Transcript Interrogative Pronouns Through Idioms

Interrogative Pronouns
Through Idioms
By Felis Sian
Student Profile
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Student Profile: Taiwanese
students who are seniors in
high school.
Students are false
beginners of English. Most
likely they have been
studying English since
elementary school.
Most plan to study in a
university or work in the
U.S. or English speaking
country.
Why Interrogative Pronouns
to Chinese speakers, you ask?
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Chinese does not really have question
words that are used in the same way.
– “Ta shi shei?” – “Who is he?”
– “Ni qu zai nar?” – “Where are you going?”
– “Ni shenme shihou you shijian?” – “When do you have
time?”
– “Weishenme ni tai shou le?” – “Why are you too thin?”
– “Ni duo jiu keyi shuijiao?” – “How long can you sleep?”
– “Ni hao ma?” – “How are you?”
Content & Language
Objectives
Content Objectives:
Language Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Students will be able to:
•Hypothesize the meaning of an
Interrogative Pronoun in its context
•Understand the different types of
Interrogative Pronouns and their uses
•Recognize the idioms with Interrogative
Pronouns already discussed in class
•Produce basic sentences using the
Interrogative Pronouns without
it being a question
Don’t worry, this will be a
“piece of cake”
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Reminder:
– Idioms: an expression with a meaning
that is not predictable from the usual
meanings of the individual words.
It’s All Greek to Me!
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Review:
– Prepositional idioms:
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arrive at (a specific location, a conclusion) – She will
arrive at the library before 4pm.
arrive in (a city, country) – I will arrive in three days.
part from (leave)—I parted from the group early this
year.
part with (a possession)—I parted with the Rolls
Royce reluctantly.
– Figurative idioms:
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“The cat’s out of the bag.” – “secret is revealed” or
“the surprise is exposed”
“The ball is in your court” – “I will let it be your
decision”
Interrogative Pronouns
“Go out on a limb.”
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Who – antecedent for a human
What – antecedent for nonhuman thing/object
Where – antecedent for a place
When – antecedent for a time
Why – antecedent for reason
How (much, many, long) – antecedent for quantity
Which – antecedent for particular types
Great Minds Think Alike
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“Shui dao qu cheng”
– “Where water flows, a channel is formed.”
 Meaning: “When conditions are ready, success will
come.”
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“Where there’s a will, there’s a way”
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Meaning: “If you want it, there’s a way to get it.
Let’s use it in a sentence!
It’s a small world!
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“Chufei taiyang cong xibian chulai”
– “Unless the sun would rise from the west.”
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Meaning: Something that will never ever happen
“When pigs fly”
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Meaning: That will never happen
Let’s use it in a sentence!
When it rains, it pours…
Idioms that is!
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“Da shui chong le long wang mao”
– “The Dragon-King’s temple is flooded.”
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Meaning: You can be harmed by the bad things you do.
“What goes around, comes around.”
– Meaning: Your actions will be done to you
Let’s use it in a sentence!
Activity:
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Students will then break up into groups of 7
and they will be given a list of English
Interrogative Pronouns to observe and
analyze the meanings.
They will make contexts in which to use
these expressions.
Then the students will present their
understanding of the idioms by acting out a
few in class.
Why are Idioms so
important?
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A lot of English speakers
use idioms… especially
prepositional idioms.
Idioms enrich the language,
present an image that
would take too long to
articulate in their literal
meaning.
Ex: “Honeymoon is over!”
What do you get from that
when a teacher just
assigned a big assignment?
Why are Interrogative
Pronouns so important?
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I don’t know…
Imagine not being able
to ask a question.
Imagine not being able
inspire someone to
wonder your meaning.