Teaching delimiters

Delimiters is an alternative term for articles, as in definite and indefinite articles. Below are some ideas for teaching delimiters. I have just begin the process of analyzing and publishing my research, but for now, this work can be referenced by citing the following paper (which is available by request).

Lee, Kent. (2017). Korea TESOL Journal 13(2), 25-48.

1 Pedagogical principles

It is recommended that delimiters be taught by breaking them up into separate lessons for each semantic pattern or function, by focusing on one function at a time, or by comparing and contrasting two functions. Examples can be presented inductively for students to work on in groups, followed by teacher-led explanation of the patterns, and then followed by communicative, interactive, or group exercises. It is also recommended that lessons proceed from basic patterns for physical nouns, to quasi-abstract patterns, and then more abstract and specialized patterns.

1. Inductive exercises can be used, followed by teacher-led group discussion
2. Basic patterns for physical nouns are taught first
3. Specialized patterns for other nouns are then taught.

Isolated, context-free sentences, like those found in many grammar textbooks, should not be used, as delimiters depend crucially on context. Rather, texts should be longer, providing some context. Texts should be used that highlight one specific function, or that compare two or maybe three patterns at a time. Materials for inductive exercises can include:

1. Texts / pictures highlighting one specific pattern or function
2. Texts / pictures to contrast / comparison of patterns for group discussion
3. Error examples (L2 texts, pictures)
4. Cloze / fill-in-the-blank (with whole texts, not isolated sentences)
5. Longer texts that are more specialized, e.g., artificial, modified, or authentic texts

2 Basic patterns for physical nouns

The basic patterns to begin with as follows. The idea of count versus non-count nouns is not the core semantic distinction expressed by bare nouns (i.e., null or zero article nouns) and nouns marked with the delimiters a/an, the. The core difference is that bare singular nouns refer to materials, while marked singular nouns refer to objects or things. Bare plural nouns refer to a set or group of objects or things.

1. Bare singular = Material nouns - materials, masses, stuff (e.g., coffee)
2. Marked singular = Object nouns - objects, things, items, entities (e.g., a coffee)
3. Bare singular cf. marked singular
4. Bare plural = A set, a group of objects or things (e.g., drinks)

2.1 Teaching & activity ideas

Simple activities

• Picture comparisons
• L2 error examples
• Map tasks / directions
• TPR activities

L2 error examples

The unit can be introduced with pictures of signs or product labels with article errors, so students can identify and discuss the problems.

Picture comparisons for bare vs. marked singular nouns

Side-by-side pictures with labels can depict mass versus object nouns. Unfortunately, graphics files are not displayed properly in this wiki, so I sketch out what this looks like with a simple table.

pictures of material nouns	pictures of objects
(a blob of water)	(a bottle of water)
(a pot of coffee)	(a cup of coffee)
(a large container of juice, a bunch of juice glasses, or a blob of juice)	(a glass of juice)
(a salad bar)	(a bowl of salad)
(several chicken breasts on a plate)	(a whole chicken, a live chicken, or a cartoon chicken)

This can be extended with nouns with very different meanings, e.g., tape / a tape (adhesive tape versus a cassette tape), iron / an iron (iron ore versus a device for ironing clothes).

Text comparisons for bare vs. marked singular

Text examples can highlight a particular delimiter function, which students discuss in groups to try to infer the meaning pattern / function. Parallel texts can highlight two different delimiter functions (e.g., material vs. object nouns). Texts should be at least short paragraphs (not isolated sentences like in traditional grammar books), and should be interesting (e.g., narratives). It may help to also have pictures with the texts.

1. Our kitchen inventory includes fish, chicken, lamb, rice, onion, cucumber, pepper, and tomato. Besides the main dish, we may want to provide salad.
2. We have a chicken and a lamb in the barn, and a fish in the freezer. For each portion, the recipe requires a cup of rice, an onion and a tomato. To provide each person a salad, we also need a cucumber and a tomato for each portion.

How do you understand the different forms of the nouns in these passages?

1. A chicken tried to cross the road to get to the other side. But my car hit the chicken, and now there is chicken all over the road.
2. I ordered chicken, but I think the chicken that I got was not from a chicken. Instead, I suspect it was pigeon, which came from a pigeon or a group of pigeons.

Text comparisons for bare plurals

How are the following nouns different between the marked singulars and the bare plurals?

1. We have a chicken and a lamb in the barn, and a fish in the freezer. The fish is fresh, and the chicken is plump. For each portion, the recipe requires a cup of rice, an onion and a tomato. To provide each person a salad, we also need a cucumber and a tomato for each portion.
2. Our barn has a number of chickens and lambs. The vegetable garden has many onions, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes.

When you go shopping, how do you usually buy the following items – as singular or plural nouns?

• [picture of tomatoes wrapped together]
• [picture of a carton of eggs]
• [picture of a bag of onions]
• [picture of a tray of strawberries]

Cloze / fill-in-the-blank tasks

Passages with blanks before certain nouns can be used for practice and group discussion. The passages should be interesting (e.g., narratives, short paragraphs, not isolated sentences), and blanks should appear before nouns that highlight one particular delimiter function, or a contrast of two comparable delimiter functions (e.g., material vs. object nouns)

Lists

Students create lists with different noun types

• Shopping lists (grocery items)
• Shopping lists (for clothing, office supplies, furniture, or equipment)
• Budget proposals (itemized lists)

Descriptions

• Identifying common objects in the classroom / in one’s home / in a picture
• Describing material composition of X / materials needed to build X
• Describing parts / components / material composition

Shopping list

Imagine you are writing a shopping list of items to buy. Which items would you write as a bare singular noun

(materials, substances), as a bare marked noun (an individual item), or as a bare plural noun (a set, group, or package of things)?

• Bare singular nouns
• Bare plural nouns
• Marked singular nouns

Explaining a process

• How an object or material is made
• Assembly instructions
• Recipes
• How something is made from a material
• Describing how special effects might have been done in a film, or how a video was made (e.g., OK Go videos)

3 Indefinite vs. Definite singular

Students may have learned these terms, but may be unclear about what these really mean, as these terms are meaningful to linguists and grammarians, but not to typical students. It is best to illustrate with text examples, picture descriptions, or video clips that illustrate the differences. The basic difference for singular nouns is this.

1. 'Definite' refers to things that are known to or familiar to the listener.
2. 'Indefinite' refers to things that the listener does not yet know of, or is not familiar with.

Text examples

Simple text examples can illustrate this distinction. Students can discuss and infer the differences between nouns marked with a/an versus the. It may be helpful to show corresponding illustrations.

1. Farmer Brown went into his chicken coop to find his best chicken – a large, white rooster named Buster – to slaughter and prepare for tonight’s dinner. Buster sometimes tried to escape, so he was kept in a special cage.
2. He entered the coop, but didn’t see Buster in his usual cage. He looked around the cages, and then to the corner of the room. In

fact, Buster was not in any of the cages. However, the rooster was waiting in the corner with a knife in his hand, ready to take on the farmer in hand-to-hand combat.

Picture examples

Pictures of article errors from public signs, product labels, such can be shown for discussion.

Video examples

A famous scene from the film The Matrix can be shown and discussed. The physical context makes the noun pill familiar in this example.

1. . “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.”

4 Extensions of physical noun patterns

More specialized patterns include:

Bare singular nouns	= Material / mass / substance	→ General activities → Conditions, states, properties → Generalized object nouns (e.g., in orbit) → Abstract nouns
Marked singular nouns	= Object, item, thing, entity	→ Specific event, instance (of an activity) → Specific batch, quantity, set (of material)
Bare plurals	= Sets, groups	→ Category descriptions, Generic nouns → Encyclopedic definitions/descriptions

4.1 Teaching / activity ideas

General activities

• Definitions of terms/concepts from your field
• Your favorite activity (and how you came to like it or become good at it)

5 Indefinite vs. definite patterns

Definite cf. indefinite contrast

• Indefinite: New/unknown/unfamiliar to listener
• Definite: Familiar / known to listener

5.1 Teaching / activity ideas

• Writing narratives, stories
• Describe yourself as a person
• Write an encyclopedia-style description of your favorite animal or plant (including how it is similar to, related to, or different from other species).

5.2 Extensions of indefinite & definite patterns

Indefinite nouns	= Unknown / unfamiliar to listener / reader	→ Hypothetical noun usage → Definitions
Definite nouns	= Known / familiar to listener / reader	→ Part-whole relationship → Background scene → Background knowledge → Pre-specifiers: comparatives, superlatives, etc. → Post-modifiers: Instantiation of state, condition, property; Instantiation of abstract noun → Exemplar / typical example → Habitual / frequentive

5.3 Teaching / activity ideas

• Describe an ideal partner / spouse / boyfriend / girlfriend
• Define a key work / concept in your field
• Definition paragraph
• Explain the parts of a computer, structure, machine, etc.
• Describe a typical office, including types of people and things
• Describe your typical day
• Where will you be in ten years, and what will you be doing?
• What kind of career would you like, and why?
• What is the most important factor for you in deciding on a job or career?

6 Compound nouns

These include the following forms which can be taught as compound nouns with consistent delimiter patterns. For compounds, the delimiter depends on the intended meaning or nuance of the head noun.

1. Noun+noun compounds (e.g., a glue gun)
2. Adj.+ noun cpd. (e.g., the White House)
3. Abbreviations (e.g., FBI)
4. Geographic terms
5. Geographic terms with missing toponyms (e.g., the Amazon = the Amazon region / river)

Generally, the determiner of a compound noun phrase depends on the semantic function / pattern of the head noun in a particular context. However, some nouns are common enough that they are treated as proper nouns, which do not take delimiters. The head noun is usually the last noun (excluding prepositional phrases. E.g.:

• a/the glue gun
• a/the printer manual
• the White House
• the CIA = the Central Intelligence Agency
• the FBI = the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• NASA = the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (but this abbreviation is usually used like a proper noun, so just “NASA")

6.1 Activities

• Definite and explain a technical or scientific term.
• Describe / explain a technical procedure.
• Describe the geography of a particular region
• Describe / explain the functions and/or organization of a government and government agencies

7 Various / general ideas (for any/all patterns)

These ideas are for practicing or comparing different functions, especially more advanced ones, or integrating different functions together in a text or oral production activity.

Paragraph / text comparisons

Passages that highlight two different delimiter functions

Cloze / fill-in-the-blank text activities

Passages with blanks before some nouns (fill in the blank), which highlight two different delimiter functions

Paragraph writing or oral tasks

These are based on traditional writing paragraph genres. These can be adapted to tasks and topics for particular delimiter functions, e.g.:

• Lists
• Descriptions
• Narratives
• Definitions, exemplification
• Process
• Contrast / comparison

Descriptions and definition tasks

Here are some more complex tasks for oral or written work.

1. Film budget (for a proposal for an independent film; pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution phases)
2. Write an encyclopedia entry describing an animal, regions, historical person, etc.
3. Describe and explain the typical features of X. Then discuss one example of X, how it is typical, and how it differs from typical X’s.

Here, X can be anything, depending on the desired difficulty level and students’ interests: insects, birds, penguins, sports, sci-fi films, anime, superheroes, video games, romantic poems, mystery novels, stars, jazz music, etc.

1. Describe a particular artistic genre or subgenre (of film, music, novels, etc.); then discuss a specific example, and explain how it fulfills and differs from the standards of the genre.
2. Describe a particular theory, movement, framework, belief system, or ideology in your field of study, and particular phases or varieties of this system.
3. Present a proposal for your own independent film project, as if you were pitching the idea to a group of investors in order to gain funding for the project.

Processes

Here are some more complex tasks for oral or written work.

1. How something is made from a material.
2. Describing how special effects might have been done in a film, or how a music video was made (e.g., OK Go videos).
3. Process: a scientific experiment, a research methodology
4. A manufacturing processes, or the industrial processing of a material.

8 See also

Significantly more material will be added to this page later, along with related pages for teachers and learners.

▼ Delimiters

  Bare plural noun pattern

  Bare singular noun pattern

  Definite noun pattern

  Delimiters

  Indefinite noun pattern

  Marked singular noun pattern

  Teaching delimiters