By Dialects, Grammar

Hi Randy, I'm afraid you've made some connections where none existed. I wasn't tying everything back to a thesis. This is not a paper; I'm just chatting (and like most chats, we make side comments), which is what this forum is for. I'm not picking on anyone in particular; I'm skeptical about...

ah, no... I didn't say they 'prescriptivise'. What I say is that L2 learners tend to do so in an explicit manner (eg. write down some sort of rules), whereas L1 speakers do not, at least in such a manner. (though exceptions may occur as to the acquisition of 'peripheral grammar': eg. 'goed' or...

Randy_Tam wrote:my major is pretty much concerned with this issue (English and Education I guessed as much I have friends who study ESL/Eng. ed. Randy_Tam wrote:This is anyway only one of the supporting clues for my main point that 'prescriptivism is UNNECESSARY in L1 acquisition'......

um... ESL, or more precisely L2 learning / teaching, is not my property, although my major is pretty much concerned with this issue (English and Education). What he is discussing is the inadequacies in the traditional approaches to language and lexicon, in that they fail to recognize the nature...

Randy_Tam wrote:That 'we are all abiding by some basic (prescriptive) rules of English grammar' amounts to me something like a tautology: a language is idiosyncratic in that it has some structural rules (instead of being arbitrary... let's do an experiment: say I you understand what won't... at...

Anonymous wrote:Wow, Randy_Tam! I thought I was verbose!Your points are well taken, but I'll have to look at the Noam Chompsky reference before I can go on. Do you have a title of the book/paper?It seems that with respect to prescriptivism, you take umbrage with L1 prescriptivism over L2; the...

That 'we are all abiding by some basic (prescriptive) rules of English grammar' amounts to me something like a tautology: a language is idiosyncratic in that it has some structural rules (instead of being arbitrary... let's do an experiment: say I you understand what won't... at any rate you will...

Anonymous wrote:It seems that with respect to prescriptivism, you take umbrage with L1 prescriptivism over L2; the sort of contrived nature of L1 'grammar rules' that are foisted upon the young. Many HK learners are fed up with the grammar-driven teaching approach in the local schools. And...

Wow, Randy_Tam! I thought I was verbose! Your points are well taken, but I'll have to look at the Noam Chompsky reference before I can go on. Do you have a title of the book/paper? It seems that with respect to prescriptivism, you take umbrage with L1 prescriptivism over L2; the sort...

Anonymous wrote: As a part of human reflexion, he is prone to generate some rules (instead of acquiring the language like a child): what does a word starting with '水' on the left mean? Do we need 'er' here or there? He is already prescribing a set of rules. I eschew Chinese grammar, but as a...