Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Identification of English Clauses in an EFL class

Guey, Ching-Chung

This paper seeks to explore the heuristic model based on location-based identification (LBI) approach of English Clauses, in coordination with the structure-based identification (SBI) approach, hoping to provide EFL instructors and learners an identification framework for three main distinct clauses (i.e., nominal, adjectival and adverbial clauses), hoping to facilitate EFL reading and writing when the three different clauses are involved. The paper seeks to answer the questions: Is there a quick access to identifying three different clauses? What are the shortcomings of LBI and SBI? Two perspectives have been considered in the course of identifying clauses: one is through the relative location (LBI mode) of each clause against the main structure (normally the main verb), the other is through judging the complete or incomplete structures (SBI) after the conjunction, the head of the clause. The study suggests that it should be through the consideration of both perspectives that one can accurately identify the three clauses. The present article starts with giving the definitions of each clause, its individual pattern development, relative position of each clause in a given sentence, and finally maps out the heuristic model of combining LBI and SBI identifying modes in the course of identification of clauses.