Testing using articles

2.4 Testing using articles.

Presenting the rules of using articles and doing different exercises are only primary activities. At the output phase every teacher needs information about the learners’ grammar skills. For assessing learners’ knowledge and ability to use the articles appropriately different testing techniques can be used. Such as:

1) Multiple-choice tests. In this type of exercise the pupils are asked to select from the forms given the one that makes the sentence correct from the forms they have studied the one required for a given context.

Multiple choice exercises can be used on all grade levels with increasing difficulty of content and form. Some sample exercises follow.

The learners have to select the correct variant.

to have

a. dinner b. the dinner c. a dinner

to go by

a. a car b. car c. the car

We found him at…

a. work b. the work c. a work

I have no pen at…

a. hand b. a hand c. hand

2) matching. This type is similar to the multiple choice type in that the pupils have to choose from the forms given the one that completes the sentence or the word-combination correctly. Instead of having several choices for each blank, however, there is usually an equal number of beginnings and endings of sentences or word-combinations. Once unscrambled, there is one correct ending for each beginning. Before starting doing this type of exercises the teacher should present a number of fixed phrases to the class, such as to have dinner, hand in hand, to go home and others. Here are some sample exercises.

1.  day and a. the better

1.  to have a b. hand

2.  the sooner c. morning

3.  in the d. headache

4.  sun and e. cold

5.  catch a f. night

6.  hand in g. moon

3) sets. The learners are asked to read the lists of expressions. It is necessary to find the mistake in each list.

in the morning to leave town the Pacific Ocean

on the earth by chance the Lake Baikal

side by side from left to right at hand

the Black Sea at t he work arm in arm

4) completion exercises. This type of exercises requires more of the pupils than either the multiple choice or the matching type. In this type, the pupils are asked to supply the missing part of incomplete sentences.

Put in a/an, some, or the.

One day last month I was driving through the countryside, I saw … man and … truck next to … covered bridge. … bridge crossed … small river. I stopped and asked … man, “What’s the matter? Can I be of help?”

“Well,” said … man, “my truck is about a half inch too tall. Or … top of … bridge is a half inch too short. Either way, my truck won’t fit under … bridge.”

“Hmmm. There must be … solution to this problem,” I said.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to turn around and take another route”.

After a few moments of thought, I said, “Aha! I have … solution!”

“What is it?” said … man.

“Let a little air out of your tires. Then … truck won’t be too tall and you can cross … bridge over … river.”

“Hey, that’s … great idea. Let’s try it!” So … man let a little air out of … tires and was able to cross … river and be on his way.

5) The task is to choose one of the topics from those given below. The pupils should pay special attention to the use of articles.

“My Family”

“At School”

“My Working Day”

“My Holidays”

“Seasons and Weather”

Opportunity should be given for the pupil to express his own thoughts and ideas in these exercises. Though the pattern is there to limit or control the language he uses, he should be encouraged to express what he thinks, using the vocabulary he knows and the situations he is familiar with. It is only when the speaker feels that he is communicating his real purpose and intention that language has meaning for him.

In conclusion, it should be said that everything a pupil writes as a test must be easy for him because he is asked to write only those which he already knows thoroughly.

It cannot be stressed strongly enough that none of the above types of tasks can be used as tests if the pupils were not taught to do them in the process of learning the target language.

The results of my investigation show that there is no easy, systematic way to learn articles. They are best learnt through examples, word combination, phraseological units, and practice of different exercises. Teachers of English should draw pupils’ attention to articles in all possible ways. Here are some advantages you may wish to highlight:

-  more information about using articles,

-  more examples,

-  often have grammar exercises,

-  illustrations to teach lexical sets,

-  have some exercises.

There is no “magic” way to learn articles. The best way to approach them is through regular and extensive practice. Exercises presented will give pupils practice in both understanding the meaning and using articles appropriately in context. [7:53; 11:138]

Conclusions

The article is a form-word of the noun, and serves to specify it. There are two articles in Modern English: the indefinite article and the definite article. The use of these articles depends mainly on whether you are referring to any member of a group, or to a specific member of a group. Another important, and so far unsolved problem is the question of teaching articles.

The indefinite article has two forms: a and an. The form a is used before words beginning with a consonant. The form an is used before words beginning with a consonant. The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel. The indefinite article originated from the Old English numeral an (one). As a result of its origin it is used only with countable nouns in the singular.

The indefinite article is used before a noun when we name an object referring it to a class of objects having this name or when a person or thing unknown to the hearer or reader is mentioned for the first time.

The definite article has one graphic form the. It originated from the demonstrative pronoun that; it is used with nouns both in the singular and in the plural. The definite article is used before a noun when a particular object is meant which we single out from all the other objects of the same class or with a noun if it is clear from the context or situation what particular object meant.

While some nouns combine with one article or the other based on whether they are countable or uncountable, others simply never take either article. No article is used with nouns preceded by possessive, demonstrative or interrogative pronouns as well as the pronouns some, any, no, each, every. Zero article is used with a noun in the plural if the indefinite article was used in the singular, with the names of seasons, months and the days of the week. But when these words have limited attribute, they are used with the definite article. The article is often omitted in newspaper headlines and in a number of set expressions.

Another important, and so far unsolved problem is the question of teaching articles, as there is no easy way of teaching and learning articles. Only through different exercises pupils can learn how to use articles correctly.

Анотація

 

Курсову роботу присвячено особливостям викладання теми «Артикль». В англійській мові перед іменниками вживається особливе службове слово – артикль. Відповідно ця робота розкриває поняття про означений та неозначений артиклі, різницю між ними, основні особливості вживання, випадки коли артикль відсутній, тобто нульовий артикль. Також увагу звернуто на різноманітні вправи для вивчення, вдосконалення та перевірки правильності використання артиклів.

Мета цієї роботи розкрити і описати поняття про артиклі; відмінності у вживанні; способи викладання теми « Артикль»; шляхи подолання труднощів у процесі викладання.

Відповідно до мети поставлено наступні завдання:

·  розкрити поняття про артикль;

·  визначити основні відмінності у використанні артиклів;

·  описати способи викладання теми « артикль».

Перший розділ роботи розкриває поняття про неозначений (якщо особа чи предмет згадуються вперше), означений (якщо з ситуації, попереднього досвіду або з контексту зрозуміло про який предмет іде мова) та нульовий артикль (коли артикль опускається). Другий розділ розкриває шляхи та методи викладання теми « артикль», способи пояснення даної теми, характеризуються вправи для вивчення даної теми, способи контролю та способи подолання можливих проблем. В другій частині своєї роботи я навела приклади вправ, які допоможуть вчителеві урізноманітнити процес пояснення даної теми та зацікавити учнів, спонукаючи їх до активної співпраці.

List of References

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8.  L. G. Alexander. Longman English Grammar. Longman. 1998.

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12.  Sidney Greenbaum, Randolph Quirk. A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman. 1990.

13.  Английский артикль и его роль в грамматике текста. Шмелинг Д. А. // Иностранные языки в школе. №6. 1978.

14.  London And Its Places of Interest. Svitlana Kochergina // English. №41(425), 2008

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16.  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/esl/eslart.html