Extra Activities

Here are some suggestions for ways in which the knowledge and skills gained from studying Grammar and Vocabulary could be exploited in further investigation of the English language.

1. Investigate in detail the grammatical and lexical operation of individual words. Verbs are the prime class of words for such an investigation because, as the pivotal item in a sentence, their operation exercises a dominant influence on the structure of their surrounding context. But the investigation can be done, in principle, with a word from any class.

For example, take a verb such as believe. What types of syntactic structure are associated with it (believe someone, believe in something, believe that, etc.)? Are these structures associated with different senses or meanings of believe? What kinds of Subject can believe have - individuals, groups, always human? And what kinds of Objects - people, a deity, facts, opinions, ideas?

You can use grammar books, dictionaries (especially learners' dictionaries - see the Further Reading in Grammar and Vocabulary), and computer corpora (see the Weblinks page) to aid your investigation. Don't rely on your own intuition!

2. Make a list of the specialist vocabulary for a sport or hobby, or other activity, that you are familiar with. Arrange the words and expressions under topics and word classes, to gain a picture of the vocabulary structure for this area.

Investigate where the words in your vocabulary come from. Are they adapted from ordinary English words (like many computing terms), or have they been constructed using English morphemes by processes of derivation and compounding, or have they been borrowed from another language (like many musical terms - from Italian, or cooking terms - from French)?

3. Choose a particular text type (e.g. instruction, description, narration) or a particular genre (e.g. theatre reviews, holiday brochures), and collect a sample of texts from your chosen text type or genre. Examine your texts for peculiarities of grammar and vocabulary. Would you say that your text type or genre is characterised by typical grammatical patterns or lexical items?

4. Take a tabloid and a broadsheet newspaper, and examine either the news articles or the editorials, to determine what differences exist in the ways in which complex sentences are constructed. For example, does the tabloid contain more co-ordination (with and, but, or), while the broadsheet has more subordination (with because, if, although, etc., or relative clauses)? Are there differences too in the ways in which noun phrases are constructed? Tabloids typically exploit pre-modification of nouns, while broadsheets have more postmodification.

5. Collect examples of what you think is 'deviant' grammar and usage, e.g. from advertisements, publicity material, newspapers, radio. Check your intuition with a grammar book or usage guide.

If you look in a selection of usage guides that span a period of time, you may find that opinions change over the years. A well-known early twentieth century guide is Fowlers Modern English Usage; the original version is republished by OUP in 2002 in the Oxford Language Classics series. A revised version of Fowler, edited by Robert Burchfield, is now in its third edition (OUP,1998). More modern guides include: Longman Guide to English Usage, by Sidney Greenbaum and Janet Whitcut (Longman 1988); Mind the Gaffe, by R.L.Trask (Penguin 2001).

6. Look and listen out for words (e.g. technical or slang) that appear to you to be recent additions to the vocabulary of English. Make a note of them, and check in an up-to-date dictionary or dictionary of new words whether your observations are correct. You may well be surprised to discover that many words which strike you as new turn out to have been in the language for quite some time.