AIOU Course Code 6508-2 Solved Assignment Autumn 2021

ASSIGNMENT No. 2

1. 1 Explain the following with examples, linking Verbs, Preposition, Adverbs and Conjunction.

A verb shows the power of action, and it also can connect ideas. And these verbs are called “Linking Verbs“, and if we want to call it vastly then we consider them as “a state of being verbs“.

To know more about linking verbs, we need to talk about action verbs. These verbs express some physical or mental action that a person, animal, object or even nature can do. Action verbs are words like drink dance, eat and swim. Action verbs are different from linking verbs, which we can think of as “states of being” verbs.

All forms of be verbs are linking verbs. For example: are, am, is, were, was etc. Besides, verbs that have to do with the five senses are linking verbs: feel, look, smell, sound and taste.

There are so many linking verbs. It depends on how we do the counting, but there are about a dozen and a half common linking verbs.

• The tomato smells
• The professor isabsolutely sure.
• My brother getsmad when he’s hungry.
• Lean was tired until the caffeine kicked in.
• The company staystrue to its founding principles.

The underlined words are linking verbs. They’re all examples of states of being. In fact, we could replace the verbs smell, gets and stays with the verb “is” and the meaning would remain the same.

• The tomato is
• My brother is mad when he’s hungry.
• The company is true to its founding principles.

Of course, there’s certainly a shade in meaning when we say that a tomato smells rotten instead of that it is rotten, but we get the idea.

But sometimes they’re not expressing themselves as linking verbs. When they’re transitive verbs, meaning that they take an object. Let’s consider the following examples:

• You should stop and smell the roses.
• Get me a roast beef sandwich, please.
• The judge stayed the execution.

In each case, the verb smell, get, and stay have a direct object (roses, sandwich and execution, respectively). There’s no state of being involved.

List of linking verbs:

We tried to bring up most of the linking verbs into this very list.

Forms of be:

Is	Can be	May be
Are	Could be	Might be
Am	Will be	Must be
Was	Would be	Has been
Were	Shall be	Have been
	Should be	Had been

 

The “Five Sense” verbs:

Feel: This sweater feels itchy.

Look: The sculpture looks strange.

Smell: The dinner smells wonderful.

Sound: That doorbell sounds broken.

Taste: This soup tastes delicious.

The “States of Being” verbs:

Act                              Grow                           Stay

Appear                        Prove                           Turn

Become                       Remain

Get                              Some

Now we need to know about the differences between linking and helping verbs to have a constructive idea of linking verb.

A linking verb doesn’t always act like a linking verb. Well, that’s because a word like “is” can also play an auxiliary or helping role in a sentence.

For example, in the sentence, Malcom is drawing a picture, the word “is” isn’t a linking verb. It’s a helping verb. It’s there to “help” the main verb in the sentence (drawing).

So, how do we tell whether a word on our list of linking verbs above is playing the part in a given sentence?

If it’s followed by a predicate adjective or predicate noun, then it’s a linking verb. But if it’s next to an “-ing” verb, then it’s a helping verb.

For example:

• My friends are dancing at Stella’s tonight.

Here, “-are” is a helping verb because the –ing verb follows it.

• The girls are happy because they’re eating all together.

Here “-are” is a linking verb because a predicate adjective follows it.

1. 2 Explain with examples interjection and Punctuations.

Interjections, also known as exclamations, are words or phrases used to suddenly and briefly express strong feelings—for example: As in these examples, interjections are usually treated as standalone sentences, even though they obviously don’t have subjects and predicates. In other cases, particularly in casual speech or writing, an interjection may be affixed with a comma to the beginning of a sentence—for example:   

Hey, what was that?

Oh, I don’t know.

Interjections are also sometimes used in the middles of sentences. In such a case, set apart the interjection with commas—for example:

We’ve had some success and, thank god, a little bit of growth.

I’d say it’s, oh, about six miles.

She asked me to come upstairs for, ahem, a cup of tea.

The most common punctuation marks in English are: capital letters and full stops, question marks, commas, colons and semi-colons, exclamation marks and quotation marks.

In speaking, we use pauses and the pitch of the voice to make what we say clear. Punctuation plays a similar role in writing, making it easier to read.

Punctuation consists of both rules and conventions. There are rules of punctuation that have to be followed; but there are also punctuation conventions that give writers greater choice.

Punctuation: capital letters (B, D) and full stops (.)

We use capital letters to mark the beginning of a sentence and we use full stops to mark the end of a sentence:

We went to France last summer. We were really surprised that it was so easy to travel on the motorways.

The Football World Cup takes place every four years. The next World Cup will be held in South Africa. In 2006 it was held in Germany.

We also use capital letters at the beginning of proper nouns. Proper nouns include personal names (including titles before names), nationalities and languages, days of the week and months of the year, public holidays as well as geographical places:

Dr David James is the consultant at Leeds City Hospital.

Punctuation: question marks (?) and exclamation marks (!)

We use question marks to make clear that what is said is a question. When we use a question mark, we do not use a full stop:

Why do they make so many mistakes?

A:

So you’re Harry’s cousin?

B:

Yes. That’s right.

Punctuation: commas (,)

We use commas to separate a list of similar words or phrases:

It’s important to write in clear, simple, accurate words.

They were more friendly, more talkative, more open than last time we met them.

We do not normally use a comma before and at the end of a list of single words:

They travelled through Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland.

American English does use a comma in lists before and:

We took bread, cheese, and fruit with us.

We use commas to separate words or phrases that mark where the voice would pause slightly:

I can’t tell you now. However, all will be revealed tomorrow at midday.

We had, in fact, lost all of our money.

James, our guide, will accompany you on the boat across to the island.

Separating clauses with commas

When main clauses are separated by and, or, but, we don’t normally use a comma if the clauses have the same subject. However, we sometimes use commas if the clauses have different subjects:

They were very friendly and invited us to their villa in Portugal. (same subject)

Footballers these days earn more money but they are fitter and play many more matches. (same subject)

It was an expensive hotel in the centre of Stockholm, but we decided it was worth the money. (different subjects)

When a subordinate clause comes before the main clause, we commonly use a comma to separate the clauses. However, we do not always do this in short sentences:

If you get lost in the city centre, please don’t hesitate to text us or phone us.

If you get lost just phone us.

When we use subordinate or non-finite comment clauses to give further details or more information, we commonly use commas to separate the clauses:

You do need to wear a darker jacket, if I may say so.

To be honest, I thought they were very very rude.

Commas and relative clauses

We use commas to mark non-defining clauses. Such clauses normally add extra, non-essential information about the noun or noun phrase:

The ambulance, which arrived after just five minutes, took three people to the hospital immediately.

Hong Kong, where the first ASEAN meeting was held, is a very different city now.

The same is true for non-finite clauses:

The storm, lasting as it did for several days, caused serious damage to villages near the coast.

Commas and speech forms

We commonly separate tags and yes-no responses with commas:

They are going to the party, aren’t they?

No, thank you. I’ve already eaten too much.

We also usually separate vocatives, discourse markers and interjections with commas:

Open the door for them, Kayleigh, can you. Thanks. (vocative)

Well, what do you think we should do about it? (discourse marker)

Wow, that sounds really exciting. (interjection)

We use commas to show that direct speech is following or has just occurred:

He said in his opening speech, ‘Now is the time to plan for the future.’ (or He said in his opening speech: ‘Now is the time to plan for the future.’)

When the direct speech is first, we use a comma before the closing of the quotation marks:

‘We don’t want to go on holiday to the same place every year,’ he said impatiently.

Punctuation: colons (:) and semi-colons (;)

We use colons to introduce lists:

There are three main reasons for the success of the government: economic, social and political.

We also use colons to indicate a subtitle or to indicate a subdivision of a topic:

Life in Provence: A Personal View

We often use colons to introduce direct speech:

Then he said: ‘I really cannot help you in any way.’

We commonly use a colon between sentences when the second sentence explains or justifies the first sentence:

Try to keep your flat clean and tidy: it will sell more easily.

We use semi-colons instead of full stops to separate two main clauses. In such cases, the clauses are related in meaning but are separated grammatically:

Spanish is spoken throughout South America; in Brazil the main language is Portuguese.

Semi-colons are not commonly used in contemporary English. Full stops and commas are more common.

Punctuation: quotation marks (‘…’ or “…”)

Quotation marks in English are ‘…’ or “…”. In direct speech, we enclose what is said within a pair of single or double quotation marks, although single quotation marks are becoming more common. Direct speech begins with a capital letter and can be preceded by a comma or a colon:

She said, “Where can we find a nice Indian restaurant?” (or She said: ‘Where can we find a nice Indian restaurant?’)

We can put the reporting clause in three different positions. Note the position of commas and full stops here:

The fitness trainer said, ‘Don’t try to do too much when you begin.’ (quotation mark after comma introducing speech and after full stop)

‘Don’t try to do too much when you begin,’ the fitness trainer said. (comma before closing quotation mark)

‘Don’t try to do too much,’ the fitness trainer said, ‘when you begin.’ (commas separating the reporting clause)

When we use direct speech inside direct speech, we use either single quotation marks inside double quotation marks, or double quotation marks inside single quotation marks:

“It was getting really cold,” he said, “and they were saying ‘When can we go back home?’”

Jaya said, ‘They were getting really excited and were shouting “Come on!”’.

We commonly use question marks inside the quotation marks unless the question is part of the reporting clause:

‘Why don’t they know who is responsible?’ they asked.

So did they really say ‘We will win every match for the next three weeks’?

We also use single quotation marks to draw attention to a word. We can use quotation marks in this way when we want to question the exact meaning of the word:

I am very disappointed by his ‘apology’. I don’t think he meant it at all.

NEW ‘WAR’ OVER NORTH SEA FISHING PLANS

We sometimes use quotation marks to refer to the titles of books, newspapers, magazines, films, songs, poems, videos, CDs, etc:

There’s a special report all about it in ‘The Daily Mail’.

We can use italics instead of quotation marks for these citations:

There’s a special report all about it in The Daily Mail.

Articles or chapters within books, or titles of short stories, are normally punctuated by single quotation marks:

The longest chapter in the book is the last one called ‘The Future of Africa’.

Punctuation: dashes ( – ) and other punctuation marks

Dashes are more common in informal writing. They can be used in similar ways to commas or semi-colons. Both single and multiple dashes may be used:

Our teacher – who often gets cross when we’re late – wasn’t cross at all. No one could believe it!

Just wanted to thank you for a lovely evening – we really enjoyed it.

Brackets have a similar function to dashes. They often add extra, non-essential information:

Thriplow (pronounced ‘Triplow’) is a small village in the eastern part of England.

We use brackets around dates and page numbers in academic writing:

Heaton (1978) gives a convincing explanation of how hurricanes are formed (pages 27–32).

We often use forward slashes in internet addresses and to indicate and/or in academic references:

You can find the figures you need on www.bbc.co.uk/finance

Binks (1995/1997) has already researched this aspect of Roman history.

Punctuation: numerals and punctuation

In British English the date is usually given in the order day, month, year.

We use full stops in dates. Forward slashes or dashes are also commonly used:

Date of birth: 1.8.1985 (or 1/8/1985 or 1–8–1985)

In American English the day and the month are in a different order so that 8 January 1985 is written as follows:

1–8–1985 (or 1/8/1985 or 1.8.1985)

We don’t usually punctuate weights and measures and references to numbers:

4kg (4 kilograms)10m (10 metres) 5m dollars (5 million dollars)

Commas are used in numbers to indicate units of thousands and millions:

7,980 (seven thousand, nine hundred and eighty)

11,487,562 (eleven million, four hundred and eighty-seven thousand, five hundred and sixty-two)

We use full stops, not commas, to indicate decimal points:

6.5 (six point five)

Not: 6,5

We can punctuate times with full stops or colons:

The shop opens at 9.30. (or 9:30)

Symbols and typographic conventions

.	full stop	X.X	decimal point (2.2: two point two)
,	comma	*	asterisk
?	question mark	( )	parentheses (or round brackets)
!	exclamation mark	[ ]	square brackets (or box brackets)
:	colon	{ }	curly brackets
;	semi-colon	°	degrees (40º: forty degrees)
“ ”	double quotation marks	%	per cent
‘ ’	single quotation marks	&	and (also called ‘ampersand’)
’	apostrophe	©	copyright
–	hyphen	<	less than
–	dash	>	greater than
+	plus	@	at
–	minus	✓	tick
×	multiplied by (2 × 2: two multiplied by two)	X	cross
÷	divided by (6 ÷ 2: six divided by two)	X_X	underscore (ann_hobbs: ann underscore hobbs)
=	equals
/	forward slash	\	back slash

1. 3 Describe steps in lesson planning in details.

Your daily lesson plans should detail the specific activities and content you will teach during a particular week. They usually include:

• Lesson objectives
• Procedures for delivering instruction
• Methods of assessing your students
• Student groupings
• Materials needed to carry out the lesson plan

As with all planning, the format of lesson plans will vary from school to school. Many school districts provide lesson-plan books, while others allow teachers to develop their own format. Regardless of the format, here are the key components of successful lesson planning:

• Your lessons should be readable and detailed enough that a substitute teacher could teach from them in an emergency.
• Consider making a copy or two of each week’s plan. I used to take one copy home and place others at key areas in my classroom so I could leave my actual lesson-plan book on my desk at all times, available for the principal. This also allowed me to work at home on preparing materials for upcoming lessons and on planning for the following week without fear of misplacing my lesson book!
• Try scripting your lessons. It was time-consuming, but in my first few years of teaching, it helped me be better organized and more confident in front of my students.
• As a general rule, begin working on plans for the next week no later than Thursday. By then you will have an idea of which lessons weren’t completed, the objectives that need to be reinforced, and which upcoming school-wide activities need to be integrated into your plan. If you leave the planning until Friday after school, it may not get done!
• Make a master copy or template of the planning pages you use, and write or type those activities that stay the same each week and the times they occur. Make several copies of the new page to replace the blank lesson-plan pages, but don’t copy them too far in advance, in case you change your weekly schedule. Then just fill in the blanks on the copies with specifics for the week.
• Balance grouping strategies and activities in each learning style or multiple intelligence type so you are meeting the needs of all your students.
• Check with your principal for guidelines on when he or she will want to look at your lesson plans. Some principals make a point of viewing new teachers’ lesson plans on a weekly basis so they can provide on-the-spot assistance throughout the school year.

Every new teacher worries about what will happen on the first day of teaching. “What if my class activities are over too quickly and I have extra time?” “What if my lesson goes off topic and my class falls behind?” Detailed lesson planning is the best solution to these worries. In this video, Oxford Seminars Instructor, Bridget McLaughlin explains how having detailed and well thought out lesson plans will help you prepare for situations where your class goes in an unexpected direction. Planning for these instances gives you additional options and activities for when your lesson runs short or does not effectively teach the material to your students. It also allows you to plan activities that can be cut out of your lesson should another activity or discussion take longer than expected.

• Some experienced teachers appear to have an ability to improvise and think on their feet, which leads them to believe that they do not need to think about lesson planning. DON’T FOLLOW THEIR LEAD!
• Most good teachers are acutely aware of the importance of lesson planning and keep on planning their lessons throughout their English teaching career.
• A plan shows your students that you (their teacher) has devoted time to thinking about them and their needs.
• Lesson planning shows professionalism and commitment.
• Lesson planning helps you to think about where you’re going.
• Lesson planning helps you to think out ideas for the future.
• Lesson planning helps you remember what you intend to do.
• Lesson planning makes you structure your lesson so that it flows coherently and covers the tasks towards the objective.
• Lesson planning gives students’ confidence that you have thought about the lesson and know what you are doing.
• A lesson plan gives your lessons shape and a framework.

Like all things in life that involve a group of human beings, 100% success is almost impossible. Improvising due to unforeseen circumstances is a skill a teacher needs but it is NOT a valid excuse for not planning your lessons.

• You may find your lesson plan needs to be adjusted during the class. It is your call whether you let it happen or not.
• If you really have to improvise and adjust the lesson plan, try to get back to the plan as soon as you can.
• It is rare but not unheard of that you’ll need to modify your plan “on-the-fly” and sometimes need to ditch it completely, so don’t panic if you need to do either of these. The usual circumstance for this happening is when you teach your first lesson to a brand new class. If it happens to a class that you’ve taught before, did you plan properly?
• In the extreme case of you needing to change or ditch the lesson plan in the classroom, take a mental note of why, and adjust other lesson plans accordingly. Don’t ignore the experience. Do act on it to prevent something similar happening again.
• I will prepare some component tasks or texts weeks in advance.
• I will prepare specific lessons usually not more than a day or two in advance.
• I will ensure that the lesson can be linked to the one before and that the programme of classroom tasks and activities is fresh in my mind.
• In addition to the plan, I will write down brief (less than a page) lesson notes.
• My notes will remind me of:
  • what I want to do,
  • task order,
  • page numbers if I am using a book,
  • notes of specific language items I intend to teach,
  • cues or questions for tasks,
  • resources I will use,
  • reserve activities for use if I find myself with extra time.
• I will write down my teaching objectives.
• If necessary, I will refer to my notes and plan during the lesson.
• I will file my notes and plans for future reference and use.

1. 4 write a note on Visual Aids to teaching of English in Schools.

Your daily lesson plans should detail the specific activities and content you will teach during a particular week. They usually include:

• Lesson objectives
• Procedures for delivering instruction
• Methods of assessing your students
• Student groupings
• Materials needed to carry out the lesson plan

As with all planning, the format of lesson plans will vary from school to school. Many school districts provide lesson-plan books, while others allow teachers to develop their own format. Regardless of the format, here are the key components of successful lesson planning:

• Your lessons should be readable and detailed enough that a substitute teacher could teach from them in an emergency.
• Consider making a copy or two of each week’s plan. I used to take one copy home and place others at key areas in my classroom so I could leave my actual lesson-plan book on my desk at all times, available for the principal. This also allowed me to work at home on preparing materials for upcoming lessons and on planning for the following week without fear of misplacing my lesson book!
• Try scripting your lessons. It was time-consuming, but in my first few years of teaching, it helped me be better organized and more confident in front of my students.
• As a general rule, begin working on plans for the next week no later than Thursday. By then you will have an idea of which lessons weren’t completed, the objectives that need to be reinforced, and which upcoming school-wide activities need to be integrated into your plan. If you leave the planning until Friday after school, it may not get done!
• Make a master copy or template of the planning pages you use, and write or type those activities that stay the same each week and the times they occur. Make several copies of the new page to replace the blank lesson-plan pages, but don’t copy them too far in advance, in case you change your weekly schedule. Then just fill in the blanks on the copies with specifics for the week.
• Balance grouping strategies and activities in each learning style or multiple intelligence type so you are meeting the needs of all your students.
• Check with your principal for guidelines on when he or she will want to look at your lesson plans. Some principals make a point of viewing new teachers’ lesson plans on a weekly basis so they can provide on-the-spot assistance throughout the school year.

Every new teacher worries about what will happen on the first day of teaching. “What if my class activities are over too quickly and I have extra time?” “What if my lesson goes off topic and my class falls behind?” Detailed lesson planning is the best solution to these worries. In this video, Oxford Seminars Instructor, Bridget McLaughlin explains how having detailed and well thought out lesson plans will help you prepare for situations where your class goes in an unexpected direction. Planning for these instances gives you additional options and activities for when your lesson runs short or does not effectively teach the material to your students. It also allows you to plan activities that can be cut out of your lesson should another activity or discussion take longer than expected.

• Some experienced teachers appear to have an ability to improvise and think on their feet, which leads them to believe that they do not need to think about lesson planning. DON’T FOLLOW THEIR LEAD!
• Most good teachers are acutely aware of the importance of lesson planning and keep on planning their lessons throughout their English teaching career.
• A plan shows your students that you (their teacher) has devoted time to thinking about them and their needs.
• Lesson planning shows professionalism and commitment.
• Lesson planning helps you to think about where you’re going.
• Lesson planning helps you to think out ideas for the future.
• Lesson planning helps you remember what you intend to do.
• Lesson planning makes you structure your lesson so that it flows coherently and covers the tasks towards the objective.
• Lesson planning gives students’ confidence that you have thought about the lesson and know what you are doing.
• A lesson plan gives your lessons shape and a framework.

Like all things in life that involve a group of human beings, 100% success is almost impossible. Improvising due to unforeseen circumstances is a skill a teacher needs but it is NOT a valid excuse for not planning your lessons.

• You may find your lesson plan needs to be adjusted during the class. It is your call whether you let it happen or not.
• If you really have to improvise and adjust the lesson plan, try to get back to the plan as soon as you can.
• It is rare but not unheard of that you’ll need to modify your plan “on-the-fly” and sometimes need to ditch it completely, so don’t panic if you need to do either of these. The usual circumstance for this happening is when you teach your first lesson to a brand new class. If it happens to a class that you’ve taught before, did you plan properly?
• In the extreme case of you needing to change or ditch the lesson plan in the classroom, take a mental note of why, and adjust other lesson plans accordingly. Don’t ignore the experience. Do act on it to prevent something similar happening again.
• I will prepare some component tasks or texts weeks in advance.
• I will prepare specific lessons usually not more than a day or two in advance.
• I will ensure that the lesson can be linked to the one before and that the programme of classroom tasks and activities is fresh in my mind.
• In addition to the plan, I will write down brief (less than a page) lesson notes.
• My notes will remind me of:
  • what I want to do,
  • task order,
  • page numbers if I am using a book,
  • notes of specific language items I intend to teach,
  • cues or questions for tasks,
  • resources I will use,
  • reserve activities for use if I find myself with extra time.
• I will write down my teaching objectives.
• If necessary, I will refer to my notes and plan during the lesson.
• I will file my notes and plans for future reference and use.

1. 5 Explain different types of tests with examples.

There are four types of testing in schools today — diagnostic, formative, benchmark, and summative. What purpose does each serve? How should parents use them and interpret the feedback from them?

1. Diagnostic Testing

This testing is used to “diagnose” what a student knows and does not know. Diagnostic testing typically happens at the start of a new phase of education, like when students will start learning a new unit. The test covers topics students will be taught in the upcoming lessons.

Teachers use diagnostic testing information to guide what and how they teach. For example, they will plan to spend more time on the skills that students struggled with most on the diagnostic test. If students did particularly well on a given section, on the other hand, they may cover that content more quickly in class. Students are not expected to have mastered all the information in a diagnostic test.

Diagnostic testing can be a helpful tool for parents. The feedback my kids receive on these tests lets me know what kind of content they will be focusing on in class and lets me anticipate which skills or areas they may have trouble with.

2. Formative Testing

This type of testing is used to gauge student learning during the lesson. It is used throughout a lecture and designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate that they have understood the material, like in the example of the clock activity mentioned above. This informal, low-stakes testing happens in an ongoing manner, and student performance on formative testing tends to get better as a lesson progresses.

Schools normally do not send home reports on formative testing, but it is an important part of teaching and learning. If you help your children with their homework, you are likely using a version of formative testing as you work together.

For example, while watching my son, Luke, measure objects using inches and centimeters this week, I was able to see when he chose the wrong unit or when he did not start the measurement at the zero point on the tape measure. That was a form of formative testing. I find it helpful as a parent because it lets me correct any mistakes before they become habits for my sons.

3. Benchmark Testing

This testing is used to check whether students have mastered a unit of content. Benchmark testing is given during or after a classroom focuses on a section of material, and covers either a part or all of the content has been taught up to that time. The assessments are designed to let teachers know whether students have understood the material that’s been covered.

Unlike diagnostic testing, students are expected to have mastered material on benchmark tests, since they covers what the children have been focusing on in the classroom. Parents will often receive feedback about how their children have grasped each skill assessed on a benchmark test. This feedback is very important to me as a parent, since it gives me insight into exactly which concepts my boys did not master. Results are broken down by skills, so if I want to further review a topic with my boys, I can find corresponding lessons, videos, or games online, or ask their teachers for resources.

4. Summative Testing

This testing is used as a checkpoint at the end of the year or course to assess how much content students learned overall. This type of testing is similar to benchmark testing, but instead of only covering one unit, it cumulatively covers everything students have been spending time on throughout the year.

These tests are given — using the same process — to all students in a classroom, school, or state, so that everyone has an equal opportunity to demonstrate what they know and what they can do. Students are expected to demonstrate their ability to perform at a level prescribed as the proficiency standard for the test.

Since summative tests cover the full range of concepts for a given grade level, they are not able to assess any one concept deeply. So, the feedback is not nearly as rich or constructive as feedback from a diagnostic or formative test. Instead, these tests serve as a final check that students learned what was expected of them in a given unit.

As a parent, I consider summative testing a confirmation about what I should already know about my sons’ performance. I don’t expect to be surprised by the results, given the regular feedback I have been given in the form of diagnostic, formative, and benchmark testing throughout the year.