ABSTRACT
The word ‘grammar’ conjures up all kinds of associations, many of them fairly negative. We hear or read of ‘bad grammar’ (which, we are assured, many of us have) and how we can transform this into ‘good grammar’. All too often then it is used to describe a ‘correct’ way of saying or writing something based on a particular view of language. What is neglected in this kind of viewpoint is that grammar, alongside other aspects of language, is part of a communicative system. It is not a closed system and is composed of patterns of use; patterns that change over time. It is not the preserve of Plato’s elite guardians or a matter of standards but just another resource we use when communicating. In the words of Halliday (1975), when children are learning grammar, they are ‘learning how to mean’. We believe that the investigation of grammar, alongside other features, can tell us how people use language to make sense of the world around them.
