Familiarity with what the eight parts
of speech are, and how each one functions in a sentence, may seem like
unimportant trivia, but this is critical foundational knowledge for analyzing
sentence structures.
Why should you be able to analyze
sentence structures? The way a writer puts words together is the core of
composition. In order to express your ideas effectively, you must be able to
form acceptable sentences, written in a standard of writing and speaking called
Academic English.
Many post-high school opportunities and
higher-paying jobs or careers depend on an individual’s ability to speak and
write fluently according to the rules and conventions of Academic English. For
this reason, many people call Academic English the “green” language or the
“cash” register.
Tests in school, including college, are
written in Academic English. Teachers and professors expect students to be
fluent in Academic English. Many intelligent young people struggle in higher
education simply because they are not fully fluent with Academic English.
Here are just a few of the rules you
must understand in order to become adept at using Academic English:
· subject-verb agreement
· pronoun-antecedent agreement
· punctuation rules
· capitalization rules
· subordination of ideas
It is nearly impossible to learn these
conventions if you do not learn the terminology and understand the concepts of
the parts of speech.
You have to recognize parts of speech to
understand how to identify phrases and clauses. You have to understand phrases
and clauses in order to apply spelling and usage rules and to fix sentence
errors like fragments and run-ons. You have to use several kinds of sentence
structures in order for your writing to sound intelligent and sophisticated.
The good news is, you already
understand a lot of these concepts if you have learned any kind of language at
all. These lessons put words to knowledge you already intuit and use every day.
You are an expert without knowing it.
Additionally, all humans use language.
Learning how language works is fascinating. Words carry meaning, and human
beings’ use of words can be rich, creative, humorous, and moving. People groups
from different countries, or even different regions within the same country,
often speak different dialects, which is endlessly interesting.
Those dialects, however, can present
challenges to students who are trying to learn and use Academic English,
because the rules of Academic English may not sound as “correct” or
“acceptable” as one’s spoken dialect. Once non-Academic English speakers learn
the conventions of Academic English, they will find themselves code-switching
between their cultural use of language and that of Academic English, depending
on their audience.
