EL for TESOL Lecture 1

Adrian Hale [email protected]

English Linguistics for TESOL 101825

AUT 2014 Lecture 1

Linguistic Knowledge

Native speakers of a language have innate knowledge about its:

Sound System: which consonants & vowels are possible, how they combine

Lexicon: words: sounds + meanings Parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, coordinators, etc. Morphology: plural/singular markers, past/present markers and affixes that change part of speech/meaning

Syntax: the internal grammatical structure of sentences Semantics: relationships between elements and their interpretation; or context-free meaning.

Pragmatics: what to say when; how to say it appropriately; or context-based meaning.


AUT 2014 UWS Lecture 1



Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch! He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! and through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" He chortled in his joy. Lewis Carroll Jabberwocky (1871)

Spot the clues: innate problem solving and traces



What is Linguistics? Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Language, not how to learn languages. Language is a uniquely human attribute. An empirical science, based on:

evidence from language in use (observation)

data drawn from many different languages a theoretical enterprise hypotheses made, tested, refined.

What is Language? having and using language is usually taken for

grantedSpeaking is such a normal and everyday process for us that most of the time

we do not consciously think about what we are doing. Plag et al (2007: xi, 1).

It studies the link between thought processes and communication.

Domains of Linguistic enquiry: Linguistics investigates language structure, processing, function, and representation at several different levels, including:

phonetics & phonology: how sounds are produced, perceived, combined, and represented morphology: structure of words

syntax: structure of the lexicon, phrases and sentences semantics & pragmatics: encoding and interpretation of meaning in language psycholinguistics: cognitive representations and mental processes of language first and second language acquisition linguistic typology: how languages differ; what they have in common historical linguistics: how languages change over time; how they are related sociolinguistics & linguistic anthropology: the role and use of language in social contexts biological & evolutionary linguistics: biological foundations and origins of language interactional sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, suprasegmentation and tone perception..





What makes Human Language unique?

Creative Not stimulus based

Abstract and concrete Universal Grammar Complex systems

Arbitrary and Conventional Reflection

Discoverable patterns, constraints and relatability. Infinite combinations

potentiality Language is more than speech

Fromkin et al (2009: 17-24); Kuiper & Allan (2004: 8-9).

The study of linguistics thus offers:

A systematic application of scientific, analytical method, Discoverable knowledge

systems, Understanding useful for

teaching (incl. TESOL), A disciplined, rational approach to dealing with

complex data, Knowledge of human

diversity, Education in ways which

help overcome cultural barriers.



Orthography. Originally the

correct spelling of Language. Now,

it means the writing system.

All normal human beings speak at least one language.

Most humans throughout history have been illiterate.

Writing is technology, transmitted across cultures.

Writing is a representation of, and approximation to language.

English especially is poorly represented by its orthography.

The primacy of speech (we are not studying written language).

Proctor (2013).

RondaSticky Noteorthography: descriptive discipline

A Descriptive Discipline: the goal of linguistics is to describe language

not to prescribe how language should be used. To record the rules of language in response to actual language usage.

The Prescriptive approach to language. : To set the rules of language in advance of actual language usage.

Language academies (Acadmie franaise; Rat fr deutsche Rechtschreibung; Speak Mandarin Campaign )

Traditional grammars & dictionaries (Webster) style guides (Fowlers English Usage; Strunk & White: Elements of Style; Truss: Eats

Shoots & Leaves) Newspaper opinion columns:

Folk Linguistics:





Prescriptive Rules: Never start a sentence with a conjunction. But sometimes its

OK. Never use that to introduce a relative clause. Which is why a

subordinator is used in the wrong way. To forever split the infinitive really annoys some people. To end a sentence with a preposition is something that should

be done away with. Using the first person object pronoun is uncommon for you and

I.

So, why do revered authors in English break the rules? -Wuthering Heights (Bronte) -A Christmas Carol (Dickens) -Alice in Wonderland (Carroll) -Dracula (Stoker) -Lord Jim (Conrad) -Shakespeare -Moby Dick (Melville)



A few facts about Language: Knowledge of the sound system: We know what sounds or signs are part of the language and what are not. We possess an Unconscious knowledge of which sounds belong to which languages More than simply an inventory of sounds Knowing where sounds occur, how they relate to other sounds, starting or ending a word Sounds and sound patterns

Knowledge of words: Knowing that specific sequences of sounds signify certain concepts or meanings 600,000 words in OED: 100,000 in Macquarie D; 1 million + in English. Personal inventory or vocabulary much less, finite. Arbitrary relation between form (sounds) and meaning (concept) Has to be learnt accepted rules form conventionality miming, gestures, signals typically non-arbitrary Sound symbolism eg. Onomatopoeia:

Buzz, smack, bark, chirp.

RondaSticky NoteRegister-dog (pooch= familiar term, masculine, feminine =bitch) hound(breed, specify), canine.-DogDENOTATION: mammal, 4legs, tail, many species-CONNOTATION: what humans make of the meaning of dog through your experience, your understanding, association (values, culture, capitol)



Creativity: Chomsky: brain hard-wired for language capacity Behaviourist: language is a set of learned responses to stimuli. Doesnt allow for reflex and involuntary reactions Knowing a language involves knowing appropriate responses for each situation Creativity beyond our ability to speak, but also to generate and understand new or novel sentences, when you have never experienced it before Ability to generate infinitely long sentences

Knowledge of sentences and non-sentences: We know which strings of words constituting sentences are well-formed or not Very long sentences are improbable An example of the difference between linguistic competence and linguistic performance Affected by physiological or psychological barriers: tiredness, boredom, memory loss, stuttering, stammering, slips of the tongue, etc Linguistic knowledge is mostly unconscious knowledge, representative of a complex cognitive system There could be other factors such as culture, gender, age, identity

RondaSticky NoteREPITOIRE: description of codeCODE: languageREGISTER: language divide into functions (medical, legal, mechanic)CODE SWITCHRESTRICTED: teenagers talkingELOBORATE CODE: multiple registers, rich in languageRESULT OF RESTRICTED CODE: miscommunication, rebel against society normsLNGUISTIC CAPITOL: skill setSOCIAL MOBILITY is due to ELABORATE CODE which may result in capitol.Ability to adjust speech in order to accommodate others/ assimilation.

Language and thought: Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: language structures determine external perception (linguistic determinism) Linguistic relativism: categories encoded within language influence comparisons and ways of thinking Languages show linguistic distinctions in their lexicons and grammar- as to how much this influences thought and perception is not clear Examples: colour, identity, gender, age, political correctness, spin, euphemisms, dysphemisms etc



Summary: 1. Wherever humans exist, language exists 2. No primitive languages: all equally complex, capable of expression, vocabulary is expandable 3. All languages change through time 4. Most relationships between signs and meanings/sounds are arbitrary 5. All languages are finite for sounds/gestures which can be combined into an infinite set of possible sentences 6. All grammars have similar rules for the formation of words and sentences 7. Each language has discrete sound segments, with finite properties for sound, with vowels and consonants 8. Word classes are found in each language: nouns, verbs etc. 9. Universal semantic properties such as entailment exist 10. Each language can negate, ask questions, issue commands, refer to past, future etc 11. Each language can form infinite sentences, and form versions of the same referentiality/propositional content (passive, active voice, etc.) 12. The ability to acquire, use and know language is universal, based on a biologically ability of the brain, as applied to modalities (spoken, signed) 13. Any normal child can acquire any language when exposed to it



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EL for TESOL Lecture 1