Advances in Language and Literary Studies - An Investigation of the Marked Parallel Structure in Alice Munro’s “Amundsen”

Oct 15, 2026

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Parallel structure is a linguistic device used to shape aesthetic delivery in English. While grammar instruction typically emphasizes rule-bound parallelism, real literary usage often flaunts it for pragmatic effects. This study applies the notion of linguistic markedness to analyze parallel structure in Alice Munro’s short story “Amundsen,” contrasting pragmatic exploitation with grammatical definitions from commercial textbooks. Findings indicate about one quarter of instances are flaunted to create emphasis, exaggeration, elaboration, and evaluation, producing distinctive linguistic flavour.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background on grammar instruction in EFL

Parallel structure and parallelism

Article information (publication metadata)

Abstract and key words

Article history, conflicts, and funding

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 [www.alls.aiac.org.au](www.alls.aiac.org.au) | An Investigation of the Marked Parallel Structure in Alice Munro’s “Amundsen”
Usa Padgate*
Faculty of Humanities, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand Corresponding Author: Usa Padgate, [E-mail: usapadgate@gmail.com](E-mail: usapadgate@gmail.com) | | | --- | --- | | ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT
Parallel structure is one linguistic feature implemented to bring aesthetics to the delivery of the English language. Traditional grammar and writing classes usually emphasize that parallelism must be observed when the language is used. In literature, as well as in real-life usage, however, parallelism is often flaunted to effect various purposes, a fact that is generally overlooked in grammar classrooms. In the present study, the concept of linguistic markedness is applied to the investigation of the parallel structure in Alice Munro’s short story “Amundsen” in order to explore the pragmatic usage of parallelism, as opposed to the grammatical usage listed in general commercial grammar textbooks and to answer the research question: How and for what purposes is parallel structure flaunted in Alice Munro’s short story “Amundsen”? The investigation of the marked parallel structure in Alice Munro’s short story “Amundsen” shows that approximately one out of four instances of parallel structure is flaunted to effect emphasis, exaggeration, elaboration and evaluation, which affirms that parallelism is routinely observed as well as purposefully flaunted to bring about linguistic flavours that reflect hands-on usage of the language. | | Article history
Received: February 07 2018
Accepted: April 20, 2018
Published: June 30, 2018
Volume: 9 Issue: 3
Advance access: May 2018 | | | Conflicts of interest: None
Funding: None | | | Key words:
English Grammar,
Parallel Structure,
Markedness,
Alice Munro,
Amundsen | | INTRODUCTION The instruction of the English grammar has been part of the general EFL (English as a Foreign Language) pedagogy worldwide for over 50 years (Graham, 2011, p.30), at various degrees of involvement of different approaches and approval from the concerned academic community. Proponents of grammar instruction, those favouring the grammar-translation and cognitive approaches, for example, promote language accuracy through explicit grammar teaching and learning, convinced that by providing grammar rules and practice, learners “can induce or deduce meaningful hints out of these rules.”(ZhonggangGao, 2001, as cited in Graham, 2011, p.36) Others offer opposing views and project their preferences for communicative, task-based learning and language discovery approaches, arguing that learners only require sufficient exposure to the target language in context for acquisition to occur (Krashen, 1982, as cited in Graham, 2001, p.36) . Braddock, Lloyd-Jones and Schoer even claim that formal grammar could cause a harmful effect on the improvement of writing. (Martinsen, 2000, p.123) In spite of the discrepancy in the conviction for the pedagogical merit of grammar instruction, many EFL teachers still rely on deductive methods to introduce grammar in language classrooms. They explain the rules and give examples of how these rules are applied in the language structure. Many use commercial grammar textbooks as references as well as sources of practice exercises for their students. These textbooks usually detail rigid rules of the English grammar and provide exercises designed to encourage learners to apply those rules in the English structure. Although this methodical approach to grammar instruction proves efficient for rote learning, it is devoid of the practical merit of language inuse where structural exemptions abound. One such grammatical structure that often begs to be flaunted (Note 1), especially for communicative purposes, is the parallel structure, or parallelism. Para

FAQs

What is the main research focus of the study on “Amundsen”?

The study investigates how and why marked parallel structure is flaunted in Alice Munro’s short story “Amundsen,” using linguistic markedness as the framework.

How is parallel structure traditionally taught according to the document?

Traditional instruction stresses that parallelism should be strictly observed as a grammatical requirement, including in writing and grammar classes for clarity and readability.

What purposes does the study find for flaunting marked parallel structure in “Amundsen”?

Approximately one out of four parallel-structure instances is flaunted to achieve emphasis, exaggeration, elaboration, and evaluation, creating linguistic flavour through practical use of English.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher