Definition and Examples of Descriptive Grammar

The term descriptive grammar refers to an objective, nonjudgmental description of the grammatical constructions in a language. Its an examination of how a language is actually being used, in writing and in speech. Linguists who specialize in descriptive grammar examine the principles and patterns that underlie the use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. In that respect, the adjective descriptive is a bit misleading as descriptive grammar provides an analysis and explanation of a languages grammar, not simply a description of it. How Experts Define Descriptive Grammar Descriptive grammars  do not give advice: They detail the ways in which  native speakers  use their language. A descriptive grammar is a survey of a language. For any living language, a descriptive grammar from one century will differ from a descriptive grammar of the next century because the language will have changed.—From In An Introduction to Language by Kirk Hazen Descriptive grammar is the basis for  dictionaries, which record changes in  vocabulary  and  usage, and for the field of  linguistics, which aims at describing languages and investigating the nature of language.—From Bad Language by Edwin L. Battistella Contrasting Descriptive and Prescriptive Grammar Descriptive grammar is more a study in the why and how of language, while prescriptive  grammar deals with the strict rules of right and wrong required for language to be considered grammatically correct.  Prescriptive grammarians—such as most editors of nonfiction and teachers—do their darndest to enforce the rules of â€Å"correct† and â€Å"incorrect† usage. Says author Donald G. Ellis, All languages adhere to syntactical rules of one sort or another, but the rigidity of these rules is greater in some languages. It is very important to distinguish between the syntactical rules that govern a language and the rules that a culture imposes on its language. He explains that this is the distinction between descriptive and prescriptive grammar. Descriptive grammars are essentially scientific theories that attempt to explain how language works. Ellis admits that human beings were using language in a variety of forms long before there were linguists using descriptive grammar around to formulate any rules about how or why they were speaking as they did. On the other hand, he likens prescriptive grammarians to the stereotypical uptight high school English teachers who prescribe, like medicine for what ails you, how you ought to speak.   Examples of Descriptive and Prescriptive Grammar To illustrate the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammar, lets look at the sentence: I aint going nowhere. Now, to a descriptive grammarian, theres nothing wrong with the sentence because its being spoken by someone who is using the language to construct a phrase that has meaning for someone else who speaks the same language. To a prescriptive grammarian, however, that sentence is a virtual house of horrors. First, it contains the word aint, which strictly speaking (and we must be strict if were prescriptive) is slang. So, although youll find aint in the dictionary, as the adage says, Aint aint a word. The sentence also contains a double negative (aint and nowhere) which just compounds the atrocity. Simply having the word  aint  in the dictionary is a further illustration of the difference between the two types of grammar. Descriptive grammar notes the words use in the language, pronunciation, meaning, and even etymology—without judgment, but in prescriptive grammar, the use of aint is just plain wrong—especially in formal speaking or writing. Would a descriptive grammarian ever say something was ungrammatical? Yes. If someone utters a sentence using words or phrases or construction that as a native speaker they would never even think of putting together. For instance, a native English speaker wouldnt start a sentence with two query words—as in, Who where are you going?—because the result would be unintelligible as well as ungrammatical. Its one case in which the descriptive and prescriptive grammarians would actually agree. Sources Hazen, Kirk. An Introduction to Language. John Wiley, 2015Battistella, Edwin L. Bad Language: Are Some Words Better than Others? Oxford University Press,  Aug 25, 2005Ellis, Donald G. From Language to Communication. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1999

Effects of Text Messaging Among Teens - 3461 Words

Effects of Text Messaging Among Teenagers Introduction How often do/did you use your cellphone/smartphone as a teen? When I was a teen, I received my first cellphone at the age of 15. I thought personally this was the best invention ever created as a young teen and with that, I soon found out that I just entered a whole new social world with these new technology devices. I entered a generation that would be called the Tech-Generation filled with cellphones/smartphones and social media. I quickly discovered the texting function with my cellphone and started to send texts daily to my friends. My cellphone became a necessity for me; if I did not have my cellphone, I would freak out. In addition, I started to replace phone calls and†¦show more content†¦Cell phones have been engineered over the past years to accommodate the demand of texting, such as offering a full 1QWERTY keyboard (QWERTY is the acronym that commonly describes today’s standard keyboard layout on English-language computers), and many cell phone carriers offe r plans that contain unlimited texting. An example of one of this cellphones/smartphone would be the ever popular IPhone, which holds functions that enables the users to be able to call/text/email and even use special apps that give direct access to the internet or a social networking site. According to Lenhart, 77% of adults and 71% of teenagers owned a cell phone and 38% of those teenagers (12-17 years old) used their phones to text daily (30). A year later, the same survey was administered with results increasing to 54% who text daily (30). The same survey was again administered from the Pew Research Center by Lenhart in 2012 with the results increasing to 84% of Americans ages 12 and up owning a cell phone and 63% of teenagers saying they exchange text messages daily (2). The problem is texting is giving teenagers the option to avoid face-to-face interactions and causing teens to lose important social skills. Fraser J.M. Reid, (Associate Head at the Centre for Thinking and Lang uage, School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK), and Donna J. Reid, (PhD Student, at the CentreShow MoreRelated How Is Text Messaging Affecting Teen Literacy and Other Aspects of their Life700 Words   |  3 Pages Almost a generation of teens have access to a phone with text messages. They spend so much time shorting words, they lose the ability to be literate. Teenagers today are more worried about their phones, in school or out of school, causing them to drop their grades and get them in lots of trouble. The telephone was invented in 1870 by Gray and Bell, who then battled over the true inventor of the telephone, which Bell won. Bell then began experimenting with electrical signs, which brought theRead MoreThe Effects of Text Messaging on Teen Literacy783 Words   |  4 PagesText messaging can affect a person’s social skills, writing skills, driving skills. The money that people spend on phones and texting can cause financial hardship. Text messaging has begun to have a detrimental effect on people’s writing skills. They use inventive spelling and abbreviations. As most teenagers get used to short texting, some of their grades dropped to the spelling errors they make. So many teens get used to wing abbreviation that they write that way. 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Over the course of technology development, social and communication skills have greatly decreased due to dependence on such devices, thus being a direct effect. For American teen’s, cellphones have become a vital social tool and texting the preferred communication method. Anywhere you go, you are mostRead MoreEffect of Text Messaging on Teen Age Students2267 Words   |  10 PagesSINHGAD TECHNICAL INSTITUTES CAMPUS SINHGAD INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT A Study on impact of text messaging on teen age students Prepared by Rambhu kumar(11) Komal jaiswal(15) Pankaj kakani(17) Sukirti keswani(18) Nitin maske(19) Introduction 1 See it? Hear it? Take it! This is still the mantra of many schools across the country that succinctly summarizes

Reaction for marriage and family Free Essays

I can really relate to this, in certain ways I have felt that my parents have tried to make me like them instead of letting me blossom into whom I want to be. I may not always make the choices that they want, or that they would choose, but in the same essence we are all different and we are all created to be who we want to become. The choices and decisions we make may not always be good or right, but the things we go through help us to grow up and learn things that we other wise would have never came to understand. We will write a custom essay sample on Reaction for marriage and family or any similar topic only for you Order Now I also agree very much with the part where he was talking about to being able to give your children your thoughts. Parents can preach to their kids and tell them their opinions all they want, but at the end of the day we are all our own individuals and we all have our own views and opinions, through the things that we have went through. Not one person on this earth goes through exactly the same pattern as anyone else, we all go through things that make us who we are, and we all have and see things differently. The beauty of that Is our thoughts are what make us, Some of the things that I do not particularly agree with are where he Is saying that hillier come through you, but are not really yours. That does not really sit well with me, because I feel that children are a gift to you and that they are yours. I believe that they are also gifts from God, but they are yours until you dedicate them back to God. That Is Just my opinion though; I suppose It could be wrong. I feel that you are suppose to raise your kids and take care of them and supply for them so therefore that means that they are yours. That was really the only part that did not sit very well with me. Overall, I can relate to his philosophy of parenting. I think that this writing was beautiful. Just reading It really made me think a lot about parenting and life. It Is a very deep and meaningful philosophy. It Is almost as though he Is saying that a child Is never really yours, and that you are merely there to be Like them. I do not think that to many parents actually live by this philosophy. I see a lot of parents that try to control or live through their children’s lives. Sometimes I think that parents Just want to protect or they care to much which Is why they control, but It does not make It right. I think that If more parents lived by the philosophy there would be a lot more mature children In the world, because they would have been learning how to make hand things to their kids and plant their own views in their kids head, they do not let experience and question life so they never really get to grow, then when they are on their own they go crazy because they never had the chance to learn. I really liked this article, it really did make me think quite a bit and think about things my parents did and things that I would like to do in the future. How to cite Reaction for marriage and family, Essays

Case Study Analysis Rough Draft free essay sample

Analysis Paper (Rough Draft) Case Study Analysis Paper (Rough Draft) How do you make sure that you are prepared early so that you are not running around at the last minute? Many people work at different skill levels and also can handle pressure differently. In order to ease the process it is usually better to keep ahead by preparing the things that are needed in advanced rather than waiting till the last minute. Knowing these types of skills also allows for people to work with less stress since they do not have to meet a deadline so quickly and have time to fully research what is needed to be done. The Situation In early April the 15 candidates were hired to work for the Operations Supervisor by one of the new recruiters. At this time the recruiter had six months experience at this job and no previous recruitments done for the company. The recruiter was not working with another recruiter that had more experience at the time to help with this process. Once the 15 candidates where hired he scheduled a new hire orientation to be held on June 15th as to make sure the new hires would be ready for work in July. A little over a month after the 15 candidates were hired the Operations Supervisor contacted the recruiter about all the information, paperwork and other necessities that needed to be done such as drug test, physicals, etc†¦. The recruiter gave assurance to the Operations Supervisor that everything would be handled by the time the orientation would be held on June 15th. The recruiter waited until after Memorial Day to check the records for the new hires to see if their applications were complete and if they had done the mandatory drug screenings and most had not been done. The recruiter then checked for the paperwork that would need to be given to the new hires in around 20 days and there were only three manuals all of which were missing pages making none of them complete. Once this was all the seen the recruiter went on a walk to clear his head and then returned to the office. He went to check on the scheduling of the conference room where the new hire orientation is to be held since he saw that one of the employees from technology services was setting up computer terminals. The schedule showed that the conference room was booked for the whole month for training seminars on the new database implementation that was going to occur. The recruiter is not sure what to do at this point since everything appears to be going wrong and the new hires would not be able to have orientation on time nor will they be able to start by July. Analysis 1: Correcting the problem At this time the recruiter is not sure what to do in order to fix all the problems that have arisen since there is such little time left to the deadline he had set. The wisest decision would be to separate the problems and then take them on one at a time. As far as the conference room situation goes the recruiter can speak with the person that is going to be holding the seminars to see at what times they are to be held. If there are some gaps in between the seminars it can be seen if the scheduling of the orientation would be affected or not. Also if there is a particular day that the seminars would not be taking place the orientation can be rescheduled for that day. The new hires that have not completed all the necessary paperwork or drug tests would be the next point issue to handle. The files would need to be reviewed to see who is missing what paperwork or tests so that they can be contacted accordingly and be given a deadline to complete it all or they will not be hired. In doing this it allows for the follow to seem more personal since the records are being looked at individually and also puts a sense of urgency in the new hire to get it all done. This would also allow the recruiter to contact the new hires with the date of the orientation if it has changed or just to give a reminder of the date if it has not changed. The final problem of the orientation manuals not being complete is next problem to work on. From the three manuals that the recruiter does have he should review each to see what pages are missing from one and see if they are available in one of the others. If all three manuals together can make one complete manual then copies can be run off of all three accordingly to be pieced together to make one manual. Once there is one complete manual then other copies can be made. If the manuals cannot be pieced together to make one then the recruiter would need to contact his or her supervisor to see how to obtain new manuals and the time frame that it would take to get them in. This would allow him to see if the orientation would need to be rescheduled or not due to the time it will take to get manuals for all the new hires. From this point on continued follow up of all the new hires paperwork and drug tests would need to be done to make sure that they will be done before the orientation is held. Following up of the conference room schedule would also need to be done to make sure that there is nothing else newly scheduled that may have interference with the orientation. The final detail that would need to be followed up on is the status of the operations manuals being ready by the date of the orientation, such as checking with who is making them and if they are running behind or if everything is on schedule. Analysis II Proper Procedure There are many different aspects that would need to be revised in order to make sure that issues like this can be avoided in the future. Proper supervision of procedures is one the major aspects that would need to be looked at first. Since the recruiter was new and it was the first recruitment they had done another more experienced recruiter could have shadowed the process to make sure that everything is done correctly. Shadowing would allow for the new recruiter to put to the test their training and if there are points that are not done right it can be caught early. This makes for better teamwork as well as a confidence building situation for the new recruiter. During the hiring process the new hires should be given deadlines to have all of their applications and other necessary paperwork completed in order to continue processing them as a new hire. The same should also be done with the drug testing, rather than giving them till the orientation date they should have a date within 30 days to complete it so that if they don’t they can be given a little more time or there would still be ample time to hire a replacement if needed. With these deadlines in place it has the employees take the time needed to get the tasks done but also does not give them excess time to procrastinate on the getting them done. As far as the orientation paperwork situation goes the recruiter would need to check how many are available right after hiring the employees to make sure that there would be enough. With this being done early then the recruiter would be able to contact the Operations Supervisor with plenty of time to let them know that they are short on the manuals necessary for the orientation. Checking this also allows the recruiter to stay on top of ordering the manuals so that there will always be some in supply as and would only need to order more to replace the ones that are going to be used. Conclusion The best solution that was presents was from the second analysis. This solution sets the goals of the company to not only train their employees better but also to promote teamwork in order to increase accuracy in the way that jobs are done. With the shadowing being done the more experienced recruiter could have had the newer recruiter set up the deadlines for the new hires, as well as how, where and when to check on the paperwork that is needed for the orientation. The communication on how often to check the scheduling log for the conference rooms could have also been brought up. The better the training and teamwork the better the situation turns out.