Lexical Grammar Unicorns I: The Passive Voice Alex Walls Director of Studies, Windsor English Language School
Grammar Unicorns • Unicorn = something difficult to capture • Grammar Unicorns = areas of grammar that students (and teachers) still have trouble with
Lexical Grammar - Teaching lexis lexically is reasonably straightforward - Teaching grammar lexically takes more thought
Passive or Active? Which is active? Which is passive? A: The police have arrested a man on suspicion of burglary. B: A man was arrested following a fight outside a nightclub.
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons 1. Focus on form 2. Overgeneralised rule 3. Mechanical transformation 4. Decontextualised examples
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons A coursebook sequence New Cutting Edge (3 rd edition) Pre-Intermediate (p.107) Look at sentences Decide if active or passive Based on what? Knowledge of FORM
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons A coursebook sequence New Cutting Edge (3 rd edition) Pre-Intermediate (p.107) Inductive questions Focuses on FORM and meaning (a bit)
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons A coursebook sequence New Cutting Edge (3 rd edition) Pre-Intermediate (p.107) Put the verbs in the passive Focus on FORM
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons A coursebook sequence New Cutting Edge (3 rd edition) Pre-Intermediate (p.107) Match the questions and answers Verbs are already in passive More examples of passive?
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons A coursebook sequence New Cutting Edge (3 rd edition) Pre-Intermediate (p.160) Focus on FORM Overgeneralised rule
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons A coursebook sequence New Cutting Edge (3 rd edition) Pre-Intermediate (p.160) Explanation of meaning Multiple meanings as categorised by FORM
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons A coursebook sequence New Cutting Edge (3 rd edition) Pre-Intermediate (p.160) Choose active or passive But… decontextualised guessing game!!! 1, 6 and 8 could be either
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons A coursebook sequence New Cutting Edge (3 rd edition) Pre-Intermediate (p.160) Put the verbs into the passive in the right place Back to focus on FORM
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons So focus on FORM is wrong? No… but meaning is also important and neglected. Sometimes teachers supplement with “more of the same”
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons Why is an overgeneralised rule unhelpful? Students understand a rule as a “punishable by death” law Subject + am/is/are + past participle Except – appeared, seemed, happened, occurred, taken place, existed, died, seemed, been, etc.
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons You mentioned mechanical transformation? New English File Intermediate (3 rd edition) Student’s Book (p.142) Facebook (April 2020)
Treatment in coursebooks and lessons What about context? Many passive exercises focus on single sentences. This limits information about meaning and use.
What’s the problem? Student’s can make passive sentences (from active ones) until the cows come home . But, they can’t: • Make passive sentences correctly and spontaneously • Choose when to use passive or active
1 What is the passive? What level would you teach the passive? What are the main uses of the passive?
A more lexical approach (5 Cs) • Categorise meaning (focus on meaning) • Colligation (focus on verbs that colligate) • Chunks (derive from colligations) • Context (based on meaning) • Choice (students have to choose active or passive) • No transformation! (unless maybe it’s on an exam – but limit it)
Cat. A: Anonymise Agent • Unknown agent a bank was robbed a suitcase was left unattended • Obvious agent a man was arrested a new president has been elected • Unimportant agent it ’s already been done • Obscured agent your laptop won’t be repaired today regrettably mistakes were made
Cat. B: Processes/Procedures • Processes (man-made) metal is heated and bent into shape • Procedure subjects were observed and then interviewed about their experiences
Cat. C: Theme & Rheme Look at the short texts below. Why is one passive and the other active? Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet was written by Between 1590 and 1613, Shakespeare between 1594 and Shakespeare wrote at least 37 1596. plays.
Cat. C: Theme & Rheme Known information tends to be fronted (theme) New information comes afterwards (rheme) Particularly when new information is – - what happened to subject – I’ve been fired - who or what did it – Jurassic Park was directed by Spielberg - how it was done – The pandemic was badly managed
Cat. D: Miscellaneous - To avoid long subjects - Many people have been refused help by the new commission set up to look into possible abuses in the allocation of social housing. - Set phrases - It is sometimes/often said/argued that … - A case can be made for …
Colligations to Chunks • Identify verbs which are common for the use of the passive • Build or find common, natural chunks from these verbs
2 Colligations to Chunks mistakes were made A. Unknown agent the bag was left unattended It’s believed he was pushed B. Obvious agent has been elected is being questioned C. Unimportant agent has been charged was acquitted of all charges D. Avoid responsibility i t’s already been done nothing was stolen was nominated for 6 Oscars has been recognised for services to humanity I thought it was finished was broken
3 Colligations to Chunks Processes Grown/harvested/collected/mined/extracted Heated/frozen/broken up/removed/added Packaged/transported/sent/sold Procedures Reported/filed/notified Observed/interviewed/surveyed
4 Colligations to Chunks was promoted at work New information: was composed by A. Happened to subject it was a poorly managed event was well attended B. Is who or what did it were relieved of their duties was ably performed by C. Is how it was done was first performed by
Colligations to Chunks it is believed that thought argued said thought agreed understood held averred disputed an argument can be made the case
5 Contexts for the passive What topics connect to these verbs: 1. stolen/murdered/robbed/pushed/attacked 2. suspected/arrested/charged/convicted 3. nominated/elected/awarded/recognised 4. fired/sacked/promoted/given a raise 5. written/performed/directed/played 6. managed/organised/planned 7. grown/harvested/frozen/packed/transported 8. observed/interviewed/surveyed 9. believed/thought/understood
6 Identifying Passive Verb Chunks Milton Glaser, the influential American graphic designer who created the "I ♥ NY" logo, has died aged 91. Made for a 1977 tourism campaign, the logo rapidly gained recognition across the world and has been described as the most frequently imitated in history. He also created a famous poster of Bob Dylan with psychedelic hair and was a co-founder of New York magazine. His poster of Bob Dylan featured a silhouette of the musician based on a self-portrait by Marcel Duchamp and brightly coloured locks of hair borrowed from Islamic art. The poster was included in Dylan's 1967 album Greatest Hits, which was bought by six millions fans, and adorned countless walls. Source: BBC 27 th June 2020
Identifying Passive Verb Chunks Lexical mining: 1. Underline passive verbs 2. Circle form of “to be” before it 3. What words come before and after
Controlled Practice Choose active or passive in context (i.e. a paragraph) Outcomes (2 nd edition) Pre-Intermediate (p. 103)
7 Controlled Practice Same grammar, different co-text (p.64 Teaching Lexically, Dellar and Walkley) My neighbour was arrested . Apparently, he’d been selling drugs. My boss has been promoted . It’s about time! I’ve never known someone work so hard! I’ve been nominated for an award. I doubt I’ll win but it’s a pleasant surprise. The seminar was very well attended actually. Perhaps we should do another on this topic.
Controlled Practice What is done? (p.191 Grammar Practice Activities, Ur)
Controlled Practice What is done? - accounts are opened/closed - money is exchanged/deposited/withdrawn - payments are made - bills are paid Can do with a park, restaurant, cinema, museum, supermarket, gym, etc.
8 Freer Practice Gender stereotypes (p.198 Grammar Practice Activities, Ur) Make a list of: - 5 things usually done by men - 5 things usually done by women - 5 things usually done by both Which of these situations should be changed? What needs to be changed so that these can be done by both?
9 Freer Practice Fun with ambiguity
Feedback and Feedforward Many kinds of trees are existed on the island. Correct sentence: - Many kinds of trees exist on the island. Correct use of passive: - Many kinds of trees can be found on the island. Don’t just provide the correct sentence, help students to use the passive!
Further Reading Grammar for English Language Teachers (2 nd Edition), Parrott, CUP Grammar Practice Activities, Ur, CUP Teaching Lexically, Dellar and Walkley, Delta Publishing Lexical Grammar, Selivan, CUP
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