How To Teach Noun Phrase - Among other English structures, noun phrase is one that non English speakers find difficult to learn. For Indonesian students, the confusion is caused by the different structure of English noun phrase and Indonesian noun phrase. In Bahasa Indonesia, noun phrase consists of a noun and an adjective, in which the noun precedes the adjective. Meanwhile, in English a noun phrase consists of a noun and an adjective in which the adjective precedes the noun.
This very simple different structure of Indonesian and English noun phrase in fact presents very great difficulty for Indonesian students to learn English noun phrase. It is understandable, though, since the first language structure has been deeply absorbed in students' mind and telling them the difference will not make them necessarily able to use the structure appropriately. Therefore, in order for Indonesian students to understand and hence use English noun phrase correctly, appropriate technique to teach noun phrase is highly needed. Of course, there are many techniques to teach English noun phrase available. However, not all techniques are applicable and effective. Therefore, the paragraph that follows I will explain one technique that I feel very effective.
Here we go.
But wait, before we discuss the technique, you should know the media that we will need: pictures and list of adjective and noun.
Here we really go :D
Teaching Technique In Practice
The first step of the technique is called exposure to parts of noun phrase. In this step, the teacher shows several commonly used adjectives (recommended). After showing the adjectives, the teacher reads the words aloud and asks the students to repeat every word the teacher reads. After that, students are asked to guess the meaning of each word. If they don't the meaning of certain words, they are asked to look it up in the dictionary. After the students know the meaning of all words, the teacher then shows several nouns. As with adjectives, here the students also have to repeat after the teacher and look up the meaning of each word they don't know in the dictionary. When this is finished, the teacher proceeds to the next step.
Assuming that students have been familiar with the adjectives and nouns discussed previously, in this step the teacher shows pictures representing certain adjective and noun. ( For example, pictures about a beautiful girl, a friendly man, a green book, an old woman, etc.). The students are asked to match the pictures with adjectives and noun discussed previously. So when the teacher shows a picture about, let say, a beautiful girl, students will say "girl" and "beautiful" or "pretty," whatever they remember.
After all pictures have been shown and all related words (adjectives and nouns) have been mentioned, the teacher writes incomplete phrases describing several pictures. He may only write the noun and leave the adjective blank or he may write the adjective and leave the noun blank. (For example, the teacher may write "a ....... girl" or "a beautiful ...." to describe the picture about the girl). The students are asked to complete the phrase with the words discussed previously. When all the blank have been completed, it’s now time to proceeds to the last step which is also the testing step.
The last step is almost similar to the previous step namely showing several pictures and asking students to complete the phrase. In the testing step, the students are also presented with several pictures (of course, ones which have not been used as exercise in the previous step.) After being presented with pictures, students are also asked to describe the pictures. The only difference between this testing step and the previous one is that in the testing step students are not asked to complete phrases. Here what students have to do is to make phrases (from the scratch) describing the pictures. Of course, students what to make a correct phrase describing the pictures, they have to remember the words discussed in the first step as well as the phrase structure presented in the second step.
Well, that is the technique I use to teach English noun phrases. So far, I find the technique effective and the result satisfying. However, if you have other techniques to teach English noun phrase, don't hesitate to share with us by giving comments. Finally, have a nice and fun English teaching and learning in your classroom.
This very simple different structure of Indonesian and English noun phrase in fact presents very great difficulty for Indonesian students to learn English noun phrase. It is understandable, though, since the first language structure has been deeply absorbed in students' mind and telling them the difference will not make them necessarily able to use the structure appropriately. Therefore, in order for Indonesian students to understand and hence use English noun phrase correctly, appropriate technique to teach noun phrase is highly needed. Of course, there are many techniques to teach English noun phrase available. However, not all techniques are applicable and effective. Therefore, the paragraph that follows I will explain one technique that I feel very effective.
Here we go.
But wait, before we discuss the technique, you should know the media that we will need: pictures and list of adjective and noun.
Here we really go :D
Teaching Technique In Practice
The first step of the technique is called exposure to parts of noun phrase. In this step, the teacher shows several commonly used adjectives (recommended). After showing the adjectives, the teacher reads the words aloud and asks the students to repeat every word the teacher reads. After that, students are asked to guess the meaning of each word. If they don't the meaning of certain words, they are asked to look it up in the dictionary. After the students know the meaning of all words, the teacher then shows several nouns. As with adjectives, here the students also have to repeat after the teacher and look up the meaning of each word they don't know in the dictionary. When this is finished, the teacher proceeds to the next step.
Assuming that students have been familiar with the adjectives and nouns discussed previously, in this step the teacher shows pictures representing certain adjective and noun. ( For example, pictures about a beautiful girl, a friendly man, a green book, an old woman, etc.). The students are asked to match the pictures with adjectives and noun discussed previously. So when the teacher shows a picture about, let say, a beautiful girl, students will say "girl" and "beautiful" or "pretty," whatever they remember.
After all pictures have been shown and all related words (adjectives and nouns) have been mentioned, the teacher writes incomplete phrases describing several pictures. He may only write the noun and leave the adjective blank or he may write the adjective and leave the noun blank. (For example, the teacher may write "a ....... girl" or "a beautiful ...." to describe the picture about the girl). The students are asked to complete the phrase with the words discussed previously. When all the blank have been completed, it’s now time to proceeds to the last step which is also the testing step.
The last step is almost similar to the previous step namely showing several pictures and asking students to complete the phrase. In the testing step, the students are also presented with several pictures (of course, ones which have not been used as exercise in the previous step.) After being presented with pictures, students are also asked to describe the pictures. The only difference between this testing step and the previous one is that in the testing step students are not asked to complete phrases. Here what students have to do is to make phrases (from the scratch) describing the pictures. Of course, students what to make a correct phrase describing the pictures, they have to remember the words discussed in the first step as well as the phrase structure presented in the second step.
Well, that is the technique I use to teach English noun phrases. So far, I find the technique effective and the result satisfying. However, if you have other techniques to teach English noun phrase, don't hesitate to share with us by giving comments. Finally, have a nice and fun English teaching and learning in your classroom.
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