January 10, 2011

• Terrified of Adjectives

  "Will there be adjectives on the vocabulary exam?" one of my students asks me.

  This is not the first time I've had this very question from this very student - let's call him Ahmed - and I'm probably exaggerating if I say he looks terrified, but he's very concerned, and he won't let go. "If there are adjectives, I'll fail! We'll all fail!" A Shakespearian-style tragical fatalism settles briefly over the class. Or at least over the students sitting nearest to Ahmed.

  Many students find word-class transformation questions tricky, I know (Disaster is a noun. What is the adjective?). But what intrigues me is why it is the transform-this-verb-or-noun-into-an-adjective variety that makes Ahmed so worried. Perhaps nouns and verbs are less threatening? Some nouns can be rather cuddly, I suppose. In my opinion, some adverbs can be quite nasty - irritatingly difficult to nail down in certain syntactic structures.

  It is a well know fact that attack is the best defence, so I quickly write some word-class transformation questions on the white board - some ending with "What is the adjective?" I think I hear Ahmed groaning quietly when my back is turned towards the class, but is this not what cognitive phobia therapy is all about? Helping phobia sufferers face their worst fears?

  I know word-class transformations and other types of tasks focusing on the mysterious workings of syntactic structures are not for the faint-hearted. But aren't we training and preparing the next generation of Emiratis for the real world? For dealing with economic downturns? Fixing the red tide? Meeting the ever-increasing demand for drinking water in this desert land? For terrifying adjectives that any come can come at you when you least expect it?

  That's my job.

  Oh, I almost forgot. I think Ahmed scored 89% on his final vocab exam.

  • 1:36 pm
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