The categories of grammar in resource-books of English for advanced learners

Abstract

The courses of morphology and syntax of the English language as linguistic disciplines studied at university level elaborate on a systematic description of the language, logically categorising the individual items of the language system. In doing so, the traditional structural terminology is employed, describing the phenomena such as complex verb phrases which may comprise modal exponents, i.e. epistemic and deontic modality, progressive and perfective aspects or the category of active vs. passive voice. As in any scientific field, the language used should provide clarity and precision and ambiguities should be avoided. In the field of applied linguistics, however, the requirement of precision in the description of the language categories seems impossible to comply with. This paper discusses the ways the categories of English grammar are defined in standard structural linguistic resources and compares them with publications in the field of applied linguistics at advanced levels. It also contrasts these against the lexical approach introduced by Lewis. The aim of the paper is to highlight the presumed discrepancies between the aforementioned types of resources and help to facilitate the ELT in the field of presenting English grammar.