This Jack's Built House Is
Alice Svendson, USA
Alice Svendson teaches university students in Tokyo, Japan, and has also taught ESL in the U.S. She has co-authored a conversation textbook for Japanese university students, and particularly enjoys teaching academic writing.
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This Jack's Built House Is
Raising Students Awareness of L1 Syntax
Incorporating Opportunities to Practice Right-branching
Steps 1-4
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Steps 1-3
References
Appendices 1 and 2
This is the title that targets a problem that students have.
And this is the article that explains the title
that targets the problem that students have.
"This Jack's built house is" employs the kind of syntax used in Japanese, and many other languages, such as Korean, that follow what Yamamoto-Wilson (1997) explains as a left branching pattern with relative clauses. The modifying clause is positioned in front of the head noun. English, on the other hand, requires a right branching pattern, i.e. the relative clause, "that Jack built" is positioned after the noun it modifies, "the house." Japanese is also a topic-comment language, an SOV language, which places the verb at the end of the sentence.
As an adult learner of Japanese, one of the most difficult challenges of the language for me has been the syntactical difference of left branching. Other adult learners of Japanese have concurred with the opinion that it is a difficult hurdle when learning to speak. So, after many years of studying Japanese, I have learned that it is important to make a conscious effort to practice patterns employing a left branching method until it finally feels natural to speak in a "reversed" order. I would like to make the case, firstly, that as teachers, as much as possible, we be aware of our students' L1 syntax regarding nouns and modifiers, respecting the difficulties students have in transferring the knowledge of how to build sentences. Secondly, that we try to raise our students' own awareness of their L1 syntax patterns, and thirdly, that we incorporate into our lessons many opportunities for students to practice the right branching patterns of English.
For some teachers L1 interference is a taboo phrase; however, rather than viewing interference as a negative element, I agree with Yamamoto-Wilson and others who think of it as a resource to be dealt with. The writer makes an appropriate analogy regarding teaching English clause structure. He says it is like teaching someone to throw a ball with his left hand rather than his right hand. We are not teaching him to throw the ball. He already knows how to throw. (Yamamoto-Wilson, 1997) So, too, our students know how to construct compound and complex sentences with modifiers in their native language. We must respect that level of competence and use it as a resource.
Yamamoto-Wilson (1997) suggests a few tasks which help to point out some of the differences between clause constructions in the two linguistically opposite languages, in his case Japanese and English. I have slightly modified his task to refer specifically to relative clauses. One way to focus students' attention on certain structures is to have them highlight the relative pronoun in a sentence. Then to mark the modifying clause, and to note the position of the noun modified. This could be done in groups, and a class or group discussion could ensue, in which students would be free to translate the sentence into Japanese or their L1 and compare the differences in word order. Once students become conscious of the differences, and they know teachers are aware of their difficulties, the hurdle is then lowered substantially, and their effort increases, I believe.
Ketko (2000), in her article describing a study comparing native speaker use of multi-word chunks and non-native speaker use, emphasizes the need for integrating grammar and lexis, as well as the need to shift from vocabulary teaching to "chunk teaching." As students become more aware of clauses and the importance of positioning them in the sentence, they will understandably move away from building sentences word-by-word and think more in terms of chunks, or blocks to build with.
This brings us back to Jack and his house. For many years I've wanted to use this famous nursery rhyme, but couldn't quite figure out how to make a lesson that would be communicative enough to warrant its use, and adult enough to attract older students. As the authors, Maley and Duff, (1989) point out in the introduction to, The Inward Ear, poetry has taken a back seat to functional and communicative forms of language taught today.
The authors go on to offer many wonderful ideas on how to incorporate poems into the EFL classroom, and are strong advocates of the use of poems, arguing that they have a rightful place among other teaching materials used today, as do many other writers. Collie and Ladousse (1991) introduced an anthology of short contemporary poems to be used in the EFL classroom, and many other teachers experiment with poetry in the form of limericks (Venema, 2007), chants, haiku, as well as song lyrics.
Confirmed and encouraged by colleagues I looked back on my own experience as a language learner. I realized 1.) It is important to focus on patterns of word order, helping students become aware of syntax. Even if it doesn't achieve a communicative goal, it is a step in that direction. 2.) To practice patterns in fun ways is an important step in leading students toward competence. As well, I realized that the light subject matter of nursery rhymes facilitates learning the patterns in that it allows the students to focus on the form without having to dwell heavily on an issue or weighty substance. Students don't need to have an opinion about Jack or his house or how it is going to affect the environment. They can just sit back and enjoy this unique form of oral English.
Still, it may seem hard to justify chorus-style repetition drills or pattern practice. But as the authors, Maley and Duff, go on to say in a later chapter of their book, because of their intended emphasis on sound patterns, some poems and chants are meant to be read aloud, hence the rationale for class participation in reciting them. As well they are closer to spoken English in many ways than many samples of dialogue found in some textbooks.
Step One
Download and copy the nursery rhyme for each student. There are several printable versions on the internet.(see Appendix 1) Also, because of the level of the class and size, I used only the first six stanzas. Have the students read it aloud several times in groups, as a class, or line by line individually so that each student reads a line aloud. This warm-up time introduces them to the patterns and the story. Then have the students divide the verses into chunks, separating and highlighting the relative clauses. Have them notice where the noun is in relation to its modifier in each verse.
Step Two
The teacher will have to prepare pictures of the noun objects in the poem, for example, from the rebus version, one could enlarge the pictures of the house, the malt, the rat, the cat, the dog, and the cow, and cut them out. Students then stand around in a circle. Seven of the students pick numbers from one to seven, and they proceed in that order. The other students are "free" to watch and listen. Student #1 holds up the picture of the house, and reads the first line, "This is the house that Jack built." Student #2 picks up the malt picture and says, "This is the malt that lay in the house" and #1 repeats her line, "that Jack built." Student #3 says, "This is the rat that ate the malt, " and #2 repeats, "that lay in the house, and #1 "that Jack built." The students continue in chorus style until all seven have introduced their picture (the noun head) and the others have repeated their lines (the relative clause).
This chorus style has the advantage of engaging all students continuously, as the poem calls for the repetition of clauses as the sentence builds and expands. The repetition helps to reinforce the syntactic positions and the change of voice makes students aware of the word order in a concrete way.
There is a symbolic value to the students being assigned to chunks of words, i.e., each to a different relative clause. The chunking aspect of sentence building becomes obvious as each student repeats sets of words rather than single words.
Step Three
The above step could be repeated with seven different students. After that, the next step would be to transfer the activity to a new story with new pictures (a house, bird, cat, dog, man, woman, child). Seven other students pick numbers and again proceed in that numerical order. The pictures are lined up in a numerical order from one to seven so that each student associates his number with the matching picture. Student #1 begins with "This is the house that Jack built" and #2 continues with, "This is the bird that ____ into the house " and #1 repeats "that Jack built. Number 3 continues with "This is the cat that _____ the bird" and #2 repeats that … and #1 repeats that … The sentence expands until all pictures have been picked up and the objects introduced.
In this step the students are substituting their own verbs and both teacher and students can prompt with silent motions and gestures to help each other with verbs to use, such as "flew" or "chased" or "ate." A sample version is included in the appendix.
An additional benefit in using this particular nursery rhyme is that it gives students practice in yet another grammar area, which is that of past tense. All the verbs are in the past, which gives students the opportunity to practice them, as well as produce their own verbs later in the activity.
Step Four
In groups, students could then move on to making their own models of the poem, using fewer clauses, and using original texts, and drawing pictures. Here are a few samples.
- This is the movie that I saw last week. This is the actor who played in the movie that I saw last week.
- This is a piece of the cake that I ate. This is the store where I bought the cake that I ate.
- This is the cell phone that my mother gave me for my birthday. This is the strap that I bought for the cell phone that my mother gave me.
Students could exchange pictures and try to repeat each other's examples. Once the idea for the activity is established, the teacher can go back to it at another time letting the students create original sentences based on a specific theme or recently learned vocabulary. Giving the activity a name makes it more student-friendly, as well as creating an easy association for students. For example, calling it the "Loony Links" or "Crazy Links" or "Laugh Links" would be enough for students to quickly recall the activity to recycle it.
This nursery rhyme is a favorite of mine. It is fun to read aloud, it is meant to be read aloud, and doing so is a painless way to practice rhythm, stress, intonation, as well as the linking and dropping of syllables, which are characteristic of spoken English. Not only does it enable students to feel more comfortable with the sound aspects of English, but it also highlights some of the conversational gems which sparkle in every verse. "I dunno why she swallowed a fly." "There was an …," are examples of the way we link and drop syllables in spoken English and "How absurd" and "Imagine that" are phrases that could make students' conversational English sound more natural in turn taking situations. Not all of the language is modern spoken English, but there is enough to warrant using it for students' enjoyment and familiarity with the sounds of English.
For our purposes, this nursery rhyme serves as a tool in the same way as the first one - to raise students' awareness of the syntax of L2 (English), and to incorporate opportunities to practice right branching. It also serves to reveal how the sound techniques of English convey meaning.
Step One
Download and copy the nursery rhyme for each student. (See Appendix 2) Go over it with the students, copies in hand. I used only five verses, although the poem consists of seven. Point out to the students some of the rhyming words - fly/die, spider/inside her, bird/absurd, cat/that. When read aloud, students begin to appreciate the need to link sounds, and drop the initial /h/ in "her" to keep the rhythm of the sentence, and to produce the rhyme with "spider."
In using limericks in the classroom, Venema (2007) sees the advantage of the "rhythm and stress as an ideal way to introduce a variety of aspects of connected speech." Stress and reduction patterns become evident to students. They will gradually appreciate the way stressed and unstressed syllables, linking and reduction amplify meaning.
Regarding syntax, there are two examples of relative clauses in this nursery rhyme, which are repeated as the leavening effect of the poem becomes obvious. "The old lady who …" and "the spider that …" These are wonderful opportunities for students to get familiar with this syntax pattern. As you may have guessed, in Japanese, this sentence would be "the swallowed spider old lady" keeping with the left branching pattern.
The syntactical structure for "purpose," as in "to catch the fly" is also repeated creating a crescendo effect as each additional animal that the old lady swallows is added to the list.
Step Two
After modeling the phrases several times, with students joining in, begin the performance in which students participate, either as the chorus, or as individual performers.
If the teacher decides to do the first five verses only, then he/she will need to prepare four pictures (a spider, a bird, a cat, and a dog) and as many chorus slips as there are students involved. Just the written word "chorus" on slips of paper would suffice for those in the chorus, but pictures would be better for the four verses. Let the students pick secretly from a bag or basket, and those who pick pictures recite the corresponding verses, those who pick "chorus" participate in reciting the chorus.
Step Three
All students recite the first three lines of the poem. Then the student who picked the spider begins the first verse of three lines. Then all students come in to repeat the chorus of two lines. Next, the student who has the picture of the bird recites the first four lines of the next verse, and student #1 comes in with her line, and then the chorus. Next, the cat steps up, recites three lines, then student #2, then #1, then the chorus. Next, the dog steps up, recites three lines, then #3, #2, #1 and lastly the chorus. If this sounds confusing, please refer to the appendix.
The above activity can be repeated with different students taking the various parts, depending on how large the class is. One word of caution, which Maley and Duff also point out, is that if some students are reticent about participating individually, they can be part of the chorus. They don't have to join in, but will probably choose to get involved as they see this is a non-threatening, enjoyable way to learn some of the patterns of English.
Collie, J. and Ladousse, G. P. (1991) Paths into poetry. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Ketko, H. (2000) "Importance of multi-word chunks in facilitating communicative competence and its pedagogic implications" The Language Teacher, available at
Maley, A. and Duff, A. (1989) The inward ear: poetry in the language classroom, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Venoma, J. (2007) "Using limericks to introduce connected speech." 2007. The Language Teacher, April, 2007, vol.31, no. 4
Yamamoto-Wilson, J. R. (1997) "Can a knowledge of Japanese help our EFL teaching?" available at www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/97/jan/yamamoto.html
Appendix 1
This is the house that Jack built: lyrics
This is the house that Jack built!
This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cat that killed the rat
That ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cock that crowed in the morn
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the farmer sowing his corn
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built!
Appendix 2
There was an Old Lady
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and wiggled and jiggled inside her;
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cat;
Fancy that to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady that swallowed a dog;
What a hog, to swallow a dog;
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cow,
I don't know how she swallowed a cow;
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a horse...
She's dead, of course!
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