Book contents
- Doing English Grammar
- The Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series
- Doing English Grammar
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figure
- Tables
- Editors’ Preface
- Introduction
- 1 The Place of Grammar
- 2 What Is Grammar?
- 3 The Need for New Descriptions
- 4 Working with Terminology
- 5 Issues in Grammatical Description
- 6 Grammar in Operation
- 7 Case Study 1
- 8 Case Study 2
- 9 Case Study 3
- 10 Case Study 4
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Index
- References
7 - Case Study 1
The Articles
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 March 2021
- Doing English Grammar
- The Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series
- Doing English Grammar
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figure
- Tables
- Editors’ Preface
- Introduction
- 1 The Place of Grammar
- 2 What Is Grammar?
- 3 The Need for New Descriptions
- 4 Working with Terminology
- 5 Issues in Grammatical Description
- 6 Grammar in Operation
- 7 Case Study 1
- 8 Case Study 2
- 9 Case Study 3
- 10 Case Study 4
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Index
- References
Summary
This and the following three chapters deal with areas of pedagogic grammar that are greatly in need of revision. This chapter deals with the articles a and the and how they are – and should be – treated in pedagogic accounts. It rejects the traditional claim that ‘the first time you mention something use a, the second time the’ – amongst other reasons because the definite article is more common for first mention – and goes on to give a fuller and more accurate examination of these two extremely frequent words – one that is particularly useful for learners whose L1 has no equivalents. Suggestions are given for how to introduce these two very different words, and several creative exercises are offered.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Doing English GrammarTheory, Description and Practice, pp. 147 - 167Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021