CONCTRIBUTIONS-1
1. Through the findings of the research, syntactic
order of difficulty emerges when Chinese
learners of English learn English relative clauses
and SS type and SO type are the hardest, which
supports Kuno (1974)’s Perceptual Difficulty
Hypothesis PHD.
CONCTRIBUTIONS-2
2. Based on the productive data, seven types of errors
were categorized and showed in descending order as follows.
(1) wrong choice of relative pronouns
(2) confusion of non-restrictive RCs with restrictive RCs and vice
versa
(3) misusing expressions of quantity in relative clauses
(4) redundant use of pronouns
(5) wrong omission of the preposition after or before a relative
clause
(6) lack of agreement in number between the relative pronoun
and the following verb
(7) wrong omission of relative pronouns.
CONCTRIBUTIONS-3
Suggested Procedures and Drills for Teaching English RCs
1. English teachers must be aware of the following three
concepts:
(1) what the structural differences are
(2) what tendencies Chinese learners have in acquiring the RC
grammatical feature
(3) what options are available for teaching
2. General Introduction to RCs
(1) Relative clauses modify nouns and they are placed after the head.
(2) RP (Relative Pronoun) is needed and has two functions:
conjunction and sentential function in subject and object.
Suggested Procedures and Drills for Teaching English RCs
3. Combining Sentences
According to Paulston (1978:26), integration drills are useful
in practicing relative clause formation.
Step 1. Find the noun that occurs in both sentences.
Step 2. Decide the main clause and the embedded sentence.
(a) I know the boy. – main clause
(b) The boy ran out of the classroom. – embedded sentence
Step 3. Insert the embedded sentence in a bracket, after the
noun that will be modified.
Steps to combine sentences
Step 4. Replace the noun in the embedded sentence with a
proper relative pronoun and move it to the initial
position of the embedded sentence.
I know the boy who ran out of the classroom.
Drill: (a) The woman works in my office.
(b) She goes out with Bill.
→ The woman who goes out with Bill works in my office.
→ The woman who works in my office goes out with Bill.
(C) I don’t like her.
→ I don’t like the woman in my office who goes out with Bill.
Translation
Analyze basic word-order patterns in English and Chinese.
Modifier
1.
2.
3.
Head noun
好（的）
書
good
books
在桌上的
書
on the desk
books
我（所）買的
書
which I bought
books
• An English adjective is usually placed before the head noun.
• A prepositional phrase usually follows the head noun in English.
• An English relative clause always follows the head noun.
＊ adj. → adj. ph → RC
※Developing Communicative Competence
Reasons:
1. The drawback of the sentence-combining practice is that the
learners can not develop an ability to make identifications.
2. students tend to produce the sentences which are
grammatically correct but semantically wrong.
Providing More Activities and Exercises
(a) Definition games (+ vocabulary acquisition)
(b) Making a match (+ mutual interaction , speaking)
(c) Never-ending sentences or stories (+ imagination stimulation)
(d) Identify the relative clauses (+ authentic material in life)
Using Online ESL Learning Websites:
(1) http://online.ohlone.cc.ca.us/~mlieu/adjclause/what
(2) http://www.myenglishteacher.net/adjectiveclauses
(3) http://buckhoff.topcities.com/adjective_clauses
(4) http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eap/relativeclauses
(5)
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/reading/exercises/hikerqz
＊ Q bank
Suggestions for Further Research
Limitations:
1. Source of participants: the third-grade students at
four senior high schools in Kaohsiung.
As Tremblay and Gardner (1995) indicated, the
larger the sample was, the more stable the results
would be across similar samples.
a broader sample of participants from different
levels of English learners
Limitations:
2. Alternatives of evaluation:
compositions, fill-in-the-blanks tests, true- false
distinctions
3. Complements of survey:
questionnaire to investigate students’ process and
strategies in learning English relative clauses
4. Inquiry of English teachers’ teaching
(1) what to teach (2) how to teach
(3) how much time spent
Critique
1. Pilot study 可以多找一個學校學生測試以提高信度，
或找英文老師審題以提高題目鑑別度。
2. 勿先告知學生要列入成績計算，可能研究結果會不同。
3. 只看文法不看語意，是否OK？因為寫作時還是不算對。
4. Error type1 (用錯RP是因為RP種類多，犯錯機率跟著提
高，不代表是最難的題型)
5. Error type 4 (Quantity in RC) 和 6 (NRRC / RRC)在實際教
學情況中，難度排行可能提高。
6. 教學步驟、結構說明的補充是否有需要？
Future Study
1. Apply the same research method to investigate the
result when the participants are replaced with the
third graders in junior high school.
2. Compare the findings from the future study with
those in this present research to see whether the
result will be similar.
3. Exploration of the reasons for few creation of
relative clauses in English writing even though
students possess the competence of RC.
Problem
S
VP
NP
the
book
S
ART
VP
NP
you
has arrived this morning
N
D
NP
V
ordered
D
N
ART
book
the
The End
Thank you for your time and consideration!