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CELTA ASSIGNMENT 1 - LANGUAGE RELATED TASKS

Part D: Context, Concept, Form & Function




1. I must have left it in the restaurant

1. Function: Expressing deductive near certainty about a past action.

. Context:

John and Amy have just come home Irom a Chinese restaurant. John can`t Iind his
wallet. The last time he remembers using it was when he took it out to pay Ior Iood in
the restaurant. He says I must have left it in the restaurant`.

. Form: Subject must have past participle.

. Anticipated problems:
Meaning
Ss may misinterpret the use oI must and have, thinking that it reIers to an obligation
that must be done in the Iuture. This notion may be strengthened by the present use oI
must have rather than the past.
Form:

Students may incorrectly replace the past participle with the base verb (I must have
leave it in the restaurant.

Pronunciation:
ust have becomes contracted in spoken Iorm, becoming / mosL ov /. II the Ss don`t
recognise this contraction, they may pronounce the Iull Iorm / mosL hv /, thereIore
producing unnatural sounding speech. This Iull Iorm would most likely be used due to
the Ss pre existing knowledge oI how must have appears in Iormal written Iorm.
Receptively, the Ss may not even recognise the contracted Iorm at all, resulting in
them hearing 'I must left it in the restaurant`.

. Concept checking questions.

a. Where are John and Amy now? (At home
b. Where have they been? (At a restaurant
c. Does John have his wallet? (No
d. Where does he think it is? (In the restaurant
e. Why does he think it`s in the restaurant? (That is the last place that he remembers
using it.
I. Did he take it out in the restaurant? (Yes
g. Why? (To pay Ior Iood
h. How certain is he that it`s in the restaurant? (Nearly 100 percent


. I`m playing tennis with Peter at 11..

1. Structure: Using the present continuous to talk about a planned Iuture event.

Context:

Jack and his mother are at home having breakIast in the morning. She asks him iI he
would like to go Ior a walk at 11.30. He explains that he can`t, saying 'Im playing
tennis with Peter at 11.30 , beIore adding that he has already called Peter and
arranged to meet him.

. Form: Subject be verb (am, contracted to m base verb ing

. Anticipated Problems:

Meaning Ss may misinterpret the use oI the present continuous by assuming that it
shows that Jack is playing tennis now, not in the Iuture.
Form: Ss may change playing to its base Iorm oI play, as would happen iI the
sentence was Iormed using I am going to play, ie I am play tennis with Peter at
11.30.
Pronunciation:

Receptively, Ss may Iail to hear the m or the ing, changing the sentence to present
simple and perhaps leading them to mistake it as a statement oI routine I play tennis
with Peter at 11.30.

The marker sentence uses a contracted Im, pronounced / ,8m / . Productively, Ss may
Iail to process and then produce this contraction instead pronouncing it as / ,8 m /.



. Concept checking questions.

a Is Jack going Ior a walk with his Mother at 11.30? (No
b Why not? (Because he is playing tennis
c Is he playing tennis now? (No, later
d What time is he playing at? (11.30
e Has he already arranged to play with somebody? (Yes he has.
I Who is he playing with? (Peter
g How did he arrange to play with Peter? (He called him earlier.

. I`d rather go to a Thai restaurant



1. Function: Expressing a preference.

. Context:
Sue and and Paul want to eat at a restaurant Ior dinner, so Paul asks Sue iI she would
like to go to an Italian. However, Sue already went to an Italian restaurant last night so
she doesn`t really want to eat Italian Iood again. She says I`d rather go to a Thai
restaurant`.

. Form:
Subject would (d rather base verb


. Anticipated problems:
Meaning Ss may Iail to understand Id rather as a way oI expressing an alternative
preIerence based upon a lack oI enthusiasm Ior Paul`s suggestion, thinking that it
means that Sue would always preIer to go to a Thai restaurant instead oI an Italian
one, rather than on this speciIic occasion.
Form Ss may add to beIore the base verb Id rather to go to, as would happen iI
rather was changed to prefer. i.e. Id prefer to go to a Thai restaurant.

Pronunciation:
Receptively, Id may be interpreted as I had.
The marker sentence uses the contracted Iorm oI I would, pronounced$,8//.
Productively, Ss may incorrectly use the Iull Iorm, resulting in stress Ialling on thef
pronounced/,8 wo/ /.

. Concept Checking questions
1. What do Sue and Paul want to do this evening? (Go to a restaurant
2. Does Paul want to go to an Italian restaurant? (Yes
3. Does Sue want to go to an Italian restaurant (Not really
4. Why not? (She went to an Italian last night
5. Where would Sue like to eat tonight? (At a Thai restaurant.
6. Would she preIer to eat Thai or Italian Iood this evening (Thai
7. Why? (Because she ate Italian last night.

. We had the house painted last week.

1. Function: Explaining that somebody has had something done for them, by
somebody else (through the use of causative passive).

. Context:

Sue and Paul are speaking to their Iriends Jo and Alex. Their mutual Iriend Kristian is
a decorator. Sue and Paul explain that they paid Kristian to paint their house last week.
They say e had the house painted last week.



. Form: Subject had object past participle


. Anticipated problems:

Meaning Ss may not recognise the passive tone oI the sentence, thinking that the
house was painted by the subjects (Sue and Paul, not Kristian.

Form:
Ss may get the word order wrong, changing the meaning into past perIect simple and
again resulting in an active tone e had painted the house.

Pronunciation:
Receptively, Ss may not recognise the past participle (painted, instead hearing We
had the house paint yesterday`, changing the meaning.
Ss may also incorrectly use the contracted Iorm oI we had (wed, pronounced / wi/ /
rather than the correct pronunciation, / wi h/ /.

. Concept checking questions.

1. Has Sue and Paul`s house been painted? (Yes
2. When was it painted? (Last week
3. Did Sue and Paul paint their house? (No
4. Did somebody else paint the house? (Yes
5. Who painted the house? (Their Iriend Kristian.
6. Did they want him to paint the house? (Yes
7. Did they pay Kristian to paint it Ior them? (Yes

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