Grammar for Teachers: A Guide to American English for Native and Non-Native Speakers

454 Pages·2008·6.16 MB·English

by  Andrea DeCapua Ed.D. (auth.)

Grammar for Teachers
Andrea DeCapua
Grammar for Teachers
A Guide to American English for Native
and Non-Native Speakers
Author
AndreaDeCapua,Ed.D.
CollegeofNewRochelle
NewRochelle,NY10805
[email protected]
ISBN:978-0-387-76331-6 e-ISBN:978-0-387-76332-3
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2007937636
(cid:2)c 2008SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC
Allrightsreserved.Thisworkmaynotbetranslatedorcopiedinwholeorinpartwithoutthewritten
permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York,
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Preface
Grammar for Teachers: A Guide to American English for Native and Non-Native
Speakersis a resultof my frustrationsovermanyyearsof teachinggraduate-level
structure courses and not being able to find an appropriate grammar text for the
pre-andin-serviceteachersenrolledintheseclasses.Thestudentsinthesecourses
haverepresentedavarietyofteachingbackgrounds:ESLandEFLteachers,native
andnon-nativespeakersofEnglish,andmainstreamcontent-areateacherswithESL
studentsin their classes, to name a few. Someof these studentshave hada strong
knowledgeofEnglishgrammar,butoftenhavedifficultiesinapplyingtheirknowl-
edgetoreal-lifediscourse.Otherstudents’exposurehasbeenlimitedtolessonsin
“correctness,”andaregenerallyunawareofwhichlanguagefeaturesarecentralto
teaching ESL/EFL learners. Some students are resistant to taking this course, but
are requiredto do so, whether to satisfy specific degree requirements,for state or
professionalcertification, or for other reasons. A few studentshave had some lin-
guistics,manynot.Thechallengehasbeenfindingawaytoconveytheessentialsof
AmericanEnglishgrammarclearly,toengagestudentsactivelyintheirownlearning
andunderstandingofgrammarasapplicabletoESL/EFLlearners,andtomotivate
themtoundertakeperceptiveanalysesofgrammaticalelementsandstructures,and
ofESL/EFLlearnerneedsanddifficulties.
The overall aim of Grammar for Teachers is to make grammar accessible and
comprehensible.Thetextassumesnopriorknowledgeandcanbeusedwithactive
and prospective teachers who have little or no background in grammar, linguis-
tics, foreign languages, or other related fields. It is also intended for those users
whoseexposuretoEnglishgrammarhasbeenprimarilylimitedtoprescriptiverules
of what speakers should say and write with little or no consideration of the con-
cernsandproblemsESL/EFLlearnersfaceinlearningandusingEnglish.Thetext
encourages users to develop a solid understanding of the use and function of the
grammaticalstructuresinAmericanEnglishsothattheymaybetterappreciatethe
languagedifficultiesofESL/EFLlearners.Theunderlyingpremiseisthatteachers
ofESL/EFLlearnersneedtounderstandhowEnglishworksfromapractical,every
dayapproachof“WhatdoesthelearnerneedtoknowinordertoproduceX.”When
teachersunderstandthegrammarofAmericanEnglishandtheproblemsandneeds
of ESL/EFL learner,they are in a better positionto teach and explainelementsof
grammar.
v
vi Preface
Thetextreviewsessentialgrammarstructuresclearlyandconcisely,whileavoid-
ingjargonortechnicalterms.Thetextapproachesgrammarfromadescriptiverather
than a prescriptiveapproachand focuses on the structures of grammar of greatest
importance to ESL/EFL learners. Grammar for Teachers encourages users to tap
intotheirown,generallysubconscious,knowledgeofthe grammarofEnglishand
make it a conscious knowledge that they can apply to their own varied teaching
settings. The text strives to make the study of grammar interesting and relevant
by presenting grammar in context and by using authentic material from a variety
of sources. Discussions of areas of potentialdifficulties for ESL/EFL learners are
included throughout the text. Grammar for Teachers also explores differences in
formsacceptedinformalversuscasualorinformalwritingandspeakingbasedon
thetypesofquestionsandconcernslearnersarelikelytohave.
In each chapter, users of the text work through numerousDiscovery Activities
thatencouragethem to explorefor themselvesdifferentelements of grammarand
toconsiderhowtheseelementsworktogethertoformmeaningfuldiscourse.Addi-
tionalPracticalActivitiesattheendofeachchapterprovidemorepracticeonstruc-
tures presented in that chapter. Included in the Practice Activities are samples of
relevant learner errors and error analysis exercises. These exercises expose users
toauthenticESL/EFLlearnerdiscourseat differentlevelsofproficiencyandfrom
manydifferentnativelanguages,andaffordthemopportunitiestopracticefocusing
onspecificerrorsatanygivenmoment.
Acknowledgments
I especially thank the students at New York University, The College of New
Rochelle,NewYorkandLongIslandUniversity,PurchaseCampuswhousedvari-
ousdraftsofthetextovertheyearsandprovidedfeedback.Specialthanksaredue
to Helaine Marshall, at Long Island University,Purchase, New York Campus and
WillSmathers,NewYorkUniversitywhopilotedearlierversionsofthetext.Their
comments,insightsandsuggestionswereinvaluable.ThanksalsotoJudyHausman,
SusannahHealy,BetsyReitbauer,CherylSerrano,andWalter Oerlemannfortheir
helpandencouragement.
vii
Contents
1 WhatisGrammar?.............................................. 1
Introduction..................................................... 1
GrammarasaSetofRules ........................................ 1
DiscoveryActivity1.............................................. 2
LanguageandChange ............................................ 4
DiscoveryActivity2.............................................. 5
LinguistsandGrammar ........................................... 6
LanguageisRule-Governed ....................................... 7
DiscoveryActivity3.............................................. 8
LanguageasaSetofRulesversusLanguageasRule-Governed ....... 9
PrescriptiveversusDescriptiveGrammar ............................ 10
PrescriptiveGrammar .......................................... 10
DescriptiveGrammar........................................... 13
DiscoveryActivity4.............................................. 14
DiscoveryActivity5.............................................. 14
Summary....................................................... 15
PracticeActivities................................................ 16
AnswerKey:Chapter1DiscoveryActivities ......................... 18
2 Morphology .................................................... 21
Introduction..................................................... 21
Section1:WordClasses .......................................... 21
DiscoveryActivity1.............................................. 22
ContextandFunction............................................. 23
WordPlaysandContext:AnAdditionalIllustration ................. 24
DiscoveryActivity2.............................................. 24
DiscoveryActivity3.............................................. 25
PartsofSpeechorLexicalCategories ............................... 27
OpenWordClasses ............................................ 27
DiscoveryActivity4.............................................. 28
ClosedWordClasses ........................................... 29
DiscoveryActivity5.............................................. 30
ix
x Contents
Overview:MajorPartsofSpeech................................... 31
Nouns ....................................................... 31
Adjectives .................................................... 32
Verbs ........................................................ 33
Adverbs...................................................... 33
Section2:Morphology ........................................... 34
DiscoveryActivity6.............................................. 35
BoundandFreeMorphemes....................................... 35
DerivationalandInflectionalMorphemes ............................ 36
DerivationalMorphemes........................................ 37
InflectionalMorphemes......................................... 38
RedundancyinLanguage ......................................... 39
DiscoveryActivity7.............................................. 39
Summary....................................................... 41
PracticeActivities................................................ 43
3 TheNounPhrase................................................ 45
Introduction..................................................... 45
Section1:IdentifyingNouns....................................... 45
ContextandFunction........................................... 45
SemanticClues................................................ 46
StructuralClues ............................................... 47
DerivationalClues ............................................. 48
MorphologicalClues ........................................... 48
Section2:DifferentTypesofNouns ................................ 50
CountandNoncountNouns ..................................... 50
DiscoveryActivity1.............................................. 51
DiscoveryActivity2.............................................. 52
DiscoveryActivity3.............................................. 53
CrossoverNouns .............................................. 55
DiscoveryActivity4.............................................. 56
Section3:StructureWordsthatSignalNouns......................... 57
DiscoveryActivity5.............................................. 58
DiscoveryActivity6.............................................. 59
Demonstratives................................................ 61
DiscoveryActivity7.............................................. 62
DiscoveryActivity8.............................................. 63
Quantifiers.................................................... 64
DiscoveryActivity9.............................................. 65
DiscoveryActivity10............................................. 66
Section4:Pronouns .............................................. 67
DiscoveryActivity11............................................. 67
TypesofPronounsbyFunction..................................... 68
SubjectPronouns .............................................. 68
ObjectPronouns............................................... 69
PossessivePronounsandPossessiveAdjectives..................... 70
Contents xi
DiscoveryActivity12............................................. 71
ReflexivePronouns ............................................ 73
IndefinitePronouns ............................................ 74
Summary....................................................... 75
PracticeActivities................................................ 77
AnswerKey:Chapter3DiscoveryActivities ......................... 81
4 AdjectivesandAdverbs .......................................... 83
Introduction..................................................... 83
Section1:Adjectives ............................................. 83
IdentificationofAdjectives ........................................ 83
SemanticClues.................................................. 84
DiscoveryActivity1.............................................. 84
MorphologicalClues ............................................. 85
Derivational .................................................. 85
DiscoveryActivity2.............................................. 85
Inflectional ..................................................... 87
DiscoveryActivity3.............................................. 90
StructuralClues ................................................. 91
DiscoveryActivity4.............................................. 92
DiscoverActivity5:IdentifyingAdjectives .......................... 93
OrderofAdjectives .............................................. 94
AdjectiveTypes ............................................... 95
DiscoveryActivity6.............................................. 96
SpecialTypesofAdjectives........................................ 97
NounsFunctioningasAdjectives................................. 97
DiscoveryActivity7.............................................. 97
ParticipialAdjectives........................................... 98
DiscoveryActivity8..............................................100
Section2:Adverbs...............................................102
DiscoveryActivity9..............................................104
DifferentSubclassesofAdverbs....................................105
FrequencyAdverbs ............................................105
DiscoveryActivity10.............................................106
TimeandPlaceAdverbs ........................................106
The“Other”Adverbs...........................................107
DiscoveryActivity11.............................................108
DiscoveryActivity12.............................................109
Summary.......................................................111
PracticeActivities................................................112
AnswerKey:Chapter4DiscoveryActivities .........................118
5 IntroductiontoVerbsandVerbPhrases............................121
Introduction.....................................................121
Section1:IdentifyingVerbs .......................................121
SemanticClues..................................................121