Download - Guided Error Correction - Exercises for Spanish-Speakers.students of English C1 Book 1 Sample

Michael Kennedy-Scanlon, Juli Cebrian and John Bradbury

Guided error correctionExercises for Spanish-speaking students of English

Level C1Book 1

Universitat Autnoma de BarcelonaServei de Publicacions

Bellaterra, 2009

Tripa Doc 91.qxd:DOCUMENTS 22/12/09 15:12 Pgina 3

Primera edici: desembre de 2009

Edici i impressiUniversitat Autnoma de Barcelona

Servei de PublicacionsEdifici A. 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Valls). Spain

Tel. 93 581 10 22. Fax 93 581 32 [email protected]

http://publicacions.uab.cat/

Fotografia de la coberta: Foxtunguesota llicncia de Creative Commons

Imprs a Espanya. Printed in Spain

Dipsit legal: B-46315-2009ISBN 978-84-490-2613-3

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the many people who piloted the first draft of this book, namely RuthAbasolo Monjo, Meritxell Balls Antonell, Jos Lus Cebrin Puyuelo, Xavier Cebrin Puyuelo,Laura Crespillo Gonzlez, Javier Fernndez Snchez, lex Gonzlez Vergs, Vernica HernndezVidales, Nria Juhera Bou, Alexandra Marn Fernndez, Aida Marin Mora, Adela Mena Garca,Sonia Priego Sempere, Rosa Maria Ribot Lloret and Marta Snchez Garca. We are also gratefulto Craig Chambers at the University of Toronto, Raquel Serrano Serrano at the University ofBarcelona and Jackie Neff at ESADE in Barcelona for their useful feedback.

Very special thanks to Mara Jess Sangorrn Garca for considerable assistance with translations,piloting, proofing and general support.


Contents

PREFACE / PRLOGO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Introduction to the exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Part A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Errors involving prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14About cognates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Errors involving problem cognates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Errors involving linking expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Errors involving word choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Part B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Part C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Guided error correction. Exercises, C1 Book 1 Documents 5


Preface/Prlogo

Durante los primeros aos de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera el alumno tienela grata sensacin de avanzar rpidamente. Esta sensacin es en parte una ilusin de-bida a dos factores principales. Por un lado, al principio su avance es ciertamente r-pido en trminos relativos ya que si empieza sabiendo diez palabras de la nueva len-gua y aprende diez ms en una semana, habr aumentado su vocabulario un 100%.Pero si la semana siguiente aprende diez palabras ms, el incremento relativo esa se-mana ser tan slo del 50% (relativo a las veinte palabras de la primera semana), ysi aprende diez palabras en la tercera semana el incremento ser del 33%, con lo queaunque el ritmo de aprendizaje se mantenga constante, el incremento relativo de se-mana en semana no tarda en parecer mnimo.

Por otro lado, despus de varios aos de aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera, nor-malmente el alumno ha asimilado las reglas gramaticales bsicas, lo que le permite,por ejemplo, hacer preguntas, conjugar verbos regulares y convertir adjetivos en ad-verbios. El conocimiento de estas reglas de aplicacin general es muy satisfactorioya que el aprendizaje de una simple regla permite un avance considerable en el usode esa lengua.

Sin embargo, una vez dominadas esas reglas generales propias de una primeraetapa, lo que queda por aprender de la lengua es cada vez ms especfico y menosgeneralizable. Se tiene la impresin de que todo lo dems son excepciones. Intentarasimilar un nmero cada vez mayor de este tipo de informacin detallada es unalabor difcil y desmoralizadora, cuya consecuencia es a menudo una sensacin de noavanzar en el aprendizaje.

Adems, las expectativas de aprendizaje propias de un estudiante de nivel avan-zado hacen que el alumno se sienta frustrado por los errores que contina come-tiendo a pesar de haber estudiado explcitamente las estructuras o las palabras co-rrespondientes. Es decir, cuando el alumno se lanza a utilizar la lengua extranjerasuele ser ms comprensivo con sus propias faltas en un primer momento que cuan-do lleva cinco aos de aprendizaje y la experiencia acumulada y la prctica deber-an haber sido suficientes para no cometer esas faltas.

Con este libro pretendemos precisamente dar respuesta a esta sensacin de frus-tracin de los estudiantes de nivel avanzado. Por un lado, los aspectos tratados co-rresponden a temas lxico-gramaticales muy concretos. Por otro lado, estos temashan sido seleccionados porque reflejan los errores ms reincidentes que cometen losestudiantes de ingls de nivel avanzado, recopilados a lo largo de nuestra experien-cia colectiva de muchos aos como profesores de lengua inglesa.

Los ejercicios que presenta este libro, por lo tanto, se basan en el tipo de detallesy distinciones sutiles relevantes para este nivel, pero sin ninguna pretensin de ge-

Guided error correction Exercises, C1 Book 1 Documents 7


neralizar. El libro ofrece al estudiante de ingls un nmero limitado de tipos de errory un mtodo de aprendizaje y evaluacin de los mismos, favoreciendo as el pro-greso y la sensacin de avance.

Nuestro enfoque se basa en varias suposiciones. La primera es que la mayora delos errores que comete el estudiante de nivel avanzado es el resultado de la interfe-rencia de la primera lengua, en este caso, el espaol. Dicho de un modo sencillo, unavez superadas las diferencias ms evidentes entre el ingls y el espaol, la simplesubstitucin de la palabra o expresin espaola por la correspondiente expresin in-glesa suele ser una estrategia inicial efectiva para producir frases inglesas, pero haycasos en los que esta estrategia deja de funcionar y se comete un error.

Este tipo de error es especialmente problemtico por la dificultad que tiene el ha-blante de espaol de detectarlo, debido a que en principio la construccin inglesa pa-rece sonar bien. Una consecuencia aadida es que, aunque el estudiante intuya quela forma usada no es correcta en ingls, tal vez desconozca la importancia del error.Para el hablante nativo de ingls, sin embargo, el error puede ser tan flagrante comoun error gramatical bsico, a veces incluso llegando a impedir la comprensin.

La correccin de las faltas supone pues dos tareas distintas. Primero hay que re-conocer el error y despus proporcionar la correccin adecuada del mismo. El dise-o de este libro de ejercicios refleja esta dualidad. Los ejercicios de correccin deerrores estn agrupados en tres secciones. En los ejercicios de las dos primeras sec-ciones (Part A y Part B) los errores aparecen identificados y la labor del estudianteconsiste nicamente en su correccin. En cambio, en la tercera seccin (Part C) loserrores no estn identificados y el estudiante debe realizar las dos tareas, es decir, pri-mero localizar el error y despus corregirlo. Este enfoque basado en estos dos pasos,deteccin y correccin, es lo que hemos llamado correccin guiada de errores.

La segunda suposicin es que las caractersticas del lenguaje se aprenden a basede repeticin e implicacin, y que la necesidad de repeticin es especialmente rele-vante en el caso de errores que derivan de la influencia de la lengua materna. Poreste motivo, cada uno de los errores que se trabajan en el libro aparece en seis oca-siones distintas a lo largo de los ejercicios. En los ejercicios de la seccin A, los erro-res aparecen agrupados por categora (preposiciones, falsos amigos, vocabulario,conjunciones). Todos los errores introducidos en esta primera seccin vuelven a apa-recer en la seccin B, donde los errores no aparecen por categora pero s identifi-cados, y en la seccin C, en la que los errores ya no estn localizados.

No podemos ignorar que la labor de intentar aprender la correccin de un totalde 104 errores corre el peligro de convertirse rpidamente en una tarea pesada y abu-rrida. Por eso hemos diseado este libro para ser usado no de una manera sistemti-ca y secuencial en la clase sino ms bien como una serie de ejercicios de correccinde una pgina que el estudiante de ingls puede ir completando en los momentos quesean convenientes y durante el rato que le parezca oportuno. Cada ejercicio ocupauna pgina y contiene entre 10 y 16 frases con un error cada una. La solucin a cadaejercicio est en la pgina siguiente, donde se indica la forma correcta en negrita.Por lo tanto, se puede realizar un ejercicio y comprobar su solucin en tan slo unosminutos.

8 Documents Michael Kennedy-Scanlon, Juli Cebrian, John Bradbury


Por ltimo, la correccin de los errores no estara completa sin una explicacinde los mismos. Con esta finalidad, el libro cuenta tambin con una seccin de notasexplicativas al final en la que se explica brevemente el error y su correccin, ascomo otras aclaraciones de inters. Cada correccin en las pginas de soluciones vaacompaada de un nmero superndice que indica dnde encontrar la correspon-diente explicacin en la seccin de notas explicativas. Lgicamente cada error tieneel mismo superndice cada vez que aparece con lo que el estudiante puede consultarla nota explicativa correspondiente tantas veces como sea necesario.

Es importante sealar que los errores y sus soluciones respectivas pueden variarbastante en complejidad. Por ejemplo, los errores de vocabulario pueden tener unasolucin diferente segn el contexto en el que aparece la palabra incorrecta. Lasnotas explicativas estn pensadas para ayudar a entender esta variabilidad y a eseefecto a veces se comentan diversas posibilidades.

Nota: Este libro forma parte de una serie de tres libros basados en el mtodo de correccin guiadade errores. Si bien el libro correspondiente al nivel B2 contiene errores por lo general ms bsicosque los otros dos, los libros se pueden usar independientemente y el uso de un libro no requiere habercompletado los anteriores.

Guided Error Correction. Exercises for Spanish-speaking students of English. Level B2 (MichaelKennedy-Scanlon, Elisabet Pladevall Ballester, Juli Cebrian).

Guided Error Correction. Exercises for Spanish-speaking students of English. Level C1, Book1 (Michael Kennedy-Scanlon, Juli Cebrian, John Bradbury).

Guided Error Correction. Exercises for Spanish-speaking students of English. Level C1, Book2 (Michael Kennedy-Scanlon, Juli Cebrian, John Bradbury).

Guided error correction. Exercises, C1 Book 1 Documents 9


Introduction to the exercises

Each page is a self-contained exercise consisting of a series of unrelated sentencesin English, each of which contains one mistake commonly made by Spanish-speaking learners of English.

Correct the mistakes and, as you finish each page, check your work with theanswer key which you will find on the following page.

Beside each correction in the answer key you will see a superscripted number. Ifyou want clarification of the error and its correction, use this number to find thepertinent information in the explanatory Notes at the end of the book.

When several different alternative solutions are appropriate and probable, wehave tried to include all of them. Some items may involve more alternative solutionsthan we can practically include, in which case this will be indicated in the Notessection. You may also find it frustrating that the same error does not always requireprecisely the same solution. Such is language!



PART A

The following exercises consist of a list of unrelated sentences, each of whichcontains a common error. Exercises 1-16 are grouped according to the type of error,and each error is underlined or otherwise marked. Try to correct it!

When you finish, check your work with the key for the exercise, which you willfind on the following page. Beside each correction you will see a superscriptnumber. Use the number to find an explanation of the error and its correction in theNotes section at the back of the book.



Errors involving prepositions

A1 Missing prepositions

In each of the following sentences, a preposition has been omitted in the locationthat is identified by an asterisk (*). Add one.

1. Many teenagers are attracted to smoking because their parents dont approve* it.

2. The patients condition got worse, and she had to be operated * immediately.

3. If you dont know her phone number, why dont you search * it in the phonebook?

4. The food was beginning to smell bad, so I threw it *.

5. Put * a heavy coat. Its quite cold outside this morning.

6. Our hosts were very kind to us and even paid * the dinner.

7. I would like to comment * your very interesting article.

8. The burglars entered the house * breaking a window.

9. I never seem to vote * a candidate who wins the elections.

10. Women sometimes feel discriminated * when it comes to promotion at work.



A1 KEY

1. Many teenagers are attracted to smoking because their parents dont approveof 6 it.

2. The patients condition got worse, and she had to be operated on73immediately.

3. If you dont know her phone number, why dont you search for92 it in thephone book?

4. The food was beginning to smell bad, so I threw it out/away.98

5. Put on85 a heavy coat. Its quite cold outside this morning.

6. Our hosts were very kind to us and even paid for77 the dinner.

7. I would like to comment on19 your very interesting article.

8. The burglars entered the house by48 breaking a window.

9. I never seem to vote for102 the candidate who wins the elections.

10. Women sometimes feel discriminated against33 when it comes to promotionat work.



A2 The wrong preposition 1

In each of the following sentences, replace the crossed out item with the correctpreposition.

1. My mother works like an accountant for a pharmaceuticals company.

2. The higher global temperatures are due to the increase of carbon emissions.

3. The word travel is derived of the Latin word trepaliare.

4. I quit the job because my boss was always shouting to me and criticizing mywork.

5. Every day the kids went swimming to the pool.

6. In the morning we walked by the medieval part of town and enjoyed itsspecial atmosphere.

7. Their argument is based in false assumptions.

8. The victims family insisted in knowing the full truth about the crime.

9. We buy all our supplies to local enterprises.

10. Some boys started throwing stones to the journalists van.

11. The price will remain high as long as the demand of oil is also high.

12. We guarantee you that we offer the lowest prices of the world.

13. Last year our sales increased in 5%, despite the recession.



A2 KEY

1. My mother works as103 an accountant for a pharmaceutical company.

2. The higher global temperatures are due to the increase in51 carbon emissions.

3. The word travel is derived from31 the Latin word trepaliare.

4. I quit the job because my boss was always shouting at93 me and criticizing mywork.

5. Every day the kids went swimming at49 the pool.

6. In the morning we walked around7 the medieval part of town and enjoyed itsspecial atmosphere.

7. Their argument is based on14 false assumptions.

8. The victims family insisted on53 knowing the full truth about the crime.

9. We buy all our supplies from15 local enterprises.

10. Some boys started throwing stones at97 the journalists van.

11. The price will remain high as long as the demand for30 oil is also high.

12. We guarantee you that we offer the lowest prices in the world.104

13. Last year our sales increased by50 5%, despite the recession. OR: our salesincreased 5%.



A3 Unnecessary prepositions

In each of the following sentences there is an unnecessary preposition. Eliminate it.

1. My flatmate looked like depressed, so I realized she had split up with herboyfriend.

2. Because of the problems we have had, we are going to change of supplier.

3. Please contact with us if you have any problems with the software.

4. My sister calls to her friends all the time, so I can never use the phone.

5. On Sunday we went for a walk in the country and picked up flowers.

6. If you use your password, you can access to your account information.

7. Many professionals lack of time to worry about the simple things they have todeal with.

8. Our customers have a special phone line where they can discuss about theproblems they encounter.

9. When we stay with their grandparents, the children really enjoy with life in thecountry.

10. This problem concerns to everyone who is working on the project.

11. If you marry with a German, will you automatically be granted a residencepermit?

12. Some men consider women as incompetent at mechanical tasks.

13. What you think of her personally should not influence in your decision.

14. We painted the wall in the same colour as the door.

15. Some problems directly affect to the user of the services we offer.

16. Our flat is located very near of a metro station.



A3 KEY

1. My flatmate looked61 depressed, so I realized she had split up with herboyfriend.

2. Because of the problems we have had, we are going to change18supplier/suppliers.

3. Please contact25 us if you have any problems with the software.

4. My sister calls16 her friends all the time, so I can never use the phone.

5. On Sunday we went for a walk in the country and picked79 flowers.

6. If you use your password, you can access1 your account information.

7. Many professionals lack59 time to worry about the simple things they have todeal with.

8. Our customers have a special phone line where they can discuss35 theproblems they encounter.

9. When we stay with their grandparents, the children really enjoy39 life in thecountry.

10. This problem concerns21 everyone who is working on the project.

11. If you marry63 a German, will you automatically be granted a residencepermit?

12. Some men consider23 women incompetent at mechanical tasks. OR: Somemen regard women as incompetent at mechanical tasks. OR: Some menconsider women to be incompetent at mechanical tasks.

13. What you think of her personally should not influence52 your decision.

14. We painted the wall75 the same colour as the door.

15. Some problems directly affect5 the user of the services we offer.

16. Our flat is located very near66 a metro station.



A4 Preposition errors, follow-up 1

Each sentence contains an error involving prepositions. Words associated with theerror are underlined. They are all errors you have seen in Exercises A1-A3.Remember that in some cases this means that the preposition is missing.

1. If the material clearly looks like artificial, customers are less likely to buy it.

2. The government has refused to comment the recent corruption scandal.

3. The demonstrators threw balloons filled with paint to the party headquarters.

4. As the aeroplane approached the airport, it suddenly changed of direction.

5. If you find a document on my desk, please do not throw it.

6. One drawback of the Internet is that children can access to pornographicwebsites.

7. You will find the bathroom near of the door to the elevator.

8. In June, the strawberries must be picked up just before they are ripe.

9. The surgical intervention clearly influenced in the rats behaviour.

10. When water freezes, its volume expands in about 9%.

11. If you base your opinion in certain newspapers, you might have a distortedview.

12. Finnish and Hungarian are apparently derived of the same ancestor language.

13. I have tried to contact with the head of public relations, but without success.



A4 KEY

1. If the material clearly looks61 artificial, customers are less likely to buy it.

2. The government has refused to comment on19 the recent corruption scandal.

3. The demonstrators threw balloons filled with paint at97 the party headquarters.

4. As the aeroplane approached the airport, it suddenly changed18direction/directions.

5. If you find a document on my desk, please do not throw it out/away.98

6. One drawback of the Internet is that children can access1 pornographicwebsites.

7. You will find the bathroom near66 the door to the elevator.

8. In June, the strawberries must be picked79 just before they are ripe.

9. The surgical intervention clearly influenced52 the rats behaviour.

10. When water freezes, its volume expands by50 about 9%. OR: volumeexpands about 9%.

11. If you base your opinion on14 certain newspapers, you might have a distortedview.

12. Finnish and Hungarian are apparently derived from31 the same ancestorlanguage.

13. I have tried to contact25 the head of public relations, but without success.





1. Women consider a good sense of humour as an important attribute in a partner.

2. The candidate got the voters support making false promises.

3. If you cant read the fax, why dont you call to the sender and clarify it?

4. I am currently unemployed and searching a job on the Internet.

5. This curious sculpture from 1935 is made of steel painted in purple.

6. The aristocracy rarely left their homes, but enjoyed with private concerts,dances and plays.

7. The Nile, and not the Amazon, is the longest river of the world.

8. The arrested man had tried to leave the shop without paying a DVD.

9. The Employment Bureau reports that the demand of people who speak twoforeign languages is increasing.

10. An excessive increase of weight during childhood can lead to healthproblems in later life.

11. The royal family was scandalized when the princess announced that sheplanned to marry with a man who was not an aristocrat.

12. I took our visitors for a walk by the city centre to show them the main sights.

13. He never shouts to me when hes angry, but his silence is worse!



A5 KEY

1. Women consider23 a good sense of humour an important attribute in a partner.OR: Women regard a good sense of humour as an important attribute OR:Women consider a good sense of humour to be an important attribute

2. The candidate got the voters support by48 making false promises.

3. If you cant read the fax, why dont you call16 the sender and clarify it?

4. I am currently unemployed and searching for92 a job on the Internet.

5. This curious sculpture from 1935 is made of steel painted purple.75

6. The aristocracy rarely left their homes, but enjoyed39 private concerts, dancesand plays.

7. The Nile, and not the Amazon, is the longest river in the world.104

8. The arrested man had tried to leave the shop without paying for77 a DVD.

9. The Employment Bureau reports that the demand for30 people who speak twoforeign languages is increasing.

10. An excessive increase in51 weight during childhood can lead to health problemsin later life.

11. The royal family was scandalized when the princess announced that sheplanned to marry63 a man who was not an aristocrat.

12. I took our visitors for a walk around7 the city centre to show them the mainsights.

13. He never shouts at93 me when hes angry, but his silence is worse!





1. The workers voted the party that they thought would protect their interests.

2. Teenagers are not always ready to discuss about their personal problems withadults.

3. Although many people dont approve cloning, it may offer treatment for seriousdiseases.

4. After working like a shop assistant for two years, she was promoted to manager.

5. The problem of teenage gangs especially concerns to the parents ofschoolchildren.

6. As we get older, it seems inevitable that we will be operated sooner or later.

7. I lost my keys when we went shopping to the supermarket.

8. The merchants bought spices to Eastern traders and sold them to Europeans.

9. My little son does everything he can to avoid putting his shoes in the morning.

10. Parents should not lack of consistency when they try to limit their childsbehaviour.

11. Unfortunately, employers tend to discriminate people who are extremelyoverweight.

12. This problem affects to not only the European Union but also the whole world.

13. The article insists in the importance of education in early childhood topromote cognitive development.



A6 KEY

1. The workers voted for102 the party that they thought would protect their inter-ests.

2. Teenagers are not always ready to discuss35 their personal problems withadults.

3. Although many people dont approve of6 cloning, it may offer treatment forserious diseases.

4. After working as103 a shop assistant for two years, she was promoted tomanager.

5. The problem of teenage gangs especially concerns21 the parents ofschoolchildren.

6. As we get older, it seems inevitable that we will be operated on73 sooner orlater.

7. I lost my keys when we went shopping at49 the supermarket.

8. The merchants bought spices from15 Eastern traders and sold them toEuropeans.

9. My little son does everything he can to avoid putting on85 his shoes in themorning.

10. Parents should not lack59 consistency when they try to limit their childsbehaviour.

11. Unfortunately, employers tend to discriminate against33 people who areextremely overweight.

12. This problem affects5 not only the European Union but also the whole world.

13. The article insists on53 the importance of education in early childhood to pro-mote cognitive development.



Download - Guided Error Correction - Exercises for Spanish-Speakers.students of English C1 Book 1 Sample

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