Diagramming Sentences
This was a "discussion point" given in my Language Development textbook. I would like to know your thoughts about it.
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DISCUSSION POINT
Have you ever had to diagram a complex sentence? If so, why do so many students find this activity such a challenge when they have been able to produce complex sentences since early childhood?
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This question intrigued me. Why is it such a different mental task to think about syntax explicitly, versus manipulating the elements of a sentence automatically in your native language?
As a side note, if English is not your native language, did you ever diagram sentences in your native language at school? I have talked with Japanese students who said they only diagrammed sentences in English class, never in Japanese class. Is it easier or more difficult to diagram sentences when studying a second (third, etc.) language? Why wouldn't sentence diagramming be used in a Japanese class--is it purely cultural or is there a linguistic reason why it wouldn't be fruitful?
_____________
DISCUSSION POINT
Have you ever had to diagram a complex sentence? If so, why do so many students find this activity such a challenge when they have been able to produce complex sentences since early childhood?
_____________
This question intrigued me. Why is it such a different mental task to think about syntax explicitly, versus manipulating the elements of a sentence automatically in your native language?
As a side note, if English is not your native language, did you ever diagram sentences in your native language at school? I have talked with Japanese students who said they only diagrammed sentences in English class, never in Japanese class. Is it easier or more difficult to diagram sentences when studying a second (third, etc.) language? Why wouldn't sentence diagramming be used in a Japanese class--is it purely cultural or is there a linguistic reason why it wouldn't be fruitful?