Longman Dictionary of

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case
Some languages, e.g. Russian, have more than four cases, others have
fewer, and some have none at all. In these languages the functions shown
by case marking may be shown by WORD ORDER or by PREPOSITIONS.
English marks case only on pronouns. Three cases are recognized:
Nominative: I, we, you, he, she, it, they, who
Objective: me, us, you, him, her, it, them, who(m)
Genitive: my, our, your, his, her, its, their, whose
case2 see CASE GRAMMAR
case assigner n
(in CASE THEORY) an element that assigns a particular function, a case (see
CASE 1 ), to a noun phrase in a sentence. Case assigners are often verbs or
prepositions.
case grammar n
an approach to grammar developed in the 1970s which stresses the
semantic relationships in a sentence. Parts of case grammar have been
incorporated into more recent versions of GENERATIVE GRAMMAR.
see also AGENTIVE CASE, BENEFACTIVE CASE, DATIVE CASE 2 , FACTITIVE CASE,
INSTRUMENTAL CASE, LOCATIVE CASE, OBJECTIVE CASE
case methods n
in language teaching and teacher education, the use of cases as a form of
pedagogy. A case consists of a report of (usually successful) practice prepared
by a practitioner. It attempts to explore what experienced practitioners
in a particular field (law, business, industry, teaching) know and
do and presents an account of “craft knowledge” as compared to the
“theoretical knowledge” that is often the focus of traditional academic
courses. Case methods are often used in the preparation of professionals in
law and business and are also thought to be useful in teaching and teacher
education. In teacher education, students may study and react to accounts
of how teachers developed courses, conducted classes, and responded to
particular teaching issues and problems. In business English courses, case
accounts presenting the circumstances of a particular company, office, or
individual, may form the basis of a variety of language development activities.
Case methods should not be confused with a CASE STUDY.
case study n
the intensive study of an aspect of behaviour, either at one period in time
or over a long period of time, e.g. the language development of a child
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