1.1 Defining Grammar
1.1 Defining Grammar
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Warming-up:
Warming-up:
- Watch the short video "Does grammar matter? " Then, write down your own definition of grammar.
Does grammar matter - Andreea S. Calude.mp42. A Static vs. Dynamic View of Grammar
2. A Static vs. Dynamic View of Grammar
Static/Traditional view of grammar:
"Grammar is a set of patterns for how words are put together to form phrases and clauses whether in speaking or writing".
Grammar is a set of structural patterns/rules predetermined by language authorities and are detached from language use; a priori grammar rigidity
Dynamic/New view of grammar:
"Ultimately, grammar is best seen as a set of linguistic habits that are constantly being negotiated and reinvented by the entire group of language users."
Grammar is a semiotic resource for meaning making in the dynamic processes of languaging; an emergent grammar flexibility; 'grammaring' (Dianne Larsen-Freeman, 1991).
Grammar not as static but an element in the design of language (The New London Group, 1996);
The implication is that we should think of ourselves not as merely speakers of a language but a conscious designer who makes grammatical choices purposefully to achieve specific communicative needs (e.g., different levels of formality in your English when writing an academic paper vs. hanging out with friends in a bar)
e.g., "Long time no see" (好久不见)"
3. Hartwell's Five Types of Grammar
3. Hartwell's Five Types of Grammar
Hartwell, P. (1985). Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar. College English, 47, 105-127.
Grammar 1: The linguistic rules that presumably exist in the mind of a native speaker of a language; a subconscious set of interconnected rules in native speakers’ ‘language competence’; implicit/tacit knowledge
Grammar 2: The formal description of rules in a language; an academic subject matter; conscious/explicit/focal knowledge
Grammar 3: The conventions of common usage, sometimes called linguistic etiquette; the do’s and don'ts of usage; ‘good grammar’ ‘bad/poor grammar’
Grammar 4: School/pedagogical grammar; is primarily concerned with the needs of students and teachers; draws on both prescriptive and descriptive grammars (the focus of this course)
Grammar 5: Stylistic grammar: linguistic choices that form the writing style of an individual author, a specific genre, a register (e.h., written vs. spoken English), or writings of a particular period of time.
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