Theoretical Framework of Generative Grammar

and the Appropriate Strategies

in Teaching it

Introduction

In linguistics, generative grammar is grammar (the set of language rules) that indicates

the structure and interpretation of sentences that native speakers of a language accept as
belonging to their language.

Adopting the term generative from mathematics, linguist Noam Chomsky introduced the

concept of generative grammar in the 1950s. This theory is also known as transformational
grammar, a term still used today.

Definition of Generative Grammar

Grammar refers to the set of rules that structure a language, including syntax (the
arrangement of words to form phrases and sentences) and morphology (the study of words and
how they are formed). Generative grammar is a theory of grammar that holds that human
language is shaped by a set of basic principles that are part of the human brain (and even present
in the brains of small children). This "universal grammar," according to linguists like Chomsky,
comes from our innate language faculty.
Principles of Generative Grammar
The main principle of generative grammar is that all humans are born with an innate
capacity for language and that this capacity shapes the rules for what is considered "correct"
grammar in a language. The idea of an innate language capacity—or a "universal grammar"—is
not accepted by all linguists. Some believe, to the contrary, that all languages are learned and,
therefore, based on certain constraints.
Proponents of the universal grammar argument believe that children, when they are very
young, are not exposed to enough linguistic information to learn the rules of grammar. That
children do in fact learn the rules of grammar is proof, according to some linguists, that there is
an innate language capacity that allows them to overcome the "poverty of the stimulus."

Examples of Generative Grammar

As generative grammar is a "theory of competence," one way to test its validity is with
what is called a grammaticality judgment task. This involves presenting a native speaker with a
series of sentences and having them decide whether the sentences are grammatical (acceptable)
or ungrammatical (unacceptable). For example:

 The man is happy.

 Happy man is the.

A native speaker would judge the first sentence to be acceptable and the second to be
unacceptable. From this, we can make certain assumptions about the rules governing how parts
of speech should be ordered in English sentences. For instance, a "to be" verb linking a noun and
an adjective must follow the noun and precede the adjective.

TRANSFORMATIONAL GENERATIVE GRAMMAR

Generative grammar has been under development since the late 1950s, and has
undergone many changes in the types of rules and representations that are used to predict
grammaticality. In tracing the historical development of ideas within generative grammar, it is
useful to refer to various stages in the development of the theory.

A. MODELS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMAR

Standard Theory (1957-1965)

It corresponds to the original model of generative grammar laid out by Chomsky (1965).
A core aspect of Standard Theory is a distinction between two different representations in a
sentence, called Deep Structure and Surface Structure. The two representations are linked to
each other by transformational grammar.

According to Grover Hudson, Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell, 2000…

Deep Structure is the underlying form of a sentence, before rules like auxiliary inversion and
wh-fronting apply. It is an advanced representation of a sentence. It can represented in the form
of hierarchical tree diagram, or phrase structure tree, depicting the abstract grammatical
relationships between the words and phrases within a sentence.

After all raisings apply, plus relevant morphological ang phonological rules (as for forms do), the
result… is the linear, concrete, surface structure of sentences, ready to be given phonetic form.

Surface Structure corresponds to the version of a sentence that can be spoken and heard.
Surface structures are derived from deep structures by a series of transformations.

Example:
The dog bit the cat. (Deep Structure)
The cat was bitten by the dog. (Surface Structure) where an optional transformation called
“passive” had applied.

Extended Standard Theory (1956-1973)

Its features are:
 Syntactic constraints
 Generalized Phrase Structures (X-bar theory)

In linguistics, X-bar theory is a theory of syntactic category formation. It embodies two

independent claims: one, that phrases may contain intermediate constituents projected from a
head X; and two, that this system of projected constituency may be common to more than one
category (e.g., N, V, A, P, etc.).
Revised Extended Standard Theory (1973-1976)
Is a strict delimitation of the different grammatical components, that is syntax, semantics,
as well as phonology, stylistics, and pragmatics.
Relational Grammar (ca. 1975-1990)
An alternative model of syntax based on the idea that notions like Subject, Direct Object,
and Indirect Object play a primary role in grammar.
Government/Binding Principle (1981-1980)
It is based on the principles and parameters theory, which states that there is a finite set of
fundamental principles common to all natural languages and a finite set of binary parameters that
determine the range of permissible variability in language, language acquisition and language
understanding.
Its main aim is to find the principles and parameters common to all languages so that the
syntax of a particular language can be explained along these lines.

• Binding theory poses locality conditions on certain processes and related items. The central
notion of government theory is the relation between the head of a construction and categories
dependent on it.
• It is also concerned with relations of anaphors, pronouns, names and variables to possible
antecedents.

Minimalist Program (1990- Present)

In the Minimalist Program (1995), the latest step in the continuous development of
transformational generative grammar, Chomsky provided a radically new approach to the
implementation of his underlying ideas. The well-established concepts of D-structure and S-
structure have been discarded as well as government, the central element in GB-theory. Even the
ubiquitous phrase-structure rules have been eliminated from the theory to a large degree

B. Context-Free Grammar

Generative grammars can be described and compared with the aid of the Chomsky
hierarchy proposed by Noam Chomsky in the 1950s. This sets out a series of types of formal
grammars with increasing expressive power. Among the simplest types are the regular
grammars; Chomsky claims that regular grammars are not adequate as models for human
language, because all human languages allow the center-embedding of strings within strings.

At a higher level of complexity are the context-free grammars. The derivation of a

sentence by a grammar can be depicted as a derivation tree. Linguists working in generative
grammar often view such derivation trees as a primary object of study. According to this view, a
sentence is not merely a string of words, but rather a tree with subordinate and superordinate
branches connected at nodes.

Essentially, the tree model works something like this example, in which S is a sentence,
D is a determiner, N a noun, V a verb, NP a noun phrase and VP a verb phrase:
 S

NP VP
D N V NP
the dog ate D N
the bone
STRENGTHS OF GENERATIVE GRAMMAR

• This grammar will generate well-formed syntactic structures (e.g. sentences) of the language.
• This grammar will have a finite (i.e. limited) number of rules but will be capable of generating
an infinite number of well-formed structures.
• The rules of this grammar give ‘recursiveness’, that is the capacity to be applied more than
once in generating a structure.
• This grammar is also capable of revealing the basis two other phenomena:
 How some superficially distinct sentences are closely related.
 How some superficially similar sentences are in fact distinct.

WEAKNESSES OF GENERATIVE GRAMMAR

• “It is far from clear what contribution Generative- Transformational Grammar is likely to make
to language teaching methodology. Silalahi (1993)”

Many teachers of English as a Second Language assume that Generative- Transformational

Grammar is pedagogically unadaptable to the needs of a secondary curriculum. It means that it is
not applicable to language teaching. There are two important reasons:
The first reason is that the explication of the theory is directed more towards linguists,
psychologists and mathematicians than toward teachers of English. The second reason is that the
criticism of this theory by other linguists made the concept more complicated.

IMPLICATIONS OF GENERATIVE GRAMMAR

Saporta (in Silalahi,1993) claims that the main contribution of Generative-Transformational

Grammar is to provide relevant data which enables textbook writers to base their material on the
most adequate description.

• It contributes to the teaching-learning process.

• It helps in dealing with the process of learning and acquisition.

These two terms are different in case they are used to separate between the first language
acquisition and the second language acquisition learning. In learning second language, it is a
conscious activity, while the first language acquisition deals with unconscious one. In language
acquisition the focus is communication or reception of a message as opposed to syntax and
grammar as in language learning.
 If someone wants to apply this Generative- Transformational Grammar, there should be a
clear difference between scientific grammar and pedagogical grammar. Scientific grammar has
been used to describe the theoretical grammars constructed by linguists or other
researchers. Pedagogical grammar refers to the grammatical content taught to a student learning
a language other than his or her first language or the methods used in teaching that content. The
goal of this type of grammar is primarily to increase fluency and accuracy of speech, rather than
to impart theoretical knowledge.

Generative-Transformational Grammar can be applied in the form of pedagogical grammar (in

teaching English grammar).

Thomas (in Silalahi,1993) who is convinced with his contribution of Generative-

Transformational Grammar, suggests that in the beginning of teaching, the teachers should teach
the kernel sentence first. Kernel sentences consist of: simple, declarative, active with no complex
verb or noun phrase.

In transformational grammar, a kernel sentence is a simple declarative construction with only

one verb. A kernel sentence is always active and affirmative. Also known as a basic sentence or
a kernel.

Later on the students are taught to construct passive, negative sentences in the form of
Transformational Grammar.

Why should the teacher know the theory of language structure? Teachers should not only teach
the language but to teach the rules how the sentences are produced.

The stages of teaching second language

• The teachers should use relatively uncomplicated construction ideally.
• The teachers would begin with the simplest meaningful utterances in language.
• The teachers present simple construction first before moving on to the more complex ones

Other matters that need be considered: Meaningfulness to the learners, Utility of the structure
being learned, Appropriateness for age group.

But the concept of progressing from the simple to the more complex should not be ignored.
There are some rules for students to create (generate) utterances.

The structural rules in Transformational Grammar are the following:

Stage 1 Stage 2
The boy writes. The clever boy writes.

Sentence Sentence

NP VP NP VP
Det N V Det adj N V
The boy writes The clever boy writes
Stage 3 Stage 4
A beautiful girl sings a beautiful song. The man writes a long letter in the class

Sentence Sentence

NP VP NP VP
Det adj N V NP Det N V NP PP
Det adj N Det adj N Prep NP
Det N
A beautiful girl sings a beautiful song
The man writes a long letter in the class
Teachers of English may also prepare the following exercises.

1. Phrase structural rules can be considered kernel. In presenting of a foreign language sentences
representing kernels ought to be taught first.
Examples:
• The girl laughed (Det N V)
• The children swim in the beach (Det N V Prep Det N)
2. Expansion of the verb section by applying auxiliary.
Examples:
“The man laughed” is expanded as follows:
• The man could laugh.
• The man has laughed.
• The man is laughing.
• The man could have laughed.
3. Interrogative Transformation.
Example:
• The man is here = Is the man here?
• The man hits the ball = Does the man hit the ball?
4. Expansion of verb section by adding adverb.
Example:
• The man hits the ball = The man hits the ball accurately
5. Negative Transformation.
Example:
• The man can hit the ball = The man cannot hit the ball
• Ali speaks English = Ali does not speak English
6. Passive Transformation.
Example:
• The boy buys a bicycle = A bicycle is bought

Conclusion
In a nutshell, we can say that, Generative grammar is the ability to correct sentences with
innate knowledge and Transformational Generative grammar was build up from original theory
which is basically analyzing and generating proper sentences according to rules. So, in language
teaching and learning process, Generative Transformational Grammar is also the most important
one for the students to know the rules how they produce sentences grammatically.

Azna, Diana Jane M.

MAED - English