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Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL

Workshop # 3
Diana Snchez Martnez
Amy C. Marty Santos
University of Turabo
School of Professional Studies
Ahora Program

Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL

I.

Part

AGREEMENT EXERCISE A
For each pair of sentences below, write out the correct form of the verb in
parentheses. Keep to the present tense, and be guided by our four tips for
agreement and our three special cases.
1. Do you know how to play bocce? The game does not require any special athletic
abilities.
2. There is a new bocce league at the recreational center. There are several teams
in the league.
3. I have a new set of bocce balls. My friend has a new pallino ball.
4. Bocce is a game for people of all ages. I am going to show you how to play.
5. The players take turns rolling a ball down the court. Each of the players takes
one ball and aims for the pallino.
6. We try to get our balls as close to the pallino as possible. Rick often tries to
bounce his ball off the side of the court.
7. Nobody enjoys playing bocce more than I do. Everybody who plays bocce
enjoys the game.
8. There are four players on each team. There is a tournament at the end of the
season.
9. The winners of the tournament carry home a trophy. Everyone carries home
good memories.
10. I am ready to play a game now. You and your friends are welcome to join us.

Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL

AGREEMENT EXERCISE B
For each pair of sentences below, write out the correct form of the verb in
parentheses. Keep to the present tense, and be guided by our four tips for
agreement and our three special cases.
1. Both candidates oppose increased defense spending. Neither of the two
candidates oppose the war in Iraq.
2. Not one of these cell phones belongs to me. One of the phones belongs to
Merdine.
3. Most students take all of their classes in the morning. Nobody takes classes
after 2:00.
4. One of my hobbies is collecting shopping bags. My hobbies are unusual.
5. Gus and Merdine want a trial separation. Neither one wants to move out of the
apartment.
6. Neither of the players admits that he made an error. Both players admit that
somebody made a mistake.
7. Both the manager and her assistant have been fired. Neither the manager nor
her assistant has been notified.
8. Where is your little brother? Several pages from my journal are missing.
9. Professor Legree often goes for long walks in the rain. The lights in his house go
on at midnight.
10. The students in the back of the room play poker during breaks. The student
who sits next to the refreshments plays solitaire.

Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL

AGREEMENT EXERCISE C
The following paragraph contains six errors in subject-verb agreement. Find and
correct each of the six verb errors. Remember to stay in the present tense, and be
guided by our four tips for agreement and our three special cases.

Santa
According to legend, Santa Claus is a fat old man who visits every house on our
planet in about eight hours on one of the coldest nights of the year. Santa, as
everybody knows, stops for a glass of milk and a cookie at each house along the
route. He prefers to work unnoticed, so he wears a luminous red suit and travels
with a pack of bell-jangling reindeer. For reasons that most people do not
understand, this jolly old man enters each house not by the front door but through
the chimney (whether you have a chimney or not). He customarily gives generously
to children in wealthy families, and he usually reminds poorer children that it's the
thought that counts. Santa Claus is one of the earliest beliefs that parents try to
instill in their children. After this absurdity, it's a wonder that any child ever believes
in anything again.

Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL
II.

Proofreading exercise:
a. A Fluke of Luck

The following paragraph contains five errors in subject-verb agreement.

Identify and correct the faulty verb forms.

The sheep-liver fluke is a parasitic flatworm with a very complex life

cycle. The fluke starts life by hatching inside a snail. The fluke is
then ejected from the snail in a ball of slime. These balls of slime
are eaten by ants. The fluke digs its way through the ant's body
until it reaches the ant's brain. There, the fluke takes control of the
ant by manipulating its nerves, thus turning the ant into its personal
robot. Under the command of the fluke, the ant climbs to the top of
a blade of grass. If the fluke is in luck, the ant is eaten by a passing
sheep. From the sheep's stomach, the fluke works its way home--to
the liver.

b. Proofreading exercise: Life Forms

The following paragraph contains seven errors in subject-verb

agreement. Identify and correct the faulty verb forms.

Anomie Plaza, like all shopping plazas, is designed for automobiles

rather than human beings. All natural life has been extinguished;
even the weeds along the curb appear artificial. But somehow,
amidst all the plastic, steel, and concrete, a solitary shrub manages
to survive. The shrub, not in vigorous bloom but certainly alive,

Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL
stands a few yards away from the entrance to Huxley's department
store. It grows straight up through the concrete. Now and then a
shopper pauses to examine this odd life form, not for sale in any of
the 67 stores. Occasionally, someone will glance around furtively
and then break off a twig, slip it into a shopping bag, and hurry
back to the parking lot. Why people do this is a mystery to me. Are
such people intent on preserving life or destroying it? Whatever the
case may be, the shrub so far has managed to survive all assaults.

Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL
III.

Comparative and Superlative

The comparative is used to compare things or people that are (1) two things or two
people. The superlative is used to compare one member of a group with the (2) whole
group.

Adjectives of one syllable.

These adjectives form comparatives with er and superlatives with est.

Adjectives ending with -e add -r for the comparative, and -st for the superlative
form.

Adjectives ending with one vowel followed by one consonant, double the final
consonant and add -er for comparative and -est for superlative forms.

Adjective

Comparative

Superlative

small
* late
** hot

smaller
later
hotter

(the) smallest
(the) latest
(the) hottest

(3)thin

(4)thinner

(the) (5) thinnest

Adjectives ending in -y
When adjectives end in -y, we change the -y to an (6)i and add -er for (7)comparative
and -est for(8)superlative.
Adjective
happy
dirty

(9) funny

Comparative

happier
dirtier
(10) funnier

Superlative

(the) happiest
(the) dirtiest
(the) (11) funniest

Adjectives of two or more syllables

With most other two-syllable adjectives, we use more for comparative and most for
superlative forms.

Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL

Adjective

Comparative

Superlative

boring
interesting

more boring
more interesting

(the) most boring

(the) most interesting

(12)excited

(13)more excited

(14) most excited

Irregular Adjectives
Some adjectives are (15)irregular and must be learned separately!

Adjective

Comparative

Superlative

good
bad
(16)old

better
worse
(17)elder

(the) best
(the) worst
(18)(the)eldest

Two (19)syllable adjectives that can use both kinds of comparatives and
superlatives
Common, handsome, polite, quiet, wicked, pleasant, cruel, stupid and words ending in ow, -er, and and -le can all use (20)both kinds of comparative and superlative
adjectives.
For almost all of these words, the forms with more and most are more (21)common.

Adjective

Comparative

Superlative

quiet
shallow

quieter / more quiet

shallower/more shallow

(the) quietest / most quiet

(the) shallowest/most shallow

(22)wicked

(23)more wicked/wickeder

(24) wickedest/most wicked

Word List
two things or two people.

-er

(the) eldest

common

(the) funniest

-est

Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL
(the) most excited

old

(the) wickedest/most wicked

wicked

Silly

both

Comparative

elder

Most

irregular

Thinner

more

more excited

funny

more wicked/wickeder

whole group

superlative

funnier

thin

(the) thinnest

excited

IV.

Active and Passive

a. Exercise 1

You have 7 out of 7 answers correct.

1. In active voice, Your answer b) the subject does the action expressed in
the verb is correct.
o

a) the subject receives the action expressed in the verb.

b) the subject does the action expressed in the verb.

c) the verb must show motion (e.g., run, walk, throw).

Active voice means that the subject is doing the action expressed in the verb.
In passive voice, the subject is the receiver of the action. (For example, in the
passive sentence The letter was thrown out, the subject letter is receiving the
action of throwing, not doing it.) A verb in active voice does not necessarily
show motionthe sentence I hope to see you at the party is in active voice,
even though there is no motion involved.
2. Which sentence is in active voice? Your answer b) The cat slept peacefully on
the couch is correct.
o

a) We were jolted by the news.

b) The cat slept peacefully on the couch.

c) The boat was tossed about by the waves.

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Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL
Only sentence (b) has a subject (cat) doing the action expressed in the verb
(slept). (Yes, sleep is an action!) Sentences (a) and (c) are passive, since the
subjects (we, boat) are receiving rather than doing the actions expressed in the
verbs (jolted, tossed).
3. In passive voice,
Your answer a) the subject receives the action expressed in the verb is
correct.
o

a) the subject receives the action expressed in the verb.

b) the subject does the action expressed in the verb.

c) the verb does not express any action.

Passive voice means that the subject is receiving rather than doing the action
expressed in the verb. A verb in the passive voice is always an action verb,
since only an action verb can have a receiver.
4. Which sentence is in passive voice?
Your answer c) Eric has been offered a leading role in the play is correct.
o

a) Ilse was tired after her long hike.

b) Do you think it is time for the pets to be fed?

c) Eric has been offered a leading role in the play.

Only sentence (c) is in passive voice, because the subject (Eric) is receiving
rather than doing the action in the verb, and the verb is passive, formed from
the helper be (has been) and a past participle (offered). Sentence (a) contains
a form of the verb be (was); but in this case, was is a linking verb with a
subject complement (tired), not a passive voice verb. In sentence (b), the
infinitive phrase to be fed is passive, but the verb itself (do think) is in active
voice.
5. Which statement is most correct?
Your answer b) Passive voice may sometimes be better than active is
correct.
o

a) Active voice is always better than passive.

b) Passive voice may sometimes be better than active.

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Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL
o

c) Passive voice should be used only in legal writing.

Passive voice may be more effective when the doer of the action is unknown, is
unimportant or is better left unnamed, out of tact (e.g., I was given the wrong
directions instead of Your secretary gave me the wrong directions).
6. Which answer is best?
Your answer c) Both (a) and (b) are true is correct.
o

a) Active voice puts ideas into logical order.

b) Active voice uses fewer words than passive voice.

c) Both (a) and (b) are true.

Active voice states the doer of the action, then the action, and lastly the
receiver of the action, so the order of ideas is logical. Also, passive voice uses
more words because it adds the helping verb be to the main verb and puts the
preposition by in front of the doer of the action.
7. Passive voice is useful
Your answer c) when you want your message to be tactful is correct.
o

a) when you want your message to be direct.

b) when you want your message to be objective.

c) when you want your message to be tactful.

The best answer is (c) when you want your message to be tactful (e.g., I was
given the wrong directions). Active voice is more direct than passive. And
although some writing uses passive voice to create an appearance of objectivity,
the use of passive voice doesn't actually make a message more objective.
b. Exercise 2

Directions: Indicate if a sentence or question is in the passive voice or the active

voice. Circle "Passive" or "Active."
1. A bridge was built so that cars could cross the river. Passive or Active

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Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL

2. The students have been learning how to write better

paragraphs. Passive or Active
3. Most of these computers are used for surfing the internet. Passive or Active
4. A movie is being made in our town. Passive or Active
5. Jan hasn't decided which book to read. Passive or Active
6. The newspaper is going to be delivered in the morning. Passive or Active
7. Has the timer gone off yet? Passive or Active
8. How many different countries have you visited in your lifetime?
Passive or Active
9. These reports can't be completed until we get more information.
Passive or Active
10. Her fingers got burned when she reached into the oven. Passive or Active
11. The company should have managed the situation differently.
Passive or Active
12. The garbage is picked up early in the morning. Passive or Active
13. A doctor has been treating her for her depression. Passive or Active
14. What kind work have you been doing for them? Passive or Active
15. An award has been given to the police officer who helped the stranded
motorist. Passive or Active

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Title: EDUC 222 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE

ELEMENTARY LEVEL

16. He was fired because he wasn't getting his work done on time.
Passive or Active
17. The information will be posted online. Passive or Active
18. When do you get paid? Passive or Active
19. Alice says she will be retiring from her job next year. Passive or Active
20. Several changes have been made to the schedule. Passive or Active