I.

INTRODUCTION
In the realm of English language proficiency assessments, the International English Language
Testing System (IELTS) stands as a pivotal instrument in evaluating individuals' abilities to
comprehend, communicate, and interact effectively in English. A critical aspect of IELTS
Reading comprehension involves understanding the nuanced structures of noun phrases,
particularly the utilization and impact of post-modifiers. This essay aims to delve into the
theoretical foundations of post-modifiers in noun phrases and subsequently conduct an analysis
of their prevalence and significance in the context of IELTS Reading.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW (YEN NHI)

2.1. Nouns Phrase
The parts of speech in English grammar include nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. The
noun phrase is a fundamental component of every sentence; it can be unlimited in length and
contain any number of additional phrases (e.g., noun, adjective, and adverb) within its
structure(Sanford, 1997). In some grammars, the terms "nominal group" and "noun phrase" are
synonymous. For example, systematic grammars promote the former, but historically native
grammar favors the latter (Silalahi & Purba, 2020). A noun phrase is either a pronoun or any
group of words that can be replaced by a pronoun. For example, 'they', 'cars', and 'the cars' are
noun phrases, but 'car' is just a noun, as you can see in these sentences (Paul Bress, 2005). From
those definitions, we can see the similarities definition and conclude that noun phrase is any
group of words, which consist of head (noun, pronoun, or adjective) and modifier.
After knowing some definition of the noun phrases that is any group of words, which
consist of head and modifier (Sanford, 1997). Head here consists of noun itself, pronoun, and
sometime adjective. Whereas modifiers consist of two modifiers, they are premodifier and post-
modifier (Leech & Svartvik, 1983). Pre-modifier includes noun, adjective, adjective phrase,
participle –ed and –ing. Post-modifier includes prepositional phrase, relative clause and
modification of pronouns.
A noun headword in noun phrase can be accompanied by the determiners (the, a, an,
some, etc) and other modifier. Modifiers which precede the headword are called the pre-
modifiers, and those which follow the head are called post-modifiers (Leech & Svartvik, 1983).
It can de described as follows:
Noun Phrase (NP) = Determiner (s) (Det) + Pre-modifier (s) (Pre-mod) + Head (H) +
Post-modifier (s) (Post-mod).
2.2. Pre-modifier
In English grammar, a premodifier is a modifier that precedes the head of a noun phrase or
word that determines the meaning of a phrase. Premodifiers are most often adjective phrase,
participles phrase, quantifying phrase and nouns phrase (Feist, 2011). When used as an adjective
to characterize a person or thing, this part of speech is also referred to as an epithet. Premodifiers
are written more often than spoken. As noted by Douglas Biber et. al. in Longman Grammar of
Spoken and Written English, "Premodifiers and postmodifiers are distributed in the same way
across registers: rare in conversation, very common in informational writing," (Biber, 2002).
Pre-modifiers were divided into four major classes by Biber, who also discussed how pre-
modifiers may be made more exact by using other components of speech. . There are four major
structural types of pre-modification in English: Adjective phrase (big pillow, new pants, official
negotiations, political isolation), Quantifying phrase (some of, all of, so many passengers), Noun
phrase (staff room, pencil case, market forces, maturation period), Participle phrase (restricted
area, flashing lights, a growing problem).
Biber also noted that premodifiers are efficient, saying: condensed structures are called
pre-modifiers. Compared to postmodifiers, they provide essentially the same information in
fewer words. A longer, post-modifying relative clause can be used to reword the majority of
adjectival and participial premodifiers (Biber, 2002).
2.3. Post-modifier
In English grammar, a post-modifier is a modifier that follows the word or phrase it limits
or qualifies. Modification by a post-modifier is called post-modification. There are many
different types of post-modifiers, but the most common are prepositional phrases, modification
and relative clauses. Guerra and Insua point out that, in general, "post-modifiers are longer than
premodifiers, which underlines the adequacy of end-weight." (Guerra, J. P., & Insua, A. E. M,
2010).
2.3.1. Prepositional phrase
A prepositional phrase is a phrase, which is in some way preceded by a preposition, such as
in the room, on the table, at the office, next door, etc. A prepositional phrase is formed with a
preposition plus a noun phrase, a prepositional phrase gives information about places or
describes the headword (Guerra, J. P., & Insua, A. E. M, 2010). For example: (a) the pen on the
table, (b) the building in front of my house, and (c) the man with glasses. The italic parts in (a)
and (b) are prepositional phrases. They are parts of the noun phrase, that is, post-modifiers that
tell about place. Meanwhile in part (c), it is also a proportional phrase which does not tell about
place, but describes the headword.
2.3.2. Clause form
As the same suggest, a clauses post-modifiers is a post-modifier in a clause form. It can be a
relative clause or a non-finite clause. a) Relative clauses (finite clauses) as post-modifiers In their
uses, relative clauses are restricted by either person: first, second, third person; number: singular
or plural; or the tenses of speaking past, present, etc. Since they are restricted, relative clauses are
also called finite clauses. For example: “The movie that won several awards last year.”, “The
book which was recommended by my friend.”, “The restaurant that serves delicious seafood.”
b) Non-finite clauses are clauses which in their use are not restricted neither by person: first,
second, and the third person; number: singular and plural; nor by the tenses of speaking: past
tense, present, etc. In English, non-finite clauses can be preceded by infinitive and called
infinitive clauses, present participle and called present participle clauses, and the past participle
called past participle clauses. For examples: Infinitive clause: “The project to be completed by
Friday.”, Present participle clause: “The children playing in the park.”, Past participle
clause: “The decision to be made by the end of the day.”
An infinitive clause is introduced by a to-infinitive. Similarly, a present participle and a
past participle clause are introduced by their respective parts. Non-finite clauses can be rebuilt as
complete relative clauses. For examples:
(a) movie to see -> a movie that we should see
(b) the man talking to the teacher -> the man who is talking to the teacher
(c) the movie chosen by the teacher -> the movie that is chosen by the teacher
2.3.3. Modification of pronouns
Pronouns, becoming key components of language, function an important role in allowing
concise and easily understood communication. They replace nouns in order to eliminate
complexity and redundancy in speech and writing. When it comes to noun phrases, pronouns can
be modified to convey specific information and nuances. Understanding the theoretical
background of the modification of pronouns in noun phrases involves examining the rules and
structures that govern this linguistic phenomenon. Pronoun modification is the modification of
pronouns by adjectives. In English, pronouns are modified within the noun phrase by adjectives
in post-positive adjective position, i.e. which come after the modified pronoun. Only independent
pronouns can be modified in this way - dependent pronouns (i.e. that are used as determiners)
cannot themselves be modified. English pronouns can also be modified by predicative adjectives
(Mitkov, 2000).

III. ANALYSIS

This chapter consists of four main parts. The first part identifies and analyzes examples of
prepositional phrases used in the IELTS reading text, followed by relative clauses. The third part
explains and resolves more about modification of pronouns. The last part shows some significant
implications of this essay. Due to knowledge and length limitations, our group just focuses on
some specific examples.

1. P
2. R
3. Modification of pronouns
[5] is the illustration of the noun phrase “many of the unnecessary maneuvers” which is a
noun phrase that contains a quantifying adjective modified by a prepositional phrase. In
this case, “many” is categorized as a quantifying adjective, and it functions as the head of
the noun phrase since the real head in this example appears in the lower nominal level,
which is “maneuvers”.
Another example is the noun phrase “half of all missions” which is shown in [6].
Originally, “half” plays the role of pre-determiners that is not pronouns at all. However, it
only appear to have changed into pronouns. As a results, “half” can be analyzed as the
head of the noun phrase. The ellipted head noun is “missions”.
In conclusion, specific pronouns can have post-modifiers, and in this extract, there are
two noun phrases: “many of the unnecessary maneuvers” and “half of all missions.”
When post-modifiers modify a pronoun, the pronoun is pre-determiners, or it maintains
 as a quantifying adjective. Furthermore, the pronoun will become the head noun as the
real head noun is ellipted.

4. Suggested implications

IV. CONCLUSION
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