Traditional grammar and the teaching of linguistics
Main Article Content
Abstract
Traditional grammar plays a curious role in the teaching of linguistics. It is acknowledged as the intellectual tradition of modern linguistic theory, and it is assumed as a prerequisite for doing linguistic analysis. However, crucial as it is to an understanding of modern linguistic theory, traditional grammar is rarely a part of the linguistics curriculum. Whatever knowledge students have of traditional grammar comes from instruction in grade school and high school English classes. This has two unfortunate consequences. First, there is a great range in the degree of understanding of the basic concepts of traditional grammar, such as the parts of speech and parts of the sentence. Second and more serious, traditional grammar is taught prescriptively, as part of a received cultural tradition, rather than as a theory of language. This means that most students consider traditional grammar differently from other theories about language to which they are subsequently exposed. They are rarely encouraged to view traditional grammar as a theory of language in its own right and subject it to evaluation in terms of internal consistency and empirical testing.
Downloads
Article Details
The Indiana University Linguistics Club Working Papers (the "Publisher") and Author(s) agree as follows.
1. Publication and Promotion: In consideration of the Publisher's agreement to publish the Work, Author hereby grants and assigns to Publisher the non-exclusive right to print, publish, reproduce, or distribute the Work throughout the world in all means of expression by any method known or hereafter developed, including electronic format. Author further grants Publisher the right to use Author's name in association with the Work in published form and in advertising and promotional materials.
2. Copyright: Copyright of the Work remains in the Author's name.
3. Prior Publication and Attribution: Author agrees not to publish the Work in print form prior to publication of the Work by the Publisher. Author agrees to notify IULCWP before publishing the Work elsewhere.
4. Author Representations: The Author represents and warrants that the Work: (a) is the Author's original Work and that the Author has full power to enter into this Agreement; (b) does not infringe the copyright or property of another; (c) contains no material that is obscene, libelous, or defamatory. Author shall indemnify and hold Publisher harmless against loss of expenses arising from breach of any such warranties.
5. Licensing and Reuse: Reuse of the published Work will be governed by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ ). This lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the Work non-commercially; although new works must acknowledge the original IULCWP publication and be non-commercial, they do not have to be licensed on the same terms.