Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Thanks and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Tasks
- Introductory unit
- 1 Language standards and rules
- 2 Varieties of English
- 3 Types of grammar
- 4 Language systems and syllabuses
- 5 Forms and functions
- 6 An introduction to phonology
- 7 The consonants
- 8 The vowels
- 9 Rhythm and connected speech
- 10 Sentence stress and intonation
- 11 Word formation, spelling and word stress
- 12 Lexical meaning
- 13 Word classes and phrases
- 14 Sentence structure: the simple sentence
- 15 Sentence structure: the complex sentence
- 16 Negatives and questions
- 17 The verb phrase
- 18 Time and tense
- 19 Aspect: progressive
- 20 Aspect: perfect
- 21 Modality
- 22 Futurity
- 23 Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
- 24 The noun phrase
- 25 Determiners
- 26 Adjectives and adverbs
- 27 Prepositions and phrasal verbs
- 28 Cohesion
- 29 Texts
- 30 Conversation
- Key and commentaries
- Introductory unit
- 1 Language standards and rules
- 2 Varieties of English
- 3 Types of grammar
- 4 Language systems and syllabuses
- 5 Forms and functions
- 6 An introduction to phonology
- 7 The consonants
- 8 The vowels
- 9 Rhythm and connected speech
- 10 Sentence stress and intonation
- 11 Word formation, spelling and word stress
- 12 Lexical meaning
- 13 Word classes and phrases
- 14 Sentence structure: the simple sentence
- 15 Sentence structure: the complex sentence
- 16 Negatives and questions
- 17 The verb phrase
- 18 Time and tense
- 19 Aspect: progressive
- 20 Aspect: perfect
- 21 Modality
- 22 Futurity
- 23 Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
- 24 The noun phrase
- 25 Determiners
- 26 Adjectives and adverbs
- 27 Prepositions and phrasal verbs
- 28 Cohesion
- 29 Texts
- 30 Conversation
- References
- Index
1 - Language standards and rules
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 February 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Thanks and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Tasks
- Introductory unit
- 1 Language standards and rules
- 2 Varieties of English
- 3 Types of grammar
- 4 Language systems and syllabuses
- 5 Forms and functions
- 6 An introduction to phonology
- 7 The consonants
- 8 The vowels
- 9 Rhythm and connected speech
- 10 Sentence stress and intonation
- 11 Word formation, spelling and word stress
- 12 Lexical meaning
- 13 Word classes and phrases
- 14 Sentence structure: the simple sentence
- 15 Sentence structure: the complex sentence
- 16 Negatives and questions
- 17 The verb phrase
- 18 Time and tense
- 19 Aspect: progressive
- 20 Aspect: perfect
- 21 Modality
- 22 Futurity
- 23 Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
- 24 The noun phrase
- 25 Determiners
- 26 Adjectives and adverbs
- 27 Prepositions and phrasal verbs
- 28 Cohesion
- 29 Texts
- 30 Conversation
- Key and commentaries
- Introductory unit
- 1 Language standards and rules
- 2 Varieties of English
- 3 Types of grammar
- 4 Language systems and syllabuses
- 5 Forms and functions
- 6 An introduction to phonology
- 7 The consonants
- 8 The vowels
- 9 Rhythm and connected speech
- 10 Sentence stress and intonation
- 11 Word formation, spelling and word stress
- 12 Lexical meaning
- 13 Word classes and phrases
- 14 Sentence structure: the simple sentence
- 15 Sentence structure: the complex sentence
- 16 Negatives and questions
- 17 The verb phrase
- 18 Time and tense
- 19 Aspect: progressive
- 20 Aspect: perfect
- 21 Modality
- 22 Futurity
- 23 Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
- 24 The noun phrase
- 25 Determiners
- 26 Adjectives and adverbs
- 27 Prepositions and phrasal verbs
- 28 Cohesion
- 29 Texts
- 30 Conversation
- References
- Index
Summary
Introduction
What is ‘proper’ English? What English should we teach? Who decides? This unit addresses these questions.
Tasks
What is the rule?
Imagine a student of English asks you the following. How would you respond?
a How do you greet someone when you are first introduced?
b How do you answer the phone in English?
c What is the correct spelling: specialise or specialize?
d Which is preferable? Handicapped or disabled? Or neither?
e Is I’m lovin’ it! wrong?
f Like I said or As I said?
g Is it different from or different than?
h What’s the best way to sign off an email? Best regards? Best? Or …?
i Is it me and my husband were there or my husband and I …? And between you and me or between you and I?
j Should you pronounce the ‘t’ in often?
Consult with colleagues. Where do the answers come from – something you read in a book or on the internet, something a teacher taught you, or simply a hunch?
2 Prescriptive vs. descriptive rules
Here is a prescriptive rule that relates to example 1 (f) above.
Colloquial English admits like as a conjunction, and would not be shocked at such a sentence as ‘Nothing succeeds like success does’. In America they go even further, and say ‘It looked like he was going to succeed’. But in English prose neither of these will do. Like must not be treated as a conjunction. So we may say ‘Nothing succeeds like success’; but it must be ‘Nothing succeeds as success does’ and ‘it looks as if he were going to succeed’.
(Gowers 1973)
The rule is prescriptive because it tells you what you should say, indeed, what you must say, but not what people actually do say. Here is how a more recent grammar treats the same topic:
The conjunctions as and like have the same meaning when used in comparisons. Like is a little more informal.
Nobody understands him as I do.
Nobody understands him like I do.
(Carter et al. 2011)
This rule does not prescribe what should or must be done. It simply describes what is done. It is the kind of rule you would expect in a descriptive grammar.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- About LanguageTasks for Teachers of English, pp. 7 - 14Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2017