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Grammar Text Table of Contents
Text Chapter 2
Text Chapter 4
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 is just a list of terms. I refuse to define them. By the end of the semester you should be able to apply all of them in whatever way they are useful in discussing grammatical structures and ideas. The first word is "fuzzy." It is the most important word because it describes both the working of a grammarian’s mind and the reason why we should probably never take grammatical definitions very seriously. Then we will share them. If my memory was working right, I will provide some textbooks and handbooks to help you in your search. If not, I'll get my exercise running back to the office for them. Online I can't hand you any handbooks, but your Hacker Handbook and your online references should be helpful to you.
Notes:
1. Punctuation terms are not included. Although it sometimes marks grammatical constructions, punctuation is not grammar.
2. The purpose of teaching grammatical terminology is not to teach writing. Rather, it is to provide a language (metalanguage) with which to discuss grammar. Most teaching/learning of terminology can happen without prepared lessons as a natural part of the conversation about language and writing. The teacher simply uses the term in the context of the concept it represents. In the long run, using grammatical terminology in the discussion of writing takes up no more teaching time that the avoidance of such use. For instance, if a student can recognize a verb and its grammatical subject in a sentence, the teacher can easily draw attention to a subject/verb agreement problem in the student’s writing.
3. There is no pretense here that other grammatical terms will not come up in discussion. The terms listed above seem, however, to be essential to basic grammatical discussion and should become part of the jargon of the language arts classroom.
4. In cases where there are several terms for the same grammatical idea, I have chosen the term which seems most innately descriptive or representative of that idea. For instance, I have used subject complement rather that predicate adjective/noun. I’m sure there could be challenges to my decisions in this regard. It would be productive for a particular school to reach agreement on a single term for each idea.
5. This list does not constitute terms for a "minimalist" grammar. Rather, it is a minimal list for a systematic grammar. One reason grammar instruction has been such an abominable failure is that students have been afflicted with a seemingly infinite store of grammatical terminology. With the advent of structural and transformational grammar, we have done nothing but reinforce the impossibility of mastering infinity. The mind’s RAM can manage only a short list. It trashes the rest. A list of approximately 60 terms is large but manageable in the context of the total learning experience. Leave the rest to those who specialize in language scholarship. They deserve to be inflicted with infinity.
6. I invite you to nominate additional terms, but I encourage you to, first, find sufficient reason to eliminate unnecessary terms from the existing list.
7. In teaching the terms, we should resist the temptation to define them. Rather, we should present them in various contexts to be identified in context rather than by abstract definitions. All definitions do is amplify the fuzziness of language analysis and make further terminology necessary. Students should be taught to enjoy the gray areas between grammatical classifications rather than to fear them. For instance, it would be reasonable, though perverse, to classify the nonfinite adverb clause in the foPllowing sentence as a preposition followed by its object (a nonfinite noun clause): I waited for Billy to arrive [nonfinite adverb clause]. I waited for (preposition) Billy to arrive [nonfinite noun clause (object of a preposition)]. Others might view the nonfinite clause as not being a clause at all, interpreting it as an infinitive phrase modifying a noun. By now, you are probably totally confused, making my point crystal clear.
8. Notice that the terms are in approximate order from the largest constituent (sentence) to the smallest (parts of speech as lexical items). This is not an absolute order for teaching, but it is useful for teachers who, like me, honor the principles of contemporary pedagogy (wholes to parts rather than the opposite). This is the natural process for children learning their native languages.
Homework Assignment: Choose five of the terms on this list. Look them up in handbooks, etc. Type sample sentences to exemplify them. Be sure I can tell what terms you are trying to exemplify. F2F Post them on eCompanion or bring the sentences to class. Online Post them as instructed. Choose terms your classmates have not already posted. Critique your classmates sentences.