Hi, Laura -- welcome to the class of 'posters'!
I use a few strategies to explain embedding. You don't say just how much
grammar you students know, but mine usually know very little and these
strategies work for most of them for most examples. I don't know how
well they might work for a basic writing group, but you can try and let
me know. They should be able to do this work relying on their
understanding of the sentence meaning and on their subconscious
knowledge of English grammar, which will allow them to form paraphrases
and tag questions. You do often have to remind them to be very strict
and precise in their paraphrases.
First I use comparisons to show how an embedded clause acts just like a
phrase. First, you have to make them aware that phrases are chunks that
are parts of sentences, not just strings of words. I use a progression
from a single-word phrase to a multi-word phrase to a clause:
I believe _something_. (the something is what I believe)
I believe _your story_ (_your story_ is what I believe)
I believe _that your story is true_. (_that your story is true_ is what
I believe)
Tke them through a number of similar examples, maybe from their own writing.
Sentence-combining is good, too:
Imagine this: you are lying on a tropical beach.
Imagine _that you are lying on a tropical beach_.
For clausal subjects (which I find are the hardest for students to
recognize), I use sentence-combining:
She is lying. It is obvious.
_That she is lying_ is obvious.
Often, I use box diagrams to show how one chunk fits inside another.
I'll write out the matrix clause in a box, with another box inside it.
I'll use { } here:
{ I believe { } }. (Boxes are visually MUCH easier.)
Then I show how a single word, a multi-word phrase, or a clause can go
in the box.
{ I believe {something } }
{ I believe {your story } }
{ I believe {that your story is true } }
I might then underline to two suubject/prediacte pairs, firs the inner,
then the outer:
I believe that _ your story_ _is true_.
_I_ _ believe that your story is true_.
I explain 'that' as a sort of shoehorn that we use to insert a clause
inside another clause.
Of course, it seems like these strategies work best if the students can
identify a clause as distinct from a non-clause before you explain
embedding. I define a clause as a subject/predicate pair. I use tag
questions on simple sentences to train students to find the subject.
What's left is the predicate.
She is lying, isn't she?
The woman is lying, isn't she?
'She' refers to 'she' or 'the woman'; hence it is subject.
You story is true, isn't it? It = your story; 'it' can replace 'your
story' in base sentence: 'It is true.'
You have to keep the sentences simple, basic and keep the subject in
first position, at least at first. Sentences like "Out of the box jumped
a kitten" should be left for later.
I write up a list of items that are clauses and non-clauses and ask them
to decide which is which.
Once they can recognize what is and is not a clause, you can go to the
progression from one word to multiword phrase to clause as outlined above.
I do hope you'll let me know what you think of these, and whether they
work if you try them.
Johanna
***************************************************
Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
English Department, Cal Poly State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. 805-756-2184 ~ Dept. phone 805-756-2596
Dept. fax: 805-756-6374 ~ E-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
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