'Double negatives' tutor notes

Whilst the curriculum talks about the use of negative verbs, in our research sessions with tutors we found that everyone felt that double negatives were a real problem for level 1 learners. We have therefore chosen to concentrate our work on negatives on this area. If you feel differently please let us know.

How does this tie in with the curriculums?

• England
  Rs/L1.1 - 'Use implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge ... to predict meaning, try out plausible meanings and to read and check for sense.'
  'Understand the term negative'
  Ws/L1.2 - 'Write grammatically correct sentences...'
  Wt/L1.3 - 'Present information in a logical sequence, using paragraphs where appropriate'
  Wt/L1.6 - 'Proof-read and revise writing for accuracy and meaning'
  
• Wales
  As England.
• Northern Ireland
  As England.
• Scotland
  See www.aloscotland.com for details of the Scottish curriculum.

In the Skillswise module you'll find:

Double negatives - factsheet
Print out this single factsheet to find out what a double negative is and how to avoid using it.

Double negatives - activity
As double negatives are especially a problem in a formal environment, this interactive flash activity focuses on helping Joanne get a job. There are three levels to the activity; at level 1 students have to help Joanne fill in the application form, at level 2 they help with the formal letter and at level 3 the students have to choose the correct speech bubble to help Joanne at her interview.

Double negatives - quiz
3 levels of multiple-choice quiz to see if students have grasped the concept of double negatives. The learner can choose their level. Level 'A' is the simplest and level 'C' is the most difficult.
We have now put in place a system that will allow the student to print out a certificate if they score 50% or more in the quiz. This will appear as a link on the results page - click on the link and the certificate will appear in a new window. Learners can write their name on the certificate once it is printed out.

Double negatives - worksheets
There are 3 printable worksheets (with answersheets where appropriate) in this section. In the first worksheet learners re-write sentences that contain a double negative. In the second worksheet learners are asked to re-write a newspaper report and in worksheet 3 the objective is to find the correct sentences that make up a letter to the bank.
If you have a great worksheet for learning about double negatives, or if you think we haven't got it quite right, tell us about it!

Technical help:

To get the most out of this topic area you need the following 'plug-ins':

• Flash
  The game in this topic section uses Flash. This is free to download and should only take a few minutes. You can follow the BBC WebWise instructions to download it to your machine.
  Find out more.

If you don't have Flash the same learning points are covered in the quiz and in the worksheets and factsheets.
If you are new to the web, why not try the BBC WebWise online course, Becoming WebWise? It's free, you can do it in your own time from any computer and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching.
Get WebWise.

You can find out more about the technical requirements for Skillswise in our Help - Technical Information section.

Taking it further:

With Skillswise:
Don't forget to check out the Skillswise Lesson plans and Teaching inspirations areas for more ideas about teaching double negatives.

On the web:
Here's a few suggestions of other places on the web that you might find useful resources that you can adapt for teaching double negatives.

• BBC Learning English
  This is the BBC World Service site that aims to help EFL students improve their English. In the 'Learn it' archive there are answers to lots of grammar questions that have been sent in by students - including questions on the use of 'no' and 'not' and the use of 'no' and 'any'.
  Within this site you will also find a great section on English for work, which includes how to handle phone calls and how to get through a job interview.
   
• Has it always been this way?
  Brush up on a little history with this short piece on the evolution of the double negative from Oxford dictionaries online. It wasn't always a 'no no', as Chaucer and Shakespeare can testify.
   
• Factsheet and exercise
  Clearly laid out factsheet with a short exercise from the St Cloud State University in Minnesota.
   
• Worksheets
  Again these are primary resources, but once you have printed the two worksheets out you wouldn't really know that. The two sheets are available as web pages or as PDF documents.
  (If you want to access them as PDF files you will need to have the free Adobe Acrobat software on your machine.)
   
• Make your own quizzes, worksheets etc
  With this nifty - and free - resource you can put together and print out your own flash cards, quizzes, word lists, wordsearches.... The fun is endless - just make sure that you send them into our lesson plans area once you have created them!

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.

Do you know of any great online resources for practising negatives and learning to avoid double negatives? Tell us about them!