Unit 1
Approach VS Method
•Method tidy way to get to a result, specially the truth or to sistematice our
knowledge. It is the way of teaching.
•Approach it is getting something, a result, focusing on an specific topic.
Context in Approaches to Grammar
Each approach in grammar makes assumptions about:
• Nature of language
• Develops its own techniques
• Terminology for grammatical analysis
The focus on the relationship between grammar, context and how a number of
approaches to grammar consider this and have things to say about it.
1. Types of Approaches
•Formal “set of rules which specify all the possible grammatical structures of
language”
A distinction between ungrammatical and grammatical sentences is made but the
primary concern is together with the forms of grammatical structures and their
relationship rather than in meaning or use in different contexts.
Set of rules, structure of sentences // traditional and generative grammar
•Functional it sees language first as a system of communication and analyses
grammar to discover how it is originated to allow speakers and writers to make
and exchange meanings. The focus is on the appropriateness of a form for a
particular communication purpose in a particular context. The primary concern
is with the functions of structures, constituents and also meaning in context.
Context, semantics, pragmatics, use of language, communication, interaction,
appropriateness, frequency // systematic, emergent and pattern grammar.
2. Types of Grammar
•Traditional it is concerned with linguistic forms and grammatical meaning,
acknowledgement of the relationship between context and grammatical is
limited. There is little or no attempt to describe which grammatical forms might
be considered appropriate or possible in given social situations, limited
comment on potential difference between spoken and written English.
•Generative it contains the most influential approaches given by Chomsky and
it differs from traditional grammar in a number of fundamental aspects:
1. Formal apparatus for representing language is radically different.
E.g.: traditional grammar sees a noun as ‘a word used for naming a
person...’ while generative grammar defines it in formal terms,
