Longman Dictionary of

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synthetic approach
syntax 1 n syntactic adj
a major component of the GRAMMAR of a language (together with LEXICON,
PHONOLOGY, and SEMANTICS), syntax concerns the ways in which words
combine to form sentences and the rules which govern the formation of
sentences, making some sentences possible and others not possible within
a particular language. The interface between syntax and morphology (for
example, the rules for modifying words to reflect their grammatical roles
in sentences) is called MORPHOSYNTAX.One of the major goals of linguistics
is to identify the syntactic rules of a language and to provide descriptions
that group together those words in a sentence which hang closely together
both formally and semantically. These groups are called CONSTITUENTs (see
also CONSTITUENT STRUCTURE, PHRASE STRUCTURE). The study of syntax has
been perhaps the most active branch of linguistics for the past half century
and disputes concerning syntax and the ways in which it is to be represented
have been the basis of many theoretical proposals and controversies.
In GOVERNMENT/BINDING THEORY,anumber of different modules, such
as CASE THEORY, X-BAR THEORY and BINDING THEORY, define the constraints
on various aspects of syntax. Other variants of GENERATIVE GRAMMAR and
other types of grammars handle syntax in a variety of different ways.
see also CATEGORIAL GRAMMAR, LEXICAL FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR, LOGICAL
FORM, MINIMALISM, TRANSFORMATIONAL RULE
syntax 2 n
the rules which determine how the commands of a COMPUTER LANGUAGE
are used and how they fit together.
synthetic approach n
(in language teaching) a term sometimes used to refer to procedures for
developing a SYLLABUS or a language course, in which the language to be
taught is first analyzed into its basic parts (e.g. the grammar is analyzed
into parts of speech and grammatical constructions) and these are taught
separately. The learner’s task is to put the individual parts together again
(i.e. to synthesize them). A syllabus which consisted of a list of grammatical
items arranged in order of difficulty would be part of a synthetic
approach to language teaching. In this sense, many traditional syllabuses
would be called “synthetic”.
This may be contrasted with an analytic approach in which units of language
behaviour are the starting point in syllabus and course design (e.g.
descriptions, requests, apologies, enquiries, and other SPEECH ACTs). At a
later stage, if necessary, the vocabulary and grammar used for different
functions can be analyzed. In this sense, a NOTIONAL SYLLABUS would be
called “analytic”.
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