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Tema 12: 
Concepto de 
Gramática: Reflexión 
sobre la lengua y su 
aprendizaje. De la 
gramática normativa a 
la gramática en función 
del uso de la lengua y la 
comunicación.  
 Topic 12:
Concepto de Gram
mática: Reflexión sobre la lengua y su aprendizaje. De
D la gramática no
ormativa a la gram
mática en función del uso.
2

Topic 12:
Co
oncepto de Gramática: Reflexiónn sobre la le
engua y su aprendizaje
a e. De la gra
amática
normativva a la gram
mática en fu
unción del uso
u de la le
engua y la comunicació
c ón.

Ta
able of contents
1. Concept off Grammar.. _________
____________________
_________________________ 3
1.1. Six typees of gramm
mar. ____________________________
___________________________ 4
2. The place of
o grammarr in Lg teacching. ______________
_________________________ 5
2.1. Is Gram
mmar Oppressive? _________________________
___________________________ 5
2.2. Should We Teach Grammar
G In
n School? ___________
_ ___________________________ 6
2.2.1. The Criticism andd Defence of Grammar
G ________________
______________________________ 6
wards a More Communicativ
2.2.2. Tow C ve Approach ____________
_ ______________________________ 8
2.2.3. Connclusion _____
__________________________________________________________________ 9
2.3. From leearning gram
mmar to thee mastery off English __
__________________________ 10
2.3.1. The organization of grammar teeaching _________________ _____________________________ 10
2.3.1.1.. Presentation.. __________________________________ _____________________________ 10
2.3.1.2.. Isolation & explanation.
e _
____________ ____________ _____________________________ 10
2.3.1.3.. Practice. ____
____________________________________ _____________________________ 10
2.3.11.3.1. Practicee of structures whose formaal rules are difff to understannd. ______________ 11
2.3.11.3.2. Producttion or percepttion of correctt forms. _____
_____________________________ 11
2.3.11.3.3. Producttion or compreehension of meaning
m for somme non-linguiistic purpose ______ 12
2.3.1.4.. Test _______ ____________________________________ _____________________________ 12
2.4. Didactiic applicatioon of gramm
mar (Gramm
mar activitiess) ________________________ 12
2.4.1. The task________ ____________________________________ _____________________________ 13
2.4.2. Learrners’ interestts & motivatioon. _____________________
_____________________________ 14
2.4.3. Techhniques of leaarner activatioon ______________________
_____________________________ 15
3. From Norm
mative gram
mmar to moodern ones more
m relateed with the use of Lg &
communication. _________________
____________________ ________________________ 17
3.1. Taxonoomic (Ameriican Structu
uralism- Blooomfield-) __
__________________________ 17
3.1.1. Taxoonomic Syntaax. The constittuent structuree of sentencess ___________________________ 19
3.1.2. The Chomskyan Revolution
R __________________________ _____________________________ 20
3.2. Transfoormational-Generative grammar ___________
_ __________________________ 21
3.2.1. The nature and fuunction of synttactic rules ______________
_____________________________ 21
3.2.2. Conntext-free phraase structure ruules ____________________
_____________________________ 21
3.2.3. Conntext-sensitivee rules ______________________________ _____________________________ 23
3.2.4. The inadequacy of o PS-grammaars and the nottion of transfo
ormations ____________________ 23
3.2.5. Deep and surface structure ___________________________ _____________________________ 24
3.2.6. Whaat T-rules do __________________________________ _____________________________ 24
3.3. Tagmem
mics. ______________________________________
__________________________ 25
3.3.1. Undderstanding Hoow Language Work __________________
_____________________________ 25
3.3.2. Etic and Emic ___
____________________________________
_____________________________ 25
3.4. Systemic functionaal grammar (or Neo-Firrthian) _____
__________________________ 26
3.4.1. Systtem networks.. __________________________________
_____________________________ 27
Brrief Summaary __________________
____________________
________________________ 30
Biibliography __________
_ __________
____________________
________________________ 31

Ivan Matella
anes’ notes
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Concepto de Gramática: Reflexión sobre la lengua y su aprendizaje. De la gramática normativa a la gramática en función del uso.
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1. Concept of Grammar.
The term grammar has its origins in the Latin word grammatical, a
translation of Greek grammatiké tékhné, the art of writing 1 , ultimately from
Diffs notions of
grámma, a letter. Nowadays, the term Grammar has different notions which are Grammar:

clearly related, but which can be easily distinguished:

1. Grammar is the systematic study & description of a Lg, a group of
Lgs, or Lg in general terms (syntax, morphology, phonology.
a. Systematic study &
Semantics …). Some examples of the usage of this meaning is description of a Lg.

Universal grammar, The grammar of American English … The

study of the grammar of a Lg may be restricted to the standard variety
(RP in England) or also cover other non-standard varieties (Northern
English, Scottish, Southern English, …)
2. Grammar may also be a set of rules and examples dealing with the b. Set of rules dealing
with the syntax &
syntax & morphology of a standard Lg, usually intended as an aid morphology of a Lg

to the Lg learner. A distinction is often made btw descriptive (present

an accurate description) and prescriptive grammar (prescribes certain
rules). Another usual distinction is often made btw reference (for
individual reference) and pedagogical grammar (for class use under
the guidance for a teacher).
3. In Linguistics, a term for the syntactic & morphological system c. The syntactic &
morphological sys
which every person acquires from infancy when learning a Lg is acquired from infancy
by every person.
known as a native speaker’s grammar. All speakers of a Lg use it to
produce more or less correct utterances. Their knowledge is implicit,
however, & it is not usually easy to think about it & report it.

1
Compared to rhetoric, rhetoric, the art of speaking.

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1.1. Six types of grammar. SIX types of Grammar:

There are six types of grammar:

a. Descriptive Grammar: An approach that describes the grammatical 1. Descriptive gr.

constructions that are used in a Lg w/out making evaluative

judgments.
b. Prescriptive Grammar: A manual that focuses on constructions 2. Prescriptive gr.

where usage is divided, and creates rules governing the social

correct use of a Lg. It draws a line between what is grammatical
(i.e., correct) or ungrammatical.
c. Pedagogical grammar: A book specially designed for teaching a 3. Pedagogical gr. =
Murphy’s
foreign Lg, or for developing an awareness of the MT. Such
“teaching grammars” are widely used in schools.
d. Reference grammar: A grammatical description that tries to be 4. Reference gr. =
Quirk’s
as comprehensible as possible, so that it can act as a reference
book for those interested in establishing grammatical facts (similar
to a dictionary if used as a “reference lexicon”). F. ex.: A comprehensive
Grammar of the English Language, by Randolph Quirk et al.
e. Theoretical grammar: An approach that goes beyond the study of 5. Theoretical gr.

individual Lgs, using linguistic data as a means of developing

theoretical insights into the nature of language as such, and into
the categories and processes needed for successful linguistic analysis.
Grammaticality belongs both to prescriptive and theoretical grammar,
but mostly to theoretical grammar. Grammaticality questions the
structures in speakers' internal grammar. E.g., in English, it is not
grammatical to say "What did he say where she lives?" to mean 'Where
did he say she lives?', but the corresponding German sentence,
"Was hat er gesagt, wo sie wohnt?" is grammatical. That is, in English,
that construction is not in the internal grammar of any native
English speaker; but it is in the internal grammar of every
native German speaker. Theoretical grammar seeks to explain these
questions of grammaticality, e.g. "What about the overall structure of

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German makes this construction possible, and what about English

structure makes it impossible for English?".
f. Traditional grammar: The traditional grammar is an attempt to 6. Traditional gr.

summarise the range of attitudes and methods found in the pre-

linguistic era of grammatical study. The term traditional,
accordingly, is found with reference to many periods, such as the
Roman and Greek grammarians, Renaissance grammars, and
(especially) 18th & 19thC school grammars, in Europe and America. It
is usually used with a critical ('non-scientific') implication. Criticism
is directed primarily at the prescriptive recommendations of authors, as
opposed to the descriptive emphasis of linguistic studies.

2. The place of grammar in Lg teaching.

2.1. Is Grammar Oppressive?
In studying grammar, it is important to look at its origins. Where was the Is grammar oppressive?
world before standardized grammar? In essence grammatically standard
language was created so that people would learn the same language
and be easier to govern. If people do not understand what you are saying,
then their communication cannot be ruled. Teaching traditional grammar
rules as the one and only way to convey the English language creates Standard variety
=
oppressive ideals. If these rules propose that there is one perfect One perfect Lg

language, and language creates reality, then it can be understood that these
rules assume one perfect reality. Standardized, unchanging grammar rules
assume that there is only one accurate form of a language, and those who use
are in control of the language are in control of society. These conceptual
theories of the oppressive nature of grammar can be seen everywhere. Those
who speak "perfect English" are at the top of our economic chain, i.e. politicians,
business owners, and professors. Those who use slang, common English,
Ebonics, are not in powerful positions in this society. Therefore proper,
grammatical English is a hierarchical divider. Those who control language and
the formation of language shape reality. Language is ever changing. New

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dialects emerge all the time. We are a country of many different origins,
perhaps it is time to have a language rules that incorporate all of these origins.
That is why teachers should not teach prescriptive grammar. Standard
grammar needs to be taught in order for the students to have a general idea of
the rules of a Lg. However, non-standard English is what students are going to
meet when using a Lg (Black English, Scottish …), so that they must also be
taught these peculiarities (may be in higher levels). Therefore, the teaching of
grammar may help many students in improve in their usage of the TL. Teachers
must not be obsessed with the idea of teaching grammar, because students will
ask for it (either consciously or unconsciously) when they need it.

2.2. Should We Teach Grammar In School?

2.2.1. The Criticism and Defence of Grammar
Prior to the Seventies, no one challenged the necessity of formal
grammar teaching. However, many different views have developed during
the latter half of the 20th C. These views now exert significant influence on the
development of language teaching practice.
One of the biggest challenges comes primarily from Krashen, who
Krashen’s limitations in
has probably been the most vigorous in suggesting the limitations of a grammar-based
approaches.
grammar-based approach. In Krashen and Terrel's influential Natural
Approach, it is postulated that acquirers should not necessarily be accurate in
all details of grammar, and that a grammatical syllabus should not be shaped
into the activities of the class. They do not reject the idea that students need
to acquire a great deal of grammar. But they believe that students will
acquire more grammar only if the course focuses on communication and
provides pupils with sufficient comprehensible input. Grammar has a
peripheral role in the language program: to produce optimal monitor-users,
performers who can use grammar as a supplement to acquisition when they
have time, when the focus is on form, and when they know the rule (the
Monitor Hypothesis).

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Grammar explanations should be avoided in the classroom

simply because they take time away from acquisition activities, according to
Krashen and Terrel. The use of a grammar text outside the classroom is
recommended in cases where students can profit from such reference. As for
error correction, advocates of the natural approach consider it negative.
Overt error correction of speech is likely to have a negative impact on
students' willingness to try to express themselves. It tends to raise
students' affective filters, especially when involving the specific grammar
rules violated by the students.
However, Krashen's theory encounters harsh criticism from Gregg, Gregg’s criticism
against Krashen theory:
who doubts the validity of Krashen's Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis. - Acquiring through
learning
Greg sees himself as a typical example of knowing the rules, being aware of
them, and ending up with an ability to talk about them. This is a perfect
process of acquiring through learning, contradictory to Krashen's claim
that learning need not precede acquisition.
Higgs claims that a successful foreign language user is one who
possesses and combines all of the communicative elements of a
linguistic system, i.e. a "grammar," in ways that are at least analogous to
the ways that native speakers possess and combine them. Higgs believes
that teaching communication and teaching grammar are inseparable aspects of
teaching language.
White, among others, expresses questions about simplified input. He White’s theory:
Simplified input is deficient
suggests that Krashen is misguided in claiming that the input in many respects.

hypothesis is dependent on comprehensible input, as provided by

care-taker speech, foreigner talk, teacher talk, and other forms of
simplified input. Simplified input is deficient in many respects. We
need a detailed and explicit input hypothesis, in fact a theory of triggers of
foreign or second language development. He notes that interlanguage output of
other language learners serving as input to fellow students lacks models of
what is correct in English, and therefore they are really poor.

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Schmidt explores the role of consciousness in second language

Schmidt claims:
learning and concludes that subconscious language learning (as opposed Noticing is a necessary
condition form converting
to conscious language learning) is impossible and that noticing is the input into intake

necessary and sufficient condition for converting input to intake.

Schmidt suggests that when learners go on to notice the feature in subsequent
communicative input, acquisition of that feature may occur. From this
perspective, then, formal instruction appears to lead to acquisition only
indirectly.
Celce-Murcia (1992) also presents a different picture from Krashen's.
He purports that any formal grammar instruction is more effective if it is
discourse-based and context-based than if it is sentence-based and
context-free. In addition, one must still consider the learner's age, proficiency
level, and ultimate objectives in studying a foreign or SLn order to answer the
question of when to teach grammar formally in a satisfactory manner.

2.2.2. Towards a More Communicative Approach

While there is no consensus on the role of formal grammar in
English language learning, the switch to a more communicative
methodology in the late Seventies produced a feeling of uncertainty on the part
of many language teachers, to the extent that they even had a guilty
conscience about bringing up "grammar" in the classroom. The focus of
debate nowadays has shifted to the question of how it can best be taught.
The communicative approach emphasizes language use with little overt
grammar teaching and with tolerance for error commission. In this
approach, role-playing and problem-solving tasks are used as vehicles to the
acquisition of specific functions. The teaching of grammar as the
processing of rules for the expression of communicative intent with
particular language forms is likely to play an important role in the development
of communicative competence. In other words, the use of particular Use of particular
grammatical structures
grammatical structures should be presented in the context of presented in context

authentic, communicative tasks such as giving or requesting information,

telling a personal story, writing an invitation, and following a set of directions.

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Iteractive grammar exercises should complement rather than

replace traditional activities. Exercises requiring fill-in answers, completions,
transformations, or a combination of items are effective learning tools,
particularly at the manipulative or mechanical phase. These activities can also
be used in conjunction with interactive exercises that place instruction in a
more meaningful, communicative mode. Meanwhile, educators continue to
search for ways to integrate formal grammar instruction with
communicative methods. Grammar awareness can be beneficial to language
acquisition & grammar-based activities are useful for the integration of formal
instruction within a communicative framework.

2.2.3. Conclusion
It seems that the question of whether students should be taught
formal grammar in the classroom has neither a generally agreed upon
nor a very simple answer. One point that most of the researchers or
linguists concur on is that explicit grammatical knowledge does have to
be either acquired or learned by foreign or second language learners.
The changes in the last 20 years or so should be taken as an invitation to
reorder our priorities, but not necessarily to discard all that came before.
Teachers of grammar should demonstrate their willingness to learn from a
variety of different viewpoints with regard to the content of grammar
instruction as well as the pedagogy of grammar. Grammar should not be
taught as if it were the language per se. When taught, it must be taught in a
manner that is consistent with grammar's new role. The remaining
controversial question is the "how." The challenge now lies in discovering
effective ways to do this.

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2.3. From learning grammar to the mastery of English How to organize a

grammar didactic unit

2.3.1. The organization of grammar teaching

The organization suggested here represents only a general framework
into which a very wide variety of teaching techniques will fit. We suggested four
stages:

2.3.1.1. Presentation. 1. Presentation

We usually begin by presenting the class with a text in which the
grammatical structure appears. The aim of the presentation is to get the
learner perceive the structure in both speech & writing to take it into the - Perceive the structure
- Short term memory
short-term memory. The presentation text must be more than a sentence or
two & must serve as a model for immediate practice.

2.3.1.2. Isolation & explanation. 2. Isolation &

explanation
At this stage, we move away from the context and focus, temporarily,
on the grammatical items themselves: What they sound & look like, what they
mean, how they function. The objective is that the learners should understand
- Sts should understand
these various aspects of the structure. Where the structure is particularly various aspects of the
structure
difficult for the student to understand, this stage may take some time. However,
where the structure is very simple, or close to the NL, it may take only one
minute or so (or even been entirely omitted).
3. Practice
2.3.1.3. Practice.
It consists of a series of exercises done both in the classroom & for
homework, whose aim is to cause the learners to absorb the structure or to - Absorb the structure
- Transfer it from the
transfer what they know from the short-term memory to long term short to the long term
memory
memory.

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2.3.1.3.1. Practice of structures whose formal rules are diff to understand. Practice difficult rules

With such a structure, we might start by developing some time to

manipulation of the written & spoken forms, w/out relating particularly to
meaning. Such practice is usually given through exercises based on discrete
items (=consisting in different parts). Common exercises of this type are:
1) Slot fillers (the learner inserts the appropriate item).
Ex.: He is ___ boy. We have ___ umbrella (a,an)

2) Transformations (the learner changes the structure in some manner)

Ex.: This is a Woman (Transform it into plural) → ______________________________

A learner who has worked through a series of these exercises may find easier,
eventually, to express himself correctly in the TL. However, as these exercises
give no practice in making meanings with the structure, they have limited
uses. So we will move on the meaning base practice.

2.3.1.3.2. Production or perception of correct forms.

Another practice is the production or perception of correct forms, but

now meaning is involved as well. Such exercises are, again, usually based on
discrete items, & tend not to be open-ended. Some examples:
1) Translation, to or from the NL
2) Slot-filling based on meaning.
Ex.: He _________ at the moment (works, is working, worked)

3) Slot-filling with choice of answers no provided.

Ex.: Last night we _________ television.

4) Matching.
Ex.: He an animal
I is lawyers
She are a woman
The man am a teacher
The cat a doctor

The Lg is still not being used to do something, but merely to provide

examples of the structure, but at least the exercise cannot be done through
mere technical manipulation.

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2.3.1.3.3. Production or comprehension of meaning for some non-linguistic

purpose

The third, and probably most productive type of exercise is that in which
the stress in on the production or comprehension of meaning for some
non-linguistic purpose. Such practice may be obtained through:
1) Information/opinion gap techniques
2) Activities based on the production of entertaining ideas.
Ex.: Students might discuss or write about the possibilities arising out of a dilemma
situation using the modals may, might, could, should, etc or make up stories to practice
the past tense.

2.3.1.4. Test 4. Test

Learners do tests in order to demonstrate (to themselves & to the
teacher) how well they have mastered the material they have been learning.
The main objective of tests is to provide feedback, without which neither - Teacher provides
feedback
the teacher nor the learner would be able to progress very far.
Formal examinations, usually preceded by revision on the part of the
learner & followed by written evaluation on part of the teacher, are only one
kind of testing. Most testing, however, is done automatically and almost
unconsciously by teacher & learners as the course keeps on. The
evaluation as an active part of the educational process is considered to be an
important factor in order to know the progression of learning and continuous
assessment is probably the best way to have a general idea of the student’s
level and what s/he needs to improve.

2.4. Didactic application of grammar (Grammar activities)

I won’t try to provide a description of all types of grammar exercises
available for the teacher, but rather to suggest a number of interesting
techniques that can be used to supplement those provided by regular
coursebook.

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2.4.1. The task

The task the learners are asked to do may be Lg based (“Give me some
examples of ‘yes-no’ Qs”) or apparently non-linguistic (producing the structures

as a natural by-product. The function of the task is simply to activate the

learners in such a way as to get them to engage with the material to be
practiced.
Two clear characteristics of a good Lg-practice task are: A clear objective
accompanied by the necessity for active Lg use.
a) Clear Objective:
A Lg-based objective often leads to the composition of rather boring,
meaningless Lg manipulation tasks. On the contrary, non-linguistic
task is usually much more interesting & has more learning value
provided. In the most successful grammar exercises, the two kind of
objectives are combined. If that is the case, the amount of attention paid
to each aspect varies.
Ex.: If students get involved in discussing personal feelings while describing past
experiences, it will be inappropriate to ask them to concentrate on using the past tense
correctly; but if the objective is to produce something for publication, correct usage will
be stressed.
b) Active Lg use:
First, we should make sure that the activity is in fact based mainly on
using Lg. Second, we may need to put certain constrains on the
process of achieving our task objectives in order to make sure that
the maximum Lg use takes place.
Ex.: If we ask students to fill in information on an empty grid by referring to another
completed grid, they will simply copy out each bit of text into the appropriate square. If,
however, you put them in pairs, where one student has one partially filled grid and his
partner the other, and they have to ask & answer in order to get information, the
amount of Lg used will be much more.

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2.4.2. Learners’ interests & motivation.

Learners may be motivated to participate in a learning exercise by
extrinsic factors. What kind of features, w/in the activity itself, arouse learners’
interests? Here we have some suggestions:
a) Topic: The topic must be one that holds the learners’ attention.
There is no single recipe for the selection of subjects that will arouse
learner’s interest, but a good piece of advice could be: variety. Frequent
changes of topic in themselves help to maintain attention & interest in
the classroom. It also makes it more likely that sooner or later every
student may get to something that interests him/her.
b) Visual focus:
An exercise that uses both auditive & visual signs is likely to be more
interesting than one that is only speech-based. A written text may
provide sufficient visual focus in itself, but accompanying it
w/graphic material often improves comprehension & performance.
c) Open-endedness:
An open-ended task allows for lots of diff learner responses during
its performance, and is therefore conductive to the production of
varied & original ideas.
d) Information gaps:
The existence of communication gaps should not be taken to be the sole
criterion of genuine “communication”. The transmission of new ideas
from one participant to another occurs in most real life Lg-based
transactions, and when this factor is built into the classroom Lg
learning task, the effect usually improves learners’ interest.
Ex.: learners are often asked to practice the interrogative by taking an answer &
reconstructing the Qs. However, students interrogate each other to get information in a
setting such as follows may be much more interesting: Finding the “lie” in a piece of
paper each student has in his t-Shirt. This piece of paper has been previously written by
the student, and he has written down some of his personal characteristics and the lie.

A variation of information gap is opinion gap, where the

communication involves a transfer of ideas or opinions, rather than facts.

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e) Personalization:
By personalization we mean the use of interaction based on the
students’ personal experiences, opinions, ideas & feelings.
Ex.: In a non-personalized exercise, learners can be asked to practice present perfect
forms by discussing how long smthing in a picture has been done or has been doing.
This can be an useful exercise, but a much higher level of interest is likely to result if
we ask students to talk about things they themselves have done or have been doing.

f) Pleasurable tension:
The reason why most grammar games are interesting is that they
provide their participants with a feeling of pleasurable tension.
Such tension is enjoyable because it is rooted in the way to achieve
some simulating objective.
Ex.: If the class is shown a picture & invited to make up sentences about it using the
present progressive, the objective is not particularly challenging. However, if students
are grouped and they are asked to do 20 sentences to see who is first (an element of
competition) the degree of challenging is increasing a lot.

g) Play-acting:
Learners often enjoy “being” someone else. A temporary departure
from reality is a means of motivation and a way of widening
(=ensanchar) the range of Lg available to use.

2.4.3. Techniques of learner activation

The way learners are activated when performing an exercise may
affect the level of involvement & the learning value of the practice given;
we are talking about reading, writing, listening and speaking.
a) Reception with no overt response:
Initial presentation of grammar is often done through showing
learners the structures within a written or spoken context, w/out
demanding an immediate response by the student. Listening to or
reading amount of comprehensible input is a good way of
familiarizing with acceptable forms.

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b) Reception with minimal response:

The necessity to make responses helps learners to concentrate
on the exercise as a whole, & focuses their attention on the
particular points been taught. They are asked to react to some aspect of
the written and spoken texts already given by physical gestures, brief
answers or written symbols.
c) Teacher-student Exchanges.
The most common kind of verbal interaction in the classroom is the
teacher-student exchange: The teacher asks a Qs or elicits
responses. Essentially, the teacher is the focus of attention & is in
full control of learners responses.
This technique has its disadvantages. There is usually a high
proportion of teacher talk & little Lg production by the learners.
d) Student-teacher Exchanges:
The situation just described can be reversed when the student
initiates the exchange & the teacher responds. The advantage of
this technique is that, while the teacher can still monitor learners’
utterances and provide good models of acceptable grammar, the
learners themselves can decide on the content & initiate their
own new ideas.
e) Brainstorming:
Students are given a single stimulus which serves as the beginning
for a large number of responses. The stimulus may be an open-Qs, a
picture or a phrase. This technique provides a larger volume of
productive Lg practice on the part of the learners.
f) Chain:
As in a brainstorming, instructions and an initial cue are given by
the teacher, resulting in a larger number of responses. However,
in a chain, only the first response relates to the original cue, the
others are made in response to the one before. This technique also
provides a larger volume of productive Lg practice on the part of the
learners.

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g) Fluid pairs:
The basic idea for a transaction-based exchange btw 2 students is
provided by the teacher, often in a form of a dialogue. If the information
provided in the exchange is based on the individual tastes or opinions,
then the same Qs will produce diff answers with different people. An
activity like a survey, where the student moves all along the classroom
asking some Qs, is a good example of Fluid pairs.
This technique is really useful to repetition (w/ a
communicative purpose, of course) of a set of Qs.
h) Semi-controlled small group transaction:
The teacher provides a skeleton dialogue which the learners
perform in pairs or in small groups. The Lg produced is semi-
controlled: they are told to make use of certain patterns but the exact
content is left to them.
This is a very effective type of activation for students who are
well on the way to mastering the structure.
i) Free group discussion:
This is the least controlled form of interaction. The teacher give a
task, whose performance is likely to involve use of grammatical structure
being practiced and simply lets the students get on it.
This is perhaps the most advanced type of communicative
grammar practice: If students succeed in using the structure correctly,
it can be said that they have mastered it.

3. From Normative grammar to modern ones more

related with the use of Lg & communication.
3.1. Taxonomic (American Structuralism- Bloomfield-)
An essential factor in the development of American structural linguistics
was the influence of behaviouristic psychology. The central assumption of
behaviourism is that every aspect of human behaviour can be explained by
indicating a certain stimulus (S) which causes a certain response R. All
responses coming from a stimulus are susceptible of precise empirical

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investigation since they are ultimately reducible to observationally

accessible data.
Bloomfield, one of the first American structuralists, was the first linguist
to use behaviourism as the methodological basis for his explication of the
central function of language. As an illustration, he invented the following little
story:
Suppose that Jack and Sara are walking down a path. Sara is hungry. She sees an
apple in a tree. She makes a noise with her larynx, tongue and lips. Jack vaults (jumps
over) the fence, climbs the tree, takes the apple, brings it to Sara, and places it in her
hand. Sara eats the apple.

As it is, a speech act mediates between the stimulus to one organism

and the response in another. The speech act is a linguistic substitute response,
which in turn acts as a linguistic substitute stimulus on the hearer and results in
a response on his part. Schematically:

S verbal response. . .verbal stimulus R

In principle, it is the goal of linguistics to account for the relationship

between the content side (meanings) and the expression side (sounds) of
language. However since, according to Bloomfield, the systematic statement of
meaning (the content side) is a property of the extralinguistic world rather than
of language, semantics falls outside the scope of linguistics.
In the analysis of the expression side of language, the linguist has at his
disposal a corpus of recorded utterances. In approaching his corpus, the
linguist makes the following assumptions:
1. Utterances are tokens of an underlying system
2. Given a set of procedures, the underlying system, that is the
grammar of the language under analysis, can be discovered by
processing the data.
3. No construction may appear in the grammar which is not
directly supported by the physical data.
It is clear, then, that a grammar of a language receives a physicalistic
interpretation. That is, at no point of the analysis is any appeal made to the
mental processes which might be operative in the mind of the speaker when he

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is actually producing the utterances which constitute the data of linguistic

inquiry. It was for this reason that the structuralists regarded their discipline as
an objective, empirical science.
One of the most important concepts in a structural grammar is
that of ‘class of’. This being the case, structural linguistics is often referred to
by transformational-generative grammarians as taxonomic linguistics. A
structural grammar of a language is essentially an inventory of units
(or classes) established at the various levels of analysis (Phonology,
Morphology, Syntax) and properly classified with respect to a set of
procedurally defined classificational constructs.

3.1.1. Taxonomic Syntax. The constituent structure of sentences

The word is the basic unit of syntactic structure. There are a set of
procedures by means of which words can be classified into classes such as
‘nouns’, ‘verbs’, adjectives, ‘adverbs’, ‘pronouns’, ‘conjunctions’, etc. The
concept of constituent structure is based on the observation that units which
occur next to each other tend to belong together. Consider the following
sentence:
The nice girls who were camping in the wood have gone home
As a first step, we attempt to group the words together in pairs. Likely
candidates are
Nice + girls
Were + camping
The + wood
Have + gone

These are to be considered as functional units (consituents). One test of the

correctness of the analysis is substitution. We proceed like this until all words
have been paired with a constituent.

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There are eleven nodes in the tree. Each of these immediately dominates
two constituents, and these two constituents are immediate constituents of a
construction represented by the immediately dominating node. The tree shows
a hierarchical layering of structures. In other words, syntactic structure is
not solely a matter of linearity, but also a matter of depth.
So far the analysis has been purely procedural: no grammatical
categories have been invoked. But we need some kind of label to designate the
classes of constituents and constructions and, perhaps, the different functions.
A tree diagram with labelled nodes is called a phrase-marker (P-marker). The
following are possible functions: subject, predicate, nominal head,
postmodifier, premodifier, adverbial modifier, premodifier, … and these
are possible classes: noun phrase, predication, relative clause, prepositional
phrase, etc.
Many structural linguists reject such functional notions as
‘subject’, ‘object’, ‘indirect object’ or ‘modifier’ altogether. The reason
is that such concepts are too ‘semantic’. Other linguists, who do make use
of functional concepts, are always very careful to insist that they should be
defined in purely formal terms without any appeal to meaning.

3.1.2. The Chomskyan Revolution

The publication in 1957 of Syntactic Structures brought about an intellectual
and sociological revolution in the field of linguistics which even his opponents
have unanimously acknowledged. What makes Syntactic Structures
revolutionary is its conception of a grammar as a theory of language,
subject to the same constraints on construction and evaluation as any

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theory in the natural sciences. The central chapter of SS is devoted to

demonstrating the parallels between linguistic theory as he conceived it and
what uncontroversially would be taken to be scientific theories.
The second reason why SS represented a revolution is that it placed syntactic
relations at the centre of lange, following Saussure’s lange/parole
distinction. By focusing on syntax, Chomsky was able to offer an explanation of
the most distinctive aspect of human language: its creativity. This aspect had
an enormous influence on other philosophical disciplines such as psychology
and psycholinguistics due to the implications for the structure of human
behaviour latent in Chomsky’s theory of syntax.
There were, however numerous respects in which SS retained and developed
conceptions of its historical antecedents, such as the existence of an
autonomous system at the heart of language, Transformational rules and
Phrase-structure grammars, as we have seen. What made Chomsky’s work
revolutionary within the school of structuralism was with regard to the kind of
evaluation procedure, the kind of formal justification of a linguistic theory that
should be followed. To the criterion of theoretically possible induction, he
opposed the criterion of theoretically definable generality. This conception
demands that one ceases to think about a grammar as an operationally derived
synthesis of a corpus, and that one begins to regard it as a theory of a
language.

3.2. Transformational-Generative grammar

3.2.1. The nature and function of syntactic rules
The fundamental characteristic of a TG-grammar is that it is a formal system of
rules. This way of stating grammars took its inspiration in the study of the
deductive systems of logic and mathematics.

3.2.2. Context-free phrase structure rules

Let us begin by considering a simple artificial language. The language
has only three lexical items: zip, zap and zup. In this language, each
sentence consists of a minimum of two lexical items, and if it contains more
than two, it is always an even number. Clearly, an infinite number of sentences

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are generated by the grammar of this language because there is no longest

possible sentence. The question now is: can we formalize this infinitude in
terms of a finite set of rules?
The following two rules do the job:
- S Æ X (S) X
- X Æ { zip, zap, zup }

Consider now the following ‘sentence’: zip + zap + zup + zip + zup + zap. This
sentence is generated by the grammar following the rules just mentioned.
These rules are called phrase structure rules or PS-rules.

A grammar assigns a structural description to each sentence it

generates. The structural description consists of a P-marker: a constituent
structure diagram specifying all the grammatical relations in the sentence in
terms of:
a) dominance
b) precedence
c) is-a member of the category
The following is the P-marker corresponding to the derivation above:

Characteristics of PS-Rules:
a) PS-rules are a formalization of immediate constituent analysis.
b) The two sets of rules are unordered

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c) The rules are context-free. This means that the symbols occurring to
the right of the arrow are not restricted by any contexts

3.2.3. Context-sensitive rules

Context-free rules have the general form:
AÆB

We can also have rules of the form

A Æ B / X ___ Y

Meaning ‘rewrite A as B after X and before Y’. Rules of this kind are known as
context-sensitive.

3.2.4. The inadequacy of PS-grammars and the notion of

transformations
The question is whether it would be possible to construct a
grammar of a natural language in terms of PS-rules only. The first point
to be made is that context-sensitive grammars are more powerful than context-
free grammars, and therefore we would need to resort to them instead of
context-free rules.
Another serious inadequacy of PS-rules is that they can only assign one
P-marker to a sentence. Consider, for example:
- John was difficult to leave
- John was reluctant to leave

It is part o f the speaker’s knowledge that ‘John’ is an object in a) and a

subject in b). PS-rules cannot account for these relationships, since both a)
and b) would receive the same P-marker.
The only way of making them explicit is to have two P-markers
related by rules. Thus, a) would be obtained by the application of some rule
to c) whereby the object John ‘becomes’ the subject after the deletion of ‘It’ .
these rules which can relate pairs of sentences are called transformational rules
or T-rules. Thus, a grammar needs, at least T-rules which operate over and
above PS-rules.

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3.2.5. Deep and surface structure

A T-rule has the following form: A Î B, where A and B are P-markers. A T-rule,
then, converts a P-marker into a new, derived, P-marker.

PS-rules generate an infinite set of base P-markers. A base P-marker

constitutes the deep structure of a sentence. This is converted into a final
P-marker by the operation of one or more T-rules. The final P-marker
constitutes the surface structure.
Schematically, it could be seen as:

3.2.6. What T-rules do

There are four basic operations that T-rules may do: deletion, insertion,
movement and substitution.
a) Deletion. A T-rule may delete a constituent from the P-marker. An
example is the ‘imperative’ rule.
b) Insertion: T-rules may also insert elements into a deep structure.
Only elements which are relatively empty in meaning may be
inserted (dummy there, it, …).

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c) Movement: T-rules may move constituents.

d) Substitution: Finally, T-rules may substitute one element for
another.

3.3. Tagmemics.
Tagmemic theory is concerned primarily with grammatical structuralisyic
analysis. At other levels, it remains fairly closed to taxonomic linguistics.

3.3.1. Understanding How Language Work

What’s a linguistic theory, anyway, and why do we need one? Linguists
studying the way language works can observe what people say or write, but
they can’t tell what’s going on in someone’s mind. To oversimplify greatly,
that’s what a linguistic theory tries to figure out—the mental processing
behind language. The reason for doing this varies: origins of a particular
languages; find easier ways to learn or teach Lgs; improve computer speech
recognition.
In the 1930s, Pike began studying phonology—the rules that govern
how sounds are combined into words. Some sounds are regarded as the same
by native speakers of a given language, even though they are objectively, or
phonetically, different. Linguists use the term phoneme to describe a sound
that speakers intuitively regard as being unique and meaningful in a
language: thus two sounds may be phonetically different but phonemically the
same.

3.3.2. Etic and Emic

What Pike wondered was whether there might be something
analogous to the phoneme in grammar—that is, at the level of words. To
take a fairly trivial example, consider a pair of synonyms, like “aid” and “assist.”
Pike would say that even though these two terms are objectively different, the
fact that they can be used and understood in the same way in a given context
makes them equivalent at the level of grammar. He used the terms “etic” (as
in phonetic) and “emic” (as in phonemic) to describe objective and
subjective units of meaning, respectively.

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Thus, in this example, “aid” and “assist” are etically diff but emically the same.

Pike originally called the minimal grammatical unit of (emic) meaning a

grameme but later changed the term to tagmeme.
A tagmeme is basically a composite of form and meaning, a “unit-
in-context.” Where many other linguists only wanted to study the
objective form of language (that is, its “etic” aspect), Pike felt that the
interesting thing was how language actually functions for users in
real life—its “emic” aspect. So the tagmeme, as Pike’s fundamental unit of
language, is described in terms of four features (or “cells”):
a. slot: where the unit can appear (Subj, predicate, obj, complement)
b. Class: what type of unit it is (N, V, Pron, Adj, Adv)
c. Role: how the unit functions.
d. Cohesion: how the unit relates to other units

3.4. Systemic functional grammar (or Neo-Firthian)

The founder of Systemic functional theory was Halliday. It has its origins
in the main intellectual tradition of European linguistics that developed following
the work of Saussure. Like other such theories, both those from the mid-20th
century (e.g. Prague school, French functionalism). It is functional and
semantic rather than formal and syntactic in orientation, takes the text
rather than the sentence as its object, and defines its scope by
reference to usage rather than grammaticality. Its primary source was
the work of J.R. Firth and his colleagues in London.
A central notion is stratification, such that language is analysed in
terms of four strata: Context, Semantics, Lexico-Grammar and
Phonology-Graphology.
- Context concerns the Field (what is going on), Tenor (the social roles and
relationships between the participants), and the Mode (aspects of the
channel of communication, e.g., monologic/dialogic, spoken/written, +/-
visual-contact, etc.)

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- Systemic semantics includes what is usually called pragmatics.

Semantics is divided into three components:
• Ideational Semantics (the propositional content);
• Interpersonal Semantics (concerned with speech-function, exchange
structure, expression of attitude, etc.);
• Textual Semantics (how the text is structured as a message, e.g.,
theme-structure, given/new, rhetorical structure etc.
- The Lexico-Grammar concerns the syntactic organisation of words
into utterances. Even here, a functional approach is taken, involving
analysis of the utterance in terms of roles such as Actor, Agent/Medium,
Theme Mood, etc.

3.4.1. System networks.

The SFG uses system networks that represent choices present in
making an utterance. Lg is thus described as a network of systems rather
than a set of structures. The 'choices' in the network are called features.
We use language to interact with one another to construct and
maintain our interpersonal relations and the social order that lies behind them;
and in doing so we interpret and represent the world for one another and for
ourselves. Language is a natural part of the process of living; it is also used
to 'store' the experience built up in the course of that process, both
personal and collective. It is (among other things) a tool for representing
knowledge or, to look at this in terms of language itself, for constructing
meaning.
Grammar is 'part of' this resource. But the relation of grammar to other
'parts' of the linguistic system is a symbolic one. Grammar is a resource for
creating meaning in the form of wordings. Let us illustrate this point by
reference to one broad area of semantics and grammar.
In interacting with one another, we enter into a range of interpersonal
relationships, choosing among semantic strategies such as persuading,
requesting, ordering, suggesting, asserting, insisting, doubting, and so on. The
grammar provides us with the basic resource for expressing these

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speech functions, in the form of a highly generalized set of clause

systems referred to as MOOD.
A system, in this technical sense, is a point of choice. In the
grammars of English the most general choice in mood is that between
'indicative' and 'imperative' clauses. These two are the options or
features in the system. Any grammatical choice can be represented as a
system with two or more alternative features , as shown graphically in Figure
1.

This graphic representation shows:

(i) the system name (MOOD TYPE);
(ii) the terms from which one has to
be chosen ('indicative'/ 'imperative');
(iii) the condition under which the
choice is available, the entry

condition ('clause').
Fig. 1: A system

An output feature of one system may be the entry condition for

another system. In this way, systems are linked together into a system
network. A fragment of a system network for the English mood system is
shown in Figure 2. This figure contains three separate systems: MOOD TYPE,
INDICATIVE TYPE and INTERROGATIVE TYPE. The output feature “indicative''
of the MOOD TYPE system is also the entry condition of the INDICATIVE TYPE
system, so that there is a dependency between these two systems: the
INDICATIVE TYPE system is only entered if “indicative'' is chosen as
the output feature of the MOOD TYPE system.

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mática: Reflexión sobre la lengua y su aprendizaje. De
D la gramática no
ormativa a la gram
29
mática en función del uso.

g. 2: A frag
Fig gment of a system ne
etwork dia
agram
More
e than one system
m may sha
are the same
s entrry condition. In
this case, the systems are entered in para
allel from
m the entrry condition. In
e system network diagram
the d a left curly bracket { is drawn
n from the
e entry
co
ondition, spanning all
a the sim
multaneoussly entered
d systems. An exam
mple is
shown in Figure 3.
3
A system may have
e more
than one entry condition.
c If two
or mo
ore entry condition
ns are
ntly necesssary for entry to
conjoin
the sysstem, theyy are linke
ed to it
by a right curly bracket }. If any
one of
o two o
or more entry
ons is dissjointly su
conditio ufficient
for enttry to the system, th
hey are
linked to it by a right square
Figure
e 1.5: Simu
ultaneous systems brackett ].

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30

Brief Summary
- Concept of grammar. Six different types of grammar:

- DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR describes the grammatical constructions that are used in a Lg w/out making evaluative judgments.
- PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR creates rules governing the correct use of a Lg. Differentiates btw grammatical & ungrammatical.
- A PEDAGOGICAL GRAMMAR is designed for teaching a foreign Lg, or for developing an awareness of the MT (MURPHY’s)
- A REFERENCE GRAMMAR is a description as comprehensible as possible, so that it can act as a reference book for those
interested in establishing grammatical facts (QUIRK’s et al)
- A THEORETICAL GRAMMAR goes beyond the study of individual Lgs, and develops theoretical insights into the nature of
all Lgs.
- The TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR is an attempt to summarise the attitudes & methods found in the history of grammatical study.

- The PLACE OF GRAMMAR IN LG TEACHING: _However, teaching traditional grammar rules

as the one and only way to convey the English
Grammatically standard language language may create oppressive ideals.
- IS GRAMMAR OPPRESSIVE? was created so that people would
learn the same Lg. _Standardized, unchanging grammar rules assume that there
is only one accurate form of a Lg (usually the Lg of the higher
classes), & other forms are seen as inferior & worst.

_Standard grammar needs to be taught in order for the students to have a general idea of the rules
of a Lg. However, non-standard English is what students are going to meet when using a Lg.
- SHOULD BE TEACH _ Prior to the Seventies, no one challenged the necessity of formal grammar teaching.
GRAMMAR IN SCHOOL? However, many different views have developed during the latter half of the 20th C.
_In the 1960s, some people began to wonder why grammar was so important when teaching a MT:
1. Because it has always been done so (actually, this is not really an answer).
2. Because with grammar one becomes a better user (Is a mechanic a better driver?). Not really three
3. To help you when learning a FL ( If it will help me, I will do it in my foreign Lg lessons) convincing answers.

Without grammar, you have NO MEANING. Example: A 2 y.o. boy looks - Push me !
at you and says “push”. - Someone has pushed me!
- I have just learnt a new word: “push”

That is why I say that grammar expresses meaning, because

thanks to semantics and pragmatics (together with other fields It needs a CONTEXT. The word in isolation does
of grammar: syntax, morphology …) words have meaning. not have a clear meaning, even though in the
dictionary appears always in isolation.

- TOWARDS A MORE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH: The change is that now, teachers do not only teach grammatical
structures, but they try to explain why a specific grammatical rule is applied in a det context. For instance, why is
the passive used instead of active mode? Because the speaker is not really interested in saying who the agent of the
sentence is. Therefore, grammar is taught in a much more practical way.
USAGE OF PARTICULAR GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURES SHOULD BE PRESENTED IN THE CONTEXT OF AUTHENTIC TASKS.

- FROM A PRESCRIPTIVE TO A FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR:

- Prescriptive grammars: Characteristics:
a. Grammar is taught deductively.
Grammar-Translation Method: b. Concentration on the written code through the study
Teaching a non-classical SL of the “great authors”. Little attention to speech.
through Latin based grammar c. Use of translation in vocabulary lists.
d. Class often conducted in the St’s MT.

Direct Method: 2nd Lg learning Characteristics:

must be an imitation of first a. Class conducted in the SL.
language learning: Total b. Focus on everyday spoken UK. Emphasis on phonetics.
immersion technique. c. Establishment of direct associations btw word & obj.
d. Grammar is taught inductively.

Audio-Lingual Method: Based on behaviourist theories & structuralism linguistic hypothesis. From the Army
STRUCTURALISM
BEHAVIOURISM

a. Lg is behaviour a. Lg is essentially an oral means of communication (Oral precede writin)

b. behaviour can be conditioned by process b. Lg is a system of structures (emphasis on syntax)
of stimulus, response & reinforcement. c. Lg is defined by the majority of speakers (preference for contemporary voc)
(+response → quick reinforcement) d. Lg have their own structures (Stress on the diff btw the MT & the TL)
c. Lg is essentially habit formation. (No errors e. Grammar is taught inductively.
→ creationof bad habits) a. Use of Lg Labs Ivan Matellanes’ notes
 Topic 12: Brief Sum
mmary
31

- Functional
F g
grammars:
Commu
unity Lg Learrning & Suggestopidia: ba
ased mostly in low anxiety & warm person
nal conditions for effective le
earning.

Characteristics Community Lg Learning:: Charracteristics S Suggestopediia:

a. Fre
ee conversatioon a. suggesting
s facctors may acccelerate learnin
ng.
b. com
mmunication through
t teacher translationss. b. relaxation
r tech hniques can im
mprove learnin ng.
c. moove to a teache
er free converrsation. c. Teacher
T as a source
s of conffidence & calm
m.
d. NO
O correction off errors. d. NO
N correction n of errors.
e. Procedure
P remminiscent of th
he DM, but w/o out drills

Commu unicative Appproach: Imporrtance Charactteristics:

of comm
munication ove
er accuracy a. Communication involve es also how to use the Lg in context (spee
ech acts).
b. Study of forms
f is secon
ndary: Notion, F
Function, Situation.
c. Focus on the learner & learning.
d. Errors are
e seen as norm
mal part of lea
arning.
e. Fluency is
s more importaant than accurracy.
f. Usage of authentic
a mate
erials
g. Focus on communicativve strategies.

Natural Approach:
A reje
ects the idea that Lgs must be taught in class
c to be learnt.

C
Characteristiccs:
a. recception preced de production (silent period))
b. Naatural order Accq.
c. Coomprehensible e input. Based on Krashen’s
s theory of grrammar.
d. Afffective filter.
e. Disstingish learnin ng from Acq.
f. Monitor theory.

Bibliogra
aphy
1. The notion of o grammar:
CENN apuntes; DAVID
A CRYSTAL Sp
peech at the APAC
A convencction (2004)
http://www.slav.uni-sofia.bg/p pages/ruspage es/niki/grammmaires/GRAM1//crystal.html
http://www.lingu uistlist.org/~ask-ling/archive
e-most-recentt/msg03433.httml
2. Learning gra ammar:
CEDDE apuntes; DAVID CRYSTAL Speech
S at the
e APAC conven nction (2004)
http://wrt-interte
ext.syr.edu/VIII/ayoob.html
http://www.geoccities.com/CollegePark/Classsroom/1930/JJournal/May99 9/Chen-Formal.html
3. History of grrammar:
http://fing.cica.e
es/~gaby/Doce encia/Morfo30 01/Morfo301.h htm
http://itotd.com//index.alt?ArticleID=71
http://minerva.ling.mq.edu.au u/resource/VirttuallLibrary/Pu
ublications/sf_
_theory.html
http
p://minerva.ling
g.mq.edu.au/ressource/VirtuallLiibrary/Publicatio
ons/sfg_firststep
p/SFG%20intro%
%20New.html
http://www.wagsoft.com/syste emics/Definitio
on/definition.h
html
http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/~gw
wilcock/Tartu//GW-MScThessis/node14.htm
ml

Ivan Matella
anes’ notes