ELng 109 Lesson 1: Key Terms and Concepts Related to Grammar PDF

ELng 109 LESSON 1: KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS RELATED TO GRAMMAR A. Grammar and Grammaring Grammar [ ] comes from the Greek grammatikē technē, which means "art of letters". In Aristotle\'s Topica (Topics), grammar is defined as the science of writing and reading. Plato and Aristotle were "pioneers"...

ELng 109 LESSON 1: KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS RELATED TO GRAMMAR A. Grammar and Grammaring Grammar [ ] comes from the Greek grammatikē technē, which means "art of letters". In Aristotle\'s Topica (Topics), grammar is defined as the science of writing and reading. Plato and Aristotle were "pioneers" in the theory of the parts of speech, which later became part of technical grammar, but which according to Aristotle fell under the study of rhetoric or poetics. In Chomskyan tradition (in the tradition of Noam Chomsky), grammar of a language is an account of the grammatical competence (rather than performance) of the native speakers of that language. Grammatical competence is defined as the native speakers\' tacit knowledge of the grammar of their language (Chomsky, 1965). Merriam-Webster defines grammar as the study of the classes of words, their inflections, and their functions and relations in the sentence. Larsen-Freeman (2009) assumes that, perhaps no term in the language teaching field is as ambiguous as grammar. It has been used to mean: 1 an internal mental system that generates and interprets novel utterances (mental grammar) 2 a set of prescriptions and proscriptions about language forms and their use for a particular language (prescriptive grammar) 3 a description of language behavior by proficient users of a language (descriptive grammar) 4 the focus of a given linguistic theory (linguistic grammar) 5 a work that treats the major structures of a language (reference grammar) 6 the structures and rules compiled for instructional and assessment purposes(pedagogical grammar) 7 the structures and rules compiled for instructional purposes for teachers(usually a more comprehensive and detailed version of point (6)) (teacher's grammar) Descriptive vs. Prescriptive A descriptive grammar is a study of a language, its structure, and its rules as they are used in daily life by its speakers from all walks of life, including standard and nonstandard varieties. A descriptive study of grammar is non-judgmental, and it does not have the goal of determining what represents good or bad language, correct or incorrect structures, or grammatical or ungrammatical forms (Leech, Deuchar, & Hoogenraad, 2006). In this light, sentences such as "Him and me, we are neighbors" or "I don\'t know nothing" simply reflect how the language is used by its speakers. A prescriptive grammar, on the other hand, specifies how a language should be used and what grammar rules should be followed. A prescriptivist view of language implies a distinction between \"good grammar\" and \"bad grammar,\" and its primary focus is on standard forms of grammar and syntactic constructions. Thus, for example, the sentence "Him and me, we are neighbors" would be considered ungrammatical because it violates at least two grammar rules: (1) object forms of pronouns \"him and me\" should not be used in the sentence-initial or subject-noun position, and (2) only one noun or noun phrase can play the role of the sentence subject, and in this case, \"we\" (Greenbaum, 1996). According to Bacus et al., (2021), grammar is more than just form (There should be meaning in what we form so that we can use it appropriately in the right context. Future teachers of English need to remember these concepts of grammar -- form ,meaning, and use -- so that they can do away with teaching grammar that is overly focused on form, making students too conscious whether they have technically said it right. Among other considerations, a good descriptive grammar also takes into account cultural and social variables that, in many cases, determine how language is produced and understood. In this light, sentences such as :Him and me, we are neighbors" or "I don\'t know nothing" simply reflect how the language is used by its speakers. Aside from producing accurate sentences, one should not lose sight of the idea that each correctly and accurately produced sentence should have meaning and appropriate use. Grammar ability, therefore, needs to be accurate, meaningful, and appropriate (Bacus et al., 2021). Larsen-Freeman (2001) gave a convincing argument on how grammar should be treated. She shared that grammar should be treated as a skill rather than purely competence. She postulated "grammaring" to be the fifth skill (together with listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and referred to grammaring as the ability to accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately use grammar structures. Grammar is not just a set of rules to memorize but a skill to develop in its active and progressive sense. B. Grammaticalizing/Grammaticalization French linguist Antoine Meillet introduced the concept of grammaticalization in his 1912 study *L'evolution des forms grammaticales.* In its broadest sense, grammaticalization is described as the process by which grammar is created in its broadest sense (Croft, 2006) or the study of this process. It is the language process by which words representing objects and actions (i.e. nouns and verbs) become grammatical markers (affixes, prepositions, etc.) which results in the creation of function words derived from content words. Examples which come to mind include the use of like as a conjunction (e.g., tell it like it is), the use of hopefully as a conjunctive adverb (e.g., hopefully, they\'ll bury the hatchet soon). Grammaticalization also involves reduction. Reduction also known as phonetic erosion or phonological reduction is an expression in linguistics that loses phonetic substance if it undergoes grammaticalization. Examples: "it and will" to become "it'll," \"He is\...\" becomes \"He\'s\...\", \"going to\" becoming \"gonna\" \"want to\" becoming \"wanna\". "because becomes coz C. Error Correction vs. Feedback Positive feedback confirms something that is good in a student's response but a teacher should not stop there until the student gets the right or correct response. A negative feedback (error correction) corrects the errors and the faulty language behavior of the students. Examples: Positive Feedback Confirmation: I like how you pronounce X. Can you try it once more so that it sounds more like it is pronounced in the target language? Praise: amzing, bravo, excellent Teacher's request to repeat : Teacher applauds student in front of the class Negative Feedback: Indirect/Implicit Strategies 1\. Recasts Student: Yesterday, I go shopping. Teacher: Oh yesterday, I also went shopping. 2\. Clarification requests: "Excuse me?" Direct/Explicit Strategies: D. Spoken vs. Written Grammar E. Grammatical Assessment Assessing grammar is a fundamental aspect of teaching that helps determine student proficiency in language. It can be used to help identify the strengths and weaknesses of learners. it helps the teacher to decide on what to teach next.