Introduction to Grammar

Meanings and definition of grammar

Fluency versus accuracyGrammar for young learnersThe place of grammar in the

primary ESL classroom

What is Grammar?

Grammar is the structural foundation of our ability to express ourselves. The more we are aware of how it works, the more we can monitor the meaning and effectiveness of the way we and others use language. It can help foster precision, detect ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression available in English. And it can help everyone--not only teachers of English, but teachers of anything, for all teaching is ultimately a matter of getting to grips with meaning.(David Crystal, "In Word and Deed," TES Teacher, April 30, 2004)

Definition of GRAMMARThe study of how words and their component parts

combine to form sentences.The system of rules implicit in a language, viewed as a

mechanism for generating all sentences possible in that language.

 The study of the classes of words, their inflections, and their functions and relations in the sentence

 A system of rules that defines the grammatical structure of a language

The study of how words and their component parts combine to form sentences.

A set of rules and examples dealing with the syntax and word structures (morphology) of a language. Adjective: grammatical.

What is grammar?

The grammar of a language is concerned with the forms of words

and how they are arranged to enable its users to express

meaning.

Grammar is …… the conventional way in which the

users of the language arrange their words.

Without grammar, the message may be misunderstood.

… necessary, not for its own sake; but for talking about the language, e.g. to explain an error, or to describe a certain style.

Grammar is not …… defined by mere knowledge of

grammar rules … all there is to learning a language.

In truth, grammar rules are only aids to learning, not the object

of learning.

Rules, like maps, are useful for negotiating the terrain; they

should not be mistaken for the terrain itself. And they are only

helpful in so far as they do help us negotiate the terrain.

(Alan Maley)

Types of Grammar

Linguists are quick to remind us that  there are different varieties of grammar--that is, different ways of describing and analyzing the structures and functions of language.

Descriptive Grammar

and 

Prescriptive Grammar

Descriptive Grammar (definition #1) refers to the structure of a

language as it is actually used by speakers and writers. 

Descriptive grammarians generally advise us not to be overly concerned with matters of correctness: language, they say, isn't good or bad; it simply is. 

For instance, a discussion of the Basic Parts of Speech is primarily descriptive,

Prescriptive Grammar (definition #2) refers to the structure of a

language as certain people think it should be used.

Prescriptive grammarians prefer giving practical advice about using language: straightforward rules to help us avoid making errors. The rules may be over-simplified at times, but they are meant to keep us out of trouble--the kind of trouble that may distract or even confuse our readers.

A lesson on Correcting Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement is obviously prescriptive.

Basic distinction between descriptive grammar and prescriptive grammar 

Both kinds of grammar are concerned with rules--but in different ways.

Specialists in descriptive grammar (called linguists) study the rules or patterns that underlie our use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.

On the other hand, prescriptive grammarians (such as most editors and teachers) lay out rules about what they believe to be the “correct” or “incorrect” use of language.

Varieties of GrammarComparative GrammarGenerative GrammarMental GrammarPedagogical GrammarPerformance GrammarReference GrammarTheoretical GrammarTraditional GrammarTransformational GrammarUniversal Grammar

Varieties of GrammarNew grammars are emerging all the time.There's word grammar, for instance. And relational grammar. And that brings to mind arc pair grammar.Not to mention cognitive grammar, lexical functional

grammar, head-driven phrase structure grammar . . . and many more.

Grammatical Meaning

Meaning that is conveyed by word order and other grammatical signals.

Linguists distinguish grammatical meaning from lexical meaning (or denotation) - the dictionary meaning of an individual word.

Words grouped together randomly have little meaning on their own, unless it occurs accidentally.

For example, each of the following words has lexical meaning at the word level, as is shown in a dictionary, but they convey no grammatical meaning as a group:

[without grammatical meaning]Lights the leap him before the down hill purple.

However when a special order is given to these words, grammatical meaning is created because of the relationships they have to one another.

[with grammatical meaning]

The purple lights leap down the hill before him.

(Bernard O'Dwyer, Modern English Structures: Form, Function and Position. Broadview Press, 2006)

Different forms of the same lexeme will generally (though not necessarily) differ in meaning

They will share the same lexical meaning (or meanings) but differ in respect of their grammatical meaning

E.g. the difference between singular and plural forms of a noun of a particular subclass

or, the difference between the past, present and future forms of verbs, is semantically relevant: it affects sentence-meaning. The meaning of a sentence . . . is determined partly by the meaning of the words (i.e., lexemes) of which it is composed and partly by its grammatical meaning. (John Lyons, Linguistic Semantics: An Introduction.

Cambridge University Press, 1996)

Fluency vs Accuracy

There are two types of language learner: The first type gets really worried about making errors or

mistakes. They think about everything that they say carefully. Sometimes, if they start to say something, and then

realize they have made a mistake, they will stop and correct that mistake, maybe returning to the beginning of the sentence.

They might pause between each word, contemplating what the right word or phrase is before they say it.

For these learners, generally, their accuracy is high, but their fluency is low.

The second type of language learner doesn’t really care about making mistakes or errors.

They have an idea in their head of what they want to communicate, and they say it with whatever words and language feel the most natural.

They make frequent mistakes, sometimes in every sentence!

Their grammar can be a mixture of English and their native language.

They either don’t know or don’t care if they are making errors or mistakes.

These learners have high fluency, but low accuracy.

AccuracyAccuracy is the ability to produce correct

sentences using correct grammar and vocabulary.

Accuracy is relative. A child in early primary isn't capable of the same level of accuracy as an adult.

Teachers who concentrate on accuracy help their students to produce grammatically correct written and spoken English.

Typical accuracy activities are: grammar presentations, gap-fill exercises, frame dialogues.

FluencyFluency is the ability to read, speak, or write easily,

smoothly, and expressively. In other words, the speaker can read, understand and respond in a language clearly and concisely while relating meaning and context.

Fluency generally increases as learners progress from beginning to advanced readers and writers.

Language teachers who concentrate on fluency help their students to express themselves in fluent English. They pay more attention to meaning and context and are less concerned with grammatical errors.

Typical fluency activities are: role plays, speeches, communicative activities, games.

Which one is more important for you as a language learner – fluency or accuracy?

The answer depends on what kind of learner you are.

If you focus too much on accuracy, and therefore speak very slowly, you need to improve your fluency.

Speaking too slowly is bad for maintaining a conversation.

After a few seconds of silence, the person you are talking to starts thinking about something else.

Communication is failing, you need to speak faster. Don’t worry about making errors or mistakes – most

are not serious, and don’t affect communication.

But if you focus too much on fluency, you need to ask yourself if you are achieving your goals in communication.

Are your mistakes and errors causing problems for the people who listen to you?

If the answer is yes, you need to slow down and pay more attention to what you say.

Speaking really fast, with lots of errors, is very problematic for the people who are listening to you.

And if you are somewhere in the middle? Now you have to take a balanced approach. When you are in the safe environment of a

classroom, with the support of teachers and fellow-learners, you should focus on accuracy, because these people can help correct your mistakes and errors.

But when you are outside the classroom – when you are at work, or socializing with friends – concentrate on communicating as fluently as possible.

Accuracy and Fluency are two factors which can determine the success of English language students in the future.

Both fluency and accuracy are equally important. At the end of the day, it depends on what your goal

is for learning English.

Taken as a given that students' needs should always dictate what you teach them, the question of whether it is more important to work on accuracy or fluency in the language classroom remains.

Many teachers believe that fluency is a goal worth striving towards only with students who are at a fairly advanced level.

Other teachers, strong in the belief that the learning of a language is about communication, feel that fluency should be the main goal in their teaching and that it should be practiced right from the start.

More traditional teachers give accuracy paramount importance and test their students for accuracy and accuracy only!

Often a rigid educational system where tests and exams are the focus, will have students (and their traditional teachers) believe that language accuracy is what matters most, and giving the "correct" answers often becomes an obsession.

Students who have been taught this way can complete any grammar gap-fill you care to give them, but will struggle to order a coffee in a real English speaking situation.

Students learning accuracy without fluency, and vice versa, is one of the biggest threats to successful learning and balancing accuracy and fluency should be the aim of any English language teacher.

So, as a teacher, what should you focus on with the learners?

The role of grammar in ELTThe value of grammar in foreign language

teaching has been a focus of debate for decades, and no conclusion is in sight.

The answer to whether grammar should be taught and to what extent grammar should be taught depends on some variables in the language teaching/learning context, such as learner variables and instructional variables.

The very mention of grammar creates a huge mental block in the mind of a student.

Grammar can be taught first via listening and speaking and then reading and writing. But it need not be boring, dry, technical, and fundamentally useless.

Maybe the way grammar is taught should change.

Should we be teaching English grammar in the primary school?

It is generally believed that :Grammar teaching is less important for children

than for adults;

Grammar teaching is less important in listening and reading than in writing.

Grammar for Young Learners

Teaching grammar to young Learners is different to teaching grammar to teenagers and adults.

What are the main differences?Clear and easy to understandMotivating and interestingKeep vocabulary simpleReview and revise

Some suggestions about teaching grammar

1. Teach only those rules that are simple and typical.

2. Teach useful and important grammar points.3. Teach grammar in context.4. Use visible instruments such as charts,

tables, diagrams, maps, drawings, and realia to aid understanding;

5. Avoid difficult grammatical terminologies as much as possible.

6. Allow enough opportunities for practice.7. Live with the students’ mistakes and errors.

The Value of Studying GrammarStudying grammar may help learners become a

more effective writer.The study of grammar all by itself will not necessarily

make learners a better writer. But by gaining a clearer understanding of how

language works, learners should also gain greater control over the way they shape words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs.

Metaphor on GrammarGrammar is like the icing on the cake.The cake is the basic foundation of

language which includes all the skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) plus vocabulary.

One can have a big and tall cake but if the icing is done untidily, it won't look good.

The icing gives the cake its real value. It makes the cake look delicious, even the

tiniest cupcake.

Metaphor on GrammarTeacher is the chef who can teach her students how to

make a good icing - the colours they can choose and introduce them to other toppings (cherry, candies, sugar etc.)

However, it's the students’ responsibilities to decorate their own cake - whether they can be a good writer or speaker.

They can always ask for the teacher’s advice and she'll correct them on their techniques.

We have the same goal: to be able to create a masterpiece one day.

What's the place of grammar in language teaching? 

As teachers, we should endeavor to learn about how English works, and that includes how English grammar works, in order to be able to explain stuff to our students.

That might mean undertaking formal professional development, or just doing some personal study (eg. reading a book such as 'Rediscover Grammar' by David Crystal).