Noun Phrases The Building Blocks of Formal English By Katie

Beware the textbooks!

Settle & Carlisle repair plan agreed

From Heritage Railway Further to last month’s report of the 500,000 ton landslip on the Settle and Carlisle line, comes the announcement that Network Rail engineers have agreed on a plan to carry out repairs to return the closed section back into traffic.

Noun Phrases galore! Further to last month’s report of the 500,000 ton landslip on the Settle and Carlisle line comes the announcement that Network Rail engineers have agreed on a plan to carry out repairs to return the closed section back into traffic.

How many verbs? Further to last month’s report of the 500,000 ton landslip on the Settle and Carlisle line comes the announcement that Network Rail engineers have agreed on a plan to carry out repairs to return the closed section back into traffic.

Why do textbooks focus on verbs?

English is not like Latin!

Composing Latin: ‘Make People Do Things’

English Further to last month’s report of the 500,000 ton landslip on the Settle and Carlisle line comes the announcement that Network Rail engineers have agreed on a plan to carry out repairs to return the closed section back into traffic.

English into Latin ‘Having reported last month that 500,000 tons of earth fell onto the railway that runs from Settle to Carlisle, Network Rail has now announced that its engineers have together worked out how they will repair and re-open the closed section, so that trains can again run through.’

Comparing two Languages ENGLISH – NOUNS: Further to last month’s report of the 500,000 ton landslip on the Settle and Carlisle line comes the announcement that Network Rail engineers have agreed on a plan to carry out repairs to return the closed section back into traffic. LATIN - VERBS: Having reported last month that 500,000 tons of earth fell onto the railway that runs from Settle to Carlisle, Network Rail has now announced that its engineers have together worked out how they will repair and re-open the closed section, so that trains can again run through.

Latin Having reported last month that 500,000 tons of earth fell onto the railway that runs from Settle to Carlisle, Network Rail has now announced that its engineers have together worked out how they will repair and re-open the closed section, so that trains can again run through. 7 verbs in 4 Tenses: past simple, present perfect, future, present simple 4 Clauses: indirect statements, indirect question, result

English Further to last month’s report of the 500,000 ton landslip on the Settle and Carlisle line comes the announcement that Network Rail engineers have agreed on a plan to carry out repairs to return the closed section back into traffic. 2 verbs in 2 tenses: present simple, present perfect 2 clauses: indirect statement, purpose

Noun Phrases replace Clauses Because – because of, due to, owing to Although – despite/ in spite of/ notwithstanding When/ since - after Until – before, up to If – in case of, conditional on, depending on

Formal English is built mainly out of: -Colourless verbs (announce, plan, come, go, report, be) in present tense -Compound nouns -Abstract nouns -Nouns linked with other nouns using prepositions -Noun + adjective + dependent preposition + noun -Verbal nouns/ gerunds

What can we do about noun phrases?

Approach as Vocab

Embedded Vocab Approach 1.Use textbook text or authentic text 2.Underline 7-10 items 3.Present/ discover meaning 4.Manipulation ex. 5.Test next lesson in controlled way – e.g. test again as gap fill with words at the bottom, copy them into the gaps; or match words to definitions (‘mastery learning’)

Yes, we can! (Drawings are from Meet the British, by BA students at the University of Hertfordshire, )