Morfosyntax

The Form-Function Method for Teaching Grammar
The following article describes the Form-Function Method for teaching grammar with English grammar as an example.

Grammar is an area of the language arts that teachers find difficult to teach and students find difficult to learn. The Form-Function Method for teaching grammar, however, simplifies the subject by breaking down grammar into the twomost basic linguistic elements: grammatical form and grammatical function. The grammar teacher can use the Form-Function method to easily and successfully teach the grammar of any language to students.
Tenets of the Form-Function Method
The Form-Function Method for teaching grammar is based on four principal tenets:
1. Languages contain a finite number of grammatical forms.
2. Languagescontain a finite number of grammatical functions.
3. Grammatical forms perform one or more grammatical functions.
4. Grammatical functions can be performed by one or more grammatical forms.
The grammar teacher should begin teaching grammar using the Form-Function Method by explaining to the students the four tenets of the method. Teachers will elaborate on each tenet during subsequentgrammar lessons.
Grammatical Form
All languages contain a finite number of language-specific grammatical forms. Grammatical form can be described as "what a word, phrase, or clause looks like." Traditional grammars refer to grammatical forms as "parts of speech." For example, the grammatical form of the word dog is noun, of the word bite is verb, and of the word tiny is adjective.
Grammatical formalso includes the internal structure of words, phrases, and clauses. Internal structure can be described as the possible inflections of words and the possible syntax of phrases and clauses. For example, prototypical nouns can be marked as singular (dog) or plural (dogs) and marked for the possessive (dog's and dogs'). Prototypical adjective phrases consist of an adjective (small), an adjective andan adverb phrase (very small), or an adjective and a prepositional phrase (small at the waist).
After describing the theory behind the Form-Function Method for teaching grammar, the grammar teacher should secondly define and explain grammatical form. Teachers should take caution not to introduce grammatical function while discussing grammatical form.
Grammatical Forms in English
The Englishlanguage contains eight basic grammatical forms:
1. Noun
2. Adjective
3. Determiner
4. Verb
5. Adverb
6. Preposition
7. Conjunction
8. Interjection
After introducing the concept of grammatical form, the grammar teacher should explain the eight grammatical forms in English. Each grammatical form can be the topic of an individual lesson. For example, the form of theadjective in English includes taking comparative (bigger and more beautiful) and superlative (biggest and most beautiful).
Grammatical Function
All languages contain a finite number of language-specific grammatical functions. Grammatical function can be described as "what a word, phrase, or clause does." For example, the noun phrase the kitten in the clause the kitten is drinking the milk functionsas the subject and the noun phrase the milk functions as the direct object.
After discussing the eight grammatical forms in the English language, the grammar teacher can then introduce the concept of grammatical function. Teachers should again take caution not to discuss grammatical form while introducing grammatical function. Teachers must maintain the separation between the two linguisticconcepts so as not to confuse students.
Grammatical Functions in English
The English language contains approximately thirty-one grammatical functions:
1. Subject
2. Predicate
3. Direct Object
4. Indirect Object
5. Subject Complement (Predicate Nominative and Predicate Adjective)
6. Object Complement
7. Prepositional Complement
8. Noun Phrase Modifier
9. Noun...