Phùng Hà Thanh

DEVELOPING AUTONOMY IN
EFL WRITING
Session 1 – Introduction, Nouns
and the Articles
GOAL
 Learners increase their autonomy
in writing based on increased

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knowledge of grammar.
CONTENTS
 Nouns and the Articles
 Verbs

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 Adjectivesand Prepositions
 The Simple Sentence
 The Compound Sentence
 The Complex Sentence
 Cohesion and Coherence
 Paragraph and Essay
WRITING PRODUCTS
 Essays for testing
 CVs

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 Announcements of events
 Synopses
 Shortbook/film reviews
 Study/ project proposals
ACTIVITY 1: MAKING A LIST
 Makea list based on the given
prompts

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THINGS THAT SHOULD BE SHORT

A piece of thread when one wants

to sew something in a hurry.

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A lamp stand.
The hair of a woman of the lower
classes should be neat and short.
The speech of a young girl.

Sei Shōnagon in a
later 17th century
drawing
ACTIVITY 2: RESPONDING TO
PICTURES
 Writedown sentences to show
your thoughts and feelings when

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seeing the following pictures.
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BASIC KNOWLEDGE
 Nouns
 Reference and the Articles

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UNITS OF COMPOSITION

discourse

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sentence

phrase

word

morpheme
UNITS OF COMPOSITION
I found

discourse myself

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useless hated
enjoyin
sentence.
g

hated,
I actually felt tired
of sitting doing phrase enjoyin

nothing. And I hated g

enjoying the enjoy,
unemployment
benefit. I found
word -ing
myself useless. Then
I decided to look for a
job. morpheme
NOUN – NOUN CLASSES

Noun

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classes
Proper Common
nouns nouns
NOUN – NOUN CLASSES

Noun

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classes
Common
nouns
Count Ns Non-count
Ns
car Singular
Singular

cars Plural
salt
 NOUN – NOUN CLASSES

Noun

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classes
Proper Common
nouns nouns
E.g. Tom, John Count Ns Non-count Ns

Concret Abstract
e
cat failur rice peac
e e
 1/7

NOUN – NOUN CLASSES

Let’s check

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To which classes does each of the
following nouns belong to?
 furniture  serenity
 garden  Friday
 victory
COUNT AND NONCOUNT NOUNS
 John has some chickens on his farm.
(the whole birds)
 Mary ate some chicken for dinner (the

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stuff you eat)
 John has a fish in his aquarium. (the
whole fish)
 Mary had some fish for lunch. (the stuff
you eat)
 There are two hairs in my soup. (two
individual hairs)
 Your hair is pretty. (all of the hair on
your head)
ACTIVITY 3: COUNT VS. NON
COUNT
 Think
of a situation in which each
noun becomes a non-count.

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ACTIVITY 3: COUNT VS. NON
COUNT
 The coffees I prefer are Arabica and
Brazilian. 
 Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's

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greatest works.
 We had a great time at the party.
 Our house has seven rooms.
 Have you got a paper to read? (=
newspaper)
 Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise.
 There are two lights in our bedroom.
 There are two hairs in my coffee!
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

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Reference

Generi Specifi Unique

c c
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Reference

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proper noun Unique

E.g.: - John loves Mary.

REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Reference

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Generi vs. Specific
c
C/f.
(1) A lion and two tigers are sleeping in the cage.
(2) Tigers are dangerous animals.
 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

 Specific or generic?

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(1) A lion and two tigers are sleeping in the cage.
(2) Tigers are dangerous animals.
 (1) = SPECIFIC (referring to particular specimens
of the class ‘tiger’.
 (2) = GENERIC (referring to the class ‘tiger’
without specific reference to particular tigers)
ACTIVITY 4: GENERIC OR SPECIFIC
REFERENCE
 Ex. 48 (Handout 1)

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 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Generic Reference & the

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Articles
1. A German is a good musician.
2. Germans are good musicians.
3. The Germans are good musicians.
4. The German is a good musician.
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Specific Reference & the Articles

DEFINITE INDEFINITE
COUNT NONCOUNT COUNT NONCOUNT

SINGULAR the tiger the furniture a tiger (some)

furniture

PLURAL the tigers (some) tigers

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REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

The articles

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Definite Indefinite Zero
(Ø)
E.g.: - The earth goes around the sun. (definite)
- He bought a new bike yesterday. (indefinite)
- He has just arrived in Ø London. (zero)
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Definite article ‘the”

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Immediate Cataphoric
situation reference

Larger situation Sporadic reference

Anaphoric
reference Logical use of THE

With body parts

 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Definite article
‘the’

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Anaphoric Cataphoric
Sporadic reference
reference reference

= the uniqueness of The modification of Reference is made

reference of some the noun phrase to an institution
phrase (the X) is restricts the reference which may be
supplied by of the noun observed recurrently

information given E.g. The wine that at various places

earlier in the France produces and times.

discourse E.g. the theatre, the

REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Definite article

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‘the’
Anaphoric
Direct
reference

= The same head noun has occurred in the text and a

relation of co-reference exists between two NPs

E.g.: Susan bought a TV and a video recorder, but she

returned the video recorder because it was defective.
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Definite article

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‘the’
Anaphoric
Indirect
reference

= A reference becomes part of the hearer’s knowledge

indirectly

E.g.: John bought a new bicycle, but found that one of the
wheels was defective.
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

The articles

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Immediate
Definite situation = derived from the
extra-linguistic
situation.

E.g.: - The roses are beautiful. (said in the garden)

- Have you fed the dog? (said in the domestic context)
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

The articles

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Definite Larger situation = general knowledge

which is shared or
worldwide

E.g.: the sun the Equator

the Republic the North Pole
the cosmos the Renaissance
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

The articles

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Logical use of
Definite THE
= the unique reference
explained by the
logical interpretation

of certain words as
post-determiners and
adjectives
 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

The articles

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Logical use of
Definite THE
• Ordinals
(E.g.: first, second)
• General ordinals
E.g.: - When is the first flight to Chicago?
- This is the only remaining copy. (E.g.: next, last, only)
• Superlative Adjs
- Of the three newspapers we have in
this city, this is the best. (E.g.: best, largest)
 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
The articles

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Definite With body parts = when the possessor…
• is subject (1)
E.g.: - My mother complains of a pain
• may be implied rather
in the neck. (1)
than stated (2)
- The doctor diagnosed a fracture
of the collarbone. (2) • is relevant or clear (3)
- Keep the back straight when serving
and your tennis will be better. (3)
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Indefinite articles a/an

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The referent: not mentioned before, and
assumedly unfamiliar to the speaker or hearer.

C/f:
(1) A house on the corner is for sale.
(2) The house on the corner is for sale.
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

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Indefinite articles
a/an

Non-referring uses Substitution uses for ONE

 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Indefinite articles

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a/an
= with complement function, and a
Non-referring uses descriptive role rather than a referring
role
E.g.: - What a miserable day it is!

= sometimes not referring to

anything in reality
E.g.: - Bob wants to marry a
princess who speaks five
languages.
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Indefinite articles a/an

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Substitution uses for ONE

numerical or quantifying function

substitute and generic function

 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Indefinite articles a/an

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Substitution uses for ONE

numerical or quantifying function

In expression: a In quantifiers: a few, In measure phrase:

dozen, a hundred… a great many… ten dollars a day…
REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Indefinite articles a/an

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Substitution uses for ONE

substitute and generic function

= any representative of the class

E.g. E.g.: - A woman needs love and support from a
man.
 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Zero (Ø) article

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Noun phrases in a copular
relation

Noun phrases with sporadic

reference

Parallel structures

Fixed phrases
 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Noun phrases in a copular
Zero (Ø) relation
article

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E.g.: - John F. Kennedy was
= where the complement
(the) President of the United
means a unique role or task
States in 1961.
= When the appositional N.P
E.g.: - Chelsea centre-forward
indicating a unique role or
Milton Smith
task is placed first
E.g.: - Jenny started out as a
= When the complement of
turn is used (even when there music student before she turned
is no implication of uniqueness)
linguist.
 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Zero (Ø) article Noun phrases with sporadic
reference

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Times of day
Institutions Seasons
and night

Means of transport
Meals Illnesses
and communication
 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Zero (Ø) article Noun phrases with sporadic
reference

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= nouns do not refer to actual buildings or
Institutions
places, but to institutions associated with
them
E.g.: - “to be in prison” means to be a prisoner
 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Noun phrases with sporadic
Zero (Ø) article reference

Means of E.g.: travel bicycle

transportation leave bus
by
communicate radio
post

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 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Noun phrases with sporadic
Zero (Ø) article reference

Times of day = take a zero article particularly after

and night
at, by, after and before

E.g.: at/ before dawnby day and night

when day breaks after nightfall

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 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Noun phrases with sporadic
Zero (Ø) article reference

Meals = as an institution recurring day by

day
(for specific meals: THE/ A(N))
E.g.: - She’s having lunch with her client.
- That day, the lunch was served on the terrace.

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 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Noun phrases with sporadic
Zero (Ø) article reference

= as seasons generally, or a particular

Seasons
part of a particular year (for a particular
season: THE/ A(N))
E.g.: - Winter is coming.
- The spring of last year was cold.

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 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES
Noun phrases with sporadic
Zero (Ø) article reference

Illnesses Note: for well-known infectious

diseases such as: THE/ A(N)

E.g.: diabetes influenza pneumonia

(the) flu (the mumps) (the) meals
a fever a temperature a cold

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 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Zero (Ø) article Parallel structures

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one noun balanced
the same noun
against another
repeated after a
noun of contrasting
preposition meaning
E.g.: day by day E.g.: from father to son
eye to eye husband and wife
 REFERENCE – THE ARTICLES

Zero (Ø) article Fixed phrases

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Idioms = nouns
Idioms = verbs
with
with nouns and
prepositions
prepositions
before/after
E.g.: in turn E.g.: set fire to
on foot get word of
ACTIVITY 4: READING A STORY

What women really

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want
(Author Unknown)
 Fill in each blank with one article
or a possessive pronoun.
ACTIVITY 5: DISCUSSING A DEBATE
 Issues in the university entrance
test of English

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HOMEWORK
 Create a list of things that give a
feeling.

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 Write a general introduction
about yourself.
 Exercises 51-53 in Handout 1
SAMPLE
Iwas born in 1986 in Hải Dương, Việt Nam. After my
graduation from Faculty of Philology, Hanoi University of
Education, I have participated in a wide range of
activities in literature and arts. I am currently studying

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Vietnamese contemporary literature in a Master of Arts
course at Hanoi University of Education.
My poems, short stories, essays and articles have been
published in a number of independent art forums
overseas, including Talawas, Damau, and Tienve , as well
as Vietnamese magazines and journals such as Lao
Động, Thể Thao Văn Hóa, Văn Nghệ Trẻ, Tạp Chí Văn Hóa
Nghệ Thuật, etc. I am considered as an independent
young poet and journalist who attempts to renovate
Vietnamese literature. I am also a persistent supporter of
avant–garde literary trends in contemporary Vietnam, in
theory and in act. Now I am living in Hanoi.
 
REFERENCES
 Summerfield, G. & Andrews, R. (1983).
Words 2. London: Cassell.

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 Quirk, R. & Greenbaum, S. (1987). A
university grammar of English.
Longman.
 Slides by the Grammar group (Division
of English Linguistics, Faculty of
Linguistics and Cultures of English
Speaking Countries, University of
Languages and International Studies,
Vietnam National University Hanoi)