Using english songs to help EFL high school students improve their grammar knowledge

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DANG THI HOAI THU USING ENGLISH SONGS TO HELP EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IMPROVE THEIR GRAMMAR KNOWLEDGE MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION July 9 th , 2017.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

DANG THI HOAI THU

USING ENGLISH SONGS TO HELP EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

IMPROVE THEIR GRAMMAR KNOWLEDGE

MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION

July 9 th , 2017

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

DANG THI HOAI THU

USING ENGLISH SONGS TO HELP EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

IMPROVE THEIR GRAMMAR KNOWLEDGE

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Language (TESOL)

MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: Tran Ngoc Yen, Dr

July 9 th , 2017

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby acknowledge that this study is my own work The data and findings discussed

in the thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere

Author

Dang Thi Hoai Thu

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research is to identify the problems that EFL students at high school have in learning grammar and see whether using English songs help them enhance their grammatical items in particular and grammatical knowledge in general There are fifty six 10th graders participated in the experiment They were divided into two groups: one control group and one experimental group All of them did an English general test and a pre- treatment test and a post- treatment test During the experiment, the experimental group was taught grammar through English songs with various activities while the control group followed the traditional way of teaching English grammar This experiment was conducted to see if using English songs helped the experimental group improved their grammatical knowledge The results revealed that the new method had positive influence on students’ grammar competence Based on the findings, implications for enhancing the effectiveness of English teaching and learning grammar have been put forward Hopefully, the results of the study can be beneficial for both EFL high school students and teachers

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would first like to thank my thesis advisor Tran Ngoc Yen The door to her

office was always open whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my research or writing She consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right the direction whenever he thought I needed it

I would also like to thank my colleagues who were involved in the validation

survey for this research project Without their passionate participation and input, the

validation survey could not have been successfully conducted

Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents and to my friends for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis This accomplishment would not have been possible without them

Thank you

Dang Thi Hoai Thu

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii

LIST OF TABLES vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of study 3

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Methodology 3

1.5 Scope of study 4

1.6 Thesis design 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Definition of grammar 5

2.2 Classification of grammar 8

2.3 Levels of English grammar 22

2.4 Assessing grammatical knowledge 23

2.5 The role of grammar in language learning 26

2.6 Grammar instruction 33

2.6.1 Methods in teaching English grammar 36

2.6.2 Approaches in teaching English grammar 40

2.6.3 Techniques in teaching English grammar as a foreign language 46

2.6.4 Principles in teaching grammar 47

2.7 Songs in grammar teaching 50

2.7.1 Benefits of songs 50

2.7.2 Songs in foreign language teaching 51

2.8 Activities that can be done with songs 54

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 64

3.1 Introduction 64

3.2 Research questions 65

3.3 Participants 66

3.4 Materials 67

3.4.1 The general English test 67

3.4.2 The pre-treatment English test 67

3.4.3 The post-treatment English test 67

3.5 Procedure 67

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 69

4.1 Results 69

4.1.1 Results of general English test 69

4.1.2 Results from pre-treatment and post-treatment grammar test 71

4.2 Discussions 75

4.2.1 The effects of song on enhancing EFL learners’ grammatical items 76

4.2.2 The effects of song on enhancing EFL learners’ general grammatical knowledge 77

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 78

5.1 Summary of the main findings 78

5.2 Implications 80

5.3 Limitations 83

REFERENCES 84

APPENDIX A: GENERAL ENGLISH TEST (A1) 90

APPENDIX B: PRE-TREATMENT TEST 97

APPENDIX C: LESSON PLAN 100

APPENDIX D: POST-TREATMENT TEST 105

APPENDIX E: SONGS’ LYRICS 108

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Advantages and disadvantages of the deductive approach to

teaching grammar 42

Table 2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of the inductive approach to teaching grammar 44

Table 2.3 Gap Fill worksheet for “Home on the Range” 56

Table 2.4 Matching Meanings worksheet for “On Top of Old Smokey” 59

Table 2.5: Changing the Text worksheet for “Clementine” 61

Table 2.6: Song Strip Connections for “Red River Valley” 62

Table 4.1 Scores on the general English test for all participants: Group A (the control group), Group B (the experimental group) 69

Pie chart 4.2 Summary of number of scores in 3 groups (I, K, H) of the control group (A) 70

Pie chart 4.3 Summary of number of scores in 3 groups (I, K, H) of the experimental group 70

Table 4.4 Scores on the pre-treatment test for all participants: Group A (the control group), Group B (the experimental group) 71

Pie chart 4.5 Summary of scores among all participants of the control group in the pre-test 72

Pie chart 4.6 Summary of scores among all participants of the experimental group in the pre-test 73

Table 4.6 Scores on the post-treatment test for all participants: Group A (the control group), Group B (the experimental group) 74

Bar chart 4.7 The number of students who got 60 scores and higher through the tests 75

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Globalization and reform movements – as recently witnessed around the world – invite waves of change impacting aspects of human life, including the language and culture of communication and exchange (Canagarajah, 2005) With English becoming the lingua franca of the global community in major professional fields such as science, technology, commerce, and education, there is an increasing demand for effective teaching and learning of English in many world contexts Effective English language skills are seen as vital for the workforce of countries which seek to participate actively

in the global economy and want to have access to the information that forms the basis of social, educational, and economic development (Burns & Richards, 2009) Even on the individual level, a good command of the English language has a major role in elevating

an individuals’ socio-economic status and thus is key to success and prosperity

In Vietnam, English teaching aims at mastering four basic skills of language, which include listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills Nowadays, based on our newest curriculum that is launched by the Ministry of Education and Training, the students are expected to master those four skills in order to be able to use English communicatively However, its aim will not be successfully achieved if the language teaching does not consider the language components such as grammatical structure, vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation Therefore, grammar needs to be mastered by the students since it is the basic rule of language

1.1 Rationale

Over the past few decades, grammar instruction has evolved as a major topic of concern in the field of second language During the long history of second language instruction, Savage, Bitterlin, and Prince (2010) stated that grammar was viewed as a body of knowledge to be studied and a set of rules to be memorized than as a skill to

be practiced and developed Today, grammar is still taught and tested in this way in many parts of the world In particular, English language teaching (ELT) in Vietnam has for quite a long time followed the traditional path-teaching vocabulary and grammar textbooks, cramming students with a considerable amount of exercise and then evaluating their accomplishments through consecutive exams It is no surprise that ELF learners view

English language learning as insipid and an unconquerable obstacle

Based on information obtained from various English teachers, it was found that many students still had difficulties in mastering grammar Simple past tense, for instance, is important as the basic rule for the students to make and use sentences to communicate in daily life Based on the information given by the English teacher, some students even could not use the subject-verb agreement and usage; it was known that the ability of the students in using Past simple tense was low It seemed that the most significant reason of this was the teacher grammar teaching method influenced the students’ motivation in learning From the observation, the researcher found that the English teachers tended to teach the grammar deductively The teacher taught grammar

by giving a note on the whiteboard, gave some examples, and then asked the students to take a note After that the students were only given limited time to do some exercises

As a result, it is inevitable for students’ learning motivation to be decreased since there were no interesting or attractive activities involved in their learning process

Practically, the students would become not interested in learning if the technique used was monotonous which made the learning process not effective However, there is a great way which can strengthen the students’ learning motivation – utilizing music In fact, songs have been an amusing companion for human beings for

as long as or even longer than we can speak As an integral part of our language experience, it can be of great value to foreign language teaching And the many-faceted merits songs possess may enrich and activate our foreign language class Georgi Lozanov incorporates music into his teaching method – Suggestopedia, for music is instrumental in creating a relaxing and comfortable environment, which can propel language learning (Larsen- Freeman, 1985) Besides music, another indispensable of songs is lyrics which serve as a direct genuine source of teaching materials in foreign language classes, so why should songs be overlooked by the teachers? There have been abundant researches abroad on songs as an authentic teaching resources in language teaching (Maley, 1997; Eken, 1996; Gaston, 1968; Geoff, 2003), but a paucity of such studies are reported in Vietnam Stimulated by the inner urge of providing readers with deeper insight into this method, the researcher

would like to carry on this study entitled “Using English songs to help EFL high school students improve grammar knowledge.” Hopefully, the results will serve as

a useful source of reference for those who are concerned teaching and learning writing

1.2 Aims of study

This paper endeavors to demonstrate the value of English songs in ELT in general and English grammar teaching in particular

1.3 Research questions

This study was designed to answer three research questions:

1 Will listening to English songs facilitate EFL high school students' retention

of the grammatical items they learn in class?

2 To what extent English songs help EFL high school students extend their grammar knowledge?

1.4 Methodology

This study was conducted in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam It has 3,496,000 inhabitants (GSOV, 2014) In this province, the predominant native language is Vietnamese However, English is currently the most used language in the world (Michel, 2014) in different fields such as science, technology and education This is the reason why there are many bilingual schools and schools that teach ESL in Thanh Hoa province Here, there are a total of 798 high schools: 89.6 % public schools and 10.4 % private schools (GSOV, 2012) This study was carried out at a public high school that teaches ESL: Hoang Hoa 4 high school, Thanh Hoa province The participants were 10th grade students In total, 56 students took part in this study – 28 students in each of the two 10th grade classrooms

This main methodology used in this method was experimental First, students’ English levels are evaluated via a standardized test Then, they will experience the learning process in which English songs are applied for teaching English grammar Finally, another test will be conducted to assess the influence of this method A computer program is designed for synthesizing and analyzing collected data During the process of researching, the author also consults with the professor for useful guidance, corrections, and comments

The method of assessment will be based on correct sentences of multiple choice test (on total 100 score scale) in basic tenses of English: present simple tense, present

continuous tense, past simple tense, past continuous tense, present perfect tense, future simple tense, etc The test also includes some external items from school curriculum such as idioms and phrasal verbs

1.5 Scope of study

Due to the time allotment, experience, and source limitations, the author offers

no ambition to cover the problem in a large number of populations She wishes to confine herself to studying the 10th grade students in Hoang Hoa 4 high school, Thanh Hoa province

1.6 Thesis design

The thesis includes four chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 is the introduction, which provides a brief introduction, rationale, the aims of the study, the scope of the study and the research questions

Chapter 2 provides a deep insight into the literature review, in which the previous studies about grammar and teaching grammar and some concepts as theoretical basis for the study will be discussed

Chapter 3 illustrates the experimental study, which describes the research methodology, participants, instruments for data analysis, pre-treatment test and post-treatment test, general test, grammar materials, research procedure, results, findings and discussions

Chapter 4 includes results, findings and discussions

Chapter 5 composes of finding summary, implications and limitations of the research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

So what is grammar? A question people rarely ever ask themselves when they speak their native language However, when it comes to learning a second language, it’s the first thing learners are introduced to When people contemplate this question, the first answer that comes to their minds is a set of rules that govern a language However, there

is more to grammar than that Grammar is a system composed of many interconnected

components that ensure accuracy and meaning It is the art of writing and speaking a language correctly It is “the mental system of rules and categories that allows humans to form and interpret the words and sentences of their language.” There is no escape from using grammar if people want to improve our English or learn a new language Just as the latter, grammar is a living entity that evolves and undergoes a great deal of change over time Grammar of the 19th century is by no means the grammar of today These changes are due to several factors such as time, culture, literature and so on

Grammar differs from one language to another and from one person to another Non-native English speakers may presume that the English language has less complicated grammar in comparison to French or Spanish and that grammar, as a concept, to a Spanish speaker, may not be the same to a German or a Japanese speaker Nevertheless, grammar, from a linguistic point of view, is the same in terms of complexity in all languages and they all share the same universal components Although the grammatical structure or the arrangement of words would differ, yet its role remains imperative and instrumental in all languages

Definitions of grammar vary greatly according to one’s knowledge and expertise in the realm in question A laymen’s definition of grammar would be much distinct from a grammarian’s or a linguist’s This distinction is primarily on account of the extent of knowledge one possesses over the field or the orientation one has chosen to pursue A laymen’s definition would only scratch the surface of grammar while a grammarian’s definition would delve into More elaborate aspects like word class and part of speech As for a linguist, he would tackle the linguistics components of language such as phonology, semantics and so on Grammar is a tremendously vast field which could be approached from a myriad of ways In this part of the research we shall see how each of the aforementioned persons perceive grammar and in what ways their views are different?

a Laymen’s definition

Laymen’s definitions of grammar are usually succinct and superficial They give grammar an over general definition which makes it lose its significance An example of these definitions is “the rules and structure we use to make sentences, phrases and words logically.” Another example is “The study of how words and their component parts

combine to form sentences.” These sorts of definitions don’t give grammar its actual worth and limit, in scope, the role grammar plays in governing the usage of language Nevertheless, these sort of simplified definitions come in handy when it comes to teaching native children or new learners of English about the basic concepts of grammar Namely,

it encourages children and especially the adult learners, who usually quit due to the complexity of the grammatical rules, to embrace it and learn its rudiments until they reach

a level where they could grasp more intricate notions Complicating grammar right from the start would only result in developing an aversion for the language and hence alienate the learners

b Grammarians’ definition

Grammarians’ definition of grammar is on a totally different level than the latter Their perception of grammar is much more profound and entails more elaborate entities which add 7 to the multiple usage grammar can take They delve into more intricate details and tackle advanced components which would seem bewildering for the non-specialist Some of these entities grammarians approach in view of grammar are like word class, clauses, part of speech etc and how they merge together to form accurate and meaningful sentences A grammarian’s definition would take such a form as “The science which treats the principles of language; the study of forms of speech, and their relations to one another.” Also “A normative or prescriptive set of rules setting forth the current standard of usage for pedagogical or reference purposes” Furthermore, grammarians have primarily two or rather three approaches in which they conceive the role of grammar The first approach is the descriptive approach The latter describes how a language is used As for the second approach, it is the prescriptive approach In this approach Grammar provides rules for correct usage The last approach is the generative approach It provides instructions for the production of an infinite number of sentences in a language

c Linguists’ definition

As regard the linguistic perspective Grammar is a branch of the vast field of linguistics “It’s the part of the study of language which deals with the forms and structures of words (morphology), with their customary arrangement in phrases and sentences (syntax), along with language sounds (phonology) and word

meaning(semantics).” In addition to this, grammar of language should be thought of as

“a device of some sort for producing the sentences of the language under analysis” (Chomsky 1957:13) It’s a system of rules implicit in a language, viewed as a mechanism for generating all sentences possible in that language

2.2 Classification of grammar

Patrick Hartwell, author of "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar", categorizes grammar into five groups, derived from the likes of W Nelson Francis and Matha Kolln, summarized as follows:

Grammar 1: a set of formal patterns in which the words of a language arranged in order to convey a larger meaning It is not necessary that we be able to discuss these patterns self-consciously in order to be able to use them In fact, all speakers of a language above the age of five of six know how to use its complex forms of organization with considerable skill

Grammar 2: the branch of linguistic science which is concerned with the description, analysis, and formulation of formal language patterns Just as gravity was in full operation before Newton’s apple fell, so grammar in the first sense was in full operation before anyone formulated the first rule that began the history of grammar as study

Grammar 3: linguistic etiquette The word in this sense is often coupled with derogatory adjective For example, it is said that the expression "he ain't here" is "bad grammar."

Grammar 4: school grammar Literally, this is grammar which is used for teaching at school

Grammar 5: grammatical terms used in the interest of teaching prose (1987: 353) And, since stylistic grammars abound, with widely variant terms and emphases, we might appropriately speak parenthetically of specific forms of Grammar 5 namely Grammar 5 (Lanham); Grammar 5 (Strunk and White); Grammar 5 (Williams, Style); even Grammar 5 (Christensen, as adapted by Daiker, Kerek, and Morenberg)

352-From the classification above, it is noteworthy that Francis' Grammar 3 is not quite related to grammar but usage One would like to assume that Joseph Williams' recent discussion of usage ("The Phenomenology of Error," CCC, 32 (1981), 152-168), along with his references, has placed those shibboleths in a proper perspective But it is inevitable that popular discussions of the grammar issue will be as flawed

by the intrusion of usage issues as past discussions have been At any rate the author will make only passing reference to Grammar 3-usage-naively assuming that this issue has been discussed elsewhere and that her readers are familiar with those discussions

It is also essential to make further discriminations about Francis' Grammar 2, given that the purpose of his 1954 article was to substitute for one form of Grammar 2, that "inaccurate and misleading" form "which is usually taught," another form, that of American structuralized grammar Here we can make use of

a still earlier discussion, one going back to the days when PMLA was willing to publish articles on rhetoric and linguistics, to a 1927 article by Charles Carpenter Fries, "The Rules of the Common School Grammars" (42 [1927], 221-237) Fries there distinguished between the scientific tradition of language study (to which we will now delimit Francis' Grammar 2, scientific grammar) and the separate tradition

of "the common school grammars," developed unscientifically, largely based on two inadequate principles-appeals to "logical principles," like "two negatives make a positive," and analogy to Latin grammar; thus, Charlton Laird's characterization,

"the grammar of Latin, ingeniously warped to suggest English" (Language in America, p 294)

There is, of course, a direct link between the "common school grammars" that Fries criticized in 1927 and the grammar-based texts of today, and thus it seems wise, as Karl W Dykema suggests ("Where Our Grammar Came From," CE,

22 (1961), 455-465), to separate Grammar 2, "scientific grammar," from Grammar

4, "school grammar," the latter meaning, quite literally, "the grammars used in the schools." Further, since Martha Kolln points to the adaptation of Christensen's sentence rhetoric in a recent sentence-combining text as an example of the proper emphasis on "grammar" ("Closing the Books on Alchemy," p 140), it is worth

separating out, as still another meaning of grammar, Grammar 5, "stylistic grammar," defined as "grammatical terms used in the interest of teaching prose style." And, since stylistic grammars abound, with widely variant terms and emphases,

we might appropriately speak parenthetically of specific forms of Grammar 5- Grammar 5 (Lanham); Grammar 5 (Strunk and White); Grammar 5 (Williams, Style); even Grammar 5 (Christensen, as adapted by Daiker, Kerek, and Morenberg)

Regarding these classification, the author will return to Francis' Grammar 1, admirably defined by Kolln as "the internalized system of rules that speakers of a language share" ("Closing the Books on Alchemy," p 140), or, to put it more simply, the grammar in our heads Three features of Grammar 1 need to be stressed: first, its special status as an "internalized system of rules," as tacit and unconscious knowledge; second, the abstract, even counterintuitive, nature of these rules, in so far

as we are able to approximate them indirectly as Grammar 2 statements; and third, the way in which the form of one's Grammar 1 seems profoundly affected by the acquisition of literacy This sort of review is designed to firm up her theory of language, so that we can ask what it predicts about the value of teaching formal grammar

A simple thought experiment will isolate the special status of Grammar 1 knowledge For example, the rule is that in English the order of adjectives is first, number, second, age, and third, nationality Native speakers can create analogous phrases using the rule- "the seventy-three aged Scandinavian lechers"; and the drive for meaning is so great that they will create contexts to make sense out of violations

of the rule, as in foregrounding for emphasis: "I want to talk to the French four young girls." (So Grammar 1 is eminently usable knowledge-the way we make our life through language but it is not accessible knowledge; in a profound sense, we do not know that we have it Thus neurolinguist Z N Pylyshyn speaks of Grammar 1 as

"autonomous," separate from common-sense reasoning, and as "cognitively impenetrable," not available for direct examination.10 In philosophy and linguistics, the distinction is made between formal, conscious, "knowing about" knowledge (like Grammar 2 knowledge) and tacit, unconscious, "knowing how" knowledge (like Grammar 1 knowledge) The importance of this distinction for the teaching of

composition-it provides a powerful theoretical justification for mistrusting the ability

of Grammar 2 (or Grammar 4) knowledge to affect Grammar 1 performance was pointed out in this journal by Martin Steinmann, Jr., in 1966 ("Rhetorical Research,"

CE, 27 [1966], 278-285)

Further, the more we learn about Grammar 1-and most linguists would agree that people know surprisingly little about it the more abstract and implicit it seems This abstractness can be illustrated with an experiment, devised by Lise Menn and reported by Morris Halle,11 about our rule for forming plurals in speech It is obvious that people do indeed have a "rule" for forming plurals, due to not memorizing the plural of each noun separately You will demonstrate productive control over that rule by forming the spoken plurals of the nonsense words below: those flitch plats Halle offers two ways of formalizing a Grammar 2 equivalent of this Grammar 1 ability One form of the rule is the following, stated in terms of speech sounds:

a If the noun ends in /s z s z c j/, add /iz/;

b Otherwise, if the noun ends in /p t k f 0/, add /s/;

c Otherwise, add /z/

This rule comes close to what we literate adults consider to be an adequate rule for plurals in writing, like the rules, for example, taken from a recent "common school grammar," Eric Gould's Reading into Writing: A Rhetoric, Reader, and Handbook (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983): Plurals can be tricky If you are unsure

of a plural, then check it in the dictionary The general rules are

a Add “s” to the singular: girls, tables

b Add “es” to nouns ending in ch, sh, x or s: churches, boxes, wishes

c Add “es” to nouns ending in y and preceded by a vowel once you have changed y to i: monies, companies

But note the persistent inadequacy of such Grammar 4 rules: here, as the author read it, the rule is inadequate to explain the plurals of ray and tray, even to

explain the collective noun monies, not a plural at all, formed from the mass noun money and offered as an example.) A second form of the rule would make use of much more abstract entities, sound features:

a If the noun ends with a sound that is [coronal, strident], add lIz!;

b Otherwise, if the noun ends with a sound that is [non-voiced], add Is!;

c Otherwise, add /z/

The notion of "sound features" is itself rather abstract, perhaps new to readers not trained in linguistics But such readers should be able to recognize that the spoken plurals of lip and duck, the sound [s], differ from the spoken plurals of sea and gnu, the sound [z], only in that the sounds of the latter are "voiced"- one's vocal cords vibrate-while the sounds of the former are "non-voiced."

To test the psychologically operative rule, the Grammar 1 rule, native speakers

of English were asked to form the plural of the last name of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, a sound [x], unique in American (though not in Scottish) English If speakers follow the first rule above, using word endings, they would reject a) and b), then apply c), producing the plural as /baxz/, with word-final /z/ (If writers were to follow the rule of the common school grammar, they would produce the written plural Baches, apparently, given the form of the rule, on analogy with churches.) If speakers follow the second rule, they would have to analyze the sound [x] as [non-labial, non-coronal, dorsal, non-voiced, and no strident], producing the plural as /baxs/, with word-final /s/ Native speakers of American English overwhelmingly produce the plural

as /baxs/ They use knowledge that Halle characterizes as "unlearned and untaught" (p 140)

Now such a conclusion is counterintuitive-certainly it departs maximally from Grammar 4 rules for forming plurals It seems that native speakers of English behave as if they have productive control, as Grammar 1 knowledge, of abstract sound features (+ coronal, ?+ strident, and so on) which are available as conscious, Grammar 2 knowledge only to trained linguists-and, indeed, formally available only within the last hundred years or so ("Behave as if," in that last sentence, is a

necessary hedge, to underscore the difficulty of "knowing about" Grammar 1.)

Moreover, as the example of plural rules suggests, the form of the Grammar

1 in the heads of literate adults seems profoundly affected by the acquisition of literacy Obviously, literate adults have access to different morphological codes: the abstract print -s underlying the predictable /s/ and /z/ plurals, the abstract print -ed underlying the spoken past tense markers It!, as in "walked," /ld/, as in "surrounded," /d!, as in "scored," and the symbol /01 for no surface realization, as in the relaxed standard pronunciation of "I walked to the store." Literate adults also have access to distinctions preserved only in the code of print (for example, the distinction between "a good sailer" and "a good sailor" that Mark Aranoff points out in "An English Spelling Convention," Linguistic Inquiry, 9 [1978], 299-303) More significantly, Irene Moscowitz speculates that the ability of third graders to form abstract nouns on analogy with pairs like divine: :divinity and serene: :serenity, where the spoken vowel changes but the spelling preserves meaning, is a factor of knowing how to read Carol Chomsky finds a three-stage developmental sequence in the grammatical performance of seven-year-olds, related to measures of kind and variety of reading; and Rita S Brause finds a nine stage developmental sequence in the ability to understand semantic ambiguity, extending from fourth graders to graduate students.12 John Mills and Gordon

Hemsley find that level of education, and presumably level of literacy, influence judgments of grammaticality, concluding that literacy changes the deep structure of one's internal grammar; Jean Whyte finds that oral language functions develop differently in readers and non-readers; Jose Morais, Jesus Alegria, and Paul Bertelson find that illiterate adults are unable to add or delete sounds at the beginning of nonsense words, suggesting that awareness of speech as a series of phones is provided by learning to read an alphabetic code Two experiments one conducted by Charles A Ferguson, the other by Mary E Hamilton and David Barton-find that adults' ability to recognize segmentation in speech is related to degree of literacy, not to amount of schooling or general ability

It is worth noting that none of these investigators would suggest that the

developmental sequences they have uncovered be isolated and taught as discrete skills They are natural concomitants of literacy, and they seem best characterized not as isolated rules but as developing schemata, broad strategies for approaching written language

People can, of course, attempt to approximate the rules or schemata of Grammar 1 by writing fully explicit descriptions that model the competence of a native speaker Such rules, like the rules for pluralizing nouns or ordering adjectives discussed above, are the goal of the science of linguistics, that is, Grammar 2 There are a number of scientific grammars-an older structuralist model and several versions within a generative-transformational paradigm, not to mention isolated schools like tagmemic grammar, Montague grammar, and the like In fact, we cannot think of Grammar 2 as a stable entity, for its form changes with each new issue of each linguistics journal, as new "rules of grammar" are proposed and debated Thus Grammar 2, though of great theoretical interest to the composition teacher, is of little practical use in the classroom, as Constance

Weaver has pointed out (Grammar for Teachers [Urbana, Ill.: NCTE, 1979], pp 3-6) Indeed Grammar 2 is a scientific model of Grammar 1, not a description of it,

so that questions of psychological reality, while important, are less important than other, more theoretical factors, such as the elegance of formulation or the global power

of rules We might, for example, wish to replace the rule for ordering adjectives of age, number, and nationality cited above with a more general rule what linguists call a

"fuzzy" rule that adjectives in English are ordered by their abstract quality of

"nouniness": adjectives that are very much like nouns, like French or Scandinavian, come physically closer to nouns than do adjectives that are less "nouny," like four or aged But our motivation for accepting the broader rule would be its global power, not its psychological reality

The author tries to consider a hostile reader, one committed to the teaching of grammar, and she tries to think of ways to hammer in the central point of this distinction, that the rules of Grammar 2 are simply unconnected to productive control over Grammar 1 It can be argued from authority: Noam Chomsky has touched

on this point whenever he has concerned himself with the implications of linguistics

for language teaching, and years ago transformationalist Mark Lester stated unequivocally, "there simply appears to be no correlation between a writer's study of language and his ability to write."'

It can be cited that analogies offered by others: Francis Christensen's analogy in

an essay originally published in 1962 that formal grammar study would be "to invite a centipede to attend to the sequence of his legs in motion," or James Britton's analogy, offered informally after a conference presentation, that grammar study would be like forcing starving people to master the use of a knife and fork before allowing them to eat She can also offer analogies of her own, contemplating the wisdom of asking a pool player to master the physics of momentum before taking up

a cue or of making a prospective driver get a degree in automotive engineering before engaging the clutch She considers a hypothetical argument, that if Grammar 2 knowledge affected Grammar 1 performance, then linguists would be our best writers (She can certify that they are, on the whole, not.) Such a position, after all, is only in accord with other domains of science: the formula for catching a fly ball in baseball

"Playing It by Ear," Scientific American, 248, No 4 [1983], is of such complexity that it is beyond my understanding-and, she would suspect, that of many workaday centerfielders But perhaps she can best hammer in this claim-that Grammar 2 knowledge has no effect on Grammar 1 performance-by offering a demonstration The diagram on the next page is an attempt by Thomas N

Huckin and Leslie A Olsen (English for Science and Technology [New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983]) to offer, for students of English as a second language, a fully explicit formulation of what is, for native speakers, a trivial rule

of the language-the choice of definite article, indefinite article, or no definite article There are obvious limits to such a formulation, for article choice in English

is less a matter of rule than of idiom ("I went to college" versus "I went to a university" versus British "I went to university"), real-world knowledge (using indefinite "I went into a house" instantiates definite "I looked at the ceiling," and indefinite "I visited a university" instantiates definite "I talked with the professors"), and stylistic choice (the last sentence above might alternatively end with "the choice of the definite article, the indefinite article, or no article")

Huckin and Olsen invite nonnative speakers to use the rule consciously to justify article choice in technical prose, such as the passage below from P F Brandwein (Matter: An Earth Science [New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975]) I invite you to spend a couple of minutes doing the same thing, with the understanding that this exercise is a test case: you are using a very explicit rule to justify a fairly straightforward issue of grammatical choice

Imagine a cannon on top of highest mountain on earth It is firing cannonballs horizontally First cannonball fired follows its path As cannonball moves, gravity pulls it down, and it soon hits ground Now velocity with which each succeeding cannonball is fired is increased Thus, cannonball goes farther each time Cannonball 2 goes farther than cannonball 1 although each is being pulled by gravity toward the earth all time _ last cannonball is fired with such tremendous velocity that it goes completely around earth It returns to mountaintop and continues around the earth again and again cannonball's inertia causes it to continue in motion indefinitely in _ orbit around earth In such a situation, we could consider cannonball to be _ artificial satellite, just like weather satellites launched by _ U.S Weather Service (p 209)

Most native speakers of English who have attempted this exercise report a great deal of frustration, a curious sense of working against, rather than with, the rule The rule, however valuable it may be for non-native speakers, is, for the most part, simply unusable for native speakers of the language

In addition, Chung, S and Pullum, G (2005) divide grammar in three categories namely descriptive grammar, prescriptive grammar, school grammar

Descriptive grammar attempts to describe the usage of native speakers Descriptive grammar assumes that the only authority for what is exists in a language is what its native speakers accept and understand as part of their language A speaker who says “I ain’t doing nothing,” intending to say just that, has produced a sentence which is grammatical

in the dialect and register in which he or she is speaking This utterance is “grammatical” (i.e., produced by the grammar of a native speaker) for speakers of several different dialects of English and appropriate in different registers for those dialects

A descriptive grammar therefore will specify many rules for structures in which no native speaker will ever produce anything except a single form, for example, rules like (1) – (3) below

1 In English, the article precedes the noun and any adjectives modifying the noun

a The short people moved

b Short the people moved

c Short people the move

2 In English, demonstratives agree in number with the nouns they modify: that and this go with singulars; those and these go with plurals

a That dog is surprisingly fond of these bones

b Those dog is surprisingly fond of this bones

3 Use only one question word at the beginning of an English sentence

a Who said what?

b Who what said?

c What who said?

A descriptive grammar will also specify rules which allow variation in structures which speakers use variably What does that mean? (4) is an example of a rule that varies

in different contexts:

Speakers of more or less standard dialects of American English

4 Typically use objective pronouns after copular verbs;

a That is me

b It’s him

c The guy in the front row with the red hat is him

5 Use subject case pronouns after copular verbs with very short subjects in formal contexts;

a That is I

b It is he

c That guy in the front row with the red hat is he

On the other hand, Prescriptive grammar assumes the existence of better authorities than the usage and judgment of native speakers People who write prescriptive grammars adduce better language users (educated speakers, high-class speakers, great writers), better languages (usually Latin) and better information systems (mathematics or predicate calculus) as authorities for preferring one usage over another Prescriptive rules exist only to express a preference for one structure or usage or linguistic item over another A prescriptive grammar will not contain rules that tell you to put articles before nouns, rather than after, because no native speakers of English put articles after nouns Prescriptive rules are reserved for places where speakers have choices and they exist to limit those choices It is descriptive grammar that notes that speakers have choices in certain constructions about where the preposition can appear

For example, consider this discussion from Fowler’s A Dictionary of Modern English Usage Preposition at end It was once a cherished superstition that prepositions must be kept true to their name and placed before the word they govern in spite of the incurable English instinct for putting them late (’They are the fittest timber to make great politics of,’ said Bacon; and ‘What are you hitting me for?’ says the modern schoolboy)

‘A sentence ending in a preposition is an inelegant sentence’ represents what used to be a very general belief, and it is not yet dead One of its chief supports is the fact that Dryden,

an acknowledged master of English prose, went through all his prefaces contriving away the final prepositions that he had been guilty of in his first editions It is interesting to find Ruskin almost reversing this procedure In the text of the Seven Lamps there is a solitary final preposition to be found and no more; but in the later footnotes they are not avoided (Any more wasted words I never heard of./Men whose occupation for the next fifty years

would be the knocking down every beautiful building they could lay their hands on) Dryden’s earlier practice shows him following the English instinct; his later shows him sophisticated with deliberate Latinism: ‘I am often put to a stand in considering whether what I write be the idiom of the tongue, and have no other way to clear my doubts but

by translating my English into Latin’ The natural inference from this would be: you cannot put a preposition (roughly speaking) later than its word in Latin, and therefore you must not do so in English

Gibbon improved upon the doctrine, and, observing that prepositions and adverbs are not always easily distinguished, kept on the safe side by not ending sentences with on, over, under, or the like, when they would have been adverbs The fact is that the remarkable freedom enjoyed by English in putting its prepositions late and omitting its relatives is an important element in the flexibility of the language The power of saying A state of dejection such as they are absolute strangers to instead of A state of dejection of

an intensity to which they are absolute strangers, or People worth talking to instead of People with whom it is worthwhile to talk, is not one to be lightly surrendered But the Dryden-Gibbon tradition has remained in being, and even now immense pains are sometimes expended in changing spontaneous into artificial English That depends on what they are cut with is not improved by conversion into That depends on with what they are cut; and too often the lust for sophistication, once blooded, becomes uncontrollable, and ends with, That depends on the answer to the question as to with what they are cut Those who lay down the universal principle that final prepositions are 'inelegant' are unconsciously trying to deprive the English language of a valuable idiomatic resource, which has been used freely by all our greatest writers except those whose instinct for English idiom has been overpowered by notions of correctness derived from Latin standards The legitimacy of the prepositional ending in literary English must be uncompromisingly maintained; in respect of elegance or inelegance, every example must

be judged not by any arbitrary rule, but on its own merits, according to the impression it makes on the feeling of educated English readers (473-4)

Notice that Fowler said that Dryden in revising himself did not ask “What sounds good in English?”, instead he very explicitly changed his writing so it existed as a pseudo-translation of Latin (an odd thing to do unless you really believe in the superiority of

Latin) Fowler distinguishes between style and grammar much more effectively than most prescriptivists He is arguing in favor of (or against) different usages because of what he perceives their stylistic effect to be – he is not claiming that ending a sentence with a preposition (or avoiding ending a sentence with a preposition) is “ungrammatical” He is expressing a stylistic preference There has been a long tradition in prescriptivism to claim that those things which the prescriptivists dislike are ungrammatical (7) Suggests that split infinitives or verb phrases are somehow wrong; the data suggests that not only do English speakers prefer to split infinitives sometimes, sometimes they actually must

Avoid separating the parts of a verb phrase or the parts of an infinitive." (H Ramsay Fowler, The Little, Brown Handbook:

a Our five-year mission is to boldly go where no one has gone before

b Our five-year mission is to go boldly where no one has gone before

c To only read the first chapter, and not answer the questions, would be a waste of time

d Only to read the first chapter, and not answer the questions, would be a waste of time

e To read only the first chapter, and not answer the questions, would be a waste of time

One of the most important things about prescriptive grammarians or various stylists is that their rules must sit on top of an adequate descriptive grammar Why? Descriptive grammar tells us what a preposition or an infinitive is If you don’t know what

an infinitive is, how can you interpret example above? Nothing in prescriptive grammar defines infinitives

It is descriptive grammar that notes that speakers have choices in certain constructions about where the preposition can appear The prescriptivist comes in and asserts that only one of the choices is “correct”, but the existence of the choices and the structure that sits beside them can only be found by competent observation and

description of native speaker usage

Prescriptive rules are a set of social and sometimes more narrowly aesthetic rules about linguistic structure – they are not, contrary to way they are often presented – rules of language The degree to which a speaker or writer abides by these rules may affect how his or her audience judges the work or the author of it A failure to abide by the rules may suggest to an audience that the speaker/writer is unfamiliar with these rules (which can be associated with intellectual, scholastic or social success), while abiding by them may suggest to an audience that the speaker/writer is pompous and overly formal

Within prescriptive and descriptive, School Grammar is a subset of (usually highly oversimplified) rules which are explicitly taught in school These will include things like definitions of word categories (nouns, verbs, prepositions, etc.) and the very explicit prescriptive rules like the “don’t end a sentence in a preposition” rule discussed above These rules are found in textbooks and other materials used in schools from elementary school to college They include statements like “A verb is an action word” (a definition which we will find woefully inadequate when we start actually working with verbs)

An illustration of "Use the subjective case for all parts of compound subjects and for subject complements." (H Ramsay Fowler, The Little, Brown Handbook)

a That's her

b That's she

c The best person for the job would be me

d The best person for the job would be I

"Use the subjective case for all parts of compound subjects and for subject

complements." (H Ramsay Fowler, The Little, Brown Handbook:162)

a That's her

b That's she

c The best person for the job would be me

d *The best person for the job would be I

Compare this with the rule (4) above and the data listed with (4) and (8), it should

be clear that there is a substantial problem with it It appears unfortunately to press English speakers and writers to produce things which sound absolutely horrible to the English ear Thus, this thesis will be based on the first theoretical foundation

2.3 Levels of English grammar

According to the CEFR standard (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), there are six levels of English grammar that language learner will have to gain, which are A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2

First and foremost, in A1 level, learners can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type They can introduce themselves to others as well as ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know and things they have Besides, they also can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help

For A2 level, learners are expected to understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken They can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans

Regarding B1 level, learners can comprehend the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization They can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party They

are also expected to produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options

When it comes to level C1, students are able to understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning They can express him/her fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions They are also able to a language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes Most importantly, they do not find it difficult in producing clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices

Finally, C2 is the highest level of English learners in which they can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read Moreover, they can also summarize information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation Especially, they can express him/her spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations

2.4 Assessing grammatical knowledge

There are two basic types of test items, which are direct and indirect test items, according to Harmer’s distinction (322) A test item is direct if it either asks students to perform the communicative skill, which is being tested, or it tests receptive skills, and it tries to be as much like real life language use as possible, i.e tasks which deal with features of real life are included In real life when people speak or write, they generally do

so for a real purpose, because they need something or they are interested in the topic of conversation and want to add their own ideas Here is an example of the task testing writing skills

Tests of reading and listening skills can reflect real life Role-playing in which students perform tasks such as introducing themselves may be a good example of testing speaking skills On the other hand, indirect test items try to measure a student’s knowledge that lies beneath their receptive and productive skills, grammatical knowledge

in particular It is found out through more controlled items These are often quicker to

design and, crucially, easier to mark and produce greater scorer reliability Indirect items included multiple choice tests, cloze procedure, transformation, paraphrase, sentence re-ordering, sentence fill-ins, finding errors in sentences or choosing the correct form of a word Cloze procedures, in their purest form, mean the omission of every nth word in a text (somewhere between every fifth or tenth word) Because the procedure is random, it avoids test designer failings The randomness of the omitted words also enables that anything may be tested (e.g grammar, collocations, fixed phrases, reading comprehension, etc.) Transformation and paraphrase means to rewrite sentences in a slightly different form:

I am sorry that I didn’t get her an anniversary present

 I wish

In order to complete it successfully students have to understand the first sentence, and they have to know how to construct an equal sentence, which is grammatically possible Sentence re-ordering means putting words in right order to make appropriate sentences, which tells the teacher a lot about students’ knowledge of syntax and lexical grammatical elements (Harmer 323-325)

Multiple choice tests concerning the distinction of indirect test items, Harmer notes that, although there is a wide range of indirect test possibilities, certain types are common

in use, such as multiple choice questions (MCQs) Here is the example:

How sugar do you take in your coffee?

A little B few C much D many

A multiple choice item must have only one correct answer (Heaton, Classroom Testing 96), which seems to be common sense, but it is very easy to write an item with two correct answers The item above, for example, has two correct answers: A as well as the expected C

Harmer also admits a number of problems with multiple choice questions First, they are extremely difficult to write well especially in the design of the incorrect choices

Second, it is possible to be trained in technique so the trained students will probably be more successful than those who have not been trained in it Finally, while students’ multiple choice questions abilities may be trained and improved, this may not actually improve their English (Harmer 323)

Also Hughes refers to the difficulty of writing multiple choice items successfully (61) He says that, according to his experience, multiple choice tests produced for use within institutions are often full of faults Common among those faults are: more than one correct answer; no correct answer; there may be clues in the options to which is correct (e.g difference in length); and lastly, the possible answer (A, B, C, D) is so simple to show to other students nonverbally Hughes concludes that saving time for administration and scoring will outweigh the time spent on successful test preparation On the other hand,

he also adds the most obvious advantages of multiple choice tests: scoring can be perfectly reliable and it is possible to include more items than would otherwise be possible since the student has only to make a mark on the paper (Hughes 59-61)

However, for many years multiple choice questions were considered to be an ideal test instrument for measuring students’ knowledge of grammar and vocabulary (Harmer 323) In addition, Heaton describes multiple choice questions as a device that tests the ability to recognize sentences which are grammatically correct (96) However, this ability

is not the same as the ability to produce correct sentences The teacher must remember this limitation and then he or she can still find multiple choice items useful for certain purposes, especially on a progress test, and they may be useful for finding out more about the difficulties which students have with certain areas of grammar

Further on, wherever possible, the items of tests should be set in context If the teacher wants to concentrate on a certain area of grammar, he or she should put the item into a short two-line dialogue This is better than providing no context at all Thus, the item becomes more meaningful:

Can I get you anything? a pen and a piece of paper

A I like B I’ll like C I’d like D I’m liking

There is also the possibility to write only three options instead of four of them

(Heaton, Classroom Testing 96-97)

2.5 The role of grammar in language learning

Grammar plays a substantial role in governing the use and application of language

It gives the user the structure to build complete and meaningful sentences The role of grammar can take many dimensions and varies according to the situation and context in which it is used

The underlying role of grammar lies in being the language which enables us to talk about language It names the words and words groups that make up sentences as well

as the way in which they can be accurately put together It is true that natives can subconsciously pick up their languages without any kind of explicit or formal instruction, but they can’t talk about it or explain some of its irregularities without having learnt them

Grammar also plays an important role in the writing and reading processes One cannot write efficiently and professionally without this instruction It would be nearly impossible for the writer to articulate his thoughts and make them intelligible for the reader How would he be able to express the future perfect or doubt without knowing grammatically how? In addition to that, without grammar, one cannot even read without misunderstanding the meaning If the reader has to go back and re-read a sentence several times because they are not quite sure what it means, it spoils their reading experience and they are quite likely to misunderstand the point or even to give up and not read any further Knowing about grammar also helps us understand what makes sentences and paragraphs clear and interesting and without it any language will be totally coarse and ugly to deal with, not to mention that the language would eventually become completely illegible and nonsense

Grammar, as Chomsky put it, is a set of finite rules which, if learnt and mastered, can generate an infinite set of sentences This is also one of the attributes of grammar With a sufficient vocabulary, one can give utterance to any thought that crosses his mind The only two criteria which would restrain the number of sentences created are the vocabulary at hand and the user’s sense of creativity To exemplify, tourists who choose

to spend their vacation somewhere abroad, they usually buy a small tourist book with all

the basic ready-made sentences needed for communication However, that book is only usable for 1 or 2 weeks and there comes a time when the tourists need to say something that is not in the tourist book In that case, a little of grammar instruction and some elementary vocabulary would enable them 10 to express what they want, Not necessarily correctly, but the recipient would most likely receive the meaning

“Grammar communicates meaning, meaning of a very special kind” (article

‘grammar meaning and pragmatics’ by Michael swan) Usually people disregard the usage of grammar to communicate when there is enough contextual input Single words or motions would do the job For instance, at a dinner, the waiter would come to you and ask you “coffee?” you would understand what the waiter meant by that due to the context However, when you are home and you would like to ask your wife to make you some coffee, you can’t just go ahead and say “coffee” It would seem inappropriate and rude This is where grammar comes in, it serves to make the speaker’s or writer’s meaning clear when contextual information is lacking Moreover, Grammar also serves as an enabling tool for articulating complex thoughts Baby talk is fine to a certain point, but there comes

a time when you need to express more complicated concepts and meanings for which simple words are not enough To do that, rule of syntax and morphology must be employed

And last but not least, grammar is considered to be a prerequisite factor for effective communication The role of grammar in communication comes in organizing words, clauses and phrases into meaningful sentences The exchange of theses sentences results in a conversation In this respect, the importance of grammar here resides in making it possible for each person to say exactly what they want to and be able to understand the other It serves as a mechanism against ambiguity and confusion On the other hand, however, when grammar is lacking in a conversation, there is a good chance for misunderstanding and disagreement Imagine going to a foreign country and using a dictionary of the local language to communicate You may pick the right word but the way you put them together can be funny, maybe even dangerous The purpose of grammar in communication is to be able to convey 11 your thoughts through language If you are not understood, then the whole point of the conversation is lost The roles grammar play are multiple and diverse In this part of the research, however, we will focus

on in what way or rather the extent to which grammar is an enabling skill, how it is a sentence-making machine and the role it plays in conveying meaning

a Developing various skills

One of the primary and uppermost traits grammar has, as mentioned above, is that

it enables the user to process and produce correct sentences, be they spoken or written The skill in question is an indispensable factor for the user to function properly in each of these areas (speaking, writing, listening, and reading) A decent mastery of grammar can make it easier for the person to communicate and articulate his thoughts coherently However, when the person’s mastery of grammar is not sufficient, communication is more likely to be disrupted and misconceived What follows is an attempt to demonstrate the role grammar plays in each of these areas

“We know that the strength of a tree lies in its roots Similarly the strength of any spoken language lies in its grammar.” (Blog, how to improve spoken English) That it to say, grammar serves the base and foundation of all spoken languages Human interaction and communication are based on mutual understanding This requires the person to have a decent level of grammar to be able to convey the message the same way he/her has in mind

Speaking is an everyday activity and one can’t do without it Therefore, a good command of grammar is vital for effective communication More to the point, the way one expresses himself during communication gives off hints as to one’s knowledge and education Whether we like it or not, we are judged by the way we speak A correct use of grammar on all occasions will make people perceive you as a well-educated person By contrast, if one’s usage of grammar is weak, then the impression formed by others will be

a very poor one and they might take you to be poorly educated

The second skill in which grammar monopolizes a great role in is writing Grammar governs the mechanisms of writing and ensures that it can be easily understood

by all A person may have splendid ideas and distinctive perspectives which would make great changes in the world Nevertheless, if this person lacks the aptitude to fluently and

accurately express these ideas, they wouldn’t matter at all and would not even entice others’ attention Had the greatest writers in history like Dickens or the Indian spiritual leader Gandhi been terrible users of grammar, their ideas would not have reached the world and would not have lived decades after their demise To exemplify the status grammar has in writing, syntax governs word order in a sentence Imagine reading an English sentence in which words are arbitrary placed It would clearly be impossible to understand Punctuation also helps the reader to pause or switch to a new thought So often we find errors of punctuation and syntax that change the meaning of the sentence;

we then need to go back and re-read, perhaps several times, in order to find out what the writer actually meant, a waste of time and effort

The function of grammar does not extend only to the written and spoken forms; it rather exceeds that to be also an underlying component in listening and reading The role

of grammar pertains not only to one’s production but also to one’s understanding and perception When the student already knows grammar, it makes it considerably easier for him/her to process what they hear and not dwell on it because they are not sure what it really means A teacher, for instance, asks a student to bring him/her the books on the desk, only to have the student bring one book because he/her didn’t hear the S sound or didn’t understand it In this case, a better grip over grammar would have improved the student’s listening This applies to reading as well The way grammar contributes to reading is that it helps the reader better understand what he/she reads

“…an understanding of grammar and how it works, will improve your writing and speaking skills, allow you to develop your own unique style of writing and communication and express your thoughts and feelings effectively More, this knowledge and understanding of your language enables you to read more and more widely, and absorb the ideas and techniques of the world’s great thinkers and writers.” (the importance

and meaning is a pre-requisite factor for the former to occur There are many ways in which grammar determines the meaning of the sentence Each grammatical rule serves a particular purpose Conjugation to express an action in a certain time, modals to express obligation, probability and certainty, even the intonation while speaking says a lot about what the person wants to say In addition to this, correct grammar enables us to articulate the same thought in so many ways and in so many different structures Once the person learns how to efficiently employ these rules, he/she becomes able to use the language to convey any thought he desires

One way in which grammar brings about meaning is the way it brings the words together Words grouped together randomly have little meaning on their own For instance, if father would like to know where his son is and the mother answers” with friends cinema go” In this instance, the father is highly unlikely to get the message and even if he somehow managed to infer the meaning of the sentence, the latter is still ambiguous and open to different interpretations Unless they occur accidentally, like in

“go study” Words may have lexical meaning at the word level, but they convey no grammatical meaning as a group However when a special order is given to these words, grammatical meaning is created because of the relationships they have to one another The subject verb agreement, or to take another example the difference between the past, present and future forms of verbs The meaning of a sentence is determined partly by the meaning of the words of which it is composed and partly by its grammatical meaning

Punctuation is also another way in which grammar contributes to meaning When having a face-to-face conversation, we use intonation, voice patterns and body language to express exclamations or questions However, when reading, we don’t have these useful tools so we rely on the punctuation to help us figure out what the writer means Punctuation has also the capacity to change the meaning of a sentence Making mistakes

at the level of punctuation leads to ambiguity This sentence for instance: ‘A woman without her man is nothing’ This sentence could be punctuated to have an utterly different meaning A woman: without her, man is nothing While in the first sentence, women are worth nothing without men, the second is the total opposite Punctuation is a powerful tool It helps maintain consistency and ease understanding Being punctuation a sub- branch of grammar, this shows the importance and influence grammar has over

meaning in particular and language at large

To delve into more details regarding the role of grammar in conveying meaning,

we must have a look at the linguistic branch that is concerned with meaning That is semantics The latter is the study of the meaning of words and sentences The discipline in question studies the interpretation of individual words People pick up the meaning of words subconsciously at first, but then as they grow more adept with language, more complex meanings emerge

“Semantics explains the various types of meaning that exist within a language, granting insight into how a person builds ability and understanding with that language.”

“Semantics is critical to a language because without it, there would be no real structure to a language.” Without the basic, intrinsic understanding of semantics that comes along with language acquisition, speakers could bring words together in any order they want, and listeners would have a difficult time deriving meaning from those sentences

Semantics provides speakers with a structure to use when they need to slot words into sentences, creating meaning A sentence making machine As mentioned in the introduction of this part, grammar serves many functions and many purposes that pertain

to the application of language One of these functions is the sentence making machine The latter is actually one of the cogent arguments that stresses on the importance of grammar instruction This argument asserts that there is a limit to the number of items, such as words and phrases that a person can both retain and retrieve Grammar enables us

to generate sentences based on the preconceived diction and structures we have in our mental repertoire “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” (article, ‘why should we teach grammar) As mentioned above, the only two things that could restrain the number of sentences are the vocabulary at one’s disposal and his sense of creativity

The second argument that ascertains the utility of grammar in generating sentences

is Chomsky’s theory “Nativism” in 1959 This theory came as a counter argument for

Skinner’s theory “Behaviorism” The latter claims that children are born tabula rasa Namely, like a blank paper without any innate capacities to pick up their native language According to this 16 theory, children learn their first language through stimulus and imitation Children imitate the sentences they hear and stimulus serves as a corrector when they make mistakes Nevertheless, the nativist theory debunked the behaviorist on the ground that children are not born tabula rasa, but born with the language acquisition device (LAD) Furthermore, children do not imitate ready-made sentences but they process what they hear in order to reach rules A finite set of rules that would enable them

to create an infinite set of sentences This theory was proved to be true on the basis that is impossible for children to imitate all the sentences in a language and that by the year of five; they can produce sentences that they have never heard before, all due to the language acquisition device This shows the underlying role grammar plays in generating sentences Even if it was subconscious grammar and people use it without being aware of it, they can’t do without it or else the sentences they create would make no sense

The role of grammar, at the sentence level, is not concerned with the sentence construction only but with their combination also A decent mastery of the grammatical rules, gives the person the potential or rather the ability to manipulate and combine a variety of basic sentence structure The goal of this practice is not to learn how to produce longer sentences but rather how to develop more effective ones This applies to both, speaking and writing People actually grow disinterested and bored when they hear or read a set of detached individual sentences, that in addition to the little meaning they convey Instead of creating many sentences to convey simply one idea, with the sentence combination, they can all be merged into a one complete meaningful sentence To exemplify, ‘the exercise was not difficult The exercise was not easy The exercise was manageable’ By cutting out the needless repetition and adding a few conjunctions, we can combine these three short sentences into a single, more coherent sentence: ‘The exercise was neither difficult nor easy but manageable’ Or ‘The exam was not difficult or easy but it was manageable’ Furthermore, a systematic practice in combining and expanding sentences increases one’s repertoire of syntactic structures and may also improve the quality of sentences

All in all, grammar is an instrumental tool that not only enables the speaker to