Teaching grammar communicatively and

functionally

Jacqui Dornbrack

Schools Development Unit

UCT

Jacqui.dornbrack@uct.ac.za

Needs to be: explicit, communicative, functional

It’s no use for a learner simply to know that an ‘adjective describes a noun’. They also need to know how to use adjectives to enrich their own writing and to identify how adjectives work (function) to persuade them to react in certain ways to texts.

ADJECTIVES

• Describing words

• Describe nouns: things, people, events, places

• Function: make things more interesting, provide details, persuade readers

The washerwoman’s prayerOswald Mtshali

Look at her handsRaw, knobbly and calloused.

Look at her faceLike a bean skin soaked in brine.

Now onto the function…

• By now they should have a good understanding of what an adjective is. Now it’s important for them to understand how adjectives FUNCTION to POSITION readers and how WRITERS USE ADJECTIVES to POSITION their readers.

Read at the following:

The wide playgrounds were swarming with boys. All were shouting and the prefects urged them on with strong cries. The evening air was pale and chilly and after every charge and thud of the footballers the greasy leather orb flew like a heavy bird through the grey light. He kept on the fringe of his line, out of sight of his prefect, feigning to run now and then. He felt his body small and weak amid the throng of players and his eyes were weak and watery. James Joyce: A portrait of the Artist as a young man

Read at the following:

The wide playgrounds were swarming with boys. All were shouting and the prefects urged them on with strong cries. The evening air was pale and chilly and after every charge and thud of the footballers the greasy leather orb flew like a heavy bird through the grey light. He kept on the fringe of his line, out of sight of his prefect, feigning to run now and then. He felt his body small and weak amid the throng of players and his eyes were weak and watery. James Joyce: A portrait of the Artist as a young man

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Crisis in Cairo: The latest from Egypt in Turmoil

• Hilary Clinton: Vice president Suleiman spoke today about the need for a free and fair election. That is essential and I urge the government and a broad and credible representation of Egypt’s opposition, civil society and political factions to begin immediately on serious negotiations on a peaceful and orderly transition. The Egyptian people expect a meaningful process that yields concrete changes.

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Some ideas

• Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for common adjectives

• Play the game of SNAP • Write a descriptive piece on their rooms,

their favourite person, last night’s meal..

Now let them use adjectives

• Write a descriptive piece…

• Write/analyse a poem

• Write/analyse an advertisement• Rewrite an existing advertisement or news

report to reposition the reader…changing all the positive adjectives into negative adjectives….