E  360K    l    English  Grammar    

 
 
Instructor:    Hancock,  I.   Areas:    Roman  Numeral  I–VI  
Unique  #:    35880   Flags:    Flag  Name(s)  
Semester:    Fall  2013   Restrictions:    Honors,  Longhorn  Scholars,  etc.  
Cross-­‐lists:    LIN360K  (41345)   Computer  Instruction:    no  
 
Prerequisites:    Nine  semester  hours  of  coursework  in  English  or  rhetoric  and  writing.  

This course is an introduction to the grammar of written English. It deals initially with traditional
methods of linguistic analysis, presenting them as groundwork for introducing Chomskyan or TG
(“transformational-generative”) grammar. Most of the course will consist of acquiring skills in this theory, using
interpretations found in Radford and in Jacobs and Rosenbaum. An overview of basic linguistic theory will also
be included, introducing and defining the concepts of phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax and lexicon.
The course is designed mainly, though not exclusively, for student teachers, and places especial
emphasis on language attitudes and evaluation. Written, or “book” English will be presented as the dialect
having the most widespread applicability and usefulness. It will not be presented as the “best” English, or as the
only dialect that has “correct grammar,” but rather as the one most appropriate in the greatest number of social
contexts—that is, as a maximally useful tool.
Increasingly, teachers are dealing with speakers of vernacular English in their classrooms, i.e. ethnic,
regional or immigrant dialects, but they are not always properly prepared to distinguish between good and bad
English on the one hand, and appropriate and inappropriate English on the other. For example, the general
reaction to the common Southern construction “I might could do it” and “I could might do it” is that they are
both bad English, though the reason for that decision is different for each sentence.
It is a sociolinguistic maxim that our attitudes towards an individual's language or dialect are really a
reflection of our attitude towards the group that that individual belongs to. Students have often been penalized
for using their natural speech, especially if it differs markedly from the written dialect, and this can have its
origin in attitudes we may have, whether we're teachers or not, to different American populations. Part of the
course will ask us to confront those attitudes, and will include ways to deal with them. We will also see that all
natural dialects are rule governed, and that there is a “grammatical” and an “ungrammatical” way to speak any
one of them.
Transformational-Generative Grammar has come a very long way since its early days. While outside
reading is encouraged, if you’ve found a book on your own talk it over with me since differences in terminology
and approach from author to author can easily confuse you. Questions on the tests will be based ONLY upon
material presented in class.
 
 
Requirements  &  Grading:      
Tests

The tests will be on the three Thursdays indicated below, and one more during finals
week. The last test will not differ in content or format from the three earlier tests.
Each test will consist of ten questions, any five of which you can select to answer.
Each question is worth 20 points, each test 100 points. The lowest of the first three
scores will be dropped and an average taken from the remaining three (96-100 = A+,
90-95 = A-, 86-90 = B+, 80-85 = B-, etc.) and this overall score will count for 80% of
your final grade. There will be take-home assignments from time to time. You don’t
need a blue book, but you will need to bring three or four sheets of blank paper and
a pen or pencil to each test.

Performance and Participation

This counts for 20% of your final grade. Coming into class once the bell has rung
counts as a tardy and will cost you points (see next page) and you will be marked
absent and that will cost you points. The dog ate my alarm clock is not an excuse.
Missing a shuttle bus is not an excuse, take an earlier one. I know that this is an early
class but you must be on time just as I have to.
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic
accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information,
contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 471-6259 (voice) or 232-2937 (video
phone), or visit http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd. Discuss this with me first.
It should not be necessary to remind you of the university’s policy regarding
academic dishonesty, which demands a failing grade and immediate dismissal from
the class.

The rest is covered in the “do’s and don’ts” below. So speak up, join in, don’t be late,
keep good notes, do the assignments, write neatly, smile, it’s all 20% of you grade.
 
 
Schedule:      
 

August 29     What  to  expect:  Overview  of  the  class  and  your  participation  
Week 1    Tues.    What  is  language?  What  is  English?  
Thurs. Why  are  there  different  kinds  of  English?  Regional,  social,  ethnic  varieties  
Week 2             Good  English?    Who  makes  the  rules?  
                           Intro  to  the  terminology:  syntax,  semantics,  morphology,  phonology,  lexicon    
Week 3           Efforts  to  describe  language.    The  Classical  Tradition.  
Week 4         The  Neogrammarians  
September  16th  First  test  
Week 5         Early  attempts  to  find  a  new  approach:  C.  C.  Fries  and  others  
Immediate  Constitutent  Analysis
Week 6         Chomsky:  kernel  patterns  
Week 7       Chomsky:  Deep  vs.  Surface  structures  
    Phrase  structure  rule;  Transformation  theory  
Week 8       Transformations  in  simple  sentences;  practice  
October  14th  Second  test  
Transformations  in  simple  sentences;  practice  
Week 9       Transformations  in  simple  sentences;  practice    
 Transformations  in  simple  sentences;  practice  
Week 10         Transformations  in  complex  sentences;  embedding  in  VP  and  in  NP  
Week 11   Relativized  constructions;  practice  
    Relativized  constructions;  practice  
Week 12 Complementized  constructions;  practice
November  11th  Third  test
Week 13 Grammars  of  other  kinds  of  English:  AAVE,  SIE
Complementized  constructions;  practice  
Week 14 Overview; Current  directions  in  Chomskyan  linguistics
No  class  
Week 15 Review
December  2nd  Fourth  test  
 
 
Policies:  
 

DO  
•Ask  lots  of  questions.    The  day  before  each  test  can  be  devoted  wholly  to  review  if  you  bring  questions  for  
that  day,  but  of  course  you  can  ask  questions  at  any  time.  
•Turn  in  your  homework  assignment  at  the  beginning  of  class  if  you  were  given  one.                    
   Don’t  do  it  once  you’re  here.  
•Watch  your  neatness  and  spelling  on  the  tests—remember,  this  is  an  English  class.  
•Keep  good  notes  in  your  notebook.    They  will  serve  as  your  textbook.    
•Make  use  of  Office  Hours.  
•Make  use  of  e-­‐mail  to  ask  questions.  
•Create  small  study  groups  and  meet  outside  of  class.  
•Bring  a  tape  recorder  to  class  if  you  like,  but  no  laptop  computers.  
•Switch  off  your  cell  phone  during  class.  

DON’T  
•Come  late  to  class.  
•Talk  when  someone  else  has  the  floor.  
•Read  non-­‐related  material  after  the  bell  has  rung.  
•Do  homework  for  another  class  during  this  class.  
•Ask  “what  will  be  on  the  test?”  
•Ask  “Do  we  have  to  know  that  for  the  next  test?”  –  ANYTHING  you  learn  in  any  of  our  classes  could  
potentially  turn  up  on  a  test.  
•Miss  class  without  a  legitimate  excuse.    Unexcused  absences  will  cost  you  two  points  each  time  off  your  total  
grade.    An  attendance  sheet  will  be  circulated  each  day.    You  won’t  be  able  to  sign  it  if  you  arrive  after  the  
bell’s  rung,  and  you’ll  be  counted  absent.  
•  Get  up  and  leave  in  the  middle  of  class  to  use  the  bathroom  (or  use  your  cell  phone).  Do  this  before  class  
begins.    If  you  have  a  medical  excuse  for  needing  to  visit  the  bathroom  during  class  time,  or  for  special  
consideration  otherwise,  please  provide  me  with  a  doctor’s  note.      
•  Leave  your  cell  phone  on.  

Resources
I do not require a textbook for 360K, which means that you must take detailed notes. Keep a section of your
notebook to list and define new technical terms (there will be a definition question on every test). Keep a
separate list for each new transformational rule you learn. There are very many books on the kind of grammar
we are dealing with in this class. The approach most like the one I will be following is found in

Jacobs, R.A. & Peter S. Rosenbaum, 1968. English Transformational Grammar. Waltham:
Blaisdell.

An early approach to Chomsky’s grammar (dealing with his “kernel sentence patterns”) is

Cattell, N.R., 1966. The Design of English. Melbourne: Heinemann.

One important pre-TG book that influenced Chomsky’s thinking is

Fries, Charles C., 1952. The Structure of English. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Other useful works, in order of technicality, are

Keyser, Samuel & Paul Postal, 1976. Beginning English Grammar. New York: Harper and
Rowe.

Baker, Carl Lee, 1989. English Syntax. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Akmajian, A., & Frank Heny, 1980. An Introduction to the Principles of Transformational
Syntax. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Langacker, Ronald W., 1972. Fundamentals of Linguistic Analysis. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Lyons, John, 1981. Language and Linguistics: An Introduction. London: CUP.

Radford, Andrew, 1981. Transformational Syntax. Cambridge: The University Press.

Chomsky’s two most important early books are

1957. Syntactic Structures. ’s-Gravenhage: Mouton.

1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge: MIT Press.