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GRAMMAR / STRUCTURE 4
group TASK
Compiled by :
(Group 1)
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2015
PREFACE
First at all, give thanks for Gods love and grace for us. Thanks to God for
helping us and give us chance to finish this assignment timely. And we would like
to say thank you to Mr. Yuspar Uzer. M.Pd. as the lecturer that always teaches
us and give much knowledge about how to practice on speak English well.
This assignment is the one of English task in group that composed of
Grammar/Structure 4 at the Department of Language and Arts of Teachers
Training and Education Faculty in the University of PGRI Palembang.
We realized this assignment is not perfect. But we hope it can be useful
for us. Critics and advice is needed here to make this assignment be better.
Hopefully we as student in University of PGRI Palembang can work more
professional by using English as the second language whatever we done. Thank
you.
(GROUP 1)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover..........................................................................................................................................1
Preface......................................................................................................................................
2
Table of contents...................................................................................................................3
I. Chapter I................................................................................................................4
What is Grammar.....4
A. System of Grammar.....4
B. Types of Grammar...6
C. Kinds of meanings by Grammar....8
V. References...........................................................................................................16
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CHAPTER 1
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 detect ambiguity, and know about the expression
available in English. Grammar is the study of how words and their component parts combine
to form sentences.
Grammar is important because it is the language that makes it possible for us to talk
about language. Grammar names the types of words and word groups that make up sentences
not only in English but in any language. As human beings, we can put sentences together
even as children--we can all do grammar. But to be able to talk about how sentences are built,
about the types of words and word groups that make up sentencesthat is knowing about
grammar. And knowing about grammar offers a window into the human mind and into our
amazingly complex mental capacity. Grammar is the branch of linguistics that deals with
syntax and morphology, sometimes also phonology and semantics.
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Syntax, Arrangement of words into larger units
Syntax is linguistic structure above the word level, most commonly dealing with
how sentences are formed. It refers both to particular sets of rules, and also to the academic
field that studies those rules . Syntax is a set of rules in a language. It dictates how words
from different parts of speech are put together in order to convey a complete thought.
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But languages did not start like that. Languages started by people making sounds which
evolved into words, phrases and sentences. No commonly-spoken language is fixed. All
languages change over time. What we call "grammar" is simply a reflection of a language at a
particular time.
B. 10 Types of Grammar
So you think you know grammar? All well and good, but which type of grammar do you
know? Consider these ten varieties of grammar :
1. Comparative Grammar
The analysis and comparison of the grammatical structures of related languages.
Contemporary work in comparative grammar is concerned with "a faculty of language
that provides an explanatory basis for how a human being can acquire a first
language. In this way, the theory of grammar is a theory of human language and hence
establishes the relationship among all languages." (R. Freidin, Principles and
Parameters in Comparative Grammar. MIT Press, 1991)
2. Generative Grammar
The rules determining the structure and interpretation of sentences that speakers
accept as belonging to the language. "Simply put, a generative grammar is a theory of
competence: a model of the psychological system of unconscious knowledge that
underlies a speaker's ability to produce and interpret utterances in a language." (F.
Parker and K. Riley, Linguistics for Non-Linguists. Allyn and Bacon, 1994)
3. Mental Grammar
The generative grammar stored in the brain that allows a speaker to produce language
that other speakers can understand. "All humans are born with the capacity for
constructing a Mental Grammar, given linguistic experience; this capacity for
language is called the Language Faculty (Chomsky, 1965). A grammar formulated by
a linguist is an idealized description of this Mental Grammar." (P. W. Culicover and A.
Nowak, Dynamical Grammar: Foundations of Syntax II. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003)
4. Pedagogical Grammar
Grammatical analysis and instruction designed for second-language students.
"Pedagogical grammar is a slippery concept. The term is commonly used to denote
(1) pedagogical process--the explicit treatment of elements of the target language
systems as (part of) language teaching methodology; (2) pedagogical content--
reference sources of one kind or another that present information about the target
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language system; and (3) combinations of process and content." (D. Little, "Words
and Their Properties: Arguments for a Lexical Approach to Pedagogical Grammar."
Perspectives on Pedagogical Grammar, ed. by T. Odlin. Cambridge Univ. Press,
1994)
5. Performance Grammar
A description of the syntax of English as it is actually used by speakers in dialogues.
"[P]erformance grammar . . . centers attention on language production; it is my belief
that the problem of production must be dealt with before problems of reception and
comprehension can properly be investigated." (John Carroll, "Promoting Language
Skills." Perspectives on School Learning: Selected Writings of John B. Carroll, ed. by
L. W. Anderson. Erlbaum, 1985)
6. Reference Grammar
A description of the grammar of a language, with explanations of the principles
governing the construction of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Examples of
contemporary reference grammars in English include A Comprehensive Grammar of
the English Language, by Randolph Quirk et al. (1985), the Longman Grammar of
Spoken and Written English (1999), and The Cambridge Grammar of the English
Language (2002).
7. Theoretical Grammar
The study of the essential components of any human language. "Theoretical grammar
or syntax is concerned with making completely explicit the formalisms of grammar,
and in providing scientific arguments or explanations in favour of one account of
grammar rather than another, in terms of a general theory of human language." (A.
Renouf and A. Kehoe, The Changing Face of Corpus Linguistics. Rodopi, 2003)
8. Traditional Grammar
The collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structure of the language.
"We say that traditional grammar is prescriptive because it focuses on the distinction
between what some people do with language and what they ought to do with it,
according to traditional grammar, therefore, is perpetuating a historical model of what
supposedly constitutes proper language." (J. D. Williams, The Teacher's Grammar
Book. Routledge, 2005)
9. Transformational Grammar
"In transformational grammar, the term 'rule' is used not for a precept set down by an
external authority but for a principle that is unconsciously yet regularly followed in
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the production and interpretation of sentences. A rule is a direction for forming a
sentence or a part of a sentence, which has been internalized by the native speaker."
(D. Bornstein, An Introduction to Transformational Grammar. Univ. Press of
America, 1984)
10. Universal Grammar
The system of categories, operations, and principles shared by all human languages
and considered to be innate. "Taken together, the linguistic principles of Universal
Grammar constitute a theory of the organization of the initial state of the mind/brain
of the language learner--that is, a theory of the human faculty for language." (S. Crain
and R. Thornton, Investigations in Universal Grammar. MIT Press, 2000)
2. Prescriptive grammar: a set of rules and examples dealing with the syntax and word
structures of a language, usually intended as an aid to the learning of that language.
Prescriptive grammar refers to the structure of a language as certain people think it
should be used. Grammar adds meanings that are not easily inferable from the
immediate context.
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CHAPTER ii
Why teaching Grammar?
There is no doubt about it: The use of grammar in speaking and in writing affects the
images we have of ourselves and of others. Good grammar helps people communicate more
effectively and can translate into doing better in school, getting the jobs we seek, and
clarifying our points of view. Good grammar teaches thinking skills and encourages logical
thinking. It increases our vocabularies. And many feel strongly that learning grammar has a
positive influence on the quality of our writing.
The use of bad grammar can be annoying. Grammatical errors on everything from
letters to Web sites, from e-mails to interviews often make a poor impression and can cause
the speaker or writer to lose a job opportunity, fail a test, be put in remedial classes, or be
judged either as poorly educated or careless.
So, I think we should teach grammar, not because it will help people write better, but
simply because its interesting and worth knowing about. But we need to recognize that it
doesnt belong in the same class as writing or literature; though it certainly has connections to
both, linguistics is a separate field and should be treated as such. And we need to teach
grammar not as something to hate or even as something to learn as a means to an end, but as
a fascinating and complex system to be discovered and explored for its own sake. In short, we
need to teach grammar as something to love.
Though certainly different in their approaches to language, both kinds of grammar--
descriptive and prescriptive--are useful to students.
A. The Value of Teaching and Studying Grammar
The study of grammar all by itself won't necessarily make you a better writer. But by
gaining a clearer understanding of how our language works, you should also gain greater
control over the way you shape words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs. In short,
studying grammar may help you become a more effective writer.
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. As the history of the
glamorous word grammar demonstrates, the English language is a living system of
communication, a continually evolving affair. Within a generation or two, words and phrases
come into fashion and fall out again. Over centuries, word endings and entire sentence
structures can change or disappear. Thus, the goal of this site is twofold: first, to deepen your
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understanding of the ways that the English language operates, and second, to serve as a
practical guide as you work to become a more confident and effective writer.
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CHAPTER iii
Why Should We Teach Grammar?
A list of six reasons to teach grammar--reasons are:
1. Accepting the Challenge
"Because It's There." People are constantly curious about the world I which they
live, and wish to understand it and (as with mountains) master it. Grammar is no
different from any other domain of knowledge in this respect.
2. Being Human
But more than mountains, language is involved with almost everything we do as
human beings. We cannot live without language. To understand the linguistic dimension
of our existence would be no mean achievement. And grammar is the fundamental
organizing principle of language.
3. Exploring Our Creative Ability
Our grammatical ability is extraordinary. It is probably the most creative ability
we have. There is no limit to what we can say or write, yet all of this potential is
controlled by a finite number of rules. How is this done?
4. Solving Problems
Nonetheless, our language can let us down. We encounter ambiguity, and
unintelligible speech or writing. To deal with these problems, we need to put grammar
under the microscope, and work out what went wrong. This is especially critical when
children are learning to emulate the standards used by educated adult members of their
community.
5. Learning Other Languages
Learning about English grammar provides a basis for learning other languages.
Much of the apparatus we need to study English turns out to be of general usefulness.
Other languages have clauses, tenses, and adjectives too. And the differences they
display will be all the clearer if we have first grasped what is unique to our mother
tongue.
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After studying grammar, we should be more alert to the strength, flexibility, and
variety of our language, and thus be in a better position to use it and to evaluate others'
use of it. Whether our own usage in fact improves, as a result, is less predictable. Our
awareness must improve, but turning that awareness into better practice--by speaking and
writing more effectively--requires an additional set of skills. Even after a course on car
mechanics, we can still drive carelessly.
There are many arguments for putting grammar in the foreground in second
language teaching. Here are seven of them:
1) The sentence-machine argument
Part of the process of language learning must be what is sometimes called item-
learning that is the memorization of individual items such as words and phrases.
However, there is a limit to the number of items a person can both retain and retrieve. Even
travelers' phrase books have limited usefulness good for a three-week holiday, but there
comes a point where we need to learn some patterns or rules to enable us to generate new
sentences. That is to say, grammar. Grammar, after all, is a description of the regularities in a
language, and knowledge of these regularities provides the learner with the means to generate
a potentially enormous number of original sentences. The number of possible new sentences
is constrained only by the vocabulary at the learner's command and his or her creativity.
Grammar is a kind of 'sentence-making machine'. It follows that the teaching of grammar
offers the learner the means for potentially limitless linguistic creativity.
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Five years ago I would want to go to India but in that time anybody of my friends didn't want
to go.
The teaching of grammar, it is argued, serves as a corrective against the kind of ambiguity
represented in these examples.
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(A discrete item is any unit of the grammar system that is sufficiently narrowly defined to
form the focus of a lesson or an exercise: e.g. the present continuous, the definite article,
possessive pronouns).
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CHAPTER IV
A. Conclusion
Grammar is important because it is the language that makes it possible for us
to talk about language.
Linguists attempt to codify or describe that system:
Phonology, Sounds of language
Morphology, Structures and form of words
Syntax, Arrangement of words into larger units
Semantics, Meanings of language
Pragmatics, Functions of language & its use in context
The kinds of meanings realized by grammar are principally:
Representational - that is, grammar enables us to use language to
describe the world in terms of how, when and where things happen.
Interpersonal - that is, grammar facilitates the way we interact with
other people when, for example, we need to get things done using
language.
Grammar is used to fine-tune the meanings we wish to express.
B. Advice
I think we should teach grammar, not because it will help people write better,
but simply because its interesting and worth knowing about And we need to teach
grammar not as something to hate or even as something to learn as a means to an end,
but as a fascinating and complex system to be discovered and explored for its own sake.
In short, we need to teach grammar as something to love.
References
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/what.htm
http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/grammarintro.htm
http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/tengrammartypes.htm
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonology
http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/f/descpresgrammar.htm
http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/Why-Should-We-Study-
English-Grammar.htm
http://grammar.about.com/od/grammarfaq/f/grammarvalue.htm
http://grammar.about.com/od/basicsentencegrammar/a/grammarintro.htm
http://folk.uio.no/hhasselg/grammar/Grammar1_1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatics
http://www2.vobs.at/ludescher/pdf%20files/grammar.pdf
http://www.loyolapress.com/why-teach-grammar.htm
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