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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

New Semester website

To all my students for Semester 3 English Language Proficiency
(Listening & Speaking  and Reading) - PI3311P (Akademik)

Please go to this blog for this semester's class. 

http://pi3311p.blogspot.com/

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Week 13: Identification of errors

For this week, I would like you all to review your writing assignment.

Use of Spelling and Grammar Checker

Make use of the spelling and grammar checker in Microsoft Word to help you identify errors in your assignment.  Spelling errors will be underlined with a wavy red line while grammar errors are marked with a wavy green line.  If you right-click on these errors, you will see suggestions for spelling correction.  If you select "Grammar", you can see suggestions for grammar correction.  To help you decide on how to correct your errors, you can get some help by clicking on "Explain".  Here, the type of error you have made is identified and some examples are given. 

An example of a common type of error is a sentence fragment.  A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence.  It can be missing a subject, or it can be missing a verb.  Another possibility is that it begins with a subordinating word  (e.g. although, when, while, before, etc) but it doesn't end with an independent clause.  Such a "sentence" is said to be "hanging" because the idea is not complete. 

For the purpose of our class discussion, you must copy the incorrect sentence and paste it into a new document first before you correct it.  After you have corrected the error in your assignment, again copy the corrected sentence and paste it into the new document on the next line after the incorrect sentence.

We shall discuss the correction of these errors when we have our next face-to-face interaction.  In the meantime, you could also post some of the more challenging errors which you are not sure of and invite your classmates to give you some suggestions.

Happy learning :)

Mdm Lim

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Week 9: Simple and Compound Sentences

eBook:  Sentence Patterns by Jimmie


Worksheet Exercises
(You can print out these exercises to do them or if you have installed Adobe Reader Version 10.0.01, you can insert your answer directly as comments.)

1.  Identifying Subject and Verb in Simple sentences and Compound sentences.

2.  Making compound sentences

3.  Simple or Compound sentences 

4.  Commas in Compound sentences

Monday, February 20, 2012

Week 8: Sentence Patterns









Exercise:  
For each sentence pattern, make five sentences of your own.  If you need ideas, go to this website first:

Fun with Randomly-Generated Sentences An Interesting Way to Study English Sentence Patterns

Link:
http://www.manythings.org/rs/


Identify the clause pattern (SV, SVO, SVOO, SVC,SVOC)   in these sentences.

1.  They named the ship Titanic.

2.  The class found the book interesting   

3.  They show them a photograph.

4.  That police officer sings. 

5.  She painted the room green.

6.  That bus driver brought her a small present.

Week 7: Sentence Structure Practice Exercises

For revision, complete the following exercise from your textbook "Towards Better English Grammar", pages 181 until 195.  There will be a test before the mid-semester break.

11.1   Basic sentence structure

A   Writing a sentence

B   Noun phrases and verb phrases


Practice 1 (pg. 181) - Identifying noun phrases and verb phrases.

C   Subjects and Verbs


Practice 2 (pg. 182) - Subjects and verbs (verb phrase)

Practice 3 (pg. 182) - Recognizing a sentence

D   Objects


Practice 4 (pg. 183) - Recognizing objects of verbs

E   Joining sentences with and, but, so


11.2   Making longer sentences: Using because, although, however, etc.


A   Making longer sentences


Practice 1: Recognizing parts of a long sentence (pg. 184)

B   Subordinate clauses: putting one sentence inside another sentence


C   Position of subordinate clauses


Practice 2: Recognizing a subordinate clause (pg. 185)

D   Formal joining words which begin a new sentence


Practice 3: Matching and joining sentences (pg. 185)

11.3   Relative clauses (1): Using who, which and whose


A   What is a relative clause?


Practice 1 - Find relative clauses in sentences (pg. 186)

B   who and which


Practice 2 - Choose who or which (pg. 186)

Practice 3 - Notes expansion using whose (pg. 187)

Practice 4 - Correcting mistakes in sentences with 'extra pronouns'. (pg. 187)

Practice 5 - Making sentences more formal by adding who or which.

11.4 Relative clauses (2): Special problems

A   Using whom


Practice 1 - Changing formal sentences to informal English by using who and moving the preposition. (pg. 188)

Practice 2 - Adding whom to change informal sentences into formal English. (p. 189)

B   Relative clauses with that


Practice 3 - Completing sentences by adding a relative clause with that. (pg. 190)

C   Punctuation Problem:  ‘extra information’ clauses


Practice 4 -  Adding commas to :  ‘extra information’ sentences.  (pg. 190)

11.5 Conditions:  Using if and unless

A   Introduction to the use of if and unless


B   Using  unless


Practice 1  -  Fill in the blanks with if or unless.  (pg. 191)

C   ‘Open’ conditions


Practice 2  -   Fill in the blanks with verbs in the correct form for sentences about possible situations.  (pg. 192)

D   Imaginary conditions


Practice 3  -   Fill in the blanks with verbs in the correct form for sentences about untrue or imaginary situations.  ((pg. 193)

11.6  Parallel constructions

A   Joining word and sentences with and

Practice 1  -  Identify  and correct mistakes in sentences.  (pg. 194)

B   More complicated sentences with and

Practice 2  -  Complete sentences in own words. (pg. 195)

C   Other joining words which need good parallel constructions

Practice 3  -  Complete sentences in own words.   (pg. 195)