Преподаватель – доц. Драчева Ю. Н.

направление подготовки

035700 – «ЛИНГВИСТИКА»

ОЗО

3 КУРС

Контрольная работа № 2

вариант 1

I. Use the proper form:

1. I saw her ... into the library.

a) to come

b) coming

c) come

2. I believed you ... two mobile phones.

a) to have

b) having

c) have

3. He made me ... the window.

a) to close

b) closing

c) close

4. Shh! I hear someone ... .

a) to cry

b) crying

c) cry

5. He can’t make me ... this!

a) to do

b) doing

c) do

6. I like him ... this task so well.

a) to do

b) doing

c) do

7. I felt someone ... me on the shoulder.

a) to touch

b) touching

c) touch

8. I heard her ... a famous English song.

a) to sing

b) singing

c) sing

9. I know her ... a good student.

a) to be

b) being

c) be

10. Rainy weather makes me ... bad.

a) to feel

b) feeling

c) feel

II. Translate into English:

1. Остается по крайней мере месяц до нашего отъезда, но мы уже с нетерпением ждем отпуска и строим разные планы на лето. 2. Дай мне знать, если ты решишь остаться у своей тети на остальную часть каникул, я тогда присоединюсь к тебе. 3. Мистера Брауна посадили в тюрьму за неуплату налогов. 4. Не пытайтесь переложить вину на меня, вы сами во всем виноваты. 5. У него всегда есть про запас всякие смешные истории и анекдоты. 6. С вами бесполезно спорить, вы все время меняете свою позицию. 7. Если бы ты вчера приняла эти таблетки, ты сегодня чувствовала бы себя гораздо лучше. 8. Не поддавайтесь отчаянию, все образуется.

III. Translate into Russian:

Grammar

How important is grammar instruction and testing if we want to become fluent? Traditionally it has been at the forefront. I prefer to see grammar instruction very much in the background.

Intransitive verbs etc.

I spoke with an English teacher. I asked him why, in English, we say "listen to" someone, but "hear" someone. He answered proudly that "listen" was an intransitive verb, but "hear" was transitive. But then I asked myself if this was really a meaningful explanation or just an abstract restatement of the original question. In French, the word for listen, "ecouter," is not intransitive, why in English?

I asked myself if it is not just as easy to remember that "listen" takes "to" while "hear" does not, that "speak" takes "to" and "tell" does not. If I listen to English or read English often, I will come across these words often. If I do not ask why, but just observe and absorb the language, I will gradually get used to how the words are used. Then it will not matter to me if I know if these verbs are intransitive or transitive. I will not need to learn this term. I will know how to use the words.

Do we need to study grammar?

Many language learners have been conditioned to think that they need to study grammar in order to learn a language. This is wrong, wrong, wrong! When I go to learn a new language I avoid explanations of grammar and avoid all questions or exercises based on grammar. Instead I look to the language to teach me how it works.

I listen and read and observe the new language. I take it in small doses. At first it is only 30 seconds or one minute at a time. In time the doses can be longer. I repeatedly listen to these small doses and occasionally read them. Of course I need help in having the meaning explained. This help can come from a book, or a teacher. The teacher can be with me, face to face, or online. Mostly, however, it is just me and the new language.

The grammar learner is conditioned to think of rules and ask why? "Why is it said this way? I thought the rule was something else." Half the time the learner has the rule wrong. Besides, if every time the learner wants say something he/she has to remember a rule, he/she will never speak fluently.

I speak nine languages quite well and do not remember ever asking "why do they say it this way? Why is this wrong?‖ I know that when I studied Chinese, learners around me who asked "why," did not learn the language well.

Structures in the new language that seemed strange and might occasion the "why?" question, usually started to feel normal with enough exposure. It was pointless to try to understand "why" before I was ready, and once I was ready I did not need to ask "why" anymore.

Confusing "he” and "she"

I often get resistance to the idea that language learning should not emphasize grammar instruction. This idea does not go down well with many teachers and learners. "You have to learn grammar to stop making mistakes" is the refrain. However, just understanding the "why" of a grammar rule will not ensure accurate language. Chinese speakers regularly say "he" when they mean "she" and vice versa. They understand the principle. They just cannot say the correct word when speaking. This is because spoken Chinese does not make this distinction.

You would think that this rule would be easy to learn, but it is not. It is not the understanding of the principle, but the development of the correct language instinct, that will enable the speaker to be accurate and fluent. Only enough exposure and the gradual training of the brain will make that possible. The emphasis needs to be on the word gradual.

Buy the smallest grammar book you can

Learners can have a grammar book for reference, although the smaller the better. I have looked up verb conjugations and noun declensions in languages like Spanish and German. It did not help me to speak. It did not help me to use the right declension or conjugation. I needed to learn phrases from real contexts, to notice phrases when reading and listening, and to repeat these phrases when speaking, in order to gradually improve. And the improvement was uneven, with frequent lapses. But I was happy communicating, or reading, or listening, and happy in the knowledge that I was getting better just by listening, reading and using the language. My lapses and inaccuracies did not bother me.

Grammar is presented as a shortcut to learning the language. To me it is a distraction. When I learned Chinese or Japanese or Korean there were all kinds of grammatical explanations that I just ignored. These explanations seemed contrived to resemble grammar explanations for European languages but did not help. I had to see the actual phrase patterns. Even in learning German, I could read the lists of declensions and conjugations many times, but it never sunk in. If I read a lot and listened a lot, paying special attention to the words and how they come together in phrases; and if I got used to certain phrases, then I would slowly start to use them correctly more often.

Grammar learning may be an obstacle

There is a body of research that suggests that learning grammar is an impediment to fluency since it creates filters. The learner has to refer to a grammar filter before expressing himself or herself. This is difficult to do in a conversation. What is needed is to develop the right natural reflexes. Thus it takes time and a lot of exposure for Chinese people to stop saying "he" for "she" even though they understand the "why".

The study of grammar and the frequent (and unavoidable) mistakes on tests can create negative feelings towards the language, which are referred to as "affective filters". This makes the learner nervous, uptight, and reluctant to leave the safety of the native language. But to learn well you need to let yourself go, imitate and have fun. I have found a more holistic approach to be more successful in the long run. I do not believe that people who learn to be genuinely fluent in a second language do so in the classroom.

"You can only learn what you already know"

There is a Sufi proverb that says "You can only learn what you already know." I agree. Once you are familiar with a subject you can start to learn about it. Can you imagine teaching someone how to swim based on theory, if that person has never been in the water? Russian is the most grammar-heavy language I have come across. The grammar explanations in all of the books and tapes I have bought just make my head spin. I took a simple story I wrote for our English learners at The Linguist. I had a friend translate it into Russian and asked some Russians to record it. I listened to it and read it more than 30 times in order to get some familiarity with Russian.

Once I know Russian, I will look at the grammar to see a summary of what I have already come to know.

(From The Linguist on Language by Steve Kaufmann)