Page 278 - English - Teaching Academic Esl Writing

264 CHAPTER 10
Locate the head noun in the subject slot and make sure that the number of the head noun agrees with that of the verb phrase elements (including auxiliary verbs).
An important rule of thumb that applies to all noun clauses (and particu- larly embedded questions):
When questions become clauses, they are no longer questions—they are clauses, and clauses are actually sentences. For this reason, the question word order (the verb before the subject) and separated verbs (e.g., what does it do?does it do...?) cannot be used in statements even when a larger sentence includes a question in it.
A useful analogy can be a pencil box/pouch, a ring binder, a file folder, or any type of a container that includes smaller items in it: The main clause can include all sorts of items in it, such as noun (or adjective) clauses, but what is seen on the outside is the container and not its contents. Sowhen the larger "container" is a sentence, the entire structure is a sentence. Helping L2 writ- ers to learn to notice their own errors in the word order and the verbs in em- bedded noun clauses can take the form of simple prompting: Is this a question or a sentence? Is this a question? This is a sentence, right?
Tenses in Noun Clauses. As mentioned throughout this book, the distinc- tions between the conversational and formal written registers need to be ex- plicitly addressed in teaching (Hinkel, 200la, 2003a, 2003b). A majority of L2 learners in English-speaking environments have far greater exposure to and experience with conversational than written academic discourse, and many structures that may be common place in casual interaction find their way into formalwriting:
?Johnsaidthathe'llcallmetomorrow;?Mary toldmethatshe'llbehereat 8.
Although the uses of the past and future tenses in complex sentences with noun clauses is ubiquitous in conversational register, it is not accept- able in formal written English. As mentioned in chapter 7 on tenses, the usage of tenses in formal writing is highly conventionalized. A formalsys- tem of rules, also called the sequence of tenses, governs the uses of tenses in noun clauses:
• If the main verb takes the past tense, the subordinate clause can only take past or present tenses. Future markers and modal verbs undergo some of the following changes (these are only about half of all the rules):
• Simple present turns into past (e.g., He said that he studied every day).
• Simple past turns into past perfect (e.g., Shesaidshehad studied).
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