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Importance of grammar in studying a language
Importance of grammar in studying a language
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Descriptive Grammar Vs. Prescriptive Grammar When grammar is put to use in a society, people will often have different beliefs at what is the "right" or "proper" usage. This had led to the formation of two widely accepted forms of grammar, Prescriptivism and Descriptivism. These forms will often separate those who believe their form of grammar is the only correct way from those who use many forms they find to be acceptable. Descriptive grammar is formed by analyzing how speakers use a language, and deducing the rules they follow. Linguists create descriptive grammars in order to understand language more deeply. They understand that a single language can have multiple dialects, and that each dialect will have its own grammatical rules--internally …show more content…
An example of descriptive grammar can be explained using the following sentence. "We have unfinished business to take care of, He and I. Descriptivist 's will accept this form of the sentence, as well as the form "He and I have unfinished business to take care of" Prescriptive grammar is a set of rules for using language that are taught, or enforced, so that people will use the language in a particular way. Prescriptivists will often include schoolteachers, copyeditors, and others charged with correcting people 's use of the language. Prescriptivists start with the assumption that there is one "correct" way to use the language, and many incorrect ways. The "correct" version is actually the language 's prestige dialect, especially its written version--for example, Standard American English. To oversimplify a bit, the "prestige dialect" of a language is generally the one used by educated people in the big cities. There are different examples of the rules used by Prescriptivists. The most common rules used are to never use a double negative, never end a sentence in a preposition, and never split infinitives. While descriptive and prescriptive grammar may have their differences they share similarities in the fact that they influence how people use their choice of grammar as well as
In “The Treasure Of Lemon Brown” the author uses descriptive adjective to develop the mood and the characters of the story. First, the story talks about “The small pale green kitchen”. The descriptive language helps you visualize the the kitchen, you can infer the kitchen is old and not very appealing. Second, the story states “Then returned the graffiti-scarred building to the grim building.” This helps describe the mood, bleak
2. Follett explains that the type of grammar we need is traditional. A traditional approach to grammar involves an emphasis on syntax. Syntax deals with how words relate to each other in a sentence. This knowledge of how words work together provides the type of logical analysis necessary to speak and write correctly. An emphasis on syntax demonstrates the conservative view that language is an art of expressing meaning.
Syntactic style plays a strong role in writing. Without it, an author can not leave anything for the reader to think about. If the writer strictly wrote using paratactic style and let the words say exactly what the story involved, interpretation would be useless. Both syntactic and paratactic style benefit the work best is they are used in conjunction with one another. In the absence of one style, the other has a hard time standing on its own, and if a piece tries to work that way, it makes for a very dull or confusing piece. Using various styles in one work makes it more dynamic and intriguing.
The vivid sensory detail of a text is the perfect way to wrap the reader’s senses around the story. A descriptive narrative allows the audience to connect with the story through its visuals and narration. Therefore,
In Chapter 8, the author Marquis R. Nave illustrates how important sentence structure is by pointing out a few important things when forming sentences adequate to use in your writing. He starts by saying that lucid and efficacious word usage to form sentences in writing becomes vital when you need to write papers in a higher education institution. Once the scholar grabs control of his or her ability to communicate their message to the reader lucidly and efficaciously they gain the power to an improved and ordered thought process. Now a person can start to search for new ways of using dialectal to communicate their message in a way not usual to the norm. A scholar only has the power to govern their writing when they correctly put together
Syntax is a common literary device which is included in every form of writing, in the
What is descriptive statistics? Usually under descriptive statistics summative methods of description the data in succinct ways is considered. Data analysis usually begin with descriptive statistics, because it helps to understand what data we have – what is the sample, what is the accuracy of the data and how it is possible manage it.
Two of the most useful types of statistics are known as descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics is the term that is used to describe the analysis done to summarize the data from a population in a meaningful way; typically, through graphs and charts. On the other hand, inferential statistics is a way of making generalizations about a population of interest from a small sample size (Descriptive and Inferential Statistics, n.d.).
These include the writing having correct grammar and syntax, usually in third person, with no slang or colloquialism. This stems from academic writing hundreds of years ago and has grown in its expectations. Academic works are expected to be referenced perfectly, before being submitted to heavy peer review process before being published. This style of work and English is a very elite branch. The language used is complex and alienates those who are not experts in the topic.
In the article, “Current Developments in Research on the Teaching of Grammar” by Hossein Nassaji and Sandra Fotos two main issues had been discussed. The first one is whether grammar teaching make any differences to language learning where the questions raised are whether grammar should be taught or not. The second issue is what kinds of grammar teaching have been suggested to facilitate second language learning. If grammar should be taught, how much and should it be implicit or explicit grammar teaching? Lastly, the article discussed on the current approaches to grammar teaching in which formal instruction can be integrated with communicative activities which are processing instruction, interactional feedback, textual enhancement, task-based
French grammarian, Dominique Bonhours, proved on his deathbed that a grammarians work is never done when he gazed at those around his deathbed and whispered, "I am about to- or I am going to- die; either expression is used. " Language is in a constant state of flux and there is always controversy to changes in and attitudes towards language. This is not something new, as it was the Romans that said the Vikings speech sounded like the 'cawing of crows' because of their harsh guttural sounds.
The aim of a theory of language is to describe a speaker's linguistic competence. (Class notes) In order for a grammar to be satisfactory it must satisfy two main conditions: descriptive adequacy and explanatory adequacy. A grammar that satisfies descriptive adequacy "describes the grammatical sentences of a language in such a way as to uncover deeper principles and rules, which capture in a more satisfactory way the intuitions of the native speaker. A grammar which is formulated in accordance with the principles and conventions of a general i.e., universal linguistic theory with explanatory power is said to meet with explanatory adequacy." (Class notes)
Susan Adams and Kyle Weins have both written articles on the importance of using good grammar in the workplace. Each article gives numerous compelling reasons why this is a good practice. Susan Adams’ article first reason for doing so is in regards to how other people would view someone who uses bad grammar. She brings out that someone’s image can be damaged when they have improper speech habits; consequently their chances of advancing at work could be limited. Second, she shows how using poor grammar could cause a manager to view an employee as unorganized or unable to perform more advanced tasks. Finally, she brings out that someone who has poor speaking habits could be perceived as not having a firm grasp on the subject they are speaking about (Adams). Kyle Weins article also brings out some important points on bad grammar in the workplace. First, he shows that in today’s world people’s intelligence is judged based on what they say or what they type. The second point relates to how a manager could perceive someone with poor grammar. A manager could see an employee who uses poor grammar as someone who struggles to concentrate on tasks and doesn’t show attention to detail. Finally, he shows that peo...
Systemic Functional Grammar looks at language in terms of form and meaning but pays very close attention to the linguistic level at which the analysis takes place. It then integrates subanalyses into a semiotic system. Readers and addressees need to be reassured that they are following the development of the text. Many texts are signposted by placing elements from the Rheme of one clause into the Theme of the next, or by repeating meanings from the Theme of one clause in the Theme of subsequent clauses.
Traditional grammarians divide the words of English into eight classes or parts of speech- noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, preposition, conjunction, adverb and interjection. The words of a particular class can have two or more forms in different grammatical circumstances because of the existence of a grammatical category. Grammatical categories are an essential part of traditional grammar especially of the classical languages. As English is modelled on the grammar of Latin, it follows the system of Latin. The most common grammatical categories in English are gender, number, person, tense, mood, voice and case.