Helping students master the relative clauses and do multiple - Choice exercises well

	 Table of contents
1. Introduction  .... ... 2
    1.1.Rationale... ..2
    1.2.Aims of the study. .... ..2
 1.3. Objects of the study  .. ... .. ... 3
    1.4. Methods of the study .3
    1.5. New points of experiential initiative. 3
2.The contents of experiential initiative....3
    2.1. Theoretical basis of experiential initiative  ...3
 2.1.1. Defining relative clause....4
 2.1.2. Non- defining relative clause...8
 2.1.3. Sentence relative clause.10
 2.2. The reality of the problem before applying the experiential initiative.11
 2.3. The solutions used to solve the problem ....... .11
 2.4. The effectiveness of experiential initiative for educational activities, oneself, colleagues and the school..15
3. Conclusion and suggestions....16	
 3.1. Conclusion .16
 3.2. Suggestions...17
References...18
	 EXPERIENTIAL INITIATIVE
 The title :
"Helping students master the relative clauses and DO multiple-choice exercises WELL".
   1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
 According to the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and Training, from the academic year of 2006, implementing the form of multiple-choice tests for English subjects at the high school graduation exams and university and college exams nationwide. With this form of examination , in the current high school English program, the relative clause is a very important part of knowledge in the graduation exams and university and college exams. However, students often have confusion about the usage of relative pronouns and relative clauses. Therefore, in order to do well on multiple-choice exercises in relative clauses, students need to understand the problems. Basically, related to relative pronouns, relative clauses and changing from doing self-essay exercises into multiple choice exercises. Before that situation, I chose the topic "Helping students master the relative clauses and doing well the multiple-choice exercises on relative clauses".
1.2.Aims of the study
-Helping students master the usage of defining relative clause and non-defining relative clause .
- Helping students understand the problems relating to relative clauses.
- Helping students do types of exercises well.
1.3. Objects of the study
- Types of relative clauses and the problems relating to them such as relative pronouns, omission of relative pronouns , reduced form of relative clauses.
- Types of exercises
1.4. Methods of the study
 To achieve the aims of the study, the study uses :
- research method of building theoretical basis
- methods of statistics and data processing
- methods of information collection
- descriptive and comparative methods .  
1.5. New points of experiential initiative.
- Providing a specific comparison of the differences between the two types of clauses: defining relative clause and non- defining relative clause. 
- Presenting cases of brief clauses of specific relation clauses. 
- Explanation of expenses Exercise format from essay to experimental form.
2. THE CONTENTS OF EXPERIENTIAL INITIATIVE
2.1. The theoretical basis of experiential initiative
Regarding this topic, in the theoretical section I will mention some of the following:
- Types of relative clauses
- Types of relative pronouns
- Reduced form of relative clauses
- Some basic exercises
Types of relative clauses:
The relative clauses in English includes the following three categories:
 + Defining relative clauses .
+ Non-defining relative clause .
+ The sentence relative clause.
 In the high school English program, students learn all three types of these relative clauses , they are defining relative clauses, non-defining relative clauses and the sentence relative clauses. In the framework of my research topic, I want to provide students with the basic knowledge of the relative clause so that students can do well in the form of the relative clause.
2.1.1. Defining relative clause
 2.1.1.1. Definition: The defining relative clause is a relative clause whose meaning plays an important role in determining the word and expression that it supports. It immediately follows the noun that it modifies. Before and after this clause there is no comma.
   Ex: The man who is standing at the door is my teacher.
 The clause "who is standing at the door" is a defining relative clause, which defines the prefix "the man". If you remove this clause, the reader does not know who to mention. 
2.1.1.2. The usage    
 Defining relative clauses are often used after:                
(+) The + Noun (singular)
Example : I like the ruler which my friend bought from England very much.
(+) A / AN + Noun (singular)
Example : I met a girl who wanted to see you.
(+)Noun plural without “the”.      
Example : Students who are learning Maths are intelligent .
(+) pronouns : none, anybody, somebody ,all.
 Ex: : I can see a girl who is running in the park.
 Sometimes defining relative clause is separated from the noun, the pronoun it describes by a word or a phrase.
EX : I saw something in the paper which would interest you.
2.1.1.3. The types of relative pronouns in the defining relative clause .
 - The defining relative clause is connected to the main clause by relative pronouns such as: who, whom, whose, which, that, of which. 
- Relative pronouns are used to replace nouns for person or objects, things and can act as subject, object or possessive meaning in the relative clause. 
Subject
object
possessive
person:
Who
That
Who/ Whom
That.
Whose.
thing:
Which
That.
Which
That
Whose/
Of Which.
a) Relative pronouns for people : Who / That
 * Acting as the subject .
- Who: is a relative pronoun used to replace the noun for a subject in a relative clause. 
 Ex1: He is the man. He talked to me last night. 
=>He is the man who talked to me last night .
Ex2: The girl is sitting by Jack. She is Mary 
=> The girl who is sitting by Jack is Mary.
 - Relative pronoun “who” can be repleced by “that”.
 Ex: This is the girl who / that has won the medal .
 * Acting as the object: Whom / Who / That  
- Whom: is a relative pronoun used to replace the noun for an object in a relative clause.       
 Ex: The man whom I saw yesterday is my aunt .
- It is common for people to use “who/that” in communicative English instead of “whom”. However, it can be omitted when it plays the role of the object.       
Ex: The boy is Tom. We are looking for him.     
 => The boy (whom) we are looking for is Tom. 
The relative pronouns “who / whom” replace the noun refering to the person who plays as the object after the prepositions in the relative clause .It is possible to reverse the preposition before the relative pronoun for formal English . However, do not use “that” and “who” in this case.  
Ex: These are the people. We went on holiday with them last night.          
 => These are the people with whom we went on holiday last night .
*Acting as possession: Whose    
-Whose: is a possessive relative pronoun used to refer to the noun for the preceding person . It is always accompanied by a noun.     
Ex1: The girl is lovely .Her father is working in this factory.         
The girl whose father is working in this factory is lovely.  
Ex2: I know a boy. His father is a doctor.       
I know a boy whose father is a doctor. 
b) Relative pronouns for things 
 * Acting as the subject: which / that 
-Which: is a relative pronoun used to replace nouns for objects, animals and things.     
Ex: The road leads to the village. It is wide.                
 => The road which leads to the village is wide. 
- That: can be used instead of “which”  .  
Ex: The parcel which ( that) came this afternoon is from my uncle .
*Acting as the object: that / which
- Relative pronoun which replaces nouns that refer to objects in the clauses can be replaced : “which” by “that”, or can remove from the relationship.    
  Ex: The book is intersting. I bought it yesterday. 
 => The book which (that) I bought yesterday is interesting. 
*Acting as the possession: whose, of which .
-whose: used to own only the name of the first standing object or person .
Ex 1 : The boy whose bicycle you borrowed yesterday is Tom.
Ex 2: That’s the car whose door is broken.
- Of which: used to own only nouns that stand before the property, not for people. 
EX1: She doesn’t want to speak of the cause of which she divorced her husband.
In the following cases, the relative pronoun "that" is used, not the pronoun “which, who”. 
+ After: all, little, much, few, none, same. 
+ Following the ordinal number: the first, the second ... 
+ Following the pronouns: noone, nobody, anyone, anyone, someone, somebody, something, anything ...    
Ex: Anyone that knows about the fact must be proud. 
+ Sometimes following : it is / it was ..
Ex: It is my mother that loves me most         
 It is pop music that my brother prefers 
+ Following the highest level of adjective comparison 
Ex: Sai Gon is the noisiest city I have ever met 
+ Following the mixed noun (both people and objects) 
Ex: Look at farmers and that cattle going to the field. 
- Relative pronoun which replaces the noun of the object after the prepositions in the adjective clauses . In the formal style, it is possible to reverse the preposition before relative pronoun,and “that” is not used in this case.    
 Ex: I found the letter for which I was looking .
2.1.1.4. Reduced form of relative clauses.           
 The defining relative clauses can be shortened when the relative pronoun is a subject of this clause and is shortened by the present participle (V-ing), the past participle (V-ed) or the verb with "to". 
a) Defining relative clauses can be shortened by a "to" verb when it follows the phrase only: numerical order, the superlatives, the words: the only, the next, the last .... 
Ex 1: The first man who traveled to outer space was Neil Armstrong. 
The first man to travel to the outer space was Neil Armstrong. 
Ex 2: This is the youngest champion that has won 15 competitions in a row. 
=> This is the youngest champion to win/ to have won 15competitions in a row .
b) Defining relative clauses can be shortened with the present participle  
(V-ing) if the verb is in simple or continuing tenses and is active. 
Ex 1: The fence which surrounds our house is made of wood. 
The fence surrounding our house is made of wood. 
 Ex 2: The detective was looking at a woman who was wearing a red dress.
=> The detective was looking at a woman wearing a red dress. 
c) Defining relative clauses can be shortened by the past participle (V-ed) if verbs are passive. 
Ex 1: I like reading short stories which was written by Nam Cao. 
I like reading short stories written by Nam Cao. 
Ex 2: The books which were written by To Hoài are interesting. 
=> The books written by To Hoai are interesting. 
2.1.2. Non defining relative clauses.
 2.1.2.1. Definition
- This is a relative clause with a support function rather than a decisive role in determining the meaning of the word or phrase it supports. Therefore, the relative clause can be completely omitted but the sentence is still meaningful  . Between main clause and relative clause, there is always a comma.
Ex 1: Mr Smith, who is standing at the door, is my teacher.
       The clause "who is standing at the door" is a non- defining relative clause because the reader already knows who Mr Smith is, it only adds information to the prefix.
Ex 2: I’ll be staying with Adrian, with brother is one of my closest friends.
2.1.2.2.The uasge
 Non- defining relative clause is used in the following cases:
+ Using with proper nouns.
Ex: We all like Michael, who has a good sense of humor.
 + Using with unique nouns such as the sun, the earth, the moon, my father, my mother ...
Ex: My father, who is 60 years old, has just retired.
+ Using with nouns already defined, often used with specified words such as: this, that, these, those.
Ex: They enjoyed that performance, which was very impressive.
+ When relative pronouns go with number words such as all of, many of, some of, most of, none of, half of, each of.
Ex: I bought a lot of books, all of which are about wildlife.
2.1.2.3.Types of relative pronouns are used in non defining relative clauses.
Subject 
Object 
Posseesive
person
Who
Whom/ Who
Whose
thing
Which
Which
Whose/ of Which
a)Relative pronouns for people : Who / That
* Acting as the subject .
Only use the relation pronoun "who"
      Ex1: This is Ho Chi Minh. He wrote "NKTT"
              => This is Ho Chi Minh, who wrote "NKTT".
      Ex2: My father is interested in stamp collection. He is a sailor
               => My father, who is a sailor, is interested in stamp collection.
* Acting as the object: Whom / Who
- Usually use “whom” but “who” is sometimes used in communitive English.
 - For non – defining relative clauses, “who, whom” are not omitted when they act as objects.    
Ex1: Peter turned out to be innocent. Everyone suspected him.       
 => Peter, whom everyone suspected, turned out to be innocent.
 - When the relative pronoun as an object after prepositions is not omitted. Preposition is commonly placed at the end of this clause ,which is commonly used in conversational English and “Who” is often replaced by “Whom”.  
   Ex: Peter was fitter than me. I played tennis with him on Sunday.    
Peter, with whom I played tennis on Sunday, was fitter than me. 
Or => Peter, who I played tennis with on Sunday, was fitter than me. 
* Acting as the possession: whose
-Whose: is a possessive relative pronoun used to refer to the noun for the preceding person, always accompanied by a noun.     
Ex1: Mary is trying to get a job . Her children are at school all day.       
  => Mary , whose children are at school all day , is trying to get a job.
b) Relative pronouns for things .
* Acting as the subject: which 
 Only use the relative pronoun “which”.  
Ex: We are moving to Mancher .It is in the North-West. 
-> We are moving to Mancher, which is in the North-West.
* Acting as the object: Which  
 "That" is not used in this case and "which" cannot be removed.     
Ex: The peace, which Oxford once knew, has been swept away. 
* Acting as the possession :Whose / of which    
 -  “Whose”: used for both person and thing .    
Example: My computer, whose mouse doesn can't work, can not be used now. 
 - “Of which”: can be used for objects, but not commonly excepted for formal English.     
  Notes:
 • For defining relative clause.
 + Used "That" in the defining relative clause 
  + "who, whom and which" are omitted when they play the role of objects.   
  + Do not use commas to separate relative clause with the main clause. 
• For non – defining relative clauses   .
 + Do not use “That” in non- defining relative clause.    
+ "who, whom and which" are omitted when they play the role of objects.   
 + Use commas to separate relative clause with the main clause 
2.1.3. Sentence relative clause. 
- This relative clause does not complement the prefix noun but adds information to the entire main clause or comments, attitudes of the speaker. 
- This relative clause must be placed after the main clause and separated from the main clause with a comma. 
- Only using the relative pronoun“which”, not using the relative pronoun “that”. Ex 1: Tom deletes the driving test, which suprised everyone. 
 (Tom passes the driver's license exam and this surprised everyone) 
Ex 2: Paul is always throwing his dirty clothes on the floor, which makes his mother annoyed.  
2.2. The reality of the problem before applying the experiential initiative.
 Relative clauses and relative pronouns are a part of the broad knowledge frequently used in national high school exams. However, when teaching and reviewing for students , teachers often have difficulities : how to get students to approach and master the relative pronouns , Which relative pronoun is used for person , for thing and which relative pronouns play the role of the subject, the object ...
 For students : it is also difficult to distinguish the usage of types of relative clauses and relative pronouns.
2.3. The solutions used to solve the problem.
- For teachers: 
 Giving the most basic problems of relative clauses and relative pronouns and helping them to master the usage, then giving the exercises for them to apply.
 - For students : Ask them to master the theory, discuss and do exercises to help them remember their knowledge deeply.
Here are some basic exercises        
*Form 1: Filling the appropriate relative pronouns into the blank .  
  This is a popular exercise in relative clauses, it is highly effective because it recreates the usage of relative pronouns, used for people or thing , and subject or object and which clause is used.   In order to do well in this form of exercise , students must apply the knowledge presented in Part 2.1.
Exercise: 
Choose one answer (A, B, C or D) which best completes the sentence. 
1. My uncle ................ you met yesterday is a lawyer. 
	a. which 	b. who 	c. whose	d. to whom 
2. These adults, ............. come to my night class, are very eager to learn. 
	a. who 	b. whose 	c. that 	d. when
3. Do you know the driver .............. took them to town last night? 
	a. whom 	b. who 	c. which 	d. where 
4. He talked about the books and the authors ....................... interested him 
	a. who 	b. that 	c. when 	d. which 
5. The boy ................. father is in prison is my friend. 
	a. who 	b. whom 	c. whose 	d. which 
6.The artists, ................... painting you bought, is a classmate of mine. 
	a. which 	b. that 	c. whose	d. whom 
7. I have two sisters, ...................... are very good at computer science .
	a. whom 	b. who 	c. both of them 	 d. both of whom 
8. Some of the boys ................. didn not come 
	a. whom I invited them 	b. I invited them 	
	c.I invited 	 d. when I invited 
9. She is going to sell the business, ............................. is a great shame. 
	a. that 	b. It is 	c. which 	d. what 
10. Mexico city, ....................... is the capital of Mexico, is a cosmopolitan .
 a. what 	b.that 	c. which 	d. where 
Form 2: Indicating the mistake and correctin it.          
 When doing the test, students only need to choose the wrong answer, but in the classroom, when doing exercises the teacher asks ,the students have to find the wrong answer , then correct it. 
Exercise: Choose word or phrase A, B, C or D that needs correcting. 
1. Dr Harder , that is the professor for this class , will be absent this week 
 A B C 
because of illness.
 D 
2. If you need any information, see the librarian sits at the central desk on the 
 A B C
 second floor.
 D
3. On the wall, there is a colorful poster which consists of a group of young 
 A B C
 people who dancing.
 D 
4. When we walked pass the theater, there were a lot of people waited in a long 
 A B C
 line outside the box office.
 D 
5. It’s important to be polite to people who lives in the same building.
 A B C D
   Form 3 : Combine thr following the pairs of groups of sentences by means of relative pronouns .
 This is a form of written exercise, when teaching I often give students exercise to combine sentences, then I instruct them to apply it to a multiple choice exercise. This type of exercise when moving to the test is usually in the form: give two simple sentences then ask to choose the best matching option. 
 Ex: John Smith is a farmer. I bought his land. 
 a. John Smith, whose land I bought, is a farmer 
 b. John Smith, who is a farmer, whose land I bought.
 c. John Smith, a farmer, bought his land 
 d. John Smith, who I bought his land, is a farmer.       
 Obviously we see here that the best option must be "a" .To do this exercise, students need to understand how to join two or more single sentences into co