Instituto de Educación Superior Nº 28 “Olga Cossettini”

Traductorado: Módulo 4 – Introducción a los estudios disciplinares

Harmer, J. (2013). Chapter 2 Describing the English language. In The practice

of English language teaching. Harlow: Pearson Longman

Do these activities on your own. You will find the answers at the end of the file.

1 Read section A. Which of these language forms would you use in

A. writing? ______
B. texting? ______
C. emailing? ______

1. Hope to meet you soon

2. I look forward to making your acquaintance
3. BCNU

2 Read sections B and B1. What are the forms and meanings mentioned to talk about
the future? What about the meanings of the present continuous? Complete this chart.

Future time

Form Meaning

Form Meaning

Present continuous

Present continuous

Present continuous

Present continuous

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 Instituto de Educación Superior Nº 28 “Olga Cossettini”
Traductorado: Módulo – Introducción a los estudios disciplinares

3 Read section B2. Which of the functions mentioned is realised by these language
forms?
It was my fault.
How does the idea of going out appeal to you ?
Can I give you a hand?
Absolutely not.
I need to call in that favour.

4 Read section B3. Which of the variables mentioned affects these extracts on the
same topic?

A) Well, it finally happened. After tons of guesses (both good and bad), and a
whole lot of sleuthing on the part of Bughead, the Gargoyle King was finally
revealed on episode ten of Riverdale, "The Stranger" and the man behind the
mask is.....drumroll please…
TALL BOY!
OK, you might be thinking, "wait, who?" Because honestly, so was I. And
then, the next thing you may be thinking is, "wasn't he dead?" which also
would be a really valid thought because yeah, I thought so too.

B) Episode 10 of Riverdale, titled The Stranger was bursting with juicy

revelations, shocking twists and explosive secrets.
However, the identity of the Gargoyle King trumped them all, as fans of the
show finally found out who has been hiding behind the monstrous mask.
Bizarrely, Tall Boy (played by Scott McNeil) was unveiled as the mystic figure,
who devoted players of the game Gargoyles and Griffins have been
worshipping since the very start of the season.

C) The Serpents find Fangs and the Gargoyle Gang in a clearing in Fox
Forest having a ceremony. They crash the ceremony and Jughead and FP
unmask the Gargoyle King, revealing Tallboy, who faked his death and has
been working for Hiram. However, he is killed during an escape attempt.

5 Read section C1.

5.1 Look at this paragraph.
a- Is it coherent? Why (not)?
b- With the help of colours, show how cohesion is created and classify the techniques.

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 Instituto de Educación Superior Nº 28 “Olga Cossettini”
Traductorado: Módulo 4 – Introducción a los estudios disciplinares

My favourite colour is blue. Blue sports cars go very fast. Driving in this
way is dangerous and can cause many car crashes. I had a car accident
once and broke my leg. I was very sad because I had to miss a holiday in
Europe because of the injury.

5.2 Look at this paragraph.

a- Is it coherent? Why (not)?
b- With the help of colours, show how cohesion is created and classify the techniques.
The idea that working in groups is a bad thing is fundamentally mistaken
because, overall, the advantages of this way of configuring the class
outweigh the potential disadvantages. In groups there is the opportunity for
peer teaching, which can often be invaluable. In addition, lessons
organised in this way become less teacher-centred. Moreover, in life today,
team-working is a feature of every workplace and one of the roles of
university education is to provide a preparation for students' future careers.

6 Read section D1.

6.1 What is the meaning of syntax? What is the meaning of morphology?
............................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................

6.2 Are these correct or incorrect utterances? Why?

a- This is a discovery that should prove beneficious to many AIDS patients.
b- Works Jane at the hospital?

7 Read section E1. State two uses of corpora (singular: corpus) mentioned in the text.
1- ........................................................................................................................................
2- ........................................................................................................................................

8 Read section E2. Classify the relationships between these words into
a. polysemous words
b. synonyms
c. antonyms
d. hyponyms
1- bashful/ brash
2- approach the bar/ a bar of soap

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 Instituto de Educación Superior Nº 28 “Olga Cossettini”
Traductorado: Módulo 4 – Introducción a los estudios disciplinares

3- bashful/ withdrawn
4- glimpse/ gaze

9 Read section F2. State two functions of intonation mentioned in the text.
1- ........................................................................................................................................
2- ........................................................................................................................................

10 Read section F3. Using a bilingual dictionary provide the Spanish words for the
parts of the mouth included in Figure 5.
1. ______________ ______________
2. ______________ ______________
3. ______________ ______________
4. ______________ ______________
5. ______________ ______________
6. ______________ ______________
7. ______________ ______________
8. ______________ ______________
9. ______________ ______________

11 Read section H. Complete this chart comparing speaking and writing. Include at
least four ways in which they differ.

Speaking Writing

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 Instituto de Educación Superior Nº 28 “Olga Cossettini”
Traductorado: Módulo 4 – Introducción a los estudios disciplinares

Answers

1
writing I look forward to making your acquaintance (only in a formal letter)
texting BCNU (Be Seeing You)
emailing Hope to meet you soon

2
Future time
Form Meaning

will statement of fact

present continuous arrangement

going to plan

present simple schedule

Form Meaning

Present continuous future arrangement

Present continuous temporary present reality

Present continuous habitual action

Present continuous past narrative for dramatic effect

3 Which of the functions mentioned is realised by these language forms?

It was my fault. Apologising
How does the idea of going out appeal to you? Suggesting (or Inviting)
Can I give you a hand? Offering
Absolutely not. Disagreeing
I need to call in that favour. Requesting

Source of extracts
A) Seventeen, American teen magazine whose reader-base is 13-to-19-year-old females.

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 Instituto de Educación Superior Nº 28 “Olga Cossettini”
Traductorado: Módulo 4 – Introducción a los estudios disciplinares

https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/movies-tv/a26011284/tall-boy-gargoyle-king-signs-
riverdale/

B) The Sunday Express, UK newspaper that attempts to cater to readers who want some
entertainment from a newspaper as well as the coverage of important news events.
https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1076935/Riverdale-season-3-episode-10-
Garygole-King-who-is-Tall-Boy-Betty-Cooper-Archie-Jughead-FP

C) Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Riverdale_episodes#Season_3_(2018%E2%80%9319)

Suggested answers: (some variations are possible)

One key difference is the participants: readers are A teenage girls who are Riverdale fans;
B general public, mostly fans; C general public. A uses the first and second person (directly
involving the reader) whereas B and C are written in the 3rd person.
The tone is also different. A : informal, conversational, emotional; B: more formal, subjective;
C: formal, neutral, objective.
Although all three texts can be found on line, A tries to recreate a face-to-face conversation
between close friends and C uses the style of an encyclopedia, so we could say they differ
also in the channel.

5.1
Coherence refers to the general sense in which a text makes sense through the organisation
of its content. In writing, it is provided by a clear and understood structuring of paragraphs
and sentences.
Cohesion refers to the pattern of relations between structures and lexical items which
combine together to form a text.
Lexical cohesion can be achieved through the use of repetition and lexical set chains
Grammatical cohesion relies on anaphoric reference; substitution; tense agreement;
ellipsis; linkers.
You can read more about this topic here
https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/elor/lo/cohesion/index.html

a- The paragraph is not coherent because there is no continuity of sense. The ideas are not
connected logically. This has nothing to do with the use of cohesive devices. You may use a
wide range of linking words and other marks of cohesion, but if the ideas are not connected
logically the reader will not be able to make sense of the text.
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 Instituto de Educación Superior Nº 28 “Olga Cossettini”
Traductorado: Módulo 4 – Introducción a los estudios disciplinares

b-
"My favourite colour is blue. Blue sports cars go very fast. Driving in this way is
dangerous and can cause many car crashes. I had a car accident once and broke my leg.
I was very sad because I had to miss a holiday in Europe because of the injury."
in this way reference
the injury substitution

5.2
a- The paragraph is coherent because it has a structure that gives unity and follows an
accepted form. It begins with a statement of belief, which is followed by supporting
arguments.
b-

6.1
Syntax: system of rules which says what can come before what and which order different
elements can go in.
Morphology: the study of word formation, ie the way words are formed and can change their
forms to express different meanings

6.2
a- This is a discovery that should prove beneficious to many AIDS patients.
Incorrect: morphology. The adjective for benefit is beneficial

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 Instituto de Educación Superior Nº 28 “Olga Cossettini”
Traductorado: Módulo 7 – Introducción a los estudios disciplinares

b- Works Jane at the hospital?

Incorrect: syntax. English requires the use of auxiliaries in questions in the present tense.

7 Uses of corpora
● finding out how often words are used and in what linguistic contexts;
● frequently occurring combinations (collocations);
● frequency of words in speech and writing

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1- bashful/ brash c. antonyms
2- approach the bar/ a bar of soap a. polysemous words
3- bashful/ withdrawn b. synonyms
4- glimpse/ gaze d. hyponyms

9 Functions of intonation
● it shows the grammar of what we are saying
● It conveys attitude
● it signals when speakers have finished the points they wish to make, tells people
when they wish to carry on with a turn (i.e. not yield the floor) and indicates
agreement and disagreement.

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1. top teeth: dientes superiores
2. alveolar ridge: región/ cresta/ borde/ puente alveolar
3. lips: labios
4. bottom teeth: dientes inferiores
5. hard palate: paladar duro
6. soft palate: paladar blando o velo del paladar
7. uvula: úvula o campanilla
8. tongue: lengua
9. vocal cords: cuerdas vocales

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 Instituto de Educación Superior Nº 28 “Olga Cossettini”
Traductorado: Módulo 4 – Introducción a los estudios disciplinares

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Speaking Writing

ellipsis no

hesitators no

unfinished utterances no

co- constructed pre-organised

“messy” well-formed

small units of conversation (utterances) long sentences

simple verb forms passive verb forms