Core English Grammar and Educational Insights

Posted on Jun 12, 2025 in Public Administration, Management, and Governance

Educational Psychology & Learning Principles

Student Interaction Types

There are two primary types of student interaction:

Low Interaction: These classes are typically lecture-focused, well-organized, and present material clearly. The instructor is usually well-versed in the content but teaches in a way that does not provide opportunities for interaction among students.
Student-Focused: These classes offer multiple opportunities for students to discuss ideas in small groups. The quality of the discussion is crucial; tasks that allow for more than one answer can generate deeper thinking processes and may also shift the direction of the lesson.

Teacher Influence on Students

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Promoting Teamwork in Education

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Influence of the Environment in Education

Social influence is pervasive in all areas of human life; society influences people’s perceptions, attitudes, judgments, opinions, and behaviors. Consequently, every individual modifies their behavior based on their interaction with their environment.

Examples of environmental influences in education include family, friends, economic status, individual lifestyle, mass media, and many more.

What is Human Behavior?

Human behavior is related to the way humans act and interact. It is influenced by several factors such as genetic makeup, culture, and individual values and attitudes.

How Attitudes Can Change

Attitude modification can occur through learning alternative behaviors. Unstable attitudes often vary with lifelong learning. Some common examples of how attitudes can change include:

Modification
Persuasive communications
Contact with the stimulus that generated aversion
Forced behaviors
Pressure from a group or leaders

Components of Attitudes

Attitudes can be understood as consistent ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that imply adherence to an object, person, situation, or group. Therefore, the concept of attitude can be divided into three components:

Cognitive Component: This refers to the ideas, knowledge, and beliefs a person has about the social object.
Affective Component: These are the emotions and feelings an individual experiences regarding the social object.
Behavioral Tendency Component: These are the behaviors the subject develops in relation to the social object.

Difference Between Emotions and Attitudes

Emotions are an affective state experienced as a subjective reaction to the environment, accompanied by innate organic changes (physiological and endocrine) influenced by experience. Emotions serve an adaptive function for our organism in relation to its surroundings.

On the other hand, attitudes are consistent ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that imply adherence to an object, person, situation, or group. As mentioned, attitudes comprise cognitive, affective, and behavioral components.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to interact with the world in a receptive and appropriate manner.

Research Group Dynamics and Phases

The objectives achieved through research groups include:

Increasing the assessment and interpretation of information provided to each student.
Encouraging cooperation and collaboration among all members of the same class.

The typical phases of research groups are:

Determine and Organize: The first step is to present the problem clearly and comprehensively. Subsequently, available resources (graphics, photos, books, films, etc.) are shown to students. Questions are asked and clarified both individually and as a group. Systems are established by grouping different categories of previously asked questions. Each participant is integrated into the group that interests them, depending on the subtopic they will address. If a group is very large, subgroups can be formed.
Research: Each member chooses the questions they identify with and determines the resources they will use and those they need.
Development: Each member finds information from various sources, compares and organizes this information, communicates their findings to their colleagues, and engages in discussion and analysis of the new data. If no more information is needed, the results are interpreted.
Exhibition Planning: All participants of the same group analyze how they will present their findings to the whole class. Ideas are selected and ranked in order of importance, while rejecting anything not considered relevant or interesting for the rest of the class.
Exhibitions: Each student is given an assessment questionnaire to fill in after each presentation.
Joint Evaluation: The evaluation of content will be conducted by both the teacher and the students.

English Grammar Fundamentals

Nouns and Pronouns According to Register

The distribution of nouns and pronouns varies depending on the register:

Pronouns are slightly more common than nouns in conversation.
At the other extreme, nouns are many times more common than pronouns in news and academic prose.

Importance of the Pronoun “One”

The pronoun ‘one’ is widely used and can function in two main ways:

As a substitute for a countable noun.
Example: An artist cannot fail; it is success to be one.
As a generic pronoun referring to people in general.
Example: One could think that this problem could be solved, but nobody does anything.

Moreover, it is important to note that ‘one’ is frequently used in conversations.

Structure of Noun Phrases

Premodifiers and postmodifiers are frequently optional; where they occur, they can usually be omitted without harming the structure and basic meaning of the phrase.

However, both the head and determiner are normally required, and neither can be omitted without destroying the identity of the noun phrase.

Consider the example:

Determiner	Premodifier	Head	Postmodifier
a		boat
a	long	way	to go

Verb Aspects and Examples

In English, there are four types of verb aspects: Simple, Continuous, Perfect, and Perfect Continuous. These aspects help us understand when and how the action of the verb occurs. On a time scale, we have:

Continuous: Indicates an action in progress at the moment of speaking, an action that is incomplete. It focuses on the moment we speak.
Simple: Refers to an action that is done but not necessarily at the moment of speaking, or an action that is already completed. It focuses on when the action happens, so it often uses a frequency adverb.
Perfect: Indicates an action that was completed or has just finished. It focuses on the consequences of the action.
Perfect Continuous: Describes an action that occurred over a period of time between the past and a more recent past or present. It focuses on the process, and it’s possible the action has not finished yet.

Present Perfect Versus Past Simple

Both the present perfect and past simple are used to speak about the past, but with a subtle difference:

The past simple is used for actions that have ended in the past, even if they occurred in the recent past.
With the present perfect, the action has just finished, and its consequences are still present. Therefore, the action has an influence on the present.

Types of Verb Forms

Verb forms can be grouped into three major classes based on their ability to function as main verbs or auxiliary verbs:

Lexical Verbs: (e.g., run, eat) These comprise an open class of words that function only as main verbs.
Example (main verb function): Children and dogs ran from side to side almost underfoot.
Primary Verbs: (be, have, and do) These three verbs can function as either main verbs or auxiliary verbs.
Example (main verb function): He does my washing.
Example (auxiliary verb function): He doesn’t look at the numbers.
Modal Verbs: (e.g., can, will, might) These verbs can function only as auxiliary verbs.
Example (auxiliary verb function): People thought he might have been joking.

Types of Single-Word Lexical Verbs

Lexical verbs can be single-word units and fall into seven major semantic categories:

Activity Verbs: Describe actions like work, buy, go, get, move, bring, play, take, try.
Example: He bought biscuits and condensed milk.
Communication Verbs: Involve communication activities, particularly verbs describing speech and writing, such as write, say, ask, speak, claim, describe, talk.
Example: You said you didn’t have it.
Mental Verbs: Refer to mental states or processes, emotions, attitudes, perceptions, like think, know, believe, hear, find, listen, read, consider, see, want, like, feel, love.
Example: I think it was Freddie.
Causative Verbs: Indicate that some person or thing helps to bring about a new state of affairs, such as require, allow, help, let.
Example: What caused you to be ill?
Verbs of Occurrence: Report events that occur without an actor, like die, become, grow, change, happen.
Example: The lights changed.
Verbs of Existence or Relationship: Report a state of existence or a logical relationship that exists between entities, such as stay, appear, indicate, represent, seem, live.
Example: All these uses seem natural and serviceable.
Verbs of Aspect: Characterize the stage of progress of an event or activity, like stop, start, keep, begin.
Example: He couldn’t stop talking about me.

Prepositional Versus Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are multi-word units consisting of a verb followed by an adverbial particle (e.g., carry out, find out, pick up). These adverbial particles all have core spatial or locative meanings (e.g., out, in, up, down, on); however, they are commonly used with less literal meanings.

In contrast, prepositional verbs consist of a verb followed by a preposition, such as look at, talk about, listen to.

Prepositional verbs are far more common than phrasal verbs. In academic prose, phrasal verbs are extremely rare. Conversation and fiction use phrasal verbs much more frequently than news and academic prose, partly because most phrasal verbs are colloquial in tone. The most common intransitive phrasal verbs are activity verbs, and they often occur as imperatives (e.g., Stand up straight! People are looking! – FICT). The intransitive combination come on in conversation is the most common phrasal verb in any register (e.g., Come on, we better go).

In conversation and fiction, many common prepositional verbs are activity, communication, or mental verbs. The most common is look at (e.g., Look at that great big tree stuck under the bridge! – CONV).

The Verb “Do” as an Auxiliary

The verb “do” is commonly used as an auxiliary verb. It functions as an auxiliary verb when lexical main verbs are made negative or used in interrogatives. This use of ‘do’ is known as ‘do-support’ because ‘do’ is added merely to support the construction of the negative or interrogative, and it does not contribute any independent meaning.

Negative: He doesn’t smoke or drink.
Yes/No Interrogative: Do you like pizza?
Wh-Interrogative: So what did you bring for us this time?

Furthermore, ‘do’ is used to emphasize that the meaning of the main verb is positive, in contrast with what one might expect. Emphatic ‘do’ occurs as an auxiliary verb in a clause that is not negated and is not a question.

Example: I did have a protector, but it broke.

Types of Complement Clauses

The four main types of complement clauses are that-clauses, wh-clauses, -ing clauses, and infinitive clauses. They are distinguished by their complementizer and their own structure. Most complement clauses follow a verb; the structural pattern is typically: verb + complement clause.

Examples:

We know that you have lived abroad for some time.
I don’t know where they are.
The boss wants to see us immediately.
I like listening to music.

Ellipsis in Complement Clauses

Ellipsis is a way of simplifying grammatical structure through omission. When the content of a complement clause is clear from the preceding discourse, various forms of ellipsis or substitution can be used for post-predicate clauses:

With to-clauses and wh-clauses, the complement clause itself can be ellipted, while the complementizer (to or a wh-word) is usually retained.
In contrast, ellipsis is not possible with post-predicate that-clauses, but the proforms so or not can be used to substitute for the entire clause.

Examples:

A: Are we having that tonight too?
B: If you want to.
I know he’s here, but where?

American English vs. British English: To-Complement Clauses

There is a subtle variation in the use of to-complement clauses between American and British English. In American English, the structure verb + noun phrase + to-infinitive is very common (e.g., I want you to go to…). In British English, while this structure is also used, it is also possible to include ‘for’ (e.g., I need for you to go to… or They required for you to…).

Degrees of Certainty with Modals

Modals can express different degrees of certainty, from highest to lowest:

Will / Won’t: Used when a future event is certain to occur (or certain not to occur for ‘won’t’).
Must / Can’t / Couldn’t: Express that a future state or event is the most logical outcome. ‘Can’t’ is also used for an impossible situation.
Should / Shouldn’t: Used when we want something to happen, and it’s reasonable to expect it.
May / May not: Express that something will possibly happen.
Might / Could / Can / Might not (Mightn’t): Express that something will possibly happen, but with less certainty. The modal ‘can’ is also used to make general statements about what is possible.

Tag Questions for Certainty

Tag questions can be used to check something we believe to be true. For example, if you are fairly sure his name is David but not 100% certain:

Your name’s David, isn’t it?

Types of Adjectival Compounds

Here are five types of adjectival compounds:

Adjective + -ing participle: e.g., funny-looking, good-looking
Adjective + -ed participle: e.g., ready-made, soft-textured
Adjective + Noun: e.g., fast-food, big-name, full-time
Adjective + Color Adjective: e.g., royal-blue, dark-blue, light-blue
Noun + Adjective: e.g., age-old, sea-blue, smoke-free

Types of Predicative Adjectives

There are two main types of predicative adjectives:

Subject Predicative: These complement a copular verb, characterizing the nominal expression in the subject position.
Example: She seems quite nice really.
Object Predicative: These follow a direct object, making a predication about that noun phrase.
Example: I said you’ve got all your [priorities] wrong.

Types of Semantic Adverbs

Semantic adverbs can be categorized by the type of information they convey:

Manner: Express information about how an action is performed.
Examples: quickly, happily, automatically, fast, well.
Time: Provide information about time in four ways: position, duration, relationship, and frequency.
Examples: now, then, always, often.
Place: Show position, direction, or distance.
Examples: there, here, far.
Degree: Describe the extent to which a characteristic holds. They can mark whether the extent or degree is greater or less than usual. Traditionally, degree adverbs that increase intensity are called amplifiers or intensifiers. Some of these modify gradable adjectives and indicate degrees on a scale.
Examples: almost, completely, very, extremely, so.
Additive/Restrictive: Show that one item is being added to another.
Examples: also, too.

Types of Stance Adverbs

Adverbs can realize three types of stance: epistemic, attitude, and style.

Epistemic Stance Adverbs: Show levels of certainty or doubt, comment on the reality or actuality of a proposition, show limitations on a proposition, or indicate that a proposition is based on some evidence without specifying the exact source.
Examples: probably, actually, mainly, apparently.
Attitude Stance Adverbs: Tell a speaker’s or writer’s attitude towards a proposition.
Example: I lost the manual that goes with it, unfortunately.
Style Stance Adverbs: Comment on the manner of speaking the speaker is adopting; for example, whether the speaker (or writer) is using the language sincerely, frankly, or simply.
Example: Frankly, I don’t care.

Position of Adjectives

Adjectives can appear in two main positions:

Attributive Position: Before a noun, modifying or adding to its meaning.
Examples: It is a large apartment. It is a noisy party.
Predicative Position: After a verb, functioning as a complement to that verb. They complete the meaning of verbs that describe what the subject is, does, or experiences (linking verbs like be, seem, become, feel, smell, taste).
Examples: The apartment is large. The party is noisy.

Use of Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are used to indicate ownership or belonging of the subject or object in a sentence. They are always followed by a noun.

Examples: This is my book. Where is your car? Their house is big.

Adverbs Describing Nearness

To describe nearness, we primarily use adverbs of place.

Examples: around, behind, there, here.

“Some” Versus “Any” in Determinateness

Some is most common in affirmative sentences. Any is most common in negative sentences. Both can be used in questions, but ‘some’ is typically used when the speaker expects a ‘yes’ answer or is making an offer/request.

“Will” Versus “Going To”

The difference between “will” and “going to” lies in their usage:

We use will to make a prediction based on our opinion or experience, and to express a decision made at the moment of speaking.
We use going to when we make a prediction based on some present evidence and for future plans.

Auxiliaries for Offers

Different auxiliaries are used for offers:

Offers in the Present Tense: Use the modal verbs can, might, and may.
Offers in the Future Tense: Use the modal verbs will and shall.

Constructivist Activity for “Will” (Promise)

Here is an example of a constructivist activity for using “will” to express a promise:

Divide the class into pairs (Student A and Student B).
Give each student a corresponding Student A or B worksheet.
Student A starts by reading the first statement on their worksheet to Student B.
Student B looks at the words in the box on their worksheet and replies by making a promise using “will.”
When they finish, they switch roles.

Grammatical Use of “Promise”

The word “promise” can function as both a noun and a verb:

As a NOUN: Subject + verb + determiner (a, the, my, some…) + PROMISE.
Example: I’ll be here for your birthday. That’s a promise!
As a VERB: PROMISE + will, would, to-infinitive, or that-clause.
Example: I promise I’ll buy you another one.

Additionally, the modal verb WILL can be used directly to make promises, implying the act of promising without explicitly using the verb “promise.”

Example: I believe I will pass the exam. (Here, ‘will’ expresses a strong intention or belief, which can function as a promise to oneself or others.)