English Verbs and Basic Sentences, Essay Example

Summary-Identifying Verbs and Core Sentences

Grammar is a system that puts words together in a meaningful way. The earliest known grammar book was written in 1762 by Robert Lowth. He said that his goal in writing the book was to teach people how to “express themselves with propriety” Many grammar books today still follow Lowth’s goal. Grammar rules are concerned with making people speak and write in a way that is socially correct. Doing grammar means studying the structure of the English language. Grammar is just like the human body; all parts work together and serve a purpose. Verbs are essential to sentences. The authors note the verbs tell you something. If one is able to identify the types of verbs, he/she will be able to identify basic structure of a sentence. Verbs are differentiated by two criteria: the constituent that is to the right, and its relationship with the verb. Verbs must be followed by a noun phrase, adjective phrase, or and adverb. Intransitive verbs are the only exception to t his rule. Intransitives do not need nouns or adjective phrases. They can also end sentences. Linking verbs can not end sentences like intransitives. They must be followed by an adjective or noun phrases. There are only about two dozen linking verbs in the English language. Transitive verbs contain thousand of verbs. They must be followed immediately by a noun phrase. Indirect and direct objects work along with verbs. They are determined by the type of verb the sentence contains. Transitive verbs will always have a direct object and intransitive verbs will always have indirect objects. The verb and its slots make up the basic syntax of a sentence. A verb can change depending upon the type of sentence it is in. Knowing verbs and how they are used is the foundation for writing and speaking correctly. Teacher must spend more time teaching students how to locate verbs. This requires rote memory of writing rules or grammar rules. Students must know the eight parts of speech and how they interact with the syntax of the sentence. This can be done through practice; teachers can have student to work with various types of sentences.

Summary-Why It Makes Sense to Teach Grammar in Context and Through Discourse

Contextual knowledge interacts with other types of knowledge. However, grammar knowledge is context free. Being able to use grammar properly means making decisions about when to use one form of a verb rather than another. To communicate effectively, one must be able to distinguish effectively. To teach grammar one must use context embedded discourse, rather than abstract ideals. In other words, it is important for the student to see grammar used in sentences that are relevant to them. Teachers are often confused as to where to find teacher materials that are relevant to their students. Grammar can be taught through spoken discourse. Non-native English speakers often have trouble with changing forms of verbs and words that mean the same thing, but have different context. Discourse is described as a unit of coherent language that consists of more than one sentence. In other words discourse is spoken or written language that coherently relates some external communicative function or purpose. Through the discourse approach to grammar the authors suggest that not only should the teacher place great emphasis of context, but also of assessment of how they teach other aspects of language like articles. The overall purpose is to shift from teaching the grammatical structure to a more communicative and meaningful approach. The authors of this article are conveying the importance of going beyond grammatical teaching and incorporating engaging text for grammar instruction.  Teaching grammar should not occur in an isolated manner. To ensure that students are leaning more meaningful strategies must be implemented. According to the article, when teachers use form based approach, they often teach from a context point of view only.  The most common reason for teaching grammar is to improve the students speaking and writing ability. Nonetheless, research has proved that this has not accomplished its goal of improving writing and speaking skills. Few still actually learn grammar, few retain the knowledge beyond passing the tests, and even fewer are able to correct themselves in speaking and writing. So, ideally to make students retain the information they gain it is proposed that if the way they learn it is meaningful they will retain it.

Analysis/Reflections-Identifying Verbs and Core

The first article was very informative and easy to read. I think this article will shed light on how to teach grammar is such a way that it will be meaningful to both the teacher and students. I totally agree with the concept that the verb is the most important aspect of sentence. When students are able to locate the verb, they can better decipher the sentence. They referred to the verb as being the nuclei of the sentence. Also, more emphasis is place on English as a communicative skill rather than just leaning it for the sake of learning it. . The authors seem to view grammatical competence as one’s ability to produce sentences in an understood language. Being competent means knowing how to use language for a range of purposes, knowing when to use formal and informal speech, and knowing how to communicate despite having limitations. The authors speak of the difficulty that foreigners have. They may know the word and its definition but be unable to use it in the correct context.  What struck me the most about this article was the fact that they focus on the verb more than any other part of the sentence. Growing up, I was always taught to identify the subject first. Next, you were to ask yourself what he or she did or is doing.  That tactic worked fairly well for me. However, I can see how this would be a more efficient way to understand a sentence. I also liked how they discussed the transitive and intransitive verbs as slot holders. They make one view sentences as puzzles. When you look at it in that light it is much simpler. Every part of speech has a place in the sentence. However, one must be able to identify them in order to know where they belong.  Overall, I believe this article would be beneficial to anyone teach English.

Analysis/Reflections-What Makes Sense…

This article was quite wordy and difficult to understand. If one is able to get through the wordiness, there are some aspects that may be helpful to language teachers.  The author wants to convey that grammar rules can not be applied with out the knowledge of context. However, several exceptions were pointed out: verbs and verb phrases must be followed by a gerund phrase and determiners must agree in number. The author argues that subject verb agreement is not context free like previously thought. The author also mentions some of the problems that students who are not native English speakers have. I agree that non-native English people have these issues. I have a friend who is a native Spanish speaker. She has problems with adjectives being misplaced. She often puts the noun before the adjective. Instead of saying hot sauce, she would say sauce hot. She also has problems with using the right verb tense with the subject. She would say I run yesterday instead of I ran yesterday. I agree with the author in the way she defines grammar. It includes all aspects of syntax, morphology, and the function of words. So many teachers teach grammar centered around one aspect, either writing or speaking.  However, I believe it is a combination of the two. To me, it seems that the two articles compliment each other. The first article focuses on the content of sentences and how parts of speech work together to form thoughts and communication. The second article discusses how to address teaching these in teaching. I believe both articles are urging teaches to teach English through meaningful ways Use sentences that discuss a specific topic. This way the lesson is meaning to the learner; therefore, the learner is likely to retain the information. Learners must also know content. If a learner is reading a sentence and does not know the content in which it is using, he/she will likely be unable to properly understand the syntax or discourse of the sentence. This article would be meaningful for English teachers because it requires them to think more in-depth about the type of materials they uses to teach grammar.