The Grammatical Aspects of Grade 10 Tamil Language and Literature old and New Syllabuses: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Linguistics is the scientific study of language which includes the study of sounds, words and grammatical aspects. The rules of a language are learnt as one acquires a language. These rules include Phonology, Morphology, Syntax and Semantics which are the branches of a language. Knowing a language encompasses this entire system. The grammatical aspects [morphology and syntax] are the major areas in language learning and teaching. The structure and the meaning of a language can be studied through grammatical aspects. On the other hand understanding the meaning of a word without knowing the semantics and pragmatics is meaningless. The linguists expect to encompass the concepts of modern linguistics with the concepts of traditional grammar in language teaching. After every eight years generally the school syllabi gets updated. In 2015 the ministry of education introduced a new syllabus for grade 6 and 10 students. Based on that a comparative research study was conducted to examine the grammatical aspects found in grade 10 old (2007) and new (2015) syllabi with a linguistics perspective. Consequently, it was found out that, some new linguistic aspects have been included in the new syllabus: Allophones, technical terms, types of adjectives and concord. Further, it was found out that some linguistic aspects which could have been included in the syllabus have not been added. With my paper I suggest the linguistics aspects which could have been included in order to uplift the academic level of the syllabus. Further, the grammatical changes existing in between the two syllabi will be compared through this paper.