Grammar and the Teaching of Writing
Grammar and the Teaching of Writing

Author: Rei R. Noguchi

Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English (Ncte)

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13:

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Intended for practitioners, this study has three principal aims: (1) to reduce the breadth of formal grammar instruction by first locating those areas where grammar and writing overlap and then identifying those kinds of writing problems most amenable to treatment with a grammar-based approach; (2) to decrease the classroom hours spent on formal grammar instruction by showing how to capitalize on the already acquired yet unconscious knowledge that all native writers have of their language; and (3) to make this streamlined "writer's grammar" more productive by showing how to integrate it with style, content, and organization. The book is directed toward teachers of writing who, to varying degrees, struggle with the unwieldy partnership of grammar and writing. Chapters 1 and 2 serve to examine some probable reasons why grammar instruction has failed to improve writing quality, to delimit radically the scope of grammar instruction, and to identify specific areas where a knowledge of a minimal set of grammatical categories might be of help. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the use of native-speaker abilities in place of formal grammar instruction to treat certain kinds of sentence-level writing problems. Chapter 5 suggests a promising way to integrate the diminished focus on grammar with style, content, and organization. Finally, chapter 6 summarizes several pragmatic paradoxes that currently beset grammar instruction in the schools. (MG)

Wittgenstein and the Limits of Language
Wittgenstein and the Limits of Language

Author: Hanne Appelqvist

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-11-25

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1351202650

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The limit of language is one of the most pervasive notions found in Wittgenstein’s work, both in his early Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and his later writings. Moreover, the idea of a limit of language is intimately related to important scholarly debates on Wittgenstein’s philosophy, such as the debate between the so-called traditional and resolute interpretations, Wittgenstein’s stance on transcendental idealism, and the philosophical import of Wittgenstein’s latest work On Certainty. This collection includes thirteen original essays that provide a comprehensive overview of the various ways in which Wittgenstein appeals to the limit of language at different stages of his philosophical development. The essays connect the idea of a limit of language to the most important themes discussed by Wittgenstein—his conception of logic and grammar, the method of philosophy, the nature of the subject, and the foundations of knowledge—as well as his views on ethics, aesthetics, and religion. The essays also relate Wittgenstein’s thought to his contemporaries, including Carnap, Frege, Heidegger, Levinas, and Moore.

Grammatical Theory
Grammatical Theory

Author: Frederick J. Newmeyer

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1983-09-15

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780226577197

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Newmeyer persuasively defends the controversial theory of transformational generative grammar. Grammatical Theory is for every linguist, philosopher, or psychologist who is skeptical of generative grammar and wants to learn more about it. Newmeyer's formidable scholarship raises the level of debate on transformational generative grammar. He stresses the central importance of an autonomous formal grammar, discusses the limitations of "discourse-based" approaches to syntax, cites support for generativist theory in recent research, and clarifies misunderstood concepts associated with generative grammar.

Grammar Without Grammaticality
Grammar Without Grammaticality

Author: Geoffrey Sampson

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2013-11-27

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 3110290014

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Linguists have standardly assumed that grammar is about identifying all and only the 'good' sentences of a language, which implies that there must be other, 'bad' sentences - but in practice most linguists know that it is hard to pin those down. The standard assumption is no more than an assumption. A century ago, grammarians did not think about their subject that way, and our book shows that the older idea was right: linguists can and should dispense with the concept 'starred sentence'. We draw on corpus data in order to support a different model of grammar, in which individuals refine positive grammatical habits to greater or lesser extents in diverse and unpredictable directions, but nothing is ever ruled out. Languages are not merely alternative methods of verbalizing universal logical forms. We use empirical evidence to shed light on the routes by which school-age children gradually expand their battery of grammatical resources, which turn out to be sometimes counter-intuitive. Our rejection of the 'starred sentence' concept has attracted considerable discussion, and we summarize the reactions and respond to our critics. The contrasting models of grammar described in this book entail contrasting pictures of human nature; our closing chapter shows that grammatical theory is not value-neutral but has an ethical dimension.

Limits of Language
Limits of Language

Author: Mikael Parkvall

Publisher: William, James

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 9781590282106

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"Presents a wide variety of information on world languages, focusing on comparisons. Topics include histories of languages, language and society, language learning, language structure, and misconceptions about language"--Provided by publisher.

Religion Within the Limits of Language Alone
Religion Within the Limits of Language Alone

Author: Felicity McCutcheon

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-03-02

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1351904930

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Religion Within the Limits of Language Alone provides a critical examination of the Wittgensteinian philosophers of religion who claim that the word 'God' cannot be understood as referring to a metaphysical being who may or may not exist. McCutcheon traces the arguments offered by these philosophers of religion back to Wittgenstein's own criticisms of speculative metaphysics, arguing that in its religious usage the concept of God does not fall under Wittgenstein's anti-metaphysical gaze. In presenting a detailed account of Wittgenstein's own philosophical method, including his criticisms of metaphysics, McCutcheon shows that it is possible to accept Wittgenstein's criticisms of metaphysics whilst retaining the metaphysical content of religious language. This book offers a fresh understanding of Wittgenstein's philosophical method and a new critique of religious discourse for those studying philosophy and religious studies.

Wittgenstein on the Arbitrariness of Grammar
Wittgenstein on the Arbitrariness of Grammar

Author: Michael N. Forster

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2009-01-10

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1400826047

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What is the nature of a conceptual scheme? Are there alternative conceptual schemes? If so, are some more justifiable or correct than others? The later Wittgenstein already addresses these fundamental philosophical questions under the general rubric of "grammar" and the question of its "arbitrariness"--and does so with great subtlety. This book explores Wittgenstein's views on these questions. Part I interprets his conception of grammar as a generalized (and otherwise modified) version of Kant's transcendental idealist solution to a puzzle about necessity. It also seeks to reconcile Wittgenstein's seemingly inconsistent answers to the question of whether or not grammar is arbitrary by showing that he believed grammar to be arbitrary in one sense and non-arbitrary in another. Part II focuses on an especially central and contested feature of Wittgenstein's account: a thesis of the diversity of grammars. The author discusses this thesis in connection with the nature of formal logic, the limits of language, and the conditions of semantic understanding or access. Strongly argued and cleary written, this book will appeal not only to philosophers but also to students of the human sciences, for whom Wittgenstein's work holds great relevance.

On Grammar
On Grammar

Author: M.A.K. Halliday

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2005-10-01

Total Pages: 453

ISBN-13: 1441120572

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For nearly half a century, Professor M. A. K. Halliday has been enriching the discipline of linguistics with his keen insights into the social semiotic phenomenon we call language. This ten volume series presents the seminal works of Professor Halliday. This first volume contains seventeen papers, including a new chapter entitled 'A Personal Perspective', in which Halliday offers his own current perspective on language and linguistic theory. The first part of the book presents early papers (1957-66) on basic concepts such as system, structure, class and rank. The second part highlights how, over the span of two decades (the 1960s to mid-1980s), Halliday developed systemic theory to account for linguistic phenomena extending upward through the ranks from word to clause to text. The last part, 'Construing and Abstracting', includes more recent work, in which Halliday discusses the issues confronting those who study linguistics, using Firth's description of linguistics - 'language turned back on itself'.

Grammar, Expressiveness, and Inter-subjective Meanings
Grammar, Expressiveness, and Inter-subjective Meanings

Author: Paulo M. Barroso

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2015-09-04

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1443881619

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How do we learn, use, and understand the meaning of words representing sensations? How is the connection between words and sensations structured? How can outward signs of sensations be manifested? What does it mean “to understand someone”? Is semantics affected by inner states? What does one mean when one uses an expression to describe a sensation? How should such success in communication be defined? Grammar, Expressiveness, and Inter-subjective Meanings: Wittgenstein’s Philosophy of Psychology deals with these questions, examining the peculiar uses of language-games representing sensations (such as “thinking”, “seeing such-and-such”, and “I’m in pain”) and exploring outer references to inner states. Externalising something internal gives expression to the psychological experience. As such, an expression should be understood as a sophisticated form of exteriorising experiences. This book clarifies the use of sense-expressions and the praxis of “bringing to expression” as an inter-subjective meaning process. The central focus of the book entails both the outwardness of language and the inwardness of experience, as was intensively remarked by Wittgenstein’s last writings (namely his lectures from 1946–47, exclusively and remarkably concerning the philosophy of psychology), which were recently published and which, despite their importance and originality, are still little known.