Grammatical Building Blocks
Simplifying Functional Grammar
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Consider these simplified word groups: A big tree Kates new dress The haunted old mansion . As opposed to identifying the parts of speech in a traditional way, the nouns, verbs and adjectives etc, reflect on the whole meaning of these words as a functional group when they appear. They can not only describe tangible real objects, but also abstract concepts or ideas such as; The baking of a tart A strange feeling These word groups represents an easily identifiable 'participant' in the action of a story, in an explanation or in some other text. Furthermore, it is easy to associate them with real objects and experiences. Single isolated non contextualised words alone do not highlight valued meaning. Therefore, it is essential to present learners with ready-made functional building blocks of words which can be recognised as a unit for their meaning in real texts or situations. This functional approach reinforces the meaning behind words and their purpose within a text. |