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Unit 1: Discourse & Grammar: Basic Concepts
- List the levels that are distinguished in the study of English Language.
There are five levels of English:
- phonology (sound system),
- morphology (word structure and word formation),
- lexicology (study of the lexicon),
- syntax (structure)
- semantics (study of conventional linguistic meaning).
- Some grammars also include graphology (the spelling system and punctuation) and pragmatics (meaning of utterances beyond the sentence).
- What is the object of study of syntax?
Syntax deals with how sentences and utterances are formed and studies patterns of arrangement, that is, the ways and rules whereby words or other elements of a sentence combine to form sentences, clauses or phrases.
- What does morphology deal with?
Morphology deals with the structure and the rules for word formation.
- Why is grammar a controversial issue in language teaching and learning?
Because, nowadays, it is still unknown if grammar should be taught and how it should be done.
- Define prescriptive grammar.
Prescriptive grammar provides rules for correct usage.
- Define descriptive grammar.
Descriptive grammar describes how a language is actually used.
- Define generative grammar.
Generative grammar provides rules for the production of an infinite number of sentences in a languages.
- Why may the choice of one or another grammar influence language learning?
Because each grammar focuses on a different part of it, that’s why it has to decide which is the most appropriate for us or for the subject itself.
A text is a piece of language in use, i.e., language that is functional.
A text has texture and texture comes from the way the meanings in the text fit coherently with each other.
- What do we mean by intuitions about how language works? Explain using your own words and give an example.
Good speakers and good writers are not born as such, if you mater the patterning potential, namely the different possibilities that English offer you to put your message across, you can always say what you mean and write, and anyone who shares the code will understand you.
- What 4 elements allow us to differentiate between different contexts?
- The participants (who is speaking and who is listening),
- the action (what the people involved in the communicative act are doing),
- the place
- and the time.
- What influences language choice? Give an example.
Language choice is influenced by certain aspects of the context in which it is use, I. e. , our ability to discriminate and classify language experiences comes about because we have ourselves experienced how English works in different contexts and we recognize and reproduce appropriate language when the situation arises and context recur.
- What do we understand by: the grammar of choice and the grammar of structure?
- Grammar as structure: what rules does the r¡learner need to know in order to use form effectively. [for example, rule of ellipsis]
- Grammar as choice: in such a case as this means when it is normal to use ellipsis, the forms of ellipsis that are more likely to be used in spoken than in written modes….
- Explain: context of situation.
The context is all that’s going on in the world outside a text that significantly shape it and this include the participants, the action, the place and the time.
- Give examples of a clause, a phrase and a word.
Clause: Noun clause I believe That everything happens for a reason.
Phrase: Noun Phrase The young man threw the old dog a bone
Word:
- What is the minimal unit for syntactic analysis?
Word.
- Define and give an example of a finite clause.
Finite clause is a clause marked for either tense or modality; their function is to relate the verb to the speech event.
EX: eat ate, eaten, eats….
- Define and give an example of a non-finite clause.
Non-finite clause is clause that does not signal either tense or modality.
EX: to infinitive (to eat), infinitive (eat), participal –ing form (eating) and The past participial form (eaten).
- Define and give an example of an independent clause.
A independent clause is a clause that is complete in itself, that is, it does not form part of a larger structure.
EX: They locked up the house [indep. Cl] , before they went on holiday.
- Define and give an example of a dependent clause.
A dependent clause is related to an independent clause, i.e., it has to be linked to an independent clause because it does not have meaning by itself.
EX: They locked up the house, before they went on holiday [Dep. Cl] ,.
- How many types of phrases can we identify? How do we identify the different types of phrases?
There are 5 types of phrases: noun phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase, verb phrase and prepositional phrase; and they can be identified by the head of the phrase.
- Define the unit phrase. Give an example the different types of phrases.
Phrases are units that centre round one main element, which prototypically cannot be omitted.
- Noun Phrase: films
- Adjective Phrase: good
- Adverb Phrase: fluently
- Verb Phrase: return
- Prepositional Phrase: in the garden.
- Difference between open vs closed word classes.
Open classes are those that freely admit new members into the vocabulary instead of closed classes do not admit new members because it is a fixed list.
- Open/ lexical words: list and give one example of each.
Words that belong to this category are verb, noun, adjective, and adverb.
EX: noun woman, cat, tree; verb eat, drive, wait; adjective beautiful, happy, sad; adverb hopefully, fortunately, immensely.
- Closed words: list and give one example of each.
Words that belong to this category are pronouns, prepositions, determinatives, conjunctions and interjections.
EX: pronoun you, me, us; preposition of, about, on; determinative the, a, any; conjunction but, and, or; interjection ah, wow, hey.
{From….1.10}
- Syntactic structure: define.
The term “structure” refers to the relationships that exist between the small units that make up a larger unit.
- Differentiate between: experimental, interpersonal and textual meaning in systemic functional grammar. Give an example.
- Experimental: is the function for contruining human experience, i.e., mit is the means by which we make sense of reality.
- Interpersonal: relates to a text’s aspects of tenor or interactivity.
- Textual: relates to mode, the internal organization and communicative nature of a text.
- What are the primary elements common to all types of Phrases?
A head (h) preceded by a pre-modifier (m) and followed by a post-modifier (m).
- Explain the advantages of “head-base” concept.
The head-base concept of a phrase allows for a phrase to consist of a single word and also for a phrase to host another phrase, rather than a word, as its head.
- Can we consider discourse as a larger type of sentence?
No, because a piece of discourse is quite different in kind from a grammatical unit, it is a pragmatic- semantic unit of whatever length, spoken or written, and which forms a unified whole, with respect both to its internal properties and to the social context in which is produced.
- Define and give an example of coordination.
Two parts of a sentence liked by a coordinate conjuction that both have the same status in the sentence.
EX: I was in the supermarket and after I went to Clara’s home.
- Define and give an example of subordination.
Two parts of a sentence that not have the same status because one clause depend on the independent clause because, if the independent clause does not exist, the dependent clause does not have a complete meaning by itself.
EX:[ I’ ll let you the CD’s](Indep. C) before the wedding
- Define and give an example of embedding.
A kind of subordination by which a clause functions as a constituent of another clause or of a phrase.
EX: thanks for the card [you sent me]
Unit 2: Nouns & Nouns Phrases
Heads (pre-posed items, at discourse level):
- Defined pre-posed item.
It is a device used by speakers to manipulate clause structures at the opening of clauses with the intention of emphasizing, intensifying…
- What is the effect of using fronted items?
The effect of using fronted items is to help the listener and highlight the type of information which is coming next.
- What elements are used in pre-posed positions?
Heads are generally noun phrases, including complex constructions such as reduced relative clauses.
- Do heads occur in spoken and writing English? Are they equally common in both?
Heads occur in spoken and in written English but are more common in speech. Fronting units can serve as a kind of frame for narratives, jokes and sayings in speech.
- What does the amount of information fronted depend on?
The amount of information fronted depends on how much the speaker thinks the listener(s) already knows.
- What are pre-posed units used for in narrative?
In narrative, pre-posed units can highlight the main characters, or setting, or even give a summary of a key point.
Nouns and noun Phrase:
Please provide a brief answers for each one of the questions below heading. Remember that whenever you give examples, they will always must be contextualized (part of a sentence/ clause).
- We use nouns to refer to…people, animals, things, and places, and how we perceive them or experience them, so that we convey our worldview.
- Types of nouns.
Nouns can be common nouns or proper and, inside the cathegory of common nouns we can find countable and uncountable nouns.
- Define common nouns and give 3 examples not listed in the unit.
Common nouns are words that refer to entities that are not unique.
EX: glass, tv, window.
- What can proper nouns refer to? List three possible classes and give examples different from those listed in the handout.
Proper nouns are words that refer to unique entities: places (The London Eye), calendar terms (Easter), religions (Christianity).
- What is the difference between common and proper nouns?
There is no absolute clear-cut division between common and proper nouns, since proper nouns can sometimes function as common nouns by taking determiners, e.g., the Smiths.
But, in the first instance, the difference is that while in proper nouns are defined as unique entities ( John, Hope) , common noun are definided as entities that are not unique ( police, belongings).
- What is the difference between mass/uncountable and count nouns? List 2 examples of each different from those listed in the book.
Count nouns: separate units, both singular and plural forms ( dog, table).
Uncountable/mass nouns: cannot be counted, no contrast between singular and plural ( gold, malaria).
- Give three examples of the different types/groups of uncountable nouns different from those listed in the handout.
EX: liquids (milk), state of mind (friendship), processes (judicial).
- Define plural uncountable/non-count nouns. What is their main syntactic characteristic? Give three examples.
Plural uncountable nouns cannot combine with numerals, therefore they cannot be counted. They do not vary in form and morphologically they are plurals. EX: jeans, outskirts, clothes.
- Define collective nouns. Give 3 examples different from those listed in the handout.
These refer to groups of people viewed as single entities.
EX: police, army, family.
- How do we decide between the singular and plural form in collective nouns.
- The determiner (optional): are often restricted to the initial slot of NPs and it particularizes the noun in different ways.
- The modifiers (optional): they can be placed before (premodifiers) and after the head (post-modifiers).
- The head of a NP may be realized by a noun-pronoun , an adjective, a numeral- pronoun or a participle. Give one example of each.
EX: the dog/ I (noun/pronoun), the rich (adjective), the wounded (participle), these two (numeral-pronoun).
- Define, list and give examples of 3 possible (pre) modifiers of the NP.
Semantically, premodifiers classify (classify modifier) or describe (descriptive modifier) the noun.
A descriptive modifier only describes the referent and can be premodified by intensifiers whilst a classifying modifier creates a subclass denoted by the head of the NP and do not admit intensification.
EX: his pretty wife (descriptive) vs a polar bear (classifying).
- Define, list and give examples of 3 possible (post) modifiers of the NP.
Post modifiers are placed after the verb and his realization can be:
- Prepositional phrases: the man in the blue suit.
- Relative clauses: the man who was wearing the blue suit is my uncle.
- -ed clauses: the man expelled from the country.
- -ing clauses: the man wearing the blue suit is my uncle.
- To infinitive clauses: the man to be sent to jail is my uncle.
- What is the difference between a descriptive and a classifying (pre) modifier? Give 2 examples different from those in the handout.
A descriptive modifier only describes the referent and can be premodified by intensifiers whilst a classifying modifier creates a subclass denoted by the head of the NP and do not admit intensification.
EX: his pretty wife (descriptive) vs a polar bear (classifying).
- List and give an example of 4 possible functions of NPs as constituents of other phrases.
- NP’s can be embedded within other NPs: ([the sixth [of seven scarifying trailers for Shark Week]). When this happens, NPs can function as: 1. NPs as premodifiers (m) in NPs: a university education. 2. NPs as post modifiers of another NP (m): a city the size of Madrid 3. NPs as modifiers of AdjPs and AdvPs denoting measure: the box is two pounds heavier than that. 4. Completive of a prepositional phrase: the letter is [for his mother]
Unit 3: Determiners & Pronouns
- Determinatives: definition.
Determinative refers to the type of words that realize the function of the determiner in the NP articles, demonstratives, possessives, distributives, quantifiers.
- At semantic level, what do determinatives express?
They express the different features the speaker chooses in order to select and particularize the noun referent within the context of discourse.
- Difference between determiner and determinative.
The term determinative (det) refers to the type of words that realise the function (articles, demonstratives, possessives, distributives, quantifiers) of determiner in the NP.
- Types and subtypes of determinatives according to Downing & Locke (2006).
Four main types of selection:
- Defining and particularizing: 1. articles, 2. demonstratives, 3. possessives & genitive determinatives, 4. ‘s phrase or genitive.
