rubric n
in tests and instructional materials, the instructions which indicate to the
student what he or she has to do to complete a task or activity.
rule^1 n
(in traditional grammar) a statement
1 about the formation of a linguistic unit, e.g. how to form the past tense
of verbs, or
2 about the correct usage of a linguistic unit or units, e.g. that verbs are
modified by adverbs (Come here quickly) and not by adjectives (*Come
here quick).
rule^2 n
(in generative grammar) a statement about the formation of a linguistic unit
or about the relationship between linguistic units. Rules describe and analyze
(generate) structures in a language and change the structures into sentences.
see also base component, generative grammar
rule-governed behaviour n
also rule-governed system
a person’s knowledge of a language (competence) can be described as a
system of symbols representing linguistic units (such as morphemes and
words) and rules that manipulate such symbols to create sentences. Language
is thus often described as a “rule-governed system”. Whether such rules
reflect the mental processes involved in language processing (see perfor-
mance) and whether language use should be described as “rule-governed
behaviour” has been a matter of continued debate. Although the exact
notion of what constitutes a rule has changed greatly in successive versions
of generative theory, in general, linguists and psycholinguists who work
within the generative paradigm have argued for the psychological reality of
linguistic rules. Those who accept the view of language put forth by con-
nectionism(which models language acquisition and use in networks that
do not contain rules) emphasize that “rule-like” behaviour does not logically
entail the psychological reality of “rule-governed” behaviour.
rule-governed system n
seerule-governed behaviour
rule narrowing n
see adaptive control of thought
rubric