Conceptual Meanings

A

STEP 1

REVIEW             QUIZ             PREPOSITIONS

a)

Give the students the quiz handout (HO2) and see what they can remember. (If any students missed last class, give them the same handout and see what they know.)

b)

Tell students to check their answers with the person sitting next to them.

c)

Go over (correct, answer questions, elaborate if necessary) each of the three sections of the quiz as a class.

d)

Point out that while there are many cases in which a preposition is simply part of an expression and it’s difficult or even impossible to always deduce which preposition is appropiate, there are also many cases that knowing some of the essential aspects of prepositions can be useful (as in AT, ON & IN in these examples). Today’s class will focus on some of those essential aspects which give meaning to prepositions.

A

STEP 2

REVIEW             GO OVER HOMEWORK             PREPOSITIONS

a)

Quiz the students randomly, supplying each person orally with the phrase without the preposition while trying to elícit the appropriate word. (If the students already have their worksheets from last class out, tell them to turn them over.)

Ex: “Jordi, what’s the preposition for this group of words…. depend mmmm somebody or something?” (ON)

b)

Remind the students that synonyms and sometimes even antonyms can share the same preposition.

c)

Students refer to their handouts from last class (HO1) and check their answers in pairs.

d)

Correct their answers.

e)

-optional- Students turn over their papers and you elicit synonyms and/or antonyms from them as a class.

Ex: “Give me two synonyms for afraid of something.” (scared of something and frightened of something)

Ex: “What’s the opposite of borrow something FROM somebody?” (lend something TO somebody)

NOTE: With this last example, meaning plays an important role. FROM emphasizes the origin of the action and is associated with the verb BORROW whereas TO emphasizes the destination of the action and pairs with the verb LEND. As in many cases, there are elements of both meaning and collocation when determining which preposition is the correct or preferred choice.

B

STEP 1

MEANINGS             SPATIAL DIMENSIONS             PREPOSITIONS

a)

Don’t give the students the handout yet. Go over the ideas in Part 1 A to D, eliciting as much as you can.

b)

Give the students the handouts and have them individually fill in what they remember or can deduce.

c)

Students check their answers in pairs.

d)

Go over the answers for sections A to D.

e)

Students do section E. Check their answers.

B

STEP 2

MEANINGS             RELATIONSHIP OF DIRECTION             PREPOSITIONS

a)

Go through Section 2 as a class, eliciting the answers as you go along. You can also point out…

answer A) TO refers to the destination

answer B) INTO refers to a change of situation, crossing the line between being out and being in the park

answer C) THROUGH is covering the ground from beginning to end

answer D) OUT OF is showing a change of situation, leaving the area she was once in

answer E) AROUND emphasizes a detour and OUTSIDE is simply not in

answer F) AWAY FROM is her going in a direction, any direction, where she is increasingly distant from

the park (AWAY meaning not here or not there and FROM referring to the origen)

b)

Pairwork: Have them briefly practise this in turns. For example, one student takes a pen to represent a person and uses a book to be the park, moving the pen to elicit different prepositions from the other student.

B

STEP 3

MEANINGS             TIME RELATIONSHIPS             PREPOSITIONS

a)

Go over the prepositions with the class, eliciting the answers and clarifying their meanings.

AT is that time precisely (although some people are not as strict in their interpretation of ‘precisely’)

BEFORE refers to any time prior to (but not including) that point in time and AFTER is the other side.

BY includes both the time of that reference point (AT) and the time preceding it (BEFORE)

b)

Elicit synonyms for ‘exactly’ ⇒ precisely

‘around’ ⇒ about, approximately

B

STEP 4

MEANINGS             INTENSITY OR MANNER             PREPOSITIONS

a)

Say you’re going to throw (gently) a pen or ball to somebody. Is the preposition TO or AT? (to)

b)

Tell the students to imagine somebody angry at somebody else and is going to throw something. Will the preposition be TO or AT? (at – used for more aggressive situations)

c)

One more situation. In the game of baseball, imagine the pitcher throwing the ball __mmm__ another player on his/her team, as hard and fast as possible. Which preposition is it?

(to because it’s part of the game to throw the ball hard. It’s within the acceptable límits.)

d)

Which preposition is associated with ridiculing somebody? (at) Accompanying the person? (with)

B

STEP 5

MEANINGS             GENERAL OR SPECIFIC?             PREPOSITIONS

a)

Tell the students to guess what object you’re thinking of. Tell them it’s something used for writing. After a guess or two point out that the answer could equally be paper or a pen, for example.

FOR plus GERUND is a common combination used to express purpose or function.

b)

TO plus INFINITIVE is also popular and basically has the same use. How is it different than

FOR plus GERUND? Try to elicit something along the lines of “This is used to write.” which sounds strange.

Then elicit why it sounds strange. (to + infinitive is better suited for something more precise (to narrow down the range of possibilities) and the particle that follows often supplies that extra information. For example, to write with (instrument used) or to write on (surface area receiving the action). It doesn’t sound complete without that preposition.)

FOR + GERUND is better for more general actions and that extra preposition, although possible, is not necessary. It is often sufficiently complete as it is.

C

1 STEP

RECALL             PREPOSITIONS

a)

Put students into pairs or groups of three.

b)

Tell them to turn their papers over and together try to write down the 5 principle ideas just covered with whatever details they can remember. You can tell them 1 or 2 of the idea headings to help clarify the task and get them going.

ANSWERS: 1) Spatial dimensions 2) Direction 3) Time References

4) Degrees of intensity or manner 5) General or specific

(Ask them to include examples of appropiate prepositions and any other details that are relevant.)

c)

When the first group finishes, having done all that it can, tell the students to turn their handouts over and see what they missed.