The first part of this manuscript analyses a text by describing the following features: its social purpose and context; its audience; its register; its grammatical features at the level of the whole text i.e. its cohesion and coherence; its sentence or clause level grammatical features. Then it designs a series of grammar-focussed learning tasks which fit together in a cohesive learning program based on the text and the grammatical analysis of it, and which enhance the learners’ understanding of the meaning of the whole text. The second part of this paper briefly reviews current issues in the teaching of grammar in the field of TESOL.
Table of Contents
Report on Grammar and Language Teaching
Introduction
Chapter One: Text Linguistics
1. Genre
2. Register
3. Coherence
4. Cohesion
4.1. Reference:
4.2. Ellipsis
4.3. Substitution
4.4. Conjunctions
4.5. Lexical cohesion
4.6. Text connectives
5. Morphology
6. Word classes
7. The tenses
8. Auxiliary verbs
9. Phrases and Words
10. Sentences and Clauses
11. Types of sentences
12. Speech acts types
13. Learning tasks
Chapter Two: Current issues in grammar teaching
Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this work is to provide a comprehensive discourse analysis of a narrative text by examining its structural, grammatical, and linguistic features, subsequently translating these findings into pedagogical applications for intermediate English learners. The second focus involves a theoretical review of current debates surrounding grammar instruction within the field of TESOL.
- Textual analysis of cohesion, coherence, and register in narrative discourse.
- Evaluation of grammatical structures including morphology, syntax, and speech acts.
- Design of task-based learning activities for intermediate-level students.
- Discussion of current controversies in grammar teaching (e.g., inductive vs. deductive approaches).
- Integration of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) frameworks in the classroom.
Excerpt from the Book
4. Cohesion
The next field of consideration while doing discourse analysis is the cohesion of the text, which Halliday and Hasan (1976) view as “the basis for coherence.” To support their definition of these two concepts they further state “… cohesion is the foundation on which the edifice of coherence is built. Like all foundations, it is necessary but not sufficient by itself.” (Celce-Murcia & Olshtain 2000, p.125). The cohesive ties that are used in the language to connect different linguistic items in the text create cohesion. Therefore, cohesion is the bottom-up connections in a text (Celce-Murcia & Olshtain 2000). There are grammatical and lexical ties. Grammatical ties in their turn have four categories: reference, ellipsis, substitution and conjunction. Through the bottom-up approach to text analysis many cohesive ties, both lexical and grammatical are evident which bring the texts to be cohesive.
Chapter Summaries
Report on Grammar and Language Teaching: Outlines the dual focus of the paper: a linguistic text analysis of "The Carnival" followed by a discussion of contemporary grammar teaching issues.
Introduction: Describes the methodology for analyzing the text's social purpose, register, and grammar, alongside the development of grammar-focused learning tasks.
Chapter One: Text Linguistics: Provides a detailed discourse analysis of a specific fairy tale, covering elements from genre and cohesion to sentence structure and speech acts, resulting in practical classroom activities.
Chapter Two: Current issues in grammar teaching: Examines theoretical controversies in language instruction, such as prescriptive vs. descriptive grammar, deductive vs. inductive methods, and intensive vs. extensive approaches.
Keywords
Text Linguistics, Cohesion, Coherence, Discourse Analysis, Grammar Teaching, TESOL, Narrative Genre, Pedagogical Tasks, Communicative Language Teaching, Inductive Method, Deductive Method, Morphology, Syntax, Second Language Acquisition, Task-based Learning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
This paper focuses on the discourse analysis of a specific narrative text and the exploration of current theoretical issues regarding grammar instruction in English language teaching.
What are the central thematic areas covered in the analysis?
The analysis covers textual features like cohesion, coherence, and register, as well as grammatical structures including morphology, sentence types, and speech acts.
What is the main goal of the pedagogical section of the work?
The goal is to develop interactive reading skills and enhance students' understanding of how grammatical features contribute to the overall meaning of a text through a coherent learning program.
Which linguistic methodology is applied to the text analysis?
The paper utilizes a bottom-up approach to text analysis, focusing on cohesive ties, syntactic structures, and specific grammatical elements found within the narrative.
What is discussed in the second chapter regarding language instruction?
Chapter Two reviews controversial issues such as the balance between prescriptive and descriptive grammar, the debate between explicit and implicit knowledge, and the shift toward communicative and task-based approaches.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
Key terms include Text Linguistics, Cohesion, Communicative Language Teaching, Discourse Analysis, and Task-based Learning.
How does the author define the relationship between cohesion and coherence?
Citing Halliday and Hasan, the author establishes cohesion as the necessary foundation upon which the edifice of coherence is constructed.
How are the "Jigsaw activities" intended to help students?
The Jigsaw activities are designed to raise student consciousness of linguistic elements by forcing them to rearrange text segments, thereby discovering links between paragraphs and the importance of cohesive ties.
Why does the author differentiate between prescriptive and descriptive grammar?
The distinction is highlighted to show the shift in modern linguistics away from rigid prescriptive rule-following toward descriptive models that reflect how language is actually used in real-world communication.
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- Ahmad Altasan (Autor:in), 2009, Text Linguistics. Report on Grammar and Language Teaching, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/345370
