Abstract:
This paper presents a model of teaching English grammar at
the undergraduate level based on the Government and Binding theory of
syntax proposed by Chomsky (1981-). The model covers sentence
construction in terms of Argument structure of the verb, predicate type and
complement selection, and teaching the lexical categories of noun, verb,
adjective, adverbs. While presenting these phenomena in the light of the
aligned syntactic framework, how each of these different grammatical
phenomena can be taught is also illustrated in the form of teaching points
and activities. Thus, each theoretical description is supplemented by
instructions for teachers for its practical application in the ELT classroom.
Since this is a presentation of a teaching model, to be experimented with
undergraduate learners, it does not constitute an exact empirical study, and
hence the lack of references to methodological steps and tools.
Nevertheless, it attempts to answer the research question ‘how the insights
of theoretical linguistics, mainly generative syntax, can be applied in the
writing of a pedagogical grammar for undergraduate learners’ in a broader
perspective.
