Basic Sentence Building
The Problem
Some difficulties are being experienced with sentence generation. What is sentence generation? In sentence generation, the student is offered three or four words and is asked to make a sentence out of them. At the beginning stage, this causes enormous difficulty. Here is an example: Roger / teach / Spanish / class // Roger / enseñar / español. What on earth does this mean, asks the student, and what on earth am I meant to do with this?
As instructors we know what we are looking for: Roger will be the subject and the main verb will be teach / enseñar; this main verb will be conjugated in agreement with the subject -- Roger teaches / Roger enseña; now we need to add the direct object -- Spanish / español -- as complement to the verb, and this gives us -- Roger teaches Spanish / Roger / enseña / español; finally we add the pronoun -- to / a -- and the definite article -- the / la -- to generate a full sentence with a conjugated main verb -- Roger teaches Spanish to the class / Roger enseña español a la clase.
Difficulties can occur at this basic level if students do not realize what is required of them. Difficulties also occur if the student decides to generate a sentence other than -- and perhaps way beyond -- the one that is prompted. For example, if the student wants to generate a sentence along the lines of -- Roger is a total idiot who shouldn't be teaching Spansish to any normal human being / Roger es un idiota total quien no debe enseñar español a ningún ser humano que sea normal -- the student is unable to do so because the ideas and the vocabulary are way beyond his current language situation in the second (or third) language.
Thus, the first thing about sentence generation is to keep it simple and to work within the rules of the second language as they have been learned up to the point at which the students find themselves. However, this is always frustrating. Students want to be inventive, to break rules, and to compose way beyond the limits imposed by the second language. As teachers, we want the students to do exactly the opposite: to be inventive, yes, but while following the rules and while keeping strictly within the limits of the language.
The frustration that many students feel with sentence generation often springs from this simple dilemma.
Solving the problem
The problem can be solved, step by step, by analysing a sentence and then by working backwards from a model sentence and by revealing its component elements, a type of formal deconstruction. When this has been done and the formal elements are understood and readily recognizable, then the process of reconstruction can start and more sentences can be generated within the suggested framework.
In this fashion, the model sentence Roger teaches Spanish to the class / Roger enseña español a la clase can first be broken down and then rebuilt. Once it has been rebuilt, various other elements can be added to it by the simple process of asking questions and adding the answers.
Additional questions and answers:
We can make our sentences longer and more complicated, not to mention more informative, by asking simple questions and adding the answers to those question to the basic sentence.
Example 1: At what time does Roger teach Spanish? ¿ A qué hora enseña Roger español? -- Roger teaches Spanish at 2:30 pm/ Roger enseña español a las dos y media de la tarde. If we add this to the initial model, we get At 2:30 pm, Roger teaches Spanish to the class / A las dos y media de la tarde, Roger enseña español a la clase.
Example 2: Where does Roger teach Spanish? ¿Dónde enseña Roger español? Answer -- Roger teaches Spanish in the Main Building / Roger enseña español en el edificio principal. When added to the main sentence, this gives: At 2:30 pm, Roger teaches Spanish to the class in the main building / A las dos y media de la tarde, Roger enseña español a la clase en el edificio principal.
Example 3: In what university does Roger teach? ¿En qué universidad enseña Roger? Answer -- Roger teaches at St. Thomas University / Roger enseña español en la universidad de Sto. Tomás. This gives us -- At 2:30 pm, Roger teaches Spanish in the main building of St. Thomas University to the class / A las dos y media de la tarde, Roger enseña español a la clase en el edificio principal en la universidad de Sto. Tomás.
Example 5: What year does Roger teach? ¿En qué año enseña Roger? Answer -- Roger teaches first year Spanish / Roger enseña el primer año de español. This now gives us a much longer sentence -- At 2:30 pm, Roger teaches first year Spanish in the main building of St. Thomas University to the class / A las dos y media de la tarde, Roger enseña el primer año de español a la clase en el edificio principal en la universidad de Sto. Tomás.
Example 6: Where's St. Thomas University? ¿Dónde está la Universidad de Sto. Tomás? Answer: in Fredericton, New Brunswick / en Fredericton, Nuevo Brunswick. So, here goes: At 2:30 pm, Roger teaches first year Spanish to the first year class in the main building of St. Thomas University, in Fredericton, New Brunswick / A las dos y media de la tarde, Roger enseña el primer año de español a la clase en el edificio principal en la universidad de Sto. Tomás, en Fredericton, Nuevo Brunswick.
This is obviously quite easy to do. It is sometimes hard for students, especially beginners, because (a) they do not understand the accumulative nature of language -- ask a question -- get an answer -- add that answer to the information you already have; and (b) because they are afraid of taking risks. This is particularly true when formulae are very limiting and only a limited nukmber of responses are correct.
Additional Phrases and Clauses
Additional information may also be added in the form of phrases (phrases contain no conjugated verb) and clauses (clauses usually contain a conjugated verb).
Additional phrase 1: What sort of teacher is Roger? ¿Cómo es Roger como profesor? Answer -- obviously -- Roger is a very good teacher! / Roger es un profesor muy bueno. Regenerated sentence: At 2:30 pm, Roger, a very good teacher, teaches first year Spanish to the class in the main building of St. Thomas University, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, / A las dos y media de la tarde, Roger, un profesor muy bueno, enseña el primer año de español a la clase en el edificio principal en la Universidad de Sto. Tomás, en Fredericton, Nuevo Brunswick.
Additional clause 1: We turn this phrase (an adjectival phrase, because it describes Roger but contains no conjugated verb) into a clause by adding a verb in this fashion: At 2:30 pm, Roger, who is a very good teacher, teaches first year Spanish to the class in the main building of St. Thomas University, in Fredericton, New Brunswick / A las dos y media de la tarde, Roger, quien es un profesor muy bueno, enseña el primer año de español a la clase en el edificio principal en la Universidad de Sto. Tomás, en Fredericton, Nuevo Brunswick.
Additional phrase 2: What sort of university is St. Thomas? ¿Cómo es la Universidad de Sto. Tomás? Answer -- St. Thomas is a small university with an excellent reputation for the high quality of its teachers / La Universidad de Sto. Tomás es una pequeña universidad con gran fama por la alta calidad de sus profesores. So, here we go again: At 2:30 pm, Roger, who is a very good teacher, teaches first year Spanish to the class in the main building of St. Thomas University, a small university with an excellent reputation for the high quality of its teachers in Fredericton, New Brunswick / A las dos y media de la tarde, Roger, quien es un profesor muy bueno, enseña el primer año de español a la clase en el edificio principal en la Universidad de Sto. Tomás, una pequeña universidad con gran fama por la alta calidad de sus profesores, en Fredericton, Nuevo Brunswick.
Additional clause 2: Again, we turn our adjectival phrase into an adjectival clause by adding to it a conjugated verb -- At 2:30 pm, Roger, who is a very good teacher, teaches first year Spanish in the main building of St. Thomas University, which is a small university with an excellent reputation, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, to the class / A las dos y media de la tarde, Roger, quien es un profesor muy bueno, enseña el primer año de español a la clase en el edificio principal en la Universidad de Sto. Tomás,que es una pequeña universidad con gran fama por la alta calidad de sus profesores, en Fredericton, Nuevo Brunswick.
Each additional set of questions that a student can generate adds more information to the sentence that is to be communicated. Using this basic method, it is very easy to turn simple sentences into seemingly complicated communications. It's just like building with bricks, start small and add on the pieces of information, one by one, as you are ready to insert them! Deconstructing and reconstructing the verbal edifice enables you to better understand the ways the pieces fit together.