What is grammar?

What is grammar?

1. Features of Grammar

   • Meaning-making potencial
     • Representational function
       • Represents the world as we experience it
     • Interpersonal function
       • Influence how things happen in the world
   • Function or Intention
     • Literal meaning
     • Meaning in context
   • Spoken vs Written
     • Spoken Grammar
       • Omitting words
       • Using question tags
       • Sentences with two subjects
     • Written Grammar
       • Uses more syntactically complex constructions
         • e.g. subordinate clauses
         • e.g. passive structures

2. Definitions

   • The study of possible structures in a language
     • Texts
       • Sentences
         • Words
           • Sounds (if spoken)
   • A description of the rules that govern how a language's sentences are formed
   • The study of the syntax and morphology of sentences
     • Systems of rules
       • Morphology
         • Covers the formation of words
       • Syntax
         • Covers the order of words in a sentence
   • The study of linguistic chains and slots
   • A tool for making meaning

3. Teaching Grammar

   • Syllabus
     • a pre-planned, itemised, account of the route
       • What is to be covered and in what order through
         • Selection
           • What is to be included?
           • Criteria for selecting
             • Usefulness
             • Frequency
         • Grading
           • In what order are the selected items to be dealt with?
           • Criteria for grading
             • Complexity
               • The more elements an item, the more complex it is
             • Learnability
               • The simpler the item, the more learnable it is
             • Teachability
               • How easy is to represent the meaning of

4. Grammar rules

   • Prescriptive rules
     • A principle or order which guides behaviour
   • Descriptive rules
     • The usual way something happens
     • Usually more related to Second and foreign language teaching
     • Based on corpora
   • Pedagogic rules
     • Rules that make sense to learners while providing them with means to generate language with a reasonable chance of success
     • Rules of form
     • Rules of use