Material de trabajo (Inglés Profesional II)

Hoja de Práctica
TEMA: Noun Phrases

Sección : ………………………..………………... Apellidos: ………………………..……………….

Docente : Miriam Quispe Chuquillanqui Nombres : ………………………………………….

Unidad : III Fecha : .…../……/………

Instrucciones: Reconoce noun phrases

I. Propósito: Identificar noun phrases

II. Actividad o tareas a desarrollar:

Noun Phrases
Noun phrases (grouping together a collection of words to act as one noun) are one of the
keystones of academic writing. They allow you to pack a lot of information into a few words, a
function which is extremely helpful when writing to a word count, or when trying to make a piece
of writing concise. Additionally, once you recognize that strings of words (noun phrases) represent
ideas which cannot be broken down, you may start to read texts in a different way, reading for
'chunks' of information rather than reading individual words.

Objectives:

To illustrate what noun phrases are and why they are useful in academic writing.

To guide students through a series of exercises which will help them to practice constructing and
deconstructing noun phrases.

Activity 1: What is a noun phrase?

'A noun' is the generic name we give to a word which names a person, place, object, thing,
concept or event. Whilst there are some exceptions to the rule, this basic description works in
most cases. However, in academic writing, using one word or one noun is not always enough.
Quite often we need to describe a place, object, person, concept or event with more than one
word, in order to convey a complete message. For example: 'The Francis Bancroft Building'.
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In this example, it was not enough for Lucy to say 'building' as there are many buildings on the
Mile End Campus. Juan needed to know exactly which building she was talking about. Lucy
therefore modified the term 'building' with the words Francis and Bancroft. Collectively, the three
words behave as one. This is, in essence, a noun phrase; a collection of words which work
together.

Instruction:

Read the sentences below and identify which sentences have noun phrases and which do not. Put
a tick or a cross.

1. The People's Palace is in the Queen's Building. ✔

2. The teacher told the students to be quiet. ✘
3. The James Mason Lecture Theatre is in the Francis Bancroft building. ✔
4. The Cultural and Social Anthropology Department deal with the many aspects of the social
lives of people around the world. ✔
5. The English for Academic Purposes Modules run by the highly qualified teachers in the
language and learning unit are available to all students of Queen Mary University of
London. ✔
6. Science and Engineering degrees are run by the school of Science and Engineering. ✘

Activity 2: Constructing a noun phrase

As already shown, using one noun is not always sufficient to convey a full message. Quite often
nouns needs to be modified (have information added to them) in order to communicate the full
message. Such information can be added before, or after the main noun.

Imagine you were standing in a bicycle shop, trying to buy a bike which was not out on display, but
which was in a catalogue (which you had left at home). You would need to give a considerable
amount of information to the sales assistant, so that when s/he went into the stock room to get
the bike for you, they would know exactly which bike you were referring to. If they did not have all
of the necessary information, they would have to keep coming back to the shop floor to ask you
questions about the bike.

I want to buy the bike.

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I want to buy the mountain bike.

I want to buy the red, mountain bike.

I want to buy the red, Marin, mountain bike.

I want to buy the red, Marin, women's, mountain bike.

I want to buy the red, 17" frame, Marin, women's, mountain bike.

I want to buy the lightweight, red, 17" frame, Marin, women's, mountain bike.

I want to buy the expensive, lightweight, red, 17" frame, Marin, women's, mountain bike.

I want to buy the expensive, lightweight, red, 17" frame, Marin, women's, mountain bike [with the
shimano gears].

I want to buy the expensive, lightweight, red, 17" frame, Marin, women's, mountain bike [with the
shimano gears and disk brakes].

I want to buy the expensive, lightweight, red, 17" frame, Marin, women's, mountain bike [with the
shimano gears, disk brakes and front suspension].

I want to buy the expensive, lightweight, red, 17" frame, Marin, women's, mountain bike [with the
shimano gears, disk brakes, front suspension and alloy pedals].

I want to buy the expensive, lightweight, red, 17" frame, Marin, women's, mountain bike [with the
shimano gears, disk brakes, front suspension, alloy pedals and Bontranger tyres].

All of the information which has been added between the word 'buy' and the word 'with', is the
noun phrase. Any information after the word 'with' is part of a prepositional phrase. Linguistically
speaking, this prepositional phrase is a separate entity. However, for the purposes of 'chunking'
ideas and conveying a complete message you should think of it as being part of the noun phrase,
as it gives information about the main noun 'the bike'.

Instruction: Modify the noun phrase 'the lecturer' by adding information in between the words
'the' and 'lecturer'.

The ____math___ lecturer

The _____math___ , _____old____ lecturer

The ____math____ , _____old___ , __friendly_______ lecturer

The ___math_____ , _____friendly___ , ___high___ , ____old___ lecturer

The ___high______ , ____math___ , ____old___ , ____friendly___ , ___educated__ ,

_charismatic__lecturer
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Activity 3: Grammar patterns of noun phrases

In the following exercise we will look a little closer at the grammar of noun phrases.

Instruction: Look at the noun phrase 'I want to buy the expensive, lightweight, red, 17" frame,
Marin, women's, mountain bike'. Answer the questions:

1) Look at the example of the noun phrase about the mountain bike. Which is the head (main)
noun?

a. frame c. mountain
b. bike d. buy

2) What is the position of the words 'expensive, lightweight, red, 17" frame, Marin, women's,
mountain' in the sentence? Do they appear before or after the main noun?

a. before b. after

3) What type of words are expensive, lightweight, red, 17" frame, Marin, women's, mountain?

a. adjectives
b. nouns
c. nouns and adjectives

Activity 4: Modifying a noun phrase after the main noun

Noun phrases can also be made by adding information after the main noun.

Q: Who is your history teacher?

A: My teacher is the young one educated at Oxford.

In this example, 'educated at Oxford' comes after the noun 'teacher', rather than before it. Whilst
the information comes after the noun, the idea in the words 'educated at Oxford' is still vitally
important to the description of the teacher. In fact, the phrase the young one educated at Oxford
acts as one complete idea.

Another way to create a noun phrase is to add a prepositional phrase (as seen in the example of
the mountain bike). In this example, the preposition 'in' and the words 'the kitchen', are all
fundamental to the idea being expressed. They cannot be separated from each other.

Q: Where is the book?

A: The book is on the table in the kitchen

Q: Which table?
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A: The table in the kitchen

Other ways of creating noun phrases include using an 'ing' form after the noun. In this example, an
'ing' form has been used after the noun, but again, the ideas are linked and should not be
separated.

Teacher: I became really irritated with the amount of mobile phones ringing during the lesson
today.

Instruction: Put the parts in order to make a noun phrase which gives information after the main
noun. Use the examples above to help you.

1. by Press published Cambridge book University The

The book published by Cambridge University Press.
2. cycling man me shorts for one takes the wearing the Biology The is who
The man who is wearing the one Biology shorts takes me for the cycling.
3. the into My socket is plugged in the laptop bedroom.
My laptop is plugged in into the bedroom socket.
4. who is the at exam gum did well chewing The the in one his back exceptionally student.
The exceptionally student who did the well one in his exam is chewing gum at the back.
5. put need in wine bin your 'glass' You the empty to bottles marked.
You need your empty ‘glass’ to put wine in the marked bin bottles.

Activity 5: Recognizing the head noun

In the following activity you will learn how to identify the head noun of a noun phrase. This will
help you to deconstruct the noun phrase, which in turn will help you to feel more confident about
building them.

Instruction: Look at the sentences below and decide which word is the main noun in the noun
phrase. Tick the correct option and then check your answers with the feedback.

1. Government web activity was frozen during the general election campaign.

a. Government c. the general election

b. web activity d. campaign

2. Mouse-wielding civil servants across Whitehall are engaged in a frantic rush to archive old pages
full of defunct policies.

a. Mouse-wielding d. frantic rush

b. civil servants e. old pages
c. Whitehall f. defunct policies
3. The Downing Street site has undergone a few changes too.
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a. Downing Street d. site

b. changes

4. She swallowed the dog which ate the cat which ate the bird which chased the spider that
wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.

a. She d. the bird

b. the dog e. the spider
c. the cat

Activity 6: Recognizing noun phrases in a piece of text

In the last activity in this Learning Object you will start to focus on noun phrases in a longer piece
of text. Underline the noun phrases.

Instruction: Read the following extract and try to identify all of the noun phrases. Underline your
answer.

Autonomous learning has been defined as ‘the ability to take charge of one’s own learning’ and it
is associated with students taking a more active role in the learning process (Holec, 1981). The
autonomous learner is viewed as an ‘independent, self-directed life-long learner’ (Betts, 2004).
These students, therefore, do not confine themselves to the material being taught, but rather take
an active role in seeking and processing information and developing transfer skills to apply
information in a broader context for their own needs or interests (Chan, 2003 ). For the purpose of
defining someone as educated, they must be able to incorporate new information with old,
actively engaging in the process of learning, rather than simply learning content (Barr and Tag,
1995; Cross, 1999; Greene, 1988; Howell, 2002, 2006). Suggested modes of promoting learner
autonomy include tiered assignments (with one assignment building on the foundation of the
previous), flexible groupings (which allows for students to pick and choose within assignments)
(Betts, 2004), and problem-based learning (students are given the opportunity to engage in
independent problem solving) (Van Den Hurk, 2006). The education process should be viewed as
long-term aptitude development effort that seeks to foster personal preparedness for later stages
of life (Jimenez Raya and Perez Fernandez, 2002). Therefore, it is important to identify
methodological/pedagogical frameworks that foster the development of learner autonomy.