TKT Unit 1

Section 1 : Language - Grammar

A) Parts of Speech 

     1. General

     2. More detail on parts of speech

         a)  Nouns

         b)  Pronouns

         c)  Verbs

         d)  Adjectives

         e)  Adverbs

          f)  Conjunctions

         g)  Conjunctions or adverbs?

     3. Parts of speech in context          

     4. Practical considerations of parts of speech              

 

     Review Tasks and Reflection Questions

 B) Phrases, Clauses and Sentences 

     1. Analysis – phrases, clauses and sentences

     2. Kinds of phrases

     3. Kinds of sentences

     TKT Examination Practice Task:  Parts of Speech

C) Time, Tense and Aspect 

      1. Analysis

           i)  General concepts of tense

           ii) Continuous aspect

          iii) Perfect aspect

          iv) Time and tense

D) Grammatical Form and Use 

     1. Form

     2. Use

     Review Tasks and Reflection Questions

A1) Categorising parts of Speech 

There are different ways to categorise the part of speech (also known as 'word class') of a word.
While grammarians often disagree on the exact number, one way is to divide words into the following
9 categories:

 verb
 noun
 pronoun
 adjective
 adverb
 preposition
 determiner
 conjunction
 interjection/exclamation

    The first list has some common abbreviations for these parts of speech accompanied by a
couple of examples.  Match the abbreviations to the additional examples.

1) adj. (warm, prickly, aggressive)

2) adv. (slowly, carefully, soon)
3) con. (and, but, if)
4) det. (a, my, some)
5) interj. (oh, yuck, hey)
6) n. (house, theory, trip)
7) prep. (in, over, with)
8) pron. (I, you, they)
9) v. (go, be, run)

salty, careful, boring, lucky, long

it, she, him, us, them
clearly, recently, then, tomorrow, often
decide, live, know, begin, have
at, away, through, beside, until
your, that, the, any, either
chocolate, skills, bookshelf, energy, beauty
ouch, eh, ah, hmm,
so, because, unless, or, despite
A2)  More detail on Parts of Speech 

We have seen that we can identify nine parts of speech but sometimes we need more detail.
For example, noun is one part of speech but there are many different types of nouns.

    a) Nouns

What are the nouns shown in the pictures below?

                                

a singular, countable, compound noun                            a singular, countable noun

                                

a plural, countable noun                                                     a proper noun

an uncountable noun
A2)  More detail on Parts of Speech 

b) Pronouns

How would you define a pronoun? 

It is a word that refers to a noun that has been mentioned earlier.

Here are some sentences containing pronouns, which are underlined.  

1. We gave them a present.
2. Don’t touch that! It's mine!
3. He cut himself on the tin.
4. There was no-one to help so she did it herself.
5. People who eat a lot of sweets have bad teeth.

 Personal pronouns refer specifically to people or things.  ‘We’ and ‘them' are personal
pronouns.

 Subject pronouns go before a verb. ‘We’ is a subject pronoun.

 Object pronouns go after a verb.  'Them' is an object pronoun.

Most pronouns are either subject or object pronouns, but a couple of pronouns are both (e.g.
'you').

 Demonstrative pronouns refer to things you can see in real life.  'That' is a

demonstrative pronoun (e.g. That book is mine).
 Possessive pronouns refer to people or things that belong to another person or thing.
'Mine' is a possessive pronoun.
 Reflexive pronouns are used when a person or thing does something to their own
'self'.  'Himself' is a reflexive pronoun.
 Emphatic pronouns emphasise who or what did the action.  'Herself' is an emphatic
pronoun (e.g. She herself admitted it!)
 Relative pronouns link two clauses together.  'Who' is a relative pronoun (e.g. He is
the one who stole it.)

A2)  More detail on Parts of Speech 

c)  Verbs

Find the errors in the following sentences. What does each error tell us about the nature of
the verb in the sentence?
1. I didn't want to go but he persuaded.
2. He told a joke and the children laughed it.
3. He has a dog, hasn't he?
4. Passengers must to buy a ticket first.
Answers

1. I didn’t want to go but he  persuaded me.

Persuade  is a transitive verb, which means it must have an object after it.

 2. He told a joke and the children laughed.

Laugh is an intransitive verb, which means it cannot have an object after it.  We can often
(but not always) add an object if we link to it using a preposition (e.g. the children
laughed at it), but we can’t add an object directly after an intransitive verb.

Some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive depending on how they are used.

For example,   He was reading. (intransitive)

                               He was reading a book. (transitive because the direct object is book)

3. He  has  a dog, doesn’t he?

  Has  is a main verb here.  The main verb has the real meaning and content behind the
action.  Has is sometimes an auxiliary verb, though.  In “He has travelled all over” the
main verb is travel and has is an auxiliary verb that helps to create the Present Perfect tense. 
In question tags we use the negative of the auxiliary verb (in this case, do/does).

4. Passengers must buy a ticket first.

Must  is an auxiliary verb, but it is a special type of auxiliary known as a modal verb. 

Modals are followed by the base form (just the verb itself, with no changes for person or
tense) of the main verb, not by an infinitive (the verb with ‘to’ before it). Other modal verbs
include may, might, shall, should, can, could, will and would.

So we have transitive and intransitive verbs, main verbs and auxiliary verbs,
and modal verbs (which are a special type of auxiliary verb).

A2)  More detail on Parts of Speech 

d) Adjectives

Adjectives are used to describe nouns.  There are several special types of adjectives that
describe nouns in different ways:

 Comparative adjectives are used to describe how two things are different. They are
often preceded by the words ‘more’ or 'less'.
 Superlative adjectives are used to describe how one thing in a group is different from
the others and are preceded by the words ‘the most’ or 'the least'.
 Demonstrative adjectives, which are similar to demonstrative pronouns, are used to
indicate which noun you are talking about (such as this, that, these and those).
 Possessive adjectives, which are similar to possessive pronouns, are used to indicate
who the noun belongs to (e.g. My book).
 Participles come in two forms: one describing a feeling (e.g. interested) and the other
describing the person or thing that causes that feeling (e.g. interesting). Note that a
participle can refer to a verb or an adjective. (e.g. In 'He is annoying me' annoying is
a verb but in 'He is an annoying neighbour' annoying is an adjective) 

1) He was annoyed because she was late. I wish he wouldn't whistle all the time. It's very
annoying. (annoyed/annoying)
2) I read this book in two days. Are these gloves yours? (this/these)
3) This movie is so boring. That lecture took 5 hours, I've never been so bored in my life!
(boring/bored)
4) We need a bigger house. People are said to be friendlier in the north. (bigger/friendlier)
5) What is his name? Their children go to the same school as mine. (his/their)
6) What is the tallest building in the world? That is the worst meal I have ever eaten.
(tallest/worst)

possessive
participle
superlative
comparative
demonstrative
participle

e) Adverbs

Read the following story and answer the question:

Did the writer have a good day?

Yesterday, after shopping all afternoon, we were driving home when suddenly the car in
front stopped. We couldn’t stop quickly enough and we hit it. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
I got out of the car and saw that it was damaged. I went to talk to the other driver, and,
eventually, after a long discussion, he agreed that it was his fault. That made us feel very
tired so we went to have a cup of tea in a café nearby and felt much better. I was certainly
glad to get home that day!

You will have found that the writer did not have a very good day. Now that we have read for
general understanding, we can look at the language in the passage.

You will probably know that suddenly in the first line is an adverb and that it is an adverb
of manner (it tells us how something was done).  Can you find 10 other adverbs in the text?
What kind of adverbs are they?

Answers

 yesterday, all afternoon, eventually  = adverbs of time

 in front, nearby = adverbs of place
 quickly (and suddenly)  = adverbs of manner
 fortunately, certainly = adverbs of attitude
 very, much = adverbs of degree

We can see that adverbs can be one word (e.g. quickly) or a phrase (all afternoon). You
probably know other adverbs and adverbial phrases that are more commonly used in writing,
for example:

Result

Consequently                   

Therefore

Contrast

Nevertheless                   

Alternatively

Sequence

Then                                  

Afterwards

Addition
Also,

Furthermore

f) Conjunctions

Conjunctions are joining words. Examples are and  and or.  How many other conjunctions can
you think of?

Here is a selection. They are divided into two groups. What is the difference between them?

Group 1  :     and  or  but   yet  so  nor   for

Group 2  :   because  if  unless  although   though   despite    in spite of       provided       

                        as long as        whereas    whilst     when

Conjunctions can also be called connectors.

g) Conjunctions or adverbs

We have seen that there are many different types of adverbs.  Some types of adverb have a
similar meaning or use to conjunctions.  How can we tell the difference between conjunctions
and adverbs in these cases?

Look at the two sentences below. They express contrasting ideas. How could we link them
together to make this idea of contrast really clear?

He was poor.  He was happy.

If we use a conjunction, we can say, “He was poor but he was happy” and we end up
with one sentence.

If we use an adverb, we can say, “He was poor. However, he was happy” and we end up
with two sentences.

Conjunctions join short sentences together to make longer sentences. Adverbs join the ideas

across sentences.

In the following task, decide if the sentences are grammatically correct or not. Here are a
couple of examples to consider first:

Example 1: He went to the post office, after that he went to the bank.
Example 2: A bat can fly, although it is not a bird.                 

Example 1 is incorrect because ‘After that’ is an adverb and not a conjunction. If we use after
that  we need to write two sentences: He went to the post office. After that, he went to the
bank.

Example 2 is correct because ‘although’ is a conjunction.  If we use although we need to

write one sentence and this example is one sentence.

A3) Parts of speech in context

Words can be different parts of speech depending on the work they do in the sentence. Look
at these:

1.  Please open the window.   Open  = a verb

2.  The window is open.  Open = an adjective

 What part of speech are the words in bold in these examples?

3. We’re going to paper the bedroom at the weekend.

4. Have you got some paper please?

5. You won’t succeed if you don’t try.

6. It’s not perfect but it is a good try.

7. Have you seen this article on global warming?

8. Look at this! It’s fantastic!

Answers

 In 3 paper is a verb but in 4 it is a noun.

 In 5 and 6 we can see the same distinction: try is a verb in the first one but a noun in
the second.
 In 7 this is a demonstrative adjective  because it is in front of a noun. In 8 it is a
demonstrative pronoun because it replaces the noun completely.
 Read the passage about Dave diving into the swimming pool.  Reading texts should
always be read for meaning before studying the language in them, so here are a couple
of questions to answer first:
 i)   Where was Dave?
 ii)  What was he trying to do?
 iii)  Was he successful?

Dave was living in (1) Miami at the time.  He didn’t like the beach, so he was at a local (2)
swimming pool.  It was summer and (3) it was hot and sunny.  In order to be cool he (4)
strolled casually out of the men’s changing rooms with his beach towel hanging over one
shoulder, (5) dark sunglasses covering his eyes, and his hands in the pockets of (6) his bright
red, extra-baggy swim shorts.

There were two attractive young women sitting on the edge of the pool dangling their legs in
the water.  (7) Unsurprisingly, Dave decided to show off a bit to impress them.  He threw his
towel (8) on the grass, flicked his T-shirt on the ground, and posed for a second by the edge of
the pool to make sure the ladies had a good look at him.  Then he dived (9) smoothly into the
water.  It was a perfect dive, with no splash, and Dave felt really good, but he also felt like
something was missing.

As he came out of the water he took a breath (10) and looked towards the edge of the pool. 
There, at the feet of the two beautiful women, was a pair of bright red, extra-baggy swim
shorts floating mockingly in the water.

 Answers
 i)   At a swimming pool.
 ii)  Impress the two young women.
 iii)  No.  (At least, not in the way he had planned!)
 Now read the passage again and identify the part of speech of the underlined words as
they are used in the passage.

A4) Practical Considerations of Parts of Speech

Does it matter whether students know the parts of speech in English?

They may not need to know the technical terms such as ‘transitive verb’, for example, in
English. However, they certainly need to have an understanding of the idea that some verbs
must have an object so that they can form sentences correctly.

This area of grammar is often taught and tested at higher levels in the form of word building
exercises. For example, students are given a gapped sentence followed by a ‘root’ word which
they must adapt in order to fit into the sentence. Consider:

1. It was a truly ___________ experience. wonder

2. His performance was _____________ better than hers. significant

In sentence number 1 students will need to know that the word should be an adjective and
change it accordingly to ‘wonderful’. In sentence 2, as the missing word is describing an
adjective (better), students will need to change the given word into an adverb (significantly).

Review & Reflection - Parts of Speech

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the 9 parts of speech and the different types
of those parts of speech as given in the above tasks.

Reflection
1)    In your next lesson with a lexis focus, note down exactly what you wrote on the board.

a)    Do you mark the part of speech on lexis on the board?

b)    If so, how much detail do you give?

c)    Do you check that students are copying the relevant information into their notebooks
when they write the vocabulary item down?

d)    What method do you use to mark the part of speech?  Is it similar to one of the following
approaches?

 enjoy  (verb - trans.)

 enjoy (v [t])
 to enjoy sth

2)    Do you ever help learners with word building? 

For example, when students learn a psychiatrist they also learn  psychiatry (n [U]) and
psychiatric (adj).

B)  Phrases, Clauses and Sentences 

B1) Analysis – phrases, clauses and sentences

Read this short text to find out why Mr. Robinson was not happy on his birthday:

When he arrived home from work, he discovered that his wife had baked him a birthday cake.
He was not happy. He didn’t like cake and had told his wife before.

Now that we have seen that he does not like birthday cake, can you find an example of 

            a) a phrase?             b) a sentence ?        c)  a clause?

a) An example of a phrase is a birthday cake. It is a group of words which makes sense.

b) There are three sentences:

     1.    When he arrived home from work, he discovered that his wife had baked him a
birthday cake.   

     2.    He was not happy.

     3.    He didn’t like cake and he had told his wife before.

A sentence makes complete sense and contains a verb. Sentences always begin with capital
letters and end with full stops or other suitable punctuation. A sentence can be one word, for
example Go!

c) In sentence number one there are two clauses:

 1. When he arrived home from work
2. he discovered that his wife had baked him a birthday cake

A clause is a group of words that contains a verb and may not make complete sense. When he
arrived home from work does not make sense on its own but he discovered that his wife had
baked him a birthday cake does make sense.

There is a difference between the first clause When he arrived home from work and the
second he discovered that his wife had baked him a birthday cake. What is it?

The answer is that When he arrived home from work is a subordinate or dependent clause
while he discovered that his wife had baked him a birthday cake is the main  clause.  

In sentence three there are also two clauses:

1. He didn’t like cake

2. and he had told his wife before.

How are these two clauses different from the clauses in sentence 1?
The answer is that these two are both main clauses because and  is a co-ordinating connector.
We will look at this in more detail in the section below on sentences. 

B2)  Kinds of phrases   

Phrases have functions like individual parts of speech and can be categorised as:

 Noun phrases
 Verb phrases
 Adjective phrases
 Adverb phrases
 Prepositional phrases

A noun phrase is a phrase that begins with a noun and a verb phrase is a phrase that begins
with a verb. Similarly, a prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and an adverb phrase
begins with an adverb.

Ned Kelly was an Australian bushranger.  He later became a famous bank robber.

Read the text about Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang and answer the questions:

Ned Kelly is an Australian icon.  He was the leader of a group of bank robbers known as the
Kelly Gang.  Kelly and his gang are probably most famous for their clever use of metal body
armour.  Whenever they robbed a bank they would suit up in bulletproof armour that
prevented the police from harming them.

It all started when a police officer assaulted Ned Kelly’s sister and his mother hit the police
officer with a shovel.  The officer went back to the station and claimed he had been
ambushed and beaten up by the Kelly brothers.  Ned Kelly’s mother was arrested but the
Kelly Gang escaped.  After that, they started robbing banks.  The general public thought they
were heroes because they challenged the colonial government and the rich and wealthy.

In the end they were caught after a big gunfight with the police.  Despite wearing bulletproof
armour Ned Kelly was shot multiple times, mostly in the legs and arms, and eventually fell to
the ground.  He was arrested and later he was hanged.
1. Who caused Kelly to become a bank robber?

2. What did people think of him?

Practical teaching of phrases

Students often study and learn phrases without really analysing them, for example,
prepositional phrases to do with times, dates and places:

in the morning                 at 3 o’clock          on 27 December            at the airport 

Other examples of grammar taught as phrases would be the too + adjective structure, for
example:

                                                too cold to go swimming

                                                           too heavy for me to carry

Phrasal verbs are one particular type of verb phrase. Other verb phrases which are not
phrasal verbs include phrases such as:

                                                           take something to heart

                                                           get lost

                                                           go round in circles

                                                           make a mess

 Collocations also give phrases such as:

                                                           apply for

                                                           look for 

                                                           find                    a job

                                                           get

                                                enjoy                 your job

                                                           change

Students can expand their vocabulary and sound more natural by learning phrases rather than
single words wherever possible.

B3) Kinds of sentence

The basic unit of language analysis is the sentence and a lot of language is taught at sentence
level.

What is the difference between these kinds of sentences?

                                            simple sentence

                                            compound sentence

                                            complex sentence

 “Tom likes apples.” This is a simple sentence. A simple sentence is one that has only one
clause and therefore only one verb.

“Tom likes apples and Judy likes bananas.”  This is a compound sentence. A compound
sentence is one that has two independent clauses (“Tom likes apples” and “Judy likes
bananas” both make sense, exactly as they are, in their own right) linked with a co-ordinating
conjunction (for example, and, but, yet, or so).

“Tom likes apples that are green.”  This is a complex sentence. A complex sentence is one
that has a main clause (“Tom likes apples” makes sense in its own right) and one or more
dependent (subordinate) clauses (“that are green” doesn’t make any sense on its own).

C) Time, Tense and Aspect

C1) Analysis

i) General concepts of tense

What do you understand by these three words (time, tense & aspect)?
Answer the following questions to help clarify your thoughts, and then drag your mouse over
the question for an answer.
1. What is the difference between time and tense?

2. How many official tenses are there in English? What are they? (2, present/past simple)

3. How many aspects are there in English (excluding the simple form)? What are they?

4. How do tenses and aspects interact?

5. When a sentence involves more than one aspect what order do the verbs go in? (perf./cont.)
Only Two Tenses

Students and teachers are often familiar with tables like this one:

  Past  Present  Future 

Simple  He did He does He will do
Perfect  He had done He has done He will have done
Continuous  He was doing He is doing He will be doing
Perfect Continuous  He had been doing He has been doing He will have been doing

According to a table like this, English has twelve tenses, or even more if we also included
passive forms (though the passive is usually considered to be a voice not a tense). However,
technically, there are only two.

Present Simple and Past Simple are considered “true” tenses because the verb changes its
form to make them, not by adding an auxiliary:

 Present simple: the verb changes in the third person singular form by adding an ‘s’ to
the base form (e.g. I swim.  He swims.  They eat.  She eats.)

 Past simple: regular verbs change by the addition of -ed  to the base form and irregular
verbs change their form completely (e.g. I walk to work.  I walked to work.  I eat
sandwiches.  I ate a sandwich.)  There are a few verbs that don’t change (such as
‘put’), but these are rare cases.

The technical term for this change is that the verbs are inflected.

According to this definition, the “future simple” is definitely not a tense as it is formed by
using the auxiliary will. On top of that, there are many ways to refer to the future in English
and will is only one of them. It is therefore better regarded as one of the future forms rather
than as a tense, and in fact many writers now feel that will is best regarded as a modal.

What do they mean?

We have seen that time and tense are not the same thing so if tense does not depend on time,
what does it depend on? To answer this question we need to look at the two simple tenses
separately. We will start with the past simple as perhaps that one is easier to analyse.

Past simple

Look at the sentences below and decide what the time reference is of the past simple verbs:
1. I bought it yesterday.

A: I think we should leave around six tomorrow. B: I don't know. If we left at five, we could get
2.
the earlier train.

3. I wish I had a better memory.

4. You're 28! It's time you got a job.

5. Did you wish to see me?

As we can see, the Past Simple verb form can be used to refer to past, present or future!
The use of the Past Simple is clearly not based on time. There is a unifying concept here,
though - distance.

1. Distance in time.
2. Distance in possibility (i.e.  There is a feeling that ‘we are not definitely leaving at five, we
are only considering the possibility’).
3. Distance in possibility (as above, but much more extreme distance in this case – it is
impossible to have a better memory now).
4. Distance between reality and desirability (the speaker believes the listener should get a job
but the listener is not looking for a job at the moment).
5. Distance in social status (possibly a bit old-fashioned now, but this is a very polite form that
indicates the speaker feels there is some distance in the power-relationship here).

Present simple

Similarly, Present Simple can be used to refer to past, present and future (see the examples
below).

Look at these examples of sentences in the Present Simple. What is the time reference in
each? 
1. Charlie tells me you are going to Australia.

So, we were sitting at the bar, and this man comes up to us, and, you wouldn't believe what he
2.
said...

3. ... and Beckham passes the ball to Ronaldo ...

4. I'll call you as soon as I arrive.

5. The earth goes around the sun.

6. The English drink a lot of tea.

7. Mr Smith travels to work by bus.

8. What time does the train leave?

We see that, in contrast to the Past Simple which conveys distance, the Present Simple brings the idea forward and
creates a feeling of immediacy.

me you are going to Australia’ the ‘expected’ tense would be ‘told’ as Charlie
In ‘Charlie tells 
told the speaker in the past but the use of present tense moves the idea to the immediate
present in the conversation. The speaker is saying, “This is what we are going to talk
about now.”

In the bar incident the use of the ‘dramatic present’ has the effect of making it sound more exciting. Similarly, the
commentary makes use of the present simple to create this exciting effect - and as a result is one of the rare
instances where the Present Simple is used to refer purely to present time.

In the example  ‘I’ll call you soon as I arrive’ this immediacy effect is perhaps harder to see but if we consider the
other words which are followed by Present Simple for example, if, when, before, after, unless they do convey an
important condition of some kind, which the speaker wants to emphasise.

In the other sentences the time reference of all the sentences can best be described as
‘always’:

 The Earth always goes around the sun.

 The English always drink a lot of tea.
 Mr Smith always travels to work by bus.
 and the question asks about the time the train always leaves.

This time reference is sometimes described as universal and it describes something that is

seen as permanent or habitual/routine.

The Present Simple tense is therefore based on two main ideas: immediacy and permanence.

The Two Aspects

The Perfect Aspect and the Continuous Aspect add additional meaning to the two tenses and
two future forms. 

As mentioned earlier, if a verb form has both Perfect and Continuous Aspects, the Perfect
form comes first in the sentence.  Here are some examples of verb forms in the Perfect
Continuous:

subject perfect continuous object/complement/adverbia

l
It had been raining for hours.
The officer has been interviewing the neighbours.
He will have been working here for a year.

We can see that the part which comes from the verb to have always comes before the part that
comes from to be V-ing.

Continuous Aspect

In the following comment, which job does the speaker see as his permanent job?  Which does
he see as a temporary job?

“Of course, I really drive Formula One cars. I’m only driving this taxi to get a bit of extra
money!”

Answers
The speaker considers driving Formula One cars to be his permanent job and driving a taxi to
be temporary. This may be even though he spends far more time driving a taxi than driving
Formula One; the important thing is that is how he, the speaker, sees it.

What are the differences in these two groups of temporary situations?

Group 1:   They’ve been waiting to see the doctor for ages.

                 She was having a shower.

                 Sorry, I’ll be working.

                 She’s crying because she’s been watching a romantic film.

Group 2:   Why are you jumping up and down?

                  He’s been buying her roses every week for six months.

                  He’s hitting his little brother.

                  The children will be eating hamburgers every day at camp.

Answers

In Group 1 the verbs describe actions which go on for some time. In other words, the
continuous here shows duration. In Group 2, the verbs describe repeated actions. The
continuous aspect here shows repetition.

In summary, the continuous aspect shows that the speaker considers the action to

be temporary and it is either of some duration or it is repeated.  That is why it would
sound odd to say I’ve been cutting my finger. (Cutting one’s finger is a quick action, it does
not have duration, and it is usually only once, not repeated).   It is also why some verbs are
rarely used in continuous form (think, believe, love, etc.) - because the speaker can’t control
whether they are temporary or not.

Perfect Aspect

What is the common concept underlying these examples of the Perfect Aspect?

 When I got home I found that the children had eaten  all the chocolates.
 Oh! You've painted the sitting room. It's lovely.
 Come at 6 o’clock. I'll have finished by then.

The common idea is that they all look back from a certain time to an earlier time (this concept
of looking back, in relation to the Perfect Aspect, is sometimes called its retrospective nature).
Basically, when we refer to the word ‘perfect’ in grammar, we mean ‘before’. We can show
this on timelines, which perhaps show the idea more clearly:
The timelines show that there are always two times involved when the perfect aspect is used:

 the time the speaker arrived home and the time the children ate the chocolates
 the time the speaker saw the sitting room and the time the sitting room was painted
 6 o'clock and finishing the work

The exact time, especially of the earlier event, is often not known but the relationship between
the times is important and gives a sequence of events.

ii) Time and Tense

In summary:

 Technically there are only two tenses in English.

 Present simple conveys the general ideas of permanence (‘always’) and immediacy.
 Past simple conveys the general idea of distance. 
 The Continuous aspect adds the idea of either ‘temporary with duration’ or ‘temporary
and repeated’.
 The Perfect aspect conveys the concept of ‘looking back’.

For practical purposes it is also important to indicate what time a verb refers to.

Read the advertisement for the ‘Tired-At-Work Movement’ and answer the following
questions:

1. What kind of training do they offer?

No-one really (1) believes that their boss (2) will ever walk in on them while they are sleeping
on the job, and most people wouldn’t know what to say if it (3) did happen... but if you (4) are
trying to tell management something, perhaps letting the boss catch you sleeping on the job is
exactly the statement you need to make. 
The Tired-At-Work Movement is dedicated to helping you avoid ‘death by work’.  With a bit
of training you (5) will find yourself dropping all the right hints at the right time.  You (6)
have been under a lot of pressure recently, and it’s time your boss (7) knew just exactly how
hard he’s been working you.  When you have decided to join, call 8118-1488, and (8) ask for
Mr K. Roshi.

Answers

1. How to ‘drop hints at the right time’.

Now decide which time the verbs refer to, as they are used in the text.

Also try to see if you can explain the use of aspect.

2. Practical considerations of time, tense and aspect

i) Terminology

As there are technically only two tenses in English, if we want to refer to what is generally
known as 'present continuous' we should really say 'present tense, continuous aspect'.  What is
generally known as ‘past perfect’ should be called ‘past tense, perfect aspect’. Further, we
should not ask ‘Which tense is this?’ if the answer is anything other than present simple or
past simple. We should really call all of them verb forms. However, since grammar books and
course books refer to the twelve verb forms as tenses, it is probably easiest if we as teachers
do the same.

From now on in this course we will use the terms ‘tense’ and ‘verb form’ interchangeably, as
is traditional.

ii) Teaching

Here we need to bear in mind the difference between what is a teacher’s knowledge and what
students need to know. They are certainly not the same thing! While it may be useful for a
teacher to know that there are technically only two tenses in English it may be too confusing
for students to go into this.

However, teachers should use their judgement about what to tell students about language.
Course books frequently teach the tenses in isolation but it can be helpful for higher levels to
look at all the continuous verb forms together and to see the common theme. Students are
often pleased and relieved to find that English is not as illogical as they thought after all.

Lower levels, however, might find it easier to just remember rules, for example,

‘Don’t use these verbs in the continuous’; ‘present continuous is for now’.

Nevertheless, the teacher’s knowledge of the primary concepts of tense and aspect will be
useful in forming concept checking questions, that is, the questions that a teacher can use to
check students have followed a grammar presentation.
D) Grammatical Form and Use 

1. Form

The previous section has looked at the meaning of grammar but learners also need to know
how grammatical structures are put together in order to be able to use them; that is they need
to know the form.

 Here is an example of form. What does it describe?

 subject + past tense of verb ‘to be’ + ing form of the verb
(e.g. The kids + were + playing football.)

It describes, of course, the past continuous, a tense. Not only tenses have form as we can see
in these two examples:

 subject + to be + too + adjective

(e.g. The blue T-shirt + is + too + big.)
 would you mind + ing form of the verb
(e.g. Would you mind + opening the window?)

These show that form refers to the specific grammatical parts that make up the structure and
the order they go in. A statement of form provides students with a useful summary for
reference and also highlights the structure for those who are not natural pattern perceivers and
would not notice it in examples. Students should also have the forms for negatives (e.g. The
kids weren’t  playing football) and questions (e.g. Were they playing football?), if appropriate.

However, there may be difficulties with differences in terminology when describing form.
What term would you use , for example, for the verb form: ‘take’?  This kind of verb is
known in different books as:

 the short form

 the infinitive
 the short infinitive
 the infinitive without 'to'
 the first form
 the base form

In this section, we will use the term base form as it is short and avoids any confusion about
whether ‘infinitive’ does or does not include ‘to’, but teachers are best advised to stay with
whatever term their course book uses so as not to confuse their learners.

2. Use

‘Use’ refers to the meaning or concepts that the structure expresses.

Task
Look at the examples of form in the table below. Match them to the name of the structure and
then to the use of the structure.

Examples of form Name of structure Use

1. adjective + er a)   passive voice i) To compare two people

2. subject + has/have + past
participle
3. the + adjective + est
or things
b)   superlative adjectives ii) To express a wish about
the future
c)   past perfect iii)To show that an action or

state has some connection

4. subject + was/were + - ing
form
5. subject + must + base form
to the present
d)   ‘Would like’ iv) To show what happens to
people or things
e)   past continuous v)To describe which out of

a group shows the most

6. subject + to be + past
participle
7. subject + would like +
infinitive
f)    comparative adjectives
g)    present perfect
extreme quality
vi) To show the sequence of
two actions in the past
vii) To show that the speaker
feels a necessity to do

something
8. subject + had + past h)    modal of obligation viii)To describe a temporary
participle
or background situation

or action in the past

Answers:

1. f,i
2. g, iii
3. b, v
4. e, viii
5. h, vii
6. a, iv
7. d, ii
 8. c, vi

Review & Reflection - Time, Tense and Aspect; Form & Use

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following words:

time     tense      aspect    inflected     permanence    immediacy  retrospective     distance

Reflection

1)    What terminology does your course book use?

        a)    Does it call all verb forms ‘tenses’?

        b)    Do you?

        c)    Do you think you will change what you say as a result of this module?

2)    Do you teach your students the tenses in isolation?

       a)    Do you ever compare all the continuous tenses?

       b)    Do you ever compare all the perfect tenses?

       c)    Do you ever compare the continuous tenses with the perfect tenses and the perfect
continuous tenses?

3)    Have you seen any grammar presentations or explanations involving time, tense or aspect
that you think were misleading?

4)    What do you do to help your students with form?

       a)    Do you give them a summary of the form on the board when you teach grammar?
              If so, how do you break it down?
              If not, are there any reasons why you don’t?

5)    How does your course book deal with form?

6)    Do you like the terminology your book uses?  Why/why not?

7)    Do you give your students a statement about the use of a structure (for example, “We can
use the Present Continuous to talk about fixed arrangements in the future”)?

       a)    Do you find this helps them, or do they get the meaning more easily from examples?

Section 2 : Language - Lexis

A)  Lexical Terms

1. General terminology 
Task: Lexical terms
2. False friends

B)  Kinds of meaning

1. Basic meaning
2. Figurative meaning
3. Multiple meanings
4. Connotation and cultural associations

Task: Lexis review

A) Lexical Terms

1. General

Here is a quiz  for you. Which of the four items in each list is the ‘odd man out’? Which one
is different from the others in some way? The reason is something to do with the kind of lexis.

E.g. In the list dog, cat, fish, cousin, bird the word cousin is the ‘odd man out’ because it
refers to a person as opposed to an animal.

1. part-time       tea-bag        burglar alarm        bookcase      

2. strong sunlight       strong coffee       strong rain      strong cigarettes   
3. audience      crew      queue     flock        
4. four     five     there     see
5. car     bus     motorbike     ticket
6. wonderful    dreadful    marvellous     fantastic
7. prevent      disappear       illegal      ex-wife   
8. sailor     replacement     childhood     countable         
9. over the moon       in the red      raining cats and dogs     in hospital
10.  check in      invest in      pick up        look into 

Answers

1.       part-time       tea-bag        burglar alarm        bookcase

All four words are compounds - they are made up of more than one word.  Tea-bag, burglar
alarm and bookcase are compound nouns.  Part-time is a compound adjective.  

Some compounds are written as one word, some as two words, and some as two words with a
hyphen.  Native speakers do not always agree how compounds should be written and some
can be written in more than one way.  If you are unsure it is safest not to use a hyphen, but the
best thing to do is to check in a dictionary.  
2.     strong sunlight       strong coffee       strong rain      strong cigarettes

These are all examples of collocation - words which are frequently used together. Strong rain
is different because it is not a collocation. We do not say strong rain; we say heavy rain.

These are adjective + noun collocations but it is also possible to have other combinations:

Noun + verb     licence expires

Verb + noun     make the bed

Adverb and verb     deeply regret

3.     audience      crew      queue     flock  

These are all collective nouns because they refer to groups.  Audience, crew and queue refer
to groups of people.

A collective can also refer to a group of things e.g. a bunch of flowers, a fleet of ships.

  

A flock of sheep

4.    four     five     there     see

Four sounds like for, there sounds like their, and see sounds lie sea.  Homophones are words
that have different spelling but the same pronunciation.  Five is not a homophone.

5.    car     bus     motorbike     ticket

Car, bus and motorbike are a lexical set.  They all fit in the category transport. Although
ticket is in the same general lexical field (e.g. a bus ticket is related to transportation), it is not
a means of transport so it is not in the same lexical set.

6. wonderful    dreadful    marvellous     fantastic

Wonderful, marvellous and fantastic all have a very similar meaning (very good).  They are
therefore synonyms.  Dreadful has the opposite meaning so it is different because it is an
antonym.

7.  prevent      disappear       illegal      ex-wife  

Appear, legal, and wife are each words in their own right.  In the examples they have had
prefixes added to them (dis-, il-, and ex-) to change the meaning.  Prevent does not have a
prefix.  

Adding a prefix to an adjective often gives the opposite meaning as with illegal (= not legal)
above. Other examples would be dishonest, unhappy, impolite. Adding a prefix to a verb or
noun gives a different meaning but not necessarily an opposite meaning. In the examples
above, ex-wife = former wife. Other examples are pre-war, anti-war, pro-war.

Adding a prefix does not change the word stress: Note that the dots represent the syllable
which is stressed.

  ●              ●                     ●             ●                         ●                      ●

honest/dishonest         correct/incorrect           understand/misunderstand 

Teachers should take care to maintain the original stress when drilling words with prefixes. (It
is tempting to stress the prefix to draw students’ attention to it.)

8. sailor     replacement     childhood     countable  

These words have suffixes (sail + -or, replace + -ment, child + -hood, count + -able). 
Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word and suffixes are added to the end.  Countable is
the odd one out because it is an adjective while the others are nouns.

Suffixes are usually added to change the part of speech:

 sail (verb ) + or (suffix)  = sailor (noun - a person who sails)

 replace (verb) + ment (suffix) = replacement (noun - a thing that replaces)
 child (concrete noun) + hood (suffix) = childhood (abstract noun - the time when
someone is a child)
 count (verb) + able (suffix) = countable (adjective - able to be counted)

Some suffixes add meaning too (in conjunction with changing the part of speech):

 -less = ‘without’ e.g. careless, useless, cloudless

 -ful  =  ‘having’ or ‘with’  e.g. careful, hopeful, forgetful
 -ify  =  ‘make’ e.g. beautify (= make beautiful), terrify (= make terrified) 

Adding a suffix may or may not change the word stress:

                         ●          ●                  ●          ●                       ●        ●

Same stress : danger/dangerous   govern/government    happy/happiness

                           ●            ●          ●                 ●         ●                            ●

Different stress :  stupid/stupidity   hesitate/hesitation   televise/television

Prefixes and suffixes are different kinds of affixes.

9. over the moon       in the red      raining cats and dogs     in hospital

If you understand the meaning of in and the meaning of hospital, you can understand the
meaning of the phrase in hospital.  This not true for the other phrases, which are idioms.  In
an idiom the whole phrase forms a single piece with a single meaning or use that cannot be
interpreted simply through understanding the separate words in the phrase.   

   He is over the moon = He is feeling very happy. 

   She is in the red = She has a negative bank balance.
   It is raining cats and dogs = It is raining very hard.

10. check in      invest in      pick up        look into 

The difference here is similar to the difference in (9).  Invest in is a verb and a dependent
preposition. The verb invest exists without the preposition (e.g.  He decided not to invest), and
has the same meaning whether followed by that preposition or not.

The others, check in, pick up, look into are phrasal verbs because both words, the verb and
the particle, are always necessary for the meaning.  The word pick, for example, means to
choose or select something.  By adding the particle up we create a new word completely,
which means to lift or collect something using your hands.  Phrasal verbs are a type of
idiom; they are sometimes also known as multi-word verbs (or MWVs for short). 

2. False friends

Here are some words in other European languages. From your knowledge of English, what
do you think they might mean? (Drag your mouse over the word to fnd out.)
1. embarazada (Spanish)

2. anniversaire (French)

3. wenn (German)

4. grappe (French)

All these words confuse speakers of Spanish, French or German when they learn English
(and speakers of English when they learn Spanish, French or German).  They think the words
will help them because they are similar to their own language but the words do not help
because they have different meanings.  Modern dictionaries often include inserts dealing
with these false friends to help learners from specific language backgrounds (eg. an insert on
false friends in Italian, an insert on false friends in Dutch, etc.).
B)  Kinds of Meaning

What is the relationship between the concepts expressed in these two pictures?

What one word can be used to express both concepts?

Do you think other languages also use one word to express both these concepts?
           

1. Basic meaning and figurative meaning

The most straightforward meaning of the word tree is a tall plant with a wooden trunk and
branches.  This is the denotational meaning.  Often this is the first meaning listed for a word
in a dictionary.

The second picture is the family tree of the British Queen, Elizabeth II.  A family tree has a
vaguely related meaning in that trees and families can both be said to have branches.  This is
the figurative meaning. 

Note that the relationships between the different meanings can be a useful aid sometimes, but
equally, they are abstract and often do not carry over into other languages.  Consider, for
example, that a word for word translation of the Chinese equivalent for family tree produces
family chart; compare this with the English organisational chart (not an organisation tree)
and we see that the relationship between the two uses of tree is not likely to be so apparent to
a Chinese learner of English.

The denotational meaning of head is the top part of the body and it has a figurative meaning
describing the leader of a school or an organisation (the top person).

What figurative meanings do these words have?

1. a chair

2. his right arm

3. a foot

4. a key

3. Multiple meanings

Of course many words in English have multiple meanings which are not connected at all.

Consider the following:

a)    I need to get some money from the bank.  (= place where money is kept)
b)    A blood bank.  (= place where blood is kept)

c)    They had a picnic on the river bank.  (= the land on either side of a river)

d)    The plane banked suddenly.  (= fly with one wing higher than the other when turning)

e)    Her ice cream is bigger.  It’s not fair!  (= just; right)

f)     She has a fair knowledge of French.  (= okay; neither very bad nor very good)

g)    Are you going to the school fair?  (= an event similar to a carnival)

We can see a connection between a and b (a place where something is kept), and even a
connection between c and d (the side of something or leaning/turning to one side), but there
is no relationship between a/b and c/d. There is possibly a relationship between e and f
(something to do with balance) but it is a tenuous one and there is no relationship between
e/f and g.

How many meanings can you think of for the words below? Which is the most common
meaning? Which meanings can you group through an underlying concept?
1. ring

2. file

3. work out

Sometimes it is difficult to say whether meanings are figurative meanings, or are completely
different meanings.  The important thing is that students can use the words correctly.
4. Connotations and cultural associations

Look at these two verbs. They have the same denotational meaning but the second one also
has an associated meaning or connotation. What is it?

1. To die
2. To pass away (phrasal verb)

Both have the denotational meaning of ‘stop living’ but pass away has an additional
associated meaning or connotation of in a peaceful, gentle way (for example, it may seem
unnatural to say  He passed away in a car crash.)

As another example, thin, skinny and slim each have the denotational meaning of ‘without
much flesh’ but thin is usually a statement of fact and occasionally negative, skinny is
mainly disapproving (it has negative connotations) and slim is positive. Some may argue,
however, that skinny can sometimes have a positive connotation (consider skinny jeans). 

Some connotations are personal. For example, policeman has a basic meaning of a law
enforcement officer. For some people it has the positive connotation of a public servant who
is there to help, while for other people it has the negative connotation of ‘the enemy’.

Sometimes connotations are cultural. Think about the phrase strawberries and cream. 

  In the UK strawberries and cream has positive

connotations relating to summer afternoons and picnics in the garden. It also makes people
think about the Wimbledon tennis match.

To an Australian, it might be a reminder of strawberry jam and cream, which is simply

something people put on pancakes for breakfast (and is more common in winter).

What connotations do these words have for you? Drag your mouse over the text to reveal the
answer.
1. carefree

2. careless

3. a horseshoe

4. yellow

5. a green hat

Students need to study connotation at advanced levels in order to fully understand authentic
texts (especially newspapers and magazines that are rich in cultural language), but at lower
levels simply knowing whether words and expressions have positive or negative
connotations will probably be sufficient. Modern dictionaries usually give some guidance
on connotation.

Review & Reflection - Lexis

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following terms:

 affix, prefix, suffix

 synonym, antonym
  compound noun, collective noun
 homophone, lexical set
 collocation, phrasal verb, idiom
 denotational meaning, figurative meaning, connotation

Reflection

1)    How important do you think it is for your students to know technical terms for lexis such
as synonym and antonym? 

       a)    Do you use these terms?

       b)    Do you use any course books that have these terms?

2)    Students often have difficulty with collocations as they cannot see a reason why some
words collocate but others do not.  What do you do to help students with collocations?

       a)    Do you drill collocations?

       b)    Do you or your students make posters to go on the wall (e.g. with make and do) to
remind students?

       c)    Do you encourage students to record collocations in their notebooks?

       d)    Are there any lessons on collocations in your course book or syllabus?

3)    Are false friends an issue for your students?

       a)    If so, what are some of those false friends?

       b)    What do you do to help your students with them?

Section 3 : Language - Phonology

A)   Sounds and phonemic Script 

     1. Recognising sounds

     2. Phonemic script

     3. The schwa

     4. Reading phonemic script

     5. Minimal pairs

TKT Examination Practice Task: Phonology – sounds

B)  Word Stress 

     1. Stress in single words

     2. Stress in compound words

     3. Word stress in nouns, verbs and adjectives

     4. Word stress in longer words and word families

TKT Examination Practice Task: Phonology – word stress

 C)  Sentence Stress 

     1. General features of sentence stress 

     2. Other points about sentence stress

        a) Main stress   

        b) Contrastive stress

 D)  Connected Speech 

     1. Sentence stress, rhythm and weak forms

     2. Stressed or unstressed?

     3. Teaching applications of weak forms

     4. Other features of connected speech

         a) Sounds linking

         b) Sounds disappearing (elision)

         c) Sounds changing (assimilation)

         d) Extra sounds added (intrusion)

E)   Intonation

      1. General

      2. Basic intonation patterns

Each of the following words contain the sound /f/. Although the words don’t always contain
the letter f, they contain the sound /f/. Note that phonemes (more simply, symbols to
represent the actual sound of vowels and consonants) can look like a real letter, as in the case
of the /f/, or they can also look terribly unfamiliar such as this one /ɪə/. The sound /ɪə/ is the
underlined part in the following words steer, dear, pier, sincere and meal. We can see how
the spelling is very different in these words but the ‘ear’ (or phonetically /ɪə/) sound is the
same. For this reason, it is very useful for students if they are able to identify phonemes to
make them more independent learners. Most good dictionaries, including online versions
contain the phonetic transcription of the word in question, and if learners are able to read
phonetics they will be able to ‘read’ how a word is correctly pronounced, thus giving them
this independence.

   safe        flower      enough    telephone  

All these words contain the sound /ɪə/.

   here       dear       really      clear      beard

Task

What sounds do the words in each group below share? 

Drag your mouse over the words to see the symbol that represents the sound which is
common in all the words in the group.

(Refer to an English-English online dictionary to help you if you like. This is a very useful
way to get to know the phonemic symbols if you are not familiar with them already.)

Another useful tool is an online phonemic chart. This is a chart with all the phonemes and an
interactive guide. Just type into your search engine Online phonemic chart and you will be
presented with the chart. Click on the symbols to hear how they are pronounced and you will
also be given an example word which contains the sound.
1. space raid late weight

2. jump fridge ajar pledge

3. out owl drought noun

4. singer flung wrong drinking

5. score door sport board

2.  Phonemic script

If we want to represent sounds on paper we can use a phonemic script, as was used in the
answer key to the last task. These symbols will probably seem very strange the first time you
see them. Similarly, your students may feel somwhat daunted at first, but once the symbols
become familiar, they really are a useful tool in teaching as well as learning English
pronunciation. The symbols are based on the International Phonetic Alphabet, and each
symbol represents a single phoneme.
A phoneme is the smallest sound that can change meaning in a language (ie. not the smallest
sound that it is possible to make). A phonemic symbol shows one phoneme or sound.
The phonemic chart shows all the phonemes of English arranged according to where they are
formed in the mouth. (It may help to refer to an online interactive version of the chart for the
rest of this module.)

The chart is divided into 3 sections.

single vowels dipthongs

consonants

How would you define a diphthong?

In Sound Foundations  (Macmillan 1998), Adrian Underhill says “Diphthongs are the result
of a glide from one vowel to another within a single syllable.” (A “glide” is a smooth
movement.) Therefore, diphthongs are made up of two sounds but count as one syllable and
one phoneme.  

As we have seen, sounds sometimes come from a combination of letters. For

example, wash has four letters but only three sounds: /w/ + /ɒ/ + /ʃ/.  It's a little bit like w-a-
sh, where the letter w is represented by the phoneme /w/ and the letter o is represented by the
phoneme /ɒ/ and finally, the letters s and h, when pronounced together, form the sound
represented by the phoneme /ʃ/. Although this /ʃ/ looks rather like an f, it is actually a shhhh
sound. Comfortable has eleven letters but only eight sounds /'kʌmftəbl/. In other words, the
number of letters is not the same as the number of phonemes. . Sometimes the number of
sounds can be greater than the number of letters. For example, in the word exit, there are 4
letters but 5 sounds /eksit/. Consider the word sing. The final sound of the word is a
combination of the letters n and g. This combination of n and g has its own phoneme (or
sound representation). The word sing is written phonetically as /siŋ/ (s-i-ng) and therefore has
3 phonemes. 

3.  The schwa 

The most common sound in English is the phoneme known as the schwa and shown with
the phonemic symbol /ә/. The sound can be represented in spelling by many different letters
or combinations of letters. The sound is very small and is never stressed. 

Take the word delicate, for example.  We don’t pronounce the last syllable with an /eɪ/, as
in Kate. Instead it is a much shorter, more neutral sound, /ә/.   

Where the letters are in bold a schwa sound is produced. Please note that although the bold
may suggest a stressed syllable, here is is used to show the unstressed weak schwa sound.

        /ә/                      /ә/                           /ә/                      /ә/                      /ә/

mother                doctor               departure                station             revision              

       /ә/                        /ә/                        /ә/                    /ә/                     /ә/                          

famous              delicious             hospital           mountain          statement

 /ə/            /ə/              /ə/               /ə/                      /ə/                                     

 ago      cigarette       polite          collect                persuade

      /ə/ /ə/        /ə/     /ə/

generous      certificate            

Because it is such a small sound, many students have difficulty in hearing it and in saying it
(it is similar to, but not exactly, a shorter version of the /ɜː/ in hurt). It is very important that
students learn the sound, not only if they want to have a natural-sounding accent, but also so
that they can understand native speakers better. Consider how English speakers pronounce the
word can when it is part of a sentence. When the word is part of a sentence, it tends to be
pronounced rather like kn. Say this relatively fast:  I can swim. You should notice that you
pronounce the word swim more than the word can. This is because the word can is not
stressed in this normal reading. If, however, you are being told that you are not able to swim
but in fact you can, you would then say something like, But I can swim. In this case you
would pronounce the word can with the full vowel sound (not the schwa). The use of the
schwa in spoken English is extremely common and is not a case of speakers being lazy. It is
in fact, a very natural feature of English pronunciation. 

Review, Reflection and Test - Sounds

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following terms:

 vowel sound
 consonant sound
 diphthong
 phoneme
 phonemic symbol
 phonemic script
 phonemic chart
  minimal pair
 the schwa

Reflection

1. Do your students know the phonemic script (most learners of English in China, for
example, do)?
2. If so, how do you use it in class?

1) Which of the following ideas do you already do?

2) Are there any that you would like to try?

a. Actively encourage recording of the phonemic script in students’ notebooks

b. Write phonemic script for the whole word on the board next to lexis with tricky
pronunciation (e.g. an island n [C] /'aɪ.lənd/)

c. Highlight difficult sounds with a phonemic symbol (e.g. pathology written with /ә/
above the     ‘a’ and the second ‘o’ to indicate the two schwas).

d. As vocabulary revision students match the word to the phonemic transcription.

e. Or students choose and write 5 recently learned words in phonemic script on a piece
of     paper, then show them to a partner who has to read, check the     script, and give
the     meaning of the words.

f. Students do a crossword in which the clues are a phonemic transcription.

3. If not, have you considered teaching them?

You don’t necessarily need to teach them all of the symbols, but you could, over the
course of several lessons, introduce the schwa and a few other key symbols that
represent sounds they find particularly difficult.
4. How often do you do specific work on sounds (as opposed to dealing with
pronunciation purely when drilling new lexis)?

B)  Word Stress

1.  Stress in single words
In English, some syllables in a word are pronounced more strongly than other
syllables.  For example, in these words the syllables in bold are easier to hear:
important       station      believe
These syllables are called stressed syllables. We pronounce the other syllables with
less energy, especially the unstressed or weak syllables, which are often reduced to a
schwa (/ә/).
The ‘rules’ for word stress in English are quite complex and many teachers feel it is
therefore better for students to learn the stress as they learn the word, just as native
speakers do. It is very important for teachers to highlight word stress for students
 when drilling the word and to show the stress on the board so that students can copy it
for later reference.

One way to show the word stress is to use stress bubbles.

eg.  important  =  oOo

station   =   Oo
believe =  oO

Alternatively, many teachers mark the word stress with a dot over the vowel of the
stressed syllable and marking the schwa on the weak syllables (ideally using a different
colour, for example using a black marker for the word and a red marker for the stress).
Their board work would then look like this:

        ●   ə

  important (adj)    

           ●  ə

  the station (n [C])

      ●

  to believe (v [t/i])

2.  Stress in compound words

So far we have looked at individual words. What happens to the word stress if two words
occur together to make a compound noun? Examples of compound nouns are bus stop,
penknife and washing powder.

Look at the pictures of objects below. What are their names in English? Where is the word
stress? There is something different about the word stress in the ones on the left and the ones
on the right. What is it?

Answers 

             ●          ●                                ●            ●

A) = a mobile phone                 B) = a vacuum cleaner

C) = a greenish bag                  D) = a  tin opener

E) = an electric kettle                F) = a washing  machine

Two common rules for the stress patterns of compound nouns are:

1)    adjective + noun  =  equal stress       

                           ●   ●

                                      e.g. a mobile phone 

2)  noun/gerund + noun = stress the  first noun/gerund 

                                                    ●     ●

                                          e.g. a tin opener

3.  Word stress in nouns, verbs and adjectives

Read the two following sentences:

1. Tapes replaced records and now CDs have replaced tapes.

2. One student always records new vocabulary to help him remember it.

In the first sentence record is a noun, and the first syllable is stressed.  In the second sentence
record is a verb, and the second syllable is stressed.

Do you notice the same change when you use these words as nouns first and then as verbs?

insult    transport    produce    reject    protest    present

Note that not all words which can be a noun and a verb change the stress: for
example, control and mistake always have the stress on the second syllable regardless of
whether they are nouns or verbs.  There are also some slight regional variations.)  

You will probably know that in a phrasal verb the word stress is on the particle, not the verb.
However, when the phrasal verb has an associated noun, the same rule of changing stress
applies.

Compare these sentences:

     ● Guests in a hotel have to check in on arrival. (Stress on ‘in’)

     ● Check-in time at the airport is normally two or three hours before the flight. (Stress on
‘check’)

(You will also see that the noun from the phrasal verb is usually written with a hyphen or as
one word.)

4. Word stress in longer words and word families

Certain word endings usually have regular stress patterns, for example,
Rule: words ending in –ion –id –ish   and –ic have the stress on the second-last syllable.

o  O  o                o O o           o  O    o                 o o  o O o

occasion         insipid            accomplish            characteristic

However, there are enough exceptions that students may be better advised to learn each word
with its stress and drill it till it sounds right (which is the way native speakers ‘pick it up’)
rather than learning lists of word endings and ‘rules’ which are not always true.

Similarly, it can be helpful for students to learn and drill the stress for individual words as part
of a group when learning ‘word families’.  Compare the following two word families.

Word family 1:     invention (n)          inventor (n.person)              inventive (adj.)

Word family 2:    photograph (n)       photographer (n.person)        photographic (adj.)

In Word family 1 the stress remains on the same syllable ‘ven’ for all three words.

In Word family 2 the stress moves from the first syllable ‘pho’  in photograph to the second
syllable ‘tog’ in photographer and to the third syllable ‘gra’ in photographic.

Review, Reflection and Test - Word Stress

For the TKT Test it is important that you know: stressed syllable, unstressed syllable, weak
syllable.

Reflection

1. Next time you are drilling the pronunciation of a word, help students with the word 

    stress by:

 getting them to hum the stress e.g. important = mmMMmm

 getting them to punch the air on the stressed syllable, or jump up, or hit the desk
 hold up your thumb and two fingers, then wiggle the second one in (finger
highlighting)   
 write stress bubbles above or next to the word e.g. important    o   O  o

C)    Sentence Stress

1. General features of sentence stress

When we look at full sentences we find that not all words are pronounced equally strongly in
English. We say different parts of a sentence with more or less stress (i.e. more slowly and
loudly, or more quickly and more softly). This feature of English is called sentence stress.
What kind of words are stressed if a sentence is said in a normal reading? (A normal reading
is when the speaker is not angry or surprised or using a special emphasis.)

Below is a little girl whose name is Jennifer telling her mother what she did at school today.
Which words in her sentences do you think would be stressed?  Read it aloud

                 The words that would be stressed are:

The content words (nouns, main verbs, negative auxiliaries, adjectives and adverbs) are most
likely stressed and the ‘grammatical’ words (articles, prepositions, quantifiers, conjunctions
and auxiliary verbs) are most likely weak or unstressed.

More work on sentence stress

As with word stress, we can show sentence stress using stress bubbles

o    O        o        o     O

I  played  in  the sand

Here are some more examples of sentence stress patterns but in groups. The stress bubbles
show the stressed and weak syllable throughout each sentence in the group.

1.     o    O      o                             2.     o       O        o      O     o   

        I  found  it.                                   He bought some flowers.

       He’s finished.                                 The children broke it.

       They’re leaving.                             They watched a programme.

       You told me.                                   I went to London.

The examples show that word stress is still important as the sentence stress is separate from
both the weak syllables in the word and the weak forms (of pronouns, articles, determiners,
etc.) in the sentence.

This can be seen more clearly if we break out the syllables as in the following table:

o O o
I foun it
d
He’s fin ished
They’re leav ing
You told me

All the sentences in the group have the same number of syllables and the same stress pattern.

2. Other points about sentence stress

a)  Main stress

In addition, one word in the sentence has the main stress. This is the word which the speaker
thinks is the most important to the meaning of the sentence, for example:

                                                          O

                              Have you got a pen? 

                                                                  O 

                             I can’t understand a word he says.

In these sentences pen and word are pronounced more strongly than the other stressed content
words in the sentences.  In a normal reading, the main stress is often on the last content word
in the sentence (but this can change depending on what the speaker thinks is most important,
especially if the speaker wants to emphasise something, which we will look at in a moment).

b) Contrastive stress

However, we can choose to stress any word to make a point or to correct an error.  For example:

 I bought some wine   means not a lot of wine. 

 I bought some wine  means not beer.
 I bought some wine  means  not someone else.

This is sometimes called contrastive stress.

What meaning does stressing the underlined words in the following sentences give?

Match a sentence to a meaning as in the example. 

He gave me a bunch of red roses.  ( =  not she)

D) Connected Speech

1. Sentence stress, rhythm and weak forms

As we saw in the previous section on sentence stress, not all words are pronounced equally
strongly in English and content words can be heard more clearly than grammatical words. 
This sentence stress gives English a characteristic rhythm, that is, the stressed syllables form
a pattern. 

Read aloud the beginning of the nursery rhyme (a short poem for children) below and tap on
the stressed syllables and you should find that you get a very regular beat.

  O o     O    o   O o    O 

Mary  had  a  little  lamb     

o       O         o        O     o      O      

Its  fleece  was  white  as  snow

Normal speech does not have rhythms which are as strong as this, but similar kinds of
rhythms are characteristic of English, and English speaking children are brought up in a way
that draws attention to those rhythms.

Now look at the unstressed words in the nursery rhyme. Most of them contain the schwa:

Line 1  -   a   =    /ә/

Line 2  -   was  =   /wəz/       as  =  /әz/

(The sound /ɪ/ is also weak or unstressed so that does not need to change in Its in line 2). 

These weak or unstressed forms allow native speakers to say the little words quickly enough
to maintain the rhythm.  However, these weak forms are very difficult for students,
especially beginners. When they learn a word, they expect it to always sound the same. For
example, when they learn ‘and’ they expect it to always sound like /ænd/, whereas in fact it
more often sounds like /ənd/. Similarly, they expect ‘was’ to sound like /wɒz/ but it frequently
sounds like /wəz/.  Students need help with these aspects of pronunciation.

2. Stressed or unstressed?

Look at the underlined words in the following story about a difficult journey.  The underlined
weak forms are prepositions, articles and auxiliary verbs. Some of the auxiliary verbs are
modal auxiliaries (should, would).

"Well, first of all I decided to drive but the car refused to start so I went to get the bus but
while I was waiting at the bus stop it started to rain. I didn’t have an umbrella so I ran to the
station but the train was delayed. I should know by now that the train is always late when it
 is raining. It would have been quicker to walk!"

These words are in their weak forms because they do not carry any stress in this context.
They are not information words here.

However, any word can be stressed if it is necessary to correct an error or emphasise or

contrast information in some way. Compare the following examples of weak and strong
forms:

 I was waiting at the bus stop.   was = /wəz/

     Waiting? Yes, I was.   was = /wɒz/

 I ran to the station.   to = /tə/

     I ran to the station but John ran away from it!   to = /tuː/

 I should know by now. should = /ʃəd/

     He should know the time but he may have forgotten. should = /ʃʊd/

Prepositions are also stressed if they are at the end of a sentence:

 I was waiting at the bus stop.  at = /ət/

     What are you looking at?  at = /æt/

 I ran to the station. to = /tə/

     Who did you give it to? to = /tuː/

3. Teaching applications of weak forms

We have seen that some words have a different pronunciation depending on whether they are
strong or weak in the sentence. It is therefore very important for students to both recognise
and produce weak forms when they occur in any language that we are teaching. If students do
not use weak forms they will still be understood but there can be some misinterpretation if it
sounds like they are correcting, contrasting, or emphasising something when they are not.

How can teachers help students to recognise weak forms? Here are some ideas:

 students mark weak forms on a tapescript while listening to a recording

 give students a tapescript with all the weak forms taken out and students fill in the
gaps
 students say how many words they can hear in a sentence ( contractions such as
‘don’t’ should count as two words)

And teachers can help students to produce weak forms by:

 drawing students’ attention to the weak forms when drilling.
 listening carefully when drilling and insisting that students always use weak forms
 always using weak forms themselves and in particular not slowing down for low
levels so that weak forms are lost

 4. Other features of connected speech

 Read aloud the dialogue below at quick, natural speed.                                               

 Paul:       Hello, this is Paul.  Can I speak to David please?

 Mark:      I'm afraid he's just ducked out.  Can he ring you back in a couple of
minutes?

 Paul:       Yes, that's all right, but I'll be in a meeting for about two hours.  Could he
phone me back then?

 Mark:      I have a feeling he's out of the office all afternoon, actually.  I can - oh, hang
on, he's just walked in - I'll put him on okay….

 Now look at the letters in bold at the beginnings and ends of words and try saying
them the same way you did when you read it aloud, and answer these questions:

 a.  Which sounds link on to the next word?

 b.  Which sounds disappear?

 c.  Which sounds change so that the words link together more easily?

 d.  Which sounds have an extra sound between them to help them to link together?

 Did you find any of the following?

 a)  Sounds linking

 When a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word starting with a vowel, the
consonant and vowel join together.   

 Line 1:   this is Paul          "this is" sounds like one word /ðɪsəs/

                 can I                      "can I" sounds like one word /kənaɪ/
  Line 2:   ducked out         "ed out" sounds like a separate word from "duck" /daʊt/

 Line 3:   that’s all              "'s all" sounds like one word /sɔːl/

 How many more examples of this kind of linking can you find?

b) Sounds disappearing

When a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word starting with another consonant,
we often drop the consonant on the first word (this is especially true of /t/ and /d/).   

Line 2:    just ducked              The /t/ is not pronounced (because it is difficult to say /td/).

Line 2:    couple of minutes     The /v/ in 'of' is often not pronounced.

Line 3:    about two                 The /t/ is not pronounced (because it is difficult to say /tt/).

Can you find any more examples?

c)  Sounds changing

Another kind of linking that happens when a consonant is followed by another consonant, is
that one, or both, sounds change. This is a result of a change in the mouth or tongue position
and can result in one sound becoming more like the other or a completely different sound.

Line 1:    David please        The /d/ almost becomes /b/ (because of the lips closing to
get             
                                 ready for the /p/).

Line 3:    phone me             The /n/ becomes an /m/ (for the same reason).

Line 4:    put him                 The /t/ can becomes like a /d/ (note that we often drop the/h/
                                when we do this, so it sounds like /pʊdɪm/).

Can you find any more examples?

d)  Extra sounds added

When two vowels occur next to each other, we often link them with one of three sounds,
/r/, /w/, or /j/. Again, this occurs because it is difficult to put two vowels together. It is
interesting to note, that the consonants we use to link the vowels usually have a quality that
sounds very similar to the preceding vowel sound.

Line 3:    be in           /iː/ and /ɪ/ are linked with a /j/ (used after /iː/, /ɪ/, /eɪ/, /aɪ/ etc.)
Line 3:    for about    /ɔː/ and /ə/ are linked with a /r/ (used after /ɔː/, /ɜː/, /eə/, /ɪə/ etc.)

Line 3:    two hours  /uː/ and /aʊ/ are linked with a /w/(used after /uː/, /ʊ/, /əʊ/, /aʊ/ etc.)
Note: Don't be mislead by spelling (UK speakers do not pronounce 'for' with an 'r' - consider
words like 'law' and 'Africa', that are also linked with an /r/ if followed by a vowel). Also
remember that there can be regional differences. In many parts of the US, for example, there
is already an /r/ at the end of 'for'. 

Review & Reflection - Sentence Stress & Connected Speech

For the TKT Test it is important that you know: sentence stress, weak form, main stress,
contrastive stress, contraction, and word linking.

Reflection

1.    What do you do in your class to help students with sentence stress?
For example, when drilling new language in sentences, do you ask students which are the
strong words, the important words? This really helps students to sound natural, even at very
low levels.

2.    Try the “red roses” sentence from the section on Contrastive Stress with a class.
Write the sentence on the board. Then prompt students by saying for example “Yellow
roses?”  and they reply “No, he bought me a bunch of red roses”. It is not difficult to think of
other sentences which work well with this technique eg.  “Mrs. Brown cycled to the bank on
Friday”. 

3.    Next time you have a course book dialogue which also has a tape so students can read
and listen, get students to look at the dialogue and move their mouths along with the speaker
as if they were reading aloud but silently. (It is a kind of “miming” to the tape.) 

If they use correct sentence stress and  “say” the weak forms correctly they will finish with
the speaker; if not they will be behind.

Demonstrate yourself first. (Perhaps practise yourself first too!)

4.    Do you draw attention to features of connected speech or do you expect students to pick it
up?

5.    Does your course book have specific exercises on weak forms and other features of
connected speech? How do your students find them? Difficult? Interesting? Useful?

E)  Intonation

1. General

Native speakers of English do not speak with their voices all on the same level. Their voices
go up and down, and these variations in pitch are called intonation. English uses quite a wide
voice range compared to many other languages so English speakers' voices go up and down
quite a lot.

Intonation has a variety of very important roles in English, and it is usually very meaningful.
  If a request is expressed using polite grammar and lexis but the intonation is rude, a
native speaker will always interpret it as rude.   Likewise, short and direct grammar or
lexis is usually interpreted well if it is the intonation is polite. 

 Native speakers also use intonation to indicate when they have finished speaking.
Incorrect use of intonation can lead to a listener not responding because they think the
speaker is going to continue speaking, or to the listener taking over the conversation
too early because they think the speaker has finished.

 Intonation can change a question into a statement, a statement into a question, and can
change whether a question tag is seeking complete clarification or confirmation to just
to double-check something.

 Attitude is expressed through intonation. "Mary likes Beckham" could be a simple

comment; it could be expressing surprise, disbelief, disgust, admiration, etc; it could
be to convince someone; etc. Intonation can help speakers express their meaning more
accurately.

For these reasons it is very important to integrate intonation into English teaching generally.

2. Basic intonation patterns

Intonation patterns are complex and a great deal could be said about them but here we will
confine ourselves to a few basic points that are essential for students to know.

a)  Statements

b)  Questions

c)  Q tags

d)  Being polite

e)  Being interested

f)  Being interesting

Statements almost always end with falling intonation.  The pitch can vary throughout the
statement, as long as it falls at the end.  If they rise, it will sound as if they are asking a
question.

b) Questions

There are two types of question and the intonation differs in each. Intonation generally rises at
the end of closed, or ‘yes/no’ questions, and falls at the end of open, or 'information'
questions.

 Can/do/are/will/have you... ?  (rises)

  Where/what/who/when/how... ?  (falls)

 c) Tag Questions

Most textbooks teach that tag questions which expect agreement (e.g. When you’re sure
already, but are just double-checking, "It was $35 dollars, wasn't it?") or are making a
comment and seeking a response (e.g. They're a nice couple, aren't they?) will have falling
intonation.

Tag questions that are really asking for information, or in which the person is very unsure,
have rising intonation (e.g. "People in New Zealand speak French, don’t they?"

d) Being polite

This is a very important aspect of intonation, particularly for students who plan to visit the
UK or the US, as it can make a big difference in how helpful local people are.  Native speaker
listeners often perceive foreign learners as rude when this is not intended - it is merely that the
learners do not have the expected intonation.

Polite intonation is a higher pitch than normal and tends to rise even more at the end. Polite
intonation is an essential part of teaching functions, particularly requests, asking for
permission and asking for and giving advice.

Unfortunately, many learners perceive the higher intonation to sound unnatural or "silly" and
may resist using it. Also, there is much less motivation to work on polite intonation if the
students are learning outside an English-speaking environment.

e) Being interested

The listener has a role to play in responding to the speaker and maintaining the conversation.
Listeners show that they are paying attention by making responses such as mmm or oh or
really?,  or using reply questions such as Did you? Was it? Has he?

However, if the listener does not use the expected intonation, rising intonation, the speaker
will interpret him as bored or uninterested. This is another aspect of intonation that some
students consider "silly" and is one that is easier to teach in an English-speaking environment
where students can more easily see its effects.

f) Being interesting

Any native speaker of English who has sat through a lecture, at University for example,
delivered by a speaker with little or no intonation will know that it is very difficult to keep
awake at such a time!

This is because native speakers are so accustomed to the rise and fall of the voice throughout
speech and if it is not there, they tend to 'switch off'. It is therefore extremely important that
students learn to move their voices in a similar way if they want native speakers to listen to
them.
Note: There is a modern theory that intonation is only important for learners if they expect to
speak with native speakers of English. Many students do expect to use English as a common
language with other non-native speakers, who, presumably, will not be as sensitive to, or even
notice, the intonation (or be able to use it themselves).

Each teacher will have to make their own decision about whether this applies to their learners,
but as English is becoming a global language and many learners probably do not know for
sure where life will take them it seems that the most beneficial option is to incorporate
intonation into general English teaching as much as possible, just in case.

Review, Reflection and Test - Intonation

For the TKT Test it is important that you know intonation, rise, fall and pitch.

Reflection

1. What kind of work did you do on intonation when you were learning English?
a. Did you study it?
b. Did your teacher help you with it?
2. How do you deal with intonation with your students?
a. Do you do specific exercises or integrate it into your teaching generally?
b. Do you highlight it when drilling pronunciation of new language?
3. Does your course book give good models of intonation?

Section 4 : Language - Functions

a. What are functions in ELT? What are exponents?

Task : a) Exponents of advice

          b) Exponents other than advice

b. The importance of context

i. Examples of context
ii. Meaning in context
c. Formality and appropriacy

Task : a) Formality in functions

             b) Appropriate exponents

d. Teaching functions
i. The organisation of content in course books
ii. Specific functional units in course books
iii. Students' needs

TKT Examination Practice task: Functions

Section 4:  Language - Functions

Study the examples below of functions and exponents and then decide what a function is
and what an exponent is.

Functions Examples of exponents

Agreeing So do I.
I agree with you.
Yes, quite.
Introducing yourself Hi. I’m Emma.
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr.
King.
Asking for clarification Sorry, what do you mean?
I’m sorry, I don’t quite follow that.
Could you say that again, please?
Asking for permission Is it O.K. if I sit here?
Do you mind if I smoke?
  Please can I borrow your dictionary?
Thanking someone Thanks.
Thank you very much.
That’s most kind.

A function is the communicative purpose we have for speaking, the reason why we say or
write something.

Functions are sometimes also called situational language because the situation or context in
which they are used is very important. In order to choose the right exponent, we need to think
about who the people are and their relationship to each other.

You can see from the table that we usually use the -ing form to name the function.

An exponent is the language we use to express the function. Sometimes the exponent is a set
phrase, for example, I don’t quite follow that or sometimes it is a sentence stem which could
have many different endings, for example:

                                         Do you mind if I…?

                                         Please can I…?

                                         If I were you, I would…

                                        You should …

In these cases students need to know the grammatical pattern (the form) in order to complete
the sentences (e.g. they need to know that base form follows If I were you, I would… ).
However, they can, if the teacher wishes, learn If I were you, I would… as a set phrase
without learning the whole of the second conditional. Some course books teach If I were you,
I would… at quite a low level.

Some functions have many exponents while others have very few. Suggesting, for example,
has the following:

 Why don’t we…

 Why not…
 What about…
 What if we…
 Let’s…
 Shall we…
 We could…
 What do you think about …
 I suggest…
 It would be fantastic if we…

Congratulating, on the other hand, really only has Congratulations! and Well done!

Here are some more functions. How many exponents can you think of for each?

disagreeing comparing inviting giving directions

giving permission criticising complaining wishing
refusing permission apologising giving opinions offering
showing sympathy speculating predicting greeting
Task

Which three of 1- 6 below are functional exponents for giving advice?

    yes no
1 . Have you thought about calling him?
2 . I'm afraid I didn't call him.
3 . Shall I call him?
4 . Try calling him
5 . Would you mind calling him?
6 . You could call him.

b) The importance of context

The situation, or context, the speakers are in is very important for understanding what the
speaker wants to say and for choosing the best exponent to use.

Complete the table with the missing items in the box to give examples of functions and their
exponents in context:

A)  sister to brother     B)   “What I mean is, this is wrong.”

C)  a boy looking in a shop window at a bicycle     D)  “Nice dress!”

E) complaining   F) introducing    G)  a secretary in an office     

context   functional exponent Function

man to his
1. complimenting
wife             
2. “If only I had $200!” wishing
“This isn’t clean! I’d
woman at a cash
like to speak to the 3.
desk    
manager.”
teacher to student    4. clarifying
“You can’t.  You’re
5. prohibiting     
not allowed!”           
“I’m Peter James
businessperson at
from Connex Air. 6.
conference
How do you do?”
writes “Thank you
7. for your email.  We replying to email
are...”

Answers

You should have gotten:

1. D  “Nice dress!”
2. C  a boy looking in a shop window at a bicycle
3. E  complaining
4. B  “What I mean is, this is wrong.”
5. A  sister to brother
6. F  introducing
7. G  a secretary in an office

One exponent may mean different things depending on the context.  For example, look at the
example from the table above: “Nice dress” could mean:

 Is this a new dress? 

 That looks expensive!
 Hey, we’re both wearing the same dress!
 etc.

c) Formality and appropriacy

It is important to use language that is appropriate, that is, suitable for the person spoken to.
The level of formality or informality will change, depending on the relationships between
speakers and the situation they are in. For example, in which kind of situations do you think
these would be used? Who is speaking?  To whom?
  Hi. I’m Emma.
 Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. King.

The first one could be a student introducing herself to a new classmate. (The greeting and the
contraction are informal and the speaker expects the listener to address her as Emma.)

The second could be a doctor in a teaching hospital introducing himself to his new trainee
doctors. (The language is very formal and the speaker expects the listeners to address him as
Dr. King.)

Both examples are appropriate for the speakers and the situation. It would be inappropriate
for Emma to say Allow me to introduce myself and for Dr. King to say Hi. I’m Dr. King.
Native speakers of English perceive inappropriate exponents as rude whether they are too
formal or too informal. 

Fortunately, English has quite a wide range of neutral exponents for each function and
students can feel they will be fairly safe if they use those (and just recognise the others).

 Note: Generally speaking, more formal language has more words in it and the most formal
language is found mainly in writing.

d) Teaching functions

Some more traditional course books organise language into units according to grammar so
there would be a unit, for example, on comparative and superlative adjectives.

Other course books organise language according to functions so there would be a unit about
comparing, which, in addition to comparative and superlative adjectives, might also contain
used to + base form to compare the past and the present and present perfect in its use to
describe changes.

In a context of “modern life”  you might find :

 House prices have risen.

 People used to be able to buy a house on one salary but now they can’t.
 People feel more stressed nowadays.
 People are busier nowadays.

As another example, if you wanted to find the unit on should have + past participle (e.g. You
should have bought a ticket), in a book organised according to grammar it would be under
“modals in the past”. In a book organised according to functions it would be under “criticising
past actions”, along with the third conditional and keeps doing (e.g. If he had apologised, I
wouldn’t have been so angry and He would keep taking my things without asking).

Combining functions and grammar helps to give grammar a meaning for learners and shows
them the relationships between the meanings of different grammar points. Teaching grammar
functionally is particularly appropriate for higher levels (Intermediate and above).
No matter how the course book is organised generally, many of them have special functions
units to help students with the most common functions (often titled ‘everyday English’, ‘real-
life English’ or ‘practical English’).

If students are studying in an English-speaking country, they will need some functional
language immediately e.g. polite requests, asking for directions, asking for clarification. If
they are studying in their own country, they may still need some functions if they do business
in English. Otherwise, their need for functions may not be so urgent, unless they are planning
to visit an English-speaking country. Nevertheless, students may enjoy functions lessons as
they relate English to ‘real life’, rather than being an academic study to pass examinations.

Review, Reflection and Test - Functions

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following terms:

 a function        
 an exponent
 appropriacy/(in)appropriate
 formality/formal     
 informality/informal
 context/a context

 Reflection

1.    Is your coursebook organised according to the grammatical structures or the functions?
      (Or is it organised according to topics, tasks, skills work, or some combination of all
these?)

       a) If it is not organised according to functions, does it have any specific lessons on
functions?

2.    However your coursebook is organised, do you teach functional lessons to your classes?

       a) If not, and they are not included in your school syllabus, could you include the
occasional lesson on functions anyway?

       b) If you can include some, which functions might be useful for your students in the
future (e.g. asking for clarification    when you do not understand someone) and try a lesson
on this with your students. 

       c) Afterwards, think about what worked well.  Why?  What didn’t work so well?  How
did students react?  Was it a familiar type of lesson for them?  Did they think it was a useful
lesson?  Did you learn anything from the experience?  How could you improve in the future?

3.    Are functions ever included in the examinations your students have to take?