Widdowson's account of grammar as mediator between words and context for the achievement of meaning¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The bibliography reports, citing Widdowson (1988), the argument that grammar is more than a collection of sentence patterns: it is "the mediator between words and context for the achievement of meaning". Lexical meaning and the context of shared knowledge need various features of grammar to make meaning apparent. For the language learner, knowing how grammar mediates is essential to achieving meaning, supporting the position that language learning is essentially grammar learning.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Learners must know how grammar mediates between words and context in order to achieve meaning.

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• ESL/EFL learners

Target Learning Objectives¶

• Achieving meaning through grammatical mediation

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Larsen-Freeman's tri-part grammatical framework: form, meaning, and pragmatics
• Procedural-declarative distinction in lexical knowledge

Examples¶

Key Sources¶

• Kotapish, Carl E. (1993). The Place of Grammar in the ESL/EFL Classroom: An Annotated Bibliography. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED376699