13. The Noun. Main characteristics

The part of speech ‘the noun’ is discriminated on 3 criteria: semantic (the n. expresses substance or thingness, and possesses an unlimited substantivization force), formal (signs: suffixal system –or, -er, tion, -dom), functional features (subj, obj, attribute, adv modifier, predicative).

Nouns can combine into word groups, which are loosely connected, there is some meaningful distance between the words (e.g. a stone wall); and compound nouns - close unities (e.g. forget-me-not, fireplace).

The noun has its categories: gender, number, possessive case, the article.

The most characteristic substantive function of the noun is that of the subject or object in the sentence. Other functions are: attributive, adverbial, and even predicative f.

Nouns can be categorized into the following groups: ●proper and common nouns (according to “the type of nomination”). ●animate and inanimate nouns (on the basis of “form of existence”). ●human and non-human nouns (on the basis of “personal quality”). ●countable and uncountable nouns (on the basis of “quantitative structure”). ●concrete and abstract (whether it can be physically perceived or not).

14. Developing reading skills

Reading is the receptive skill in the written mode. It can develop independently of listening and speaking skills, but often develops along with them, especially in societies with a highly-developed literary tradition. Reading can help build vocabulary that aids listening comprehension at the later stages, particularly.

Here are some of the micro-skills involved in reading. The reader has to: ▪ decipher the script (this means establishing a relationship between sounds and symbols; or associating the meaning of the words with written symbols); ▪recognize vocabulary;▪pick out key words, such as those identifying topics and main ideas;▪figure out the meaning of the words, including unfamiliar vocabulary, from the (written) context.

▪recognize grammatical word classes: noun, adjective, etc. ▪detect sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, object, prepositions, etc. ▪recognize basic syntactic patterns; ▪reconstruct and infer situations, goals and participants; ▪use both knowledge of the world and lexical and grammatical cohesive devices to make the foregoing inferences, predict outcomes, and infer links and connections among the parts of the text.

get the main point or the most important information.

distinguish the main idea from supporting details;▪adjust reading strategies to different reading purposes, such as skimming for main ideas or studying in-depth.

There are 3 stages: 1) pre-reading (the introduction of the topic, giving the reasons for reading, providing the necessary info for the text); 2) while-reading (understanding the author’s message, studying the structure of the text, clarifying the content of the text); 3) post-reading stage (learner’s reflection on the text, investigation of the problems raised, topical debate).