Accuracy
and fluency of the English language 4Sep2016
[To become proficient in the English language] __________ (1. mean) to become accurate and fluent
in the use of the language.
That means, a person must have a through or good knowledge of
English grammar _______ (3.), I repeat, is the foundation of the language without
which everything just _________ (4. fall) quite apart.. There _________ (5.)
flaws here and there in the _____________ (6. speak) and written English.
So, tell me how much each teacher __________ (6. know) about the English
grammar and how _____________ (7. well-acquaint) each student is at the end of
their schooling, Form Five or Form Six.
Besides, how _________ (8. ability) they are in pronunciation of English words
at __________ (9.) If they have _________ (10.) idea or ________ (11.)
doubt about the words, they can also check the standard English dictionary to
find _________ (12.) what the speech sounds of the words are. Just for
example, to make _________ (13.) the pronunciation of the word “owl” whether it
_______________ (pronounce) as /əʊl/ or /aʊl/, I can look ______ (14.) the word
in the dictionary or Google search to confirm. Of course, a learner or a
teacher must know all the English language __________ (15.) sounds, vowel or
consonant phonemes well to confirm the pronunciation of the word.
Another component _________ (16.) is as important as grammar and
pronunciation is the spelling structures which __________________ (17. relate)
to the sounds and symbols.
These three ___________ (18.) or components of the English language __________
(19.) the hallmark to assess a person to be competent or accurate or not in the
________ (20.) of the language. These 3 components that I always tell my
learners in my language lab that I can 100% help __________ (21.) to experience
the language with well-organised or not so well-organised exercises ___________
(22. practise) or enjoy. This is the practice of the accuracy part of the language.
Well, for the fluency part of the language, schools or tuition centres or
language centres or my lab can only help the minimal percent. There are
more than ONE million English words up-to-date. If you ___________ (23. not
believe) just type, “ How many words are there in the English language?”,
Google websites will tell you so. There _________ (24.) about 171,000 English words being
entered in a standard English dictionary. A native English
speaker _____________
(25. say) to use about
25,000 – 30,000 words. What words are in use depend very much ___________
(26.) a person’s interest, education and career.
Count ________ (27.) number of English words you know and how well you
can use them in tests, everyday conversations or delivery a lesson in English
Thus I say, a person must read __________ (28.) or extensively to acquire and
build ________ (29.) the vocabulary in contexts. _________ (30.) a
lot of reading, a learner can get (32. reinforce) in their learning of
grammar, pronunciation and spelling.
_________ (33.) the good knowledge of English grammar,
pronunciation and spelling and proper ___________ (34. guide) in intensive
reading for extensive reading, a learner can launch ________ (35.) an
independent learning, i.e, reading extensively on their _______ (39.) to master
the language in the _________ (40.) of time. It is within the grasp of
everybody ________ (41.) has the faculty for speech.
In
_________ (42.), if you speak your mother tongue well, for sure, you can master
the English language some _________ (43.) if you care to put in enough
_________ (43.) to learn the language. Learning a language _________ (44.)
like eating and drinking that you have to do it every day. So, reading
with a good foundation of the language ________ (45.) the only key to command
the language. Of course, of course, you have to use the
language in speaking and writing to keep it alive or it stays dormant in your
head.
Prove me
wrong ________(46.) you can.
Notes to note:
1. If you can score all the 46 blanks, that means you are proficient in
English. That means you have good knowledge of English
grammar and you have enough language sense/ intuition. I guess
you have enough language exposure or experience to attain this
level.
2. But if you are an English teacher, it is a must that you know how
to explain the answers of all of them. You must know how to
analyse a sentence and you explain to your students the
reason why this is the answer. Yes, I explain to my students in
my language clinic. I really enjoy cracking the language code.
Challenge me with any sentence that you think it is impossible to
crack. Yes, unless, it is an idiomatic usage and accepted to be
used that way though not grammatical at all. If it is a standard
grammatical usage, it can be cracked by your knowledge of the
rule. Language like music is rule-based and has a system. So
grammar has to be learnt systematically in isolation and in
context.
3. I guess my students quite enjoy this kind of exercises. But I give
them these exercises as reinforcement of their learning of
grammar and their language sense. This kind of exercises is a
good practice of grammar in context. It is an application of the
grammar knowledge in a new situation.
4. I never tell my students that they are tests openly but actually they
are tested all the time through these exercises. It is so interesting
to me. I really do not see much meaning in formal tests and
marks. I really do not want myself to be overburdened by giving
tests though I give marks for almost every exercise they have
practised. Yes, I am 'a lone ranger' to do research and
investigation of English learning and teaching in my language
clinic/lab. I do not have many students and I do not charge
them too much to burden them to learn calmly and in gratitude.
5. I emphasise a lot on independent and self-discovery learning
through awareness. Awareness is an important key to learning. I
have grammar and phonetic books for them to refer to on their
own at home or in my lab if they care and are responsible in their
learning. My own compiled books are not expensive, either.
Look, the books are cheap and the fee is not high. What
more.......?
6. I have even accepted three children, 8, 9 and 10 years to do
experiments to test that you can drill them since small the
systematic usage of English grammar. They are and will be my
live advertisements of learning English grammar to master the
language. Of course, I tell their parents one by one that they
must lead to their children in reading or they will face language
block here and there as they may not have enough vocabulary to
understand, speak and write English. So far, I have not much
idea if they really have caught my meaning and do as I say.
7. I have told my students many many times that I cannot do much
to help them in vocabulary building. What I can do now is
reading the passage, with no intention to explain much. I bank
them to explore the meaning and knowledge on their own. With
the topic, they can always Google search to read the article and
related articles in details. Yes, I give them newspaper articles to
enjoy or the story from the internet website.
8. Like an artist, I teach English for fun and for an incentive. Of course, I am also ambitious enough hoping one day, my grammar knowledge and presentation will also earn me a lot of money for the sale of my books and ........
