Sandra Powell

What is
grammar?

1
First of all , relax….

You can learn grammar.

If you already know a lot of grammar, you can

become an enlightened master!
What is grammar?

Two important features found in ALL languages:

- Arbitrary signs

- Patterns
 What is grammar?

Two important features found in ALL languages: First,

- Arbitrary signs: A stretch of sound is matched with a

meaning. The sound is different in each language… the
matching of word and meaning is arbitrary. This feature
of language is…
Words. Morphemes. Vocabulary/lexis

We can’t generalize or find rules… we have to learn

vocabulary item by item.
What is grammar?
We combine these arbitrary signs (words,
morphemes, lexical phrases) to express more
complex meanings, using….

- Patterns for combining, ordering, and showing

relationships between the signs

This feature of language… patterns, rules, order in

the way we build up larger units from smaller ones…
is grammar.
What is grammar?

Arbitrary signs (words) and patterns for combining,

ordering, and showing relationships (grammar) =

A way to convey meaning and communicate between

speaker and listener: A language
What is grammar?

One way of thinking of grammar

is as the patterns that are
found in ALL languages
(universal grammar)

We can also talk about “the

grammar of English” (or
French, or Arabic, or Tagalog,
or any other language) and
define the patterns specific to
that language
What is grammar?
So grammar is a feature of language. It is one of the
shared resources that we use to convey meaning.

Another way to think of grammar is as a way to analyze

and describe the patterns of language. A grammar of
English can also mean…
A description

An analysis

A system for describing and analyzing….

the patterns of language

Here is a word cloud made from definitions of
grammar from various sources…

Try this form of word art at wordle.net

Two types of descriptions of the
grammar of a language
People who are interested in describing
and analyzing grammar may approach
the topic with 2 different purposes….

Prescriptive: Define what’s correct and

not correct. Establish a standard. “Say
it this way. Don’t say it that way!”

Descriptive: Describe how people use

the language at a particular time and
place. Gather data and analyze. Non-
evaluative.
Two types of descriptions of the
grammar of a language
To illustrate the difference, look at these statements about
this sentence:
I’s the bye that builds the boat

Prescriptive: This is incorrect. It should be “I’m the boy

who builds the boat.” The subject must agree with the verb.
Careless errors in subject-verb agreement can hold you back
professionally and make people view you as uneducated.

Descriptive: This sentence from a traditional Newfoundland

song reflects a regional dialect. Rural Newfoundland dialects
frequently follow the “Northern Subject Rule,” shared with
areas in the North of England. –s occurs on present tense
verbs with any subject and is a marker of habitual action.
Two types of descriptions of the
grammar of a language
What can we say about this sentence?
I’s the bye that builds the boat
 Only one
Prescriptive: This is incorrect. It should be “I’m the boy standard: the
who builds the boat.” The subject must agree with the correct way
 Value judgments
verb.
Careless errors in subject-verb agreement can hold you
back professionally and make people view you as
uneducated.  Describe who says
this, when, where,
Descriptive: ….Rural Newfoundland dialects why this statement
frequently follow the “Northern Subject Rule,” shared may be used.
with areas in the North of England.  Looks for pattern
–s occurs on present tense verbs with any subject and
instead of defining
is a marker of habitual action.
a standard.
Two types of descriptions of the
grammar of a language
The different purposes of descriptive and prescriptive
grammars also mean that they have different coverage
and methods:  Only one
standard: the
correct way
Prescriptive grammars cover areas where there is
 Value judgments
noticeable variation in usage, to establish a correct
standard.

Descriptive grammars are comprehensive; they aim to  Describe who says

describe all of the grammar patterns operating in a this, when, where,
language. why this statement
may be used.
 Looks for pattern
instead of defining
a standard.
Two types of descriptions of the
grammar of a language

If you consult a usage guide (a prescriptive

grammar), you will normally find no  Only one
information to give to ELLs who say strange- standard: the
sounding things like… correct way
? I am not believing in ghosts.  Value judgments
? In the life, the love is more important
than the wealth.
? I am very interesting in that topic.  Describe who says
this, when, where,
why this statement
That is because these forms are not normally
may be used.
used by English speakers. All agree that  Looks for pattern
these are not correct. There is no reason to instead of defining
put the correct forms in a usage guide. a standard.
As teachers of ELLs (English language
learners), which type of description is more
useful to us and our learners?

We use both in our professional practice.

Prescriptive:
Attitudes:
 Only one standard:
The idea of “good” and bad” grammar that the correct way
is the base of prescriptive grammar can  Value judgments
lead teachers to go on a crusade to stamp out
“bad” grammar
If ELLs pick up on this emotional attitude from
their teachers, they may respond with: Descriptive:
1 SHAME about their “bad” grammar  Describe who says

2 RESENTMENT of the power hierarchy this, when, where,

why this may be
used.
To understand grammar and to give our
 Looks for pattern
learners the information they need, we need
to look at grammar with a scientific, detached instead of defining a
descriptive attitude. standard.
As teachers of ELLs (English language
learners), which type of description is more
useful to us and our learners?

Another reason why we can’t teach using

prescriptive grammars/usage guides:
Prescriptive
Prescriptive grammars: Their target grammars:
audience knows English and has many
grammar patterns to choose from in
communicating. Prescriptive grammars aim
at eliminating some of the options in
current use.

Our aim:
ELLs, on the other hand, don’t have much
of the English language at their command!
They need to add new options to the
patterns they can use.
As teachers of ELLs (English language
learners), which approach is more useful to us
and our learners?

However, teachers cannot always Descriptive:

describe grammar as researchers in  Describe who says
this, when, where,
applied linguistics do. We need to why this may be
prescribe for our learners. used.
 Looks for pattern

When your learners ask about instead of defining

a standard.
grammar, the questions they want
answered are:
Should I say it like this?
Is this good English? Prescriptive:
 Only one standard:
Does it convey the message I want
the correct way
to convey?  Value judgments
Does it present me as a competent,
skillful person?
As teachers of ELLs (English language
learners), which approach is more useful to us
and our learners?

Learners aren’t linguistics students. While the

“Northern subject rule” may be interesting to
linguists, most learners don’t have time for it.

When learners ask, “is this correct?,” and it’s a

nonstandard form, answer, “It is not standard.”
You can add information like one of these answers:
“You can say this to your friends, but not to your
grandmother.”
“You can say this, but don’t write it in your papers
for school.”
“You shouldn’t say or write this. It’s wrong.”
So is descriptive grammar just a more
permissive form of prescriptive grammar?

No. Descriptive and prescriptive grammars use

different methods of inquiry.

Linguists who work in the area of descriptive

grammar INVESTIGATE, FORM HYPOTHESES,
GATHER AND ANALYZE DATA SETS.
They use survey and corpus data to sample
actual language usage.
So is descriptive grammar just a more
permissive form of prescriptive grammar?

Linguists doing
As teachers, we don’t descriptive grammar
normally DO descriptive INVESTIGATE, FORM
HYPOTHESES,
grammar in a scientific GATHER AND
way, although we benefit ANALYZE DATA SETS.
from the insights of They use survey and
linguists who do. corpus data to sample
actual language
usage.
What we do is not scientific
inquiry, but education…
closer in methods to
prescriptive grammar.
So is descriptive grammar just a more
permissive form of prescriptive grammar?

Example of a grammar rule that native

Most of the grammar speakers use, but typically can’t explain:
rules and guidelines in
Use “will” for decisions made at the
grammar textbooks for moment of speaking, “going to” for
ELLs (English language planned or predicted actions…
learners) come from A says: We need eggs.
the work of descriptive B says: 1. Okay, I’ll buy some
tomorrow.
grammar…
Versus: 2. I know. I’m going to buy
some tomorrow.
Intensive study of
Descriptive grammarians (linguistics
large amounts of researchers) figured out this rule from
language data studying what native speakers say.
Pedagogical grammar

Pedagogical grammar sits between prescriptive and

descriptive grammar.
The purpose of our practice of pedagogical grammar is to
foster learners’ development of language skills.

o We draw on descriptive grammars’ analysis of the

underlying rules of English grammar when we teach,
but we don’t explain more than our learners need to
know.
Pedagogical grammar

Pedagogical grammar sits between prescriptive and

descriptive grammar.
The purpose of our practice of pedagogical grammar is to
foster learners’ development of language skills.

o We make judgements about what is correct and

incorrect, and communicate these to our learners,
because they need to enter the community of English
speakers and communicate successfully within it.
Pedagogical grammar

Pedagogical grammar sits between prescriptive and

descriptive
grammar.
The purpose of our practice of pedagogical grammar is to
foster learners’ development of language skills.

o We do not crusade to stamp out grammar errors. We

don’t think of our learners’ nonstandard grammar as
willful defiance of grammar norms.
Pedagogical grammar
Pedagogical grammar sits between prescriptive and descriptive
grammar.
The purpose of our practice of pedagogical grammar is to foster
learners’ development of language skills.

o We draw on descriptive grammars’ analysis of the underlying

rules of English grammar when we teach. But we don’t explain
more than our learners need to know.

o We make judgements about what is correct and incorrect, and

communicate these to our learners, because they need to enter
the community of English speakers and communicate
successfully within it.

o We do not crusade to stamp out grammar errors. We don’t

think of our learners’ nonstandard grammar as willful defiance
of grammar norms.
 26 April 13, 2024

How do we learn grammar?

Two different pathways: explicit and implicit
learning
Grammar learning: different types of
knowledge

We can learn grammar as DECLARATIVE or EXPLICIT

knowledge: explaining rules. Naming structures. Giving
examples of similar/different structures.

But, when we use a language to communicate, we need

PROCEDURAL or IMPLICIT knowledge: implicit knowledge
that can be applied to do something.

When we study a subject in a classroom setting, gaps between

declarative/explicit knowledge and procedural/implicit
knowledge are familiar to teachers and learners!
- What happens when we have DECLARATIVE
knowledge without PROCEDURAL knowledge?
- What happens when we have PROCEDURAL
knowledge without DECLARATIVE knowledge?
Grammar learning: different types of
knowledge

In relation to this course:

International graduate students who have learned English in school in

their home countries can often explain much more about English
grammar than some of the Canadians who are native speakers of
English.
They can answer learner questions like:
Why do you say it like that? What’s the rule? Can you give
me some more examples of this grammar structure?

Many of the native speakers can’t do this, but they find it easy to
identify errors and answer these learner questions:
Can I say this in English? Is this correct? What’s the best
way to say this? Can you help me edit this?
Why? Two different types of knowledge….
Explicit (declarative) Implicit (procedural)
knowledge knowledge
 Explicit knowledge means  Implicit knowledge means
you know WHAT. you know HOW.
 You have learned facts and  You have absorbed patterns
rules through conscious without conscious effort.
attention. You can explain  You can’t explain what you
what you know. know, but you can use it to
 You can’t always apply this perform complex mental or
knowledge skillfully and physical operations, without
effortlessly. thinking.
Implicit knowledge and learning
 If English is your mother
processes tongue, you learned English
 Implicit learning takes place grammar through implicit
unconsciously, through doing. learning processes. No one

spelled out the “rules” or asked
Implicit knowledge is more like
you to explain them; but you
SKILL. It enables us to perform
are able to apply the rules
high-level complex actions
without thinking about them.
without thinking about it.

SKILLED
PERFORMANCE
Explicit knowledge and learning
 Some students in this program
processes studied English in school. You
 Explicit learning takes place asked questions about grammar
through conscious attention and had it explained to you as
(studying) “rules.” You have explicit

knowledge. You also have
Explicit declarative knowledge is
acquired quite a bit of implicit
knowledge ABOUT something.
knowledge.
It is available to the conscious
mind, but is not applied
automatically and fluently when
conscious attention is focused
elsewhere.
 S. Powell

Everyone will do well, and learn

something new, in this course!
 If you are a native speaker  Ifyou are an international
with mostly IMPLICIT student with more
knowledge of English EXPLICIT knowledge of
grammar, you’ll learn how English grammar, you’ll
to explain the patterns you get some broad principles
use fluently. and reasons for the “rules”
you learned explicitly.
 S. Powell

Everyone will do well, and learn

something new, in this course!
 If you are a native speaker  If you are an international
with IMPLICIT student with EXPLICIT
knowledge of English knowledge of English
grammar, you’ll consult grammar, you’ll consult
references and resources references and resources
to find explicit rules and to check your implicit
guidelines for your sense of what’s right.
learners.
 34 April 13, 2024

The limits of explicit

knowledge
Why can’t we just teach them the rules?
The problem with teaching grammar rules to
English language learners……
 S. Powell

Useful ways of thinking about

grammar
Think of grammar this Not this way!
way…
 Grammar rules are like a  Grammar rules are like
recipe or the rules of a the 10 Commandments or
game… they make it possible the Criminal Code… it’s
to produce something our moral obligation to
amazing! follow and
enforce
the rules.
 S. Powell

Useful ways of thinking about

grammar
Think of grammar Not this way!
this way…

 Grammar is a  Grammar is a set of

resource. The more restrictions. You have to
resources you have, the stay within the limits.
richer you are!

Resources Restrictions
 S. Powell

Think of grammar this

way… Not this way!

 Grammar is skill.  Grammar skills can be

built like a brick wall.
Grammar skills develop
slowly and unevenly.
Grammar skills grow
and flower when
nurtured and
supported.
We can add grammar points
one by one, on a set
schedule.
Questions about
the Powerpoint?
I’d be happy to talk
grammar with you!
Sandra Powell