How Far can Structural Grammar Go？

【Abstract】There are some misunderstandings of the role of Structural Linguistics in recent linguistics. In order to make it clear whether Structural Linguistics is still a living theory， this paper reviews the theory of Structural Grammar， and analyses Audiolingual Method and its realization-pattern teaching. The conclusion is that Structural Linguistics is still， at least in the field of language teaching， influential nowadays.

【Key words】Structural Grammar； Audiolingual Method； The importance and application of Pattern Teaching

【作者簡介】趙莉莉（1981.6- ），女，壯族，廣西人，廣西師范大學漓江學院，碩士，研究生，講師，研究方向：英語教學，跨文化傳播學。

The Structural approach to the analysis of language was started by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure in the beginning of the twentieth century. In a sense， all the linguistic theories after him are structural in that all regard linguistic units as interrelated with each other in a structural （or system）， not as isolated bits.（Hu Zhuanglin， 2002：119） However， since 1970s， Structural Linguistics have given rise to Transformational Grammar， which is proposed firstly by Chomsky and accepted world-widely in the field of linguistic study. Even those， who work in fields like phonology or with units like the morpheme， do not describe themselves as structuralists. Is Structural Grammar really out-dated？Dose it die away totally from the nowadays linguistic study？But “if linguistics is no longer officially structural， why so many linguists and theories are still influenced by structuralist ideas”， （Matthews， 2001：142） namely， pattern teaching. This paper begins with the revision of Structural Grammar， and then describes the Audiolingual Method influenced by ideas of Structural Linguistics， and ends up with discussion of significance and application of Pattern teaching-one realization of Audiolingual Method-in order to depict that Structural Linguistics is still valuable in recent linguistic study.

1. Structural Grammar

Structural Grammarians think that every language has tight structural which makes that language a specific system. It is because of mastering the systematic structure that people can understand and produce sentences which they havent heard before. Grammar should be constructed to describe language structure and display language system objectively. （He Linmei， 2004：59） The structural description of English begins with an analysis of the sound of the language in general， and then goes on to isolate mutually exclusive groups of grammar description proceeds to the next highest level， the word structure （morphology） of English， which involves the isolation of the smallest meaning-bearing units， the morphemes， which make up the words of the language. Finally， structural grammar analyzes the phrase structure， or syntax， of English. At this level， the grammarian looks for the various ways in which can be combined to produce grammatical English sentences. （Lapalombara， 1976） Therefore， there will be a system： some patterns of organization which contribute to grammatical meaning. As Fries argued， a sentence is a structural pattern which is made up of “parts of speech” which can be identified both by their formal markers and by their position or positions in the pattern， then we must test for all sentence positions in which that part of speech can occur.

Because a language has a system for putting its words together in meaningful relationships， English sentence can range in length from one or two to a theoretically limitless number of words. Indeed， most of the sentences which most of us speak and understand are a great deal more complex than we realize. Yet we speak our native language without conscious thought about the grammar rules we use when we put our sentences together. Structural linguists believe that such language ability is a learned process， made possible by two factors： （1） humans powers of observation and their highly evolved brain capacity， which make it possible for them to reason inductively； and （2） the structured， highly organized nature of language.

To what extent these factors explain language acquisition is open to question， but is undeniable that language is systematically structured.

2. Audiolingual Method

The reason why Structural Linguistics has been popular for a long period from 1930s to 1950s is that it was widely applied into language teaching and learning and had got good effects. （Liu Runqing， 2003：148） The theory of language underlying Audiolingualism was derived from a view proposed by American linguists in the 1950s – a view that came to be known as Structural Linguistics. According to Structural Linguistics， language is viewed as a system of structurally related elements for the encoding of meaning， the elements being phonemes， morphemes， words， structures， and sentence types. The term “structural” referred to these characteristics： （1） Elements in a language are thought of as being linearly produced in a rule-governed （structural） way. （2） Language samples could be exhaustively described at any structural level of description. （3） Linguistic levels are thought of as systems within systems – that is， as being pyramidally structured； phonemic systems led to morphemic systems， and these in turn led to the higher-level systems of phrases， clauses， and sentences. In this sense， learning a language， it is assumed， entails mastering the elements or building blocks of the language and learning the rules by which these elements are combined， from phoneme to morpheme to word to phrase to sentence.

Hence， Audiolingual Method contains five principles which reflect Bloomfields idea. The principles are： （1） Language is speech； （2） Language is a set of habits； （3） To teaching language is to teach how to learn a kind of language rather than to recognize it； （4） Language should be what native speakers say； （5） A language is different from the others.

Since linguists normally describe languages beginning with the phonological level and finishing with the sentence level， it is assumed that is also the appropriate sequence for learning and teaching. First of all， the important tenet is that the primary medium of language is oral： Speech is language. Therefore， it is assumed that speech had a priority in language teaching. Second， a large number of practice and drills are stressed in teaching process. That is because according to Behaviorism， reinforcement is a vital element in the learning process， and it increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur again and eventually become a habit. Third， since the structure is what is important and unique about a language， early practice should focus on mastery of phonological and grammatical structures rather than on mastery of vocabulary. Fourth， patterns， in which some words can be replaced， are mainly the content of practice.

Audiolingualism reached its period of most widespread use in the 1960s and was applied both to the teaching of foreign languages in the United States and to the teaching of English as a second or foreign language. （Richards & Rodgers， 2003：44-64） There are some specific characteristics of the teaching material， process and methods. Structural teaching materials are arranged on a basis of underlying grammatical patterns and structures， and ordered in a way supposed to be suitable for teaching. Structural linguists are influenced by behaviouristic view that one learns a language by building up habits on the basis of stimulus-response chains. In teaching method this implies a pattern drill technique which aims at the learners automatisms for language forms. （Hu Zhuanglin， 2002：355）

3. Pattern Teaching

Because of its pattern-centered teaching principle， Audiolingual Method， on the basis of Structural Linguistics， emphasizes Pattern Teaching and pays attention to the analysis of sentence structure. Structural Linguistics deems that although language is complex， it composed of different degree of structures and sentences. Pattern is the fundamental structure. Therefore， by drilling patterns， which is the basis of language teaching， learners can automatically acquire the way to apply patterns to make sentences and then master foreign language.

3.1 The importance of pattern teaching

Pattern teaching is not a new teaching way； rather， it is nearly born with Audiolingual Method. But up to now， it is still one of the most important in our countrys foreign language teaching， especially in primary period of language teaching.

3.1.1 It is important for foreign language learners to acquire sentence patterns

The principle that children acquire mother tongue enlightens us that we can learn to speak through learning sentence patterns. The method for learning is to accumulate vocabulary， understand and recognize all kinds of patterns and use them appropriately in order that the purpose of communication can be carried out. According to the conclusion of a study on modern foreign language teaching methods， the key to language learning is to practice and drill sentence patterns. Hence， the important procedure in this process is to acquire patterns.

3.1.2 It is better for foreign language teaching to base on Pattern drilling.

3.1.2.1 Pattern teaching can improve communicative competence

If pattern teaching is not unique， it will be difficult for students to acquire communicative competence. If pattern teaching is stressed， teaching， even those which emphasize comprehensive competence， will be more sufficient and effective.

3.1.2.2 Advantages for teaching and drilling on the basis of sentence

There are four advantages for pattern teaching：

（1） Through analysis of the structure of sentences and drilling in which some components of sentences are replaced， learners can be trained to acquire language skills which enable them to express their ideas by creating new sentences； （2） It is better for learners to acquire meaning and usage of lexicon（words and phrases）. Words in a sentence are always within a certain kind of concrete context， and within certain collocation. By the way of speaking and listening， learners form deep impression on some frequent used-collocations and sentences in order that， in the process of communication， they can easily understand what have said to them and can express themselves fluently； （3） Its convenient to learn some specific foreign language expressions， namely， native language. Those fixed collocation or idioms reflect the characteristics of a kind of foreign nation. Only by learning such specific sentences and structures， learners can acquire languages used by native speakers； （4） Pattern teaching should operate in communicative context and aim at cultivating communicative competence. Besides some mechanic drill， pattern teaching should give more opportunities to learners to express ideas appropriately by means of using foreign language patterns coherently. That is， such kind of training can help learners obtain communicative competence by which learners may use foreign language correctly and appropriately.

3.2 The application of pattern teaching in Chinese primary foreign language teaching

Pattern teaching is widely one of the most influential teaching methods in our countrys foreign language teaching， especially in primary foreign language teaching. Most of English textbook for primary learners in our country are compiled on a basis of sentence patterns. Take a textbook New Concept English （edited by L.G. Alexander and He Qixin） for an example. New Concept English is composed of four books which are arranged in a hierarchical degree from beginner to advancer. Among them， the content of New Concept English I （for beginners） typically reflects ideas of Structural Grammar. Firstly， it contains a lot of grading sentences patterns. It is， or should be， an obvious requirement of any course that it should proceed from easy to difficult without sharp break or sudden “jumps”. In a carefully graded course， the student learns to use a few patterns at a time. Ideally， these patterns should be interrelated and should be presented in a carefully ordered sequence. In traditional courses， grammatical items are often artificially grouped together. For instance， all the personal pronouns may be presented in a table which the student is expected to learn. The table is presented in isolation and is divorced from any context. But learning facts about the language in this way is of no real help to the student， for he is in no position to apply what he has learnt. In a structurally graded course， the student acquires a little information at a time and learns to make meaningful statements. He therefore learns to use relatively simple structural words like personal pronouns over a long period， instead of being given a large， indigestible dose of information at any one time. Secondly， sentence patterns are almost designed to underlie the situational daily talk and are arranged in a coherent order. At the beginning， some fundamental patterns like “Is this your …？” or “Where is it？” are used to introduce knowledge of some classes of words like Noun， Pronoun， Verb， Proposition and so on. With the learning going on， those patterns like “I am going to ….” or “He likes ….” are introduced to teach tense. This arrangement of textbook enables teaching and learning to use familiar patterns to practise new words or use familiar words to drill new patterns. In this sense， vocabulary and patterns are mutually won. Therefore， the effect of learning will be improved at a large degree， the basis knowledge and language sense will be formed， and then communicative competence can be cultivated.

4. Conclusion

Although Structural Grammar seems to disappear from recent linguistic study， its ideas are still alive in many linguistic theories and teaching method， for instance， in one operating way of Audiolingual Method-Pattern Teaching. On the basis of Structural Grammar， pattern teaching mainly makes students acquire sentence patterns， and meanwhile， pays attention to cultivate the communicative competence. Since pattern teaching is sufficient and effective for beginners of foreign language learning， it has been influential for a long period. Even though until now， it is popular in our country. This， on the perspective of language teaching， is proved that Structural Grammar is still a living and valuable theory for linguistic study.

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