tag questions
GE: Tag Questions | Danyal | June 13th, 2001
Reading Tom Bloor's comments on the intricacies of the tag question in English (GE module page 20) left me wondering why I hadn't noticed that my Chinese learners were having problems with this. The answer would appear to be that they aren't using them, but use direct questions instead. I'm guessing that students aren't using tag questions given their complexity in comparison to their equivalent in Chinese, which is made by putting a yes/no at the end of the declarative. Another possibility is that students may simply not be consciously aware of the possibility or effect of using a tag question over an interrogative.
This less than earth shattering realization has started me thinking if native English speakers consciously choose one structure over another and if any research has been done on this. Although it is generally thought that a negative tag intonation is affirmative and an upward one questioning, in the case of the latter, could there be a fundamental reason why one chooses:
Are you happy? as opposed to You're happy aren't you? (upward intonation).
The reasons for choosing one over the other could be anything from stylistic, to wishing to show ones competence. In common to both of these is the implication that metacognitive processes are at work, which coming back to my Chinese learners would suggest that they too will only use tag questions if they are consciously aware of them ie made so by the teacher.
If our goal as English language teachers is to give our students the full range of expressiveness of the language then it seems that the current approach of simply explaining how the question tag is made is insufficient and that we should also be teaching the reasons why one might choose the question tag in any particular circumstance and its likely effect on the listener.
I would be interested to hear others opinions on this.
Danyal
Taipei
Re: Tag Questions | Jake Kimball | June 14th, 2001
Hi! I'm Jake from Korea.
Funny you should be writing on this as the topic is just what I've been reading about. I'm currently taking the new SLA module and I'm reading a Rod Ellis book (general introduction).
Judging from what I've just read, it could be a matter of avoidance. That falls under the heading of transfer (positive, negative) where learners are helped and/or hindered by their L1. An example given was that Chinese and Japanese learners avoid using relative clauses because their L1 does not contain equivalent structures. As their knowledge of L2 increases, they'll use it more often.
Possibility 2: sequence of acquiring the grammar (word order, tense). Most research indicates that grammar is learned sequentially, except for variations of 'be' and maybe they haven't reached that point yet.
Notice a difference between beginner, intermediate, and advanced speakers and the frequency of use?
Jake K.
GE: Tag Questions | Danyal | June 14th, 2001
Jake,
Thanks for your feedback. I agree that non-usage of tag questions may be a matter of avoidance, but I am more inclined to a belief that it is because they deem them redundant as opposed to interrogatives. This comes back to my point that the learners have not been made aware of the value of the tag question in expressing mood and style.
I do suspect avoidance as the prime motive for Chinese students paucity of relative clauses in speech even in advanced classes. They are certainly uncomfortable with relative clauses (which are not a feature of the Chinese language) and are far more likely to use them in written than spoken English perhaps because their inclusion in the former is seen as constituting professional writing.
Danyal
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