Chapter 4 Syntax - Teaching Plan

Chapter4SyntaxObjectivesThestudentswilllearnthetwobasicapproachesinsyntax,i.e.theprescriptiveapproachandthedescriptiveapproach,andthreemaintheoriesofgrammars,thatis,constituentstructuregrammar,transformationalgrammar,andsystematicfunctionalgrammar.Studentswillbeableto1)distinguishdifferentwordclasses;2)identifythedefinitionsoftheprescriptiveapproach,thedescriptiveapproach,constituentstructuregrammar,transformationalgrammar,andsystematicfunctionalgrammar.3)distinguishthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweentheprescriptiveapproachandthedescriptiveapproachinsyntax;4)distinguishthesimilaritiesanddifferencesamongconstituentstructuregrammar,transformationalgrammar,andsystematicfunctionalgrammar;5)applyimmediateconstituentanalysistoanalyzesentencesanddrawsomebasictreediagrams.KeyPoints1)Sevenmajortypesofwordclasses2)Twotypesofapproaches3)ThreekindsofgrammarsProcedureThe1stPeriodCONTENTS:4.1Introduction4.2Wordclasses4.3ThePrescriptiveApproach4.1IntroductionFirst,theteacherwillhelpstudentstoreviewwhattheylearnedin“Chapter3Morphology”anddistinguishthedefinitionsofMorphologyandSyntaxasfollows:1.Morphologyisconcernedwiththeinternalcompositionofaword.2.Syntaxisconcernedwithcombinationofwords.Then,theteacherwillaskstudentswhatthemeaningofasentenceis.Afterashortdiscussioninpairs,themeaningofasentencewillbepresentedonthescreen:ThemeaningofthewordsofwhichitiscomposedMeaningofasentenceThestructureofthesentence,suchaswordorderThechangesofwordordersometimesreducedifferentmeanings,butsometimesnot.Theteacherwillofferrespectiveexamples:1.a.Thehunterfearsthecriesoftheblackbirds.b.Theblackbirdsfearthecriesofthehunter.2.a.Jacklookeduptheword.b.Jacklookedthewordup.Withthepresentationofthewrongsentence,“*Criesfearthetheofhunterblackbirdsthe”,theteacherwillprovidewiththedefinitionsofwellformedandillformed:Sequencesofwordsthatobservetherulesofsyntaxaresaidtobewellformedorgrammaticalandthosewhichviolatethesyntacticrulesarethereforeillformedandungrammatical.4.2WordClassesTwosentencesaredisplayedonthescreenfirstly:3.a.*Criesfearthetheofhunterblackbirdsthe.(unacceptable)b.Thehunterfearsthecriesoftheblackbirds.(acceptable)Studentswillbeinvitedtodecidewhichsentenceisacceptableandwhichsentenceisunacceptable.Thentellthestudentsthattheacceptabilityofthesecondsentenceinsyntaxdependsonthewords’grammaticalcategory:Thecategoriesaretraditionallycalledpartsofspeech,butnowtheyaregenerallycalledwordclasses.Thenstudentswillbeinvitedtowritedownthewordclassestheyhavelearnedontheblackboardandtelltherestoftheclasstheirownunderstandingsofthesewordclasses.Theteacherwillofferthemsometipsandhelpfinallyproducethesedefinitionsofwordclasseswithstudentstogether:NounsWordsusedtorefertopeople,objects,creatures,places,etc.catsAdjectivesWordsthatdescribethething,quality,stateoractionwhichanounrefersto.goodVerbsWordsusedtorefertovariousactionsandstatesinvolvingthe“things”inevents.run,beAdverbswordsthatdescribeoraddtothemeaningofaverb,anadjective,anotheradverb,orasentence,andwhichanswersthequestionsintroducedbyhow,where,when,etc.quickly,slowlyPrepositionswordsusedwithnounsinphrasesprovidinginformationabouttime,placeandotherconnectionsinvolvingactionsandthings.at,in,withPronounswordswhichmayreplacenounsornounphrases.it,herConjunctionswordsusedtoconnect,andindicaterelationshipsbetweeneventsandthings.and,butPracticesareneeded.Studentswillbeinvitedagaintoputthesentenceintoclasses:Thehunterfearsthecriesoftheblackbirds.↓S→art,N,V,art.,N,prep.,art.,N.Moreexamplesaregiventoproducethedefinitionofphrasestructurerules:4.a.theveryprettygirl→theorder“art.,adv.,adj.,N”(acceptable)b.*prettytheverygirl→theorder“adj.,art.,adv.,N”(unacceptable)↓Theruleswhichgovernthestructureofphrasesareknownasphrasestructurerulesorrewriterules.Suchrulesallowforthegenerationofgrammaticalsentencesinalanguage;theyconstituteagenerativegrammarforthatlanguage4.3ThePrescriptiveApproachTobeginwith,thedefinitionoftheprescriptiveapproachisintroducedbytworulesaredemonstrated:(1)Youmustnotsplitinfinitives.(2)Youmustnotendasentencewithapreposition.↓Thisviewofgrammarasasetofrulesforthe“proper”useofalanguageisstilltobefoundtodayandmaybebestcharacterizedastheprescriptiveapproach.Furthermore,anotherexample,thatis,toboldlygo,togoboldlyandboldlytogoinspokenEnglishshowthatsomeprescriptiverulescanbebroken,whichleadsinthedescriptiveapproach.The2ndPeriod4.4TheDescriptiveApproachFirstly,thedefinitionofthedescriptiveapproachispresentedasfollows:Throughoutthe20thcentury,linguistscollectsamplesofthelanguagetheyareinterestedinandattempttodescribetheregularstructuresofthelanguageasitisused,notaccordingtosomeviewofhowitshouldbeused.Thisiscalledthedescriptiveapproach.Secondly,oneofthemainmeansofthedescriptiveapproachisintroduced:Onetypeofdescriptiveapproachiscalledstructuralanalysis.Itsmainobjectiveistostudythedistributionoflinguisticformsinalanguage.Inordertomakestudentsmoreclear,asentenceisanalyzedintheuseof“test-frames”:car,radio,child,etc.→noun↑(5)The_____makesalotofnoise.Finally,theonemainmeansofthedescriptiveapproachisintroduced:Imme