46. Thornbury, S (1997), About Language: Tasks for Teachers of English, Cambridge Teacher And Training Development. Cambridge   Read More