Compound words

Morphology Teaching compound words Handbook

Team members:Gonzalez Trujillo Luz Aurora Montes Ricardo Morales Orta Melissa

INDEX

1. Compound words: analysis.

2. Teaching implications

3. Answer Key

4.Student's notes: Scheme of work and activities

5.Conclusions

6. References

1 Compound words

Rules Compound nouns are usually generated by the rule as follows: N { N, A, V} + N We can distinguish in the rule three main structures: • Noun + Noun. o Bus stop, motorcycle, sunflower, etc. • Adjective + Noun. o Blackboard, full moon, highway, etc. • Verb + Noun. o Washing machine, swimming pool, running shoes, etc.

Language is alive, and as a living entity it evolves constantly in diverse forms; creating new words is a sample of this evolution. There are different ways of creating new words; affixation, conversion and compounding are just some of them. In this lesson we will review compounding and its most common form: the compound nouns. Compound nouns are the result of the meeting of two or more words in one, the new noun acquires a “new meaning that does not result from the simple addition of the meaning of the component words” (hispanoteca, 2018),in other words the new meaning must be significantly different than the individual meanings from the words that form the compound noun.

Another written aspect about compound nouns to take in count is the plural form, in general we can make the plural form of a compound noun by adding –s to the most significant word or the “base word” which usually is the noun. See the examples below: Full moon/ Full moons Washing machine/ Washing machines Pronunciation Compound nouns tend to have more stress on the first word, let´s review the word tennis and racket: in both words we can distinguish the same stress pattern, the first syllable is strong and stressed and the second one is weak and unstressed, but when we form the compound noun tennis racket the first syllable in racket remains strong but not stressed. Stress is important since it enforces the idea of the single unit that represents the compound noun, for example, it help us to know if somebody said "a GREEN HOUSE" (a house which is painted green) or "a GREENhouse" (a building made of glass for growing plants inside).

Spelling Compound nouns can be written as a one word (Closed form), as two words (Open form) even with a hyphen (Hyphenated form), and there are no specific rules to identify when to use each one. Usually, compound nouns are tend to be written mostly separated, however, is always advisable to consult a dictionary to clear any doubt to find the correct written form. Truth be told, the usage of hyphens in compound nouns avoids ambiguity, and will help us to show that the words are the same entity, allowing speed up reading. Let´s take a look into the next example: “The fire fly” “The fire-fly” If we use the hyphenated form rather than the open form, you are making clear that you are naming a specific insect not just a fly.

2. Teaching Notes

Compound words can help the learners to expand their vocabulary. The main purpose of the reading text is to give the students language input so students notice how to use it. Give students time to process the language. before using it. Use of Dictionary: The learners might need help with spelling and deciding whehter the words are hypenhated or not. Training in the use of dictionaries can be helpful to check the correct spelling of the words and collocations. Pronunciation: The main stress of a compound word is in the first word or syllable. You can model and drill after the vocabulary practice.

Katya Stone

2. Teaching Notes

Speaking activity: Give students time to reflect on the answers, then, encourage a whole group discussion, you can also give time for Ss to discuss in pairs and then share what they've discussed with the group. Follow up activity: Ask the students to work in pairs. They must include compound words in their conversations. Monitor offering help if needed.

Katya Stone

2. Teacher Notes

Pictionary • Prepare a bunch of words and put them in a bag. • Split the class in two teams • Give one team member from each team a pen and ask them to choose a word from the bag. • Tell the students to draw the word as a picture on the board and encourage their team to guess the word. • The first team to shout the correct answer gets a point. • The student who has completed drawing should then nominate someone else to draw for their team. • Repeat this until all the words are gone.

Katya Stone

3. Answer Key

Reading. 1. Bob 2. Sonia 3. Justin 4. Sonia 5. Bob 6. Justin 7. Justin 8 Bob

Vocabulary Practice: 1. vehicle 2. commuters 3. rush hour 4. traffic jam 5. road work 6. petrol station 7. speed limit 8. pedestrians

Katya Stone

c. Reading for detail

a. Build up activity: Pictionary followed by discussion

e. Production activity: Speaking f. Follow up activity

b. Reading for Gist

d. Vocabulary: Compund words, language in context practice

4. Student's notes: Scheme of work and activities

Build up: Pictionary game

The teacher will give the instructions for the game. At the end, discuss the following questions:

• Do you travel and use transport every day?
• How do you commute to work?
• Are there many travel problems early in the morning?

Transport in the Future

Language in context: Daily Travel and commuting.Reading Activities

Instructions: 1 Reading for gist. Group work: Read the text and discuss.

2 Reading for detail: Read again and answer the questions. Pair Work: Compare your answers

Discussion: What kind of transport it describe ? How is it different from transport today?

Questions. Who...

1. commutes for work every morning?
2. knows in advance when there is a problem on the road?
3. don't use electric cars?
4. can't drive a long disance without recharging?
5. always needs to plug the car before bedtime?
6. has a car which stopos you from driving too quickly?
7. doesnt need to commute to his work?
8. works in an office?

Practice 1: Vocabulary

Find the words in the text for these definitions.

Practice 2: Speaking

• Discuss the following questions with the class. Do you think the predictions in the text are true? Are any of the predictions true now?

Follow up activity:

Group Work: Discuss about how could the following things improve in your city. Write a proposal and share it with the class.

5. Conclusions

Compound nouns enrich language over time, they allow it to evolve as the human life, society and technology evolve themselves, but since they are part of a system we have to understand them and practice. As we get more familiar with them we will achieve a better comprehension of how the language works.

.Problems likely to be found. Compound words often cause EFL (English as foreign language) learners’ comprehension problems. One of the reasons is that although a compound consists of more than one word element, its meaning is not always the sum of the meanings of components or the meaning of a compound could lose the connection with the meanings of its components.

Suggestions

• It is important for the teachers to point out the meaning of each compound noun because it can be ambiguous to the learners at the beginning. • It would be teachers’ job to offer and increase learners’ chance to expose to authentic material containing compound nouns. • Including compound nouns in daily conversations can help learners to improve their listening skill and sound more like a native speaker.

• Cambridge Dictionary. (2020). Recovered Jan 08th 2020, from https: //dictionary.cambridge.org/es/
• Centro Virtual Cervantes. (2020). Recovered Jan 07th 2020, from de https://cvc.cervantes.es
• hispanoteca. (2018). Recovered Jan 08th 2020, from http://hispanoteca.eu/Ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstica/DICCIONARIO%20DE%20LING%C3%9C%C3%8DSTICA.htm

6. References

• Lander. E. (2018) 10 Best ESL Games for English Teachers Abroad Retrieved from: https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/10-best-games-esl-teachers
• Thornbury, S. (2017) The A-Z of ELT. Macmillan Education
• Hughes, et al. (2015) Life Student's book Pre-intermediate. NGL Cengage Learning.