English Grammar and Language Experience

My perception of English grammar and language experience

         

What is grammar all about?  To me, it is about word classes / forms and their functions.  Grammar is the summary of word classes and their functions.  So it is about general rules and  exceptional cases to know and remember.  Based on the theory of grammar universal researched by some linguists,  all languages share some common features though every language is unique in quite a number of ways.  It has its own unique system of grammar / arrangement of words / language structures as well as the sound system.       

         

In English, words can be categorised into 9 word classes /forms, namely

1.     Nouns

2.    Pronouns

3.    Verbs

4.    Adjectives

5.    Adverbs

6.    Conjunctions

7.    Prepositions

8.    Interjections

9.    Determiners

The knowledge of grammar is a must in order to speak and write correctly and properly.   It concerns with the arrangements of words as well as choice of words in different word classes properly and correctly to express your ideas, feelings, opinions or thoughts in both spoken and written communication.  For example, the word “well” used in different word classes: 

1. Fatimah  has to fetch water from *the well  every day for the household cleaning activities.
2. Tears *well up easily in her eyes whenever she thinks of her pet cat that got drowned in it a year ago. 
3.  John was sick yesterday but he is well today.
4.  Peter speaks Japanese well.

To  know  how to use the word “well”, for example, in different word classes properly, the best way is through language experience.  It  is that you are exposed to how it is used in different word forms in contexts and know their meanings.  

Reading widely enables learners to acquire the language naturally as well as the culture of the language.  

Listening to radio programmes, watching English movies or movies with English subtitles and hearing the speech sounds of the words and the meaning associated with them are excellent ways to input the language besides texts reading in English.  

Language experience through listening and reading enables learners to get familiar with the usage and structures as well as to acquire a wide range of vocabulary in contexts  and the culture.  Of course, there must be enough repetition and rehearsal in the language through different listening and reading activities to acquire it.   

Having the knowledge of grammar equips learners with the tools to edit his/erown writing.  Learners can analyse sentence structures to check and edit.  In the above sentences based on the structure, we know that the word ‘well’:

1.   A noun as it is preceded by the definite article ‘the’.
2.   A verb as it is placed right after the subject ‘Tears’ that indicate an action
3.   A predicative adjective as it is placed after verb-to-be ‘is’
4.  An adverb of manner as it modifies the verb ‘speaks’

Grammar is about general rules that govern a language.  It is systematic in nature and the regularity is high.  However, grammatical rules are just hard facts, rigid and stiff.  Language can only come alive when you know how to use it creatively, expressively and lively in a natural way in the output in speaking and writing.

To use a language spontaneously or at will requires a constant language exposure or experience in listening and reading in the input and the output in language use in speaking and writing.  

English is learnt as a second language in Malaysia.  Hence deliberate effort is needed to learn English grammar.  At the same time, a conducive environment should be created to acquire it in a natural way through language exposure / experience in different contexts.

So if you know all these rules thorough well  and can use the language spontaneously / at will in speaking and writing, you can declare that you have mastered the language.  That means you are in command of a language as you have reached the benchmark for accuracy and fluency.  Do you think so?

The Importance of English Pronunciation

The Importance of English Pronunciation

Language is a system.  Hence we can learn the rules that govern it systematically.  Unless it is our mother tongue that we can acquire the language in a natural way without knowing much of the rules, however,  for the second language learning, we definitely need to know the forms and their uses well to use it properly in speaking and writing.   

A language usually has both spoken and written forms.  It is like a coin with both sides.  To learn a language well, we have to know the speech sounds that match with the written forms of the language.  Since our ears can learn faster than our sight, I see the importance of English pronunciation to master the language.  I believe our learners can learn better if they know these two main categories, namely vowel and consonant phonemes (speech sounds) of English.

In Malaysia, English is learnt as a second language.  Thus the knowledge of English pronunciation is as important as the knowledge of English grammar (forms and functions).  Therefore, I see that the knowledge of the general rules of English pronunciation is essential.  We can approach them through English phonics which concerns with the regular spellings of the words that match with the specific speech sounds.  For example,  the letter cluster ‘ea’ vowel letter spelling usually goes with / i: / speech sound / phoneme.  Words with ‘ea’ vowel letter spelling:

appeal,  beat,  bean, bleak,  eat, ease, easy, feat, heat, leaf, 
leave, leak, meat, neat, peat,  plead,  please, read,  seat,  
squeak, squeal, weak………….  

The vowel letter cluster ‘ea’ may have / e / speech sound:

          breath,  bread,  head,  health,  wealth,  thread, threat, 
          spread, ………..

There are exceptions to these 2 rules as ‘ea’ might have / eI / vowel speech sound:

          break,  great

Do you agree that learning is considered to have taken place when students can remember what they have learnt and know how to apply the rules?  In English learning, of course, our students need to know English grammar (i.e forms and functions / uses) and pronunciation of English words in order to remember them.  The use of language in speaking and writing will reinforce the language learning.

          
Our students can remember English words easily when they know how to pronounce them at ease.  Being able to pronounce English words will also reinforce their learning and even inspire their interest in the language.  Hearing how the words are pronounced and know how to pronounce them are the ‘secret’ keys to remember them.  Knowing how to use the English words they have learnt in spoken and written communication at will boost their confidence in the language and create good self-image. 

          
You may ask what about those born deaf and dumb and how they can use the language.  Well, they use Sign Language that they use their hands to gesture and facial expressions to convey the message.  These signs and signals are their pronunciation of the words.

          
A normal person with good audio-visual faculty, s/he has all the advantages to acquire the language easily.  A language can be acquired easily in its natural environment when you are exposed to it all the time.  Is it not how we acquired our first language?  

Well, for second language learning, you still need a lot of texts reading to build up your stock of vocabulary to master the language.  Again, I would like to emphasise that you need to know the pronunciation of the words to remember the forms / spellings of them.  For the functions of the words, you need to ‘experience’ the words used in contexts to get the language sense of the words to use them correctly and properly. 

          
To learn a language well, knowledge of pronunciation is one of the components that you cannot afford to leave out.  Like the Chinese Han-yu-pin-yin, English pronunciation is also based on the unique combination of consonant and vowel speech sounds in different ways for the  letter spelling of the words as the example, ‘ea’  may have / i: / or  / e / and the exception in the lists of words stated in the passage.