Period 2　Learning about Language

The part of vocabulary learning mainly involves some systematic knowledge about word-formation as well as mastering important vocabulary and phrases. In grammar learning we focus on subject-verb agreement and help students discover the rules to decide the number for a collective noun. There are accompanying exercises. Systematic explanation shall be given help consolidate the knowledge acquired.

Step 1 Noun suffixes in word formation

1. Brainstorm: word formation 

T: We know that Jane Goodall has done a lot for the chimps. She has argued for the chimps to be left in the wild. That is to say, what has she made for the chimps to be left in the wild?

Ss: Arguments.

T: (writes argue and argument on the blackboard and underlines -ment) Good. She did a lot and finally achieved her goal. That is to say, she made...?

Ss: She made achievements.

T:(writes achieve and achievement on the black board and underlines -ment) Good.

Now let's have a look at the blackboard. Can you see anything in common in the two pairs of words?

S: Yes. The noun "argument" comes from the verb "argue", adding "-ment". The noun "achievement" comes from the verb "achieve", adding "-ment" too.We can see "-ment" can be added to a verb to make a noun.

T: Very good. You've got very keen eyes. This way to form a new word is called word formation. Here, "-ment" is called a suffix, which can be added to another word to form a new word. Do you want to know more about suffixes?