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[syntaxclass1998]

Conclusion

Me and my classmate agree that Syntax is elemental for us to understand the grammatical function of words in the sentence or in a text. 

Syntax is what helps regulate the way the words are accommodated, it’s the one that has the rules for it to be well written and with coherence.

It is concerned primarily with word order in a sentence and with the agreement of words when they are used together.

The way it works it might be difficult at first but after practicing and working with it you get used to it, first you need to understand basic sentence vocabulary, then, you need to understand how writers use these sentence parts to get the effects they want and finally, you need to have a basic understanding of some very special punctuation marks. 

All this complements can help us to be more accurate in our writing and reading. We can improve it a lot adding also new vocabulary and diagrams to get more related with the types of words and recognize them easily without thinking about it too much.

[syntaxclass1998]

Phrases VS Clauses

Both clauses and phrases are basic components of writing sentences. When combined with other parts of speech and other parts of sentences, clauses and phrases help build an intricate system through which your words convey meaning. Understanding the difference between the two is vital to write grammatically correct and properly constructed sentences.

CLAUSES:

A clause is a group of words that can act as a sentence, but is not necessarily a complete sentence on its own. All clauses contain both a subject and a predicate, which always contains a verb. A predicate tells something about what the subject is doing. Some clauses can stand alone as a complete sentence; others cannot. The types of clauses are:

Adverbial clauses

Defining and non-defining clauses (also called adjective or relative clauses)

Independent and dependent clauses

Noun clauses

PHRASES:

A phrase is a group of two or more words that does not have the subject and verb combination and does not form a predicate. It can contain a noun or a verb, but does not have a subject or predicate. Essentially, a phrase provides some sort of additional information or provides more context to the sentences you write. A phrase can never stand alone as a sentence; however, a phrase can nestle itself inside clauses that are either complete sentences on their own or ones that are dependent on the rest of the sentence. When a phrase is within a clause, it functions as a part of speech. The types of phrases are:

Gerund phrases

Infinitive phrases

Noun phrases

Participle phrases

Prepositional phrases

Verb phrases

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO:

If there is a subject and a verb with a predicate, it is a clause. If there is a noun but no verb or a verb but no noun and does not have a predicate, it is a phrase. Always keep in mind that sometimes phrases are built into clauses.

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Parts Of Speech

The parts of speech explain how a word is used in a sentence.

There are eight main parts of speech (also known as word classes): nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.

Most parts of speech can be divided into sub-classes. Prepositions can be divided into prepositions of time, prepositions of place etc. Nouns can be divided into proper nouns, common nouns, concrete nouns etc.

It is important to know that a word can sometimes be in more than one part of speech. For example with the word increase.

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The part of speech indicates how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. An individual word can function as more than one part of speech when used in different circumstances. Understanding parts of speech is essential for determining the correct definition of a word when using the dictionary.

1. NOUN

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns are often used with an article (the, a, an), but not always. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter; common nouns do not. Nouns can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract. Nouns show possession by adding 's. Nouns can function in different roles within a sentence; for example, a noun can be a subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, or object of a preposition.

2. PRONOUN

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun is usually substituted for a specific noun, which is called its antecedent. In the sentence above, the antecedent for the pronoun she is the girl. Pronouns are further defined by type: personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things; possessive pronouns indicate ownership; reflexive pronouns are used to emphasize another noun or pronoun; relative pronouns introduce a subordinate clause; and demonstrative pronouns identify, point to, or refer to nouns.

3. VERB

A verb expresses action or being.

The verb in a sentence expresses action or being. There is a main verb and sometimes one or more helping verbs. ("She can sing." Sing is the main verb; can is the helping verb.) A verb must agree with its subject in number (both are singular or both are plural). Verbs also take different forms to express tense.

4. ADJECTIVE

An adjective modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.

An adjective is a word used to modify or describe a noun or a pronoun. It usually answers the question of which one, what kind, or how many. (Articles [a, an, the] are usually classified as adjectives.)

5. ADVERB

An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, but never a noun. It usually answers the questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions, or to what degree. Adverbs often end in -ly.

6. PREPOSITION

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence.

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence. Therefore a preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase. The prepositional phrase almost always functions as an adjective or as an adverb. 

7. CONJUNCTION

A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses.

A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses, and indicates the relationship between the elements joined. Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal elements: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet. Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal: because, although, while, since, etc. There are other types of conjunctions as well.

8. INTERJECTION

An interjection is a word used to express emotion.

An interjection is a word used to express emotion. It is often followed by an exclamation point.

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What is Syntax?

Syntax definition: Syntax is the grammatical structure of words and phrases to create coherent sentences.

What does syntax mean? Syntax is the grammatical structure of sentences. The format in which words and phrases are arranged to create sentences is called syntax.

In linguistics, syntax is the set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences in a given language, usually including word order. The term syntax is also used to refer to the study of such principles and processes. The goal of many syntacticians is to discover the syntactic rules common to all languages.

Generative grammar

The hypothesis of generative grammar is that language is a structure of the human mind. The goal of generative grammar is to make a complete model of this inner language (known as i-language). This model could be used to describe all human language and to predict the grammaticality of any given utterance (that is, to predict whether the utterance would sound correct to native speakers of the language). This approach to language was pioneered by Noam Chomsky. Most generative theories (although not all of them) assume that syntax is based upon the constituent structure of sentences. Generative grammars are among the theories that focus primarily on the form of a sentence, rather than its communicative function.

Proper Syntax in English Sentence

In English, a strong, active voice sentence will always have the subject doing the action of the sentence. These sentences will follow a basic subject-verb-object format.

Below are a few examples of different types of syntax in English. Each of these examples has different syntax.

Simple sentences follow a subject-verb format.

Simple Syntax Examples:

The boy jumped.

The girl sang.

Compound sentences have more than one subject or verb.

Compound Syntax Examples:

The boy jumped and the girl sang.

I did not go to the concert but I went to the fair.

Complex sentences contain a subordinating clause.

Complex Syntax Examples:

The boy jumped even though he was nervous.

Because she was excited, the girl sang.

Compound-complex sentences contain two independent clauses and more dependent clauses.

Compound-complex Syntax Examples:

Even though he was nervous, the boy jumped and he landed across the stream.

The girl sang and the woman shrieked because they were excited.

[syntaxclass1998]

How we learn?

Stephen Krashen and the acquisition of languages

If you've ever doubted whether you're a good language learner, then bear in mind that you've already learned one language very well indeed – your first. But this raises an interesting question: can adults learn a second language in the same way they learned their first as children? And if so, what are the implications for the classroom?

Perhaps no-one has looked at the question more closely than the linguist Stephen Krashen, who has introduced some of the most influential concepts to the study of second-language acquisition.

So, how do children and proficient adult learners perform the seemingly magical trick of mastering a language, and what can teachers learn from this? Krashen offers the following ideas:

1. We acquire languages when we can understand messages

Learners need to be exposed to what Krashen calls 'comprehensible input' – that is, exposure to interesting and understandable listening and reading material. In Krashen's view, we acquire languages when we understand messages. He stipulates that the emphasis should be on meaningful interactions and not on form. When parents speak to their children, for example, the emphasis is on meaning rather than the correct use of grammar. If the child says, 'Daddy fish water!', the parent is likely to respond, 'Yes, you're right, there's a fish in the river', rather than by correcting the child's grammar. The theory here is that exposure to sufficient quantities of comprehensible input always results in acquisition.

2. Getting the right level is crucial

Krashen makes the important point that comprehensible input needs to be at the right level for the learner, namely just higher than the learner's own. He calls this theoretical level 'i + 1'. A good practical example of this in action are graded readers. These are books that are specially created for learners of foreign languages at various levels, such as A2, B1, C2, etc, on the common European framework (CEFR).

3. The silent period

Children don't start speaking their mother tongue straight away. Until they utter their first words, they are acquiring language, even if they are not using it. The miraculous first words and sentences that quickly follow are the result of this acquisition. Adult learners, both inside and outside the classroom, need this silent period, too. Teachers shouldn't be afraid when their students don't participate in debates in class – perhaps they are simply acquiring the language. Moreover, putting pressure on the learner to speak before they are ready will result in anxiety.

4. Anxiety is the student’s arch enemy

This brings me to one of Krashen’s most famous insights, namely the affective filter. This means that the rate of acquisition decreases if we are under stress, or if we experience anxiety. Luckily, most children have a virtually stress-free language-learning environment at home with their mothers and fathers. But for learners of a second language, the classroom can be a cause of anxiety, greatly affecting the way they receive and process comprehensible input.

By contrast, a house party with lots of international guests is a great place to practise languages, as everybody is relaxed and having a good time. Such an environment offers the language learner plenty of comprehensible input, but (hopefully) none of the anxiety. The lesson here for teachers is that they can create a similar environment by turning the classroom into a sort of house party where people feel comfortable and relaxed.

5. The monitor hypothesis

According to Krashen, conscious language-learning cannot be the source of spontaneous speech, it can only monitor output, i.e., production in speech or writing. In other words, when learners freely formulate an utterance in the target language, they can only draw upon their repertoire of acquired language to check whether it is grammatically correct. This reduces errors as the learner can apply consciously learned rules to an utterance before producing it, or after production through self-correction. As many people place a high value on accuracy, especially in formal situations, the existence of the 'monitor' could be seen as a reason for retaining a grammar focus in a given lesson.

One way to apply this in the classroom would be to have learners notice grammatical features in listening and reading texts using a guided discovery approach. For example, if the learners were given a listening task to do on the biography of a famous person who is still alive, the teacher could hand out the transcript and get the students to underline all of the examples of the present perfect tense. This might be followed by a short discussion, led by the teacher, as to why the tense is being used in this particular situation, followed by some concept-checking questions to ensure students understand how to use the target language. However, Krashen is clear that the main focus of classroom activity should be on giving learners as much comprehensible input as possible. Teachers should base their lessons on meaningful interactions with plenty of graded listening and reading input.

6. The natural order hypothesis

The grammar and vocabulary of a language are acquired in the same general order, irrespective of who the learner is, which language they are acquiring and the order of the grammar syllabus. You can teach students reported speech, such as in the sentence, 'she mentioned that she had been at the shop that morning', but learners won’t acquire it unless they are ready to. Certain elements of grammar are 'late-acquired', such as the third person '-s', and others are 'early-acquired'. This explains why my little niece continues to say things like 'Daddy go to work every day', even when she has already mastered more complex grammatical structures such as a conditional sentence like, 'I would do it if I had time'. Evidence for this 'natural sequence' of language acquisition can be found in the morpheme studies by Dulay and Burt. This casts doubt on the teaching of many points of grammar too early, that is, before students are ready to acquire them, such as the future perfect tense at intermediate level.

The advantages children have over adult learners

Before looking at the classroom implications of Krashen’s insights, we should remind ourselves of some of the advantages that children learning their first language have over adults learning a second language. One of the principle advantages is that children are exposed to copious amounts of comprehensible input at just the right level, and there is no pressure on them to speak until they are ready to do so. Children can also take their time and wait until they feel confident before attempting to speak. Moreover, they often have lower expectations of themselves and this helps to ensure that their anxiety levels are low, which, in turn, increases their rate of acquisition.

One of the most surprising things is that when children acquire a language, the language acquisition itself is not their objective. Rather, it is a by-product of the achievement of some other purpose, such as making friends in a school playground. Moreover, they pick up the elements of their first language in its natural order. They are not 'force-fed' grammar too early before their language acquisition devices are ready for it. Instead, they acquire the language first and then consider its structure after acquisition has already taken place. Finally, they learn the elements of a language in the natural order.

The practical implications of Krashen's ideas for the classroom

From Krashen's theories, and having looked at the advantages that children have over adults when it comes to learning languages, we can draw certain conclusions about what conditions make for a successful learning environment. First, class time should be taken up with as much comprehensible input as possible. Second, classes should be stress-free environments where students are encouraged to relax and acquire the language by having fun with it.

One particularly important implication of Krashen’s findings is that students, particularly at lower levels, should have lower demands made on them to speak, and materials and teacher talking time should be modified for each student's level. Furthermore, grammar instruction should be done on a need-to-know basis, and only with older learners. Last, but perhaps most important, lessons should not be based on grammar points, but rather on the exchange of meaning.