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Article published In: Robert Lowth (1710-1787): The making of his grammar and its influence
Guest-edited by Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade
[Historiographia Linguistica 39:1] 2012
► pp. 27–42

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Lowth’s Legacy in Teaching English to Foreigners

The case of Thomas Connelly’s English grammar in Spain

 | Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Published online: 22 March 2012
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.39.1.03rod
Summary
This article sheds light on the influence exerted by Robert Lowth’s (1787–1710) English grammar (1762) overseas in the teaching of English as a foreign language, and more particularly, on the work of the Irish friar Thomas Connelly (1728–1800), author of the most popular English grammar for Spaniards published in Spain in 1784. After setting the context for both the life and work of this author, it examines the similarities in content and wording between Connelly and Lowth’s English grammars through a comparison of selected passages occurring in both works. This analysis will help us determine to what extent Connelly relied on Lowth and how faithful he was to his source.
Résumé
Cet article met en lumière l’influence exercée par la grammaire anglaise de Robert Lowth (1710–1787) à l’étranger dans l’enseignement de l’anglais comme langue étrangère et, plus particulièrement, sur les travaux de l’irlandais Frère Thomas Connelly (1728–1800), auteur de la grammaire anglaise pour Espagnols la plus populaire, publiée en Espagne vers la fin du XVIIIe siècle. Après avoir établi le contexte à la fois de la vie et de l’oeuvre de cet auteur, l’auteur de l’article examine les similitudes entre Connelly et la grammaire anglaise de Lowth à travers une comparaison de passages sélectionnés dans les deux ouvrages. Une telle analyse nous permettra de déterminer dans quelle mesure Connelly s’est appuyé sur Lowth et comment il a été fidèle à sa source.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Artikel untersucht den Einfluss, den die Grammatik des Englischen (1762) von Robert Lowth (1710–1787) auf den Unterricht des Englischen als Fremdsprache im Ausland gehabt hat, insbesondere in den Arbeiten des irischen Mönchs Thomas Connelly (1728–1800), Verfasser der populärsten englischen Grammatik für Spanier, die in Spanien gegen Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts veröffentlich wurde. Nach einer Schilderung von Leben und Werk des Autors in seinem historischen Kontext wird versucht, Ähnlichkeiten zwischen Connelly und Lowth durch Vergleich ausgewählter Passagen aus beiden Werken aufzuzeigen. Dadurch zeigt sich, inwieweit Connelly sich auf Lowth gestützt hat und wie genau er seiner Quelle gefolgt ist.
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2014. Eighteenth-century English normative grammars and their readers. In Norms and Usage in Language History, 1600–1900 [Advances in Historical Sociolinguistics, 3], ► pp. 129 ff. DOI logo

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