Teaching the Grammar of Involved Speech/Writing: A Resource Module

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Matthew Williams
Department of Applied Linguistics & ESL
Georgia State University
December 1996

Introduction

What do I mean by involved Speech/Writing? I can't really get at the essence of this term in such a short introduction, but I will briefly describe what it means now and go into a more complete definition later. In his book Variation Across Speech and Writing, Douglas Biber takes an innovative new approach to English grammar. He says that certain grammar features appear together in texts depending on that text's communicative function. For instance, in physics lectures, or economics textbooks one would find lots of definitions, lots of proper nouns (many of great length), and agentless passives because theories, concepts, and general truths are being discussed. Biber terms this kind of discourse 'informational.' One would find quite a different group of grammar features, such as 1^st and 2^nd person pronouns, lots of verbs, contractions, and various forms of subordination, in personal conversations, personal letters, and many advertisements. Such grammar features predominate in these texts partly because the writer/speaker wants to engage the reader/listener, but mainly because the production of such texts generally takes place under strict time constraints. Biber refers to this type of discourse as 'involved.' According to his theory, then, the communicative function of the text necessitates certain combinations of grammar features.

The following module is an attempt to apply Biber's theory to effective English grammar pedagogy. Since I will be dealing with the teaching of English for business people I will concentrate exclusively in the grammar of what Biber calls involved discourse.