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Grammar Refresher 1

The document provides a grammar refresher focusing on the differences between functional and traditional grammar, emphasizing the practical application of grammar in everyday life. It outlines the functions of clauses, including representing experiences, interacting with others, and organizing information. The session aims to enhance understanding of grammar to improve communication and writing skills.

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hiufwong
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4 views20 pages

Grammar Refresher 1

The document provides a grammar refresher focusing on the differences between functional and traditional grammar, emphasizing the practical application of grammar in everyday life. It outlines the functions of clauses, including representing experiences, interacting with others, and organizing information. The session aims to enhance understanding of grammar to improve communication and writing skills.

Uploaded by

hiufwong
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GRAMMAR

REFRESHER
AND COMMON
ERRORS
Mr. Franco Wong, College Lecturer
Brainstorming

• Do you know why the following sentence is wrong?

• There have a car next to your house.


Brainstorming
• Recall how you learned English (and grammar) in your primary
and secondary school.

• Can you tell me what did you learn, apart from how to tackle the public
exams?

• Do you know how to apply what you have learned in school in your
everyday life?

• Do you know the fact that what you learned in secondary school can be
reorganized and understood in a more systematic way?
This is in the news…
Topics to Cover (Session 1)

• Functional Grammar vs. Traditional Grammar


• Functions (and Elements) of Clauses
Functional vs. Traditional Grammar

Functional Grammar is… Traditional Grammar is…

• ”A grammar that puts together • “The term traditional


the patterns of the language grammar refers to the
and the things you can do collection of prescriptive rules
with them is called and concepts about the
a functional grammar;…” structure of language that is
(Hands, 2016) commonly taught in schools.”
(Nordquist, 2020)
Functional vs. Traditional Grammar

• “The study of traditional school grammar (i.e., the definition of


parts of speech, the parsing of sentences, etc.) has no effect on
raising the quality of student writing.” (Hillcock, 1986)

• “Functional grammar is all about language use. It’s about


communicative grammar that learners can use in the typical
situations that they find themselves in as they go about their
daily lives.” (Hands, 2016)
Functions of Clauses

• In functional grammar, clauses are used to:

A. Represent our experience of the world


B. Interact with others
C. Organize information
Representing Experience

• Think of any experience you have in your life (e.g. a birthday


party / graduation / travelling…).

• What are different elements that help you reconstruct / tell the
experience?
Representing Experience
• Our experience of the world consists of:

Types of Experience Name in Functional Grammar

What happened Process

People and things involved Participants

Details of the experience Circumstance


Participants = People / Things
involved
• The Participants can be expressed by the followings:

Participant Types Examples

Nouns Peter bought a new house.

Noun Groups Peter bought a new house.

Nouns representing actions Fishing is his favorite hobby.

Clauses His task is to catch the big fish.


Process = What’s going on?
• Process refers to the meanings presented by the verb in a
clause. There are six types of Processes:
Process Types Sub-groups Meaning Examples
a) Happening Process of doing an a) He is sending an email.
Material
b) Doing action b) The butter is melting.
a) John discusses with Sally
a) Verbal
Behavioral Process of behaving about the test.
b) Mental
b) John looked at Sally.
Mental Process of sensing John likes pizza.

Verbal N/A Process of saying John told the students a story.


Projection of
Existential There is a book on the table.
existence
a) Attributive a) Giving an attribute a) John becomes a teacher.
Relational
b) Identifying b) Giving a value b) This reflects the crisis.
Circumstance = Additional Information
/ Details
• There are 8 typical types of additional information we can add to
an experience:

• Type 1 Angle (= the source of the experience)

According to the newspaper, 3 men were arrested by the police.

• Type 2 Extent (= how far / how long etc.)

He cooked the steak for 2 minutes.


Circumstance = Additional Information
/ Details
• Type 3 Location (where / when)

He put the steak on the plate after cooking.

• Type 4 Manner

a) means (how / what with): He cooked the steak with a heat


plate.
b) quality (how): He cooked the steak quickly.
c) comparison (like / unlike): He cooked the steak like his mother.
Circumstance = Additional Information
/ Details
• Type 5 Cause

a) Reason: He won the match thanks to his teammates.

b) Purpose: He participated in the competition in the hope of winning


$1 million.

c) Condition: If I had $1 million, I would immediately buy a car.

d) Concession: Although he did not feel well this morning, he is


coming to school.

e) Behalf: He participated in the competition on behalf of his brother.


Circumstance = Additional Information
/ Details
• Type 6 Accompaniment

He participated in the competition with his friends.

• Type 7 Matter

He submitted his application concerning his leave.

• Type 8 Role

He will join our company next month as the new Director.


Interacting with Others
• One important function of language is to interact with others,
and there are four major functions of speech:

Speech Functions Mood used + Example


Making statements Declarative mood – He has eaten his dinner.
Asking questions Interrogative mood – Has he eaten his dinner?
Making commands Imperative mood – Eat your dinner!
Interrogative mood – Would you like to have dinner?
Making offers Imperative mood – Have your dinner!
Declarative mood – I will make you dinner.
Organizing Texts
• Having a better understanding of clauses also helps us create more
coherent and better organized ideas.

• One key concept: Theme

Consider the following sentences:


1. Felix the cat caught a bee in the park.
2. A bee was caught by Felix the cat in the park.
3. In the park, Felix the cat caught a bee.

• The Theme is the focus of the clause; Rheme is the name of other info.
Organizing Texts
• Thus, we can make use of Themes and Rhemes to create more
coherent ideas:
Summing Up

EXPERIENTIAL INTERPERSONAL TEXTUAL


FUNCTION FUNCTION FUNCTION

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