We will examine alternatives to traditional grammar in a wide-ranging
study of English constructions.  Our applied perspectives will be
based on key developments in linguistic theory as well as
consideration of descriptive approaches that place greater emphasis on
the semantic and functional aspects of everyday language use.  From a
theoretical perspective, we will survey generative grammar as it has
been applied to English at various stages, including an early
“standard” approach and later approaches that reflected developments
in the Principles and Parameters framework.  From a more practical
point of view, we will look at a number of English constructions and
discuss what these constructions imply about our grammatical control
of English.  We will discuss ways in which non-native speakers of
English, as well as speakers of alternate dialects of more standard
English, “adapt” their grammars of English.  The ultimate goal of this
course is for participants to be able to explain English constructions
from a variety of perspectives.  Finally, we will look at more recent
directions in the study of grammar, such as the Minimalist Program,
and reflections in English.

Requirements:  The course requirements include the reading of the
texts, the completion of homework assignments, regular attendance and
participation, and two additional activities.  The first activity
consists of regular journal entries, submitted every Friday by noon.
The weekly entry will contain a serious reflection on the week’s
in-class work, homework, and reading assignments.  The second activity
will consist of two individualized assignments, scheduled roughly at
the middle and end of the semester.  Class performance will be
reflected with the following categories as guides: Attendance, class
participation, group participation (20%), Homework (20%), Journal (
40%), and Individualized Assignments (20%).

Texts:	Akmajian & Heny, An Introduction to the Principles of
Transformational Grammar; Berk, English Syntax: From Word to Discourse.