Catalog of Materials for
the
Inductive Study of  Usage-Based Grammar
(using examples from various languages)

An eclectic generative method
using hypothesis and revision
20 years tested in ELL classrooms



Words From His Mouth
From the Tepantitla complex of Teotihuacan.
by Daniel Lobo (Daquella manera)


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updated 11/18/18
In the intelligent investigation and learning of complex things,
errors are not an embarrassment, but a necessity!

BUT TRY THE PROBLEMS FIRST! READ THEORY LATER!

PRELIMINARY DRILLS

Principals Parts with Usage Ex. 1

Principals Parts with Usage Ex. 2

Verb Usage Exercises 1

 

ELEMENTARY APPLICATIONS AND USAGES

Dialog Construction Exercise (Eng) -- applying a variety of skills.

Punctuation & Spelling Exercise 1 (Eng)-- often forgotten basics

Punctuation & Spelling Exercise 2 (Eng)

Situational Transformations 1 (Eng)-- change perspectives, speakers, etc.

Situational Transformations 2 (Eng)

Umstandsumwandlungen 1 (Deutsch)

Transformaciones circunstanciales 1 (Castellano)

Tense & Mood 1. (Eng.) -- Cued by situation, time, etc.

Yes/No Questions #1a (AmEng) -- uses English auxiliary verbs

Yes/No Questions #1b (AmEng)

 

MORE TO COME. CHECK BACK!


MORE DIFFICULT

Combining with Relative Pronouns #1a -- multiple patterns of output.

Kombination mit relativen Pronomina #1a (Deutsch)

Combinando con pronombres relativos #1a (Castellano)

Combining with Relative Pronouns #1b-- multiple patterns of output

Compressing English Sentences. -- Multiple patterns of output.

Contrary To Fact Conditions 1

From Script to Quote to Report: Drill Sheet 1

Relative Clause: embedding & inversion -- multiple transformations and inputs.

 

ADVANCED APPLICATIONS AND USAGES

American English Grammatical Cases -- Informal and Formal Uses

Avoiding Plagiarism -- Learn to incorporate other people's work into your own.With proper paraphrase and citation you can avoid academic censure. For students and instructors. 143 pages.

Change a Description into a Definition -- How to convert a casual description into a definition

Developing CounterExamples -- Test a general statement for accuracy using this method.

Exercises of Paraphrase and Transformation by intuition and transformation. See examples.

Generating Consensus on the Practical Definition of Terms -- A case-analysis approach. Good for cross-cultural comparisons.

Teaching Disciplined Hypothesis-Formation -- for instructors and students. 34 pages.

MORE TO COME. CHECK BACK!

RATIONALE: Experiment: hypothesize and make "errors." You learn through "correction," that is by gradual adjustment of hypotheses about the patterns of language.

The idea behind the exercises below is that the reader is presented with models of change, transformations, and by examination will be able to figure out, more or less, what change rules will transform the initial sequence (input) of symbols, words or sentences into the resultant one (output). Answers may be given for problems that are particularly difficult.

For example, if the model is XYZ --> ZXY, the pattern input abc yields the output cab, i.e. abc --> cab. Similarly, 436 -->643.
Some symbols may be items in the language, others might be cues about the language. For example, suppose the pattern is:

The chemists study English (?) --> Do the chemists study English?

The problem input might be The sailors learn to tie knots (?) -->which yields the output Do the sailors learn to tie knots?

PROCEDURE: (This is, in practice, much simpler than it may sound.)

a. Examine model inputs and outputs
b. Propose (a hypothesis) how the transformation in made.
c. Take first problem example. Generate output. (Outputs may not be unique, depending on generation rules.)
d. Check against given answer, if available, to confirm or correct hypothesis. Go to next problem
.
e. There is some one process which will yield answers for all the problems in the exercise. It will not change from problem to problem.

But always try to work out the problem, the puzzle of the structural change, first. NOTE: the transformations may depend on other than linguistic factors, e.g. situation, activity, speaker shift, etc.

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