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Post by Otaku on Jun 13, 2008 10:20:45 GMT 8
"I have" vs. "I've"
Do you think contractions should be taught in the early stages of learning English?
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Post by jed on Jun 13, 2008 14:26:00 GMT 8
I normally do, but I don't make a big thing of it
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Post by gumby on Jun 13, 2008 17:46:47 GMT 8
This has taken me a long to grasp and I still find myself going back to old habits, but I try to speak as naturally as possible. As long as I keep it comprehensible via content, gestures, etc I try to use contractions is, are, do, does and all the other fun stuff. Beginning students will probably not even notice the difference but if you think about how children learn, it is not in a linear manner. We don't learn present simple, past simple, future in that order, yet we still learn. The challenge with EFL students is that you have to make it repetitive and interesting for them to really "get it". Far better to simplify content than to shelter what teachers traditionally think is more advanced grammar. Now what I would expect my students to USE CORRECTLY is something different all together.
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Post by Otaku on Jun 13, 2008 18:46:03 GMT 8
Personally, I think contractions are just fine in conversation but I'm not convinced that they should be used in the early stages of learning English, especially introduced directly after introducing the non-contractual form. I'm not against contractions all together, I just think they are introduced way to early in the textbooks and the students are encouraged to use them way to much.
I think it's good to keep the words separated for beginners of English so they can always CLEARLY see the verb. Only when they have a firm grasp of basic sentences, I think it should be introduced. However, I still think it shouldn't be accepted when the students are practicing writing.
That's my opinion...
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Post by gumby on Jun 13, 2008 18:57:38 GMT 8
Fair enough. However if you look back on our posts, contractions do appear naturally. It's like learning Japanese. Do you stick with the "masu" form until that's established before you move to the more commonly used "ru" forms?
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Post by Otaku on Jun 14, 2008 13:02:42 GMT 8
LOL...I think a forum conversation between fluent English speakers and the English classroom that contains English learners is quite different.
I'm not saying contractions are bad, I'm just questioning their use in early English acquisition.
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Post by duzzah on Jun 26, 2008 12:11:51 GMT 8
What irks me is when the book teaches some grammar structure with contractions that will keep students from rearranging it later. ; WTH, MEXT? You should be checking for that stuff...
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Post by Otaku on Jun 27, 2008 9:40:18 GMT 8
That's it...contractions cover the 'is' and 'are' helping verbs, which are needed to be seen because helping verbs are one of the basics verbs needed in English acquisition and are taught as grammar points in the textbook.
Covering them just convolutes everything!
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