Single or plural? Apple vs apples

[Liu]

One of my friends is a editor of english book for primary school students. Now she comes across a problem. It is about to teach fruit names by showing a picture next to the English name. The problem is that the picture, for example, shows three apples, should the name "apple" be in single form or plural form, that is , should we put "apple" or "apples" next the picture of three apples. Should we just put a picture of one apple along with "apple"?

Thanks, Alan.

Liu

[Sarah113]

Hi, I think that she should put the picture of one apple and write the expression " an apple" because she is teaching in primery school which mean "little kids".
And when she will teach them how to form plural words she can show them the picture of the three apples with the expression "three apples"
Well I hope I have been helpfull.

[Jamie (K)]

I'm not Alan, but I am an English teacher and experienced editor of training materials.

You should put the word "apple" next to the picture showing only one apple. The word "apples" should go next to picture of three apples.

This is important, because putting the singular version next to the plural picture will give the student the impression that there is no plural form -- even if the plural is explained elsewhere. It's especially important for speakers of Chinese, because so many Chinese develop a bad habit of eliminating all plural suffixes.

[Torsten]

[Alan]

Hi Liu,

It depends very much on how the book is laid out. You could for example put a heading: An apple (as Sarah has suggested). Next to the picture of three apples you could write: Here are three apples. You could then follow the same pattern with other fruits.

Alan
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[Liu]

Thank you all. But I have seen many teaching materials about this case. They are different. I am still confused. Here is the links to a webpage of a british website teaching English:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-flashcards-vegetable-1.pdf
and
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-flashcards-vegetable-2.pdf

There are pictures of both one and more than one fruits along with single and plural forms. Too complicated. Help, help...

[Jamie (K)]

It's not complicated! In those materials the pictures showing more than one item have the plural form of the word next to them. The pictures showing only one have the singular form. That's what we've all recommended.

[Liu]

Dear Jamie. Thanks. But why do they put a picture of one tomato with "tomato" and a picture of two potatoes with "potatoes" in the same page? I don't why they show some words in single form and some words in plural form in the same page. That will confuse the kid learners. Please tell me your telephone no. so that I can discuss it with you directly if it is ok for you. Thanks.

[Torsten]

Why do you think it's confusing to teach kids plural and singular forms? They will understand this without any problems because if they already know the concept of plural and singular from the real world. As a matter of fact, it's probably much better to show both the singular and plural forms on one page than separating them. This makes it easier for the kids to see how simple the singular/plural pattern is in English.
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[Sarah113]

I agree with you Toresten .
one thing I feel oblige to say: the teacher knows the real level of his pupils and he is the only person who can decide the way that he will use to give them the information, so try to manage your lesson in the way your pupils will find it easy and funny( don't forget we may give you some ideas but you're the one who teach )