Prescriptive approach . The prescriptive teaching of language is the interference of existing linguistic norms and abilities with the purpose of replacing the already established linguistic activity scheme with another that corresponds to that of the educated norm .
Summary
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- 1 Definition
- 2 History
- 3 Prescriptive rules
- 4 Advantage
- 5 Limitation
- 6 Sources
Definition
The prescriptive approach is defined as one that forms correct patterns and aims to replace incorrect forms in the use of the language with correct patterns.
History
In language teaching, the prescriptive approach has its origin in classical antiquity, is present in the conceptions of teaching in the Middle Ages and continues to the present day.
It has its roots in the emergence of incipient manifestations of linguistics with the appearance of the first grammars , which were written with the purpose of facilitating the knowledge of the language, to be able to read and explain the texts of ancient poets, which arise in places as distant as India and Hellenistic Egypt. In India the Sanskrit grammar of Panini is written; in the Alexandrian school, the grammar of Dionysius of Thrace and later, Apollonius Discolo, offers a syntax in four books; as well as among the Romans Varron writes his grammar “De lingua latina”.
In the Middle Ages the linguistic interest is centered in Latin and Greek , and the learning of the language is based on the knowledge of the grammars of the ancient languages. The models written in the IV and V centuries by Latin authors, especially Donato and Prisciano, are taken as models.
When the process of unification of the European national states and the officialization of their languages took place, new works were written, also of a normative nature, in the fourteenth century Dante wrote his work “De vulgari eloquentia”, of great importance for the study of the Italian dialects, in the 15th century the Nebrija Castilian Grammar was published in 1492 and later, in the 16th century the first grammars of French, Portuguese and Italian came to light: Palsgrave, Oliveira, Giambullari respectively.
Prescriptive rules
Prescriptive rules are those that present norms of use for a specific language, advising against non-standardized constructions. Traditional grammar (which is typically prescriptive) is usually based on the prestigious dialect of a speaking community, and often discourages certain constructions that are common among lower socioeconomic groups and that begin to be used in higher social groups. Prescriptive grammar is often used in the teaching of foreign languages, and little by little, it has been losing weight in modern academic linguistics.
Advantage
The advantage of the prescriptive approach is that, depending on the communication, it teaches to choose the appropriate code from among the different possibilities offered by the language; That is why even when it arises from ancient times, it extends to the present.
Limitation
The prescriptive approach focuses its attention on a single aspect of language teaching, which is indisputably valid but not sufficient to guarantee the linguistic training of students, a limitation that, according to Roméu (1987), requires its integration with other approaches that they support a much more complete vision in this regard.
