Page 83 - English - Teaching Academic Esl Writing
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SENTENCES,PHRASES,ANDTEXT CONSTRUCTION 69
From a practical point of view, for example, explanations of the English sentence structure based on the core elements with other elements added can greatly simplify instruction in learning to identify the subject, predicate verbphrase, and importance ofsubject-verb agreement (seefurtherdiscus- sion later in this chapter). For instance, in the case of a compound noun phrase and/or a compound verb phrase, a similarapproach can be useful.
For teachers, analyzing sentences as sequences of units that are relative to one another in their order and importance can provide a practical and use- ful tool for dealing with diverse large and small features of sentences, from subordinate clauses to the role of nouns as subjects or objects, parallel struc- tures, or effects of verb transitivity on the presence of objects.
Most important, the slot organization of sentence elements ac- counts for fluidity in sentence construction and stylistic variation while being sufficiently clear cut for L2 writers to understand how to use it to their advantage in both constructing new sentences or edit- ing their text.
Speaking broadly, noun phrases have a limited number of functions and can play the roles of a sentence subject, object, or compliment; the type of the main verb largely determines the structure of a sentence.
THE ORDER OF ELEMENTS IN THE NOUN PHRASE
Rigidity in the order of sentence slots can be similarlyprofitable for teach- ing elements of the noun phrase structure and the verb phrase structure. Articles mark noun phrases, and the article is always the first element in the noun phrase (e.g., thebook, a lunch). Articles occur in the same slot as proper possessive nouns (e.g., John's book/lunch}, possessive pronouns (e.g., his/her/their book), or indefinite pronouns (e.g., some, any), and therefore can- not be used together in the same position—once the pronoun or article is in the slot, the slot is full. Articles and possessives can be followed by quantifi-
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