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7 - Case Study 1

The Articles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2021

Roger Berry
Roger Berry
Affiliation:
Lingnan University, Hong Kong
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Summary

This and the following three chapters deal with areas of pedagogic grammar that are greatly in need of revision. This chapter deals with the articles a and the and how they are – and should be – treated in pedagogic accounts. It rejects the traditional claim that ‘the first time you mention something use a, the second time the’ – amongst other reasons because the definite article is more common for first mention – and goes on to give a fuller and more accurate examination of these two extremely frequent words – one that is particularly useful for learners whose L1 has no equivalents. Suggestions are given for how to introduce these two very different words, and several creative exercises are offered.

Keywords

Keywords: articlesindefinite articledefinite article
Type
Chapter
Information
Doing English Grammar
Theory, Description and Practice
 , pp. 147 - 167
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Allsop, Jake. 1983. Cassells Students’ English Grammar. Eastbourne: Cassells.Google Scholar
Berry, Roger. 1991. Rearticulating the articles. ELT Journal 45/3: 252–257. This contains ideas for teaching the articles.Google Scholar
Berry, Roger. 1993. Collins Cobuild English Guides 3: Articles. HarperCollins: London. See especially chapter 4, ‘Specific uses of the definite article’.Google Scholar
Berry, Roger. 2015. Grammar myths. Language Awareness 24/1: 15–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, Roger. 2018. English Grammar: A Resource Book for Students. 2nd edn. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas, Johannsson, Stig, Leech, Geoffrey, Conrad, Susan and Finegan, Edward. 1999. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Longman, 260–269.Google Scholar
Celce-Murcia, Marianne and Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 1983. The Grammar Book. Rowley, MA: Newbury HouseGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, John. 1978. Definiteness and Indefiniteness. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey and Svartvik, Jan. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Harlow: Longman, 265–287.Google Scholar
Scrivener, Jim. 2010. Teaching English Grammar. London: Macmillan Education.Google Scholar
Swan, Michael and Smith, Bernard. 1987. Learner English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ur, Penny. 2010. Grammar Practice Activities. 2nd edn. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

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  • Case Study 1
  • Roger Berry, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
  • Book: Doing English Grammar
  • Online publication: 02 March 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108325745.009
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Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Case Study 1
  • Roger Berry, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
  • Book: Doing English Grammar
  • Online publication: 02 March 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108325745.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Case Study 1
  • Roger Berry, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
  • Book: Doing English Grammar
  • Online publication: 02 March 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108325745.009
Available formats
×