Articles with Geographical Names

What do we study?
The question is what way of presenting grammar material is more effective?
The object of the work is articles with geographical names.
The main aim of the work is to make a booklet with a scheme or table “Articles with geographical names” and to check how it works on practice.
So we should:
study the rules, analyze them
make a booklet “Articles with geographical names”
check it on practice
interview students
test the hypothesis
interpret the results of our research
We use the following methods: working with additional literature, analysis, discussion, interviewing, etc.
Our hypothesis - we suppose that presentation of grammar material in the form of the table or scheme is more effective and makes the results of testing paper better.

Articles

The main difference
A
With countable nouns in singular form
- Any object, not a concrete one
THE
With countable nouns and in some phrases
- A concrete object, the only one
ZeroArticle
Usually with names, uncountable, abstract nouns, nouns in plural form

Articles with geographical names
THE
1. Parts of the world, poles, regions The South, The North Pole, The Far East
2. Oceans, seas, rivers, groups of lakes, gulfs, streams, falls. The Atlantic Ocean, The Red Sea, the Thames, The Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, The Gulf Stream, The Niagara Falls.
3.Plains, valleys, deserts.The Great Plains, the Mississippi Valley, the Sahara Desert
4.With the words: north(ern), ancient, old, central, medieval, etc. Central America
Zero article
1.Continents, countries: Europe, Russia.
But with the words: republic, union, kingdom, federation, states, dominion—the
The United States, the Russian Federation
2. States, provinces, cities, villages: Moscow,California, Quebec
3. Lakes, islands, mountains, hills,bays: Lake Geneva, Java, mount Elbrus Hudson Bay
But with groups of lakes, islands, mountains—the
The Great Lakes, the British Isles, the Andes

Exceptions
Death Valley
Silicon Valley
The Vatican
The Hague
The Isle of Man
The Bay of Bengal
The Strand
The Mall
The Wall Street

Materials for students
Articles with geographical names
Group A

Materials for students
Артикли с географическими названиями.
1. Употребление артиклей с географическими названиями во многих случаях основано на традиции: the Hague, the Strand, the Mall, the Wall Street.
На географических картах названия принято давать без артиклей.
а) Определенный артикль(the) употребляется с географическими именами, обозначающими названия океанов, морей, проливов, течений, каналов, рек, озер и водопадов: the Indian (Ocean), the North Sea, the Bosphorus, the Gulf Stream, the Amur, the Thames (the River Thames), the Seliger, (the) Niagara Falls.
(Сравните: the Baikal, но Lake Baikal), а также
б) горных цепей и групп островов: the Rocky Mountains (the Rockies), the Urals, the Himalayas..
Однако названия отдельных горных вершин, холмов и островов употребляются без артикля:Vesuvius, Elbrus, Everest, Poklonnaya Gora, Easter Island, Cuba, Madagascar, Cyprus, Haiti.
в) Определенный артикль(the) ставится перед наименованиями регионов и пустынь: the Midlands, the Lowlands, the Lake District, the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Middle East, the Far East, the Punjab, the Riviera, the Ruhr, the Tyrol, the Transvaal; the Gobi, the Sahara Desert, the Kara-Kum, the Kala-hari.
г) К числу географических имен, употребляющихся без артикля, относятся названия континентов, стран, областей, городов, деревень: Europe, Africa (the African Continent), Antarctica, France, Russia, California, Bavaria, Moscow, London.
Артикль не употребляется, если эти существительные имеют определения типа north(ern), south(ern), ancient, old, central, medieval, east(ern), west(ern): Central America, South-East Asia, old England.
Названия стран, включающие такие нарицательные существительные как Union, Kingdom, States, Dominion, Federation, Republic, имеют определённый артикль(the): the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the Irish Republic.
Group B

Test “Articles with geographical names”
Put “the” where necessary.
1. Last year we visited __Canada.
2. __Africa is much larger than __Europe.
3. Do you know what __Hague is?
4. We saw __Silicon Valley.
5. He worked in __Middle East.
6. We will ski in __Swiss Alps.
7. __Malta is a republic.
8. __Nile is a long river.
9. We study the history of__United Kingdom
10.Have you ever been to __Vatican?
11.We live in __Russian Federation.
12.We swam in __Black Sea.
13. It is in __South of England.

Keys for Test “Articles with geographical names”
Put “the” where necessary.
1. Last year we visited -- Canada.
2. -- Africa is much larger than -- Europe.
3. Do you know what the Hague is?
4. We saw -- Silicon Valley.
5. He worked in the Middle East.
6. We will ski in the Swiss Alps.
7. -- Malta is a republic.
8. The Nile is a long river.
9. We study the history of the United Kingdom
10.Have you ever been to the Vatican?
11.We live in the Russian Federation.
12.We swam in the Black Sea.
13. It is in the South of England.

The results of test “Articles with geographical names”

Test’s results.

The questionnaire
Анкета.
1. Знаете ли вы, что такое артикль?
2. Вам проще понять грамматическое правило, разбирая его самостоятельно(1), прослушав объяснения учителя(2), после изучения материала в схемах, таблицах и т.д.(3)?
3. Вызывают ли у вас затруднения выполнение заданий по грамматике?
4. Было ли вам трудно выполнить тест по теме «артикли с географическими названиями»?
5. Помог ли вам справочный материал в выполнении данного задания?
6. Хотели бы вы, чтобы весь грамматический материал представлялся в красочных таблицах, схемах?
7. Насколько вы бы оценили свои знания географии?(1-5)

1. Do you know what an article is?

2. Is it easier for you to understand a rule studying it yourself(1), after the teacher’s explanation(2), studying it with the help of schemes and tables(3)?

3. Is it difficult for you to do Grammar exercises?

4. Was it difficult for you to do test “Articles with geographical names”?

5. Did Grammar material help you?

6. Would you like to study Grammar material in the form of tables, schemes?

7. What mark would you give yourself for your knowledge in Geography?

Conclusion
Analyzing the results of our research we learned that our students prefer studying the rules with the teachers’ help and with Grammar schemes/tables.
Almost 50% of students have difficulties doing Grammar tests. But presentation of Grammar material in the form of schemes and tables is more effective and really makes the results of testing papers much better.
The research also showed that 50% of 5th form schoolchildren think that their knowledge in Geography is not enough.
Our hypothesis was proved. The booklet (table) helps students and has practical meaning.