LUMIERE ENGLISH ACADEMY; DISTANCE TEACHING COURSE. LESSON 8 - ARTICLES [PART ONE]

TO THE TUTOR;
AS YOU CONTINUE TO TEACH YOUR STUDENT[S], WORK YOUR WAY SLOWLY THROUGH JRR TOLKIEN'S CLASSIC 'THE HOBBIT'.
Do this in stages for Reading and Comprehension Homework.
Begin teaching the student about Definite and Indefinite Articles.

In English, we have parts of speech named articles.
An article is a form of adjective which is always used with - and gives some information about - a noun.
There are two articles a and the.
The word a [which becomes an when the next word begins with a vowel a, e, i, o, u] is called the indefinite article because the noun it goes with is indefinite or general.
The word the [which is pronounced 'thee' when the next word begins with a vowel a, e, i, o, u - although the spelling continues to remain 'the'] is known as the definite article and indicates a specific thing.

The difference between the sentences I stood on a dais and I stood on the dais is that the second sentence refers to a particular, specific dais - not just any dais.
Many nouns must have an article.
It is not possible to say, I stood on dais.

Summary;
There are definite and indefinite articles in English.
Indefinite articles are 'a' and 'an'.
The definite article is 'the'.
This simply means that the definite article describes a particular noun, for example the man.
The indefinite article describes a noun which is not particular, such as a man.

Give your student various tasks from the following list;
1. Take your last essay and mark all the definite and indefinite articles found therein.
Submit the answers for your homework.

2. Take the first two chapters of 'The Hobbit' ie
Chapter 1 - An Unexpected Party
Chapter 2 - Roast Mutton.
Note down definite and indefinite articles you find in these first two chapters, and then submit them as your homework.

3. Choose whether each sentence needs an indefinite article [a, an], a definite article [the] or no article.
1. I found ________ apple.
2. There was  ________mouse in the room.
3. John drew ________ elf.
4.  ________turkey is standing next to the road.
5. Ann told a story about ________ alligator.
6. I saw  ________big cat in the house.
7. Can you wind the wool into ________ ball?
8. ________ elephant walked down the track.
9. ________ first fireman jumped from the fire engine.
10. I ate ________ fish and chips for supper.
11. I am staying at ________ hotel on the Bayley river.
12. I am staying at ________ Bayley hotel.

ANSWER KEY TO 3
1. an
2. a
3. an
4. A
5. an
6. a
7. a
8. An
9. The
10. No article is needed. 'I ate fish and chips for supper.'
11. a
12. the

Best wishes with your tutoring!
Catherine Nicolette Whittle
Diploma TESOL and EDI Level 5 Diploma in Teaching English
London Teacher's Training College England