Using aspects of generative grammar in L1 and L2 grammar teaching
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1344/did.2020.8.97-121Keywords:
theoretical linguistics, generative grammar, grammar teaching, Greek as L1, English and German as L2Abstract
In this paper we propose that the concepts and findings of Theoretical Linguistics should inform language teaching, for both L1 and L2. In particular, with respect to grammar teaching, we suggest that the Generative Grammar framework (Chomsky, 1986, 1995, 2000) should be adopted for the description of language systems at school, given that it offers the appropriate theoretical background, i.e. the existence of universal principles, on the one hand, common across all natural languages, and parameters, on the other, which differentiate them with respect to their specific characteristics. Taking into consideration the significant differentiation in the description of language systems, which appears in descriptive/reference grammars of languages and consequently in grammar teaching, found in first and foreign language course books, we aim to overcome this discrepancy (by adopting basic principles and concepts of Generative Grammar), so that language/grammar teaching acquires a uniform, systematic and cross-linguistic character. In this respect, we draw our attention to three representative phenomena, namely a) the realisation (or not) of the pronominal subject, b) clause structure and c) question formation, in Greek (L1), English (L2) and German (L3).
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