2. Teaching Grammar
a. The Definitions of Grammar
Etymologically, the word ‗grammar‘ is derived from Greek words ‗grammatike techne‘ meaning ‗art of letters‘. In linguistics, grammar is the set of
structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules and this field
includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics.
Halliday and Mathiesen 1997: 1-2 defined grammar as phenomenon is part of languages; it is the ‗system of wordings‟. But how it is conceptualized will
depend on the
grammatics
, the theories of grammar. In their view, language is a resource
– a resource for making meanings. So, grammar is a resource for creating meaning by means of wording. This perspective is that of rhetoric and
ethnography, e.g. in the foregrounding of text discourse as the basic unit of language, organized according to the rhetorical context. Since text is the basic
unit, the sentence is studied in its discourse environmental. In the field of language teaching, Batstone and Ellis 2009 say that
grammar is considered a most important element because without knowing grammar proficiency and accuracy in target language cannot be gained.
In line with the earlier definitions of grammar, Coumar 2011:1 defines grammar as the total mechanism which a language possesses and through which
commit to user
its users are able to communicate with each other. Grammar can refer to the formal analysis and descriptions of the rules of the language, which is known as
‗descriptive grammar‘. Grammar can also refer to the rules for the correct use of a language which may be prescribed for its users, which is known as ‗prescriptive
grammar‘. Based on the aforementioned theories of grammar, I conclude that
grammar is, fundamentally speaking, the pattern of language. What makes experts take differing positions in defining grammar is how they see the pattern. If the
pattern is seen as rules, then grammar is positioned in a prescriptive manner. If the pattern is viewed as ways of people in using their language, then grammar is
defined in descriptive ways. Finally, if the pattern is considered as resources, then grammar is viewed as systemic and functional.
b. The Classification of Grammar
Kategori