Cambridge

CELTA COURSE
International House Mexico

PRE COURSE STUDY TASK

Key to Part B

1. The language we teach

1. 1. "It is a mistake to suppose that the pronoun is singular only and must at all costs be followed by singular
verbs". (Fowler: Modern English Usage).

2. "The subject pronoun (I) is uncommon and formal, although some people think it is `correct'. The object
pronoun is much more common. " (Leech 1989).

3. Few if any EFL courses even mention "used not to" and Collins COBUILD English Grammar, for example,
advises that "this form is now rarely used, and is thought to be very old-fashioned".

4. In standard English "ain't" is still considered "non-standard".

5. Both "would" and "should" forms are used with I and we, "with no real difference of meaning" (Swan),
although Leech (1989) thinks "should" is more formal, and the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
finds this use "fml or old-fash".

6. If this principle were applied, how would we pronounce castle and thistle, for example? Not to mention one,
two and eight.

2. These couplets are likely to rhyme in your accent if you are from

1. Scotland
2. Scotland
3. United States
4. Northern England, Scotland, Ireland
5. New Zealand (some accents)

2. Terminology

Anyway = adverb
it = pronoun
will = verb
do = verb
as = preposition
a = determiner
temporary = adjective
structure = noun

1. a. because of, at, on, to (line 7)

b. depressed, ill. (see also 4d below)
c. and, when (lines 5 and 7), if, because (line 10)
d. thoroughly, so, well, out (lines 5 and 8), also, still, secretly, please

2. a. to do, lie, be (taking), destroy, stop

b. help (line 11)
c. depressed, made
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 d. taking, making, taking
e. smoking (lines 7 and 11)

3. a. 'm (line 3), has (line 4)

b. should, would
c. making out, found out
d. if they found out it would destroy them

4. a. I, it, they
b. me, them
c. where
d. my, their

5. a. the
b. a, an
c. boy, years, exam(s), school, parents, hearts
d. pressure, smoking, asthma

3. The Verb

ACTIVE

Simple Progressive Perfect Perfect Progressive

Present I watch I am watching I have watched I have been watching

Past I watched I was watching I had watched I had been watching

Future I will watch I will be watching I will have watched I will have been
watching

PASSIVE

Simple Progressive Perfect Perfect Progressive

Present I am watched I am being watched I have been watched XXX

Past I was watched I was being watched I had been watched XXX

Future I will be watched I will be being I will have been XXX

watched watched

2. a. is living = present progressive

b. split up = past simple
c. 'd neglected = past perfect
d. says = present simple
e. were = past simple
f. 'll...make = future simple
g. plays = present simple
h. have...been = present perfect
i. am not complaining = present progressive

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3. a. is living
b. 'll ... make; plays
c. were
d. split up
e. 'd neglected
f. have...been
g. says; am not complaining

4. Syllabuses

1. 1. first conditional = If you phone me, I'll come and collect you.
2. phrasal verbs = turn up, take off, put up with, get over
3. reported questions = She asked me if I was married.
4. comparatives = bigger, more difficult, better
5. third conditional = if I had known you were going I would've given you a lift.
6. present progressive = they're swimming, I'm reading
7. question tags = aren't you? didn't they? is she? couldn't he?
8. imperatives = Stand up. Don't write. Be quiet.
9. verb "to be" = is, were, am, was
10. countables/uncountables = how much rice?/ how many potatoes?
11. future perfect = By this time next week I will have spent three months on the project.
12. adverbs of frequency = always, never, occasionally, often

2.

BEGINNERS EARLY - MID LATE INT/

INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED
4, 6, 8, 9,10, 12 1, 2, 3, 7 5, 11

5. Error analysis

rangs -> rang = wrong verb ending (no third person s in past)
has got -> had = wrong tense
has got a big surprise -> was very surprised = wrong expression
stoping -> standing = wrong word
was changing -> had changed = wrong tense
a lot of -> a lot = wrong expression
was having -> had = wrong verb form
more tall and more thin -> taller and thinner = wrong form of comparative
was having -> had = wrong verb form
many hair -> a lot of hair = wrong determiner
a goodlooking -> goodlooking = article not necessary
twenty five years -> twenty five years old = wrong expression
he's lawyer -> he's a lawyer = article necessary
Jhons & Smiht -> Johns & Smith = spelling
Society -> Company = wrong word
speaked -> talked = wrong word
thinks -> things = spelling

6. The Present

1. Problems with present simple include:

the use of do and does in questions (Ex. 1, left-hand column)
the s on the third person (Ex 1, right-hand column)
different pronunciations of this s (Ex 2)

2. i. all except yesterday (except in some informal styles of narration, as in "Yesterday, I'm minding the
baby, the phone rings...")

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 ii. all except (d)

iii. the choice of progressive has less to do with time (which is usually signalled by adverbial
expressions), than to do with the way we see the event in question, i.e. as being "in progress". Even
"I'm minding the baby tomorrow" suggests that this is an arrangement that has been made with
someone, and that the arrangement is "in progress".

7. Question forms

1. Unlike many languages, English uses an operation called "inversion" to form questions. Usually this involves
inverting the subject and the first auxiliary verb, or the verb "to be". In the absence of an auxiliary, "do" (or
one of its forms) is used instead.

Inversion doesn't operate in the case of "subject questions" (e.g. 1e), or in indirect questions (1g).

Question tags (1f) in English are formed using the auxiliary verb in the main sentence; they therefore vary,
which is not the case in many languages (French and German, for example)

2. a. yes/no questions: a, c, f, g (technically)

b. "Wh" questions: b, d, e
c. subject question: e
d. question tag: f
e. indirect question: g

3. a. yes/no questions: Did you catch much? Did you have the good fortune...? Do you believe her?
b. "wh" questions: What were you doing that day? Where? Whoever heard of catching salmon in a
canal? What are you going to do? Why did you call her Maddy?
c. subject question: Whoever heard of catching salmon in a canal?
d. question tag: (There's) Nothing I can do, is there?
e. indirect question: Would you mind telling me...why you killed my brother?

(Note also the intonation question: She told you that?)

8. The Past

1. Contexts:

Narrating - e.g. telling jokes, stories

Reporting - e.g. accidents, news
Reminiscing - "A cup of coffee used to cost..."
History & biography - "Thatcher resigned in 1991..."
Complaining - "I bought this clock here last week..."

2. a few months ago; bought; Last Saturday; went; the price had gone up; told; not long ago; he had sold; came;
was; that day.

3a. When we arrived home and I opened the door some other friends were already inside. They had prepared the
party and I was surprised. The writer has used the passive where the active was required ("had been prepared")
and the active where the passive was required ("I was surprising")
b. When we arrived, the train had left the station and we waited three long hours before the next train arrived.
Past perfect is obligatory, to denote which event preceded which.

c. My mother told me that my boyfriend, Andrew, had had an accident and he was in the General Hospital. As
(b). This is also an example of "reported speech" which often requires "backshift" of tenses, in order to make it
clear whether the events reported preceded the reporting or co-occur with it.

d. That afternoon my cousin killed his mother's cat because the cat was in the road and my cousin wasn't looking.
Active, not passive ("was killed"); progressive for a dynamic verb, since it was an action in progress at the time

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 of the killing.

9. Perfect aspect

1. Answers to exercise:

1. Probably yes, because the present perfect can be used to connect past and present time, and, in
conjunction with "for six years", the sentence implies "up to now". Compare "I was in France for six
years".

2. No, because the use of past tense "was" locates the situation in past time, with no implied connection
to the present.

3. He or she still works with Eric, because the use of the present perfect implies a situation starting in the
past and continuing to the present.

4. No, for the same reasons as (2).

This suggests that the present perfect is used to connect the past to the present.

2. from past until present: ...has spent his life,...who's spent his whole life, ...he's spent the past eight months....

undefined point in past: He's shot..., been shipwrecked, travelled... lived... has written...sold...

10. The future

1. a. will be = future simple/modal "will"

b. I am going to kill you = "going to" future
c. is getting married = present progressive
d. it is going to be...we are going to get... = same as (b)
e. opens = present simple
f. will you help = future simple/modal "will"

2. 1. examples (b) and (f)

2. examples (a) and (d)
3. example (e)
4. example (c)

3. The expected answers are:

1. going to; 2. 'll; 3. going to; 4. going to; 5. will; 6. going to; 7. going to; 8. will.

The authors point out, however, that "the dividing line between will and going to is not always very clear-cut,
and in some cases both are possible, depending upon the exact shade of meaning that is expressed."

The rule that they present the students is this:

We use am/are/is going to when we can already see the future in the present - when future actions are already
planned, or are beginning to happen.

We use will when we predict future actions by thinking, hoping, or calculating.

11. Modality

1. ability Cows can't eat meat.

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 permission You may eat now.
obligation/ You must eat it!
duty

(un)willingness She won't eat it.

2. a. will be able to
b. had to be
c. have been able to

3. 1. will be able to = wrong form

2. have to = wrong meaning. "have to" implies external obligation, whereas with "must", the obligation
comes from the speaker.
3. had to = wrong form ("must" has no past form)
4. 'll have to = wrong meaning: not ability but obligation
5. had to = wrong meaning: not desirability but obligation
6. was able to = wrong meaning. "Could" is used for general abilities, whereas "able to" is used for a
specific instance.

12. Conditionals

2.Type 1 is what is called a "real condition": the condition in the if clause could conceivably occur. Type 1 conditionals
have present or future reference.
Types 2 and 3 are called "unreal conditions": their conditions are hypothetical, and in the case of Type 3, could not
possibly occur. Type 2 conditionals refer to the present or future; Type 3 refer to the past.

3. a. type 3
b. type 1
c. this is sometimes called a type 0 conditional: the verb in the if-clause is in the present simple, as is the
verb in the main clause.
d. type 2
e. type 1
f. type 2

13. Phonology

1. Phonemes
There are 24 consonant sounds.
There are 12 pure vowel sounds.
There are 8 diphthongs.

2. Word and sentence stress

1. I. II. III.

astronaut physician engineer

architect employer auctioneer
journalist optician employee
analyst mechanic mountaineer
diplomat designer referee
manager technician brigadier
pharmacist professor
reporter

2. The "rules" for word-stress in English are complicated, but there are certain suffixes (word endings) that
determine the stress with certain regularity. For example:

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 - the syllable before -ic and -ian is usually stressed: mechanic, optician
- nouns that are formed by adding -er or -or to the verb retain the stress pattern of the original verb: manager,
employer, professor etc.
- there are certain so-called "foreign endings", such as -ee, -eer, -ier which are stressed: employee, engineer,
brigadier etc.

3. The stressed word, in each case, would probably be: phoned, me, might, and you respectively.
The stressed word carries a high information load, either because it is contrasted with what has gone before, or
because it is introducing new information.

POST-COURSE READING LIST

You are recommended to look at these books if you want to extend and deepen the experience of the course itself. They are all
available in paperback.

A. Practical

Ur Grammar Practice Activities (CUP)

Morgan & Rinvolucri Once Upon a Time: Using Stories in the Language Classroom (CUP)
Laroy Pronunciation (OUP)
Thornbury How to Teach Grammar (Longman)
Thornbury How to Teach Vocabulary (Longman)
Harmer How to Teach Writing (Longman)

B. Language analysis

Thornbury About Language (CUP)

Swan & Walter How English Works (OUP)

C. More Theoretical

Lightbown & Spada How Languages are Learned (OUP)

Larsen-Freeman Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching (OUP)
McCarthy Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers (CUP)
Willis A Framework for task-based learning (Longman)

D. Magazines/Periodicals

EL Gazette www.elgazette.com
English Teaching Professional www.etprofessional.com
Modern English Teacher www.onlineMET.com
English Language Teaching Journal Oxford University Press www.eltj.oupjournals.org
iT's Magazine www.its-online.com

E. Teachers’ Associations
IATEFL – International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language www.iatefl.org
TESOL Inc - Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages www.tesol.org

Newsgroups on e-mail

TESL-L: to subscribe, send an e-mail to LISTSERV@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU

The text of the message should be: SUB TESL-L (your first name) (your last name)

See also IATEFL Special Interest Groups Discussion Lists – Young Learners, Business etc etc. www.iatefl.org