Applied Linguistis - Structure of English - grammar Essay

Applied Linguistis - Structure of English - grammar - Essay Example It specifies the intricacies of English grammar relatively to other languages such as French language wherein the rules of grammar have been codified, signifying the higher degree of freedom in English grammar. Sample examination of L1 and L2 non-native students (NNSs) indicates that they use simple sentences formed with be-copula as the main verbs. This essay attempts an analysis of the reasons behind this tendency in non-native L2 students in general and Arabian students in particular by offering a comparison of the essay writings of both native learners and non-native learners. Problems of Arabic L1 and L2 students related to grammar are specifically discussed with possible causes and recommendations to avoid the errors of grammar. The Meaning of ‘grammar’ The grammar in English has various meanings; the prevalent meaning is inclusion of syntax and aspects of morphology in ‘grammar’. Morphology deals with internal mechanisms of words that covers Inflectio ns such as ‘bought’, the past tense, is the Inflection of the verb ‘buy’ and when it is written in interrogative form of the sentence ‘He bought it’, changed to ‘Did he buy it?’ [Syntax], it becomes a part of grammar. In some English speaking countries, the word ‘grammar’ is used flexibly by considering spelling and lexicology a part of grammar (Quirk et al., 1985). Rules of grammar and the native speaker The native speaker of English language imbibes the rules of grammar without acknowledging them but finds it difficult to explain. The same is not true when a foreign language is learnt, as the learning process is based on complex rule sets, which are not ambiguous because the grammarians themselves have codified the rules as there is the Academy Grammar in French but nothing of that sort is available in English language, therefore, the level of freedom is high in the usage of English grammar (Quirk et al., 1985). Idea of a language is more important to convey in English grammar than the statement as it has its own sets of codes to follow. Hinkel (2003) examination of 1.083 L1 and L2 texts proves that higher non-native-English-speaking students in U.S. universities use extra-ordinarily simple syntactic and lexical sentences, like be-copula as the main verb; predicative adjectives; uncommon nouns; and public, private and expecting/tentative verbs with average frequency rates critically greater than given in basic texts by native English speakers. An evaluation of bulk corpus analyses accomplished in the last two decades shows that these expressions are common in talkative and informal discussions in stead of the written study texts. Causes for the practice of easy syntactic and lexical traits of text in L2 study essays are analysed besides introducing instructional techniques to manage the drawbacks in naturalistic and communicative L2 learning and instructional ways for L2 students pursuing studi es. The L2 study essays written by non-native English speakers (NNSs) indicate the deterioration in the standard in comparison to the academic essays written by native speakers (NSs). The overall writing standard of non-native L1 and L2 students’ texts can be raised by finding the easy syntactical and lexical sentences. The findings indicate that be-copula as the leading verb of a sentence is randomly used along with predicative adjectives. The random usage of be-copula verb even in advanced L1 and L2 essay writing affects the frequency rates of nouns and