DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 034 597 PS 002 717

ATIMTIO: Arline P.
"01-'5;01),
mTmT77 T,anivane Teaching: Prepositions and Conjunctives.
7,rizora Iniv., mucson. Arizona Center for early
Childhood rducation.
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1rS'77137sOrS *runction Words, *Language Tnstruction, *Language
'Iroficiency, Language Drograms, *Linguistic
Compe+encP, Preschool Children, Sight Vocabulary,
`reaching m.odels, Vocabulary Development
TnrIlmTrTrnc coniurc+ions, Drepositions

AlS77).AC'
''his bulletin is the first of three designed to give
iPtailPd v-elp on fostering language competence in 4- to 6-year-old
school children. Mlle bulle+in introduces the teacher to a group of
prepositions and coriunctions (chosen from the Dolch Basic Sight
Vocabulary List or 22n Words) which are important to the meaning of
sentences. The list was compiled from those words occurring most
'reauently in ordinary writ+Pn communication. mhe words occur with
high freauency in primPrs and first grade materials. Three-fourths of
he document is devoted +o describing the potential function of these
conjunctives and prepositions in the language, and making suggestions
to the teacher and the reader, alerting them to the primary position
of such words in language learning. (Author/Jr)
 U. §. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ENOATION & WELFARE
OFFICE CF Eni;:',;"

V.ri"r",r rt, !` ';`c1'737:1) FROM THE

ARIZONA CENTER OPIIIONS
FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ' I I Cr EDUCATION

College of Education
University of Arizona
1515 East First Street
N. Tucson, Arizona 85719

Pr \

Li

LANGUAGE TEACHING:
PREPOSITIONS AND CONJUNCTIVES
By Arline B. Hobson
Research Associate
The Arizona Center for Early Childhood Education is administered through
the University of Arizona's College of Education, F. Robert Paulsen,
Dean. It is an interdisciplinary organization and is directed by Marie
M. Hughes. Ronald Henderson, Department of Educational Psychology, is
an associate member of the directorate.

The work reported herein was (partially) performed pursuant to a con-

tract with the Office of Education, U. S. Department of Health, Educa-
tion, and Welfare through the Arizona Center for Research and Development
in Early Childhood Education, a component of the National Laboratory on
Early Childhood Education. Contractors undertaking such work under Gov-
ernment sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their professional
judgment in the conduct of the work. Points of view or opinions stated

do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Office of Education

position or policy.
 INTRODUCTION

The Tucson Early Education Program has as one of the four goal areas
language competence. It is inevitable at this period in time that any
school program for two-year-olds through graduate school will deliberately
concern itself with this goal. Language, the most distinguishing charac-
teristic of man, is viewed today in its relationships to the totality of
human affairs and in its contribution to the functioning of higher mental
processes. This bulletin is the first of three designed to give detailed
help on the fostering of language competence.

Language competence grows and develops in situations in which it is

actually used, thus related to thought and individual association as well
as to the activity. Malinowski has defined language as "a system of
sounds that accompanies experience." With the young four to six-year-old
beginning school children, we mediate each activity and event with lan-
guage. The young mother talks to her child as she bathes him: "Give me
your arm." "Now I' wash your hand." "I'll wash your foot." "I'll rub
your back." "Now I'll put the powder on." Children with little experi-
ence with English or those limited in language require this kind of run-
ning commentary to accompany their activities. Soon they will begin to
imitate the adult model. This modeling of the language becomes a major
guideline in the teacher's professional response.
If the teacher is to help the children gain increased control over
language, she must understand more about the process of language acquisi-
tion and the structure of language itself. As increased understanding of
language acquisition is acquired, the teacher comes to realize the impor-
tance of herself as a language model. This modeling, to be effective,
must take place in a situation with the attention of the child focused
on something in which he is genuinely involved. Then the words begin to
have meaning and he is more likely to find the opportunity to repeat
them for himself. Such attention, accompanied by hearing the words and
sentences with accuracy, takes place best in a one to one relationship
 2

with a child or in activities with a very small group of children.

The learning of the language of his culture is a remarkable in-
tellectual feat of all children everywhere. Young children learn the

order of words in a sentence as well as the names for objects and ac-
tions. For example, a child from an English- speaking home will always

place the adjective before the noun. Normal children of any language

living anywhere on this earth accomplish this feat of ordering the syn-
tactical elements of the language by the time they are four or four and

a half. However, there continues to be much for them to learn and the
children must have increased practice in communicating their ideas and
reacting to the ideas of others. The added learning necessary to the

control of language pertains to the increase in the complexity of sen-

tence structure as a necessary accompaniment to more complex ideas
with their multiple interrelationships. Such complex sentences are

modeled by the teacher as they become appropriate. To provide a model

that "lifts" the language of children in variety and complexity of struc-

ture, the teacher herself needs to become linguistically sophisticated.
The present bulletin introduces the teacher to a list of important
prepositions and conjunctions that have much to do with the meaning of

sentences. They are inconspicuous words, often not heard by children.

Curiously enough the "littleness" of the little words combined with the
meaning of the high content words is cue enough for efficient guessing
by smart guessers. This does not suggest that the "little" word is not

significant to the thought. In fact, it is more often than not crucial

to the thought and to the precision of thought. Certainly, the recon-

sideration of the old platitude about "if" being a very little word with

a very big meaning might well prompt thoughtful teachers to increase

their concern for language teaching.
The prepositions and conjunctives, both within the "little word"
class are syntactical signaling devices. There is an obligation, when

using such words, for the speaker to follow the little words with a
given kind of word structure.
One may say one of the following:
Throw it at
Throw it to
 3

Throw it in
Throw it beyond
Throw it near
Any one of us are immediately compelled to fill the slot. The slot is

necessarily filled by a noun, pronoun, or noun cluster. Similarly, the

conjunctives when used as such and not as other parts of speech such as
simple adverbs or as interrogatives, clearly obligate the speaker to fol-
low with a specific structure, for example:

John and (nominal) did it.

John or (nominal) can go.
I'll wear my red dress or (adjective).
She played happily but (adverb).
Nobody went but (nominal).
I'll go when (clause).
The girl who (clause) is my friend.
I went because (clause).

Not only do these words signal the language that follows, but they
specify the nature of the relationship between preceding and succeeding

language. Such relationships are basic to decision making and problem

solving.
We have chosen the Dolch list of 220 words as the source of the

conjunctives and prepositions discussed. This list was compiled from

those words occurring most frequently in the running words of ordinary

written communications (65 to 80%). As might be expected, they are

words of high frequency in the primers and first grade materials. In

general, the list excludes nouns since they are specific to situations.
Conjunctives and prepositions are relational words. They have

existed within the language from the time of its origin. Because of

their changelessness and their relative stability, they are known as the
closed class words. The importance of these words to meaning and thought

suggests need for the child's acquisition of control over them in speak-
ing, reading, and writing. Mrs. Arline Hobson presents an exposition of
 4

the function of these words in language and makes suggestions that will
be helpful to teachers--at least it will alert the readers to the primary
position of such words in language learning.

Marie M. Hughes
Director, Early Education
Center and Professor,
Educational Psychology
 5

The Potential of Prepositional Usage

in the Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary List
of 220 Words

The preposition is defined by Dolch5 as a service word as distin-

guished from the content words.
Today's grammarians also classify the preoposition as functors, a
classification shared with prefixes, suffixes, auxiliary verbs, articles,
1
and conjunctions. The functors are defined by Ursula Bellugi as being
more obvious for their function than for their semantic content.
The preposition cannot be understood by pointing to anything. It

has no concrete referent. It can be understood only by someone verbally

mediating a situation in which its function can be obviously demonstrated.
"Oh" cannot be pointed to as can "boy", "hat", and "head", but a boy can
demonstrate putting his hat on his head. Even further removed from refer-

ents are such prepositions like "of" and "with." They can be understood
only in interaction situations in which a modeler of the language liter-
ally puts them to work to code an actual experience. As one classroom

aide said, "We need to talk with more Twithes'."

The prepositions, though difficult to define lexically, being with-
out concrete referents, are a very limited group of words that, histori-
cally, have undergone minimal change in the language with respect to
morphology (form) or to meaning. They are in the closed form class, and
the speaker has no latitude to "coin" new prepositions in the way he can
"coin" or make up new nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs of the open
till° form class.
7.1.4 The service of the preposition is relational and connective, a func-
tion of associating nominals (both nouns and pronouns) to other open

class words. For example,

a) relating the nominal to another nominal
1. The boy with red hair.
2. The girl with him.
3. The girl with a ribbon on her head.

CID
 6
b) relating the nominal to a verbal
1. Running to the store, he became very hot.
2. She ate at the table.
3. I gave it to her.
c) relating the nominal to an adjective
1. It was green like the trees.
2. The child was furious with anger.
Although the prepositions are so restricted in number and in mean-
ing, they are often used non-literally, idiomatically, and/or figura-
tively.

Teachers have known children to protest that you do not travel by

train, you travel in a train. You do not go la boat, you go in a boat.
Again, it should be reiterated that logical deduction is not helpful in
learning what is the appropriate preposition. Prepositional control
must be acquired in a talking situation that demands the use of specific
prepositions which may defy literal meaning.
The frequency of prepositions in figurative expressions frustrate
any effort to learn the meaning of prepositions through awareness of
semantic content. Again, the richness of our language with all its
humor and analogy can be grasped and learned only in context. For ex-
ample, "She's up in the air" or "He's in the dumps" also defy logical
and literal definition.
The prepositions are frequently drawn into the verb and their spe-
cific functions are highly colored by obligatory semantic relationships.
For example, the traditionalist would say that the following sentence
consists of subject (I) + the verb (thought) + the prepositional phrase
(about the idea): "I thought about the idea." Today we are more real-
istic about content and meaning and would say that the sentence is sub-
ject (I) 4 verb (thought about) + noun object (the idea).
I / thought about / the idea.
The high frequency of prepositions used non-literally and idiomat-
ically means that many prepositions can be understood only as sequitors
or the natural "follow-up" of preceding constructions, and therefore can
be understood only in context and in situation. For example, you can be
sorry for somebody, but you are jealous of someone, and pleased with
another. Obviously multiple experiences pertaining to feelings about
 7

people are necessary for a child to have sufficient practice with the
sec of "verb + preposition + nominal" in order to be sufficiently
sen-
sitive to the range of semantic differentiations in order
to use the
prepositions comfortably. Their usage and semantic variations defy logi-
cal explanation and they must be put to practical use by the child long
before he exhibits much linguistic self-consciousness.

Nominals, whether they have concrete referents thus labeling objects

or whether they are at the more abstract level of labeling sentiments,
virtues, or characteristics, are very frequently related to the rest of
the sentence through the prepositions. The areas of the relatedness are
usually concerned with:
1. Place and Position
2. Direction and Motion
3. Time
4. Manner, Agent, or Instrument
5. Measurement, Number, or Amount
We recognize that there is a sixth category of miscellaneous prepo-
sitions that are not so easily categorized like "without", "in spite of",

"concerning "', "despite", etc.

The English language also combines adverb and preposition sometimes

so intimately that the compound form truly constitutes a preposition.
For example, "out of" and the substandard "off of."

The bird fell out of the nest.

The boy fell off of the swing. (substandard)

Although "off of" is substandard it must be realistically recognized

as common and as a form frequently used even by educated people.
2
John B. Carroll views the preposition as a means of relating the
nominals spatially, temporarily, or logically to the rest of the sentence
(to another nominal or to a verbal). It might be helpful to consider
some possible models of such relatedness that a child might hear an adult
use, drawing prepositions from this Dolch list of 220 words.
A. Spatial

The house is around the corner.

in the city.
on the street.
by the store.
out of the city.
 8

This bird flew off the wall.

into the tree.
through the branches.
over the house.
out of sight.
along the river.
B. Temporary
We'll eat after recess.
around noon.
at 12 o'clock.
its time.
on time.
before leaving.
C. Logical
We traveled by bus.
in a bus.
with a friend.
with difficulty.
The baby is a brother of mine.
a brother with red hair.
Consideration by a teacher of the possible use of each preposition
on the attached chart could prompt the teacher to model the preposition
with more intellectual meaning.
Examples of Prepositional Usage According to the
Areas of Relatedness Defined by the English Language Series

I. Place and Position

The children are about the house.

The children at tgNor.
Many people are standing around the building
The dog stood before the man.
The dog stood la the man.
The kitten is in the house.
The bird is off the perch.
The bird is on her perch.
The mother is out of the house.
The picture is over the chair.

The book isa

The paper is unNTthe book.
there.
He sat upon tie chair.

II. Direction and Motion

The kitten ran about the house.

The child ran after his father.
The cat ran aiiTgathe room.
 9

The bird flew at the window.

The baby fell TOwn the stairs.
The cat ran from the dog.
The boy went n the house. (Substandard)
The girl put r socks into the drawer.
The water ran off the roof.
The boy fell Rrof the swing. (Substandard)
The smoke came out of the chimney.
The smoke blew oveiEhe tree tops.
The father went to the door.
The water ran under the bushes.
The baby crawled the stairs.

III. Time

Let's eat about noon.

You can nap after lunch.
I'm sleepy at night.
I can go around noon. (Substandard)
I get sleepBefore my bed time.
I go to sleep-ETo'clock.
I nap from 2 o'clock to 3 o'clock.
I can go in an hour.
I'll be ready in about an hour.
It rained and thundered into the night.
We are off our schedule.
I can finish the picture over the weekend.
It snowed from morning to night.
I can't be ready under an hour.
IV. Manner, Agent, Instrument

The baby tried to talk because of me.

The girl cried because of her loneliness.
The stew was maneEThe children.
The children walkein line.
The girl talked likelier mother.
The boy practiced ntting under a good coach.
The baby said hello with a smile.

V. Measure, Number, Amount

As many as ten children can go at one time.

As mucti as one quart of juice is needed by the children.

Much prepositional usage in this area is highly conventionalized and

idiomatic. A traditional grammarian would question "one of" or "as many

as" etc. as prepositions and perhaps rightly so because they do inject a
semantic content not consistent with the rigid definition. It may serve
a teaching purpose to view these expressions as prepositions, however,
 10
and for that reason they are listed as such.

There are about ten children in the game.

We need as much as a quart.
We can use as my as ten marbles.
I can count by fives.
The boys will take five marbles from the pile.
The boys will take five marbles away from the pile.
Can you take five from ten?
Can you take five away from ten?
We can cut the candy in half.
We can cut the cand: in two pieces.
We can break the cookie in two.
One of you can help me.
Many of you have been to the park.
The runners are on the mark.
The water is on the line.
The water is over the line.
We'll add this paper to the pile.

Can you savea

Let's buy a present under one dollar.
to one dollar?

VI. Miscellaneous

This category includes many idiomatic expressions that defy

logical explanation and though they should certainly be used with and
modeled for children, appositive definition may be helpful. For example,
the teacher may say, "That's about it." The teacher could say, "That's
about it, I mean we have nearly finished our work."

That's about it.

After all you are very tired.
We mustn't beat around the bush.
The baby's cheeks are as pink as roses.
Everyone but John went.
It's all right me.
This work is really good for you.
I am for the other team.
They are in love.
Look into the matter.
Can you read the last line of the poem?
The music is off beat.
Would you be on my side.
He threw the 711 out of turn.
She talked over my-1e0
He is really dear to my heart.
He worked under great difficulty.
It's 22 to you.
I see a 7ild with red hair.
I am giving it to you with my love.
 11

The Potential of Conjunctive Usage

in the Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary List
of 220 Words

The conjunctives, according to John Carroll are a linguistic mani-

festation of a class of experiences that include,
Logical relations occurring whenever any two or more members of
any class or construction are considered together.3
This suggests that in using conjunctives a speaker is simultaneously
holding in mind two or more concepts or two or more whole ideas in a
relationship that is logical. "Logical" deserves a definition and the
entymology of the word may be a helpful way to decipher its implication.
"Logical" is derived from the Greek "logikos" which means "belonging to
speaking or reason" which, in turn was derived from "logos" meaning
"word or reason" which came from "legein" meaning "to say." So it is
evident that the way we verbalize relationships has a base in "reason"
if it is logical." Meriam-Webster7 says it is logical if it is in ac-
cordance with inferences reasonably drawn from event and circumstances.
The use of the conjunction is restricted or limited more than is the
preposition because it relates only words of the same form class or only
structures that are the same.
The author is defining conjunctive in its broadest :Ainctional sense,
inclusive therefore of relative pronoun, adverbial subordinators and ad-
3
jectival subordinators of clauses. They serve as reconstructors , taking
one item of knowledge and so reorganizing it via its inherent logic that
it can be related linguistically to another item of knowledge.
The nature of the logic of any relating of similar class words or
grammatical structures is specified linguistically in the conjunctive.
What kind of logic or relational thinking does the Dolch list (220 word
list) suggest for children at the beginning level of school? Let us
take a look at the listed conjunctives and their logical implications.
Only the underlined words have solely a conjunctive service. The others
may also be used as prepositions or adverbs or pronouns.
 12

after before or when

and but so where
as that which
because if what who
why

The following categories of logical relationships should be noted:

I. Temporal Relationships
A. Sequence (relating clauses)
After we paint, we'll read a story.
We'll paint before we write a story.
When you fix-J.7e story, we can play outside.
We'll mail the letter when it is written.
We'll not go until you are ready.
B. Anticipation of future (relating clauses)
We'll wait until you are ready.
We'll go after you have eaten.
C. Duration (relating clauses)

We wear warm clothes when it's cold.

She laughed as she played.
II. Conditionality (relating clauses)
If you eat your cereal, you can go out and play.
You could fly like a bee if you were a bee.

III. A. Additive relating or grouping of items, characteristics, actions,

or ideas
(Relates nouns) The tree and the house are green.
(Relates nouns) The boy and play together.
(Relates adjectives) The dress is green and white.
(Relates verbs) They play and talk together.
(Relates clauses) John plays ball, and Jane plays house.
(Relates adverbs) The plane flew up and over.

B. Continuation

(Relating nouns) The boy, the girl, and the dog ran.
(Relating clauses) Each day I set the rgEle, serve the
meal, and wash the dishes.

IV. Choosing Alternatives

(Relating nouns) Do you want an apple or an orange?

(Relating nouns) Do you want candy, coke, or pie?
(Relating predicates) I'll paint the picture or write a
story.
(Relating verbs) I can write or tell the story.
 13

(Relating adverbs) Shall we do it now or later?

(Relating clauses) You can clean the tale, or you
can wash the dishes.
(Relating adjectives) I want the big or the pretty box.

V. Exceptionality

(Relating nouns) Everyone but John has gone to the

park.

VI. Contradiction

(Relating adjectives) John is short but strong.

(Relating adverbs) Mary plays alone but happily.
(Relating clauses) John will go to -ergpark, but we
cannot go to the pool.

VII. Manner

(Relating clauses) I wonder how she will fix the broken

box.

VIII. Similarity (relating clauses)

(Substandard but frequent) I want to read like you read.

I want to read as well as you do.

IX. Causality (relating clauses)

A. Agent of effect

The kite flies because the wind moves it.

Because the wind moves the kite, it flies.
John hurt his foot so he can't walk.
He asked whz the kite flew high.

B. Condition of effect

The kite flies if the wind moves it.

If the wind moves the kite, it flies.

C. Concomitant of effect

The kite flies when the wind moves it.

When the wind moves the kite, it flies.

D. Arranging for effect, setting the stage, purpose

Let's be quiet so he can sleep.

The rope was hung so the kids could swing on it.
 14

X. Memory (keeping one fragment of thought in mind while relating

it to a second thought). Therefore, "who" and "that", relative
pronouns, also fill the conjunctive role.

For example:

I know the girl who is in the red dress.

I know the girl TM you met. (Substandard)
I ate the cake Tayou made.

XI. Tentativeness, inferred possibility

He read the story as if he knew the people.

He cried as if he were sick.
 15

Some Prepositional Possibilities

Drawn from the Dolch 220 Word List

Prepositions, prep- Relations of spatial

Prepositional
ositional phrases temporal or logical
position relative to
nominals

Measure
Manner Number
Place & Direction Agent Amount
Time Instrument idiom) Misc.
Position & Motion

about about about

about about
after after
after after
around around
around around
as as

at at at
because of

before before
but

by by by by
by
down
from from from

in in about in in half
in
in two, etc.

into into
into
like like

one of
two of
a few of of
most of
many of

off off
off off
off of
on on on
on
out of
out of out
out of
over over
over over over
to to
to to
under under under
under under under
with with
4 16

1. Bellugi, Ursula. "The Child Acquisition of Syntax", Harvard

Educational Review, Vol.'34, No. 2, Spring, 1964.

2. Carroll, John B. Language and Thought. New Jersey: Englewood

Cliff, Prentice-Hall, 1964, p. 92.

3. Coxon, Mary. "Recall and Reconstruction", Unpublished manuscript.

Early Childhood Education Laboratory, College of Education,
University of Arizona, 1966.

4. Dolch, Edward. Teaching Primary Reading. Champaign, Illinois.

The Carrard Press, 1941, p. 207.

5. Dolch, page 214.

6. English La guage Series. The Ka to English, Prepositions 1.

New York: Collier-MacMillan English Program, Collier-MacMillan
Co., 1964.

7. Meriam-Webster. Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary.

Springfield, Mass. Meriam Co., 1967.