CONCEPTIONS OF GRAMMAR
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Prompt for Questions 1-16
Consider the following statements about language and definitions of 'grammar." What understanding of grammar does each one represent: prescriptive, descriptive, generative, or performance?
1. "Each language has its own scheme. Everything depends on the formal demarcations which it recognizes."
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
2. "The language faculty is a component of the mind/brain, part of the human biological endowment. Presented with data, the child ... forms a language, a computational system of some kind that provides structured representations of linguistic expressions that determine their sound and meaning."
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
3. "In colloquial speech, 'like' is sometimes used as a conjunction .... but cultured speakers prefer 'as,' 'as if,' or 'though."
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
4. "Linguists have increasingly realized that the context of an utterance plays an important part in determining its meaning, as do beliefs that are shared by a speaker and a hearer."
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
5. "The material in the exercises in correcting substandard English comes from ... (Preface to grammar book).
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
6. " Someone who says 'he don't' for 'he doesn't' has a systematic way of relating sound and meaning."
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
7. "In keeping with all these excellent qualities would you please see that the grammar used in describing your clothing is of equal quality. I am sure you are quite aware that a garment doesn't 'wash easy.' Is this use of adjectives in the place of adverbs an affectation or is it a stylistic quirk?" (Letter to the editor of a mail-order catalog)
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
8. "The proper use of a language in sentence structure and word use as defined by the academia of the region."
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
9. "Grammar includes the rules in which sentences are put together in a language. There are different aspects of grammar, but it all works together for the proper formation of sentences."
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
10. "Grammar is the structure and content of words. It varies according to language (English, Russian, etc.), regions, individuals, and environments (workplace, home, bar). Includes punctuation, word order, sound, word choice, etc.
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
11. “The rules and structures by which a language must comply.”
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
12. "A broad terminology used to encompass syntax, usage.”
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
13. “Grammar is what you use to decide how to talk to your parents versus how to talk to your friends.”
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
14. “Grammar is the rules of writing correctly.”
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
15. “I see grammar as sort of the ‘government’ of words. It contains rules and regulations that help words get along with each other.”
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
16. “Grammar is our usage of words in order to communicate well what we are trying to say or explain.”
Prescriptive
Descriptive
Generative
Performative
17. What would a prescriptive grammarian say about these sentences, if anything: A) John hurt himself. B) John hurt hisself. C) John hurt heself.
18. What would a descriptive grammarian say about these sentences, if anything: A) John hurt himself. B) John hurt hisself. C) John hurt heself.
19. What would a generative grammarian say about these sentences, if anything: A) John hurt himself. B) John hurt hisself. C) John hurt heself.
20. What would a performance grammarian say about these sentences, if anything: A) John hurt himself. B) John hurt hisself. C) John hurt heself.
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