Unit 9 Blog Entries

Topic 1
1. John is a fisherman. He did not catch many fish last week. He wants to catch more fish tomorrow, but he doesn’t think he can. He is not a very successful fisherman. It is the only job John has. He needs to catch two nets full of fish to pay his debt. He tried to do this last year and for 3 years before that, but he was not successful. John wanted to be a farmer, but he did not have the money to buy land....

John's brother bought land last winter, but sold it to the neighbor when the economy crashed. John loves fishing, but longs to be more successful. When he feels down, he paints his boat, “Troubled Waters,” blue and shines it up. John asked his brother what he thought of the new look, but his brother just laughed and said, “You’re always fishing for compliments.”

John wanted to argue with his brother, but he did not have the energy. Instead, he made more nets, with the hopes of increasing his catch the next day.

2 Other parts of the story which could be challenging for an ELL learner is the sentence "When he feels down, he paints his boat, "Troubled Waters," blue and shines it up. It may be best to divide this complex sentence into several sentences because it is not clear enough that he is painting his boat blue or that his boat is called "Troubled waters." It could be written When he feels down, he paints his boat blue. He also shines the boat. His boat is named "Troubled Waters."  Another area of confusion could be the idiom "You're always fishing for compliments" which could make no sense to the ELL. The idiom should be taught or replaced with "You're always asking for compliments from me" so that it is more clear.

Topic 2
1.

Sentence: John is a fisherman. Simple Present= is.
                                               Now
---------------------------------+----------------------------------
                                                  X
                               John            is          a fisherman.

Sentence: His brother bought land last winter, but sold it to the neighbor when the economy crashed.

       Last winter                                                         Now
-----I--------------------I-------------I---------------+--------------------------------------
brother                         economy     brother
bought land                 crashed        sold land to neighbor

(simple past)                (past progressive because the economy was still crashing as the brother sold it to the                                     neighbor)

2. I believe that some grammar needs to be taught especially in English because of the many exceptions to the rules that need to be learned or practiced. As Keith Folse was saying,though, these grammar concepts should be relevant to communication and success in the world outside of the classroom. Folse gave the example of teaching the order of adjectives when in the language a string of 5 adjectives doesn't occur, "We just don't do it." So why teach it? Grammar should be taught with a focus on what will be needed to communicate properly. When I learned French I needed to be able to practice the order of verbs or how to move them around to ask questions appropriately and I wouldn't have understood had I just simply heard it over and over again in an immersion model.