In a language as idiosyncratic as English, linguistic pedantry is futile and misguided.
Articles on Grammar
Displaying 41 - 60 of 75 articles
Grammar pedantry recently contributed to the downfall of World Bank chief economist Paul Romer. But ‘grammonds’ are people to be celebrated not vilified.
The ‘rules of grammar’ aren’t set in stone, so correcting other people is pointless and demeaning.
A badly written law cost a US company US$10 million, when a judge ruled that a comma missing from a statute meant 75 truck drivers were owed four years of unpaid overtime wages.
Were your teachers right about when to use commas, and about not starting sentences with ‘and’?
A new database that shows the use of gendered words in major Australian newspapers tells us much about whose voices are being heard.
Writers, over the last decade, have been waxing lyrical about the rise of the present tense in English fiction. But this morning I read something entirely new – for me, at least. I read a manuscript written…
The use of adjectives in English has caused an internet storm – here are the ‘rules’ explained.
For centuries, written communication was tinged with formality and finality. But since the emergence of casual forms like texting, using proper grammar can be fraught with misinterpretation.
Good tests may build in failure, but that doesn’t mean they’re an efficient way of measuring a child’s ability.
New, harder tests for primary school children have raised questions about the purpose of learning grammar.
When you read to children, they develop abilities to express emotions through language.
Pedants fixated on a ‘correct’ version of English should learn to roll with the times.
The removal of the ‘hat’ accent from some French letters has caused consternation – but will it really make a difference?
There’s nothing like raising an infant to help galvanise one of the greatest debates in modern linguistics.
Everyone knows that in the sentence “Jane is washing her”, the pronoun “her” cannot refer back to Jane. Over the last four decades, researchers have established that adults reject the interpretation of…
While 2013 was all about schools and their funding (remember Gonski, anyone?), 2014 was the year of higher education reform. Or, at least, proposed higher education “reform”. With cuts to higher education…
Being able to communicate effectively in a foreign language is a challenge faced by many of us. If you’re a newcomer to a country, conveying a message in a language that is not your mother tongue is often…
Music is what penetrates most deeply into the recesses of the soul, according to Plato. Language has been held by thinkers from Locke to Leibniz and Mill to Chomsky as a mirror or a window to the mind…
We know a good piece of writing when we read it. But what makes the writing “good” and how can we teach all our kids the skills that seem to come naturally to a few. Here are six principles teachers and…
Top contributors
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Honorary Associate Professor in Writing, The University of Queensland
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Associate Professor in Linguistics, Macquarie University
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Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of Canberra
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Professor of Sociolinguistics, Manchester Metropolitan University
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Associate Professor in Linguistics, University of Waikato
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Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, Monash University
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Adjunct Lecturer, School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University
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Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Oxford
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Course Leader of Insessional English (EAP), University of Bath
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Senior Lecturer, School of English, Media Studies and Art History, The University of Queensland
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PhD Student, School of Education, Curtin University
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Assistant Professor of English, School of Commerce, Waseda University
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Professor of Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London
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Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, The Open University
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Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of Education, Concordia University