Language Descriptions and Language Teaching

1
Language Descriptions and Language Teaching
2
Classical grammar

1. Based on grammar of Latin/ancient Greek
2. Inflections of parts of speech signal grammatical
   relations, e.g

puer amat puellam The boy loves the girl
puellam amat puer The boy loves the girl
puella amat puerum The girl loves the boy
amo puellam I love the girl
3
Classical grammar (contd.)

• Cases

Nominative puella puer
Vocative puella puere
Accustaive puellam puerum
Genetive puellae pueri
Dative puellae puero
Ablative puella puero
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Structural linguistics
1. Syntagmatic 1. Syntagmatic 1. Syntagmatic 1. Syntagmatic
Paradigmatic I am
Paradigmatic He is going
Paradigmatic She is doing
Paradigmatic It is talking
Paradigmatic We are eating
Paradigmatic You are
Paradigmatic They are

• The whole is the sum of the parts
• Morpheme/phonemeltwordltgroupltclauselt sentence

5
Transformational-Generative Grammar

• John is easy to please
• John is eager to please
• Acme has taken over the National Bank
• The national Bank has been taken over by Acme
• Language must be understood in terms of mental
  processes.
• Competence/performance
• Deep level/surface structure

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Communicative Competence

• A Can I go out to play?
• B Its raining.
• A Have you cut the grass yet?
• B Its raining.
• A I think Ill go out for a walk.
• B Its raining.
• Language must be seen in terms of its social use
  for communication.
• Communication is achieved by more than just
  linguistic knowledge
• Form/meaning

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Meaning

• Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
• propositional
• notional
• illocutionary force (function)
• sociolinguistic
• discoursal
• A Its raining.
• B I think Ill go out for a walk

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Conclusion

• need to see succeeding developments as
  complementary, not contradictory
• e.g., function structure context
• LT not just linguistics applied
• recommended readings

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SEMINAR

1. What are the main advantages and disadvantages of
   each of the language descriptions from a LT point
   of view?
2. In what ways do the interests of linguistic
   research and language teaching differ?