The three-dimensional grammar

"Sentence and sub-sentence

phenomena"

An 31-year-old man, whose name is unknown, robbed the bank.

-vs-

About half a million pesos was...

Thank you!

References:

The University of North Carolina College of Arts and Sciences Writing Center. The Passive Voice. 2010. November 2013 <http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/passive-voice/>.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane. Grammar and Its Teaching: Challenging the Myths. March 1997. November 2013 <http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/larsen01.html>.

—. Teaching Grammar: In teaching English as a second or foreign language. Singapore: Heinle&Heinle-Thomson Learning, 2006.

Larsen-Freeman, Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane. The grammar book. Singapore: Heinle-Thomson Learning Asia, 2008.

Orwell, George. "Politics and the English Language." 1946.

The three-dimensional grammar

framework

Conclusions

• The multi-dimensional approach to grammar is a more progressive conceptual framework compared with the traditional single-level framework that focuses on form/structures only.
• However, many grammar teachers and students adhere to the single-level framework (or may not even be aware of the multi-dimensional approach!).

Hence, it will be timely to recalibrate the pedagogical styles so that non-native learners of the language can use English appropriately given the context.

Gidget Estella

COMA 220

Learning objectives:

1. To describe the three dimensional

grammar framework as defined by Larsen-

Freeman

2. To distinguish between the three dimensional framework and the traditional view

3. To construct a multi-dimensional approach to grammar structures

Illustration

The phrasal verbs

Formalism/structuralism

Form

vs

Meaning

How was it formed?

Functionalism

• Verb+particle
• Verb+particle+preposition
• Can be transitive or intransitive
• For many of them, the particle can be separated from the verb

Can be literal ("hang up") or figurative ("stumble upon"

Can have multiple meanings ("came across")

What does it mean?

Use

But viewing language as an

absolute dichotomy would be

an "oversimplification." (Schiffrin, 1994)

Informal versus formal English

"Put off" vs "Postpone"

"Went on" vs "Continued"

When and why is it used?

Three dimensional

grammar framework

Myths

Class activity (Now let's try it!)

These ideas reflect a shallow and traditional framework by which many people, teachers included, understand grammar.

The passive voice

Semantics

Lexical meaning or

grammatical meaning

Let us ask ourselves first. What

comes to mind when we hear the

word "grammar"?

Structure

Morphosyntactic and lexical patterns

Morphology + Syntax

Form

Meaning

(Larsen-Freeman, 1997)

Rules

• verb to be (is, are, am, among others) + past participle form
• In terms of basic sentence pattern:
• S-TV-DO --->S-LV-C
• Passive form tenses
• Ex. She was taken to the hospital (by her parents)

• The subject is the "receiver" of the action
• In converting active to passive voice, the direct object becomes the subject

Boring but scary.

Grammar

Pragmatics

Context-appropriate use

Context can be social or linguistic

Use

Arbitrary (Why? Because it is.)

Acquired, not taught

• When the object is more important than the doer of the action (i.e. exceptions in journalism)
• When the readers do not need to know who the doer of the action is
• Lack of clarity/precision in using the passive voice ("lazy writing")
• In scientific reports (the tone of objectivity). The trend now, however, is to stop relying on the passive voice
• "Swindles and perversions" in writing, as George Orwell described them

Some notes:

1. Notice that the dimensions are

wedges of the same pie. Therefore, they are not

hierarchically arranged, unlike in the traditional framework.

2. A change in one dimension involves a change in the other.

Baby Regina was delivered at 2:30 a.m.

yesterday

-vs-

Dr. Eroles delivered Baby Regina at 2.30

a.m. yesterday

The solution was desaturated by adding

50 ml H2O.

-vs-

We desaturated the solution by adding 50

ml H2O.

"Mistakes were made."

The new UP student code of conduct was criticized.