Bob,
     You can make the case that classical rhetoric (and the whole 19th 
century rhetorical tradition) was essentially a study of effective 
communication, one that didn't see a separation between studying 
language and studying effective use. I'm not as well versed in it as I'd 
like to be.
     The Australians have done a great deal with genre as intermediary 
focus.  Cognitive grammar asserts a direct connection between language 
and discourse (see Langacker, certainly, but others as well).   The 
Longman Grammar (Biber et. al.) looks at language patterns in different 
kinds of language use, notably conversation, fiction, news writing, and 
academic writing. Rhetorical grammar tries to connect grammatical choice 
to effective text.  Functional grammar sees form and function as 
seamlessly connected, and they assert a textual metafunction woven into 
the fabric of the clause.  From that perspective, language is what it is 
because of what it does, and constructing text is part of that. If 
grammar limits itself to the study of discreet sentences, it may have 
little to offer reading and writing.
     Even if you treat language as a purely formal system, you still 
need to figure out how understanding that system might be of use in 
reading and writing.
     I'm certainly not the only person who believes language choice is 
enormously important in the creation of an effective text.

Craig


On 5/12/2011 10:17 AM, Robert Yates wrote:
> Colleagues,
>
> I have no idea where the following statement by Craig comes from.
>
>
>>>> Craig Hancock<[log in to unmask]>  05/11/11 9:46 PM>>>
>      Karl points out that we can't judge a theory of language on the basis
> of its pedagogical utility, but pedagogical utility is very much at
> stake here. Can a theory of language (should a theory of language) be
> both true and useful? I think it should help us understand the nature
> of effective text.
>
> I know of no theory of language which lays out the principles of an "effective text."
>
> Perhaps, Craig would like to share with us what those principles might be.
>
> For example, is Huck Finn an effective text?  Is Hamlet an effective text?  Is the Gettysburg Address an effective text?
>
> If these are "effective texts," what principles, especially with regard to language, do they all appear to have?
>
> Bob Yates, University of Central Missouri
>
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