Makalah Listening : DOUBLE NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

INTRODUCTION

You may think of listening as a passive activity, but becoming a good listener means learning to listen actively—to ask questions, analyze, and draw conclusions about what you hear. Because lectures and class discussions are the primary teaching methods at universities, good listening skills are crucial for your success at college.

The listening section of the TOEFL exam measures your ability to understand North American English. It uses conversational language including idiomatic expressions, rather than formal, written English. The section has 30–50 questions and is 40–60 minutes in length. General strategies of listening section:

1. Be familiar with the directions. The directions on every TOEFL test are the same,so it is not necessary to listen carefully to them each time. You should be completely familiar with the directions before the day of the test.
2. Listen carefully to the conversations and talks. You should concentrate fully on what the speakers are saying on the recording because you will hear the recording one time only.
3. Know where the easier and more difficult questions are generally found. Within each part of the Listening Comprehension section, the questions generally progress from easy to difficult.
4. Never leave any questions blank on your answer sheet. Even if you are unsure of the correct response, you should answer the question. There is no penalty for guessing.
5. Use any remaining time to look ahead at the answers to questions that follow. When you finish with one question, you may have time to look ahead at the answers to the next question.

SKILL 9

LISTEN FOR DOUBLE NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

A.    Definition of Double Negative Expressions

Based on the dictionary, double negative expression is a nonstandart syntactic construction  containing two negatives words having a positive meaning. Double negative expression are two negative words used in the same sentence. Using two negatives turns the thought or sentence in positive one.

Double negative usually produced by combaining the negative form of verb, such as do not, did not, have not, can not, had not, is not, was not, are not, were not, etc. Negative form of adverb consists of such negative adverbs for instance,never, hardly, seldom, rarely, scarcely, barely, etc. Negative form of conjunction such as neither...nor and not either. The last, negative prefix which incolves in-, un-, and dis.

A double negative uses two negative words in the same clause to express a single positive idea, for example:

1.      I hardly have none, the meaning is I have some.

2.      I don’t want nothing, the meaning is I want something.

3.      She hasn’t seen neither Paul nor John, the meaning is She claims she has either Paul or John.

Often, the positive sense is not what the speaker is trying to say, but a double negative is not always an error. Look at this example:

1.      She is not unattractive, the meaning is She is attractive.

Double negatives occur when two forms of negation are present in the same clause. They are acceptable in many standard and non-standard dialects and foreign languages. When this occurs, the second negation intensifies the negativity of the sentence as a whole. In Standard English, however, double negatives in a single clause cancel each other out and transform the meaning into a positive.

A double negative is when two negatives used in a sentence cancel each other out to make a positive. This must not be misunderstood to mean that double negatives are an accepted grammatical device; they are grammatically incorrect and must not be used.

How does one avoid double negatives? It is quite simple. When using the negative form of a verb (e.g.aren’t, don’t, won’t, etc), do not follow it up with a negative determiner/quantifier (e.g. nowhere, nothing, never, etc). Consider the following sentences:

1.      They aren’t going nowhere.

2.      They don’t do nothing.

3.      They won’t never stop.

All of the above employ the double negative, and are hence grammatically incorrect. Formerly, the double negative was a device for emphasis, but the effort to make English conform grammatically to formal logic has rendered it unacceptable today. Logically, the meanings of the above sentences, deduced by applying the formula negative + negative = positive, are:

1.      They are going somewhere. (aren’t + nowhere = somewhere)

2.      They do something. (don’t + nothing = something)

3.      They will stop. (won’t + never = will)

B.     Listen for Double Negative Expressions

Strategies toward double negative expressions for toefl listening test.There are some strategies that can help you to answer toefl listening test-double negative expressions easier, such as:

1.      Focus on the second speaker because it consists a result of the conversation.

2.      Draw a keyword based on the second speaker-saying, such as negative words  (not, no, none) and negative prefix (in-, un-, dis-), two negative verbs, and the last neither…nor or not…either.

3.      It is possible for two negative ideas to appear in one sentence, but the result can be quite confusing. It is good for you to remember that two negative ideas make the sentence become positive. For instance, He didn’t like the unclean  office=he liked clean office

4.      Remember that two negative ideas make a sentence have positive meaning.

5.      Focus on the several words which have negative expressions, such as: hardly, barely, seldom, rarely, scarcely, etc.

It is possible for two negative ideas to appear in one sentence, and the result can be quite confusing.For instance:

On the recording, you will hear:

            (man)               : I can’t believe the news that I heard about the concert.

            (woman)          : Well, it isn’t impossible for the concert to take place.

            (narrator)         : what does the woman say about the concert?

In your test book, you read:

a)      There’s no possibility that the concert will take place.

b)      The concert will definitely not take place.

c)      The concert might take place.

d)     The concert can’t take place.

The correct answer to this question is answer (c). if it isn’t impossible for the concert to take place, then it is possible, and the modal might indicates possibility.The following chart outlines the situations where double negatives can occur.

Double Negatives
Situations	Example	Meaning
Negative words (not, no, none) and negative prefix (in-, un-, dis-,)	He didn’t like the unclean office.	Did not like unclean office=liked clean office.
Two negative verbs	It isn’t snowing, so they aren’t going to the mountains.	Implies that they would go if it were snowing.
Neither…nor and not… either	Sue didn’t like the movie, and neither did Mark.	Both did not like the movie.

C.    EXERCISES

Remember that two negatives make the sentence positive!

1.       

a)  Education

b)  Mathematics

c)  Psycology

d)  Accounting

2.       

a)  She can’t belive they went to supreme Court.

b)  Their going to the Supreme Court seems unbelivable.

c)  She thinks they didn’t go to the Supreme Court.

d)  It doesn’t seem possible to her that they missed the Suprame Court.

3.       

a)  it’s snowing very hard.

b)  She can’t get across the street to the student union.

c)  She doesn’t know if it’s snowing.

d)  The man is blind.

4.       

a)  She going to the library before lunch.

b)  She is going to the library later.

c)  She isn’t going to the library today.

e)      She is going to take a lunch break.

5.       

a)  She is surprised he took so long to finish.

b)  She is surprised the exam was so easy.

c)  She is surprised the exam took hardly any time at all.

d)  She is surprised he didn’t finish.