Khóa luận How to teach countable and uncountable nouns to the first year non-English majors of Hai Phong private university

Nội dung text: Khóa luận How to teach countable and uncountable nouns to the first year non-English majors of Hai Phong private university

1. Hai phong private university Foreign languages department ISO 9001 - 2008 Graduation paper How to teach countable and uncountable nouns to the first year non- English majors of Hai Phong Private University By: Lê Thị Ngời Class: na903 Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Huyền, ma Hai phong, 2009 1
2. Bộ giáo dục và đào tạo Tr•ờng đại hoc dân lập hải phòng Nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp Sinh viên: Mã số: Lớp: Ngành: Tên đề tài: 2
3. Nhiệm vụ đề tài 1, Nội dung và các yêu cầu cần giải quyết tronh nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp ( Về lý luận, thực tiễn, các số liệu cần tính toán và các bản vẽ) 2, Các số liệu cần thiết để thiết kế, tính toán. 3, Địa điểm thực tập 3
4. Cán bộ h•ớng dẫn đề tài tốt nghiệp Ng•ời h•ớng dẫn thứ nhất: Họ và tên: Học hàm, học vị: Cơ quan công tác: Nội dung h•ớng dẫn: Ng•ời h•ớng dẫn thứ hai: Họ và tên: Học hàm, học vị: Cơ quan công tác: Nội dung h•ớng dẫn: Đề tài tốt nghiệp đ•ợc giao ngày tháng năm Yêu cầu hoàn thành tr•ớc ngày tháng năm Đã nhận nhiệm vụ Đ.T.T.N Đã giao nhiệm vụ Đ.T.T.N Sinh viên Cán bộ h•ớng dẫn Đ.T.T.N Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm Hiệu tr•ởng 4
5. Phiếu nhận xét tóm tắt của cán bộ h•ớng dẫn 1. Tinh thần thái độ của sinh viên trong quá trình làm đề tài tốt nghiệp 2. Đánh giá chất l•ợng Đ.T.T.N ( so với nội dung yêu cầu đã đề ra trong nhiệm vụ Đ.T.T.N trên các mặt lý luận , thực tiễn, tính toán giá trị sử dụng, chất l•ợng các bản vẽ) 3. Cho điểm của cán bộ h•ớng dẫn: ( Điểm ghi bằng số và chữ) Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm Cán bộ h•ớng dẫn chính (Họ tên và chữ ký) 5
6. Nhận xét và đánh giá của cán bộ chấm phản biện đề tài tốt nghiệp 1. Đánh giá chất l•ợng đề tài tốt nghiệp về các mặt thu nhập và phân tích số ban đầu, cơ sở lý luận chọn ph•ơng án tối •u, cách tính toán chất l•ợng thuyết minh và bản vẽ, giá trị lý luận và thực tiễn đề tài. 2. Cho điểm của cán bộ phản biện ( Điểm ghi bằng số và chữ) Ngày tháng năm Ng•ời chấm phản biện 6
7. Table of contents Acknowledgement. Part one : introduction 1) Rationale 1 2) Aims of the study 2 3) Scope of the study 3 4) Methods of the study 3 5) Designs of the study 3 Part two : development. Chapter one : Theoretical background I. English nouns. 1) What is noun ? 5 1.1 Definition 5 1.2 Types of nouns 6 1.3 Proper nouns 7 1.4 Common nouns 7 2) How to identify countable and uncountable nouns 8 2.1 What is countable noun? 9 2.1.1 Categories of countable nouns 10 a) Collective nouns 10 b) Proper nouns 10 c) Concrete nouns 10 d) Abstract nouns 10 2.1.2 Using articles with countable nouns 10 2.1.3 Using the singular form of the verb with a singular countable noun 11 2.2 What is uncountable noun? 11 2.2.1 Categories of uncountable nouns 11 a) Concrete nouns 11 b) Abstract nouns 12 7
8. c) Collective nouns 12 d) Non-plurals with ―s‖ 12 2.2.2 Using articles with uncountable nouns 12 3) Noun which can be either countable or uncountable nouns 14 3.1 Differences in meaning 14 3.2 Referring to objects or material 15 3.3 Referring to something specific 15 3.4 Nouns endings ―- ing‖ 15 3.5 Selected uncountable nouns and their countable equivalents 16 3.6 Normally uncountable nouns used as countable nouns 16 3.6.1 General partitives 17 3.6.2 Specific partitives 17 II) Techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns 18 1) Lecture and discussion methods 18 2) Pair and group work 19 3) Games and simulations 19 4) Pictures 20 5) Instructional media 20 Chapter II : The study on learning and teaching English at Hai Phong private university I. Reality 22 1) Context 22 2) Teachers 22 3) Students 22 4) Teaching and learning condition 23 5) The design and focus of the English the book “Reward” 24 II Survey questionnaires 25 1) Method of survey 25 8
9. 2) Objectives of survey 25 3) Data analysis 26 3.1 The surveyed students ‘general attitudes toward English 26 3.2. Current situation of studying techniques an English countable and uncountable nouns lesson 29 3.3. Students‘ expectations about a new teaching method 33 4) Findings and discussion of findings. 37 Chapter three : Some suggested techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns for the first year non- English majors I. Reasoning 39 II. Suggest activities for teaching 39 1 Teaching through visual aids 39 2 Teaching by pictures 41 2.1 Example application for teaching by picture 41 2.1.1 Explaining the difference about meaning 42 2.1.2 Explaining the partitives 43 2.1.3 Picture discussion 45 3 Teaching through games 46 3.1 Activity1 47 3.2 Activity 2 48 3.3 Activity 3 48 4 Finding words 49 4.1 Word search 49 4.2 Crossword 50 4.3 Guess the word 51 4.4 Chain recipe 52 4.5 Get rid of it 53 4.6 Creating a poem 54 4.7 Cross out the words 54 9
10. 4.8 Short talk 56 4.9 Original metaphors 57 5 Nouns quiz 58 6 Extract nouns 58 6.1 Extract nouns from sentences 58 6.2 Extract nouns from paragraphs 59 Part III : conclusion 61 References Appendix 10
11. HAI PHONG, JUNE 2009 Acknowledgements In the process of implementing my research paper, I have received a lot of help , encouragement and experiences from teachers and friends . Especially , my graduation subject now is completed successfully thanks to all teachers‘ support in Hai Phong Private University (HPU ). First of all , I would like to express my sincere thank to my supervisor Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huyen, M.A who has generously given me invaluable assistance and guidance. Without her help, this paper will not successfully done. Besides, my sincere thank is also extended to all the teachers in Department of Foreign language for their lectures supporting this study, Simultaneously, my thank to all the students who help me fulfill the survey question. Last but not least , I am grateful to my family and friends who have given me much encouragement during the time I carried out this paper Students Ngoi Le Thi Ngoi 11
12. Part one : introduction 6) Rationale English is a global language used by millions of people all over the world. Obviously, English connects people, shortens the distance and makes every body closer and closer. In modern society , it is considered as an indispensable language in the process of communicating with various kinds of people from different courtesies. Mastering English is the best way for us to have a great deal of opportunities to reach the success in life. As a matter of fact , it is not easy to study well a foreign language like English. Almost students have difficulties in studying vocabulary at first. In fact, studying vocabulary well is one of the key which helps learners step by step discover this interesting language. To the beginners, vocabulary is the most important role in integrating four basic skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. In order to use English as an effective tool in communication, students have to equip an quite enough knowledge about vocabulary, including meaning, form, word form and grammar. A lack of vocabulary development affects students' reading comprehension and their writing skills, influencing future success and career choices. Vocabulary learning particularly affects the success of English learners; Studying English nouns as the foreign language comes lot of difficulties for the learners. The store of various vocabulary is really complicated, some of them are easy but some are so difficult to understand and memorize. Especially, students have difficulty in studying English countable and uncountable nouns. For one thing, the determination of what nouns are countable and what nouns are non-countable is by no means universal. For instance, although somebody can advise us several times, we can't say they give us advises, although that would translate quite nicely into several other 12
13. languages. We would say, in English, that they give us advice. In some languages, it makes sense to sit in a restaurant with a friend and ask for waters (and get two glasses of water) — something that would sound quite peculiar in English. There fore, teaching countable and uncountable nouns for learner requires a special teaching action and teaching methods completely different from those for. Here the object I want to focus is the 1st non- English majors In my opinion the most important aspect of countable and uncountable nouns teaching for advanced learners is to foster learner independence so that learners will be able to deal with new lexis and expand their vocabulary beyond the end of the course. Therefore guided discovery, contextual guesswork and using dictionaries should be the main ways to deal with discovering meaning. Due to my English knowledge limitation and the frame of the graduation paper, I make a sketchy presentation on some effective methods of studying countable and uncountable nouns with hope that this can help the 1st year non- English majors in Hai Phong Private University. In the future time, they will study English for special purpose which requires lots of vocabulary. From the above reasons, I would like to choose the research paper entitled : ― how to teach countable and uncountable nouns to the 1st year non- English majors of Hai Phong Private University‖ to help the mentioned students as well as others enrich their English countable and uncountable nouns. 7) Aims of the study The main goal of my research paper is to provide some suggested techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns for the first year non- English majors to make students more interested in the lesson as well as to master learnt knowledge of that lesson in an effective way. In order to gain that aim, the specific objects of the study are: 13
14. To study the theory of countable and uncountable nouns, its usage and some techniques for teachers to apply. To get known about the reality of teaching and learning English at Hai Phong Private University with specific facts and figures. To provide some suggested techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns for the first year non-English majors. Basing on those findings, the study also includes suggested applications for teaching. 8) Scope of the study In fact, there are lots of various techniques to study English countable and uncountable nouns. It requires much of time and effort. However, due to the limitation of time, resources and knowledge of mine, this study can only focus on study some effective techniques in studying English countable and uncountable nouns for the 1st year non- English majors in Hai Phong Private University. 9) Methods of the study To complete this graduation paper, a series of methods have been applied: Collected references, books and websites related to teaching English and documents were analyzed in details to form the theoretical back ground this paper. A survey questionnaire is conducted for the first year students and teachers of English at Hai Phong Private University, the information from which has invaluable. Suggestions experience from my supervisor Mrs.Nguyen Thi Huyen, MA, other teachers and my understanding at Hai Phong Private University and gained experience in training course. 10) Designs of the study The study is divided into three mains: Part one is INTRODUCTION that indicates the rationale for choose this topic, pointing out the aim, the scope as well as the methods of the study. Part two named THE STUDY, which consists of three chapters: 14
15. - Chapter1: ― Theoretical background‖ focuses on the way teaching English grammar and techniques to teach. - Chapter 2; ―The study on learning and teaching English at Hai Phong Private University‖ refers to the survey questionnaire and analyzed findings of questionnaire‘s results. - Chapter3: ―Some suggested techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns for the first year non-English majors‖ that contains some techniques to teach countable and uncountable nouns through pictures and some more suggested activities. Part three is CONCLUSION in which all the issued mentioned above are summarized. Briefly, part 1 has referred to rationale , aims, scopes, method and designs of the research paper. In the part 2, the study will focus on the literature review , the study on learning English of the 1st years non- English majors in Hai Phong Private University and some suggested techniques to teach countable and uncountable nouns. 15
16. Part two : development. Chapter one : Theoretical background I. English noun. 1) What is a noun? 1.1 Definition. There are many definitions about noun: By Christine Lehman, eHow Editor, a noun is a part of speech that can be either a person, a place or a thing. Nouns are perhaps the easiest part of speech to pick out. Thus, they are one of the first parts of speech taught to elementary school children. Schoolhouse Rock, known for its catchy yet educational songs, has one devoted to identifying nouns. Another definition of noun is provided by A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum, Longman Group: ( Essex, England. 1993) : ― a noun tells us what someone or something is called. For example, a noun can be the name of a person (John); a job title (doctor) ; the name of a thing (radio) ; the name of place (London) ; the name of quality(courage); or the name of an action (laughter; laughing). Nouns are the names we give to people, things, places, etc in order to identify them. Many nouns are used after determiner, e.g. the , a, this, and often combine with other words to form a noun phrase ; E.g. the man next door, that tall building, According to Lexico - Grammatical Difficulties of English by Deeva I.N. Leningrad.1976, A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Whatever exists, we assume, can be named, and that name is a noun. A proper noun, which names a specific person, place, or thing (Carlos, Queen Marguerite, Middle East, Jerusalem, Malaysia, Presbyterianism, God, Spanish, Buddhism, the Republican Party), is almost always capitalized. Common nouns name everything else, things that usually are not capitalized. A group of related words can act as a single noun-like entity within a 16
17. sentence. A Noun Clause contains a subject and verb and can do anything that a noun can do: What he does for this town is a blessing. A Noun Phrase, frequently a noun accompanied by modifiers, is a group of related words acting as a noun : the oil depletion allowance ; the abnormal, hideously enlarged nose. There is a separate section on word combinations that become Compound Nouns — such as daughter-in-law, half-moon, and stick-in-the-mud. 1.2 Types of nouns. All nouns fall into one of two classes. They maybe either proper nouns or common nouns. _ Some nouns referring to one particular person or place are called proper nouns, and they always have a capital letter. (The word "proper" comes from French proper meaning "one's own".) Most proper nouns do not have the in front of them. _ Nouns that are not proper nouns are called common nouns. _ Some nouns are the names of things or people that you can point to, see, or touch: chair, house, book, train, frog, astronaut. These are called concrete nouns. _ Some nouns refer to qualities and conditions we cannot point to or see or touch: anger, goodness, youth. These are called abstract nouns. _ Nouns can be further classified as to whether they are countable or uncountable (or mass). _ There is a small group of nouns that seems to bother some people. These are collective nouns like committee, government, audience, team. They describe a "group" or "collection". Noun can be conducted by the following diagram: 17
18. nouns Proper Common (Oxford) (Raincoat) countable Uncountable (Child) (Happiness) ―According to the book: grammar for teachers ( John Seely 2008 )‖ To sum up: nouns can be proper or common, countable or uncountable. 1.3 Proper nouns A proper noun is used for a particular person; place, thing, or idea which is , or is imagined to be unique. It is generally spelt with a capital letter. Articles are not normally used in front of proper nouns. Proper nouns include, for example; Person name; President Kenedy, Mr Andrew Smith Forms of address; Mum, Dad, Uncle, Fred Geographical names ; Asia, India, Wisconsin Place names; Madison Avenue, Regent Street Months , days of the week, festivals and seasons; Sunday, Monday, January, March, The Spring or Spring.(Seasons are usually spelt with a small letter but sometimes with a capital) For other names; financial time, 1.4 Common nouns. Common nouns refer to persons, places, or things, used in a general sense. They are written with a capital letter only when they begin a sentence, or are part of a name, such as in an organization, a business, a newspaper, address, etc. A common noun is the opposite of a proper noun. We can 18
19. use a/an, the, the zero article in front of common nouns. The residents along Elm Street don‘t have nightmares anymore. (elm and street are both common nouns, but are the name of a particular place.) Sarah liked to eat at the Bowl and Roll Restaurant because they had organic food. (bowl, roll, and restaurant are common nouns used in the name of a business.) The Dark Ages came before the Renaissance. (renaissance, dark (adjective), and ages are common nouns, but here they're used as specific historic eras.) 2) How to identify countable and uncountable nouns. In English, as in many other languages, we consider some things countable and some things uncountable. If something is countable, it can have a plural form; if it is uncountable, it can not have a plural form and the singular form is used to refer to any quantity. Some of the things which we consider uncountable in English are: abstractions, ideas, emotions, gases, fluids, materials with particles too small to be conveniently counted, and fields of study. In other language, we may have the same concept of countable and uncountable nouns as English, but we may not put items in the same category as English does. So, students have to learn how to distinct which countable or uncountable noun is because it affects other grammar principles as well. For example, you have to determine whether to use ―a little‖ or ―a few‖ before the noun. Even though noun is the basic concept of English grammar, it will cause other problems with English grammar which may not be problems for native speakers (even uneducated ones), but which may cause problems for foreign students. The distinction we make here between count and non-count is important for two reasons: it makes a difference whether we use an article with the noun or 19
20. not and the meaning of the word can change depending on whether it's being used in its count or non-count form. All common nouns fall into one of two sub-classes; They maybe either countable nouns (sometimes known as unit or count noun) or uncountable nouns (sometime as mass or non-count nouns). The distinction between countable and uncountable nouns is fundemental in English, for only by distinguishing between the two can we use understand when to use singular or plural forms and when to use the indefinite, definite, and zero articles; a/an, the and zero or the appropriate quantifier; a few, much, many, Unfortunately , we can not always rely on common sense (using the idea of counting as a guide) to tell us when a noun is countable and uncountable . For example, the noun ―information‖ is uncountable in English, but its equivalent in another language may refer to an item or items of information and will there fore be countable. E.g. Experience is uncountable, but we refer to an experience to mean event which contributes to experience: They want someone with experience for this job. I had a strange experience the other day. Many nouns which are normally uncountable can be used as countable nouns in certain contexts. This suggests that strict classifications of nouns as countable and uncountable are in many cases unreliable. It would be better to think in term of countable and uncountable uses of nouns. For detailed information about individual nouns, consult a good dictionary. 2.1 What is countable noun? Countable nouns refer to people, places, or things that can be counted (one dollar/two dollars, one book/two books). They can always be made plural—usually by adding -s or some other variation of the plural ending (criteria, countries, children). A few words are the same in both the singular and plural forms (deer, sheep). 20
21. 2.1.1 Categories of countable noun. a. Collective nouns are countable. She attended three classes today. London is home to several orchestras b. Some proper nouns are countable. There are many Greeks living in New York. The Vanderbilts would throw lavish parties at their Newport summer mansion. c. Countable nouns are individual objects, people, places, etc. which can be counted. Almost countable nouns refer to things we can see, touch, or measure as : table , chair, tree, These are called concrete nouns - Persons, animals, plants: A girl, a horse, a geranium - Objects : A bottle, a desk, a type writer - Groups : A army, a crowd, a herd - Units of measurement : A franc, a kilo, a litter, a meter - Parts of a mass : A bit, a packet, a piece, a slice d. Countable nouns . refer to things we can‘t see , touch, or measure as : plan, comment , shock, these nouns are abstract nouns. This is list of countable abstract nouns: Address effect Election House Idea Issue Method Minute Month Plan Problem remark Scheme Shock Suggestion Week year Almost abstract nouns in English are uncountable. These are words that name quality, idea, or feeling instead of a person, animal, place or thing. (Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners of English, 2002) 2.1.2 Using articles with countable nouns. 21
22. A countable noun always takes either the indefinite (a, an) or definite (the) article when it is singular. When plural, it takes the definite article if it refers to a definite, specific group and no article if it is used in a general sense. E.g. The guest of honor arrived late. You are welcome as a guest in our home The guests at your party yesterday made a lot of noise. Guests are welcome here anytime. 2.1.3 Using the singular form of the verb with a singular countable noun: There is a book on the table. That student is excellent! Using the plural form of the verb with a countable noun in the plural: There are some students in the classroom. Those houses are very big, aren't they? 2.2) What is uncountable noun? Uncountable nouns often refer to food, beverages, substances, or abstractions (meat, tea, steel, information); some uncountable nouns (but not the abstract ones) can be made countable by adding a count frame in front of them (two gallons of milk, six blocks of ice, a bar of soap, and a bottle of coke). 2.2.1 Categories of uncountable nouns The category of uncountable nouns corresponds largely with the category of singular a tantrum as employed by Graband (1965). He includes in this group all the nouns, which have no plural form. a) Nouns naming tangible things which are thought of as substances: names of substances considered generally Bread Beer Cloth Coffee Cream Dust Gin Glass Gold Ice Jam Oil Paper Sand Soap Stone 22
23. Tea Water Wine Wood These nouns are concrete nouns (when understood in their undivided sense). E.g. The price of oil has stabilized recently. May I borrow some rice? b. Nouns naming intangible things which normally cannot be counted: Advice Beauty Courage Death Experience Fear Help Hope Horror Information Knowledge Mercy Pity Relief Suspicion Work These nouns are abstract noun. because they refer to things you cannot see, hear, or touch. E.g. The price of freedom is constant vigilance. Her writing shows maturity and intelligence. c. Some nouns non- plurals with „s‟ are uncountable nouns. Uncountable noun do not have regular form and take a singular verb. The singular category includes uncountable nouns and proper nouns. However, there are some nouns non- plurals with ‗s‘ are uncountable nouns. They are still used with singular verb. Here are some nouns used as above. Mathematics Economics Physics Civics Ethics Mumps Measles News Tennis (other games) d. Nouns naming groups of things which in English are referred to collectively also considered uncountable in English Baggage Camping Damage Furniture Luggage Parking Shopping Weather News 2.2.2 Using articles with uncountable nouns 23
24. Uncountable nouns never take the indefinite article (a or an), but they do take singular verbs. The is sometimes used with uncountable nouns in the same way it is used with plural countable nouns, that is, to refer to a specific object, group, or idea. E.g. Information is a precious commodity in our computerized world. The information in your files is correct. Sugar has become more expensive recently . Please pass me the sugar. These nouns can be used to refer to individual things by being preceded by a countable noun and the word of. For example: Uncountable nouns Referring to Individual Thing Information a piece of information Wheat a grain of wheat Milk a glass of milk Sunlight a patch of sunlight News a bit of news Soap a cake of soup Oil a drop of oil Glass a pain of glass paper a sheet of paper These nouns maybe , of course, be put into the plural. For example: Singular Plural one piece of information two pieces of information one grain of wheat three grains of wheat one glass of milk four glasses of milk one patch of sunlight five patches of sunlight - A noun that cannot be used freely with numbers or the indefinite article, and which therefore takes no plural form. 24
25. 3) Noun which can be either countable or uncountable nouns. Many English nouns are used sometimes as countable nouns and sometimes as uncountable nouns. Nouns which can be either countable or uncountable include nouns which may have different shades of meaning; normally uncountable nouns which are used to refer to types of things; and a few nouns which refer to places used for specific activities. 3.1) Differences in meaning. Many nouns are uncountable when they refer to something as a substance or a concept, but are countable when they refer to an individual thing related to the substance or concept. For instance, cake is used as an uncountable noun when referring to cake as a substance, but is used as a countable noun when referring to individual cakes. E.g. Cake and ice cream is my favorite dessert.(uncountable ) This afternoon we baked two cakes.(countable) Similarly, life is used as an uncountable noun when referring to life as an abstract concept, but is used as a countable noun when referring to individual lives. E.g. Life is full of surprises. It was feared that two lives had been lost. In the first sentence life is an uncountable noun, and in the second sentence lives is a countable noun. Here is the list of nouns meaning above : Bone Cabbage Cake Chicken Chocolate Cloud Cord Egg Fish Fog Fruit Lettuce Muscle Onion Powder Pie Pudding Ribbon Rock Rope Stew Stone String Thread Toffee wine 25
26. 3.2) Referring to objects or material E.g. a glass/ glass, an ice/ ice; an iron/ iron ;a paper/ paper. When we use such nouns as countable nouns, we refer to a thing which is made if the material or which we think of as being made of the material, when we use them as uncountable, we refer to only the material Countable (thing) Uncountable(material) I broke a glass this morning. Glass is made from sand. Would you like en ice? Ice floats. I‘ve got a new iron. Steel is an alloy of iron. What do the paper say? Paper is made from or general. 3.3) Referring to something specific or general. As countable noun , these nouns refer to a something specific He has had a good education. I need a light by my bed. As uncountable noun ,the reference is general Standards of education are falling Light travels faster than sound. Countable(specific) uncountable(general) Try not to make a noise Noise is a kind of pollution. Some countable nouns like this can be a plural(a light/ lights ,a noise/ noise). Other nouns (education/knowledge) cannot be plural; as countable noun they often have some kind of qualification (a classical education, a good knowledge of English) 3.4) Nouns endings “-ing” ―-ing‖ forms are generally uncountable, but a few can refer to specific thing or event. Countable(specific) Uncountable (general) 26
27. Are these drawings by Goya I‘m no good at drawing He has a reading of her poems Reading is taught early A few –ing forms are only countable ; a thrashing , a wedding. 3.5) Selected uncountable nouns and their countable equivalents. Some uncountable nouns cannot be used as countable noun to refer to a single item or example. A quite different word must be used; Uncountable Equivalent countable. Bread A loaf Clothing A garment Laughter A laugh Luggage A case, a bag Poetry A poem Money A coin, a note Work A job 3.6) Normally uncountable nouns used as countable nouns Many nouns which are normally uncountable can be used as countable noun if we refer to particular varieties . When this occurs, the noun is often preceded by an adjective (a nice wine) or their is some kinds specification( a wine of high quality) This region produces an excellent wine ( a kind of wine which ) Kalamata produces some of the best olive oil in the world It‘s an oil of very high quality (a kind of oil which ) The north sea produces a light oil which is highly prized in the oil industry. Normally , uncountable nouns used exceptionally as countable noun can also occur in the plural This region produces some awful wines as well as good ones 27
28. I go out in all weathers Note: also many words for drinks, which are uncountable when we think of them as substances. Beer/ coffee/tea is expensive these days. How ever, we can sometimes use a/ an to mean (egg; a glass of ) or numbers in front of these words, or we can make them plural for example when we are ordering in a restaurant; E.g. A (or an) beer, please. Two teas and four coffees , please. This is done by means of parities. Partitives are useful when want to refer to specific pieces of an uncountable substance, or to a limited number of countable items. They can be singular (a pieces of paper; a box of matches ) and are followed by of when used before a noun. The most useful are: 3.6)1. General partitives. Word such as piece and (less formal) bit can used with a large number of uncountable noun (concrete or abstract) Singular ; apiece of/ a bit of chalk/ cloth/ information/ meat Plural; pieces of / bits of chalk/ cloth/ information/meat. 3.6)2. Specific partitives. - Specific items or a mounts: A roll of paper; A slice of meat; A portion of food; A bar of chocolate soap; A block of cement; A book of matches/stamps; A cake of soap; A cloud of dust ; A few of these can be re- express as compounds: E.g. A sugar lump - Containers used as partitives: A bag of flour; A box of matches; A cup of coffee; A bag of flour; A box of matches; A cup of coffee A pot of tea; A barrel of beer; A basket of milk; A can of beer;,,,,,,,,,, 28
29. Most of these can be re-expressed as compounds; A jar jam; A match box; A tea pot, to describe the container itself. Thus ―a teapot‖ describes the container ( which maybe full or empty ) while a pot of tea describes a pot with tea in it. - Small quantities used as partitives: A blade of grass; A breath of air; A dash of soda ; A grain of rice; A drop of water; A pinch of salt. - Measures: A kilo of sugar; A meter of cloth; A length of cloth; A little of oil ; An ounce of gold; A pint of milk; A pound of coffee ; - A game of: A game of football, table tennis, volleyball, cards, chess - Abstract concepts: A bit of advice; A fit of anger; A branch of knowledge A piece of research ; A period of calm; A spot of trouble; - Types and specifics: A kind of biscuit; A species of insect; A type of drug; - A pair of: A pair of gloves, boots, glasses, knickers, pants, jeans, scissor, shoes, shorts, trousers, skates, slippers, socks ,stockings, II. Techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns. Teaching techniques are the ways in which the information to be learned is presented. Teaching techniques vary in terms of the medium ( text book, video, computer, etc, ) structure of the program, how the teacher operates, and how progress is monitored and tested. The teaching techniques that is best for the students is often not economically feasible , especially in terms of public schooling. Reducing class size is expensive , and many schools don‘t have the budget to maintain small classes. Similarly , the teaching resources best suited to the students, such as the latest technology , may not be available to the teacher, teachers must find the best techniques to teach the students using the resources available to them. These are popular techniques for teaching English countable and uncountable nouns : 6) Lecture and discussion methods 29
30. One of the most common teaching techniques is the lecture method. It is the most economical method of transmitting knowledge , but it does not necessarily hold the students‘ attention or permit active participation . However, lectures can be effective, if supported by texts and other references. The discussion method is favored in university. Discussion not only helps teaching material, but also develops the thinking process, promotes a positive attitude to wards learning, and develops interpersonal skills. 7) Pair and group work Group work is a common teaching technique , especially at the elementary level. Organizational arrangements place students to gether in groups within the classroom to improve the learning conditions. Traditionally, group work has been the most effective approach to teaching grammar and basic math. The teacher follows a detailed program of instruction and example, and the group work to gether to respond to the questions presented to them. Verify the way to divide the group , let students change their partners and members regularly. Maybe in the same table ,maybe two rows face to face , maybe boys only , girls only, maybe you count and arrange who are number , in group, number 2 in another group, the more partners they communicate, the more information they can catch. 8) Games and simulations Because games and simulations are fun, teachers have sought to use them as an effective way to foster learning. Card and board games are popular to help teach basic grammar and arithmetic skills, while simulations teacher the principles of complex systems , such as economics, international relations, 30
31. and power struggles. Simulations tend to focus on current social issues, or historical events. What makes simulations so effective is that they teach problem solving and decision, making strategies in addition to the facts and principles that define the game. Simulations are becoming increasingly popular for teaching new types of skills. Simulations can create conditions nearly identical to the actual situation. A common example of this type of simulation is a flight simulator, which introduces pilots to potential situations and problems. 9) Pictures . Pictures are all around us everyday , in the street, in office, at home, so why not in the classroom as well. They are enjoyable, they are useful kind of visual aid in teaching. They prevent teaching activities from being boring and help to draw students‘ attention. However , besides these advantages , using pictures has its own disadvantage . Teacher has to spend much time to look for the suitable pictures for each content. The used picture must make sense, clear and easy to observe. Teacher can take advantage of pictures right in the text book or find different set of pictures. 10) Instructional medias. Instructional media serves a teaching aid. Teachers spend much times on repetitive tasks such as collecting and assigning books, making, and preparing worksheets, tests, and lesson plans. Instruction aids help reduce the time spent on these routine tasks, allowing more time to be spent promoting students‘ understand and intellectual curiosity, and providing feedback to them. - Computer assisted instruction. 31
32. Teaching using a computer has many virtues: it is patient, positive, does not forget, and can keep track of each students‘ progress . however, the long-term benefits of computer assisted instruction is still unclear. - Speaking- listening media. When the students are occupied with writing notes during the lecture, critical thought about the material is inhibited. Media can help supplement the lecture technique by allowing the students to become actively involved with the material being covered. Language laboratories are type of speaking –listening media. - Visual and observational media. Many students , especially visual learners, benefit from materials such as pictures, diagrams, charts, graphs, cartoons, posters, slides, and video. Demonstrations and experiments also help reinforce learning. 32
33. Chapter II The study on learning and teaching English at Hai Phong private university I) Reality. 1) Context. In my opinion , teaching is interdependent relationship between the teachers, the materials he/she uses and the students. In addition , teaching and learning condition is also important. All of those factors are really decisive in bringing success to lectures. 2) Teachers. Hai Phong Private University has young teaching staff. So does it have for the teacher of foreign language department. However, they have much experience in teaching language students. And they always prepare their lectures carefully and thoughtfully. More ever, they wish to bring interesting lectures for their students. Sometimes, they also spend time taking about the importance of English that is not only a subject in the course but also a helpful subject for their future. Particularly, for the foreign language department, there are two foreign volunteer teachers from Gap Activity Projects every year. They are all enthusiastic in teaching. 3) Students. The university has more than 6000 students enrolled in 14 different departments. Currently, nearly 1400 non-English majors are studying in the first year at university. They have studied at the English environment for several years. So, they really know about the importance of English in their life. And they always make their best efforts to catch up with other classmates. 33
34. I can find their activeness and eagerness in an English lesson. They are quite good at learning English even speaking skill, because it is a very important skill ,they suppose. They, however, seem to pay attention to English grammar. This is due to the fact that all of them have to learn in order to pass the examination. 4) Teaching and learning condition. At Hai Phong Private University, each classroom of the first year non- English majors is equipped a radio and many English cassettes, especially with a lot of teaching aids and spaces. All infrastructures are in good condition : classroom is large and bright enough, chairs and tables are quite comfortable and wide enough. The 35 - 40 students in an Toeic class is advantage for teacher to control. In addition, teaching aids is always available when necessary such as cassette players, micros, pictures, headphones and especially there are two projectors which are always ready whenever they need to use. Of course, the teachers also have different classrooms to teach with projectors which are larger and equipped with more appliances. It is the reason why students have more chances to get approached to facilities and to improve their English better. In this university, there also have equipped- library where teachers and students come and borrow the books, newspapers, and magazines. In class time, especially English periods ,teachers often use visual aids .That‘s why their lectures attract their students ‘attention and it appears quite exciting to the students. Additionally, the teachers sometimes use projectors to make English lessons more interesting and effective. Especially , there is a lab where students study English every week. This is an outstanding advantage for them to study English. Teachers often organize English contests to encourage students to express their abilities. Moreover , there are many useful activities such as organizing some small festival such as Halloween, Christmas to play together, exchange knowledge and relax. Sometimes , they have many 34
35. chances to study and talk with foreigners. It is a good condition to help them improve their four skills. Besides, they can learn the way of communication of foreigners rapidly. With good understanding , it is really a advantageous factor which help them to talk and understanding each other easily. It can be said that the study conditions are quite enough and convenient for students to study English effectively. These factors have great influence on the results of students in general and the 1st year non- English majors in particular. To sum up, Hai Phong Private University is a good environment to practice English. It always leaves an unforgettable impression on people who visit it the first time. It is really the best choice for teachers and students to work in. 5) The design and focus of the English the book “Reward” In the school, non-English majors have been working with the newest pilot material textbook. It consists of forty units which are theme-based and eight consolidation units .Each unit has following parts:  Reading and vocabulary: presents a 350-400 word text that helps students get acquainted with the theme of the unit, provide grammar, vocabulary, and developing reading skill.  Listening : It gives maybe a text or dialogue related to the theme of the unit. Its aim is to practice listening skill. Additional , this part also helps correct pronunciation ,consolidate grammatical structure.  Speaking : This part consists of activities for practicing speaking skills such as : pair work, group work, individual, Of course, students will communicate up to linguistic function and the theme of each unit.  Writing: This part has many exercises that can support students‘ writing skill up to different types of paragraphs such as ; letter, narration, data description, etc  Language focus: is formed from two subparts: pronunciation, grammar 35
36. and vocabulary. o Pronunciation: is to review the way of pronouncing vowels and consonants. o Grammar: refers to grammatical structures that are focused in that unit . It can be practiced in the form of exercises or communicating. Eight consolidation units are presented in the test yourself form. These are designed so that students can check their own knowledge after learning 1-5 units and help teachers design a 45-minutes test. II. Survey questionnaires. 1) Method of survey. In this survey , I used survey questionnaire to get information. In this survey questionnaire, two sets of questionnaire are conducted (one for students, one for teacher) . For teachers : there are 5 questions to find out o Their attitude toward studying an English countable and uncountable nouns lesson (importance, effectiveness, ) o Which techniques is used in teaching countable and uncountable nouns and its effectiveness. . For students: there are 10 questions conducted in order to study o Their general attitude toward English o Their general attitude toward countable and uncountable nouns ( frequency, importance, effectiveness ) o Their expected activities for studying countable and uncountable nouns. II) Objectives of the survey. The general goal of this study is to have a right look at current situation of teaching countable and uncountable nouns to the first year non- English majors of Hai Phong Private University in order to find out better teaching techniques. 36
37. This survey has following purposes:  To do research teachers‘ and students‘ attitude and expectations about teaching countable and uncountable nouns through some techniques.  To study how to teach countable and uncountable nouns to the first year non- English majors of Hai Phong Private University. 3) Data analysis. The number of students taking part in the survey is one hundred and fifteen. They are all studying at Hai Phong Private University. The participants of this study were 115 first year non- English majors attending Hai Phong Private University. They are at the elementary level. The two teacher participants; one is faculty members at the university, one is visiting lecture from public college , with their teaching experience ranging from 7 years to 15 years. 3.1 The surveyed students’ general attitudes toward English. 3.1.1 Students’ interest in learning English. No 11% Yes 89% Question 1: (appendix1) Do you like learning English? This question to find how students are interested in learning English and just 11% give native response to this question. Most students see the importance and the demand of English (89%) so, they are so fond of learning this subject. Moreover, English is an interesting foreign language. Most of students who gave negative response me that they don‘t like English because they found it 37
38. difficult to master the understanding. From that point of view, we teachers should have useful techniques to transfer. 3.1.2 Students’ opinions on what they have obtained after learning nouns lessons. 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Boring Interesting Difficult Question 2: ( appendix2 ) What do you think about English nouns ? The results indicate that 45% the students faced up with difficulty in studying nouns. Additionally, when being interviewed, a large number of the students affirmed that ― English is a difficult subject, especially its vocabulary. It concludes a lot of aspects, such as form, meaning, grammar, It is not easy to memorize ‖. Normally, they often learn theoretically. Even their teachers also use simple techniques to teach as lecture and discussion. However, they will easily understand it in some extend. Although it took them lots of time and effect, the results were not effective as they had expected. The effectiveness of this method is not still high and make students have to spend much time. Because they do not know to explain it clearly in a concrete situations. Naturally, 25% of them feel boring with noun lessons. This leads to a status like this – Students do not pay attention to the lessons and lose many knowledge. However, 30% of them have interesting with countable and uncountable nouns lesson. This shows that studying English countable and uncountable nouns is not difficult. It maybe that teaching method do not have effectiveness. 38
39. 3.1.3 The importance of English countable and uncountable nouns 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% very important important not very important not important Rate 29% 58% 8% 5% Question 3: ( appendix1, question 1,appendix2 ) How important do you think about English countable and uncountable nouns ? These questions are to find the attitude of both students and teachers toward an English countable and uncountable nouns lesson. Looking at the bar chart, we can easily see that both teachers (100%) and students (87%) agree that an English countable and uncountable nouns lesson is important. It is like a part of the body that we can not miss. Whereas, just 8% of the students said that an English countable and uncountable noun lesson is not important. From this result we can assert that it is important to study an English countable and uncountable nouns lesson. 3.1.4 Students’ understanding about Vietnamese countable and uncountable nouns. Yes No Question 7: (appendix 1)As for you, are there differences between countable and uncountable nouns in English and in Vietnamese? 39
40. The result shows that 72.6% of them mistake between countable and uncountable nouns in Vietnamese and English. Only 27.4% agree that there is difference between countable and uncountable nouns in English and Vietnamese. On basically, countable and uncountable nouns in English and Vietnamese have some similar point. However, some nouns in Vietnamese are uncountable but in English they are countable. For example, ―tỉnh‖ in Vietnamese is countable while ―sách‖ is uncountable. Cake in English is countable while bread is uncountable. In fact, students often use countable and uncountable nouns based on mother language. There fore, they easily make mistake in using countable and uncountable nouns. 3.2 Current situation of studying techniques an English countable and uncountable nouns lesson. 3.2.1 Difficulties often faced by teachers when teaching countable and uncountable nouns. 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% teaching students' teaching others method questions condition Rate 67% 8% 20% 5% Question 3: (appendix 2) Which difficulties do you have when teaching countable and uncountable nouns ? According to the bar chart, the percentage of teachers who have difficulties in teaching method is 67%. 20% of them considered that teaching conditions often make a lot of difficulties for them, such as: teaching equipment, environment around, while students‘ questions only account 8% 40
41. and other factors is 5%. Like this, teaching method is the most difficult problem teachers have to face when teaching countable and uncountable nouns. 3.2.2 Difficulties often faced by students when studying countable and uncountable nouns. 50 40 30 20 10 0 Difficult Easy Very another Rate % 18.5 25.9 50 5.6 Question 4 : (appendix 1) How difficult level do you think in using countable and uncountable nouns? This question to find out the difficult level in using countable and uncountable nouns. The chart shows that students still confuse because of misunderstanding in using countable and uncountable nouns.50% of them say that the distinguish of countability is very difficult and 18,50 % say that it is difficult and still in a jumble between countable and uncountable nouns. 5,6%of them in another ideas. They still wonder it is in easy or difficult because they don‘t have condition and opportunity in using these types of nouns and hope that more reading we are, more familiar we have. According to the date of translation from Vietnamese to English and vice – verse, we recognize that students make mistake about the uses of using noun and their combination in context. 41
42. 80 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 wrong % 75 50.9 66.7 72.2 right % 25 49.1 33.3 27.8 Question5:(appendix 1) Which difficulties do you have in using countable and uncountable nouns? 1 Distinguish the countability and uncountability of nouns 2 Determiner before nouns 3 Compound nouns 4 Order words of nouns in countable structure. This question to find out the mistakes which students have in using countable and uncountable nouns. This chart shows that students making mistake about distinguish the countability and uncountability account the highest rate(75%), using determiner before countable and uncountable nouns is wrong with the rate of 50.9%( caused by defining wrongly about countable and uncountable nouns), mistake about compound nouns (66.7%) is caused by wondering about the combination and distinguish between noun‘s countability and main noun. The last column shows that students choose wrongly countable structure in English order words. 40 38.4 35 30 27.3 25 20.5 20 15 13.8 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 42
43. Question 6 (appendix1): What make students feel more confused between countable and uncountable nouns ? Answering this question to check students‘ understanding in using countable and uncountable nouns. According to chart, 38.4% of students think that places used for specific activities make them confuse between countable and uncountable nouns, while 27.3% is in differences in meaning, and nouns‘ objects or materials is 20.5% . Only 13.8% of students say that equivalents between them cause confusing between countable and uncountable nouns. In fact, to use countable and uncountable nouns correctly, students must understand both four factors above ; because they have closed relation in a context. 3.2.3 Teachers’ opinion in using many techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns. Yes No Question 4: (appendix2) According to you, should we use many techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns? According to the pie chart, 90% of teachers agree that we should use many techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns. Only 10% of them do not agree with that. When being interviewed, 10% of them say: ―if we use many techniques in a lesson, students will have to promote ability and be easy to tired . However, using many techniques in a lesson can make the 43
44. period more vividly‖. There fore, we can affirmed that this is the useful method for teachers to have an effectiveness lesson. 3.2.4 The teachers’ work arrangement in class. 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Group work In pairs Individual Question 2: Which techniques do you often use in teaching countable and uncountable nouns? This question is to find the way teachers manage the class. It plays an important and expresses the effectiveness of teaching activities. Which kind of work arrangement is used in the chart illustration. 55% of teachers prefer using group work, while 30% is for working in pairs. Reference of individual work occupies 25%. One teacher says that: ―group works help students to have more opportunities and more motivating to understand their lesson more clearly, students can learn better from their friends. In addition, most students like working in groups or in pairs as their favorites.‖ It is no doubt that group works is an effective technique. 3.3 Students’ expectations about a new teaching method. 3.3.1 Students’ excited about the current teaching method. 44
45. Yes No Question 9 (appendix1): Do you feel excited about the current teaching method? Because of the lack of teaching aids, text book and the limited of creativeness in each lesson so the number of students who prefer studying the current method and the number of students who do not like the current method is different. 65% of students think the current method is not satisfied. They want to enjoy English in another way that are not grammar translation, making a sentence, any more. And the rest agree with the current method just only 35%. 3.3.2 Their expectations for the innovation in teaching countable and uncountable nouns. 90 80 70 60 50 Countable noun 40 Uncountable noun 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Question 8 (appendix1): Which techniques do you like in learning countable and uncountable nouns? Notes: 45
46. 1 Games 2 Questions 3 Lecture and discussion 4 Instructional media 5 Exercise in textbook 6 Utterance 7 Pictures This question is to explore which techniques students want to teachers to apply for teaching countable and uncountable nouns. From that point of view the teachers are able to find suitable techniques to apply to fulfill students‘ needs. The above chart tells us the fact that most students wish to use games and pictures to teaching countable and uncountable nouns according to the idea of 70%(countable nouns), 75%(uncountable noun) and 85% (countable nouns), 82%(uncountable nouns) respectively. This is due to its effectiveness that we have mentioned above. However, there are 54% (countable nouns), 50% (uncountable nouns) of them expecting to use lecture and discussion techniques and 48%(countable nouns),40%(uncountable nouns) of them expecting to use instructional media. Other techniques also receive rather the same percent. Especially, just 8% of them want to apply the way of uttering to studying. So being teacher, we have responsibility to find suitable and effective method to present teaching techniques. All fact and figurers are easy to understand. First of all, lecture & discussion is a traditional technique which is used mostly in school, university. However, it is easy monotonous and boring. Doing exercise is time when students check how they get know about the lesson. In addition, exercises are available in the book for the teachers to find. Furthermore, this techniques can get student‘s attention because it is quite clear and easy. What about questions? It is simplest and quickest way to ask students directly at the class. However , I also have some words about the ways of using utterance. It is completely basing on the level of your students. The teachers can give 46
47. explanation in English or Vietnamese or both. By this way, Teachers can check students‘ understanding about lesson. So that, they have adjustments in teaching method to have the best effectiveness. Yes No Question 10 (appendix1): Do you want to have a new creative English teaching methods ? Looking at the pie chart above with the question: ―Do you want to have a new creative English teaching methods ? ‖ 70% students say ―yes‖, otherwise 10% say ―no‖. So I decided to have an interview with these students who say ―No‖ with this question and they said to me that : ― I think I can understand 80% my teacher lecture and I satisfy with this method‖. After a while, they said to me: ―But if the new creative method makes us feel excited and easily understand I think it is acceptable.‖. To demand another teaching method doesn‘t mean they dislike the traditional one but it means the students hope to have a new creative way to learn English better. although the design of the book ―Reward‖ contains a lot of parts and kinds of subject, it‘s grammar seems to be quite general. So, I think applying more activities in teaching English countable and uncountable nouns more and teacher will feel comfortable in each lesson. 47
48. 35 30 25 20 15 Rate: % 10 5 0 Exercise Picture Game Questioning Question 5 (appendix 2) : How to motivate students paying more attention to countable and uncountable nouns lesson ? The result shows that 35% want to use picture in teaching countable and uncountable nouns to stimulate students‘ interests. While 32% is for games, 18% for questionings and 15% for exercises. So, game and picture are techniques which have the most effectiveness and want to use in teaching countable and uncountable nouns. 4) Findings and discussion of findings As the survey and interview are restricted to only a small number of students and teachers, surely the result can‘t reflect the real situation of teaching grammar skills at Hai Phong Private University. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the findings and discussions follow can give useful information to some extends. The students soon realize the importance of studying English nouns, including countable and uncountable nouns, with this positive attitude. They will have effective way to learn English. Because English is not only interesting but also important in their future jobs. The students also express their good attitude in learning countable and uncountable nouns. Most of them find countable and uncountable nouns lesson interesting for them (88,8%). Nevertheless, a small of number of students (11.2%) think that studying English countable and uncountable 48
49. nouns isn‘t interesting. This means that lessons don‘t satisfy and meet all their need. It should be found out their demands to make the grammar lessons more interesting and effective. - All teachers and students agree that English countable and uncountable nouns are necessary and important for students, because this items effects directly to other skills. - Due to the effectiveness of these techniques, they also with to use interesting and creative method to master countable and uncountable nouns because they make students understand and use it (90%) - Most students are fed up with the English countable and uncountable nouns lessons such as asking question, exercises, utterance, handouts, On the contrary, the techniques which are rarely applied by teachers make them highly excited such as games, picture, This requires teachers to be more activities as well as flexible to employ the activities that are highly effective. It is hoped that these findings and discussions will help more for teachers to use more suitable techniques in particular teaching situation at Hai Phong Private University. The survey revealed a clear fact in this chapter and this chapter will be the basis for coming chapter with practical solutions. 49
50. Chapter three Some suggested techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns for the first year non- English majors I) Reasoning. In this chapter II, the current situation of teaching and learning English countable and uncountable nouns in Hai Phong Private University has been unfolded. Through the study , it is found that techniques in students‘ favors are not frequently used by the teachers such as using games, pictures, lecture and discussion. Especially, instructional media is a technique which students like the most. In fact, this is an interesting technique. We can study from online websites on internet, listening to news on TV, These are really model and effective ways to study English noun with a better result, including countable and uncountable nouns. Each of them can be applied many small techniques. For the limitation of this research paper, I only present the applicability of some techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns. The applicability will concentrate on some suggested techniques to help the 1st year non- English majors have more pleasure and effectiveness in learning English countable and uncountable nouns. II. Suggested activities for teaching. 1. Teaching through visual aids. Visual examples are useful for helping your students understand the distinction. Try to take some food items into class. Show the students the items and as a whole class help them classify the items. They'll soon see the difference between coffee and carrot, for example. Teachers can then explain or elicit the difference between mass (uncountable) and unit (countable). If students are up to it, teachers can show the distinction between a cucumber 50
51. and cucumber (as chopped up for a salad). Similar examples include: tea / teabags and sugar / sugar cubes. Teachers can then draw 5 or 6 vertical lines on the board to represent units or countable items and a scribbled mass or criss cross of lines to represent mass or uncountable items. Students then organise the food items teachers have just studied into the categories. They can continue in pairs with pictures of other items or a list given to them. Teachers give students some nouns related to food and drink; Mango ; beef ;chicken; grape; wheat; tuna; salmon; apple; broccoli ; rice; sole; turkey; orange; corn; pear; cucumber ; onion; lobster; lamp; pine apple; cabbage; mushroom; cauliflower Then students list them into each of suitable column: Meat Fish Vegetable Fruit Cereal This is an useful technique. However, it is difficult for teachers to prepare the lesson. Because they have to take a lot of material to the class. However, teachers can use imitations to replace them. Teachers have to try to incorporate both written and spoken work and follow up with more work in the next class. One way to physically demonstrate countability and uncountability is through realia. Of course this is where food is the most obvious choice. Real objects can provide a stronger image of something than, say, a picture. To teach 51
52. countability and uncountability a starting point would be to bring in a collection of different food items. Once you have established that students know the words for the items, and before you tell them about countable / uncountable, ask them to organize the foods into different categories. For example: food you eat for breakfast, healthy food, food or drink, food you like / hate 2. Teaching by pictures. Pictures are all in everywhere. They are found on newspapers, magazines, television, internet, or on the wall. They become very vivid of life. Pictures with lots of colors and shapes always captures the attentions of all people. Sometimes, when looking at pictures we can imagine many interesting things with the real emotions. This is very important because pictures brings joys to every one , especially young people, such as students. They are enjoyable, they set the scene or contexts. And of course they are one of the most effective and useful kinds of visual aids in studying English countable and uncountable nouns. Students can self- study by collecting pictures to practice everyday. Surely, their English knowledge will be widened very effectively. The 1st year non- English majors of Hai Phong Private University are still young and inquiring and active. Thus, the pictures‘ colors must be beautiful , bright and impressive, Attention ally, using pictures which can develop the imagination of students. It means when students look at the pictures, they can express the pictures in their own thought. Students will know how to describe the pictures and improve the speaking skill very well. Importantly, colors seem to be the decisive factor leading to the success of the lecture which using pictures. Example application for teaching by picture. 52
53. Explaining the difference about meaning Some nouns are sometimes countable and sometimes uncountable with different meanings. Using pictures to explain these nouns in two cases will be more clearly than lecture and discussion. When we are talking about an animal, the animal is countable. Chicken is my favourite meat. (Uncountable) Have you got many chickens on your farm? (Countable) (Sometimes, we may want to say we bought a whole (dead) chicken. It is countable because we think of the bird as one thing that we can count.) I bought a whole chicken for dinner tonight. I‘m going to roast it. When we buy fish meat, it is uncountable. If we are talking about the fish as an animal, it is countable Due to this method, teachers can put forward the following type of exercise: match the words and the picture. A banana Some banana 53
54. A garlic Some garlic an egg Some egg A glass Some glass Explaining the partitives. Teachers can show a glass of beer and ask the students: What is it? A glass. The word "glass" is what part of speech? A noun. Can you count glasses? Yes. What is in the glass? Beer . Can we count the beer? No. Therefore, "beer" is an uncountable noun. What is it ? A plate. The word “plate” is what of speech? A noun. Can you count plates? Yes . What is in the plate? 54
55. Soup. Can you count soup? No. There fore, “soup” is uncountable noun. We can continue the lesson with other examples you have brought in or find in the classroom environment. Although non-count nouns are supposed to be uncountable, we sometimes need to count them. At least, we sometimes need to explain the quantity of something which is non-count. We can do this by using a measurement word, or counter, like this: Teachers can put something into a container to count it, but the thing you're counting doesn't take the plural form. The container takes the plural form: Seven cans of Coke. Eight cartons of milk Nine cups of coffee Teachers can measure something to count it, but it still doesn't take the plural form. The measurement takes the plural form:- 55
56. I and a half litters of milk. Two pints of beer. Two pounds / ounces /kilos of butter. Teachers can measure uncountable nouns in other ways, using shapes or portions. Again the measurement takes the plural form. Ten balls of wool. Fourteen spoonfuls of sugar. Two pinches of salt 2.1.3 Picture discussion - Teachers give some pictures - Student discuss if those picture relate to which topic. Students A: Students B : Think of questions to ask your partner. Spend a few minutes thinking about Start by asking questions on what is what is happening in photograph 1, happening in the photograph and then then answer your partner‟s ask some more general opinion questions. Try to include some of questions about the subject. There are the structures you have studied in brief notes on the photograph and some this unit, for example might be, general question ideas. can‟t have Photograph 1 Ss A : what do you see in this picture? Ss B : I see some tables, some chairs, board, teaching aids 56
57. Ss A : Where is that ? Ss B : That maybe is in school. Ss A ; Can you guess the word mentioned in this picture Ss B : is it class? Ss A :it is class. It is a collective noun. Photograph 2 The same explaining for the second photograph, it is earthquake. 3. Teaching through games. Games have been shown to have advantages and effectiveness in learning countable and uncountable nouns in various ways. First, games bring in relaxation and fun for students, thus help them learn and retain new words more easily. Second, games usually involve friendly competition and they keep learners interested. These create the motivation for learners of English to get involved and participate actively in the learning activities. Third, nouns game bring real word context into the classroom, the role of games in teaching and learning countable and uncountable nouns cannot be denied. However, in order to achieve the most from noun games, it is essential that 57
58. suitable games are chosen. Whenever a game is to be conducted, the number of students, proficiency level, cultural context, timing, learning topic, and the classroom settings are factors that should be taken into account. To provide practice and reinforcement of this grammatical distinction, I use three activities which students enjoy. 3.1 Activity 1: Shopping List Game Skills taught: Count or non count distinction. This is a commonly used activity among ESL teachers that can take various forms. Students sit or stand in a circle. The teachers starts by saying. "Let's go shopping! Do you like shopping? (Let students respond.) I'm going to buy some ___ ." The teacher says something like "some apples" or "some rice" or another count noun or non count noun. The student to the left of the teacher has to continue the shopping by saying "I'm going to buy some ___ (what the teacher just said) and some ___ (something new). Then the next student continues by adding another item to the list. "I'm going to buy some ___ and some ___ and some ___ . After about five or six students and when memories begin to falter, the next student can start with a new single item. This game reinforces the use of count or non count items related to food or products bought at a store. The teacher's role is to correct the student's 58
59. grammar. If a student says, "I'm going to buy some egg." The teacher should repeat the correct sentence and have the same student repeat it correctly again. 3.2 Activity 2: Let's Go Camping! Skills taught: countable and uncountable distinction Write this on the board. Let's go camping! My name is ___. I'm going to take a/some ___. Each student repeats the sentence above in turn around the circle. The teacher gives correct (grammar and puzzle) examples often. For example, "My name is Ron and I'm going to take some rice. How about Emi?" (Referring to the student to the left of the teacher.) Students should practice repeating the whole sentence inserting whatever noun they want. If Emi does not choose a noun that starts with an "e" (the first letter of her name), then say something like "Good English (if the English is actually correct ), but I'm sorry. You can't take any ___ . Usually by the first time the circle around two or three students have figured out the pattern. Continue until all (or most understand). 3.3 Activity 3: Wally's World Skills taught: There is/are, much/many, countable/uncountable distinction Items needed: students Write this on the board. In Wally's World there are/is ___, but there are/is no ___ . In this game students try to figure out the pattern and all the while they are practicing certain forms and learning to distinguish between countable and 59
60. uncountable nouns. Quick repetition is important. Students sit in a circle and in turn repeat the sentence above inserting nouns of their choice. Only nouns which have a double letter (for example, trees) are acceptable in Wally's World, which of course is a fictitious place. The teacher starts with an example. Below are some acceptable ones. In Wally's World, there are feet, but there are no hands . In Wally's World, there is coffee, but there is no tea. In Wally's World, there are walls, but there are no buildings. In Wally's World there is beer, but there is no wine. At first the teacher should occasionally interject an acceptable example for every second or third student to help them try to figure out the pattern. The teacher's role is to correct a student's grammar and to let the student know if their sentence fits the correct pattern. Always be sure that students have the opportunity to repeat the correct grammar form. 4 Finding word 4.1 Word search. - Each student will have a card and instructions - And then circle what they found - They have to find the name of given pictures in the word search gird This game is useful for teaching abstract nouns. Here is an example : Students must to find out these abstract nouns: peace, kindness, generousity, advice, death, truth, maturity, happiness, health, beauty 60
61. R H E A L T H L P C Y Q J D D E G Y D L O D N L S T D E G F W Y H A P P I N E S S O K X G I L N N D N I D L S T T X R E I C L N X Z U J F H S B E A U T Y T S F I I O M A M J G P A D V I C E J X Z D V B G E N E R O S I T Y G M A X D K I N D N E S S R P T T V D T R U T H M Q C T K G V C F G X H S C R S B N Z S X C X T R D Y D E A T H C D Z D Z Q E P E A C E Y E R L M A T U R I T Y A P A M B 4.2 Crossword Teachers use pictures and let students play this game. We use the familiar words that they studied already in their book in order to help them remember these words easily. Picture beside the crossword will help people easily to find what the answer for each words is: - Teachers supply some clues - Students complete the crossword Across : 2. you put books here 4. There are at the windows. 15. This is like a big long 6. You put food here. It‟s cold. armchair. 8. Some people prefer a to a 17. Most people have a in the shower. morning. 9. This is tall. You put your 18. You cook on this. clothes in it. 19. You wash up here. 13. Your sleep here. 20. you sit on this for our meal. 21. You eat at this. 61
62. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Down. 1. You look through this. 2. You put your clothes in this. 4. There are a lot of these in a kitchen. You put things in them. 5. You look at yourself in this. 7. You watch programmers on this. 10. You sit in this to relax. 11. You don‟t have to wash up when you‟ve got this. 12. You wash your hands and clean your teeth here. 14. You open this when you go into a room. 16, Loo 4.3 Guess the word (can be used for abstract nouns) Choose five words relating to recent conversational themes. Write sets of clues to help students guess the words. Play with whole class or teams. Use one word per lesson over five lessons or use all words in one session as a longer game. 62
63. Example clues: I am a noun but I am very important. I begin with the letter „f‟. People in prison have lost it and want it back. People demand it when it is taken away by dictators. It is related to speech. (Puzzle word = Freedom) Or “Is it uncountable?” “Yes, it is.” “Is it a liquid?” “No, it isn‟t.” “Is there any in this room?” etc, until they guess which object or substance their partner is thinking of. 4.3 Chain recipe (= Recipe consequences) Prepare a worksheet that provides the outline for a recipe and elicits lots of countable and uncountable nouns in the blanks, E.g. the first line could be : ―Measure 1 litre of ___ and pour it into the saucepan” and the second line could be “Chop up a few ___ and fry them lightly‖. There are 10 to 15 lines, and then add dotted lines between the different lines of the recipe. Photocopy one per student and give them out. Each person fills in only the first line of their worksheet, then they fold them along the dotted line so that the next person can‘t see what has been written, and then pass them around the class or group clockwise. This continues- writing, folding and passing each time- until the whole recipe is finished. It is then passed one 63
64. more time, opened and read, and then everyone feeds back to the class on whether their recipe would make sense and taste delicious or not. This game also works for decorating a house or classroom 4.4 Get rid of it This game can be adapted for matching definitions to words or matching opposites. There are two columns; one is some nouns, and other is definitions of those nouns. Students must to combine a noun in this column with a correct definition in other column. For example: An octopus lives in house and eats anything. A crock roach lives in trees in the Jungle A crocodile is used to guard building A snake lives in the sea, has to large arms and eight small ones A monkey is large and heavy and is used by farmers An ell has a large beak and sharp claws on its feet. An eagle has huge teeth and is dangerous A crab has two poisonous fangs A buffalo lives in the sea and has tentacles A dog is a fish but looks like a snake 4.5 Creating a poem. Teachers ask students use their noun smarts to create a poem of your own 64
65. . Ask a partner to provide the nouns for ―A Noun Poem.‖ Use the list below. When the list is complete, write the nouns in the poem. Do not let your partner see the poem until you are through! NOUN LIST 1. Noun/Thing 2. Noun/Person (classmate) 3. Noun/Place 4. Noun/Place 5. Noun/Person 6. Noun/Person 7. Noun/Thing My___ , my___ , I love it! It‟s cool. I‟d like to buy one for___ at school. I bring mine with me wherever I go, From___ to___- to Colorado. My friends___ and___ Say a___ is more useful. But I feel that I must remain truthful: I will hold my___ close to my heart. And hope that we never, ever must part! 4.7. Cross out the words. - Teachers list countable and uncountable nouns - Students circle the odd one out 65
66. One of nouns in one line has the difference with the others about part of speech. It may be countable or uncountable noun, abstract or concrete noun. 1 wine beer lemonade whisky 2 dog horse cat sandwich 3 job vegetable fruit meat 4 bananas rice oranges apples 5 peas mushrooms eggs beans 6 bread tea salad tomato 7 sausages rugby tennis basketball 8 pasta piano tomato potato 9 uncle aunt nephew father 10 eyes hair fish beard Or other way: Uncountable and countable nouns ( Putting all the words in the correct list.) Book- grass – flower – milk- juice- air – car – money – rain- chicken – cookie – sand – nut – window – carrot – gold – snow – lizard – oil – table. Almost nouns are countable. So, what is uncountable nouns 66
67. Countable nouns Uncountable nouns 1 1 2 2 3 3 4.8 Short talk. - Students work in group. - Look at the bottom of the page. - Try the dialogue with the new words, practice with countable and uncountable nouns. At the restaurant. A : Welcome to the Blue Rose. Would you like to order ? B : Yes, I‟d like a salad to start. A :Certainly, one salad. What would you like next. B : I‟ll have a pizza, please. A : Fine, one pizza. Any dessert ? B : Yes, please. Two ice- creams. A : Two ice- creams. How about something to drink ? B :Ok. Two glasses of white wine, please. A :Two glasses of white wine. Thank you. Enjoy your meal. 67
68. Try the dialogue again with different items : Salad pizza ice-cream glass of white Soup spaghetti fruit wine Spring noodles cookies cups of coffee Sandwich fried rice cake cups of tea Pancake fish and chip cheese glass of water Tacos steak biscuits mineral waters Fish apple pie cocktails 4.9 Original metaphors. Teachers can use lots of uncountable nouns to get students to create their own metaphors. Start by writing 'Knowledge is power' on the board. Ask students to tell you 1) what they understand by the statement and 2) whether they agree or not. Then write the following words on the board: Intelligence Power Energy Love Baggage Information Money Peace Travel Failure Happiness Sadness Health Justice Ask students to make as many sentences as they can using the same structure as knowledge is power i.e. Noun (U) is Noun (U). Once they have a good list, tell them to explain with examples why they chose those combinations. For example, one class made the following links: 68
69. Information is power. Love is sadness. Money is love. Peace is happiness. Information is energy. Higher-level students can generate other metaphors using words they choose themselves. 5 Noun Quiz. - Teachers suggest some words - Students definite if they are countable nouns (C) or uncountable nouns ( U) Man Woman Air Water Desk Beer Money Milk Car Chair Bathroom Horse Finger House Lesson Rice Butter Information Advice Heat Cash Expense Orange Person Orange juice Banana Oil Petrol Furniture News Coffee Cotton Computer Bus Star Door Flat Road Knife Child Equipment 6. Extract nouns 6.1 Extract nouns from sentences - Teachers give some sentences and require students definite which words are countable noun, which words are uncountable nouns? For example: 69
70. Definite concrete and abstract nouns in the following sentences and then put them in two column: Countable nouns Uncountable nouns 1 1 2 2 3 3 It is more useful if teachers use nouns in one type; common nouns or proper nouns, abstract nouns or concrete nouns. For example: The judge handed files to the secretary. Whenever they take the dog to the beach, it chases waves. The estate agent urged the couple to buy the house because it had new windows. As we passed the park, the thump of disco tune overwhelmed the string quartet‟s rendition of a minute on the radio. The teacher covered the board with diagrams drawn in chalk 6.2 Extract nouns from paragraphs - Teachers introduce for students one paragraph - Students underline nouns from paragraph - Definite they are which type of nouns. It is more useful if all nouns have common character. The major thoroughfares were already lit by the new gas, but this was not the bright and even glare of the late Victorian period: the light flared and diminished, casting a flickering light across the streets and lending to the houses and pedestrians a faintly unreal or even theatrical quality. 70
71. They are all common nouns. The word Victorian might appear at first sight to be a proper noun, because it is capitalized. But it cannot take a plural -s ending (*the late Victorians period). In this sentence, it is an adjective modifying the noun period, and it is capitalized because it comes from the proper noun Victoria. In other contexts, of course, it could be used as a proper noun, as in Gladstone was an eminent Victorian, I'm reading about the Victorians. 71
72. PART III : CONCLUSION In general, this research paper has been carried our with the aim to investigate the current English teaching and learning situation in Hai Phong Private University. The paper is relevant to the current situation as there has been a strong tendency to learn English for communication among the first year non- English majors. Therefore, it is necessary to select and organize the classroom activities carefully in order to improve the effectiveness in teaching and learning English vocabulary. Beside, the study showed a clear teaching and learning condition in Hai Phong Private University in which teachers should take into consideration when they decide to choose a technique of teaching countable and uncountable nouns or design various kind of classroom interactions. In addition, a survey questionnaire was implemented to find out the 1st year non- English majors difficulties when learning English vocabulary as well as their attitudes and expectations about using techniques in teaching and learning countable and uncountable nouns. Through the findings of the research, the teachers become more aware of the 1styear non- English majors‘ difficulties in learning countable and uncountable nouns so they can select teaching techniques that are suitable to their students. With the hope that I can contribute some interesting techniques which suggest to study countable and uncountable nouns in English. Consequently, I have completed this research paper with a special care and interest with the aim to bring effective and pleasant lessons for the 1st year non- English majors. How ever , the time and knowledge is limited, mistakes and shortcomings are unavoidable. Any further comments and contributions for perfection of this paper are gratefully appreciated. 72
73. APPENDICE Appendix 1: Survey Questionnaire ( for students ) Dear students! This survey questionnaire is designed to find out your attitude and expectation toward teaching and learning English nouns, also, your knowledge about countable and uncountable nouns. Your answer will be used for studying purpose of the graduation entitle “How to teach countable and uncountable nouns to the first year non-English majors of Hai Phong Private University 2) Do you like learning English? 1 Yes 2 No 3) What do you think about English countable and uncountable nouns ? 1 Boring 2 Interesting 3 Difficult 4) How important do you think about an English countable and uncountable nouns ? 1 Very important 3 Not very important 2 Important 4 Not important 5) How difficult level do you think in using countable and uncountable nouns? 1 Difficulty 3 Very difficulty 2 Easy 4 Another ideas 6) Which difficulties do you have in using countable and uncountable nouns? 1 Distinguish the countability and uncountability of nouns 2 Determiner before nouns 3 Compound nouns 4 Order word of nouns in structure sentences 7) What make students feel more confused between countable and uncountable nouns ? a) Differences in meaning. 73
74. b) Nouns‘ objects or materials c) Places used for specific activities. d) Equivalents between them. 8) As for you, are there differences between countable and uncountable nouns in English and in Vietnamese? 1 Yes 2 No 9) Which techniques do you like in learning countable and uncountable nouns? Techniques Countable nouns Uncountable nouns Games Questions Lecture and discussion Pictures Exercise in textbook. Utterance Instructional media 10) Do you feel excited about the current teaching method? 1 Yes 2 No 11) Do you want to have a new creative English teaching method? 1 Yes 2 No 74
75. Appendix 2: Survey Questionnaire (for teachers. ) Dear teachers! I am Le Thi Ngoi from Hai Phong Private University. This questionnaire is conducted for my graduation paper entitle “How to teach countable and uncountable nouns to the first year non-English majors of Hai Phong Private University”. It will be very useful and necessary for me to find out some techniques in teaching English in class. Your contribution in this questionnaire is highly appreciated! 1) Do you think teaching countable and uncountable nouns is important? a) Yes b) No 2) Which techniques do you often use in teaching countable and uncountable nouns? a) Group work b) In pairs c) Individual 3) Which difficulties do you have when teaching countable and uncountable nouns ? a) Teaching method b) Students‘ questions c) Teaching conditions d) Others 4) According to you, should we use many techniques in teaching countable and uncountable nouns? a) Yes, of course b) No 5) How to motivate students paying more attention to countable and uncountable nouns lesson ? a) Using exercises. b) Using pictures. c) Using games. d) Using questionings 75
76. APPENDIX 3 A model lesson : Unit 15; 1) Target learners: A class including 40 students in Hai Phong Private University 2) Aims: To help students easily understand and memory countable and uncountable nouns. To supply vocabulary about fruits and drinks. 3) Time allowance : 45 minutes 4) Teaching aids: Students‘ text book ― Reward‖. Students‘ notebook Pictures of fruit and drinks ; dictionary, handout. 5) Procedures: 76
77. Teachers‘ activities Students‘ activities Warm up: (3 minutes ) - Greeting - Greeting - Call the rolls - Monitor answer. Check old lesson: ask Ss retell the present perfect tense - Answer Pre-teaching noun ( 7 minutes ) The teacher will start the lesson showing the students the picture of fruits and drinks. Listen and answer Ask students: what do you see in this picture? Can you questions name? Ask your students what they are eating? cake, apple, bananas? What is on their baskets? grape? durians? mango? What do you drink? What food do you often cook? The answers to these questions refer to nouns. 77
78. -Announcement of the topic: The "things" that we cannot easily count are called "Uncountable Nouns" and one we can count are called ―Countable Nouns‖. Today we will explore "Countable and Uncountable Nouns‖ While-teaching noun ( 30 minutes ) 1. Explain how to use (15 minutes) : Listen and write a. Countable noun: have a singular ( used a/ an) and down in note book. plural form . Ex : - I have a new bicycle. - This cup is empty - I need a red pen to mark - She have two brothers - He needs two hours to finish these exercises. Require Ss give some example. Ss give examples b. Uncountable nouns: have no plural form. They can‘t take the singular article a/ an. Used with Some/ Any. These things are usually uncountable: - Drinks: tea, beer, milk, water, wine, - Food that you only eat part of: fish, meat, bread, ham, toast, cheese 78
79. - Things which you only use part of: toothpaste, soap, shampoo, glue. - Materials : paper, wood, wool, plastic, ion, steel, - Some general words: information, money, music, luggage, furniture, weather, time, Ex: - The weather is cold - I have some cheese in the fridge. - I‘ve got some information for you. These noun to count have to using a + + of Using picture to illustrate for this part: Bar a bar of chocolate Loaf two loaves of bread Slice three slices of meat Require Ss give some example. Ss give examples 2. Practice: (15 minutes) Basing on the box at page 34, List the things from the box into countable and Students will read uncountable nouns these words aloud. Ask Ss the question: What sort of things do you eat, - Answer drink or use in your cooking? Ask Ss to look at the box at page 34 and put them in lists under these headings: Times Activities 79
80. Every day - Practice and short Twice a week talk. Every week On special occasions, never Ask Ss to think of two or three things to add to each list - Answer Put students in pairs: Work in pairs Finish 2 activities in their books based on checking in vocabulary on page 34. - Put those words of the same type together. vegetables fruit meat drinks seafood - Ask the students complete activity in their books based on paritives: which items in the vocabulary box can you use with these words ( bottle, cup, glass, kilo, loaf, packet, slice, slice, tin) ? Post-teaching noun ( 5 minutes ) Repeat the main Ask students to summarize the content of lesson. spot what we can Give homework() count and what can‘t 80
81. references 1. Alexander. L.G (1988). Longman English grammar. Lon Don: Longman. 2. Doff, Adrian. (1988). Teach English : A training course for Teachers. Trainer‘s handbook. Cambridge University Press. 3. R. Quirk, S Greenbaum(1973). A university grammar of English, Longman group (FE) Ltd 4. Su, Le Van (2002) . English Methodology. NXB Văn hoá thông tin. 5. Ur. P (1990). A course in Language teaching ( Practice and theory ) Cambridge University Press. Websites: 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 81
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