ELE 121 Chapter 1 factsheets.pdf

ELE 121: Introduction to Linguistics Chapter 1: The Foundations on the Study of Language Lesson 1: Definition and Design of Language Language is defined as speech communication, cognitive process, linguistic communication, and cult...

ELE 121: Introduction to Linguistics Chapter 1: The Foundations on the Study of Language Lesson 1: Definition and Design of Language Language is defined as speech communication, cognitive process, linguistic communication, and culture-shaped. Speech Communication: Language is about the production and reception of sounds. Through the use of speech organs, humans are capable of transferring information, even in the shortest amount of time. Cognitive Process: Language as a cognitive process is professed as an instrument of thinking where language mirrors the mind. Linguistic Communication: Language, as linguistic communication, is perceived as sets of signs and a system of symbols grounded on pure arbitrary concords. The configuration of language is complex yet methodical. Culture-shaped: Language is a means of communicating the culture of a particular community or members of society. Language is cultural because it is a social institution. Various Views of Language Structuralists: They view language as a structured system of components, an idea with a specific framework. Language, for them, is a system, possesses a structure that governs the aspects of every element of a whole. A structuralist language teacher provides drills and activities where students are required to analyze the patterns of sounds, the configurations of word formations, the arrangement of the words in the sentences. They focus on the students’ mastery of the codes and system of language. Transformationalists: They view language as a generative and creative process. Language pervades creativity since it is more abstract and has more reflective elements. They maintain the sight of language as an actual knowledge and use, that language is internalized when language atmosphere is provided. A transformationalist language teacher allows students to use the language in a creative way by using their innate multiple intelligences to be creative and at the same time utilize language. Major Proponent: Noam Chomsky Functionalists: They view language as an instrument for communication and a vehicle for expression. They argue that structure can be best analyzed when referred to the functions they carry-out in a communicative context. They believe that language is acquired, produced, used, and structured for interactions. A functionalist language teacher provides authentic tasks that will allow students to use the language and attain the function of the interaction, and eventually transmit order in society. Major Proponent: Michael Halliday Interactionists: T hey view language as a product of a human desire to communicate with another and acquire the language which one desires to learn. They believe that human genetics provides and individual the capability to produce language and his/ her interactions makes him/her master the language. An interactionist language teacher targets the mastery of the students in a second language and will allow students to communicate and interact with each other to practice the use of the target language believing that language is developed through social interaction. Major Proponent: Vygotsky The Design of Language: Communication All human beings use language to communicate. Linguists call this the communicative function of language. Structuring the Ingredients of Communication Whenever linguistic communication takes place, four ingredients are present: 1. users 2. message 3. code 4. signal In particular, users transmit messages to each other by encoding them into a signal. These four ingredients expand into the 14 design features listed below: Design Features of Human Language Ingredient Design Feature Definition Specialized Speech is specialized for communication Interchangeable Users send and receive messages User Sensitive to Users monitor and adjust their production as necessary Feedback Interactive Users learn language by interacting with other users Meaningful Language specifies meanings—i.e.semanticity Productive Language creates new messages—i.e. productivity Message Displaced from the Language talks about things that are located elsewhere in time here and the now and space—i.e. displacement Discrete Messages consist of smaller parts or units Arbitrary There is no intrinsic (built-in) connection between the signal Code and the meaning it conveys Hierarchical Small units (individual sounds) combine to form larger units (words)—a.k.a. duality of patterning Modality-specific Spoken language uses the airways to produce acoustic and visual signals, keeping the hands free for other tasks One-to-many One sender broadcasts speech signals to many receivers at Broadcast the same time Signal Directional Perceivers identify speech signals as coming from a single Reception direction and source Rapid fading Speech signals disappear as soon as they are produced Additional Design Features of Language by Hocket (1968) Prevarication: the ability to tell a lie Learnability: the ability to learn another language Reflexiveness: the ability to use language to talk about language Lesson 2: Characteristics and Nature of Language Characteristics of Language Conventionality and Non-instinctiveness Language is brought about by evolution and strengthened with convention. It is a silent pact that each generation transmits to the next. Like all human institutions, language flourishes and perishes, it expands and transforms. It adapts with the change of time. Language is non-instinctive since none is born with the spontaneity to speak any language. It is learned through interaction and socialization. Language is not biologically automated but culturally determined. Productivity and Creativity Language is productive. It is creative. It keeps on sprouting that with one word emerges another. As the needs of people change, language evolves as a means of adapting to the demands of the people who use it. The structural features of of human language can be fixed to create new expressions, which are understood by both speakers and listeners. Man uses concurrent linguistics to produce complete novel ideas and expressions. Duality The duality of patterning is the double articulation and semiotic. Language duality is what gives language expressive power since meaningless sounds are combined according to rules to form meaningful words. Significantly in speech production, the individual sounds of p,e,n do not have intrinsic meaning, but when combined as in ‘pen’, it now has a distinct meaning. The combination of sounds is based on fixed rules that no word starts with zl, lr, bz, or ng in the English language. This makes language dual. Displacement Human language is context-free. Human beings are capable of narrating events and situations without actually living them at the moment. For human language, a stimulus is not directly induced, objects may not necessarily be tangibly present at the place and time of speaking. This is called displacement. Only humans are capable of recounting events that occurred before the vision of what happens next. This explains why humans are capable of recalling stories that happened or even creating stories that may not be realistically posiible, such as fiction.  Humanness Language is innate to human beings. No species other than humans are gifted with language. Humans are endowed with physical attributes for them to acquire language. Language has complex structures of sounds and meanings, which animals could not comprehend. A cow’s moo today is similar to the moos centuries ago. Human language is changeable and extendable. Humans could clearly distinguish concrete identifiable symbols through the use of language, however, animal communication is often non-discrete. Indeed, human language is way more intricate than animal communication. Universality Although each language has a unique style of functions in terms of sounds, vocabulary, and structures, language is equal in all the parts of the universe. A linguistic universal is a systematic occurrence of the linguistic patterns across national languages. All languages have nouns, although the structural arrangement may vary in the same way that all languages have vowels and consonants. Linguists identified two universals: the absolute, where all elements apply to every known language; and the implicational, where only particular features apply to different languages. Nature of Language Language as something learnt Language is something that is learned through exposure and practice. Although the language is genetically programmed in our brain to make distinctions of the different sounds, things, activities, and notions, language acquisition is produced through active learning and repetitive interactions. Language learning, therefore, is behavioral, imitative, and learned through effort. Language as related to the culture of society Language influences cultures; the values, the practices, and the interests of people. Similarly, culture influences language. There is always a cyclical association among language, society, and culture that is produced due to the interaction. Language is culturally defined. They are inseparable in a way that culture affects language, and language affects the mental state of society. It creates a vital foundation in the development of a society.  Language as species-specific, uniformed, and unique to humans The ability to use and respond to language is genetically inherited by humans. It is species-uniformed since only human beings are capable of acquiring language, set in the right environment. All animals communicate, however, language is an important tool for communication, hence, it is tough to think of a society without language. Language functions in the left hemisphere of the brain, seated on the cerebral cortex, different from the rest of the animals. Language as a hierarchically-organized system Learning a language is similar to learning mathematics. It needs analysis. This is in reference to the fact that language is a system of systems. It is a system of sounds and symbols. There are two distinguishing systemic categories of language: the sound system, structures, and meanings; and the system of symbols and non- verbal signals. The receiver of the message who shares the common codes interprets and arrives at the intended meaning. Language is composed of units that are assembled according to the rules of grammar. All languages systematically combine units to form larger units, arrange units in a particular order, and substitute units for each other. Language as vocal Language is oral. Speech is primary, writing is secondary. Speech is the fundamental expression of language. A language without speech is unimaginable. Language is spoken first before it is written. Through generations, language has been passed on verbally and eventually in written form. Writing preserves language. Language as a skill subject Learning a language is acquiring skills. The macro skills—i.e. listening and viewing, speaking, reading, and writing, are categorized into receptive and expressive language skills. Receptive skill is the ability to understand information represented in words and sentences either through visual or auditory, while expressive language skill is the facility to put forth sensible ideas into visual and acoustic symbols such as writing and speaking, with accurate grammatical representations. Language as a means for communication Language is a linguistic and speech communication purposively designed to put intended messages across either spoken or written. It is a tool to express feelings and ideas. Language is used to communicate concepts and intentions. It is a social phenomenon, programmed with sets of conventional communicative marks, that allows human to communicate with precision. As a whole, language serves as an intermediary between the individual and the community.  Language as something produced and perceived Human languages are expressed using the human body. When you speak, you use your lungs, voice box, mouth, tongue, jaw, and even your nose. Of course, it doesn't stop there- you also move your head, do funny things with your eyebrows, wave your hands, and change your body posture. In perceiving language, you use your hearing and vision, and even touch, to take in the linguistic information coming your way. It helps that you are both a producer and a perceiver of language because you are constantly producing signals that have never been made before. Language as arbitrary Language is arbitrary in the sense that language meanings existed as they are. There are no plausible explanation or inherent relation as to how meanings are assigned to each other. It is a structure of conventional symbols. Each symbol embodies a stretch of sounds with which a sense could be associated. There's no intrinsic relation between a particular set of sounds and a particular meaning. The sound-meaning relation differs from language to language: that's a fancy way of saying that different languages have different words to express the same concept. If language was not randomly created, there could only be one language in the entire world; fixed and unchanging. Language as genetically endowed to humans All humans are born with a roughly equal capacity to acquire language. Evidence for this genetic, inborn, feature of language includes these facts: a) Language doesn't depend on intelligence: Someone with a severe cognitive impairment can still use language; b) The acquisition of language and speech Is fast and easy for humans: Young children learn their mother tongue rapidly, from babbling at 6 months to speaking sentences by the age of three. Not even the most sophisticated computers today can learn to use language at anything like the level of a small child; and c) In learning language, children everywhere follow the same sequence of steps, no matter which language they're learning or which cultural group or social class they belong to. And children acquire language much, much better than adults do. Lesson 3: Language Functions People use language for specific reasons, whether that is to inform, to apologize, or express desires. Language is always used to meet certain functions. The purpose of each interaction using language is called language functions. General Functions of Language Interpersonal The interpersonal function of a language fulfills the human needs to exchange experiences since humans are social beings. It is interpersonal when the communicators use grammatical preferences that enable them to perform their interpersonal relations. This is based on the assumption that a human being does not only talk but is in constant conversation with others. Informative Declarative statements are used in informative languages. Informative language is often seen in analytical reports, arguments, and directions, or most everyday speeches. Language then functions as a means in illustrating observable and confirmable reasons. Performative When language is used to do things or perform or reports an action, the language function is performative. The performative function of language holds power that can guarantee the deed or performance of an act. For example, the newly wed couple who just said ‘I do’ during the ceremony manifested a binding statement of their commitment to each other. Expressive When one uses language to express feelings, the language function is expressive. The expressive language function reports attitudes and emotions. The expressive language of a speaker if oftentimes a way of understanding the speaker’s personality and emotions. Jakobson’s Functions of Language Referential Function It is associated with context. This language function is concerned with the content. Language describes a situation or an object. It is referred to as denotative, cognitive function since it pronounces a mental state. It involves both deictic words and specific descriptions to show things or facts. Emotive Function It focuses on the sender, similar to expressive language. This is best illustrated with interjections, which are phrases spoken to express a burst of emotions or surprise, excitement, or frustration. It is an expression of the speaker’s internal state. Conative Function It is directive and oriented towards the receiver. This is used when the speaker expresses purposively to persuade or influence the receiver. It used for causing or preventing an action. It used for commands and requests. The linguistic expressions are evocative and imperative sentences, which will direct the receiver to act out and do something. Phatic Function It is socio-linguistic function used for the sake of interactions. This is set for the ‘channel or contact’ that establishes, suspends, or prolongs the communication. This function is used to keep the communication open and maintain contact with the person one is talking with. Metalingual Function Also called reflexive, it is the use of language to describe itself (self- referential) or use of the code as Jakobson calls it. It is used when a language talks about its features. The metalingual function usually develops from an interruption in the communication process. This happens when two or more people speak different languages or use different codes within one language such as dialects, sociolects, and idiolects, or when a language is used to discuss about a language. Poetic Function It focuses on the message and its aesthetic presentation. It is associated with how the message reflects itself. This refers to the descriptive language used to create a picture in the mind. It is an aesthetic manipulation of the intrinsic linguistic elements, which focuses primarily on the splendor of the language itself. The words are arranged and crafted strikingly using sounds and linguistic features. Halliday’s Functions of Language Ideational Function It involves the natural world and human consciousness. This is concerned with creating and maintaining a notion of experience, which is both experiential and logical. It denotes the speaker’s choice of linguistic elements that will help him to make meaning. It also denotes logical-semantic associations, where the relationship between one clausal unit and another is established. Interpersonal Function It is about the world of people working together. This function seeks to create and uphold social relationships. This includes sentences and grammatical choices that allow a person to enact interpersonal relations. This is grounded on the assumption that a speaker always communicates with another, which shows that language does not only interpret experiences but also as a vehicle with which to interact. Textual Function It comprises all the grammatical systems needed to create relevance to context, through which ‘language creates a semiotic world of its own’. A text is created that coheres the context of the situation within itself. Halliday’s Micro-functions of Language He proposed 7 functions of language based on the premise that interaction in society is necessary to master the language. He categorized the 7 functions of language. The first four are what he referred to as pragmatic, which is to fulfill a child’s social, physical, and emotional needs. The remaining three functions are what he calls ‘mathematic’, which are used to help a person come to terms with his physical atmosphere. Instrumental Function It refers to the use of language to communicate needs, express desires, choices, and preferences. Using language as an instrument, the child could get things done. Halliday illustrates instrumental function as a child’s instrument such as sounds to get what he wants even before learning a concrete language.  Regulatory Function It refers to the use of language to control and regulate behavior. It is concerned with influencing people to do things for the child. Interactional Function It is used to develop a relationship and smoothen interaction. This includes greetings and responding to calls. Personal Function It is demonstrated when it is used to convey information based on a personal level such as emotions and attitudes and the identity of the speaker. Heuristic Function It is used when children explore and desire to learn from their environment. Once a boundary between them and the environment is established, they start to explore the environment. Imaginative Function It is used by children to generate imaginary construct. This is observed when they talk to themselves, create a story, and converse with an imaginary friend. The imaginative function of language is fulfilled when children create and modify the place and the situation that they are in by using the language. Representational Function It used to convey facts, explain ideas, relay, and request information. This is when the child accurately captures how the world works which usually happens when they start going to school.