We need, I think, a term for the constructional equivalent of
"malapropism." I have read some student papers that have caused me to
think that "dystruction" would be a good term for this, but it is a bit
over the top, I suppose. 

--- Bill Spruiell

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brett Reynolds
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 7:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: innovations
Importance: Low

On 2010-06-13, at 9:47 PM, Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
wrote:

> If language is learned from input and pattern matching, what do
students have access to for the awkward constructions (Craig's label) or
the innovations.  If you think about it, they should have read a number
of examples of people integrating others' ideas into a text.  Because
Craig's perspective denies innate principles, those awkward
constructions have to leave us teachers perplexed.  And, if grammar is
tied to cognition and discourse, why should students be redundant in
attributing claims to other people?  Why isn't it sufficient for them to
do it once?

In this particular example, at least, I see nothing perplexing. It seems
to me that students are simply overgeneralizing from other patterns or
picking up only part of the pattern. Moreover, the relevant input
certainly goes far beyond 'according', and likely includes:

According to x, y says...
"I think", he says, ...
"My opinion", he says, ...
According to consensus, he says...
In the acknowledgements, he says 
In addition, he says, ...
For example, he says, ...
Myself, I think...
etc.

There's no claim in any theory of language acquisition that I know of
that input will be correctly processed, in particular when it comes to
the meaning of individual lexical items. I remember vividly finding out
when I was 22 that my understanding of the word 'pedantic' was wrong. I
had assumed that 'ped' was from 'pedis' for foot rather than from
'paidagogia' for teaching, and I thought that the word was similar to
'plodding'. Someone who drags their feet on an issue was 'pedantic' I
thought.

Best,
Brett

-----------------------
Brett Reynolds
English Language Centre
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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