Developing a technology-incorporated tool for the study of the structure of prepositional phrases and their functions in English.

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1 Developing a technology-incorporated tool for the study of the structure of prepositional phrases and their functions in English M.Somathasan Assistant Lecturer in English Advanced Technological Institute Trincomalee, Sri Lanka Dr.R.Saranya Associate Professor CAS in Linguistics Annamalai University, India Abstract In English language, there are several types of phrases like prepositional phrase,in the sky; noun phrase,the clever student;verb phrase,have done;adjective phrase, fond of bananas; adverb phrase, very fast; etc. As far as the prepositional phrase is concerned,itconsists of the preposition as the head of the phrase, its object, and modifiers of the object. For instance, between his two legs is the prepositional phrase in the sentence, The dog slept between his two legs. Further, in this phrase, legs is the object where as his and two are the modifiers of the object, legs. A prepositional phrase is very helpful for a student of ESL to develop the syntactic knowledge in English. It functions as a unified part of speech in written and spoken context. In order to have a clear understanding of the structure and functions of prepositional phrases, the student must get the crystal knowledge in prepositions (Lat. praeponere to place in front of ). But, some factors make learning prepositions so difficult. One of them is that prepositions are notoriously difficult for English Language Learners to master due to the sheer number of them, (i.e. English has 60 to 70 prepositions: Koffi, 2010). It is even a challenge for English language learners. Moreover, it is essential that teachers should develop the effective instructional and currently trended technological methods to teach the prepositional phrases. Thus, based on this, this paper attempts to develop a computational tool for analyzing the internal structure of the prepositional phrases and learning about their functions in sentences effectively through a technology-based idea. Key words: phrase, prepositional phrase, syntactic knowledge, technological method, computational tool Introduction: Prepositional phrases like along the road, about him, by reducing the price, etc. are so common in academic English, especially in writing and speaking. Prepositional phrases are essential to sentences because they provide additional and necessary details, i.e. these phrases add valuable information to the sentences though they are the complex syntactic categories with differing categorial representations. Once the learners of English experience the eminent utility of these phrases, the desire to learn more may impel them to venture out the phrases in their academic courses and embark them on a systematic way. R.Quirk and S.Greenbaum (1973) define that a prepositional phrase consists of a preposition followed by a prepositional complement, which is characteristically a noun phrase or a pronoun or wh-clause or V-ing clause, i.e. a prepositional phrase consists of a preposition as the head of the phrase, its object, and modifiers of the object. The object and modifiers are termed as complement. The object of the preposition is always a noun phrase, at the shop; pronoun, with me; V-ing clause, by singing; or a wh-clause, about what we need. The head of the complement in a prepositional phrase, i.e. the object of the preposition (shop, me, what we Available 256

2 need), is also known as oblique object. For example, on the steps is the prepositional phrase in the sentence, The boy fell on the steps. When analyzing the internal structure of the said prepositional phrase, the preposition, on, is the head word of this phrase; and the steps is the complement of this phrase, and finally steps is the object or oblique of the preposition. The purpose of studying prepositional phrases: What the students who learn English as a Second Language in India and Sri Lanka really want is not to sound like a native, but rather simply to sound like a communicative competent in their academic course and the world of work. At this juncture, prepositional phrases can help them achieve what they like. Prepositional phrases play a key role not only in a student s communication, but in his black-white process, as well. For instance, it is clear that a human being is known as a talking monkey, i.e. he often finds himself in the middle of a conversation, confidently swinging from one idea to the next. To do this, a prepositional phrase, i.e. by the way, is helpful for him. While using this prepositional phrase in the communication or conversation, a student may feel natural and confident in the learning process of English. The ultimate ambition of a learner of ESL may be a complete linguistic adulthood by simply communicating well enough to satisfy his needs in the domain of language, also known as languagulity. When a learner of English gains much knowledge in the prepositional phrase, there is no doubt that his syntactic power i.e. the sentential ability will be noted in his penning process. As far as the readers side is concerned, prepositional phrases provide specific information in a sentence for the reader. The reader would not know the key and necessary facts about a sentence without a prepositional phrase. For instance, here is a barebones sentence: My sister laughed. It is a perfectly good sentence, but it doesn t tell us very much. When we add a prepositional phrase, we can better understand the situation. Here is the sentence with a prepositional phrase: My sister laughed at the joke. Now we know why she laughed! The internal structure of a prepositional phrase: As stated above, at the minimum, a prepositional phrase will begin with a preposition and end with a noun, pronoun, V-ing clause, and wh-clause, which is the object of the preposition. The object of the preposition will often have one or more modifiers to describe it. The following are the internal structures or patterns of a prepositional phrase: 1. Preposition + Noun Phrase from India Here, from is the preposition and India is the object of the preposition. in the town In this example, in is the preposition, the is the modifier (article), and town, the object of the preposition. on their excited faces Available 257

3 Here, on is the preposition, their excited is the modifier (their is the determiner (possessive)), and faces is the object of the preposition. 2. Preposition + Pronoun without her In this example, without is the preposition and her is the object of the preposition. 3. Preposition + V-ing Clause by singing Here, by is the preposition and singing is the object of the preposition. 4. Preposition + wh-clause about what he needs In this example, about is the preposition and what he needs is the noun clause and functions as the object of the preposition. 5. Preposition + an adverb phrase From here 6. Preposition + a prepositional phrase From behind his desk Here, from is the preposition, behind his desk is the complement, behind and his are modifiers and finally desk is the object of the preposition. For easy understanding, the structure of the prepositional phrases is diagrammatically shown below. Available 258

4 Functions of prepositional phrases: Prepositional phrases have many different grammatical functions. According to G.Leech and J.Svartvik (2002), prepositional phrases perform four main functions in sentences. They are: 1. Prepositional phrases as adverbial: Prepositional phrases may function as adverbials in a sentence. For instance: They met on the train. They made for each other in the park. This adverbial function is clearly elaborated by R.Quirk and S.Greenbaum (1973). They say it on the point of types of adverbials that prepositional phrase may reflect as: a. Adjunct: Adjuncts add details to whatever action the verb itself describes. They specify the time or place of the action, the manner in which it takes place, or its extent. For example: The students were doing the Shramadana work at the hospital. b. Disjunct: To my surprise, the Minister phoned me the next morning. c. Conjunct: On the other hand, the police took no action to arrest the culprit. 2. Prepositional phrases as modifier in a noun phrase: Prepositional phrases may function as the modifier in a noun phrase in a sentence. For example: The man on the radio has a boring voice. We have rented our house in the village for an NGO. 3. Prepositional phrases as verb complement: Prepositional phrases can be used as verb complement in sentences. For instance: I rely on my wife. They are genuinely working for the development of Language and Linguistics. 4. Prepositional phrases as complement of an adjective: Prepositional phrases may function as the complement of the adjective in a sentence. For example: I am terribly bad at dates. My Professor s son, Siva, is fond of bread fruit. Note: A prepositional phrase may often function as subject in a sentence. Before lunch is when I do my best work. Some points to ponder when a prepositional phrase precedes a verb: The object of a prepositional phrase will never be the subject of a verb. For example: A list of items are in the agenda. (wrong) Here, the subject is not items, but list. Therefore, the verb should be singular in number. Available 259

5 A list of items is in the agenda. (right) However, a prepositional phrase can influence a verb. For instance, the indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, and some can be singular or plural. When modified by a prepositional phrase, they copy the number of the noun (object) in the prepositional phrase. For example: Some of the cake has been eaten. (right) Here, the object of the prepositional phrase, cake, is singular; therefore, Some is treated as singular. Some of the cakes have been eaten. (right) Here, the object of the prepositional phrase, cakes, is plural; therefore, Some is treated as plural. Sample visual of the developed tool: Methodology: In India and Sri Lanka, English is taught as a second language and the knowledge of English is essential for all students to be successful in their higher education, especially for students entering the universities from rural areas. Many students of ESL lack of facilities in developing their English knowledge and many factors can be attributed for this deplorable state. Thus, the participants taken for this study are the students studying at Annamalai University. Related to this study, and to elicit the existing knowledge in prepositional phrases, especially the structure of the prepositional phrases and the functions of them, these students were given some simple sentences with prepositional phrases (For this paper, prepositional phrases starting with simple prepositions are considered) like The flower vase is on the table, and asked to find out the prepositional phrases, their structures, and their functions in the sentences. Only 36 % of students came across the correct answers and others were struggling to find out the correct ones. Some of the asked sentences with simple prepositional phrases are: 1. Prof. Noam Chomsky wrote many books about Linguistics, 2. Dr.R.Saranya at Annamalai University teaches Linguistics well, 3. He explained the PS Rules Available 260

6 in Syntax to the students. 4. They drove to the library, 5. He met the girl at the birthday party, 6. The guest confused with what the students asked. Thus, it is felt that a simple teaching and testing tool of prepositional phrases with their structures and functions will help not only the 64% of the students of ESL who were struggling to find out the answers, but also the 36% of the successful students to develop their spoken and written English especially raising their sentential ability through getting the required knowledge in prepositional phrases. It will also be helpful to improve their subject knowledge, as well. Further, the tool has been developed to work out for the sentences with prepositional phrases which are simple, i.e. prepositional phrases starting with simple prepositions like on, in, with, under, near, etc. For example, in the sentence The boy studied at Fatima College, the prepositional phrase is at Fatima College, the preposition is at, the object of the preposition is college, the modifier is Fatima, and the function of the prepositional phrase is verb complement. Moreover by thinking this tool as an initiative, and to make it easy and effective the simple prepositions in English are considered with regard to the formation of prepositional phrases. What is more, the programming language, vb6, is successfully used to design this technology-incorporated teaching and testing tool. Conclusion: Most of the sentences a learner of ESL uses in his day-to-day activities are simple. It is accepted that to make his knowledge of English high, the syntactic or sentential power is quite necessary for him. In this regard, the prepositional phrases play a big role to bring about the syntactic knowledge in the process of English language development. Prepositional phrases add detail, description, and vividness to writing. The preposition works together with its object to form the prepositional phrase (prepositional phrase = preposition + (modifiers) + object of the preposition). For example, in the sentence, A large part of the world s population depends on the coconut, the prepositional phrases are of the world s population and on the coconut. The objects of both prepositional phrases are population and coconut; the modifiers are the world s and the, respectively. The function of the first prepositional phrase, of the world s population, is modifier in a noun phrase, i.e. it modifies the noun phrase, A large part; and the second prepositional phrase, on the coconut, functions as the verb complement and it completes the meaning of the verb, depend. Thus, it is clear that the knowledge in prepositional phrase is important for students of ESL to be successful in their education, higher education, and life. Based on this, no doubt can be found that when the students of ESL go through this developed computational tool to study about the structures and functions of prepositional phrases, they can forever develop the English knowledge especially the sentential knowledge to great extent. References: 1. Greenbaum, S. and Quirk, R A Student s Grammar of The English Language. Pearson Education. 2. Leech, G. and Svartvik, J A Communicative Grammar of English. Pearson Education. 3. Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S A University Grammar of English. Pearson Education. 4. Alexander, L.G Longman English Grammar Practice. Longman 5. Aarts, F. and Aarts, J English Syntactic Structures. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Associates Publishers. Available 261