TEACHING ABOUT WORDS

Erika Lindemann Chapter 11

Writing – second stage of composing

Constrained by rules

Disrupts flow of ideas

First draft = Final Draft

Good Grade

Lindemann Chap. 11

Principle One – words can change

Principle Two – writers view words in the context of other words

Grammatical problems student writers encounter

Words in context of a writer at work

Lindemann Chap. 11

Grammaticalization – two chief directions

◦ Changes in language/words/phrases which semantic and cognitive accounts of words explain changes in meaning

◦ Secondly, the discourse context within which the grammaticalization occurs

Paul J. Hopper Grammaticalization

Meillet – french linguist, coined the term to refer to the “attribution of a grammatical character to a formerly autonomous word.”

Meillet’s two processes in which grammatical forms come into being.

◦ Analogy – emergence of new forms through formal resemblance to already established ones

◦ Grammaticalization – “the passage of an autonomous word to the role of grammatical element”

Paul J. Hopper Grammaticalization

JH Greenberg – laid the groundwork for growing interest in pragmatics and discourse, which probed interface between structure and use and interest in language universals and exploration of “naturalness” in language

Greenberg established a word order based on the relative order of subject, verb, and object

Paul J. Hopper Grammaticalization

1970’s researchers were seeing the advantages of combining Greenberg’s theory with some long-standing observations of the Prague school of linguistics.

The Prague school showed how the notion “subject of the sentence” could be understood as the outcome of a process that began as “topic of the discourse”

Paul J. Hopper Grammaticalization

Talmy Givon – an important figure in the development and popularization of the idea that grammar was a product of change and that its forms could be attributed to discourse

He taught at the Linguistics Institute in 1976

“Syntacticization” of grammaticalized constructions out of autonomous elements

Paul J. Hopper Grammaticalization

Looser, pragmatic mode Tighter, syntactic mode

Pidgin/Creole Standard language

Child language Adult language

Unplanned/oral discoursePlanned/written discourse

Syntacticization of Grammaticalized Constructions

1980s and 1990s the nature of the semantic changes that accompany grammaticalization has been the subject of many debates

During grammaticalization, forms went from having meanings that could be identified autonomously to ones that contributed to wider discourse contexts

Paul J. Hopper Grammaticalization

In his 1991 paper, Hopper attempted to pull together what had been learned about some principles of grammaticalization. He focused on grammaticalization in its early stages. He aimed to provide a guide for identifying grammaticalization trends in discourse patterns.

The principles stated in this article were:1) Layering2) Divergence3) Specialization4) Persistence5) De-categorialization

Paul J. Hopper Grammaticalization

Lindemann Chap. 11Writers at work need instruction that capitalizes on what they already know.

Suggests helping students understand grammatical form and function of parts of speech, especially verbs and nouns.

Active and Passive Voice◦ Active voice more often used to make the

message more emphatic and less wordy◦ Passive sentences introduce the verb “to be”

Discussing paired sentences, students can identify the two voices and will be able to restore the passive sentence to the active voice

POINT: verb phrases represent complex grammatical constructions and their variety gives writers considerable flexibility in composing

Lindemann Chap. 11

DERIVATIONAL & INFLECTIONAL AFFIXES

The form and position of a word in a sentence gives information about its function

When new vocabulary is introduced, form and position clues enable us to comprehend the message without looking in a dictionary

Inferences of what the word means can be made from where it appears in the sentence and how it looks

Lindemann Chap. 11

STYLE STYLE STYLE STYLE

“characteristic means of expressing ideas”

The sum total of all the decisions writers make in selecting, arranging, and expressing their ideas

Word Choice

Helps create a writing style by selecting words that give ideas clarity, emphasis, specificity, and variety.

Lindemann Chap. 11

TONE - pervasive reflection; author’s attitude toward audience

VOICE – pervasive reflection; author’s character

A writer only has one voice, many tonalities

Features of diction, syntax, and rhythm allow us to recognize the writer’s voice

Taylor Stoehr Tone and Voice

Failures of tone

Confusion of audience Uncertainty about its composition Desire to address multiple audiences Mistaking self for audience

Cuteness, phoniness, embarrassment, pomposity, and indifference all stem from ambivalence or illusion as to whom one is addressing

Taylor Stoehr Tone and Voice

Example from a notice found on a bulletin board of a dormitory for Divinity students:

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR PERSONAL LIBRARY ??????

The author of the notice gave specific details of how he wanted the books listed, where to place your list, and gave very demanding instructions on how to assemble the list.

Not sure of audience Too authoritarian Too many specific rules Elaborate instructions Convenience for author Efficiency of the system

Taylor Stoehr Tone and Voice

Students need opportunity to explore stylistic choices

Good writing affects the ear, mouth and eyes

Ask questions about how examples affects their senses

Freewrite examining the styles discussed using a simple idea “I failed the class”

Lindemann Chap. 11

Flexibility in written English

Tone of voice Stylistic revision clarifies questions student’s

ask of their writing

Concrete/abstract diction parts of speechSynonyms/antonms passive voiceRepetition, deadwood usageClarity, specificity, detail word etymologies

Lindemann Chap. 11

Studying school and classroom culture Teaching students to become actively

involved in their learning (Groden, Kuth, and Zamel 1987; Heath 1983)

Ethnographic research can give learners the basis for understanding that is rooted in personal knowledge

Kutz is a teacher of composition and literature, English methods, and graduate theory courses

Eleanor Kutz Authority and Voice

Uses ethnographic methods to foster active and conscious learning for freshmen to provide a critical perspective on the nature of knowledge and the discourse it represents to understand voice, authority and point of view

Voice – represents the individual subjective consciousness

Quality of voice in writing – personal/genuine

Eleanor Kutz Authority and Voice

Peter Elbow – Writing with Power

“feel the reality of the person in the words”

“real voice” with “sounding like our real self”

Eleanor Kutz Authority and Voice

Suggestions for teaching students about language

Begin discussions by uncovering student’s prior knowledge

Listen for misinformation or confusion Base discussions of language on student’s

writing Use as few technical terms as possible Students need practice creating their own

discourse

Lindemann Chap. 11