The Text Linguistics and Grammar

Text linguistics is a branch of linguistics that deals with texts as communication systems. Its original aims lay in uncovering and describing text grammars. The application of text linguistics has, however, evolved from this approach to a point in which text is viewed in much broader terms that go beyond a more extension of traditional grammar towards an entire text. Text linguistics takes into account the form of a text, but also its setting, i.e. the way in which it is situated in an interactional, communicative context. Both the author of a (written or spoken) text as well as its addressee are taken into consideration in their respective (social and/or institutional) roles in the specific communicative context. In general it is an application of linguistic analysis at the much broader level of text, rather than just a sentence or word.

Glossary of English Grammar Terms
*Active Voice In the active voice

, the subject of the verb does the action (eg They killed the President). See also Passive Voice.
*Adjective A word like big, red, easy, French etc. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.
*Adverb A word like slowly, quietly, well, often etc. An adverb modifies a verb.
*Article The "indefinite" articles are a and an. The "definite article" is the.
*Auxiliary Verb A verb that is used with a main verb. Be, do and have are auxiliary verbs. Can, may, must etc are modal auxiliary verbs.
*Clause A group of words containing a subject and its verb (for example: It was late when he arrived).
*Conjunction A word used to connect words, phrases and clauses (for example: and, but, if).
*Infinitive The basic form of a verb as in to work or work.
*Interjection An exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection (for example: oh!, ah!, ouch!, well!).
*Modal Verb An auxiliary verb like can, may, must etc that modifies the main verb and expresses possibility, probability etc. It is also called "modal auxiliary verb".
*Noun A word like table, dog, teacher, America etc. A noun is the name of an object, concept, person or place.
A "concrete noun" is something you can see or touch like a person or car.
An "abstract noun" is something that you cannot see or touch like a decision or happiness.
A "countable noun" is something that you can count (for example: bottle, song, dollar).
An "uncountable noun" is something that you cannot count (for example: water, music, money).

*Object In the active voice, a noun or its equivalent that receives the action of the verb. In the passive voice, a noun or its equivalent that does the action of the verb.
*Participle The -ing and -ed forms of verbs. The -ing form is called the "present participle". The -ed form is called the "past participle" (for irregular verbs, this is column 3).
*Part Of Speech One of the eight classes of word in English - noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction and interjection.
*Passive Voice In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb (eg The President was killed). See also Active Voice.
PhraseA group of words not containing a subject and its verb (eg on the table, the girl in a red dress).
*Predicate Each sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The predicate is what is said about the subject.
*Preposition A word like at, to, in, over etc. Prepositions usually come before a noun and give information about things like time, place and direction.
*Pronoun A word like I, me, you, he, him, it etc. A pronoun replaces a noun.
*Sentence A group of words that express a thought. A sentence conveys a statement, question, exclamation or command. A sentence contains or implies a subject and a predicate. In simple terms, a sentence must contain a verb and (usually) a subject. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!).
SubjectEvery sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the main noun (or equivalent) in a sentence about which something is said.
TenseThe form of a verb that shows us when the action or state happens (past, present or future). Note that the name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens. The "present continuous tense", for example, can be used to talk about the present or the future.
VerbA word like (to) work, (to) love, (to) begin. A verb describes an action or state.


What is Grammar?
Grammar is the system of a language. People sometimes describe grammar as the "rules" of a language; but in fact no language has rules*. If we use the word "rules", we suggest that somebody created the rules first and then spoke the language, like a new game. But languages did not start like that. Languages started by people making sounds which evolved into words, phrases and sentences. No commonly-spoken language is fixed. All languages change over time. What we call "grammar" is simply a reflection of a language at a particular time.
Do we need to study grammar to learn a language? The short answer is "no". Very many people in the world speak their own, native language without having studied its grammar. Children start to speak before they even know the word "grammar". But if you are serious about learning a foreign language, the long answer is "yes, grammar can help you to learn a language more quickly and more efficiently." It's important to think of grammar as something that can help you, like a friend. When you understand the grammar (or system) of a language, you can understand many things yourself, without having to ask a teacher or look in a book.



Parts of Speech Table
This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech*. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech.

Verb
action or state
(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must
EnglishClub.com is a web site. I like EnglishClub.com.
Noun
thing or person
pen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher, John
This is my dog. He lives in my house. We live in London.
Adjective
describes a noun
a/an, the, 69, some, good, big, red, well, interesting
My dog is big. I like big dogs.
Adverb
describes a verb, adjective or adverb
quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really
My dog eats quickly. When he is very hungry, he eats really quickly.
Pronoun
replaces a noun
I, you, he, she, some
Tara is Indian. She is beautiful.
Preposition
links a noun to another word
to, at, after, on, but
We went to school on Monday.
Conjunction
joins clauses or sentences or words
and, but, when
I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and dogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.
Interjection
short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence
oh!, ouch!, hi!, well
Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How are you? Well, I don't know.
* Some grammar sources categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub.com, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech. Examples of other categorizations are:
Verbs may be treated as two different parts of speech:
Lexical Verbs (work, like, run)
Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must)
Determiners may be treated as a separate part of speech, instead of being categorized under Adjectives



Words with More than One Job
Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many nouns can act as adjectives.
To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word doing in this sentence?"
In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word but has six jobs to do:
verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!

British and American Culture

There are vast differences in culture between Americans and their British Commonwealth counterparts throughout the world.
American English is spoken in the USA, Canada and many Pacific Rim countries where America has exerted an influence.
British English is spoken throughout the British Commonwealth of 54 countries, some of the most notable being the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with Canada being the exception. Although part of the Commonwealth, Canadians tend to speak a mixture of American and British English due to that country's proximity to the USA (although they spell the British way).

*In the dictionary section, you will see how many words differ completely between the two "languages". This is a virtual "Yank to Limey speak" dictionary - the words are listed in alphabetical order by American English word. Or visit the search page to find a specific word or phrase.
*The FAQ (frequently asked questions) covers those often asked questions about Commonwealthers and Americans. Questions such as why are American's called Yanks and the English called Limeys, and where does that "bloody" word come from the English use in every sentence?
*Spelling covers that vast and confusing differences in the ways of spelling the exact same word.
*Pronunciation covers the differences in the way Americans and Commonwealthers sound certain words.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Much of what I say at this site is a GENERALIZATION, OK? Yes, there are and will be exceptions to some of the things mentioned, as I can hardly take every nuance of every part of all these countries into consideration. PLEASE don't go writing me nasty emails about how I am wrong because you have been to a restaurant in America where the check is never brought unless asked for first! That would fall under my above mentioned EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE!
This website is a tongue in cheek look at the differences in the culture and is not meant to be a definitive authority on the subject.

The FAQ:

The way words are pronounced in America differs quite substantially from the Commonwealth. This goes to accents, of course, which differ vastly even WITHIN America AND within individual Commonwealth countries.
Some states in the USA use more of a British pronunciation (New England) while other states use a more American middle-ground pronunciation (West Coast) and at the same time other states use a barely understandable off-shoot of the American language (the South)!
In London alone there are many different accents, never mind other Commonwealth countries. Even a small country like South Africa has several different accents.
However, there are some common threads that definitely distinguish Americans from Commonwealthers.

The Rounded A

People in the Commonwealth pronounce many of their A's in a rounded way. That is, their mouths have a rounded shape. American's pronounce some a's this way, such as "park" and "car", but most a's have a flatter sound, like the a in "hat".
Example: the "a" in the word "ask" is pronounced like the a in "hat" in America but in the Commonwealth the "a" in "ask" is pronounced more like the "a" in "car" or "park". The same with "plaza", "task", "mask", "answer", "afternoon" and many others.

T's versus D's

Commonwealthers pronounce their t's with precision. Americans tend to either drop their t's completely, or replace them with a d. Here are some examples:
-Mountain
-Moun'in
-Daughter
-Dawder
-Letter
-ledder
-Norton
-Nor'in

The '..in'

American do not pronounce the "g" in many words ending "ing". Examples"
-Running -Runnin'
-Walking

-Walkin'
-Riding -Ridin'
-Driving -Drivin'

The U

U's in America are pronounced like a double o, while in the Commonwealth they are pronounced like a "ew". Here are some examples:

World- USA- Commonwealth

-Stupid -Stoopid -Stewpid
-Student -Stoodent -Stewdent

The -ter

Many people from Britain drop their r's at the end of words ending-ter, while ALSO dropping the t. While Americans will fully pronounce the r (some might drop the t, though).

Word Sound like:
Generator gena-ra-yar

Meter mee-ah

The i

Certain words or prefixes that have an an "i" in them are pronounced differently.

World - USA - Commonwealth

-Anti- -An-TYE -An-TEE
-Vitamin -Vye-tamin -vuht-amin

The Others

Then there are words that are pronounced differently for no real discernable reason!

Word - USA - Commonwealth

-Schedule -Sked-jule -Shed-jill
-Lever -leh-ver -lee-ver

-Pedophile -peh-dofile -pee-diofile
-Route -R-ow-t -Root
-Aluminum -A-loo-minum -Alu-mee-nium
-Mazda -M-ahz-da -M-ehz-da
-Nissan -Neeson -Niss-eh-n
-Leisure -Lee-sure -Leh-sure

Emphasis

Where the emphasis in words is placed varies between Americans and Commonwealthers as well. Americans tend to place the emphasis in most words on the first syllable. In the Commonwealth, more often it is on the second syllable. This can make the word sound VERY differently.
USA Commonwealth
-CON-troversy -Con-TROV-ersy

-A-dddress -A-DDRESS
-IS-sue -Is-SUE

Adding an "s"

In the word "forward", Commonwealthers add an "s" on the end. As in: "Move that car forwards a little".

Difference between plurals and singulars

When speaking about a group or a team. In the Commonwealth, they may say, "Italy are playing well tonight." Americans would say, "Italy is playing well tonight."

Adding a "R"

Some Commonwealthers add -r to words ending in an A. Like the British would pronounce America like 'Americar' or Cuba like 'Cubar'. This is also prevalent in many New Britain states (especially Massachusetts).

Should vs. Would

Commonwealthers use the word "should" where American's use the word "would". E.G. "I should think that he will like that." vs. in America: "I would think that he would like that".

Welcome

Hello my dear collegues from the second group 2008 I. !!!

Welcome to the virtual language video by giving classes online. Teaching of the foreing language in the classroom can focus the differents ways of communication as a combination of different methods such as the role of the teacher and the students in communicative activities that can be developed in a class as a second languages.

"..If you are planning for a year,sow rice;If you are planning for a decade ,plant trees:If you are planning for a lifetime,Educate People.."Chinese Proverb

Communicative Approach

Summary

This article refers to the way teachers can focus the teaching of the foreign language in the classroom in such a way that students can communicate in a conscious way, taking into account their real experiences. Here, the origin of the Communicative Approach as a combination of different methods is clearly explained, as such as the role of the teacher and the students in a communicative English as a Second Language class. The article also gives some examples of communicative activities that can be developed in a class from the communicative point of view. This digest will take a look at the communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages. It is intended as an introduction to the communicative approach for teachers and teachers-in-training who want to provide opportunities in the classroom for their students to engage in real-life communication in the target language. Questions to be dealt with include what the communicative approach is, where it came from, and how teachers' and students' roles differ from the roles they play in other teaching approaches. Examples of exercises that can be used with a communicative approach are described, and sources of appropriate materials are provided.

WHERE DOES COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING COME FROM?

Its origins are many, insofar as one teaching methodology tends to influence the next. The communicative approach could be said to be the product of educators and linguists who had grown dissatisfied with the audiolingual and grammar-translation methods of foreign language instruction. They felt that students were not learning enough realistic, whole language. They did not know how to communicate using appropriate social language, gestures, or expressions; in brief, they were at a loss to communicate in the culture of the language studied. Interest in and development of communicative-style teaching mushroomed in the 1970s; authentic language use and classroom exchanges where students engaged in real communication with one another became quite popular. In the intervening years, the communicative approach has been adapted to the elementary, middle, secondary, and post-secondary levels, and the underlying philosophy has spawned different teaching methods known under a variety of names, including notional-functional, teaching for proficiency, proficiency-based instruction, and communicative language teaching.

WHAT IS COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING?

Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication. The teacher sets up a situation that students are likely to encounter in real life. Unlike the audiolingual method of language teaching, which relies on repetition and drills, the communicative approach can leave students in suspense as to the outcome of a class exercise, which will vary according to their reactions and responses. The real-life simulations change from day to day. Students' motivation to learn comes from their desire to communicate in meaningful ways about meaningful topics. Margie S. Berns, an expert in the field of communicative language teaching, writes in explaining Firth's view that "language is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society. In this light, language study has to look at the use (function) of language in context, both its linguistic context (what is uttered before and after a given piece of discourse) and its social, or situational, context (who is speaking, what their social roles are, why they have come together to speak)" (Berns, 1984, p. 5).

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF COMMUNICATIVE EXERCISES?

In a communicative classroom for beginners, the teacher might begin by passing out cards, each with a different name printed on it. The teacher then proceeds to model an exchange of introductions in the target language: "Guten Tag. Wieheissen Sie?" Reply: "Icheisse Wolfie," for example. Using a combination of the target language and gestures, the teacher conveys the task at hand, and gets the students to introduce themselves and ask their classmates for information. They are responding in German to a question in German. They do not know the answers beforehand, as they are each holding cards with their new identities written on them; hence, there is an authentic exchange of information. Later during the class, as a reinforcement listening exercise, the students might hear a recorded exchange between two German freshmen meeting each other for the first time at the gymnasium doors. Then the teacher might explain, in English, the differences among German greetings in various social situations.

Finally, the teacher will explain some of the grammar points and structures used. The following exercise is taken from a 1987 workshop on communicative foreign language teaching, given for Delaware language teachers by Karen Willetts and Lynn Thompson of the Center for Applied Linguistics. The exercise, called "Eavesdropping," is aimed at advanced students. "Instructions to students" Listen to a conversation somewhere in a public place and be prepared to answer, in the target language, some general questions about what was said.

1. Who was talking?
2. About how old were they?
3. Where were they when you eavesdropped?
4. What were they talking about?
5. What did they say?
6. Did they become aware that you were listening to them?

The exercise puts students in a real-world listening situation where they must report information overheard. Most likely they have an opinion of the topic, and a class discussion could follow, in the target language, about their experiences and viewpoints.
Communicative exercises such as this motivate the students by treating topics of their choice, at an appropriately challenging level. Another exercise taken from the same source is for beginning students of Spanish.
In "Listening for the Gist," students are placed in an everyday situation where they must listen to an authentic text.
"Objective." Students listen to a passage to get general understanding of the topic or message. "Directions." Have students listen to the following announcement to decide what the speaker is promoting.
"Passage" "Situacion ideal...Servicio de transporte al Aeropuerto Internacional...Cuarenta y dos habitaciones de lujo, con aire acondicionado...Elegante restaurante...de fama internacional." (The announcement can be read by the teacher or played on tape.)
Then ask students to circle the letter of the most appropriate answer on their copy, which consists of the following multiple-choice options:
a taxi service
b. a hotel
c. an airport
d. a restaurant (Source: Adapted from Ontario Assessment Instrument Pool, 1980, Item No. 13019) Gunter Gerngross, an English teacher in Austria, gives an example of how he makes his lessons more communicative.

He cites a widely used textbook that shows English children having a pet show. "Even when learners act out this scene creatively and enthusiastically, they do not reach the depth of involvement that is almost tangible when they act out a short text that presents a family conflict revolving round the question of whether the children should be allowed to have a pet or not" (Gerngross & Puchta, 1984, p. 92). He continues to say that the communicative approach

"puts great emphasis on listening, which implies an active will to try to understand others. [This is] one of the hardest tasks to achieve because the children are used to listening to the teacher but not to their peers. There are no quick, set recipes. That the teacher be a patient listener is the basic requirement" (p. 98). The observation by Gerngross on the role of the teacher as one of listener rather than speaker brings up several points to be discussed in the next portion of this digest.

HOW DO THE ROLES OF THE TEACHER AND STUDENT CHANGE IN COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING?

Teachers in communicative classrooms will find themselves talking less and listening more--becoming active facilitators of their students' learning (Larsen-Freeman, 1986). The teacher sets up the exercise, but because the students' performance is the goal, the teacher must step back and observe, sometimes acting as referee or monitor. A classroom during a communicative activity is far from quiet, however. The students do most of the speaking, and frequently the scene of a classroom during a communicative exercise is active, with students leaving their seats to complete a task. Because of the increased responsibility to participate, students may find they gain confidence in using the target language in general. Students are more responsible managers of their own learning (Larsen-Freeman, 1986).