SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
Traditional and Functional Grammar
Grammar can be divided in to two main schools of thought: Functional and Traditional. Traditional Grammar refers to the rules and construction of parts of speech at letter, word and sentence levels, whereas Functional Grammar is concerned with the semantics, the social purpose, and how language functions within context (Winch et al., 2010).
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR AND FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
Traditional Grammar
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A LITTLE MORE ON FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMIC AND TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR...Functional Systemic Grammar extends the parameters of traditional grammar. It provides a complementary overlay that helps guide our interpretations and choices within our language, thereby clarifying the context in which meaning can be formed (Derwianka & Jones 2012).
As this diagram illustrates, Functional Systemic Grammar will look and consider the complete hierarchical language framework: sentences, clauses, phrases, words and morphemes, in order to construct meaning and purpose (Winch et al., 2010, pp. 297). |
The diagram below shows how Functional Systemic Grammar and Traditional Grammar complement each other within text. As you can see the Functional Systemic Grammar is concerned with the 'what, who and how' (the overarching purpose and context) while Traditional Grammar underpins the text through the parts of speech (governance of rules).
WORD STRUCTURES IN TEXT
Flow chart adapted from Merrick (2009) and Winch &Blaxel (2007)