0VARIOUS CAUSES OF WHY STUDENTS STRUGGLE WITH REPORTED
SPEECH
Sh. M. Haydarov
Associate professor, Tashkent Institute of Economiccs and Pedagogy
I. Sh. Mamayusupova
Student of Jizzakh branch of the National University of Uzbekistan
Reported speech is when we report someone has said. It's different from direct speech, which is when we quote someone word for word. Reported speech often appears in written stories and news articles. It can also be useful in academic writing, especially when you want to avoid using too many direct quotes from sources. Reported or indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past.
Ok, first what are the rules for reported speech? Speech reports consist of two parts: the reporting clause and the reported clause. The reporting clause includes a verb such as say, tell, ask, reply, shout, usually in the past simple, and the reported clause includes what the original speaker said. Reported speech is one of the most different concepts for students to grasp. There are number of reasons why this is case. The first, English is not a logical language. This rules for reported speech are often counter-intuitive and can be hard to remember. The second reason is that reported speech requires adeep understanding of grammar. It mean that, in particular, students need to br able to identify the verb tense ysed in the original sentence and then change it accordingly in the reported sentence. This can be very confusing for students who are still mastering English grammar. The third reason that students need to be able to visualise the situation in order to correctly report what was said. Well, this can be difficult, especially if the original conversation happened some time ago or if there are multiple people involved.Also, we may come across various difficult conditions with using certain words and time expressions in reported speech. For example:
Tonight, today, this week /year /month; That night, that day, that week/month/year;
Now Then, at that time,at once, immediately;
Yesterday,last night /week /month /year; The day before/the previous day,the previous night/ week/month/year; the night/week/month/ year;
Tomorrow, next week /month /year; The day after/the following/next
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day, the next/following week/ month/year;
Two days /months /years, ago; Two days/months/years; before;
This, these; That, those/the /some;
Here There;
Come Go;
The errors students make when reporting utterances obviously come from a variety of sources. However, the emphasis in language teaching on error analysis and the problems of the learner has led many teachers to concentrate on the language acquisition process of the student, without reexamining the accuracy of the presentation of this grammatical structure in the classroom. Rahter than concentrate on the learnerr's acquisition process, this article examines the current coverage of reported speech in selected standard grammars and textbooks. A more explicit analysis of English reported speech is then presented. This analysis introduces the student to a full repertoire of reporting techniques based on syntatic, semantic, pracmatic, and prosodic criteria and at the same time emphasizes the proper semantic motivation necessary for reporting the conversationally conveyed meaning. A variety of terms for reported speech are found in the literature (e.g, indirect speech, indirect discourse). Throughout this article, the term reported speech is used to refer to the oral conveyance of the content of an utterance. This term includes two seperate systems in English: (a) reporting in the style of direct quotations, in which the original statement is simply adjoinedto the reporting clause, and (b) indirect speech, in which utterances are retold with several syntatic and often semantic adjustments. The following examples illustrate these reporting styles: Original utterance:
George: Tomorrow we will drive out to California. Reported Speech:direct quotation George said: "Tomorrow we will drive out to California" Reported Speech:indirect (one week has elapsed) George said (that)the next daythey would drive out to California. Theoretical considerations of teaching English reported speech. Of the grammars consulted-Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik (1972,1985), Thompson and Martinet (1980),Leech and Svartrik (1975),Frank (1972),Crowell (1964) - the following rules adapted from Leech and Svartrik (pp. 118-119) are representative of the coverage of reported speech:
Present tense verbs should be changed into past tense (to match the reporting verb). First and second person pronouns should be changed into the third person.
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Pointer words like this, now, here, tomorrow should (sometimes) be changed into that, then, there, the next day, and so on.
Rule A should be ignored in the case of the past perfect. Some modal auxiliaries are also not backshifted. In addition, if the utterance expresses an eternal truth, Rule A will not apply.
Some of grammarians listed above deal with the repoorting of questions and commands as well. However, it is beyond the scope of this article to discuss all the difficulties students have in reporting other utterance types. (How these type of utterances should be presented in the classroom is discussed in the section English Reported Speech in the classrrom).
The rules listed above are accurate but incomplete. If a teacher presents reported speech based on this information only, unacceptable utterances which no longer convey the essence of the original words could easily be formed by the students. Moreover, these rules do not focus on particular learner-related problems of nonnative speakers.
Let's us examine the implication of an approach to reported speech based on these rules The first rule has to do with shifting the tense of verbs in the clause to be reported to a corresponding past tense if the verb in the reporting clause is in the past. Charts such as the following one are often presented to aid the student in the process of backshifting:
SIMPLE PRESENT SIMPLE PAST
PRESENT CONTINUOUS PAST CONTINUOUS
SIMPLE PAST PAST PERFECT
PRESENT PERFECT PAST PERFECT
PAST CONTINUOUS PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
FUTURE CONDITIONAL
FUTURE PERFECT CONDITIONAL PERFECT
CONDITIONAL CONDITIONAL PERFECT
At first glance the exceptions to backshifting in reported speech may seem to be unrelated. (Since this discussion deals only with time-oriented expressions, modals, the "present" and "past" forms of which do not correspond to real time, are not included). Yet, if we examine them more closely, we find that underlying similarities exist. In all these exceptions a distinction between two real points in time is not necessary; therefore, the existing deictic marker on the verb (tense) is not altered. Rules A and D can be combined and explicitly restatedas follows: The verb in the original utterance is adjusted to a form which indicates or differentiates
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between points in time. In some instances the verb is not backshifted:
a) If there is no difference in two points in time between the original utterance and the reported utterance - immediate reporting;
b) If the statement is not bound to the limitations of time - general and eternal truths and habitual actions;
Let us now consider how the above theoretical discussion can have practical relevance for presentations of English reported speech in the classroom. The following suggestions are for (a) teachers who would like to supplement or adapt treatments of reported speech in textbooks and (b) materials designers who are presenting reported speech, taking into account a more context-oriented linguistic approach.
A central in the construction of English indirect reported speech is the phenomenon of tense backshifting. The term TENSE BACKSHIFTING was first introduced by Comrie (1985, 1986) to refer to the phenomenon of sequence of tenses as previously described by Jespersen (1924) and his followers (Hornstein, 1990; Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, & Svartrik, 1985). Comrie defined backshifting as a change in the original tense of the direct speech utterance triggered by a past tense reporting verb in the main clause, where present tenses are changed to their past equivalents, past tenses to their past perfect equivalents, future tenses to their future-in-the-past equivalents, and so forth. Examples (1) and (2) illustrate the backshifting of future simple to future in the past.
1) Mark to you (direct speech): I WILL become a lawyer and I WILL make a lot of money.
2) you to mark (indirect speech): You told us that you WOULD become a lawyer and WOULD make a lot of money.
Table 2. Descriptive statistics for each group's mean use of tense backshifting
Immediate report 95% confidence interval Delayed report 95% confidence interval
Group M SD Lower bound Upper bound %Zero backshift M SD Lower bound Upper bound % Zero backshift
Simple present
NSs(n * 41) 0.48 0.97 0.17 0.78 75.0% 0.80 1.32 0.43 1.17 65.9%
ESL (n - 35) 0.74 1.06 0.42 1.07 62.9% 0.89 1.32 0.49 1.28 62.9%
Bulgarian (n • .37) 2.49 0.87 2.17 2.80 0% 2.89 0.96 2.50 3.28 0%
Bosnian (/i ■ 38) 2.68 0.96 2.37 2.99 0% 2.84 1.10 2.46 3,22 2.6%
Simple past
NSs (n -41) 0.43 0.98 0.15 0.70 78.0% 0.85 0.94 0.59 1.13 68.9%
ESL (n = 35) 0.31 0.63 0.02 0.61 77.1% 0.91 0.95 0-63 1.20 61.6%
Bulgarian (n - 37) 3.03 0.93 2.74 3.31 2.7% 3.62 0.68 3.35 3.95 0%
Bosnian (n = 38) 2.58 0.92 2.30 2.86 0% 3.23 0.75 2-97 3.51 0%
Future simple
NSs (л = 41) 0.43 0.93 0.18 0.67 78.0% 3.85 0.58 3.66 4.01 0%
ESL (л - 35) 0.29 0.67 0.20 0.56 82.9% 3.54 0.74 3.34 3.75 0%
Bulgarian (n ■■ i 37) 3.73 0.84 3.47 3.99 2.7% 3.83 0.55 3.64 4.00 0%
Bosnian (п ж 38) 3.32 0.70 3.06 3.57 0% 3.84 0.55 3.65 4.00 0%
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Now, we can say that descriptive statistics for each group's mean use of tense backshifting
Using of pronoun and determiner changes in reported speech. They include:
My His / her
The/ that This/ that + noun
It This/ that + verb
The /those These/ those + noun
They These/ those + verb
Them Verb + these/ those
Well, also we have some troubles with working Changes to pronoun, place, time. Wen you use reported speech to refer to words spoken at a different time or place from where you are now, you might need to change the pronoun, possessive adjective or any other words referring to time and place. One of the most difficult things about reported speech is that there are so many rules to remember. Students often get overhelmed and give up before they even start. The good side is that there are some strategies you can use to make reported speech less daunting. Make sure you understand the basic rules of reported speech before you try to tackle more comlex examples. Also, the more you practice, the better you will become at understanding and using reported speech. Then, pay attention to context rules that may be present. This can can be help you narrow down the possibilities. Finally, do not be afraud to take your time when working with reported speech. Just keep at it and eventually you will get the hang of it, of course.
Fortunately, there are some things that students can do to improve their understanding and use of reported speech. Here are four tips, which we give:
1. Pay close attention to how native speakers use reported speech in everyday conversations. This will give you a feel fow how it works in natural English.
2. Read as much as possible in English. The more you read, the more exposure you will have to different grammatical structures, including reported speech.
3. Practise, practise, practise! Try to use a reported speech as often as possible in your own writing and speaking. The more you do it, the easier it will become.
4. Seek help from a qualified teacher or tutor if you are struggling with reported speech. It mean that, a good teacher will be able to explain the concept in a way that makes sense to you and give you plenty of opportunities to practise using it.
This article has dealt with theoretical concerns of reported speech in English.
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Summary of struggling in adult learning which is related to reported speech that by the following these kind of useful tips, students can make great strides in mastering this important skill.
References
1. Jenny Dooley, Virgina Evans/Grammarway 2, Reported speech/New Greenham Park, 2008/93 p.
2. Raymond Murphy/English grammar in use, Reported speech/Cambridge University Press, 2019/94 p.
3. Malcolm Mann / Destination B2, Reported speech/Macmillan, 2007-2008/130p,
4. Jenny Dooley Virgina Evans/Grammarway 3, Reported speech/Express Publishing, 2008/120p.
2. John Hughes and Ceri Jones/Practical grammar, Reported speech/United States Copyrihgt Act, 1976/152p.
3. Elizabeth W.Goodell/Integrating Theory with Practice, An alternative approach to reported speech /Jun.vol.21/305-307p.
4. Elizabeth W.Goodell/Integrating Theory with Practice/theoretical considerationsof teaching English reported speech/ 308-311p.
5. Treatments in ESL Textbooks/Reported speech in ESL classroom/Nov 23/JSTOR archive/317-323p.
6. Krassimira D.Charkova and Laura J.Halliday/Second and foreign-language variation in tense backshifting in indirect reported speech/Tense backshifting in Reported Speech/Nov. 23/5-7p.
7. Krassimira D.Charkova and Laura J.Halliday/ Tense backshifting in Reported Speech/Descriptive statistics/Cambridge University press/March 2011,Vol 33/16p.
8. Bryce Purnell/ Learn Laugh Speak/Reported Speech 101.
9. Learn Laugh Speak/website on Internet.
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