The Richness of Grammar

Which grammar?

Grammar is a real phenomenon. It is the way language works. It is the organisational  system in language that lets us put words together to say something that means something. It is more than ‘rules’ and definitions. We use it unconsciously, but we can learn to recognise the patterns. Am I talking about ‘traditional grammar’…

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‘No more grammar lessons, please!’

When a ten-year-old told me in strong terms how much he disliked grammar, it made me question what I was teaching. He disliked it because it was too difficult, and he did not see the use of it. That was a problem that I felt linguistics could solve – not simply by changing the lesson…

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