What? Who are the presenters? …Why us?... When?... Which topic?... Well…Ok Ok… But how are we gonna present?

蘇琬楨 Wan-Chen Su (Jen)

♣ Why are W-H questions very important structures?

♣ When and how should teachers start teaching W-H questions?

holophrastically

Brad Pitt bought a beach house for his wife on Valentine’s Day.Subject NP

Who bought a beach house for his wife on Valentine’s Day?

Object NP

What did Brad Pitt buy for his wife on Valentine’s Day?

Object of the prep

For whom did Brad Pitt buy a beach house on Valentine’s Day?

Adverbial [Time]

When did Brad Pitt buy a beach house for his wife?

Verb phrase

What did Brad Pitt do on Valentine’s Day?

Adj.

What kind of house did Brad Pitt buy for his wife on Valentine’s Day?

Det

Whose wife did Brad Pitt buy a beach house for on Valentine’s Day?

Variety of Constituents

2 Kinds of Word Order

Subject WH-Questions

Predicate WH-Questions

Who ate Joey’s favorite sandwich?

What happened to you yesterday?

Who did Donald Trump fire last week?

What did Brad buy for Jen when he proposed to her?

What happened to you yesterday?

S

sm

Q-wh

S’

SUBJ PRED

AUXNP VP

whatT

-past

V

Advl Advl

Prep P

Prep NP

to pro

Advl P

Adv

yesterday

happen

you

Who ate Joey’s favorite sandwich?S

sm

Q-wh

S’

SUBJ PRED

AUXNP VP

whoT

-past

V

eat

NP

det AP N

Joey’s ADJ

favorite

sandwich

S

sm

Q-wh

S’

SUBJ PRED

AUXNP

VP

Donald Trump

T V

Advl

Prep P

fire

Who did Donald Trump fire last week?

Prep NP

Ø AP

ADJ

last

N

week

NP

wh-fronting

Ø

copy s/t

operator addition

subject-operator inversion

-past+3+sg whoØ doØ

What did Brad buy for Jen when he proposed to her? S

sm

Q-wh

S’

SUBJ PRED

AUXNP VP

Brad

TV

Advl Advl

Prep P

Prep NP

for Jen

Advl Cl

adv sub

when

buyØ

what -past+3+sg

do

Ø

copy s/t

NP

Ø

wh-fronting operator addition

subject-operator inversion

S

SUBJ PRED

NP

pro

he

AUX VP

T

-past+3+sg

V

Advl

Prep P

propose

Prep NP

to pro

her

Special Cases & Exceptions

♠ Auxiliary verb is present ♠ Copula Be is present

♠ WH-Q words serve asDeterminer

Intensifier

Object of

the

preposition

Object of a

preposition

within

another Prep P

prog / perf / modal auxiliaries

am/is/are/was/were

prog / perf / modal auxiliaries

What are you doing?Where have you been?

How can I help you?

Where have you been?

How can I help you?

S

sm

Q-wh

what

S’

SUBJ PRED

NP

pro

you

AUX

Ø

T prog

Ø

VP

V

do -ing

-pres

+2

+sg

be

NP

Ø

copy s/t wh-fronting

subject-operator inversion

operator addition

am/is/are/was/were

Who is that girl?Where were you yesterday?

What is your name?

Where were you yesterday?

What is your name?S

sm

Q-wh

who

S’

SUBJ PRED

NP

det

that

AUX

Ø

T

VP

cop

-pres

+3

+sg

be

NP

copy s/t wh-fronting

subject-operator inversion

N

girlØ Ø

operator addition

Determiner Whose class did you choose?

What method do they use?

Whose class did you choose?

What method do they use?Which car does he like?

S

sm S’

Q-wh SUBJ

NP

pro

he

AUX

T

PRED

-pres

+3

+sg

VP

V NP

likedet N

Ø Ø

Which car

wh-fronting

IntensifierHow fast did he run?How fast did he run?

How important is this task?

S

sm S’

Q-wh SUBJ

NP

det

this

AUX

T

PRED

-pres

+3

+sg

VP

cop

be

how important

wh-fronting

N

task

AP

intens ADJ

Ø Ø

Object of the preposition

To whom did you tell the secret?

Whom did you tell the secret to?

Who did you tell the secret to?

More Formal

Object of a preposition within another Prep P

did you do that?

Choice of a W-H question word

Generalwhen

When is the movie?

Specificwhat datewhat timewhich day

What date is the movie?What time is the movie? Which day is the movie?

Choice of a W-H question word

General

where

Where did he go?

Specific

Which

Which way did he go?

Choice of a W-H question word

General

What happened?

Specific

What did the vet do?

What did the vet do to the puppy?

Joyce: I expect to be going to France for shopping.Candy: You’re going to where for shopping?Joyce: I know. Lucky me.

Uninverted W-H questions

Echo Questions

Joyce: I expect to be going to France for shopping.Peggy: Where.Joyce: To France.

1

2

Something was not heard

Expressing surprise or disbelief

Emphatic questions with EVER

Wherever have you been?(Frightened)

However did you finish it?(Admiration)

Whatever did you find in her room?(Perplexity)

• Who the hell is this guy?• What the heck is that?• What the hell is that?• What the… (annoyance / surprise /

for emphasis)

Emphatic questions

Negative W-H Questions

•Who hasn’t gotten their

assignment back?•What’s not to

get?

•Why didn’t you

answer when I

called?

•Where didn’t

you go?Neutral Negative judgment

Yes/No Questions Versus WH-Questions

Yes/No Questionsquery a whole proposition

WH-Questionsquery a specific part of the proposition

The speaker assumes that the listener doesn’t know the proposition

The speaker assumes that the listener knows the proposition

How was the party?

What party?

Did you go out with Peter last night?

Yeah

How was your date?

I got dumped. I am so

depressed.

Yes/No Questions

W-H Questions

Introduction

Greetings

Making Suggestions

SOCIAL USES

How do you do?What do you do?

How are you?What’s new?What’s up?What’s happening?

Why don’t you buy it?What are you waiting for?

Seeking another’s opinion

Making suggestions

Challenging another’s opinion

Asking for expansion

SOCIAL USES

How about you?

How about a concert?

How come? What for? Since when?

What about it?

Truncated WH-questions

Where have youbeen hiding?

Elliptical Questions

Question

What are you doing?

What you doing?

Deleted Auxiliary

are

How are we going to do that?

How we going to do that? are

1

2

3

Where you been hiding? have

Display Questions

So you have learned what about thunder?

It is caused how?

It is different from lightening in which

ways?

Uninverted wh-questions

What is butterfly?

Inverted wh-questions

Jazz Chants

Information Gap Activities

Flash Cards

Subject-operator Inversion in Yes-No Questions

What time is it? It’s eight o’clock. It’s time for school. Let’s go.

Come on, let’s go! It’s time for school. It’s eight o’clock. Let’s go!

The Hello Song

Hello, hello, hello, how are

you?

I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine,

thank you.Hello, hello, hello! What’s your name? Hello, hello, hello! My name is John. My name is John. Hello, John! Hello, John! Hello.

Reference: Let’s Chant Let’s Sing by Carolyn Graham © 1995 Oxford University Press

Excuse me, where’s the coffee shop?Not here! It’s behind the ticket office. Excuse me, where’s the coffee shop?

Not here! It’s across from the exit.  Excuse me, where’s the coffee shop?

Not here! It’s between the phone booths

and the luggage lockers.  Excuse me, where’s the coffee shop?Not here! It’s in front of the restrooms.Excuse me, is this the coffee shop?

Yes, it is. But sorry, it’s closed!

What do you want for dinner?I want rice.

What do you want for dinner?I want rice.

What do you want for dinner?I want pizza.

I want chicken.I want rice.

What do you want for dinner?I want rice.

What do you want for dinner?I want rice.

Rice, rice, I want rice.What do you want for dinner?

Rice!

How old is she?She’s three years old.

How old is she?She’s three.

Can she run? Can she jump?Yes, she can.She can run.

She can climb a tree.How old is he?

He’s two years old.Can he climb a tree?

Can he talk?He can climb a tree.

He can count to three.He can

talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.

What is he doing?He’s playing a game.What is she doing?

She’s writing her name,Writing her name,Writing her name.

What is she doing?She’s writing her name.

What is he doing?He’s playing a game,

Playing a game,Playing a game.

What is he doing?He’s playing a game.What is she doing?

She’s writing her name.

Who’s she?**She’s Marie.**Who’s he?**

He’s my brother, Lee.Who’s he?**

He’s my brother, Lou.Who’s she?**

She’s my sister, Sue.Who’s she?**

She’s my good friend, Mary.Who’s he?**

He’s my good friend, Harry.

What’s this?It’s a book.

What’s this?**What’s this?It’s a bag.

What’s this?**What’s this?It’s a book.What’s this?It’s a bag.

What’s this?It’s a book bag.**

References: 1.Let’s Chant Let’s Sing by Carolyn Graham © 1995 Oxford University Press2. Macmillan, Copyright © 2004 Macmillan Publishers Ltd

apples

oranges

some milk

a notebooka gameboy

a pizza

a yogurt

chocolat

e

hamburg

er

$5

$1

$2

$6

Coke

eggs

milk

$1.2

5

$3

$1.2

5

99 Supermarket

How much is …?

Name: Sally

Age: 23

Job: singer

Family: There are five people in my family. My dad is a writer. He’s fifty-nine. I have one brother & one sister. My brother is a lawyer.

Name: Bill

Age: 27

Job: lawyer

Family: I have two sisters. One of them is a famous singer. My mother is a housewife. She always helps my dad edit his books.

How old …?How many people …?What do/does … do?

Where is …?

What … doing?

Are you studying at USC?T:

T:

T:

T:

T:

T:

S:

S:

S:

S:

S:

S:

Yes.

What are you studying?

TESOL.

Will you be a teacher someday?

Yes.When will you be one?

In one year.

Do you live in Los Angeles?

Yes.What area do you live in?

Santa Monica.