Grammar myths

This paper looks at the continued survival of "myths" about English grammar, for example, the statement that in negative and interrogative sentences "any" should be used instead of "some". It is based on a survey of 195 Hong Kong students majoring in English, in five di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLanguage awareness Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 15 - 37
Main Author Berry, Roger
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 02.01.2015
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Between-subjects design
College Students
English (Second Language)
English language
Foreign Countries
Grammar
Hong Kong
Knowledge Level
Majors (Students)
Misconceptions
Mythology
Polls & surveys
Questionnaires
Second Language Learning
Student attitudes
Student Surveys
Students
Hong Kong
Hong Kong China
China
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Summary:This paper looks at the continued survival of "myths" about English grammar, for example, the statement that in negative and interrogative sentences "any" should be used instead of "some". It is based on a survey of 195 Hong Kong students majoring in English, in five different cohorts, which found that such myths are quite prevalent; with choices of "true", "false", "don't know" and "partly true", the true option was chosen in over 50% of cases. Differences between subjects are identified and discussed, as well as changes across time from the first to the last cohort. Then the individual myths are discussed and explained one by one. A number of possible sources for the myths are suggested, and the means of combatting them are discussed, along with the reasons for their resilience.
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ISSN:0965-8416
1747-7565
DOI:10.1080/09658416.2013.873803