Morphology
Morphology
‘If language was just a random collection of words,
you couldn’t acquire it, you couldn’t learn it and you’d be imprisoned in the here and now because you couldn’t talk about what was, what might be and what will be…’ You couldn’t construct complete and coherent texts….you’d be in a ‘me Tarzan – you
Jane’ situation, swinging from the wordtrees, pointing at things with little labels on them to try and make your partner understand.’
The myths of grammar
(Crystal 2004)
•The myth of difficulty
Mastering grammar requires long time and the acquisition of technical terminology
•The myth of distance
Grammar is for a restricted number of people, the grammarians •The myth of simplicity
People identify simplicity of a language with the small number of word-endings
Knowing grammar is an unconscious process: recognize errors correct errors put words together
Knowing about grammar is a conscious process:
Crystal 2004
describe rules describe errors use grammar words
What is Grammar
‘That branch of the description of languages which accounts for the way in which words combine to form sentences’ (Lyons 1971)
‘Grammar is a means of explaining the significant and functional patterning of words in the making of meaning’
GRAMMAR
Grammar is to be seen as language patterning which implies some system that allows principled choices to be made
What we say or write is always a matter of exercising these choices designing our texts with some purpose in mind
Grammar is a matter of meaningful, flexible but patterned choice….it is not just a matter of labelling classes of words - it is a purposeful, constructive and above all a
social enterprise
FORM rules and syntax
MEANING
same form BUT different meanings USE why is the form being used: the purpose
TRADITIONAL
COMMUNICATIVE
GRAMMAR
GRAMMAR
FORM
FORM
MEANING
USE
Communicative Grammar
•The past
•Learn patterns
•The
‘If language was just a random collection of words,
you couldn’t acquire it, you couldn’t learn it and you’d be imprisoned in the here and now because you couldn’t talk about what was, what might be and what will be…’ You couldn’t construct complete and coherent texts….you’d be in a ‘me Tarzan – you
Jane’ situation, swinging from the wordtrees, pointing at things with little labels on them to try and make your partner understand.’
The myths of grammar
(Crystal 2004)
•The myth of difficulty
Mastering grammar requires long time and the acquisition of technical terminology
•The myth of distance
Grammar is for a restricted number of people, the grammarians •The myth of simplicity
People identify simplicity of a language with the small number of word-endings
Knowing grammar is an unconscious process: recognize errors correct errors put words together
Knowing about grammar is a conscious process:
Crystal 2004
describe rules describe errors use grammar words
What is Grammar
‘That branch of the description of languages which accounts for the way in which words combine to form sentences’ (Lyons 1971)
‘Grammar is a means of explaining the significant and functional patterning of words in the making of meaning’
GRAMMAR
Grammar is to be seen as language patterning which implies some system that allows principled choices to be made
What we say or write is always a matter of exercising these choices designing our texts with some purpose in mind
Grammar is a matter of meaningful, flexible but patterned choice….it is not just a matter of labelling classes of words - it is a purposeful, constructive and above all a
social enterprise
FORM rules and syntax
MEANING
same form BUT different meanings USE why is the form being used: the purpose
TRADITIONAL
COMMUNICATIVE
GRAMMAR
GRAMMAR
FORM
FORM
MEANING
USE
Communicative Grammar
•The past
•Learn patterns
•The