Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Teaching Grammar: Diane Larsen-Freeman
Teaching Grammar: Diane Larsen-Freeman
DIANE LARSEN-FREEMAN
251
Thus, in this chapter, we will entertain a In the wedge of our pie having to do with
more robust view of grammar. Then, we will structure, we have those overt lexical3 and mor-
briefly touch upon issues concerning its learning. phological forms that tell us how a particular
Finally, we will discuss its teaching. grammar structure is constructed and how it is
sequenced with other structures in a sentence or
A Three-Dimensional Grammar text. With certain structures, it is also important
Framework to note the phonemic/ graphemic patterns (see
the discussion of possessives and phrasal verbs
Since our goal is to achieve a better fit between below for examples). In the semantic wedge, we
grammar and communication, it is not helpful to deal with what a grammar structure means. Note
think of grammar as a discrete set of meaning-
that the meaning can be lexical (a dictionary def-
less, decontextualized, static structures. Nor is it
inition for a preposition like down, for instance)
helpful to think of grammar solely as prescriptive
or it can be grammatical (e.g., the conditional
rules about linguistic form, such as injunctions
states both a condition and outcome or result).
against splitting infinitives or ending sentences
It is very difficult to arrive at a definition of prag-
with prepositions. Grammatical structures not
matics distinct from semantics, and thus we are
only have (morphosyntactic) form, they are also
sympathetic to Levinson's (1983) suggestion that
used to express meaning (semantics) in context-
pragmatics deals with all aspects of meaning not
appropriate use (pragmatics). In order to guide
dealt with by semantic theory!
us in constructing an approach to teaching gram-
Since this definition is too broad for our
mar that strives to meet this definition, it would
purposes here, however, we will limit pragmatics
be helpful to have a frame of reference.
to mean "the study of those relations between
Our framework takes the form of a pie
language and context that are grammaticalized,
chart. Its shape helps us to make salient that in
or encoded in the structure of a language"
dealing with the complexity of grammar, three
dimensions must concern us: structure or form, (Levinson 1983, p. 9). We will leave the term con-
semantics or meaning, and the pragmatic condi- text broad enough though, so that context can be
tions governing use.l Moreover, as they are social (i.e., a context created by interlocutors,
wedges of a single pie, we note further that the their relationship to one another, the setting), or
dimensions are not hierarchically arranged as it can be a linguistic discourse context (i.e., the
many traditional characterizations of linguistic language that precedes or follows a particular
strata depict.2 Finally, the arrows connecting one structure in the discourse or how a particular
wedge of the pie with another illustrate the inter- genre or register of discourse affects the use of a
connectedness of the three dimensions; thus a structure), or context can even mean the pre-
change in any one wedge will have repercussions suppositions one has about the context.
for the other two. The influence of pragmatics may be ascer-
tained by asking two questions: