Tackling the "Independent Clause as Subject" Problem
Alice Y.W. CHAN, Becky S.C. KWAN, & David C.S. LI
City University of Hong Kong
This article discusses the nature and causes of a common
problem encountered by intermediate ESL learners in Hong Kong — the
problem of using an independent clause as a subject in sentences such as "Snoopy
is leaving makes us all very happy" and suggests an algorithmic approach
to error correction to help students overcome the problem. It is suggested that
both L1- and L2-related factors may contribute to students' making of error. The
algorithmic approach suggested, which aims at arousing students' consciousness
of the nature of the anomaly and providing some effective ways of correcting it,
is characterized by four main features: (1) pedagogically sound input requiring
minimal cognitive effort: (2) proceduralized steps supported by instructive examples;
(3) explicit rules to help learners conceptualize the correction procedure; and
(4) reinforcement exercises. Remedial instruction materials designed for correcting
the anomaly and for alerting students to the differences between an independent
clause and a dependent clause — a linguistic
concept essential for the effective correction of the structure —
are included for exemplification. It is argued that with
the help of carefully-designed algorithmic steps which take the form of instructional
language or questions, students can be guided to progressively approximate the
target language norm.
