COUNTERING THE SYNDROME OF ENGLISH WRITING DIFFICULTIES

     When I asked my students how they feel about writing in English, I got emotional answers. "Writing in English is difficult.....too difficult for me." says one of my students. The other student says, "I have some problems when  writing in English...Sometimes I cannot transfer or translate well my ideas in Bahasa Indonesia into English."

     This "Writing in English is too difficult" syndrome becomes a serious problem in the EFL writing class. The students who believe that they are incapable of writing well in English may try to be active in their writing process. They see the teacher as soneone who will give them the guidance or formula that helps them get through the writing class.

     It is important to recognize that we help our students become empowered by their own knowledge and experience. We should try to transform students' negative perception about their abilities and result in their being empowered as writers. If our students are to believe that they can write, the classrooms must be nonthreatening and comfortable places where there is an atmosphere of freedom and writing tasks that are liberating.

ENGLISH CLAUSES

          We tend to speak, and normally aim at writing, in complete sentence. To be complete a sentence needs at least one finite, independent clause. Based on the number of clauses, sentences can be classified into Simple sentence, Compound sentence, and Complex sentence.

A. Finite clause and Simple Sentence

      We can best see what a finite clause by examining examples of simple sentence. A simple sentence contains only one finite clause, so that the structure of a finite clause is identical with that of a simple sentence.

a). He has just telephoned Rudy.

b). He was my best friend.

c). This is his photograph.

d). We were placed in the same class twenty years ago.

e). He did not like us, Eddy and me, very much.

f). Everyone in our class could see that.

g). Eko always did his work perfectly.

  In the above examples, that part of the predicate which is in italics is a Finite Verb.

What is a Clause?

• A clause is a group of words that contains (at least) a subject and a predicate.
• Clauses are the building blocks of sentence.

B. Compound Sentence

       A compound sentence has two or more clauses which are linked by co-ordination in the same way as the separate parts of a single clause can be. Thus:

a). Everyone was in the hall, and the doors had been closed.

b). Most of us were in the hall, the doors had been closed, and late-comers had to wait outside.

c). He did not like us, and everyone knew, but no one had admitted it.

d). Either he did not like the way we dressed, or we had offended him in some other way.

 In each example above, the two clauses are linked by co-ordinating conjunction. When the subject of the two or more co-ordinate clauses refers to the same person or thing, it need not be stated:

e)  The headmaster did not like us very much and seldom gave us any praise.

C. Complex Sentence

      A complex sentence contains at least one independent clause (main clause) that is not dependent on another clause and one (or more) dependent clause(s). Independent clause (main clause) expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence by itself. Dependent clause (sub clause) does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone as a sentence. In a sentence, dependent clause can function as Adjectival, Nominal (noun), or Adverbial.

1. Adjectival Clause

• It modifies a noun or noun phrase.
• It describes, identifies, adds, or gives further information about a noun.
• It may also be called a relative clause because it may be preceded by a relative pronoun or relative adverb. The relative pronouns and adverbs used in adjectival clauses are who, whom (person), which (thing, animal), that (person, thing, animal), whose (possessive), when (time), where (place).The relative pronoun beginning the clause can be:

a) The subject of the clause

• That is the man. He hit me
• That is the man who hit me.

b) The object of a verb

• That is the man. I saw him.
• That is the man whom I saw.

c) The object of a preposition

• That is the man. I spoke to him.
• That is the man to whom I spoke.

 d) Possessive

• That is the man. His car crashed.
• That is the man whose car crashed.

Types of adjectival clause : non restrictive and restrictive

 a) Non- restrictive  Clause (non-defining relative clause)

• It is set off by comas.
• It does not restrict the meaning of the the noun.
• It gives additional/extra information.
• Its existence is not important/essential, so it can be omitted without loss of meaning. ( 'that' cannot be used in non-restrictive clause)

 Examples:

• The first Indonesian President, who was an excellent orator, is well-remembered by the Indonesian people.
• The province of Papua, which was formerly known as West New Guinea, has become part of Indonesia since 1963.
• Professor Subiyati, who teaches TOEFL Preparation, gave a speech in the national conference.

b) Restrictive Clause ( defining relative clause)

• It is not set off by comas.
• It narrows or limits the number of things or persons
• It tells us which particular thing/person that the writer means.
• Its existence is important/essential

 Examples:

•  People who work part-time usually receive no benefits.
• Men who are not married are called bachelors.
• He won the prize for research that might led to a cure for AIDS.

2. Nominal (Noun) Clause

• It functions like a noun.
• It can be Subject, Object, or Complement.

 Types of Nominal (Noun) Clause

 a) WH-word clause

• I don't know where the student cafetaria is.
• The professor explained how shock waves are formed.
• Do you know which answer is correct?

 b) THAT clause

• That something was wrong was clear.
• He said that there would be some new students during the week.
• It also points out that lab attendance is mandatory.

 c) IF / WHETHER clause

• I want to know if Dr. Chen practices acupuncture.
• Doctors wonder whether acupuncture is effective treatment for arthritis.

 Noun clause positions

 Subject position

• Who was inside the cave was not known.
• What happened made him cry.
• What he did was an impossible thing.
• What they found was a dying cat.
• That you will come surprises me.

Object position

• Can you tell me when the train will arrive?
• The teacher explained that there would be some tests during the week.
• We plan to give whoever wins a present.
• I don't know where the lab room is.

 Complement position

 a) Subject complement

• Money and chances are what we need.
• The problem is that we do not have much money.

 b) Object complement

• The play made the show what it was.
• He considered the presents what they really need.

 Other positions

       a) After preposition

• We give the reward to whoever saves the child.
• They have not decided on what they will buy for the presents.

       b) After adjective

• We are happy that there will be some new students.
• He is sorry that most of his friends are lazy.

 3. Adverbial Clause

• It is used to modify a verb.
• It tells time (when), place (where), reason (why), for what purpose, concession, condition, result, degree, manner (how), or contrast.

 a) Time
      Markers: after, before, once, when, while, since, whenever, as, as soon as, as long as, till, untill

• He comes after night has fallen.
• When you have finished your work, you can go.
• Buy your tickets as soon as you reach the station.

b) Place
      Markers: where, wherever

• I make friend wherever I go.
• She put the meat where the cat couldn't reach it.

 c) Reason or Cause
      Markers: because, since, as, for

• I visit you because I like you.
• Since your father is not at home, I will ask you to take the message.
• As Jane was the eldest, she looked after the others.

 d) Purpose
      Markers: so, so that, in order that

• The students study hard so they may pass the exam.
• Elaborate plans were made in order that we could catch the culprits

e) Concession
     Markers: although, though, even though

• Though I was in the same class as Eko for four years, I never knew him very well.
• Although he hadn't eaten for days, he looked strong and healthy.
• Even though he sat next to me, we never said a word to each other.

 f) Condition
     Markers: if, unless, whether, on condition that

• I'll go by myself if you can't go.
• If you treat her kindly, she'll do anything for you.
• Unless the strike has been called off, there will be no train tomorrow.
• You will have to face the publicity, whether you want to or not.

 g) Result
      Markers: so, so...that, such (a) ...that

• I took no notice of him, so he flew into rage.
• He spoke so quickly that nobody can understand him.
• He spoke in such a low voice that no body can understand him.

 h) Degree
     Markers: so...as, as...as, than

• The boy is not as handsome as I expected.
• Your mother is not so old as I thought she was.
• She can get a higher score than you could get.

i) Manner
    Markers: as, as if, as though

• Yanto writes as the way his father did.
• He acts as if he is left-handed.
• He treats me as though  I were a stranger.

j) Contrast
     Markers: whereas, while

• San Francisco is very cool during the summer, whereas San Juan is extremely hot.
• While San Juan is extremely hot during the summer, San Francisco is very cool.

References:

1. Quirk, Randolph; S Greenbaum; G Leech; J Svartvik. 1978. A Grammar of Contemporary English. London: Longman Group Limited.
2. Close, RA. 1977. A Reference Grammar for Students of English. London: Longman Group Ltd.