Using clefts and other structures to highlight information
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Teaching implications | page 2 of 3 |
Expressing contrast through it-cleft sentences
It-cleft sentences can be introduced and practised by making use of their contrasting function. For example, students can be asked to think of situations where people might react very differently, eg a bus crash or rude service in a shop.
One student can outline the situation briefly (eg "Last week a bus crashed on the Tuen Mun road killing three people. I was on the bus with my younger sister."), and then others can describe the different, perhaps unexpected, ways that various people involved in the accident reacted:
"My younger sister was very calm and tried to help the other passengers. It was me who started shouting and screaming."
"The bus driver ran away without reporting the accident to the police. It was a student who telephoned the police on her mobile phone."
For further information about it-cleft sentences, see 
Using clefts and other structures to highlight information: it-cleft
sentences.
Introduction
Expressing contrast through it-cleft sentences
