FOCUS ON GRAMMAR

A FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR SERIES

3

AUTHORS

Renu Anand Nasiruddin Khan

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First Edition published in 2015

ISBN: 978-93-83821-30-3

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FOREWARD How do children learn a language? Is learning language a conscious process or is it a development that takes place prior to the threshold of conscious learning? The jury is still out on this issue. For every Coleridge who painstakingly taught himself German, there is a comatose Russian teenager who acquired flawless Polish ‘listening’ from his hospital bed to the chatter of neighbourhood Polish construction workers. All we can say is that a sound pedagogical practice appears to be one that tries a variety of ways to teach a language. In this language teaching-learning context, a series like Focus on Grammar presents pedagogical grammar in a graduated series. In today’s classroom, young learners are exposed to the formal as well as the functional aspects of language. They listen to stories and carry out teachers’ instructions given in English. They sing nursery rhymes and learn to recognise the alphabet and spell words. These activities introduce them to the English language. However, it may be expecting too much from them to understand the way English works. This is where a series like Focus on Grammar is useful. By introducing learners to grammatical categories, Focus on Grammar provides a framework which learners can fill in with diverse language inputs and grasp the way English functions. While the creators of this series work with the firm conviction that a carefully administered dose of grammar is crucial to maximise language learning, they make it eminently palatable to young learners. Much like a good pediatrician who makes the jab of the needle almost painless by her sweet-talk and the toffee she offers to the child, the authors make learning of grammatical categories a pleasant experience. iii

Grammatical items are presented through stories from learners’ cultures, interesting anecdotes created by the authors, illustrations and familiar daily routines. Elements of English language, presented in these meaningful contexts, are then reinforced through a variety of activities: puzzles, quizzes, and dialogues. There is a logical progression of items from the first to the last chapter, from the simple to the complex aspects of language use. The other organising principle is the relevance of language inputs to the learner. The authors have ensured that the language used in the series is simple and contemporary. This will ease the transition from the passive to the active use of English, which is the other major aim. In these books, the teaching of Grammar graduates into the teaching of writing as it should. The authors initiate learners into the process of writing by asking them to supply a suitable word or two to complete a sentence meaningfully. Following that, they are encouraged to write a sentence on their own, and finally, they are made to compose a meaningful paragraph. Focus on Grammar will make the teacher’s job of helping young learners study English considerably easy. For this reason, it is a valuable addition to the English curriculum at the primary and the secondary levels. Dr. T. Samson Associate Professor The English and Foreign Languages University Hyderabad

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PRE F ACE One often hears linguists claim that the grammar of a language is caught and not taught. However, a large number of teachers as well as learners of English as a foreign/second language often seem to express a concern whether a foreign language can be acquired and used correctly without close familiarity with its rules. Focus on Grammar is a planned series of eight books for students, offering a different treatment of pedagogical grammar, for it approaches the subject primarily from a functional perspective. The term ‘functional’ refers to an approach to understand grammar that focuses on how the language works, which in turn helps to achieve a communicative purpose. Each unit covers a specific grammar point in a clear and contextually relevant manner. This gives the learners ample opportunity to understand and actualise the use and the meaning of the given concept. The units follow a recognisable pattern of imbibing a concept through three steps. In Focus: Each new concept is presented to the learner to perceive form and meaning, putting it into his/her short-term memory. Remember: This enables the learner to understand various aspects of the structure, its meaning and helps focus on its functions. Let’s Do: This in turn helps the learner to understand the new structure with minimal teacher support, putting it into his/her long-term memory. The authors are of the view that while language-learning is the focus of the series, the context should remain meaningful to the learner. Thus, the content in this series has been chosen with the following points in mind. Information and Education: Covers a wide range of topics, including famous v

personalities, important places and events, science and technology, sports, animal life, etc. Learning through Fun: Contains especially-written pieces – traditional, folk and fairy stories, quizzes and dialogues. Social Relevance: Includes discussions on environment, pollution and civic sense, etc. The Read and Understand and Learning to Write section seeks to develop the learner’s ability to read and assimilate a given text, and use the acquired knowledge to produce a piece of writing. Finally, the series has been designed to be ‘teacher-friendly’ so that it is unambiguous and can be easily used by educationists and facilitators alike. –Authors

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CON T E N T S

1.

Common and Proper Nouns

1

2.

Common Nouns: Number

8

3.

Common Nouns: Gender

10

4.

Nouns: Possessive Form

12

5. Pronouns

14

6.

Short Forms

20

7.

Adjectives

22

8.

Verbs: Present Tense

29

9.

Framing Questions

36

10. Verbs: Past Tense

42

11. Adverbs

50

12. Articles

58

13. Vocabulary

62

14. Punctuation

65

15. Prepositions

67

16. Conjunctions

69

17 Comprehension and Composition

73 vii

Key Features Learning Tools

IN FOCUS

REMEMBER

Presentation of new concepts

Explication of rules

LET’S DO Adequate practice

Extended Learning

READ AND UNDERSTAND

LEARNING TO WRITE

Passages for comprehension

Guided composition

Making Learning Meaningful

FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR

HOLISTIC LEARNING

REVIEW

Contextualised practice

Cross-curricular content

Exercises for recapitulation

New Features

BUILDING KNOWLEDGE BANK

TEACHING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Informative passages

Passages highlighting social issues

INTERESTING ACTIVITIES Stories, quizzes for students to enact

1

UNIT

COMMON AND PROPER NOUNS

IN FOCUS

1. Look at the picture given below. Name the people, places, animals and things you see in it. b___r__m

bedroom g___

t___l

c_ _ _ _

__b_ d_g b_y t____p____ w___r

REMEMBER

t____b____ t_p

Naming words are called Nouns. They are names of people, places, animals, birds and things. Common Nouns refer to people, things, animals or places that are of the same kind. e.g., man, park, cat, duck, book etc.

NOTE TO THE TEACHER Before you ask the children to complete the words, get them to first identify what they see. Unit 1 | Common and Proper Nouns

1

LET’S DO

2. Write suitable naming words in place of pictures in the story given below as shown. crow a ______,

A

__________ and a

__________ in the

a

flew away. The

__________ climbed up the

__________ was too slow. The

The

__________ __________. The

__________ caught it. He put it

__________. He took the snake to his

__________.

__________ saw what the hunter was doing. It told the

__________. The The

__________. They were good friends.

__________ came to the forest. The

One day a

in a

__________ lived on

__________ went to the hunter’s house at night.

__________ was fast asleep. The __________ and saved the

__________ opened the

__________.

NOTE TO THE TEACHER Before you ask the children to complete the story, get them to first identify the pictures and narrate the story orally.

2

Unit 1 | Common and Proper Nouns

3. Arrange common nouns from the story on the previous page in the four columns given below. Person

Place

Animal/Bird

Thing

4. Read the story given below. Circle the special naming words in it.





Ashish is reading a book. The name of the book is The Eskimo Twins. The book is about Minny and Monnie. The two boys are five year-old twins. They live in an Eskimo village. Minny and Monnie’s father, Kesshoo, is a brave hunter. Their mother Koolee makes clothes and shoes out of the skins of the animals, which Kesshoo hunts. Meghna comes to meet Ashish. “What are you doing?” she asks. “I am reading a book,” says Ashish. Meghna is going to see a film. “I have an extra ticket for The Lion King. Will you come with us?” she asks. "Yes. I will. Thank you," says Ashish.

REMEMBER

Unit 1 | Common and Proper Nouns

Special names of people, places and animals are called Proper Nouns. Proper nouns begin with capital letters. Note: Names of books and of films are also Proper Nouns. We use capital letters for the first letter of each word in the title of a book or the name of a film. 3

LET’S DO

5. Read the story given below. Circle common nouns in red and proper nouns in blue as shown.

Samy is a little boy who lives in Kolkata. Every year Samy goes to Darjeeling for a holiday. This year Samy’s family is not going for a holiday. They are looking after Samy’s grandmother. She is ill.



Samy’s neighbour, Ritu, has a pet dog. She takes her dog to Samy’s house. “I’m going to Mumbai. Please look after Ruff,” she says.



Ravi brings his parrot. “Will you keep Chatterbox for a few days, please?” he asks.



Selvi’s turtle, Gupchu, comes to stay at Samy’s house too.



Even Varun, Samy’s best friend, asks him to take care of his rabbit while he is away for a few days. Samy is happy to help.

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Unit 1 | Common and Proper Nouns

6. Rewrite the following story using capital letters for special naming words. manu, ishita, arun, bejoy, anna and varun are friends.

They live in a block of flats.



Every sunday they go down to play. Sometimes they go up and down in the lift. ratan, the liftman, gets angry. He shouts at them.



Last week manu got a puppy. He calls him ken. This sunday the children are playing in the park with ken. ____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________

Unit 1 | Common and Proper Nouns

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IN FOCUS

7. Look at the pictures given below and read the phrases under them.

a litter of puppies a bunch of grapes REMEMBER

The words litter and bunch are Collective Nouns. A collective noun refers to a group of people, animals or things taken together.

LET’S DO

8. Look at the pictures and to write missing word in each phrase.

a bunch of __________ a string of __________

a herd of __________

a shoal of __________

a pack of __________

a pride of __________

a choir of __________

a brood of __________

a flock of __________

NOTE TO THE TEACHER Let the children speak the phrases aloud. This can be done as a group task.

6

Unit 1 | Common and Proper Nouns

9. Look at the pictures and write the collective noun for each group of people, animals or things. You may choose the words from those given in the box. bunch bouquet swarm pack

flock

flight

team

herd

(a) We presented a __________ of flowers to the Chief Guest. (b) A ____________ of bees attacked the boys.

(c) A _________ of sheep is grazing in the field.

(d) Mother has lost her _____________ of keys.

(e) The boy ran up the _____________ of stairs.

(f) A _________ of elephants destroyed the crop. (g) Here is a _____________ of cricket players ready to play a match.

(h) A _____________ of wolves looked after Mowgli in the jungle. Unit 1 | Common and Proper Nouns

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FOCUS ON GRAMMAR

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A Functional Grammar Series Focus on Grammar is an eight-level course in Functional Grammar, introducing learners to the building blocks of language. The series reconciles traditional and modern approaches to the teaching of grammar. Unique to this Series Ÿ Simple, clear explanation of grammar rules Ÿ Activity-based tasks, including word grids and puzzles to enhance classroom interaction Ÿ Number of picture-based exercises for practice Ÿ Holistic learning through cross-curricular content Ÿ Inculcating moral values and social responsibility through carefully written passages Ÿ Review exercises at regular intervals Ÿ Separate section on comprehension and guided composition for acquisition of the mechanics of functional and creative writing

Renu Anand, is a veteran of the education sector and publishing industry. She has authored several textbooks for use in schools and universities in India. She has worked extensively with CBSE for developing material and Teacher Training for ELT and CCE programmes. Nasiruddin Khan, has over 30 years of experience of teaching English and developing textual materials for various stages of school education as part of his professional work at the Languages Department at N.C.E.R.T. Mr Khan regularly conducts teacher training programmes for teachers of English.

ISBN: 978-93-83821-30-3

9 789383 821303

Price ` 116.00

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