Grammar Essays (Examples)

In short, possibly the most helpful books that I have found on grammar are those that help me with exercises and do not pander but are too the point. They are also clear and illustrative with topical and easy-to-understand examples.

There are numerous books on grammar -- though, in my estimation, not enough. Some of these books are juvenile, parodying the field and sprinkling it with witticisms and childish jokes. I find this irrelevant to helping me and, at worst, distracting.

There are also some useful sites on the web that sometimes sprinkle grammar with games and exercises. Two of these sites are the following:

Guide to grammar and writing (http://grammar.ccc.comment.edu/grammar/)

OWL. Purdue online writing lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/738/01/)

In browsing for some of these sites, I came across the following reminiscence:

I remember when I was training to teach English as a Foreign Language and I encountered plenty of items of…

Grammar

In his post entitled 99.9% of proper grammar is obsolete, David Wertheimer makes a number of claims to support his hypothesis proper grammar is obsolete. His argument rests primarily on the use of anecdotal evidence from current digital usage. The first argument is that outside of mainstream publications, things like capital letters, subject-verb agreement and full-length the necessity of such things is "already starting to decay."

As a fundamental underlying philosophy, he notes that "grammatical expertise wastes time and money. The implication is that grammar is a luxury that does not necessarily serve the interests of functional communication. He notes that "there is a cut-off point" were even those people who are knowledgeable of proper grammar "inevitably choose a level beyond which they will make no [further] effort." The author adds some anecdotes and straw men in an attempt to bolster his claims.

At this point, when he claims…

Grammar Presentation

The Hook:

The following sentence made it through the grammar checker in Microsoft Word: Having designed software all my life, Microsoft Windows continues to trouble me. What is wrong with that sentence? The problem is not apparent enough to warrant attention from the built-in grammar checker in the word processing software. At first glance, the sentence seems to work: it contains two clauses, one dependent, introductory clause and another independent clause. Noun-verb agreement is fine, and the sentence is not a run-on. However, it contains one of the most common (and humorously named) grammatical errors: the dangling participle.

A participle is a single word or an entire phrase that acts as an adjective although it is derived from a verb. Thus, a participle "participates" as both a verb and an adjective. The above example contains a participial phrase: having designed software all my life. However, a participle can…

The aroma of garlic permeates the air as it bakes. A first bite yields a warm blend of sweet full-fat cheese complemented by the acidity of the tomato, carried by the neutral crunch of the stable crust.

aty Jones and I are best friends. We spent every Christmas together at both her house and mine, because our families used to live right around the corner from each other in Elgin, Illinois. Her house was on St. Andrews Circle, and mine was on Wells Circle. When this picture was taken, aty and I were in first grade and were an inseparable pair. She did nothing without me, and I did nothing without her. We laughed like one person, always in harmony with each other when we played with our toys or in the yard. Our bond remained strong until middle school.

Come middle school our friendship changed. I hung around in…

To this end, it requires them to give primary attention to meaning and to make use of their own linguistic resources, although the design of the task may predispose them to choose particular forms. A task is intended to result in language use that bears a resemblance, direct or indirect, to the way language issued in the real world. Like other language activities, a task can engage productive or receptive, and oral or written skills, and also various cognitive processes. (Ellis, as cited in de la Fuente, 2006, p. 264).

Alan V. Brown (2009), University of Kentucky, Department of Hispanic Studies, asserts in the study, "Students' and teachers' perceptions of effective foreign language teaching: A comparison of ideals," that although formulating teachers' and students' perceptions of L2 teaching constitutes a formidable task and sometimes may seem an endless chore, the assessment depicts an arena where research proves vital. The need…

David preferred the freedom of traveling by train.

Coordination: Suzanne liked the control that driving her own car gave her, and David preferred the freedom of traveling by train.

Subordination: Suzanne liked control, which driving her own car gave her; David preferred freedom, which traveling by train gave him.

2) Cuba is a popular holiday destination. Canadians flock to the south when harsh winter winds blow.

Coordination: Cuba is a popular holiday destination, and Canadians flock to the south when harsh winter winds blow.

Subordination: Cuba is a popular holiday destination for Canadians, who flock to the south when harsh winter winds blow.

3) Travel guides provide the best way to learn about an unfamiliar location. Meandering and exploring yield unique and fascinating travel experiences.

Coordination: Travel guides provide the best way to learn about an unfamiliar location, but meandering and exploring also yield unique and fascinating travel experiences.

Subordination:…

Part a: Commas

Fortunately, Albert's determination has not been erased. He knows that yes, his work experience is of questionable value in the real world, but that won't stop him! The voice of his mother, who died recently, seems to be urging him forward: "Don't be pessimistic, Al. Whenever the going gets rough we have to put our noses to the grindstone!" That voice, its enthusiasm never waning, shields Albert from despair.

Part B: Semicolon

1) Driving in a rainstorm is always stressful; driving in a blizzard can be terrifying.

2) it was rainy and very chilly outside, but Marina decided to walk to work anyway.

3) in what seemed like a paradox to him, David was afraid of heights; however, he liked to fly.

4) Train travel isn't just for the faint of heart; it is also for those who enjoy the beauty of unfolding landscapes.

5) During the…

Purely from a technical perspective, my writing habits are actually not that bad: I know how to free-write my ideas; I am good at organizing them into logical order afterwards; I make good outlines; and then, I am able to develop those outlines into rough drafts and a final product. The principal problem that I encounter in my writing is that all of that tends to occur within a much shorter time frame than necessary for optimal results because of my tendency to procrastinate. In fact, I realize that I am now so conditioned to procrastinating that it is very difficult for me to get into the right frame of mind for concentration on my writing task unless I am already under significant time pressure. Once in a great while, I have had the experience of misconstruing a deadline and believing that an assignment (or an exam) was scheduled earlier…

Discuss what main idea means and what details mean.

10. Tell students to be thinking of a song that they would like to use for tomorrow's assignment. Tell them that they must bring the tape and the lyrics of the song with them. They need to pick a song that has at least 20 nouns in it and it must be appropriate for school. They will be formatively assessed on this assignment. They'll have 10 minutes to work on it during class tomorrow.

(For each formative assessment mentioned in Day 3's procedures, see the assessment section of this lesson for the criteria.)

Day 4:

1. Give students about 10 minutes to get their songs ready. (If time is an issue, students may play just a portion of their songs, however, make sure to play enough of the song so as to be able to answer the questions.)Have them write the…

Grammar

Different views of grammar

There are a plethora of theoretical and practical views about the meaning, function and understanding of grammar. .These views often conflict, while there are also numerous areas of intersection and comparison. This paper will focus on two of the main theoretical trajectories in contemporary understanding of what grammar is.; namely the formalist-mentalist and functionalist views.

It may however be cogent to firstly discuss various underlying definitions and views of the meaning of grammar as these fundaments tend to provide an avenue of understanding of the central theories involved. The word grammar derived from grammatike or grammatike techne, which in classical Greek meant "the art of writing." ( Ezzaher, Lahcen E. 2001)

It is important to note that the meaning of 'grammar' was originally focused on "writing" and not speech. This is a crucial aspect as many of the contending linguistic and grammatical theories tend to…

e. cursing, swearing) and not using discriminatory language or language that is "racist, sexist, ageist" (Caldwell, 2004) or so forth. The concept of 'communicative competence" (Caldwell, 2004) is described as grammar that "relates to the nature of language teaching" in an approach." (Caldwell, 2004) that is fairly universally advocated in L2 teaching." (Caldwell, 2004) the mistakes that are made may either be in "form" due to lack of knowledge or through use of irregular past tense forms implying that grammar should be descriptive or mistakes in 'use" or knowing when the present perfect or the simple past tense should be used implying that grammar should be descriptive.

It is suggested by Tomlin (1994, pp. 141-42) that teaching communicative language in inclusive of (1) systematic attention to functional and structural aspects; (2) Situational and contextualized use of language in class; (3) Teaching and Learning being made transparent through representational support; (4)…

The introductory "like" is placed before a sentence, such as "Like, how are you," "Like, sit down," or 'Like, it's cold in here," and then there is the introductory "it's like" such as "It's like, she should mind her own business" (Grammar pp). The introductory "like" is generally a filler and does not affect the meaning, while the introductory "it's like" is usually an intensifier and gives emphasis to the sentence (Grammar pp).

Slang is also used in present for past, as in "I'm at the mall, and I see this cool shirt, and I buy it," here, present-tense verbs are being used with past-tense meaning (Grammar pp).

Another filler word is "stuff," as in "They sell hot dogs and stuff," or "They dance and stuff" (Grammar pp). Almost any kind or word or phrase can be followed by "and stuff," which can mean "and so on" or it can…

Correction: The study showed that women are more likely than men to see color.

Original: Men blind to finer differences in color.

Correction: Men are blind to finer differences in color.

Original: During the lab my partner see only basic colors.

Correction: During the lab my partner saw only basic colors.

Helping the Student

Although it was difficult, I stayed with my conventional way of tutoring for these mistakes. We slowly worked through her paper line by line pausing at each mistake and I would let her try and figure out the proper form of the verb to use. An example of the conversation we had back and forth was as follows:

Me (reading out loud): The study find evidence that cones was effected...Lets stop there and go back. The study find is not correct.

Student: I see, would it be finded?

Me: Not exactly, lets look up the verb…

English (Grammar, Spelling) is Important

hy is it important for a student (and any writer) to use proper grammar and spelling? This paper delves into that subject and provides research that is pertinent and helpful.

hy is Grammar Important?

Beverly Ann Chin is professor of English at the University of Montana, and she explains that when papers, letters, essays, journalism and research papers do not use proper grammar those reading those writings may have "…preconceived notions about the value of its contents" (Chin, 2000).

hen the writing shows poor grammar, no one will take it seriously, Chin explains. She also mentions that good grammar helps to "…guarantee clarity" and it also brings "…a level of order and elegance into the language." But why does it really matter? Bad grammar suggests bad writing, she continues, and when a reader sees flaws in the grammar he or she tends not to take…

Prescriptive grammar are the rules governing how one speaks and writes, based on an English standard "norm," or how society in general believes the language of English should be spoken and written (ussel, 2003). Prescriptive rules by nature judge whether the language being used is correct or not. Descriptive Grammar is very different, in that rather than assigning rules regarding the manner in which one should speak and write, it examines how people actually do speak and right and attempts to account for variant grammar usage (ussel, 2003). Descriptive grammar allows for more variation of the spoken and written word than prescriptive grammar, and takes into consideration a native speakers intuitive ability to comprehend grammatical structure without actually studying the mechanisms behind it.

Prescriptive grammar assumes that everyone should or will be following an assigned standard for speaking and writing English. Linguists tend to more closely associate with descriptive language,…

The first independent clause begins in a strong active voice, with a strong decisive verb, (Graff, 2006).

This represents his shift from true passiveness to a form of non-violent action. Then, the dependent clause "realizing that except for Christmas," begins with a gerund. The verb to realize is transformed into a noun with the adding of a "-ing." This is aimed at showing the general modality of the speaker. The speaker and all involved had a previous knowledge of the realization involved in the process. Then King Jr. refers back to the object Easter with the subject and verb of "this is." This is a form of a relative clause which is therefore a form of adjective clause, (Lewis, 1986).

The next sentence continues the modality of the gerund verb. This sentence is a dependent attached to an independent clause first beginning with a gerund, "Knowing that a strong economic…

Chomsky

Noam Chomsky and His Theory of Universal Grammar

Noam Chomsky name is not unknown to the world. Though he is not a psychologist or a psychiatrist but his contributions in the fields of psychology and linguistics has a great impact. His theory of generative grammar has been regarded as one of the most considerable contributions to the field of theoretical linguistics (Berger, 2005).

As a Person

Noam Chomsky, a well-known politician and an exceptional linguist, was born on December 7, 1928 in the state of Philadelphia in the home of a Hebrew scholar (Berger, 2005). He got his early education in Philadelphia while he went to study linguistics, mathematics and philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. There, he also achieved his PhD degree though he completed most of his PhD work at Harvard University during early 1950s. Chomsky has been associated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1955. He…

Poor Grammar

Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system may be seen as an overpowering, puzzling as well as threatening for all those who do not work according to the system on normal basis. Thus, one can easily imagine the response of a criminal since he or she struggle to turn the very inflicting "criminal" justice system (ncvc, 1998).

There are many individuals that may include victims along with their advocates of having believed that the justice system concentrate on the criminal to the loss or damage of the victim (ncvc, 1998). However, after the passage of the isconsin Victims' Bill of Rights in 1980, the victim advocates have supported the passage of victims' rights legislation to have balance justice system (ncvc, 1998).

Thus now to some extent, all states have passed laws in order to protect the rights as well as interests of crime victims. However, the capacity and…

students acquire a grasp of English grammar. Researchers rued the conventional rule-based approach that makes students memorize and learn grammar by rote. They sought another more effective one.

More specifically, written English is an important skill for business people. Many of them have a poor grasp of the written language and this effects their communication and accordingly their impact on clients and colleagues as wells student if and when they teach). To investigate better and more effective ways of teaching grammar, the article analyzed the different methods and assessed which were more effective.

The question was which of the various grammar methods used through the years created in order to teach grammar taught grammar in a more effective and memorable way that the traditional rule-based approach. Which did students find easier to grasp and which helped students acquire an effective grasp of the English language.

Methods

Different researchers created and…

Peer Reviewer's Name And Email:

"As a peer reviewer, your job is not to provide answers. You raise questions; the writer makes the choices. You act as a mirror, showing the writer how the draft looks to you and pointing our areas which need attention." -- Sharon Williams

Don't overwhelm the writer with too much commentary. Stick to the major issues. You need not respond to all of the questions/suggestions in this form. Comment on all five areas, but within this framework choose the questions that are most appropriate for the specific paper.

Read the draft, record your first impressions, and respond to the five areas listed below.

Assertion:

Clarity, importance

This essay makes the case that Martha Graham is one of the leading female artists of the 20th century. It gives evidence of her life and career and shows how she became a celebrated artist. It pays attention to…

Grammar Error Correction

Grammar Correction Best Practices

The art and science of grammar correction has seismic implications on native and new speakers to English alike. The ability to communicate in a clear and cohesive fashion, both verbally and in writing, whilst using the proper syntax, punctuation, sentence structure and spelling is vital for the message to be clear. Further, it is seen as a sign of intelligence or lack thereof for someone to use the obviously wrong words and sentence structure while communicating in writing or via speech. hile grammar and languages teachers are perhaps fighting a losing battle right now given the fairly sloppy nature of many people including supposed language professionals like writers and journalists, there are indeed some verifiable and known best practices that can and should be used to help combat the grammar failures that pervade the sphere of communication in the United States as well…

Language

American English is incredible malleable and diverse, and it would be a mistake to impose artificial rules. Not only would it be a mistake, it could even be construed as racist. The imaginary Correct English (whether Oxford or Webster-based prescriptive grammatical rules) is one that is clearly defined by the white upper-class hegemony in higher education. As Deresiewicz (2005) states, "there is no such thing as Correct English, and there never has been." Dialects and accents are a sign that the language is alive. Language reflects subculture and social identity, and can allow for the vivid expression of ideas that would be severely restricted if there were only one Correct English.

Language is a form of cultural capital. Therefore, "stigmatized forms" of language such as edneck or African-American speech, are "typically those used by social groups other than the educated middle classes -- professional people, including those in law,…

These different perspectives were based upon their language learning experiences from the past, their language proficiency, their current academic needs, and also their future career choices. To bridge the gap, the teachers engaged in dialogue with the students to determine the best ways to engage the students individually (Pazaver, and Wang 35).

In a study in the International Journal of English Studies, the authors used ELT materials in order build of a reliable instrument to help in the potential for the promotion of implicit and explicit components in ESL learning by students. The found that implicitness and explicitness were promoted equally by the ESL teaching units in three different textbooks (Criado Sanchez, Sanchez Perez, and Cantos Gomez 129). In an article in the journal of Applied Linguistics, .W. Schmidt analyzes issues that impact upon explicit learning modalities. He concludes that subliminal language learning is impossible. Also, he notes that it…

The most proficient language users, namely bilinguals, favor inter- and intrasentential CS which "require most knowledge of both languages" (Poplack 1980:606) whereas tag-switched sentences are preferred by less proficient and non-bilingual speakers who, in comparison to their first language, are less competent in their second language.

3. Grammar of Intrasentential Code Switching

As already mentioned in chapter 2.2.1 the switching of languages within a single sentence is no random occurrence. As many researchers observed that "bilinguals tend to switch intra-sententially at certain (morpho) syntactic boundaries and not at others" (Poplack 2004:1). According to Poplack (2004:1) the government of grammatical constraints on CS has become a largely accepted fact. "Though, there is little consensus on what they are or how they should be represented" (Poplack 2004:1). The question arises in which way two separate grammars merge to one grammatically correct sentence and which grammar governs the switching. The following chapter gives…

Clickers/esponses Phonics Lesson

Phonics Long Vowel - Silent e Lesson Plan for Special Education

Objectives:

Students will recognize and say words that follow the c-v-c-e and v-c-e rule where the first vowel is a long vowel and the final e is silent. By using the Clickers/esponses as a classroom game they will utilize them after hearing the correct sounds.

Students with the will be able to spell and write out some basic long vowel words that have c-v-c-e and v-c-e spelling patterns and will use the Clickers/esponses when they hear the right sound.

About the Concept:

There are several regular long vowel spelling patterns in the English language. The c-v-c-e pattern (consonant-vowel-consonant-final e) is a long vowel spelling pattern which occurs quite frequently in early reading and spelling. Essentially, the phonics rule for this design mentions that when a vowel and final e are separated by a single consonant, the…

Learner-centered curriculum' in TESOL

The most important learning processes in any school anywhere in the world involve the use of several different means of communication. The communication methods may be verbal or non-verbal. Verbal communication involves the use of oral and written symbols that can communicate a message to the student, and non-verbal involves the use of, primarily, among other means, body language. Without communication there can be no means of telling the other person what one person wants or needs, and communication is used between teachers and parents, between groups, between the parents and the community, and also for the formation of interpersonal relationships and as the medium of instruction in a school. Any sort of behavioral problems in school would be dealt with by effective means of communication, and it can be stated that without communication there would be no education.

However, the culture or the background of…

Instructions: Read the following sentence and then answer the questions in a word processing document.The faloopious scaringas tringled quaransically to the barton.1. What did the faloopious scaringas do? They tringled.2. How did they tringle? Quaransically.3. What/Who tringled? The scaringas.4. Where did they tringle? To the barton.Reflection: Using the basic rules of grammar, I could tell that the subject is the scaringas. The word precedes the term tringled which is written like a verb in the past tense. So if the verb is tringled, one might ask, What tringled? and the answer would be to look immediately to the left of the predicate and identify the term that is being associated with the verb-looking word. That would be scaringas which appears to be a noun in the plural case. The term faloopious appears to have a descriptive ending ious which is a morpheme that designates that the root word is describing…

Traditional Methods of Language Teaching

The paper discuses the various traditional methods of language teaching, namely:

Grammar Translation Method

The Audio-lingual Method

The Direct Method

The Silent Way

The Communicative Approach

Cognitive code learning

The Natural Approach

Behaviorist approach

Functional-Notional Approach and The task-based approach

The paper discusses each approach in details and describes its various chief principles and how it helps both teachers and students to teach, understand, learn, and practice all the skills they learn through these approaches.

Grammar Translation Method

This method involves the learner to spend a lot of time in understanding the language structure. Though both listening as well as speaking suffer because of it. However, grammar and vocabulary are being stressed throughout the teaching method.

The grammar translation method has been derived from traditional approaches to the teaching of Latin and Greek in the nineteenth century (Selected Lesson Plans). It was originally used to…

feature of language and why?

The most important key feature of any language is grammar. Grammar provides structure and meaning to sounds. Without a grammatical framework, it is unclear if a word is referring to a noun or an adjective; an adverb or a verb. Even a computer language must have a grammatical construction to be read and to be comprehensible. Many words between different languages sound very similar (such as Latin and Portuguese, for example) but without grammatical rules the distinctions in use between those sounds is unclear. Grammar also is part of the social 'situation' of a language. For a language to be effective, it cannot exist in a vacuum. "No commonly-spoken language is fixed. All languages change over time. What we call 'grammar' is simply a reflection of a language at a particular time" (What is grammar, 2014, English Club). Over time certain grammatical rules may become…

If language is like food, then the ingredients are its words; the cooking process is its grammar; the nutritional value is its semantics. Some sentences are simple staples like rice and beans. Others are primarily aesthetic, finely crafted, and honed over time like a French sauce. Like the ingredients in any dish, the words of a language depend largely on geography. At the same time, we borrow words from other cultures just as we may borrow ingredients from other cuisines. Spanglish is like fusion food. Some cooking processes are rigid, time-consuming, and complex like proper grammar; others are looser and more flexible like everyday speech. There are some dishes you would serve your mother and others that are too spicy for her. Some language is long-winded and without substance; some is meaty; some is so packed with goodness that you return it again and again.

Ascription to the rules of…

Successful Writing

How can you improve your understanding of and proper use of grammar and punctuation?

Read, read, and read! Perhaps the best way to improve my understanding of and proper use of grammar and punctuation is to read more books and newspapers that utilize correct grammar and punctuation. This kind of exposure to the language will give me a better intuitive feel for English. Although it is true that not most books are not carefully labeled with nouns, verbs, and semicolons, and that not all great works of literature are written with perfect grammar and punctuation for artistic purposes, still, the best way to understand proper usage is to be exposed on a consistent basis to proper usage. One must know how published authors use the language when they write quality works of literature. So much of modern communication takes the form of email that it is easy to…

Because of the existence of so many common homophones in the English language, Bullokar wanted to retain some way of distinguishing between these words in print, and if two different symbols signified the production of the same sound, this could be accomplished (olfe 41). His reform efforts were essentially centered around the visual word, no doubt due to the novelty of the printing press, and he attempted to develop a simple visual system for pronouncing the English language.

Pitman's shorthand accomplishes the same thing, to some degree, but that was not at all its purpose nor is his system limited in such a fashion. Pitman wanted to develop a true science behind the development and codification of linguistic elements, and his phonetic shorthand system -- one of the first serious and comprehensive efforts at the development of a phonetic alphabet for English -- does largely this, having one symbol for…

05 level as measured by ____(insert the name of your measurement instrument here) on a post-test basis.

There exists no statistically significant difference between multiple intelligence teaching and traditional teaching for reading language acquisition of first graders at the ?

The student jumps from one tense to another in the space of two sentences, revealing a discussion which is largely uncertain of its own chronology. Naturally, this makes the work a very unclear experience for the reader such as in the pair of sentences in the second paragraph, which declare that "A few days later 'This alarms the Crows.' Father Crows discussed the matter with the other animals that live in the banyan tree." Again, only with respect to tense changes, the pattern of error in this sentence jumps from present tense (alarms), to past tense (discussed) and then back to present (live). These examples all come from the first few sentences of the essay, and are consistently observable throughout, indicating that verb conjugation is an area of particular need for this student where written expression in concerned.

Other issues that are often encountered by ELL students will concern the…

344).

In his seminal work, Second-Language Acquisition in Childhood, McLaughlin (1985) reports that early research into language acquisition by preschool children suggested that interference between languages is not as inevitable or universal as was once believed. "Contrastive analysis, in its traditional form, was not able to account for the vast majority of errors that second-language learners made; in fact, learners from quite different language backgrounds appeared to make the same types of mistakes in the target language," he adds (McLaughlin, 1985, p. 14).

Since these early studies into language acquisition, other studies have shown that transfer from the first language does take place in the speech of children from certain first-language backgrounds and at certain times during the learning process. Therefore, McLaughlin cautions that, "It is an exaggeration to say that transfer from the first language is minimal and unimportant. The acquisition of phonological, syntactic, and morphological structures in a…

Generals Grant and Lee was particularly instructive to me as a writer because it made use of the two generals to stand for, not simply themselves, but two different regional differences present in America of the day and two different philosophies that were being merged into one at Appomattox. The personages, political views, and upbringings of Grant and Lee encompass and emphasize the whole of the American Civil War as "they were two strong men, these oddly different generals, and they represented the strengths of two conflicting currents that through them, had come into final collision.

Grammar Summary

Identifying and rewriting compound-complex sentences has been tricky. Often, I am uncertain if my revisions are correct. However, the revision of such sentences forces me to be assured that I am quite clear about my line of thought. Sloppy thinking leads to sloppy sentence structure and grammar.

Overall Week had wonderful responses…

English for Academic purposes (EAP) teaching and research have come up. These are the systematic functional linguistics (SFL) approaches in Australia and other parts of the world (for example Lee, 2010; Hood, 2006; Woodward-Kron, 2009) and Academic Literacy approaches in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world (for example Lillis & Scott, 2008; Turner, 2004; Thesen & Pletzen, 2006). Despite the two approaches drawing from sociocultural and ethnographic traditions, they tend to have a focus on various facets of EAP. As a language theory, SFL has used linguistic analysis for the establishment of nature of discourses and avenues of getting students participate in the discourses. The pedagogy and research have focused on language systems, language being used and texts. Most academic research literatures have focused on investigating ethnographic leanings and critiquing the predominant institutional and academic practices. The methods in use have focused on finding practices, identities of…

Audience views can also be discussed at this time.

The students have written their first draft. The teacher tells them that after the peer review, they will take the suggested comments and rewrite the paper. This step is another step in the writing process. As the students are learning the process, it is natural with less stress. At the same time, the instructor can continue exposing the students to the masters but in another way. As mentioned above, the teacher is there to answer questions from the students about possible errors in the writing. During the time, the students can spend a portion of their time in examining sentence build from different styles of writing. From this writing, they can have assignments where they clarify their knowledge of the rudiments of grammar, such as subject, predicate, noun, and verb, etc. This can be done using the writings to which they…

ardhaugh indicates that there is a problematic need in the field to reverse expectations about the capacity of this approach to instruct in practicable and usable linguistic ability. The author takes exception with traditionalist ideas the argue "the single paramount fact about language learning is that it concerns, not problem solving, but the formation and performance of habits." (ardhaugh, p. 21) The linguistic theorist rejects this principle as failing to acknowledge many of the more abstract contextual factors relating to the applicable usage of language. Particularly, the impact levied by culture, by regional dialect, by accent, by generational difference, by distinctions between formal, informal or slang usage and by a host of other even less tangible effectors cannot be introduced simply through the use of habit-forming drills or other techniques which rely singularly on rote practice.

Kanno & Varghese (2010) contribute research that does endorse this more integrative approach, which…

Effective Communicator Through My riting?

In the information age, technology has opened up numerous channels of communication. hile this provides us with an unlimited opportunity to get our message across, it also underlines the vital importance of effective communication skills without which we would be unable to benefit fully from the information revolution. riting skill, although just one of the aspects of communication, is arguably the most important to get our message across. In this paper I shall look at some of the key aspects of communicating effectively through writing.

Brainstorming

Before starting to write anything, whether it is a business letter, a written report, or an essay, it is always useful to "brainstorm" in order to generate some creative ideas. This would help in overcoming the number one nemesis of all writers -- "the writer's block." Brainstorming is most useful when a group of people indulge in a freewheeling…

Still the voice is based out of a solid religious belief of a Creator.

Assessment, Culture and Institutions general assessment of American Declaration regarding this selection is simple. It outlines clearly the intentions and plans for a free governing state created by its people for its people. The Declaration shouts, "e are here to stay!" It implores people if these intentions are fulfilled, happiness will result. This is a bold statement for its time. The culture of this document is very much engrained in the concept of a Creator or God. This is inherent of the time. America's creation is based out of religious freedom because of persecution elsewhere. This makes this document not only social but also deeply personal. A person's view of God or the Creator is an emotional connection and personal decision. By putting this in the foundation of government, the Founding Fathers were hoping to gain…

The focus of academics continues to focus on finding a cause and on developing reliable interventions for children suffering from this condition. It is important to begin intervention as early as possible so that incorrect speech patterns do not become ingrained. In addition, it is important to make certain that other learning complications do not develop as a result of SLI.

The research conducted by ice, Wexler, & Cleave (1995) helped to draw attention to SLI as being different from other language deficiencies. Their work helped to identify and define SLI as its own subset of language delay symptoms. This important step led the way for research that explored causality and intervention. SLI is typically associated with deficiencies in verbal skills. However, research into non-verbal skills was also suggested by these and other study results. This avenue will help to further define and distinguish SLI from other language delays.

eferences…

Stephen Colbert's Speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner, 2006

In this speech comedian Stephen Colbert gives a hysterically funny account of the Bush administration and the White House Press Corps. President Bush and the member of the press are co-agents. Often he takes an idea of Bush's and carries it to its ridiculous conclusion and "gives people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument." The message seems to be that together Bush and the press have cuckolded the American public with a myriad of speech acts and policies that are illogical as well as destructive.

With Bush and the press as co-agents, the scene that contains them is Washington, D.C., the United States of America, and the whole world. The scene is in a state of economic chaos due to the actions of the co-agents. For example, Colbert states that democracy is our "greatest export. At least until China figures…

foundational skills graduate program. If trouble translating ideas paper, evaluate analysis ideas. Clear, structured, concise writing free grammar spelling errors essential. For discussion, read writing sample provided propose improve writing.

Critiquing a piece of writing: Death penalty response

Perhaps the first, most obvious critique of this piece of writing is that the author's position on the issue of capital punishment is extremely unclear. The author begins by stating that America is one of the only nations in the world that still executes its citizens, suggesting he or she is opposed to the death penalty. The author compares the U.S. To ussia and China, two nations with terrible human rights records. True, if ussia and China continue to execute criminals, this hardly speaks well of the practice -- but the author at first seems to imply that the U.S. is worse than these two nations, stating that the U.S. executes more…

In relationship of his reading comprehension -- Manuel knows how to read at grade level. He really does get the plain indication and can figure out the connotation of a lot of words in the course of context clues. He can effortlessly recapitulate what he has just read and grabbed some of the main ideas as well as extrapolations. His writing needs a lot of work. A lot of the time he leaves out things like prepositions and over uses the imperative regarding creating the words so that they could be plural. For instance -- take the word "children." Manuel will normally just adds an "s" on it so that it can be plural. During other times he does not make certain terms plural. Homonyms are a big issue for Manuel. His language appears to emphasis needs to be on structuring a basis of appropriate sentence structure and sentence syntax.…

Speech: Museum's Bid For Bodies

Good evening ladies -- and yes, good evening gentleman as well.

Well, where should we begin? Ahhhh yes -- Are any of you aware of what a cadaver parade is? Have any of you ever actually heard of a cadaver parade?

Let me read to you a recent headline that I discovered: "Anatomy of competition: 2 museums bid for bodies -- what is a bid -- it is an offer or a proposal of a price."

What do you think about that? (Pause) My initial thoughts after reading those words were: "This is unbelievable, no, it is downright shocking, shameful, and certainly very offensive.

When was the last time a price was hung on us human beings? You probably already know, that's right -- During the days of Slavery. (Pause) Am I right?

I believe that the practice attaching a price to the human body…

10-year-old boy, Alec. The child has had pervasive relocations in his life, beginning at age 2 and endured a challenging separation between his parents. Since the separation he first experienced 50% split parenting, living with his mother one week then his father and stepmother the next, until such time as he was school age. He then began to live full time with his mother during the school week and visit his father and stepmother every other weekend, until age 7 when his mother relocated to an area which is a seven hour drive from his father at this point the mother also remarried. From that point to the present he has stayed with his mother and stepfather the majority of the time and traveled to visit his father and stepmother on the Christmas holiday, spring break and through the summer, which usually works out to be about 2 months. Prior…

ottlenecks

The main bottleneck is the creative thought processes that cause the essay to be too wordy, which is a mindset constraint (Gundlach, 2009). Creative thought processes can take over, leaving thoughts that require every detail being explained or imagination included. This thought process goes overboard and causes the final paper to be long, wordy, and not to the point. The grammar and use of action verbs also become inappropriate in the process to the point the essay does not flow.

A direction for solving the problem would be self-discipline in planning. For example, is the essay supposed to answer specific questions? If so, what are they? Once the questions have been identified, research for specifics can be done (And still, how to write an essay). Self-discipline in sticking with the questions of the essay requirements will also help to stay focused on the information that is needed to answer…

Grammar

P1S1: Clumsy; the word "alike" can easily be removed.

P1S3: Clumsy sentence again.

P2S1: the term "self-relationship" is not common; does this mean his relationship with himself?

P2: "Although it is desired that men coven the female, Norman possesses a sub-conscious yearning to have effeminate qualities rather than a want for the female as property." This sentence is terrible. For one, the word "covet" and not "coven" is intended. Second, "for want for the female as property" is not really what the writer is trying to say.

P2: "The primary ends for this need for femininity is the procurement of what Norman sees as emotional freedom." First, the grammar is wrong as "the primary ends…are," not "is." However, this is not good phrasing to begin with. The writer should say something like, "Norman wants emotional freedom and seeks it in a stereotypically feminine self-expression."

P1S4: Change to: "The current…

GOP Primary

Republican Primary Video Research, Analysis & Critique

Covering a Period between March 6th and April 3rd, 2012

Researcher/writer will be analyzing the entire TV/video ad campaigns related to both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum from 03/06/2012 thru 04/03/2012. In the research paper, compare and contrast the overall ad campaigns of each with regard to:

Type of ad: biographical? Issue? Attack?

Sponsor of the ad: candidate, political party, independent advocacy group (including SuperPacs). Any difference in the type of ads run by each?

What demographic group(s), if any, were the ads primarily aimed at and how effective was it at reaching each?

Press coverage of the ads -- "how extensive? helpful or harmful? iased? And if biased, in what direction?

The overall effectiveness of the ads: very? somewhat? not very? Why?

Candidate reaction to the ads -- "smart or not? Why?

NOTE: The paper should be an overview --…

This includes accurate spelling, verb-subject agreement, and punctuation. These building blocks of language are vital to constructing a good essay.

A further requirement of good essays is illustrating paragraphs. This means that each paragraph includes examples that support the topic sentence. The topic sentence makes a statement that is illustrated by clear examples in the support sentences. Illustrative examples provide the arguments in an essay with greater strength than would have been the case otherwise.

Narrating a paragraph goes hand-in-hand with illustrating techniques. This techniques involves providing reasons for the topic sentence and thesis statement. Narration also involves connecting sentences with each other, so that the paragraph forms a unit rather.

A good essay is built not only upon grammatical and syntactic accuracy, but also upon the larger issue of paragraph construction. It works rather like a chain. It is therefore important that all the "links," or paragraphs, are at…

morning hours seem to the best time for me to write. It is quiet in my house, no phones ringing, no one playing music or talking to distract me, so these are my best moments to write. Later in the day I do my editing by adding strength to my transitions, by carefully checking to see if grammar and context are correct and generally by proofreading what I have written.

I occasionally scribble notes on a piece of paper if an idea comes into my head at lunch, or in another class. There is a tendency to forget some of my best ideas for themes and specifics in papers if I don't jot down a note to remind myself. But basically when I start out without notes, I just open up a Microsoft Word document and start writing on my MacBook computer. A teacher in high school used to implore…

However, in general the author relies on strong nouns and verbs to tell the story.

B. Composition

1. Verb choices are particularly strong and vibrant: the author uses words like "prompted," "wrapped," and "poured," which makes for a compelling and dramatic narrative and corresponds with the suspenseful atmosphere.

2. The author uses many complex sentences consisting of both dependent and independent clauses, but the author uses varied sentence structure to create rhythm.

3. The author uses subtle repetition: "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well," (John 13: 9).

4. The author uses parallelism also to create rhythm. For example, "he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist," (John 13:4).

5. Foreshadowing is one of the hallmarks of this passage. For example, "Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and…

Overall, the text uses a good selection of text examples that work to appeal to the interest of all learners. However, one concern I have is that there are not enough texts, a learning tool that I feel is essential for language development, particularly for non-English speakers. This shortcoming can easily be resolved by bringing in outside sources, such as magazine articles, books and newspapers, to use as text examples.

As a whole, the texts that the book does present are clearly states, easy to read in terms of font type, and are of appropriate interest level for the adult learner.

The teaching of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and functional language use are all well done in this course book. Instead of separating these skills from the rest of the course book, as many similar texts do, this text places the language sections in a strategic manner with the purpose of…

Gender

Female-fronted Irish pop band The Cranberries address issues related to gender and sexuality tacitly in the song "Animal Instinct." The song lyrics do not overtly discuss feminist discourse, although the music video for the song does. Issues related to compulsory heterosexuality, the dual character and double standard for women, and gender roles are all topics addressed in "Animal Instinct" and its music video. The content or theme of the song can be best understood by an analysis of its title. "Animal Instinct" refers to the most basic human impulses. Thus, The Cranberries draw from Freudian theory. The structure of a song conveys a poetic sensibility, which can be construed as a stereotypically or archetypically feminine given its non-linear format and use of unconventional grammar. In other words, a song as poetry can be purposefully subversive of patriarchal language, grammar, and mechanics. However, the video for "Animal Instinct" is ironic…

integrate speakers into baby car seats, there is not enough information provided as to how adding speakers will benefit the baby and how the speakers will benefit the parent. Furthermore, Michelle does not list any consequences or drawbacks to the integration of speakers to car seats. Below is a detailed breakdown of each paragraph and the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Beginning with the opening paragraph, Michelle establishes that she will be writing about car seats and gives a brief overview of the history of car seats. However, the opening paragraph is missing a clear and concise thesis that argues that car seat speakers would be an added benefit to the already protective device. Moreover, the last sentence of the paragraph is muddled and does not establish a clear stance on the integration of speakers to car seats, but rather posits a hypothesis. he opening paragraph also needs to have…

Logistic Planning and Collaboration in Complex Relief Operations by teven J. Romano

It seems to me that Romano is addressing his article to the Department of Defense (DOD) pointing out various issues in their humanitarian missions that he thinks need addressing. I found the article heavy and intense, although it is lightened up, to some extent, by photographs. Nonetheless, I wondered how the photographs were related to the issue at hand.

Romano is unhappy with the way that the DODF conducts its humanitarian missions saying that the DOD violates many logistical concerns in their operations:

Most humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) operations are characterized by rapidly changing circumstances and a lack of clear and accurate information; they are also distinguished by substantial pressure to quickly provide relief supplies and materiel to an affected area.

Romano maintains that DOD does have "the airlift capacity, disaster funding, critical supplies, and logistics systems to…

second tier instruction courses, I struggled with several aspects of writing, to include proper grammar, paragraph structure, thesis development and support, and the ability to write from an objective, unbiased perspective. By contrast, having completed the first and second tiers, I have a better understanding of these aspects and feel I am developing into a competent writer with an ever-increasing skill level. As this is the point of the writing instruction courses, I believe I deserve to pass the first and second tiers due to my new understanding of the various components of skilled writing.

In more specific terms, I often struggled with the following prior to completing the writing instruction courses:

When to use a semicolon vs. A colon, comma or period.

When to use a hyphen.

How to avoid fragments and run-on sentences.

How to write from a second and third-person perspective.

How to frame a thesis statement…

Hummingbird

The introduction offers the outstanding metaphors of the hummingbird and the trees, as symbols of a more natural, pure world. Details including the cookies, Baldy, and other people at the coffee shop help to ground the reader. However, the narrative quickly becomes narcissistic. Too much self-reflection isolates the reader rather than drawing the reader into the story. The anecdote drags, and the reader wonders where the story is going and what, if anything, the point is. Nice turns of phrase like "anorexic trees" do not rescue a boring narrative. The dream sequence that comes next, replete with the imagery of falling, could be poignant if explored more in depth. Instead the sequence comes across as a lazy means of rescuing a failing narrative. Like the rest of the memoir it has no purpose, either. The dream sequence is interjected in the middle of two disparate segments of text. Nothing…

Zulu

Linguistic Analysis of Word Order in Zulu

efore delving into the intricacies of Zulu grammar, it is critical that a general understanding of the language, its structure and its historical and geographical distribution be provided. Zulu (isiZulu) is an important language spoken by approximately ten million people in Southern Africa (Ethnolouge, 2009). It is a language which belongs to the antu language family which extends from the Cape to the Equator. Zulu is a member of the South-eastern zone of antu, which includes four language groups: Nguni, Tsonga, Sotho and Venda. Within the Nguni group, there are two sub-sections: the Zunda and Tekela. Within the Zunda subgroup can be found the Xhosa and Zulu languages (Maho, 2002). Today, Zulu is the most widely spoken native language in South Africa making it a major language within the country (Ethnolouge, 2009).

Some of the key grammatical features of Zulu are a…