Abstract
Grammar in its broadest definition is a form—meaning relationship, and there is almost nothing in language that is outside of that domain. Rutherford (1987a) speaks of language learning as the intersection of three systems: grammar, semantics, and discourse. He identifies semantics and discourse as the forces that shape language form and comprise the context within which the language learner becomes conscious of grammar. Rutherford’s position tends to separate grammar from meaning by regarding grammar as form only. On the other hand, he recasts the relationship of form and meaning by triangulating it with discourse function. Larsen-Freeman (1987) also uses a three-part system to analyze the notion of learning difficulty in second-language learning. She claims that for any grammatical structure, either form, meaning, or pragmatics will be the key or essential learning difficulty. This position reflects growing awareness of the interconnectedness of all of the elements of language. This is a necessary stage of consciousness-raising on the part of both second-language acquirers and re¬searchers and one to which this chapter contributes. It remains to be seen whether a three-part division of language is superior to a two-level analysis: form—meaning or form—function.
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Bailey, N. (1989). Discourse Conditioned Tense Variation. In: Eisenstein, M.R. (eds) The Dynamic Interlanguage. Topics in Language and Linguistics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0900-8_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0900-8_17
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