Relative Clause ESL Lesson for Specific Purposes

Relative Clause ESL Lesson for Specific Purposes Relative clauses are used to describe the noun naming the process or position when discussing tasks that need to be completed, or explaining how certain things work. The ability to use relative clauses easily is important to all English learners, but perhaps even more important to those wanting to use English in their workplaces. For example, salespeople need to explain and define anything relating to the use of the goods or services being sold. The Instaplug is a device that allows you to use any type of outlet throughout the world.Our Ontime Service is a type of consulting which allows you to access consulting services 24/7.The Sansolat Tile is a roofing tile which reflects sunlight in order to keep air conditioning costs down. Another example would be of the use of relative clauses to describe people at work: Youll need to speak to Mr. Adams who is ​in  charge of vacation and sick leave requests.Jack Wanders is the union organizer who represents this region.We need consultants who can travel anywhere on 24-hour notice. This lesson plan focuses on helping students learn to use relative clauses to discuss important issues at work such as who works with them, various types of work and workplaces, as well as describing goods or services manufactured or provided by their employer. Aim Building confidence in using relative clauses to describe goods, services, personnel and other related workplace situations. Activity Sentence matching, followed by guided writing exercise Level Intermediate to advanced English for Specific Purposes learners Outline Introduce students to the topic of using relative clauses by asking a few questions such as:How would you describe a blue collar worker?Whats full time work?Who is a consultant?What is a computer lab?These questions should elicit a number of responses, hopefully a few with competent use of relative clauses. Make sure to rephrase student answers throughout using relative clauses to help inductively introduce the idea of relative clause use. For example:Oh, full time work is a type of work which takes place for at least 40 hours a week.Good, yes, a consultant is someone who provides services and advice to a company on a contractual basis. etc.Once you have completed this warm-up, write four sentences on the board. Use one sentence with a relative clause referring a person with that and one with who. The other two sentences should refer to things; one beginning with that and the other with which. Ask students to point out these differences and explain why which or who is used, as well a s what. As far as is possible, try to coax the students into inductively stating the rules for relative clause use. Ask students to complete the sentences in the exercise below by choosing the two halves that go together and connecting each with a relative pronoun (who, which or that).Check answers as a class.Ask students to imagine ten items or people that are important to them in day-to-day work. Students should first write a list of the ten items / people. On another sheet of paper, ask students to write explanatory sentences using relative clauses.Have students exchange their ten item lists with a partner. Students should then practice explaining these items to each other using relative clauses. Students should not simply read what they have written, but try to use their examples as a starting point. Encourage students to ask probing questions based on the information they hear.Circulate about the room and help students. Once the exercise is finished, go over common mistakes youve heard while listening to student pair work. Matching Halves Match the first half of the sentence in A with the appropriate phrase in B to complete the definition. Use an appropriate relative pronoun (who, which or that) to connect the two sentences. A A supervisor is a personI have difficulties with bossesOffice Suite is a group of programsSuccess on the road can be assisted by the cloudThe human resources director is the liaisonUse the ratchet as a toolInternal office communications are handled by our company forumYoull find that Anita is a personI couldnt get my work done without DarenTaplist is an app B you can contact to resolve contract issues.can tighten a wide variety of nuts and bolts.provides a friendly place to post questions, make comments and discuss issues.I use to keep track of all my mileage, meals and other work expenses.allows me to access documents and other data from a wide range of devices.do not take my point of view into consideration.is willing to help with any problem you may have.assists me with day-to-day tasks.directs employees working in a team.is used for word processing, creating spreadsheets and presentations.

Using French Semi-Auxiliary Verbs

Using French Semi-Auxiliary Verbs The most common  auxiliary verbs  are  avoir and à ªtre. These are the conjugated verbs that stand in front of another verb in compound tenses to indicate mood and tense. In addition to these two, French has a number of semi-auxiliary verbs, which are conjugated in order to express various nuances of time, mood, or aspect. These verbs are followed by an infinitive. Some semi-auxiliary verbs are equivalent to modal verbs in English and some are verbs of perception. Here are the uses and meanings of some frequently used French semi-auxiliary verbs. Aller In present or imperfect tense, aller means to be going to. Je vais à ©tudier. Im going to study. Jallais à ©tudier. I was going to study. In any tense, aller means  to go to/and. Va chercher les clà ©s. Go and look for the keys. Je suis allà © voir mon frà ¨re. I went to see my brother. In any tense, aller is used to emphasize the verb that follows. Je nirai pas rà ©pondre cela. Im not going to dignify that with a response. Je vais te dire une chose. Let me tell you something. Devoir In any tense, except conditional and past conditional, devoir indicates obligation or necessity. Jai dà » partir. I had to leave. Tu dois manger. You must eat. In conditional form, devoir means should. In past conditional, devoir means should have. Je devrais partir. I should leave. Il aurait dà » nous aider. He should have helped us. Faillir Fallir indicates that something almost happened. Il a failli tomber. He almost fell. Jai failli rater lexamen. I nearly failed the test. Faire Causative construction:  to make something happen, to have something done, to make someone do something. Jai fait laver la voiture. I had the car washed. Il me fait à ©tudier. Hes making me study. Laisser To let something happen, to let someone do something. Vas-tu me laisser sortir? Are you going to let me go out? Laisse-moi le faire. Let me do it. Manquer   Followed by optional de, manquer indicates that something was about to happen or nearly happened. Jai manquà © (de) mourir.   I almost died. Elle a manquà © (de) pleurer.   She nearly cried. Paraà ®tre   Paraà ®tre means to appear/to seem to. Ça paraà ®t à ªtre une erreur. That appears to be an error. Il paraissait à ªtre malade. He seemed to be sick. Partir Partir means to leave, in order to, to go to. Peux-tu partir acheter du pain? Could you go out and buy some bread? Il est parti à ©tudier en Italie. He went to study in Italy. Passer Passer means to call/drop in on, to call for, to go to. Passe me chercher demain. Come pick me up tomorrow. Il va passer voir ses amis. Hes going to drop in on his friends. Pouvoir Pouvoir means can, may, might, to be able to. Je peux vous aider. I can help you. Il peut à ªtre prà ªt. He might be ready. Savoir Savoir means to know how to. Sais-tu nager? Do you know how to swim? Je ne sais pas lire. I dont know how to read. Sembler Sembler means to seem/to appear to. Cela semble indiquer que†¦ That seems to indicate that†¦ La machine semble fonctionner. The machine appears to be working. Sortir de Sortir de means to have just done something  (informal). On sort de manger. We just ate. Il sortait de finir. He had just finished. Venir Venir means to come (in order) to. Je suis venu aider. Ive come to help. venir To happen to. David est venu arriver. David happened to arrive. venir de To have just done something. Je viens de me lever. I just got up. Vouloir Vouloir means to want to. Je ne veux pas lire à §a. I dont want to read that. Veux-tu sortir ce soir? Do you want to go out tonight? When Avoir  and  ÃƒÅ tre  Also Act as Semi-Auxiliary Verbs When followed by infinitive, avoir means to have to. Avoir   Vous avez rà ©pondre. You have to respond. Jai à ©tudier. I have to study. Être Être To be in the process of. Es-tu partir? Are you leaving? Être censà © To be supposed to. Je suis censà © travailler. Im supposed to work. Être en passe de To be about to (usually indicates something positive). Je suis en passe de me marier. Im about to get married. Être en train de To be in the process of, to be doing something right now. On est en train de manger. Were eating (right now). Être loin de To not be about/going to. Je suis loin de te mentir. Im not about to lie to you. Être pour To be ready/prepared/willing to. Je ne suis pas pour voler. Im not willing to steal. Être prà ¨s de To be about to, ready to. Es-tu prà ¨s de partir? Are you about to leave? Être sur le point de?   To be about to (positive or negative). Il est sur le point de tomber.   Hes about to fall. French Helping Verbs Any verb that can be followed by an infinitive may be a semi-auxiliary, including (but not limited to): adorer: to adore doingaimer:  to like, love doing(s)arrà ªter de:  to stop doingchercher :  to look to dochoisir de:  to choose to docontinuer /de:  to continue to docroire:  to believe (that one) doesdemander de:  to ask todà ©sirer:  to desire todà ©tester:  to hate doingdire ( quelquun) de:  to tell (someone) to dosefforcer de:  to endeavor to doespà ©rer:  to hope to doessayer de:  to try doingfalloir:  to be necessary to dohà ©siter :  to hesitate to dointerdire ( qqun) de:  to forbid (someone) to dopenser:  to be thinking of, to consider doingpermettre:  to allow to dopersister :  to persist in doingpromettre:  to promise to doprà ©fà ©rer:  to prefer doingrefuser de:  to refuse to dorisquer de:  to risk doing, to possibly dosouhaiter:  to hope to dotà ¢cher de:  to try doingtenter de:  to attempt doingvoir:  to see (someone) do, to see (something) done Word Order with Semi-Auxiliary Verbs   Semi-auxiliary verbs are used in what I call  dual-verb constructions, which have a slightly different word order than compound verb tenses. Dual verb constructions consist of a conjugated  semi-auxiliary verb, such as  pouvoir,  devoir,  vouloir,  aller,  espà ©rer, and  promettre, followed by a second verb in the infinitive. The two verbs may or may not be joined by a preposition. Agreement with Semi-Auxiliary Verbs In semi-auxiliary verb constructions, any direct object belongs to the infinitive, not the semi-auxiliary verb. Therefore, the past participle never agrees with any direct object.   Its a decision that I hated to make.RIGHT: Cest une dà ©cision que jai dà ©testà © prendre.WRONG: Cest une dà ©cision que jai dà ©testà ©e prendre. Here are the books that I wanted to read.Right: Voici les livres que jai voulu lire.  Wrong: Voici les livres que jai voulus lire. However, there may be other kinds of agreement: With the subject of the sentence, if the auxiliary verb of the semi-auxiliary is à ªtre (e.g., Nous sommes venus aider).With the subject of the infinitive.