that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. IMPORTANCE
essential part of writing whether you are
professional writer or just want to write a note to your friends
good grammar can help you to get your point
across effectively and focuses the attention on what you have to say helps us understand what makes sentences and paragraphs clear, interesting and precise.
If you are writing with grammatical mistakes
and typos, your readers are going to have a hard time to understand the content of the text.
When youve taken the time to learn grammar,
it becomes second nature. That means you can focus more of your attention on other aspects of your work, like structure, and context. 1. DESCRIPTIVE VS PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR
Descriptive Grammar
refers to the structure of a language as it is actually used by
speakers and writers.
Specialists in descriptive grammar (called linguistics) study
the rules or patterns that underlie our use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Prescriptive Grammar
refers to the structure of a language as certain people think
it should be used.
prescriptive grammarians (such as most editors and teachers)
lay out rules about what they believe to be the correct or incorrect use of language. there are specific rules in prescriptive grammar.
example :
Always use different from not different to or
different than.
Never use the passive when you can use the active.
Use shall for the first person and will for second and third persons. Example :
Accepted in descriptive grammar but wrong in prescriptive
grammar
Accepted in descriptive grammar and prescriptive grammar
2. COVERT AND OVERT APPROACHES
Covert
implicit - where the grammatical facts are hidden
Attention drawn to activity not to the grammar
Main aim: to get students to use the language as much as
possible Overt
explicit - where information is openly presented
Grammatical rules and explanations are provided
2. GRAMMAR IN ISOLATION VS GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT
Grammar in isolation
- Students more exposed to grammatical forms (syntax)
compare to meaning (semantics and pragmatics)
- For example: Giving worksheets where students are asked
to differentiate between nouns and verbs
-There is no actual connection to student writing.
Grammar in context
-Present language in a context form (recipe, schedule, text
etc.) Words that explain the meaning.
-the focus is not merely on grammatical forms, but also on the
meanings that are reflected by grammatical forms for the purpose of communication.