100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
English Grammar and Language Proficiency Summary $9.09
Add to cart

Summary

English Grammar and Language Proficiency Summary

 26 views  2 purchases
  • Course
  • Institution

English: Grammar and Language Proficiency Summary, given by Anna Gagiano in BA2. Includes all units in the handbook, homework assignments and a glossary with all the vocabulary from the lesson

Preview 3 out of 25  pages

  • December 31, 2022
  • 25
  • 2022/2023
  • Summary
avatar-seller
ENGLISH: GRAMMAR & LP
INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

3 APPROACHES
Interpretive communication Reading & listening
Presentational communication Writing & speaking
Interpersonal communication Spontanious interaction skills


TRADE-OFFS

- Fluency: spontaneous & automatic, appropriate pace & pauses
- Accuracy: error-free vocabulary & grammar, correctness
- Complexity: varied & sophisticated vocabulary & grammar, difficulty

HOMEWORK: THE BENEFITS OF THE BILINGUAL


LANGUAGE

 Passive parts: listening & reading
 Active parts: speaking & writing

 balanced bilingual: both parts are equal

Compound bilingual Child learns 2 languages simultaneously (eg. 2 bilingual parents)
Coordinate biligual eg. Learns English at school & speaks Spanish at home
Subordinate bilingual learning 2nd language by filtering it through 1st language

Other bilinguals:


THE BRAIN

 Left hemisphere: analytical & logical processes
 Right hemisphere: emotional & social processes

Critical period hypothesis

 it’s easier for children to learn language: plasticity of the brain

 They use both hemispheres in language acquisition
 Adults: language = lateralized to one hemisphere (left)

 Learning language as adult: less emotional, more rational approach to confronting problems in 2 nd language




1

,Advantages multilingual brain

- Higher density of grey matter (contains neurons & synapses)
- More brain activity in certain regions when speaking another language
- Delay of diseases like Alzheimer’s & dementia


ATTITUDE TOWARDS BILINGUALISM

Before 1960s: bilingualism = handicap

 2 languages forces child to spend too much energy distinguishing language 1 & 2
<-> not true: engaging in 2 languages -> strengthens dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

 Executive function (problem solving, focusing, switching
between tasks …)

INTRODUCTION TO GRAMMAR

- Origin: Late Middle English from old French gramaire -> Greek grammatike (art of letters)
- Definition: how sentences and utterances are formed, how words are put together
o Syntax: arrangement of items
o Morphology: structure of items

HOMEWORK: WHAT GRAMMAR IS AND WHAT NOT


GRAMMAR AND ITS ROLE IN LANGUAGE

- Grammatical rules can be followed by native speakers without knowing them consciously
o eg. native speakers automatically say ‘the red big balloon’ (rule: size before colour)
o children learn how to speak without formal tuition by listening to others
- Studying grammar does not improve spelling! (=written representation of sounds)
- Grammar = central part of language relating to sound and meaning
o Meaning  words  put together by grammatical rules  conveyed by sound
o Phonology: system of sounds
o Semantics: system of meaning

 traditionally: grammar was related to writing (Latin) <->written form is secondary to spoken form
 grammar = mechanism for producing speech and writing: conveying in speech ≠ conveying in writing


GOOD AND BAD GRAMMAR

Descriptivism: how ppl actually use language  studying grammar: describing how people do speak
prescriptivism: how language should be used

 Who did you give this to?
o prescriptivist: incorrect: cannot end sentence with preposition  to whom did you give this
o descriptivist: correct




2

, Different ways a sentence can be wrong

Ungrammatical Sentence does not follow a rule that native speakers do use
 eg. ‘to was or not to was, that be the ask’
Bad etiquette Point of view of descriptivism: inappropriate in more formal context
 eg. ‘I ain’t going nowhere tonight’
Bad style No effective communication (meaning is unclear)
 eg. ‘If the baby cannot drink cold milk, it should be boiled’


VARIATION IN LANGUAGE

Many varieties of English: American – British, northeners – southerners, young – old, men – woman
 variation according to characteristics of its user
 variation according to the use speech is put to: eg. talking to friends vs talking to strangers

Informal speech: more regional differences than formal speech!

PARTS OF SPEECH (=WORD CLASSES)

 there is no single correct way of analysing words into word classes!
 you need context to assign a word to a word class: eg. fast (can be a verb, adjective & adverb)

Lexical - Form-class words - Nouns: course, variety, …
- Have a clear meaning: you can - Adjectives: useful, available, clear
describe them - Adverbs: regularly, quickly, …
- Verbs: provides, gets, …
Functional - = grammatical, structure-class words - Pronouns: our, we, their
- Hard to define their meaning -> - Articles: the, a , an
grammatical function - Prepositions: in, of, on, to
- Linking words: and, so that, …
Open - New words can be made
- form-class words
Closed - No introduction of new words
- Structure-class words

ARTICLES

 subcategory of determiners

 Use ‘the’ for specifying or explaining
 Don’t use ‘the’ when generalizing or talking about abstract concepts (eg. celebrities, wealth)

PREPOSITIONS

Grammatical function: show relationship in space or time or logical relationship between ppl, places & things
 single word (at, above, below) or multi-word (along with, according to, in front of
 verb follows preposition: verb must be in -ing form (he insisted on arguing)
 formal English: preposition before relative pronoun (this is the research on which)




3

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller MarjoleinVanmaercke. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for $9.09. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

53068 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now

Start selling
$9.09  2x  sold
  • (0)
Add to cart
Added