Michael Kennedy-Scanlon, Juli Cebrian and John Bradbury

Guided error correction

Exercises for Spanish-speaking students of English
Level C1
Book 2
Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona
Servei de Publicacions
Bellaterra, 2010
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Primera edici: desembre de 2010
Edici i impressi
Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona
Servei de Publicacions
Edifici A. 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Valls). Spain
Tel. 93 581 10 22. Fax 93 581 32 39
sp@uab.cat
http://publicacions.uab.cat/
Fotografia de la coberta: Foxtungue
sota llicncia de Creative Commons
Imprs a Espanya. Printed in Spain
Dipsit legal: B-46178-2010
ISBN 978-84-490-2664-5
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the many people who piloted the first draft of this book, namely Ruth
Abasolo Monjo, Meritxell Balls Antonell, Jos Lus Cebrin Puyuelo, Xavier Cebrin Puyuelo,
Laura Crespillo Gonzlez, Javier Fernndez Snchez, lex Gonzlez Vergs, Vernica Hernndez
Vidales, Nria Juhera Bou, Alexandra Marn Fernndez, Aida Marin Mora, Adela Mena Garca,
Sonia Priego Sempere, Rosa Maria Ribot Lloret and Marta Snchez Garca. We are also grateful
to Raquel Serrano Serrano at the Univesity of Barcelona and Jackie Neff at ESADE for their useful
feedback.
Very special thanks to Mara Jess Sangorrn Garca for considerable assistance with translations,
piloting, proofing and general support.
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Contents
PREFACE / PRLOGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Introduction to the exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Part A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
About cognates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Errors involving cognates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Errors involving time expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Miscellaneous errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Part B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Part C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
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Preface/Prlogo
Durante los primeros aos de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera el alumno tiene
la grata sensacin de avanzar rpidamente. Esta sensacin es en parte una ilusin de-
bida a dos factores principales. Por un lado, al principio su avance es ciertamente r-
pido en trminos relativos ya que si empieza sabiendo diez palabras de la nueva len-
gua y aprende diez ms en una semana, habr aumentado su vocabulario un 100%.
Pero si la semana siguiente aprende diez palabras ms, el incremento relativo esa se-
mana ser tan slo del 50% (relativo a las veinte palabras de la primera semana), y
si aprende diez palabras en la tercera semana el incremento ser del 33%, con lo que
aunque el ritmo de aprendizaje se mantenga constante, el incremento relativo de se-
mana en semana no tarda en parecer mnimo.
Por otro lado, despus de varios aos de aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera, nor-
malmente el alumno ha asimilado las reglas gramaticales bsicas, lo que le permite,
por ejemplo, hacer preguntas, conjugar verbos regulares y convertir adjetivos en ad-
verbios. El conocimiento de estas reglas de aplicacin general es muy satisfactorio
ya que el aprendizaje de una simple regla permite un avance considerable en el uso
de esa lengua.
Sin embargo, una vez dominadas esas reglas generales propias de una primera
etapa, lo que queda por aprender de la lengua es cada vez ms especfico y menos
generalizable. Se tiene la impresin de que todo lo dems son excepciones. Intentar
asimilar un nmero cada vez mayor de este tipo de informacin detallada es una
labor difcil y desmoralizadora, cuya consecuencia es a menudo una sensacin de no
avanzar en el aprendizaje.
Adems, las expectativas de aprendizaje propias de un estudiante de nivel avan-
zado hacen que el alumno se sienta frustrado por los errores que contina come-
tiendo a pesar de haber estudiado explcitamente las estructuras o las palabras co-
rrespondientes. Es decir, cuando el alumno se lanza a utilizar la lengua extranjera
suele ser ms comprensivo con sus propias faltas en un primer momento que cuan-
do lleva cinco aos de aprendizaje y la experiencia acumulada y la prctica deber-
an haber sido suficientes para no cometer esas faltas.
Con este libro pretendemos precisamente dar respuesta a esta sensacin de frus-
tracin de los estudiantes de nivel avanzado. Por un lado, los aspectos tratados co-
rresponden a temas lxico-gramaticales muy concretos. Por otro lado, estos temas
han sido seleccionados porque reflejan los errores ms reincidentes que cometen los
estudiantes de ingls de nivel avanzado, recopilados a lo largo de nuestra experien-
cia colectiva de muchos aos como profesores de lengua inglesa.
Los ejercicios que presenta este libro, por lo tanto, se basan en el tipo de detalles
y distinciones sutiles relevantes para este nivel, pero sin ninguna pretensin de ge-
Guided error correction Exercises, C1 Book 2 Documents 7
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neralizar. El libro ofrece al estudiante de ingls un nmero limitado de tipos de error
y un mtodo de aprendizaje y evaluacin de los mismos, favoreciendo as el pro-
greso y la sensacin de avance.
Nuestro enfoque se basa en varias suposiciones. La primera es que la mayora de
los errores que comete el estudiante de nivel avanzado es el resultado de la interfe-
rencia de la primera lengua, en este caso, el espaol. Dicho de un modo sencillo, una
vez superadas las diferencias ms evidentes entre el ingls y el espaol, la simple
substitucin de la palabra o expresin espaola por la correspondiente expresin in-
glesa suele ser una estrategia inicial efectiva para producir frases inglesas, pero hay
casos en los que esta estrategia deja de funcionar y se comete un error.
Este tipo de error es especialmente problemtico por la dificultad que tiene el ha-
blante de espaol de detectarlo, debido a que en principio la construccin inglesa pa-
rece sonar bien. Una consecuencia aadida es que, aunque el estudiante intuya que
la forma usada no es correcta en ingls, tal vez desconozca la importancia del error.
Para el hablante nativo de ingls, sin embargo, el error puede ser tan flagrante como
un error gramatical bsico, a veces incluso llegando a impedir la comprensin.
La correccin de las faltas supone pues dos tareas distintas. Primero hay que re-
conocer el error y despus proporcionar la correccin adecuada del mismo. El dise-
o de este libro de ejercicios refleja esta dualidad. Los ejercicios de correccin de
errores estn agrupados en tres secciones. En los ejercicios de las dos primeras sec-
ciones (Part A y Part B) los errores aparecen identificados y la labor del estudiante
consiste nicamente en su correccin. En cambio, en la tercera seccin (Part C) los
errores no estn identificados y el estudiante debe realizar las dos tareas, es decir, pri-
mero localizar el error y despus corregirlo. Este enfoque basado en estos dos pasos,
deteccin y correccin, es lo que hemos llamado correccin guiada de errores.
La segunda suposicin es que las caractersticas del lenguaje se aprenden a base
de repeticin e implicacin, y que la necesidad de repeticin es especialmente rele-
vante en el caso de errores que derivan de la influencia de la lengua materna. Por
este motivo, cada uno de los errores que se trabajan en el libro aparece en seis oca-
siones distintas a lo largo de los ejercicios. En los ejercicios de la seccin A, los erro-
res aparecen agrupados por categora (preposiciones, falsos amigos, vocabulario,
conjunciones). Todos los errores introducidos en esta primera seccin vuelven a apa-
recer en la seccin B, donde los errores no aparecen por categora pero s identifi-
cados, y en la seccin C, en la que los errores ya no estn localizados.
No podemos ignorar que la labor de intentar aprender la correccin de un total
de 104 errores corre el peligro de convertirse rpidamente en una tarea pesada y abu-
rrida. Por eso hemos diseado este libro para ser usado no de una manera sistemti-
ca y secuencial en la clase sino ms bien como una serie de ejercicios de correccin
de una pgina que el estudiante de ingls puede ir completando en los momentos que
sean convenientes y durante el rato que le parezca oportuno. Cada ejercicio ocupa
una pgina y contiene entre 10 y 16 frases con un error cada una. La solucin a cada
ejercicio est en la pgina siguiente, donde se indica la forma correcta en negrita.
Por lo tanto, se puede realizar un ejercicio y comprobar su solucin en tan slo unos
minutos.
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Por ltimo, la correccin de los errores no estara completa sin una explicacin
de los mismos. Con esta finalidad, el libro cuenta tambin con una seccin de notas
explicativas al final en la que se explica brevemente el error y su correccin, as
como otras aclaraciones de inters. Cada correccin en las pginas de soluciones va
acompaada de un nmero superndice que indica dnde encontrar la correspon-
diente explicacin en la seccin de notas explicativas. Lgicamente cada error tiene
el mismo superndice cada vez que aparece con lo que el estudiante puede consultar
la nota explicativa correspondiente tantas veces como sea necesario.
Es importante sealar que los errores y sus soluciones respectivas pueden variar
bastante en complejidad. Por ejemplo, los errores de vocabulario pueden tener una
solucin diferente segn el contexto en el que aparece la palabra incorrecta. Las
notas explicativas estn pensadas para ayudar a entender esta variabilidad y a ese
efecto a veces se comentan diversas posibilidades.
Nota: Este libro forma parte de una serie, todava en proceso de redaccin. Cada libro es indepen-
diente de los otros.
Guided Error Correction. Exercises for Spanish-speaking students of English. Level B2 (Michael
Kennedy-Scanlon, Elisabet Pladevall Ballester, Juli Cebrian). Publicacin prevista para sep-
tiembre de 2011.
Guided Error Correction. Exercises for Spanish-speaking students of English. Level C1, Book
1 (Michael Kennedy-Scanlon, Juli Cebrian, John Bradbury).
Guided Error Correction. Exercises for Spanish-speaking students of English. Level C1, Book
2 (Michael Kennedy-Scanlon, Juli Cebrian, John Bradbury).
Guided error correction. Exercises, C1 Book 2 Documents 9
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Introduction to the exercises
Each page is a self-contained exercise consisting of a series of unrelated sentences
in English, each of which contains one mistake commonly made by Spanish-
speaking learners of English.
Correct the mistakes and, as you finish each page, check your work with the
answer key which you will find on the following page.
Beside each correction in the answer key you will see a superscripted number. If
you want clarification of the error and its correction, use this number to find the
pertinent information in the explanatory Notes at the end of the book.
When several different alternative solutions are appropriate and probable, we
have tried to include all of them. Some items may involve more alternative solutions
than we can practically include, in which case this will be indicated in the Notes
section. You may also find it frustrating that the same error does not always require
precisely the same solution. Such is language!
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PART A
The following exercises consist of a list of unrelated sentences, each of which
contains a common error. Exercises 1-16 are grouped according to the type of error,
and each error is underlined or otherwise marked. Try to correct it!
When you finish, check your work with the key for the exercise, which you
will find on the following page. Beside each correction you will see a superscript
number. Use the number to find an explanation of the error and its correction in the
Notes section at the back of the book.
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About cognates
English and Spanish all have many words that come from Latin. As a result, the
meaning of many English words is readily apparent to you. For example, you would
never bother to use a dictionary if you encountered the English word configuration
because it looks very much like a word in Spanish. Such words are called cognates.
In the case of configuration, the meaning of the word in English is identical or
very close to the meaning of the cognate word in Spanish. This is true of the vast
majority of cognates. Unfortunately, there are also a certain number of English
words whose meanings diverge somewhat or considerably from the Spanish cognate
words. For example, as you probably know, the English word realize does not
always mean realizar.
These words are often called false cognates or false friends. However, a better
term might be problem cognates, because in most cases these words have various
meanings, and not all of these meanings are false. That is, most of these words have
English meanings that do coincide with the meanings of the Spanish homologues.
For example, we can speak of realizing the companys assets. In this case, the
correct translation would be realizar los activos de la empresa.
Let us schematically represent the set of meanings of cognate words as circles.
We can show the relationships between cognates as follows.
Guided error correction Exercises, C1 Book 2 Documents 15
university
universidad
fabric fbrica
Case 1. The English word university and the Spanish
word universidad coincide in their meanings.
Case 2. The English word fabric and the Spanish word
fbrica have completely different meanings.
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Again, the vast majority of English words that have cognates in Spanish are
examples of Case 1, more or less, and thus represent no problem to use or
understand. However, there are some common English words that are Case 2, 3 or
4, and these are the words that are often mistranslated.
In short, as you do the exercises in this book, you will see that each case has its
own complexities. If you really want to learn the nuances of differences in meaning
and usage between cognates, there is no substitute for careful study of all the
examples that a good dictionary will provide.
16 Documents Michael Kennedy-Scanlon, Juli Cebrian, John Bradbury
fresh
nervous
nervioso
Case 3. The English and Spanish words have various
meanings, some of which coincide.
Case 4. The English word nervous is limited to a
subset of the meanings of the Spanish nervioso.
fresco
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Errors involving cognates
A1 Problem cognates 1
In each of the following sentences, the underlined cognate word does not convey the
right meaning. Replace it with the right word or expression.
1. By casualty, I met someone in the hotel in Bangkok who had gone to school
with my mother!
2. Im afraid I cant come to your party because I have another compromise on
Friday night.
3. Last night a woman gave a very interesting conference at the Civic Centre on
the history of our neighbourhood.
4. Nobody swims in the river any more because it is so heavily contaminated.
5. My brother was contracted to be in charge of maintenance and repairs.
6. The prime minister has decided to anticipate the elections to exploit his current
popularity.
7. We are having trouble increasing our sales because of all the competence.
8. The traffic was collapsed because a large truck had turned over in the road.
9. The company plans to cut costs and thus try to increase its benefits.
10. My sister was planning to visit for a week but she had to cancel because her
husband became ill. It was a great deception.
11. The main advantage of staying in a hotel rather than camping is commodity.
12. My flat is well communicated because its right near a metro station.
13. The Sales Team needs to celebrate a meeting to discuss the new marketing plan.
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A1 KEY
1. By chance/coincidence,
17
I met someone in the hotel in Bangkok who had
gone to school with my mother!
2. Im afraid I cant come to your party because I have another
commitment/engagement
25
on Friday night.
3. Last night a woman gave a very interesting lecture/talk
26
at the Civic Centre
on the history of our neighbourhood.
4. Nobody swims in the river any more because it is so heavily polluted.
28
5. My brother was hired
29
to be in charge of maintenance and repairs.
6. The prime minister has decided to bring forward/move up
5
the elections to
exploit his current popularity. OR: to bring the elections forward
7. We are having trouble increasing our sales because of all the competition.
24
8. The traffic was at a standstill/jammed
21
because a large truck had turned over
in the road.
9. The company plans to cut costs and thus try to increase its profits.
13
10. My sister was planning to visit for a week but she had to cancel because her
husband became ill. It was a great disappointment.
31
11. The main advantage of staying in a hotel rather than camping is comfort.
22
12. My flat is conveniently located
23
because its right near a metro station.
13. The Sales Team needs to hold
19
a meeting to discuss the new marketing plan.
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A2 Problem cognates 2
In each of the following sentences, the underlined cognate word does not convey the
right meaning. Replace it with the right word or expression.
1. The delivery has been delayed for motives outside our control.
2. The firm says we can use its empty local on Main Street as a temporary office.
3. With the arrival of European colonists, many social changes were produced.
4. The children awaited the summer holiday with great illusion.
5. Young people are obliged to go from one eventual job to another.
6. Students experiment a great deal of stress during exam period.
7. The best form to get a job with a company is to know someone who works
there.
8. The police claimed that only 2,000 people participated in the manifestation.
9. Will it molest you if I smoke?
10. This year an elevated number of traffic accidents occurred during the holiday.
11. There has been an important decrease in production activity over the last two
months.
12. The teacher should elaborate a set of exercises to practice each grammar point.
13. Some early sculpture by Brancusi will be exposed at the gallery next month.
Guided error correction Exercises, C1 Book 2 Documents 19
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A2 KEY
1. The delivery has been delayed for reasons
67
outside our control.
2. The firm says we can use its empty premises/commercial space
60
on Main
Street as a temporary office.
3. With the arrival of European colonists, many social changes took place/
occurred.
73
4. The children awaited the summer holiday with great anticipation/
excitement.
53
5. Young people are obliged to go from one temporary
40
job to another.
6. Students experience/undergo/go through
43
a great deal of stress during exam
period.
7. The best way
48
to get a job with a company is to know someone who works
there.
8. The police claimed that only 2,000 people participated in the demonstration.
63
9. Will it bother/disturb
64
you if I smoke?
10. This year a large
37
number of traffic accidents occurred during the holiday.
11. There has been a sharp/dramatic
54
decrease in production activity over the
last two months.
12. The teacher should prepare/make up/devise/create
36
a set of exercises to
practice each grammar point.
13. Some early sculpture by Brancusi will be exhibited/shown
44
at the gallery next
month.
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