Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
________________________
Ms. Marites Platero
Adviser
________________________
Ms. Lina A. Buencillo
Principal
________________________
Date
Preface
To the Readers
- Being a Filipino learner in the system of rules in Grammar as
well to those persons who equipped their knowledge.
There are the survey questionnaire that led to sign by the
surveyor who permanently accomplished its solemn
informative, it is also consist of coherent paging.
In the second-language situation, mastery of form does not
guarantee communicative proficiency; neither dos
communicative practice necessarily result in mastery of form.
This thesis represents of understanding in a way through done
by the survey test, yet it still a better learning institutions to any
of individual standards.
Grammar in Focus
- In the bilingual setup, only grammatical patterns and forms
needed in the Philippine setting should be taught to the point of
their mastery.
- Concepts, Values, and Skills necessary for young Filipino
citizens, not just to fulfill themselves as Filipino citizens but
as citizens of the world, have been thoughtfully chosen.
- Try to explore the passions of joy and sorrow to accumulate
the reading skills and communications.
- Also to the learner of any individual any of its type of profession, that
brings importance and good things to conduct more advantages to the
real linguistics of world.
In this study, the major problem was to find out the performance of the
residents in Brgy. Del Remedio regarding to the subject or topic in English
grammar, it will help us to know their interest and will somewhat influence
us in good ways.
Specifically, it sought the answer to the ff. questions.
1. What is the Profile of the Respondents in terms of :
Age
Sex
Educational Attainment
Civil Status
2. Rate your performance when it comes to English proficiency.
3. What category do you find most difficult in English grammar?
4. What are the reasons why some are being neglectful when it comes to
English Grammar?
This study was on the evaluation of the residents whom live in Brgy. Del
Remedio, these are use to rate their performance in English Grammar, it
involved the perceptions of forty (40) Respondents composed of the
persons living in Del Remedio and were selected by random sampling.
The main source of data was the survey Questionnaire, which was
prepared by the researcher and statistically treated by the use of
descriptive such as frequency, percentage, means and graphical analysis.
The study was conducted for two (2) months.
Research Design
This study is primarily a descriptive study using the normal survey method, which
made use of the perceptions of the respondents as its main source of data.
Population Sampling
The respondents of the study were forty (40) respondents composed of people who
residents of Brgy. Del Remedio in a random sampling through statistical
manipulations of data.
Research Instrument
The main instrument used in the study was a survey questionnaire made by the
researcher which consisted of eight (8) items about the status perception of the
respondents in Brgy. Del Remedio
Data Collection
The questionnaires were distributed to the respondents on the last week of January. It
the researcher only one (1) week to retrieve or collect the questionnaires for the data
needed in the study.
where: P = Percentage
F = Frequency
N = total no. of respondents
GRAMMARIANS
The Grammarians are scholars and respected teachers who can be found throughout
Kamos teaching the young for little or no reward, living of donations of food and the
hospitality of the people. They are popular with the common people. The rich also value
them as trustworthy scribes and book keepers, though they charge for the service the
money mostly going back to the order. The group is centred on the famous Library of
Minos, possibly the worlds greatest collection of knowledge. The Grammarians have
spent hundreds of years collecting cataloguing and hoarding documents, histories etc.
They are dedicated to the study and understanding of magic. They control the Great
Library, and many of them live in it. They believe in a multi-dimensional universe
containing many mysteries, and a variety of powerful creatures. Their attitude to Gods is
unique, and causes some people to call them atheists. The say there are two basic types of
God.
Powerful creatures from beyond the mundane world, like elves and dragons. These are
sometimes worshipped, out of fear, ignorance or the human desire for a spiritual crutch.
Gods created by their worshippers. People are naturally disposed to offer worship, and
the act of worship draws power from the dream world (as does magic), to bring the object
of the worship into existence. So it is not the God who rules, but the worshippers, who,
through their unconscious wishes, shape their Gods to their needs.
Magic comes from the dream world. Everyone has a connection with this other world,
and the potential to draw on its power, which is called mana. However, raw mana has a
chaotic nature and unpredictable results. Mages use their will to force the mana into
certain shapes and natures, using the methods they were taught when they learned the
spell they are casting.
Grammarians study the way mana is manipulated: they collect and catalogue the various
patterns that it can have, and its effects on the mundane world.
The Great Library visible in Minos is a small part of the area they have for their
documents. They have dug across to the Holy Mountain, and created a complex of
tunnels and chambers in its sides. Here the Grammarians claim to store the knowledge of
the world, with chronicles older and more exact than those maintained in Khem. Kings,
Emperors, and, above all, mages, come here seeking knowledge, and usually reward the
Grammarians well when they leave, though without revealing what they have learned.
It is said that the Grammarians also share in the gifts given to the Oracle of Delona: a
strange relationship.
The Grammarians themselves are scholars, who spend their time in search of new
knowledge, or maintaining the Great Librarys vast treasure-house of knowledge. It is
mainly the older members of the sect who stay in the Great Library: they encourage the
younger members to travel the world in search of new material for their catalogue.
There are four ranks in the Grammarians hierarchy:
Apprentices. The young men and women who wish to join the Order of Grammarians.
They are taught to read and write, Simple Spells, and the basics of a spell college or two.
They also do the cleaning and cooking.
Sages. They must have proved they know at least one spell to M-L 10, and can read and
write. They then undergo a simple initiation ceremony, swearing an oath not to betray the
order, and to keep its secrets. From this point on they are susceptible to the Black Writ
(see below). Sages are permitted to learn the spell college Gramarye. They usually then
spend some years travelling the world.
Librarians. These are Sages who have become tired of travelling, and wish to retire from
the world so that they can continue their studies free from distractions. Very few
Librarians are less than 50. They are taught the spell Secret Magic to help them in their
tasks.
Scholars. These are the most senior of the Order of Grammarians. They have access to
area of knowledge forbidden to lesser ranks, but even they may not look at all the
documents stored in the Great Library. The greatest of the Scholars is appointed Head
Grammarian, and is the only person granted access to all knowledge in the Library.
column
Silent final [e] is commonplace in English but a silent final [n] is not uncommon, especially after
[m].
committed
If you are committed to correct spelling, you will remember that this word doubles its final [t]
from "commit" to "committed."
conscience
Don't let misspelling this word weigh on your conscience: [ch] spelled "sc" is unusual but
legitimate.
conscientious
Work on your spelling conscientiously and remember this word with [ch] spelled two different
ways: "sc" and "ti".
conscious
Try to be conscious of the "sc" [ch] sound and all the vowels in this word's ending and i-o-u a
note of congratulations.
consensus
The census does not require a consensus, since they are not related.
D
daiquiri
Don't make yourself another daiquiri until you learn how to spell this funny word-the name of a
Cuban village.
definite(ly)
This word definitely sounds as though it ends only on -it, but it carries a silent "e" everywhere it
goes.
discipline
A little discipline, spelled with the [s] and the [c] will get you to the correct spelling of this one.
drunkenness
You would be surprised how many sober people omit one of the [n]s in this one.
dumbbell
Even smart people forget one of the [b]s in this one. (So be careful who you call one when you
write.)
E
embarrass(ment)
This one won't embarrass you if you remember it is large enough for a double [r] AND a double
[s].
equipment
This word is misspelled "equiptment" 22,932 times on the web right now.
exhilarate
Remembering that [h] when you spell this word will lift your spirits and if you remember both
[a]s, it will be exhilarating!
exceed
Remember that this one is -ceed, not -cede. (To exceed all expectations, master the spellings of
this word, "precede" and "supersede" below.)
existence
No word like this one spelled with an [a] is in existence. This word is a menage a quatre of one [i]
with three [e]s.
experience
Don't experience the same problem many have with "existence" above in this word: -ence!
F
fiery
The silent "e" on "fire" is also cowardly: it retreats inside the word rather than face the suffix -y.
foreign
Here is one of several words that violate the i-before-e rule. (See "believe" above.)
G
gauge
You must learn to gauge the positioning of the [a] and [u] in this word. Remember, they are in
alphabetical order (though not the [e]).
grateful
You should be grateful to know that keeping "great" out of "grateful" is great.
guarantee
I guarantee you that this word is not spelled like "warranty" even though they are synonyms.
H
harass
This word is too small for two double letters but don't let it harass you, just keep the [r]s down to
one.
height
English reaches the height (not heighth!) of absurdity when it spells "height" and "width" so
differently.
hierarchy
The i-before-e rule works here, so what is the problem?
humorous
Humor us and spell this word "humorous": the [r] is so weak, it needs an [o] on both sides to hold
it up.
I
ignorance
Don't show your ignorance by spelling this word -ence!
immediate
The immediate thing to remember is that this word has a prefix, in- "not" which becomes [m]
before [m] (or [b] or [p]). "Not mediate" means direct which is why "immediately" means
"directly."
independent
Please be independent but not in your spelling of this word. It ends on -ent.
indispensable
Knowing that this word ends on -able is indispensable to good writing.
inoculate
This one sounds like a shot in the eye. One [n] the eye is enough.
intelligence
Using two [l]s in this word and ending it on -ence rather than -ance are marks of . . . you guessed
it.
its/it's
The apostrophe marks a contraction of "it is." Something that belongs to it is "its."
J
jewelry
Sure, sure, it is made by a jeweler but the last [e] in this case flees the scene like a jewel thief.
However, if you prefer British spelling, remember to double the [l]: "jeweller," "jewellery.")
judgment
Traditionally, the word has been spelled judgment in all forms of the English language. However,
the spelling judgement (with e added) largely replaced judgment in the United Kingdom in a nonlegal context. In the context of the law, however, judgment is preferred. This spelling change
contrasts with other similar spelling changes made in American English, which were rejected in
the UK. In the US at least, judgment is still preferred and judgement is considered incorrect by
noticeable
The [e] is noticeably retained in this word to indicate the [c] is "soft," pronounced like [s].
Without the [e], it would be pronounced "hard," like [k], as in "applicable."
O
occasionally
Writers occasionally tire of doubling so many consonants and omit one, usually one of the [l]s.
Don't you ever do it.
occurrence
Remember not only the occurrence of double double consonants in this word, but that the suffix
is -ence, not -ance. No reason, just the English language keeping us on our toes.
P
pastime
Since a pastime is something you do to pass the time, you would expect a double [s] here. Well,
there is only one. The second [s] was slipped through the cracks in English orthography long ago.
perseverance
All it takes is perseverance and you, too, can be a (near-)perfect speller. The suffix is -ance for no
reason at all.
personnel
Funny Story (passed along by Bill Rudersdorf): The assistant Vice-President of Personnel
notices that his superior, the VP himself, upon arriving at his desk in the morning opens a small,
locked box, smiles, and locks it back again. Some years later when he advanced to that position
(inheriting the key), he came to work early one morning to be assured of privacy. Expectantly, he
opened the box. In it was a single piece of paper which said: "Two Ns, one L."
playwright
Those who play right are right-players, not playwrights. Well, since they write plays, they should
be "play-writes," wright right? Rong Wrong. Remember that a play writer in Old English was
called a "play worker" and "wright" is from an old form of "work" (wrought iron, etc.)
possession
Possession possesses more [s]s than a snake.
precede
What follows, succeeds, so what goes before should, what? No, no, no, you are using logic.
Nothing confuses English spelling more than common sense. "Succeed" but "precede." (Wait
until you see "supersede.")
principal/principle
The spelling principle to remember here is that the school principal is a prince and a pal (despite
appearances)--and the same applies to anything of foremost importance, such as a principal
principle. A "principle" is a rule. (Thank you, Meghan Cope, for help on this one.)
privilege
According to the pronunciation (not "pronounciation"!) of this word, that middle vowel could be
anything. Remember: two [i]s + two [e]s in that order.
pronunciation
Nouns often differ from the verbs they are derived from. This is one of those. In this case, the
pronunciation is different, too, an important clue.
publicly
Let me publicly declare the rule (again): if the adverb comes from an adjective ending on -al, you
include that ending in the adverb; if not, as here, you don't.
Q
questionnaire
The French doing it to us again. Double up on the [n]s in this word and don't forget the silent [e].
in the spelling.
tyranny
If you are still resisting the tyranny of English orthography at this point, you must face the
problem of [y] inside this word, where it shouldn't be. The guy is a "tyrant" and his problem is
"tyranny." (Don't forget to double up on the [n]s, too.)
U
until
I will never stop harping on this until this word is spelled with an extra [l] for the last time!
V
vacuum
If your head is not a vacuum, remember that the silent [e] on this one married the [u] and joined
him inside the word where they are living happily ever since. Well, the evidence is suggestive but
not conclusive. Anyway, spell this word with two [u]s and not like "volume."
WXYZ
weather
Whether you like the weather or not, you have to write the [a] after the [e] when you spell it.
weird
Assumption
I assumed that most of the people have slight uninterested and that they are more
interested in doing other things rather to focus on their intellectual studies on English
grammar, and I found that there are some similarities of what I had assumed. The
respondents are logically interpreted that their performance in English grammar affected
by act of not being such studios and focusing only to peers or companions, but I also
found out that the reasons why they are sometimes considerate to the subject because
It regards to their mutual interest or to do it typically some reasons.
Definition of Terms
Appendix A
Dear Respondent,
I am presently conducting a research study on the evaluation of
performance in English Grammar by the residents of brgy. Del Remedio: Normative
Survey Test, as part of the requirements in my subject. In this regard, I am asking for
your full cooperation in accomplishing the attached survey questionnaire.
Your answers will be a great help for me in fulfilling this study. Rest
assure that these answers will be taken with the strictest confidence.
Thank you very much.
_______________________
Carie Justine P. Estrellado
Appendix B
Survey Questionnaires
S.Y. 2007-2008
Research Design
This study is primarily a descriptive study using the normal survey method, which
made use of the perceptions of the respondents as its main source of data.
Population Sampling
The respondents of the study were forty (40) respondents composed of people whom
residents of Brgy. Del Remedio in a random sampling through statistical
manipulations of data.
Research Instrument
The main instrument used in the study was a survey questionnaire made by the
researcher which consisted of six (6) items about the status perception of the
respondents in Brgy. Del Remedio
Data Collection
The questionnaires were distributed to the respondents on the last week of January. It
takes the researcher only one (1) week to retrieve or collect the questionnaires for the
data needed in the study.
where: P = Percentage
F = Frequency
In western civilization, formal language study began with the ancient Greeks.
Their approach to language was very philosophical in its orientation. Plato, for example,
investigated whether language arose by convention or by nature. He concluded that
men did not simply agree to call an apple an apple, but that there was a logical
connection between the object and its name. Much of his study, then, was directed toward
understanding the etymology of a word--its history--in order to better understand the true
meaning of the word.
Todays school child, for example, might be mystified at the term blackboard,
for most modern schools have green or tan surfaces on which the teacher writes with
chalk. By investigating the history of blackboard, however, the student would learn that
these objects at one time were indeed black; that the teacher would write upon a board
that had been painted black. Thus, the name for this particular furnishing of a schoolroom
was logical, even if there should be no black blackboards.
Aristotle disagreed with Platos position, contending that language was arrived at
by convention or agreement. Accordingly, he was not interested in the etymology of
words, but in describing the words as they were used. Aristotle was the first to contend
that words could be classified into parts of speech; he distinguished three parts of
speech, the noun, the verb, and a third class that he labeled conjunctions.
Around 100 B.C. the first formal grammar of Greek appeared. Written by
Dionysius Thrax, the grammar followed the Aristotelian view of language by presenting a
description of Greek orthography, pronunciation, and morphology. Sentences were
viewed as being composed of words, which themselves could be classified as belonging
to one of eight classes; these classifications ultimately led to the traditional eight parts of
speech. This early study formed the basis for grammatical study to be considered
essentially as taxonomic in nature; that is, the role of the grammarian was to classify
parts of speech, syntactic functions, sentence types, and so on.
When the Roman civilization supplanted the Greek, the Romans borrowed from
the Greeks their way of life, their architecture, and their gods. They also borrowed from
the Greek grammars then extant, simply translating them into Latin. Statements about the
structure of Greek, then, were incorporated into descriptions of Latin, even though the
two languages were quite dissimilar. The first Latin grammar of any consequence was
written by Varro around 50 - 40 B.C. This grammar consisted of twenty six books, of
which only a few are extant. Varros grammar was succeeded by those of Donatus and
Priscian, books which were used well into the Middle Ages.
It is well to consider how such books were used during the Middle Ages. At that
time, Latin was a dead language, replaced by the ancestors of todays modern Romance
languages. It was not spoken anywhere as a native language, but instead existed primarily
as the language of the Church and of the scientific/academic community. Consequently,
those studying Latin approached it as a foreign language. Moreover, they approached it as
a language fixed for all time (new vocabulary could not be created) and as a language that
had models, Cicero in particular, universally acclaimed as practitioners of good
writing. The student of Latin, then, had to acquire a fixed set of rules that applied to the
language; he could not vary from those rules, for to do so would make him guilty of using
the language improperly. It is important to keep in mind that no one gave any thought to
studying his own language, whether it be Old English, Old French, or whatever. One
studied grammar only to acquire Latin.
Keep in mind also that Latin was a language with a wealth of inflectional forms.
Each noun had to be inflected to show its case, or function, and the verb forms would
differ greatly depending on the person or tense used. Consider, for example, the following
declensions for the Latin words puella (girl, feminine gender), amcus (friend, masculine
gender), and verbum (word, neuter gender):
Singular
Plural
Nominative
puella
puellae
Genitive
puellae
puellrum
Dative
puellae
puells
Accusative
puellam
puells
Ablative
puell
puells
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
Singular
amcus
amc
amc
amcum
amc
Plural
amc
amcrum
amcs
amcs
amcs
Singular
Plural
Nominative
verbum
verba
Genitive
verb
verbrum
Dative
verb
verbs
Accusative
verbum
verba
The Latin verb forms also had a wealth of inflectional endings that represented
various tenses, voices, moods, and numbers. Consider the following verb paradigm for
the present tense, indicative mood, of vocre (to call):
1st
2nd
3rd
Active Voice
Singular
Plural
voca
vocmus
vocs
vocti
vocat
vocant
Passive Voice
Singular
Plural
vocor
vocmur
vocris
vocmin
voctur
vocantur
In addition to these forms, Latin also had the following tenses and forms; for the
sake of brevity, I give only the first person singular form, active voice, but other forms
exist for the first person plural, the second and third singular and plural, and the passive
for all voices.
Imperfect Indicative: vocbam
Future Indicative: vocb
Perfect Indicative: vocv
Pluperfect Indicative: vocveram
Future Perfect Indicative: vocver
Present Subjunctive: vocem
Latin also had the following verbals, which were used in more complicated verb
structures. While these forms were not inflected for number, they did have a
corresponding passive voice:
Present Infinitive: vocre
Perfect Infinitive: vocvisse
Future Infinitive: voctrus esse
Present Participle: vocns
Future Participle: voctrus
Gerund (Genitive): vocand
Gerund (Dative): vocand
Gerund (Accusative): vocandum
Gerund (Ablative): vocand
Those learning Latin, as well as other foreign languages, then, had to memorize
verb and noun paradigms, frequently having to commit to memory several different
paradigms depending on the class of the verb or gender and class of the noun. When
English became a subject of study, the approach used for Latin was adopted even though
English does not have a comparable variety of forms. Many people even today remember
quite clearly days in their grammar class when they would recite the verb paradigm for
such infinitives as to call:
1st
2nd
3rd
Singular
I call
You call
He, she, it calls
Plural
We call
You call
They call
Note that English does not have the multiplicity of forms common to Latin or the
languages, such as French and Spanish, derived from Latin; it has in the simple present
tense only calls for the third person singular and call for all other persons and
numbers. Note also that there is only one past tense form of the verb-- called.
The supposition that English has the same pattern of verb forms as Latin or the
Romance languages has undoubtedly caused confusion for students since the study of
English began. One should also keep in mind that Latin was taught chiefly as a written
language; consequently the Latin grammarian was preoccupied with letters rather than
the sounds they represented. The fact that language is primarily spoken and only
secondarily written was completely overlooked. Traditional grammarians, then, seldom
refer to the sounds of language (although some do reveal their dialectal prejudices by
identifying correct pronunciations for a few words), while most structural grammarians
begin their discussion of a language with an examination of its phonological system.
Returning to the topic of Latin during the Middle Ages, let me emphasize that
Latin was the language of the Learned Man. Virtually all works dealing with science,
philosophy, or theology were written in Latin, as was much of the literature of the time.
Even after the Reformation, Latin occupied a special role in the life of the scholar as the
principles of Humanism led him to a study of the Greek and Roman classics.
Consequently, literally thousands of Latin words were imported into English, perhaps
leading some later scholars to see a closer affinity between English and Latin than
actually existed.
When scholars turned their attention to the vernaculars--the languages of the
common man-- they naturally looked to Latin grammars for models. Not only were Latin
grammars the only ones in wide circulation, some scholars felt that by making English
conform to the rules of Latin, they would somehow be ennobling the language, making it
more logical and refined. Thus, the early grammars of English began appearing, such as
Jonathan Hewes 1624 work A Perfect Survey of the English Tongue Taken According to
the Use and Analogie of the Latine.
Most of these early grammars are now rarities, though one is still available
because of the literary eminence of its author, Ben Jonson. Entitled English Grammar,
the work nevertheless cites Varro, Cicero, and Quintillian concerning particular
grammatical problems. It is not surprising that English writers of the time, such as John
Dryden, grew up thinking that English had no grammar of its own and that the only way
to understand English sentences was to translate them into Latin.
Even today it is not uncommon to hear people state that they never fully
understood English grammar until they took Latin in school. The truth, of course, is that
one cannot understand Latinate rules applied to a language whose structure is radically
different from Latin. Grammarians formulate such rules as Never split an infinitive,
giving no thought to the fact that in Latin the infinitive is one word, incapable of having
another inserted inside it. The English infinitive, on the other hand, is sometimes
interpreted as being two words (to plus the uninflected verb form--the true infinitive)
that frequently need to be separated for clarity of expression.
Though several grammatical studies of English appeared in the 17th century (a
few, indeed, appeared in the 16th), the major outpouring of grammatical study occurred
in the 18th century, with scholars in the 19th century simply expanding upon the base
already established. Those writing grammars in the 18th century were generally
motivated by three factors: 1) they wished to restore the language to a purity of
expression and logic which had been lost as the language went through a period of
corruption; 2) they wished to express the language in terms of a series of inviolable
rules, comparable to those which described Latin; 3) they wished to standardize and fix
(in the sense of setting in concrete) the language for all time so that future generations
would have access to their writings, access which most Englishmen of the times did not
have to material written in Old or even Middle English.
English writers were influenced in their ideas by academies in Italy and France
that were busily preparing comprehensive dictionaries of Italian and French, as well as
passing judgment on the purity and eloquence of particular grammatical constructions. In
1712, for example, Jonathan Swift proposed the creation of an English Academy that
would be responsible for correcting, improving, and ascertaining the English tongue.
Though Swifts proposal was not implemented (opposition arose primarily
because of Swifts political views rather than to the proposal itself), scholars did turn
their attention more rigorously to an examination of English. In 1729, for instance,
Thomas Cooke published Proposals for Perfecting the English Tongue; and in 1755
Samuel Johnson published A Dictionary of the English Language, the first major study of
the vocabulary of the language. Johnson stated that his purpose in producing the
dictionary was to refine our language to grammatical purity, and to clear it from
colloquial barbarisms, licentious idioms, and irregular combinations. Most learned men
of the time applauded his efforts.
Johnsons Dictionary was soon followed by a spate of grammars: The Rudiments
of English Grammar by Joseph Priestly (1761); A Short Introduction to English
Grammar by Robert Lowth (1762); The British Grammar by James Buchanan (1762);
Grammatical Institute by John Ash (1763); and, in America, A Grammatical Institute of
the English Language by Noah Webster (1784).
Of these grammars, that by Robert Lowth was undoubtedly the most important.
Lowth also serves as a somewhat typical example of the sort of person writing grammars
at that time. A clergyman who eventually rose to become Bishop of London, Lowth had
no grammatical training other than that he received in the study of Latin and Greek. He
was conservative in his attitudes toward language, believing in a standard for all
speakers, including a set of prescriptive rules that he was quite willing to supply. It is
from Lowths first revision of his grammar, for instance, that we receive the rule that
two negatives constitute an affirmative. Prior to Lowths pronouncement, speakers of
English were free to have as many negatives in a sentence as they wished; the greater the
number, the greater the negative import.
Many of the conventions that continue to trouble students also first appeared in
the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1653, John Wallis in his Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae
first applied the rule that simple futurity is expressed by shall in the first person and by
will in the second and third; prior to that time no distinction was made between the use of
the two words. During the 18th century we also received our rules for distinguishing
between lie and lay and using different from rather than different than, distinguishing
between the use of between and among, and using the comparative for two things only
while the superlative was reserved for three or more. It was also during this period that
the first condemnations appeared concerning the use of between you and I, it is me, more
perfect or more unique, and this here or that there. John Dryden was responsible for
deciding that a sentence could not end with a preposition, while an obscure American
grammarian named Richard Taylor in 1840 created the rule banning the use of split
infinitives.
The plain fact of the matter is that English has been saddled with a number of
rules which do nothing more than reflect the prejudices or lack of knowledge of people
not trained in the scientific study of language. What is most amazing, however, is that the
public still consider these rules to be inviolate.
The public attitude in America concerning such language rules is undoubtedly
connected to the history of the country. Let us not forget that many of the settlers of the
eastern seaboard of the United States, if not condemned criminals, were largely from the
lower classes in England. As is common with many colonials, the Americans tended to
feel somewhat inferior to those in the homeland (even today Americans tend to perceive a
person with a British accent as being more refined or cultured, if not more intelligent,
than his American counterpart).
Following the American Revolution, consequently, there was an immediate effort
to provide the citizenry with the schooling necessary to make them the equals of the
British. In Britain, however, education during the 18th century was limited primarily to
the children of the wealthy; though the schools the children attended were called
grammar schools, the grammars studied were those of Latin and Greek. The
Americans, however, may have misinterpreted the term grammar, for grammar in
America came to be the study of English. This in itself was rather strange, for never
before had it been assumed that one needed to study his own language in order to use it
effectively. We have no reason to believe, for example, that Chaucer and Shakespeare, the
greatest writers of the language, ever formally studied English. Nevertheless, even as
Americans now continually turn to authorities, whether they be Martha Stewart
describing where to place the butter knife or Ann Landers offering advice about pregnant
teenage daughters, so they turned to language authorities in the 18th and 19th centuries.
There were more than enough prescriptive grammarians willing to tell the
unenlightened what was correct and what was incorrect. The Edwin Newmans and John
Simons of today, then, merely reflect such early grammarians as Lindley Murray, perhaps
the most influential of the early American grammarians. Murray, a Philadelphia lawyer
and devout Quaker, made a modest fortune as a merchant during the American
Revolution. Upon the conclusion of the Revolution, he retired to England where he
planned to lead the life of a country squire.
Impressed by the need of students at a nearby girls boarding school for an
understandable grammar, Murray generously simplified Lowths grammar. His
recasting of Lowths work proved so popular, however, that the work eventually went
through more than 600 printings with millions of copies being sold. Murrays
presentation of grammar involved parsing--taking each word of a sentence in isolation,
giving its part of speech, case, gender, etc.
Other grammarians soon began to follow the same schema, but they also began
including examples of false syntax. That is, incorrect sentences would be presented
for the students analysis. The student would identify what was wrong in the sentence,
give the rule that would state how the sentence should have appeared, and then recast the
sentence. This same procedure is followed even today in many schools, with students
being forced to identify errors that might never appear in their own writing and then to
give the rule that applies to the error.
A natural consequence of this approach to grammar study is that students begin to
make errors in their own writing that would not have otherwise occurred to them. Never
certain about the prescriptive rules they have been expected to learn, and never certain
about how many new, arbitrary rules lie (or is it lay in wait for them, students lose
confidence in their own command of the language, a command fully established before
they ever set foot in a classroom.
Although grammar is a cherished part of the schoolroom ritual, it is seldom
thought about or discussed and is not even expected to be of practical value in the real
world. Moreover, because reading, writing, and rithmetic are considered to be such basic
skills (and grammar is usually thought to be a part of writing), everyone is an expert on
the subject.
This attitude probably developed with the little red schoolhouse of years past: to
be a teacher of the sixth grade, the frontier schoolmaam or schoolmaster need only have
completed the sixth grade. Many parents, indeed, would teach the children of a new
community until a teacher could be hired. Even then, parents would continually evaluate
teachers and their skills.
Today, even though there are professional supervisors of public school teachers,
parents still feel qualified to make judgments about the textbooks to be used in the
language arts classes or to disapprove of the introduction of new math. If Johnny cant
read or write, then quite clearly the school system should go back to the basics, even if
no one can specify what the basics are. There is little appreciation of the fact that such
basic skills as arithmetic or writing might involve complexities beyond the reach of
everyday common sense.
Thus, grammar as a subject of advanced study and research seems inconceivable;
the facts--that is, the rules of the language-- are well known and have been with us
since at least the 18th century. Any fool can learn these rules; failure to do so simply
indicates faulty education if not inferior intelligence.
In sharp contrast to this common notion of language and grammar is the
structural grammar which developed in the early twentieth century in this country.
Believing that each language should be studied as an entity in and of itself without
reference to any other language, the structural grammarians have tried to describe English
as objectively as possible, making no judgments about what is correct or incorrect.
Rather, the structuralisms note the forms of language that appear and try to characterize
the environments in which they appear. It may indeed be a fact that a particular form,
such as the subjunctive, occurs only among a particular social class, but that occurrence
does not make the form better or more nearly correct than a different form used by a
different social class.
A few years ago a television talk-show host devoted two programs to the plight
of the English language. Guest experts on the English language included, besides the
erudite host, a television newsman, a choreographer, an economist, and a drama critic
(whose native language is not even English!). All agreed that English has come upon hard
times, that people just are not using the language properly.
Most modern language scholars feel that the plight of the language is not as
dire as the panelists indicated. English, indeed, is vibrant and growing--the closest thing
to a world or universal language now in existence. If its speakers can better
understand the basic principles of English and remove from the language the burden
placed by eighteenth century prescriptive grammarians, English will continue to grow
and to serve the communicative needs of its society
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Applebee, Arthur N. 1974. Tradition and Reform in the Teaching of English: A History.
Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.
Cohen, Murray. 1977. Sensible Words: Linguistic Practice in England, 16401785.
Baltimore; The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Davies, Hugh Sykes. 1953. Grammar Without Tears. New York: John Day.
Gere, Anne Ruggles and Eugene Smith. 1979. Attitudes, Language and Change. Urbana,
Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.
Hymes, Dell. 1974. Studies in the History of Linguistics. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press.
Liebert, Burt. 1971. Linguistics and the New English Teacher. New York: MacMillan.
Lyman, R. L. 1929. Summary of Investigations Relating to Grammar, Language, and
Composition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Parret, Herman, ed. 1976. History of Linguistic Thought and Contemporary Linguistics.
New York: Walter de Gruyter.
Robins, R. H. 1951. Ancient & Mediaeval Grammatical Theory in Europe. London:
Kennikat Press.
-----1967. A Short History of Linguistics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Sebeok, Thomas A., ed. 1975. Current Trends in Linguistics, Volume 13: Historiography
of Linguistics. The Hague: Mouton.
Waterman, John T. 1963. Perspectives in Linguistics. Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press.
The history of English is conventionally, if perhaps too neatly, divided into three periods
usually called Old English, (or Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English. The
Earliest period begins with the migration of certain Germanic tribes from the continent
Britain in the fifth century A.D., though no records of their language survive from before
the seventieth century, and it continues until the end of the eleventh century or a bit later.
lexicon; most speakers of English get by with about 40. Phonemes are
identified by the fact in some pair of words they create a contrast
thats signals a difference meaning: we consider the vowel sounds of
trip and trap to be different phonemes because the difference in the
vowel sounds is the sole determinant of their being two distinct
words. Their consonant sounds are identical.
Table of Contents
*Title Page
*Approval Sheet
*Acknowledgment
*Dedication
*Preface
*Table of Contents
Chapter I: The Problem and its Setting
*Introduction
*Statement of the Problem
*Scope and Limitations
*Significance of the Study
Chapter II: Related Literature and Studies
*Related Studies
*Related Literature
*Definition of Terms
*Assumption
Chapter III: Research Methodology
*Research Design
*Population and Sampling
*Research Instrument
*Data Collection
*Statistical Treatment of Data
Chapter IV: Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data
*Distribution of Respondents in terms of Age
*Distribution of Respondents in terms of Civil Status
*Distribution of Respondents in terms of Educational Attainment
*Perception of the Respondents in terms of reasoning to a certainty of categories
*Perception of the Respondents in terms of Performance in English Grammar
6
13
8
13
40
15%
33%
20%
33%
100%
Table 1 Represents the accurate tabulation to the respondents in terms of their Ages.
The highest percentage was both the ages of 13-15 y/o and 19 and above they got the
33%, then the ages between 16-18 y/o got the second highest percentage 20% which
yield to the frequency of 8 respondents, While the lowest percentage got by between
10-12 y/o yield to 15% and 6 respondents to its frequency. From a Total of 40
respondents.
This selected random sampling shows that most respondents interpreted were the
Ages of 13-15 y/o and 19 and above.
(Table2)
Frequency
Percentage
Single
Married
28
10
70%
25%
Widow/er
Separated
TOTAL
1
1
40
3%
3%
100%
The Table 2 represents to the respondents of their civil status, the highest frequency
was 28 to the Single, Married got the frequency 10 with the second highest
percentage of 25%, then both the Widow/er and Separated got the same frequency
and its Percentage. Overall with 40 respondents. This shows that most respondents
are in Single Status.
Frequency
Percentage
Elementary
Secondary
Tertiary
Out of school youth
TOTAL
4
17
14
5
40
10%
43%
35%
13%
100%
The Table 3 represents the Educational Attainment of the chosen respondents. The
Secondary level got the highest frequency of 17 and with 43% with its percentage,
then the tertiary level got the second highest frequency of 14 and 35%, the out of
school youth got total of 5 frequency with the percentage of 13%, and the Elementary
level go the least percentage with only 10%.
This shows that most of the random chosen subject are in the Secondary level,
because the cases of the Surveyor is more likely to the Secondary unlike to the other
levels.
(Table4)
Frequency
Percentage
4
10
10%
25%
Average
Fair
Spatial
Unqualified
Diminutive
11
16
7
1
0
28%
40%
18%
3%
0%
Table 4 represents the performance of the residents of Brgy. Del Remedio in English
Grammar, the highest frequency and its percentage was Fair got 16 in frequency
and 40% to Percentage mostly the respondents have due to their reasons why they
chosen that of subject, 28% for the Average, 25%for the Logical, 18% for the Spatial,
10% for the Ideal, 3% for the Unqualified and O% Percent for the Diminutive as well
as Unsurpassed. Many Respondents not well-known to their real performance and
few of the respondents chosen the Unsurpassed, yet residents of Del Remedio have a
Fair performance in English Grammar.
(Table5)
Frequency
Percentage
13
2
15
19
11
1
33%
5%
38%
48%
28%
3%
Table 5 represents the uncertainty of the respondents due to the subject of English
Grammar. The Highest frequency and its percentage was in Vocabularies, got
frequency of 19 and 48% for the Percentage, and for the Clauses which got the
second highest Percentage was 38% , 33% for the reasoned of having misspelled
words, 28% for the Part of Speech including much broad topic in English Literature,
then 5% for the Punctuation marks and also 3% for the Other(s).
This states that more unlike people have some unconditional certainty to its weakness to
the English Grammar.
(Table6)
Frequency
Percentage
19
9
1
48%
23%
3%
5
7
7
8
0
13%
18%
18%
20%
0%
Table 6 represents the things that affects of being a slow learner of an individual. The
highest was Tardiness/Laziness which got 48%, 23% for Addicted from something,
20% suggest that Peers is the one should involved, both Percentage got the two
subject- Not Being such studios/Having some illness or disorder, 13% conclude
Favoritism among subjects persecute to neglect the English Grammar, 3% for having
phobias among teachers and 0% for the Other(s).This shows that the respondents
more likely conclude that Tardiness/Laziness are the one whom engage a persons to
neglect the Subject of English Grammar.
Summary
This Research wants to imply the performance of the residents of brgy. Del Remedio,
through survey and to conclude some hypothesis of the assumptions for having thoughts
about in English Grammar. These was consisted of six (6) items about the status to the
perception to the respondents as well as their Profiles. (1) Age, (2) Status, (3) Educational
Attainment, (4) Performance in English Grammar, (5) Reasoning to a subject, and (6)
Causes related to their responds. It is primarily a descriptive study using the normal
survey method, to tabulate the corresponding survey study and to manipulate it by
random sampling and its percentage.
Significant Findings
Through random of means to each respondents. I have found out the total frequency and
its percentage by arranging of coherent details.
-Majority of its specific findings
1.Distribution of the respondents in terms of Age was specifically made that the major
responds was ages between 13-15 y/o.
2. Distribution of the respondents in terms of Civil Status gave to its findings that more
on respondents filled were in a Single Status.
3.Distribution of the respondents in terms of their Educational Background, resulted that
most of the respondents are in high school level.
Conclusions
This study of the performance of the residents of the brgy. Del Remedio was conducted in
a random sampling. Most of the respondents was to shy to cooperate and to know their
responds of the survey questionnaire. My conclusion is that, the residents of brgy. Del
Remedio having a Fair performance in a subject of English Grammar. I therefore include
that this requirements in English as well as Science research was like to be a successful
plan, also to the respondents whom respect and cooperate to finish this study. This thesis
will shrine to its endeavor mechanism as well as to the taken responds of the respondents.
Recommendation
To the chosen respondents as well as the residents of brgy. Del Remedio. Most people of
our country lessen their attention pertaining in English subject that is why most people
have some problem in writing skills and communication towards our second language. I
recommend to know or to have some effort regarding to the subject of English Grammar,
like reading some of your references like books in literature or workbooks that will
enhance your credibility in English. We Filipinos our one of the countrys associated to
communicate and treating the other foreign works and establishments by communicating
our second languages, so we should not neglect this language, yet we also try to be
persevere to conduct in a helpful ways in learning because that is why we further
acknowledge this from now up to the further times.
Acknowledgment
-To my Family and mentors for their untiring support and forgiveness.
-To my Alma mater, Saint Claire Science School.
-To my dearest classmates and peers.
-To the Netopia computer shop for their great distribution to overcome this
requirements
-To the Faculty teachers of Saint Claire, especially T. Chee
and T. Tess and ;
-To our Almighty God, For His guidance and Love that shown to fulfill this
study.
Dedication
Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson. You find the present tense and the
past perfect.
- Orbens comedy Fillers
I Dedicate this thesis To God For His Fruitful help to finish this thesis,
as well as my Family, and also to myself!!!!..