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Chapter I: INTRODUCTION
I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 2
1. Rationale ....................................................................................................... 2
2. The significance of the study ........................................................................ 4
3. The scope of the study ................................................................................... 4
II THE METHOD OF CONDUCTING ......................................................... 4
1. The theoritorical and factual basic of the study ............................................ 4
2. Research procedures ................................................................................... 11
Chapter II: CONTENT
I. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ....................................................... 12
II.THE SOLUTION OF THE STUDY ............................................................ 12
1. The novelty of the study ............................................................................................ 12
2. The applied solutions of the study ...................................................................... 18
3. The effectiveness of the study ............................................................................... 27
Chapter III: CONCLUSION
1. Some implications for language teaching and learning .............................. 29
2. The development of the study ..................................................................... 29
3. Suggestions .................................................................................................. 30
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 31
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Chapter I: INTRODUCTION
I. BACKGROUND
1. Rationale
Nobody seems to know exactly what to do with adverbials. Many linguists and
grammarians mention adverbials as a likely picture.
Quirk et al, who are typical authors in this discussing field, state that:
“Adverbials may be integrated to some extent into the structure of the clause or they
may be peripheral to it. If integrated, they are termed ADJUNCTS. If peripheral, they
are termed DISJUNCTS and CONJUNCTS, the distinction between the two being
that conjuncts have primarily a connective function. “
[A university of English grammar, p207-208]
Furthermore, Quirk and Greenbaun mentioned to the adverbial element that is a
part of the sentence structure. They wrote ‘A sentence may alternatively be seen as
comprising five units called ELEMENTS of sentence structure: SUBJECT, VERB,
COMPLEMENT, OBJECT, ADVERBIAL, here abbreviated as S, V, C, O, A ’
Tran Huu Manh , in his book “ Ngôn Ngữ Học Đối chiếu : Cú pháp Tiếng Anh –
Tiếng Việt”, produce a clear evidence about the similarities of seven basic sentence
patterns including five elements S,V,O,C,A in English and Vietnamese, as presented
below:
English Vietnamese
1. S + V
The sun [S] is shining [V] Mặt trời [S] đang chiếu sáng[V]
2. S + V + O
The lecture [S] interested [V] me [O] Bài giảng [O] cuốn hút [V] tôi [O]
3. S + V + C
Your dinner[S] seems [V] ready [C] Buổi chiều của anh [S] hình như [S] đã
sẵn sàng rồi [C]
4. S + V + A
My office [S] is [ V] in the next
building [A]
Phòng làm việc của tôi[S] ở [V] trong
toà nhà bên cạnh [A]
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5. S + V + O + O
I [S] must send[V] my parents[O] a
card [O]
Tôi[S] phải gởi[V] bố mẹ tôi [O] một
bưu ảnh [O]
6. S + V + O + C
Most students [S] have found[V] her
[O] reasonable helpful [C]
Đa số sinh viên [S] đã thấy [V]bà giáo
[O] hỗ trợ rất hợp lý [C]
7. S + V + O + A
You [S] can put [V] the dish [O] on
the shelf [A]
Bạn [ S ] có thể để [V] cái đĩa đó [O]
trên giá [A]
Of all above sentence elements, only Subject and Verb are obligatory. Some
sentence clauses do not require Complement, Object and Adverbial. However, the
adverbial element is more flexible than the others, in that it can
- be composed of more forms
- fulfill more functions
- appear in more clause or sentence positions than the others
- be either optional or obligatory
- be put many adverbials in the same sentence, for the following example
Next Tuesday [A1], I shall probably [A2] visit her mother in London [A3] for an hour
or so [A4] to see if she‘s feeling better [A5], unless she telephones me before that
[A6], [A student’s .. p 158]
It is obvious that adverbial plays an important role in sentence elements.
Adverbial appears various points in sentence structures, which makes learners of
English confuse when using adverbial in educated speech and writing in particular.
Being aware of high school students’ difficulties in mastering and using adverbial,
I aim to help my students understand more and know for effective use of about
adverbials in English and Vietnamese sentence structure - that is why I choose my
research is
“A contrastive analysis of adjunct elements in English and Vietnamese
sentence structure”
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2 The significance of the study
The study will be a helpful contribution to Vietnamese learners of English in
mastering the syntactic and semantic features of adjunct adverbials in English and
Vietnamese sentence structure.
Through the paper, learners will able to enhance their competence to precisely use
the sentence patterns having adjunct adverbials in both languages to get success in
communication and in further study.
3 The scope of the study
As can be known, adverbials can be divided into two classes.Those that are
integrated to some extent are termed ADJUNCTS. Those that are peripheral to
clause structure are subdivided into DISJUNCTS or CONJUNCTS.
Adverbials
Integrated peripheral
in clause structure in clause structure
primarily primarily
non -connective connective
ADJUNCTS
DISJUNCTS CONJUNCTS
However, because of the time and the ability of our own, we would like to focus
on one element of basic clause structure that is adjunct.
II. THE METHOD OF CONDUCTING
1. Theoretical and factual basis of the study
An awareness of the adjunct elements in English and Vietnamese sentence
structure is important for language teaching and learning. The study presents the
syntactic and semantic features of adjuncts in English and Vietnamese as an attempt
to bring learners to comprehend more adjucts. Through this study, learners of English
will draw a distinction of the similarities and differences of English adjunct elements
and Vietnamese ones that they can get a better of using adjuncts in language learning.
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In my research, we base on the viewpoint of schoolbook grammar. Typically,
Quirk et al and Điệp Quang Ban‘s grammar books have been being taught for
Vietnamese learners for many years now.
1.1 What is an adjunct?
“An adjunct is a part of the basic structure of the clause or sentence in which it
occurs, and modifies the verb. Adverbs of time, place, frequency, degree, and
manner, are examples of adjuncts” [by Jack C. Richards et al –p8]
Adjuncts operate at sentence level as other sentence elements, as in the example
below:
Lorna ate breakfast yesterday morning.
S V O A
1.2 Adjunct and adverbial complement
Adjunct (i.e. optional adverbial) is a part of the core meaning of the sentence, but
if omitted still leave a meaningful sentence.
Example: The old man was eating in the restaurant. (Adjunct)
"In the restaurant" acts as an adverb since it describes where the old man was
eating, but the sentence would be a complete sentence even without it.
An adverbial complement (i.e. Obligatory adverbial) is a sentence element, which
conveys the same information as an adverb but which is necessary to the sentence.
Example: The old man was in the restaurant.(Adverbial complement)
"In the restaurant" acts as an adverb here and it is an adverbial complement
because without it the sentence would not be complete
1.3 The semantic and syntactic features of adjuncts in English and Vietnamese
sentence structure
1.3.1 The semantic and syntactic features of adjuncts in English
(a) The semantic features of adjuncts
Grammars traditionally classify adjuncts on the basis of meaning – as adjuncts
of place, time, reason, and so on. Because this classification is based on meaning
rather than grammatical form, it is inevitably open-ended and the boundaries between
the different kinds are often quite fuzzy. There isn't really an answer to questions
about exactly how many kinds of adjunct there are.
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In the following examples,we illustrate a number of the most frequent and obvious
categories:
MANNER He drove quite recklessly.
PLACE They have breakfast in bed.
TIME I saw her last week.
DURATION We lived in London for five Years.
FREQUENCY She telephones her mother every Sunday.
DEGREE We very much enjoyed your last novel.
PURPOSE I checked all the doors to make sure they were shut.
RESULT It rained all day, with the result that they couldn 't work.
CONDITION If it rains ,the match will be postponed.
CONCESSION Although he 's rich, he lives very simply.
As noted above, Adjuncts express the ideational circumstances surrounding the
process, specifying the manner, means, reason, time, place, duration or frequency.
(b) The syntactic features of adjuncts
In English, adjunct adverbials most commonly take the form of adverbs,
adverb phrases, temporal noun phrases or prepositional phrases. Many types of
adjunct adverbials (for instance reason and condition) are often expressed by clauses.
Adjunct adverbial functions are realized by:
b.1. Adverbs /adverb phrases :
We'll stay there.
Mary danced very gracefully.
b.2. Noun phrases : Peter was playing last week.
b.3. Prepositional phrases: I could hear people talking in the living room.
b.4. Adverbial Clauses
+ Finite verb clauses:
Peter was playing although he was very tired.
+ Non-finite verb clauses, in which the verb is
an infinitive: Peter was playing to win.
-ing participle: Wishing to encourage him, they praised Tom.
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-ed participle: if urged by our friends, we'll stay.
Verbless clauses: While in London, we'll stay at a hotel.
(c) Classification of adjuncts
From what mentioned above, adjuncts classified by their semantic features and
they fall into five broad categories of meaning, as determined by the kind of adverb
question they answer. The five adverb questions are when, where, why, how,and to
what extent / degree.
Adverb question adverb category
When: Adverbs of time Where: Adverbs of place
Why: Adverbs of reason How: Adverbs of manner
To what extent/ degree: Adverb of degree
When? Adverbs of time
Adverbs of time fall into three groups: point in time, frequency, and duration.
Adverbs of Time
point in time frequency duration.
There are three time-word questions. When is used (ambiguously) for either point-in-
time or frequency adverbs. How often is used for frequency adverbs. How long is
used for duration adverbs. For example:
Point in time: When were you there?
I was there Just last week.
Frequency: How often do you go there?
I go there about once a week.
Duration: How long are you staying there?
I am staying here until I get the job finished.
Where? Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of Place
position. Direction
Adverbs of place have two different meanings. One meaning is position.
The other meaning is direction -that is, to some place. The question word
where is (ambiguously) used for both meanings. For example:
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Position: Where were you?
I was at the office.
Direction: Where did you go (to)?
I went back home
WHY? Adverbs of Reason
Adverbs of Reason
Cause purpose
Adverbs of reason also have two different meanings. One meaning is cause;
the other meaning is purpose . To see the difference between the two meanings,
compare the following sentences:
Why did they do it?
Cause: They did it because they had to.
Purpose: They did it in order to make some extra money.
HOW ? Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of Manner
instrument style
Adverbs of manner also have two different meanings. One meaning is
instrument; the other meaning is style. To see the difference between the
two meanings, compare the adverb prepositional phrases in the following
sentences:
How did he open it?
Instrument: He opened the door with a key.
Style: He opened the door with a big smile.
TO WHAT EXTENT / DEGREE? Adverb of degree
Adverb of degree
Intensifiers downtoners
Adverbs that alter the tone or force of an adjective or adverb are called degree
adverbs. Degree adverbs are generally divided into two categories, intensifiers and
downtoners.
Intensifiers are adverbs such as very or extremely, which strengthen or intensify
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the meaning of adjectives or another adverb. Intensifiers normally precede the
adjective or adverb they are modifying.
Jan writes extremely well.
Jan is very busy.
Downtoners are adverbs, which decrease or lessen the tone of adjectives or another
adverb. Like intensifiers, downtoners normally precede the adjective or adverb they
are modifying.
Hannah read the book fairly quickly.
The ending is somewhat sad.
1.3.2 The semantic and syntactic features of adjuncts in Vietnamese
(a) The Semantic features of adjuncts
In Vietnamese, according to Điệp Quang Ban’s grammar book “Ngữ Pháp Việt
Nam”, the author state that adverbials integrated to some extent within the structure
of the sentence are ADJUNCTS. To consider adjuncts from semantic features,
adjuncts express information about circumstances of process; they convey
information about such matters as place, time, manner, reason, condition, etc.
The following are the examples given as adjuncts in his book.
Circumstances
Time a. Hôm qua Tị đi câu cá.
b.Tị, hôm qua, đi câu cá.
c. Đã hai ngày rồi, nó không ăn
Place d. Ngoài sân ,hai con mèo đang vờn nhau.
Direction e. Ra bến xe, bác đi lối này ạ.
Reason f.Vì mưa , họ đến muộn.
Condition g. Nếu mưa, thì tôi sẽ không đến.
Concession h.Tuy mưa , họ vẫn đến đông đủ.
Purpose i. Muốn thi đỗ, thì phải học tập tốt.
k.Để thi đỗ, thì phải học tập tốt.
Manner k.Rón nén và hồi hộp, cậu bé tiến lại gần con chuồn chuồn.
Mean l.Với món tiền này, anh có thể mua được một chiếc xe tốt.
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(b) The syntactic features of adjuncts
As shown above, adjuncts are realized include not merely prepositional phrases
[d, f, g, h, k, m] but selected nominal ones as well, e.g. [a, b] .They may also be
realized by clauses, as the flowing examples
n. Vì trời mưa, họ không đến. (reason)
m. Tôi đến anh ngay nếu trời tạnh mưa. (condition)
According to the author, the forms of adjuncts in Vietnamese are realized by
- A word: [a, b, d, f, g, h]
- Principle and accessory phrases [c, e, i]
- Coordinated phrase [l]
- Prepositional phrases [d, f, g, h, k, m]
- Adverbial Clauses [n,m]
(c) Classification of adjuncts
Basing on the semantic representation of adjuncts, Nguyễn Minh Thuyết and
Nguyễn văn Hiệp, in their book “Thành Phần Câu Tiếng Việt”, state that adjuncts fall
in to the typical categories below :
Adverb of time
Lúc nào cũng vậy, sự giận dữ làm người ta mù quáng.
Adverb of place, space
Trong lòng hắn, những nỗi niềm không rõ riệt cũng rối bời.
Adverb of reason
Thị không thể sợ hắn có thể phậm đến thị bởi cái lẽ rất giản dị là thị là Thị chưa thấy
ai phạm đến Thị bao giờ.
Adverb of purpose
Dũng phải đưa ít tiền đến giúp Thái để Thái có cách trốn đi nơi khác xa,đợi dịp đi
ngoại quốc lần nữa.
Adverb of manner
Mặc dù biết vậy họ vẫn bình thản ra đi.
Adverb of definite
Qua câu chuyện , tôi có nhận xét cái tính lão hệt bọn đồ Cóc đã dốt lại hay khoe chữ.
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Adverb of the agent of action (agentive)
Chùa xây từ thời cách đây một nghìn sáu trăm năm bởi một nhà sư Ấn Độ
2. Research Procedures
The research work is carried out with the following steps:
- Step one presents the rationale for the research, the general purpose of the
study, the significance, the scope of the study.
- Step two is concerned with the theoretical and factual background of the
study, with a discussion of the characteristics adjuncts in English and
Vietnamese.
- Step three concentrates on the contrast and analysis of the semantic and
syntactic features of adjuncts in both languages in order to draw out their
similarities and differences.
- Chapter four summaries the results of the study and give implications for
language learning and teaching
Time is planned and procedure is estimated to finish this paper according to the
general scheme within academic year 2012 – 2013
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Chapter II: CONTENT
I. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
By the end of the study, it is expected to result in:
- An investigation into the semantic and syntactic features of adjuncts in
English and Vietnamese.
- A contrastive analysis of the similarities and differences adjuncts in both
languages.
- Some solutions to all problems presented to solve the difficulties that learners
face when using adjuncts.
- A helpful reference to teacher of language.
II. THE SOLUTION OF THE STUDY
1. The Novelty of the study
The study has carried out an investigation into the linguistics of adjuncts in
English and Vietnamese. From the results of the semantic and syntactic features of
adjuncts discussed above, we can see that the novelty of the study is denoted as
follows:
Firstly, we can recognize adjuncts in sentence structure in English and Vietnamese
basing on the syntactic and semantics features of adjuncts.
In English
Recognizing adjuncts by their syntactic characteristics
a) as an adverb
The majority of adverbs are formed by adding to –ly to an adjective, as shown in the
following example:
Adjective (dangerous)Adverb (dangerously)
b) as a noun phrase (marked by adverb of time, place)
Monday, this year, last month, two hours, home, upstairs
c) as a prepositional phrase (marked by prepositions before the phrases)
In ten day, for decade, in the park, on Tuesday, for no reason, with enthusiasm
d) as a clause (marked by adverbial clauses)
When I arrived, while you are away, after they came back, since you moved
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Recognizing adjuncts by their semantic functions
Adjuncts express the ideational circumstances surrounding the process,
specifying the manner, means, reason, time, place, duration or frequency. As such
they are susceptible to questions beginning 'How?' (in what way, in what manner, by
what means),'Why?', 'When?', 'Where?', 'For how long?', 'How often?', 'In what
circumstances?', 'In spite of what circumstances?'.
When? time
They are coming tomorrow / this evening.
They'll be away until Tuesday.
How often? frequency/quantity
They go there twice a year.
They've been there an awful lot / six times.
Where? place (location + source, route, destination)
Here it is.
Jane is going from London / via Dover / to Paris.
Why? reason/cause
The match was abandoned because of the rain.
The children jumped for joy.
How? manner
That blackbird sings beautifully.
He welcomed the news with enormous pleasure.
In what way? means
We travelled by train / on the underground.
She reached the standard through hard work.
In what circumstance? circumstance
With the disappearance of his team-mate, he had no real chance.
In Vietnamese
Recognizing adjuncts by their syntactic characteristics
a) as a prepositional phrase (marked by prepositions before the phrases)
Ở ngoài ngõ, mẹ con chị Chuột vừa kêu vừa khóc, vừa van lạy. (Nam Cao)
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b) as a noun phrase (marked by adverb of time)
Hôm qua Tị đi câu cá.
c) as an adverbial clause
Tôi đến anh ngay, nếu trời tạnh mưa.
Recognizing adjuncts by their semantic functions
Basing the semantic representation of adjuncts, we can identify adjuncts in the
sentence structure through circumstances of the events or states that adjuncts deal
with as matters of time, manner, place, reason, purpose, etc. Semantically, adjuncts
establish circumstances for the nuclear of a sentence, which can be recognized by
four categories, as follow:
(i) Manner, means
Họ làm việc rất vui vẻ
Tị mở cửa bằng chìa khoá riêng.
(ii) Time : point in time, duration , frequency
Họ đến đây lúc 5 giờ chiều.
Họ học ở đại học bốn năm.
Nghỉ hè, Tị đi bơi thường xuyên.
(iii) Space : position ,direction
Con mèo ngủ ở thềm nhà
Xe chạy về hướng thành phố.
(iv) Reason, purpose, condition, concessive, result
Họ đến muộn vì mưa
Bạn ấy thông minh và chăm học nên đã đỗ cao.
Tôi đến sau nếu hôm nay về muộn.
Bạn ấy ra sân bay để đón bạn.
Secondly, basing on syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese
Adjuncts, We can find some similarities and differences of adjuncts in English and
Vietnamese sentence structure. This helps students know to use Adjuncts better in
detailed situations.
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Similarities
1. On syntactic aspect, both English and Vietnamese adjuncts are viewed as an
optional part of a clause; they can be omitted without changing the grammatical
structure of the clause.
In English
Paul plays tennis.
Paul pays tennis every week.
In Vietnamese
Họ làm việc.
Họ làm việc rất vui vẻ.
It is obvious that when adjuncts are left out in the examples above, there is no change
in syntactic structures of the sentences in English and in Vietnamese in comparison with
their original sentences.
2. On semantic aspect, both English and Vietnamese adjuncts realized thanks to
their semantic functions denoting the ideational circumstances, as some examples
shown below:
TIME I saw her last week. (English)
Hôm qua Tị đi câu cá. (Vietnamese)
PURPOSE I checked all the doors to make sure they were shut. (English)
Bạn ấy ra sân bay để đón bạn. (Vietnamese)
3. Both English and Vietnamese Adjuncts are realized by a word, a noun phrase, a
prepositional phrase and a clause. As shown in the follwing below:
Syntactic realizations of adjuncts in English and Vietnamese
Functions English Vietnamese
Adverb It’s raining hard. Cô bé hát hay.
Adverb
phrase
Paul pays tennis every week.
Họ làm việc rất vui vẻ.
Noun phrase They arrived yesterday. Hôm qua Tị đi câu cá
Prepositional
phrase
He looked at her with a hurt
expression.
Vì mưa , họ đến muộn
Clause Although he’s rich, he lives
very simply.
Tôi đến anh ngay nếu trời
tạnh mưa.
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4. On the ground of position, we can easily find out that Adjuncts in both
languages can be flexible with their positions in a clause: front, mid and end position.
As illustrated in the examples below.
In Vietnamese
Dưới bóng tre xanh, đã lâu đời, người dân cày Việt Nam dựng nhà, dựng cửa, vỡ ruộng
khai hoang.
Người dân cày Việt Nam dựng nhà, dựng cửa, vỡ ruộng khai hoang , dưới bóng tre
xanh, đã lâu đời .
In English
Recently they had an accident.
They recently had an accident.
They had an accident recently.
5. Most adjuncts realized by a prepositional phrase or an adverbial clause in both
English and Vietnamese clause, whose positions are mostly initial and final ones.
+ English
Peter was playing with great skill.
Peter was playing well, although he was very tired.
+ Vietnamese
Bằng lời nói đánh lừa ý nghĩ trong lòng mình của một anh nhà quê, lại làm cho
một cô gái sành sỏi của Hà Nội cảm động.
Tôi đến anh ngay nếu trời tạnh mưa.
6. The positions of adjuncts in the translation equivalent both languages, English
and Vietnamese, are mostly similar.
He drives the car carefully. (Anh ta lái xe cẩn thận.)
I have never been to India. (Tôi chưa bao giờ đến Ấn Độ)
In general, studying all the examples mentioned above from a contrastive view,
we can see that there is almost no syntactic difference between the English and
Vietnamese Adjuncts. Semantically, adjuncts have been classified by the distinct
semantic functions of each langauge. However, besides the similarities mentioned
above, some differences will be concerned below.
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Differences
In English, most adverbs are formed from adjectives by addition of ending ‘ly’ to
as quickly, interestingly, beautifully, and so forth.
Here are the most commonly used adverbs (note that not one of the very high
frequency adverb is derived from an adjective by adding –ly):only, then, now, also,
even, just, here, there, still, never, well, again, so, there, away, once, often, over, too,
almost…
One of the fundamental identifying features of modifying adverbs is that they are
by definition optional elements. That is, adverbs can always be deleted without
affecting the grammaticality of the sentence. For example, consider the following
sentence:
We had dinner then.
The adverb then can be deleted without making the rest of the sentence
ungrammatical:
We had dinner then.
Adjuncts in Vietnamese, however, there is no morphological difference between
adverbs and adjectives. Study two examples below:
Cô bé hát rất hay. (Manner Adverbs)
Cô bé có giọng hát rất hay. (Adjectival complement)
Therefore, it is very difficult even for Vietnamese lerners to identify whether
rất hay is adjectival or adverbial in two sentences above. In this case, basing on the
characteristics of adjuncts as presented above, we can identify rất hay in the first
sentence is an adverb because it can be left out without changing the grammatical
structure of the clause. Whereas, rất hay in the second one is an adjectival
complement because if it is omitted, the sentence structure is ungrammatical.
On the whole, the differences and similarities between English and Vietnamese
adjuncts which we have pointed out above are of course not complete enough. The
stauy , to some extent, is useful to identify and clarify one of the most heterogeneous
classes in both languages.
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2. Applied Solutions of the Study
The aim of the study is to help high school learners solve the difficulties that they
encounter when using adjuncts in textbooks Tiếng Anh 10, 11, 12 by Hoàng Văn Vân
et al & Tứ Anh et al, Education Press.
The following are the difficulties that they often encouter and solutions to these
problems.
2.1 Misuse of adjectives for adverbs
As discussed above, most English adverbs end “ly”. There are, however, some
adjectives, such as fast, hard, high, late, and low, that have identical adverb form.
He is a fast worker. (fast is an adjective modifying the noun worker)
He works fast. (fast is an adverb modifying the verb work)
Note that addition of 'ly’ sometimes forms adjectives, not adverbs .Although
the addition of ·ly usually forms an adverb from an adjective, it does not invariably do
so. In particular, there are some adjectives that are formed from nouns in this way ;
examples are given below
Noun beast coward death father friend prince woman
Adjective beastly cowardly deathly fatherly friendly princely womanly
It is clear that despite the ‘ly’ ending the words in the table above are
adjectives, not adverbs.They can function attributively and predicatively, but do not
modify verbs, as illustrated below with friendly
ATTRIBUTIVE USE PREDICATIVE USE MODIFYING VERB
a friendly old man He seems quite friendly *He behaved friendly
2.2 Adverb of frequency (Tiếng Anh 10)
Adverb of frequency usually occurs at the end of a sentence to express a specific
or a general sense of frequency. However, Adverb of frequency may also occur
initially if it is in focus. As shown in the following examples.
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Specific frequency General frequency Emphasis
Bod does his laundry
once a week.
I brush my teeth
every day.
Helen does the dishes once
in a whole.
You should write your
parents every now and then.
Once a week Bod does his
laundry.
Every now and then You
should write your parents.
In contrast to these adverbs of specific or general frequency, English also has a class
of preverbal adverbs of frequency that tend to occur most in the middle of a sentence.
John never writes his parents.
Mary is always late for class.
The position of adverbs of frequency is complicated but predictable. Teachers,
however, should give general rules to help students avoid common problems of the
misplacement of adverbs.
Subject + adverb + predicative
This rule accounts for all indicative and imperative sentences with preverbal
adverb that do not have auxiliary verb.
Gerald seldom goes to church.
Never talk with your mouth full.
The rule also accounts for all cases when the sentence contains an operator (i.e., an
auxiliary / copula be); that is, adverb comes either after the first auxiliary or after
copular be.
I can usually do my shopping on Sunday.
Mary is always late for class.
Preverbal adverbs of frequency, however, typically come before operators in case
of emphasizing operators or in reduced sentences.
You never are ready on time!
I never have met the president!
A: Is Mr. Franks strict?
B: Yes, he often is. (Yes, he is often strict.)
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Notice that when negative preverbal adverbs of frequency (i.e., never, seldom,
rarely, scarcely ever, hardly ever) placed in front position for stylistic reasons, it is
necessary to invert the subject and the operator.
We have seldom seen such a sight.
Seldom have we seen such a sight.
The following are errors that learners have dificulty in using ‘Statements and
questions with ever’
Learners difficulties : Statements and questions with ever
-Scarcely ever or hardly ever functions as preverbal adverbs of frequency.
John has scarcely ever / hardly ever gone to bed after midnight.
John has scarcely / hardly gone to bed after midnight. (Ungrammatical)
-Yes/ no questions with EVER that ask about specific experiences tend to elicit
specific responses. Against, responses with preverbal adverb of frequency are too
vague:
A: Have you ever been to Acapulco?
B: Yes, for one week back in 1971.
(?) Yes, I sometimes/ usually go there.
-That is to say, yes / no questions with ever that ask about the frequency of
habitual actions readily elicit responses with a preverbal adverb of frequency.
A: Do you ever study in the library?
B: I always/ usually/ often/ sometimes/ rarely/ never do.
2.3 Common problems of the misplacement of adverbs.
Placement of adverbs can also change meaning in sentences. Often, misplacing
an adverb not only alters the intended meaning, but also creates a sentence whose
meaning is highly unlikely or completely ridiculous.
This sentence, for example, suggests that we brought a lunch slowly:
We ate the lunch that we have brought slowly.
To repair the meaning, shift the adverb slowly so that it is near ate.
We slowly ate the lunch that we have brought.
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Therefore, the teachers should give a general rule to help learners avoid
committing errors above. A simple rule to remember, as follow:
RULE OF PROXIMITY
(We must place adverbs as close as possible to the words / phrases that they modify)
Some common one-word modifiers that are quite often misplaced are almost,
only, just, even, nearly, and merely.
2.4. Adjuncts that are adverbial clauses (Tiếng Anh 10, 11, 12)
a. Finite adverbial clauses
There are many types of adverbial clauses, but they all have something in
common: They tell us something about the information in the main clause.The type or
category of an adverbial clause is determined by its subordinator. For example, the
subordinators after and when introduce adverbial time clauses.
Finite adverbial clauses generally require a subordinator and can be used to express
clearly a great variety of semantic relationships, including time, contrast, place, cause,
result, purpose, condition, and manner. As can be seen in the following examples:
Adverbial clause types
Types Subordinators Examples
TIME before after until
while when since as
After we left, the town changed.
CONTRAST
Although even though
though
while whereas
inasmuch as
Although Jack studied, he didn’t
pass the test.
PLACE where Many people prefer to live where
the climate is warm.
CAUSE
Because since as
Whereas
inasmuch as
They came late because the traffic
was bad.
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RESULT such. . . that
so. . . that
There are so many cars on the road
that the traffic is always bad.
PURPOSE so that She majored in business so that she
could get a good job.
CONDITIONAL
If unless If I were rich, I would travel around
the world.
MANNER As as if as though Melissa petted the wolf cub as
though it were a puppy.
Learners difficulties: subordinators with multiple meanings
Three of the most common subordinators are items that can express more than one
semantic relationship:
As can be used for manner, reason, time
Since can express reason, time
While can express concession/contrast, time
b. Nonfinite adverbial clauses
In addition to the finite clauses above, nonfinite clauses can also function as adjuncts.
o To – infinitive clause: to verb …
The country is working hard to increase food production. (Clause of Purpose)
o ING clause : Verb-ing
Being a teacher, I believe in higher standards of education. (Clause of reason and
cause)
o Past participle clause: Verb-ed
Considered as a whole, it was not a happy marriage.
b.1 Reduced Adverbial Clauses
Reduced adverbial clauses are adverbial clauses that no longer have a full verb
phrase. Adverbial clauses can be reduced from clauses to phrases in case the subject
of the adverbial clause and the subject of the main clause must be identical. If there is
a different subject for each clause, then the adverbial clause cannot be reduced.
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- ING clause : Subordinators + verb-ing
After leaving school, she worked in an insurance office.
(= ‘After she left school…’)
- Past participle clause : Subordinators + (adverb) + verb-ed
If (firmly) planned in a rich soil, the tree will grow very quickly.
(= ‘if it is (firmly) planned ...’)
b.2 Verbless adverbial clause
Verbless adverbial clause is a clause with no verb
E.g. Old clocks are very valuable when in good condition.
(=’…when they are in good condition.’)
Learners difficulties : Dangling modifier or dangling participles
Adjuncts functioning as adverbial participle clause in clause- initial position is a
problem for native learners and as well as learners of English. Errors such as the
following are traditionally referred to as “dangling modifiers” or “dangling
participles”.
Dangling modifier
A modifier that starts a sentence must be followed right away by the word that it
describes. Otherwise, the modifier is said to be dangling, and the sentence takes on an
unintended meaning.
Sitting in the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drill made Larry sweat.
Corrected version:
Sitting in the dentist’s chair, Larry sweated at the sound of the drill.
As Larry was sitting in the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drill made him sweat.
How to correct dangling modifiers
Dangling modifiers may be corrected in two general ways.
Correction Method #1
- Leave the modifier as it is.
- Change the main part of the sentence so that it begins with the term actually
modified.
- This change will put the modifier next to the term it modifies.
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Correction Method #2
- Change the dangling modifier phrase to a subordinate clause, creating a subject
and verb.
- Leave the rest of the sentence as it is.
Dangling participles
Let’s see what we can do with the following participial phrase:
Believing that he had done no wrong, the sentence of the court was unfair.
What does our participle “Believing that he had done no wrong” describe either the
court or John? The correct answer in this case is John. Our participle is misplaced.
So, in order to correct a misplaced participle, place the word we want to describe
close to our participle.
Believing that he had done no wrong, John said that the sentence of the court
was unfair.
Things to remember when there are the participles phrases in a sentence.
- Participles MUST be right next to what they describe: if they don’t, they are
MISPLACED.
- Participles MUST have SOMETHING to describe, if they don’t, they
DANGLE.
From the reality, the results of the study provide learners with well – founded
applied solutions so that they are able to practice using adjuncts successfully in
detailed circumstances . The following are applied exercises related to adjuncts that
students often deal with in the examinations at school or in national ones.
Exercise 1: Choose the best answer to complete the following sentences
1.I have lost touch with him _________ He left for London.
A. as soon as ` B. after
C. before D. since
2.My mother is washing the dishes _________ my father is watching television.
A. when B. while
C. as D. Since
3._______, I will give him the report.
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A. When he will return B. When he returns
C. Until he will return D. No sooner he returns
4.I have earned my own living _______ I was seven.
A. since B. when
C. while D. as soon as
5.We saw many beautiful birds _______ in the lake.
A when we are fishing B. while fishing
C. while fished D. fishing
6._______, Peter came to see me.
A. While having dinner B. While I was having dinner
C. When having dinner D. When lam having dinner
7._______ my homework, I went to bed.
A. After I had finished B. After finished
C. Finished D. After had finished
8._______ the dance, Jerry said goodbye to his girlfriend.
A. Before left B. Before he leaves
C. Before leaving D. Before he will leave
9._______ the firemen arrived to help, we had already put out the fire.
A. Until B. No sooner
C. By the time D. After
10._______, Joe stays in bed and reads magazines.
A. Whenever raining B. As it will be raining
C. When it will rain D. Whenever it rains
11. ________________ The boy was happy he had done a good job.
A. because B. as
C. unless D. because of
12. Some people are tall, __________others are short.
A. whereas B. when
C. as D. so
13. ....................... it several times, he didn’t want to read it once again.
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A. Reading B. To read
C. To have read D. Having read
14. ......................... that he was poor, I offered to pay his fare.
A. Knowing B. Known
C. Knew D. Having knew
15. ....................... photographs of the place, I had no desire to go there.
A. Seeing B. Having Seen C. Saw D. Seen
Key : 1D 2B 3B 4A 5B 6B 7A 8C 9C 10D 11A 12A 13D 14A 15 B
Exercise 2: Rewrite these sentences without chaning their original meaning
1. She wrote a letter. Then she went to bed.
After……………………………
2. We switched off the lights before we went to bed.
Having ……………………………
3. Despite the cold weather, we all went for a walk.
Although ………………………………………………………………….
4. Although they played very well, Arsenal lost the game.
In spite of …………………………………………………………………..
5. Without Jack's help, I wouldn't have been able to move the table.
If.........................................................................................................................
Key :
1.After having written a letter, she went to bed ./ After she wrote a letter, she went to bed
2. Having switched off the lights, we went to bed.
3. Although it was cold, we all went for a walk.
4. In spite of playing very well, Arsenal lost the game.
5. if Jack hadn’t helped me, I wouldn't have been able to move the table.
With a general look through 40 papers collected from students in class 11A1 of
Vo Giu high school, I am quite pleased with the results because the scores are not so
low. Learners are able to know how to do kinds of exercises related to adjuncts rather
successfully thanks to applied solutions above-mentioned. Therefore, they made
careful consideration and decisions before choosing the most suitable answers in
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sentence. However, it does not mean that all of students could perform successfully in
the test. There are also many errors needed describing and analyzing so that the
students can realize their own errors and perfect in the next time. The following table
will brief depict the proportion of students’ results.
The percentage of correctness in two exercises (20 sentences) of 40 students tested.
Grade Number of
students
Number of
correct
sentences
Percentage (%)
Excellent 4 20 10
Good 8 17-19 20
Rather good 6 15-18 25
Average 17 10 -14 42.5
Below average 5 3 - 9 12.5
Total 40 20 100
Most of the students could not do the given exercises successfully because of
the lack of the theoretical understanding of Adjuncts. To deal with it, it is necessary
for them to review the theoretical knowledge by themselves to understand the
problem more clearly because theoretical knowledge is of really importance in the
process of achieving the success in practical field.
In brief, the results of the study make learners clearly understand and able to do
kinds of exercises related to adjuncts more effectively. This is a desire of researcher
when carrying out the study with view to contributing greatly to learners’academic
purposes.
3. The effectiveness of the Study
An investigation into adjuncts in English and in Vietnamese is very helpful for
learners in language learning. We should think that the result of this study is still
modest. We hope, however, this research work would be more or less beneficial for
the Vietnamese teachers and learners of English and all of those who are concerned
about this field.
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Firstly, the study of adjuct adverbials in English and in Vietnamese brings
many benefits not only students at school but also teachers of English, as follow:
+ From applied solutions with the mention of
- Misuse of adjectives for adverbs
- Use of frequencyAdverbs
- Common problems of the misplacement of adverbs
- Adjuncts that are adverbial clauses
To learners, it is obvious that the study has solved lots of difficulties that high
school learners encounter when using adjuncts.
To teachers, the characteristics of adjunct adverbials in English and Vietnamese
sentence structure are useful for them to consult about adjucts to give the lectures
more effectively.
Secondly, a contrastive analysis is used as an effective method to point out the
similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese adjuncts. This enables to help
learners of English get a better of using adjuncts in different situations. Besides, the
study has been carried out to meet the need of the leaners at high school because it has
solved the complicated questions they encounter when using adjuncts.
Thirdly, the effective use of the study makes learners of English now enable to
pursue independent studies in the above areas of adjuncts. Thence, they clearly
understand and able to use adjuncts more effectively in language learning.
In a word, the results of the study enable to help Vietnamese learners have a
comprehensive understanding about the linguistic features of Adjuncts in detailed
circumstances. From that point, learners of English are able to know for effective use
of adjuncts in their language learning as well as further study.
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Chapter III: CONCLUSION
1. Some implications for language teaching and learning
In written and spoken English and Vietnamese, the use of adjuncts has much
sense, with its help, an action, an event or action of people have been described
much more colorfully and thoroughly.
The contrastive analysis of the adjuncts in English and in Vietnamese may be
useful for teachers and learners of English. One of the aims of this contrastive
analysis is that teachers should use the results of the study in their teaching. The
differences as well as the similarities pointed out in the study will, to some extent,
help the teachers to predict and solve those areas of English adjuncts that will cause
some problems for Vietnamese learners. In addition to, this contrastive analysis will
help the learners avoid common errors thanks to rules mentioned in chapter 2.
2. The development of the study
As we know that grammar is always the foundation for any process of
development in language learning. The study on the linguistic features of adjuncts has
been conducted to serve as the process of teaching and learning English grammar in
the modern stage. The study has brought learners many attempts to clear one of the
most complicated issues, namely, adjuct averbials. From the results of the study, it is
hoped that the learners of English can learn some valuable knowledge of adjucts.
Thenceforth, the leaners can gain a better understanding on this field in particular and
English grammar in general.
From the theorical knowlege, the learners are able to carry out the exercises
related to adjuncts better at school and the study can meet their further study for
national examinations.
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3. Suggestions
The study on adjuncts is also a troublesome problem for learners of English to
know how to use them efficiently.Therefore, in order to avoid some mistakes when
dealing with adjucts, learners should be provided not only well-rounded knowledge of
adjuncts but also opportunities to practice them in context. Through practicing
sentence patterns containing adjuncts regularly, learners gradually master and use
them more effectively. From the results of the study, I hope to contribute to my own
experience in this field as a part of sharing a few difficulties within a huge one of
teachers’ teaching work.
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REFERENCES
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Vietnamese books
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Nội.
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