English for Language Teachers

8/11/2019 English for Language Teachers

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ELE3103 ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS

TOPIC 1 NATURE AND FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE

1.0 SYNOPSIS

Topic 1 highlights the nature and function of language. It seeks to develop yourknowledge in English language, by defining the meaning of a language, the

purpose and properties of language. It also aims to help you understand the

difference between human language and animal communication, verbal and non-

verbal communication, speech and writing and the notion of correctness.

1.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this Topic, you will be able to

identify the purpose and use of a language list the properties of language

compare and contrast human language and animal communication

give e!amples of non-verbal communication

differentiate between speech and writing

identify grammatically and non-grammatically correct sentences

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1.2 FRAMEWORK OF TOPICS

CONTENT

SESSION ONE (3 Hours)

1.1.1 Definition of ln!"!e

There are various definitions of language.

"anguage is-

a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of

conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood

meanings

#$ebster%s Third &ew International 'ictionary of the English "anguage 1()1*

2

Nt"#e n$F"n%tion ofLn!"!e

Definition of

ln!"!e

P"#&o'e n$ "'e

of ln!"!e

P#o&e#tie' of

ln!"!e

(")n ln!"!e*' ni)l

%o))"ni%tion

%o))on

%o))"ni%tion

S&ee%+ n$,#itin!

Notion' of%o##e%tne''

Fo#)' of%o))"ni%tion-C / Non C


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a system of arbitrary, vocal symbols which permit all people in a given

culture, or other people who have learned the system of that culture, to

communicate or to interact

#+inocchiaro 1()*

any set or system of linguistic symbols as used in a more or less uniform

fashion by a number of people who are thus enabled to communicate

intelligibly with one another

#andom ouse 'ictionary of the English "anguage 1())*

a system of communication by sound, operating through the organs of

speech and hearing, among members of a given community, and using

vocal symbols possessing arbitrary conventional meanings

#/ei 1(()*

In composite, language

is systematic and generative.

is a set of arbitrary symbols.

those symbols are primarily vocal, but may also be visual.

the symbols have conventionali0ed meanings to which they refer.

is used for communication.

operates in a speech community or culture

is essentially human, although possibly not limited to humans. is acuired by all people in much the same way.

1.1.2 P"#&o'e n$ "'e of ln!"!e

There are two main functions of a language Interactional functions and

Transactional functions

Interactional Functions

umans use language to interact with each other, socially and emotionally2 how

they indicate friendliness, co-operation or hostility, or annoyance, pain orpleasure. E!amples of interactional functions are given below

Emotional expression

Emotive or e!pressive function of language can be used whether or not

we are alone.

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E!pressive - insult, compliment, e!pressing anger, happiness, sadness,

disappointment.

- angry or frustrated state2 swear words and obscenities

E!pressing appreciation to poetry, literature, paintings e.g. involuntary

verbal reaction to a breathtaking scenery, and the emotional outpourings

of certain kinds of poetry.

Social interaction

"anguage is used to maintain a comfortable relationship between people.

Its function is to provide a means of avoiding situation which both parties

might otherwise find embarrassing.

34ood morning2 and 3/leased to meet you%

3"ovely day2 ow are you5

&o factual content is involved maintain rapport between people

The anthropologist Bronislow 6alinoswki refers to it as 3phatic communion% - the

basic need to signal friendship -social function.

Directive- language of social control - persuasion - advertising,

sermons, preaching, order.

E!amples2

a* 7it up straight b* /ass the milk please

c* 8ren%t you feeling hot5 9meaning take off the coat.

d* :ou make a good door 9 meaning get out of the way

Informative; most people think this is language primary function

E.g. It is si! o%clock.

7he%s almost five years old

6y favourite colour is red.

Transactional unctions

umans use their language to communicate knowledge, skills and information.

It must have developed for the transfer of knowledge from one generation to

another. The transfer remains fairly restricted in time and space as long as it can

only be realised in speech.

8ll forms of supernatural belief involve the use of language as a means of

controlling the forces which the believers feel affect their lives. +or e!ample, the

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various prayers and formulae which are directed at 4od, gods, devils, spirits,

ob


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Fo# e)&le 7omething as large as a 3whale% can be referred to by a very short

word. 7imilarly, there is no natural connection between the word 3dog% and the

four-legged animal it symbolises. It can be called by other names in other

languages.

=nomatopoeic words such as ?meow? or ?bark@, @cuckooA, @popA, @bangA, @slurpA,

and @suishAare often cited as counter-e!amples, based on the argument that

they are pronounced like the sound they refer. owever, the similarity is very

loose. 4ive one e!ample.

. Cultural transmission and tradition indicates that human beings hand their

languages down from one generation to another. uman language is not

something inborn. owever, the potential to acuire a language is innate.

umans have the genetic potential to learn to encode their messages byacuiring the rules or grammar of their language

D. 'iscreteness. It means that the basic units of speech sound can be

categori0ed as belonging to distinct categories or treated as discrete. The sounds

used in language are meaningfully distinct. >>, >>. There is no gradual,

continuous shading from one sound to another in the linguistics system, although

there may be a continuum in the real physical world.

. 'uality of patterning >#double articulation*. "anguage is organised in

layers, the basic sound units of speech or discrete sounds e.g. >p>,>e >,>n>, - only

meaningful when combined. The discrete parts of a language can be recombined

in a systematic way to create new forms. 'uality of patterning refers to the ability

to recombine small units in different orders.

. 'isplacement the ability to refer to things far removed in time and place.

The speaker can talk about things which are not present, either spatially ortemporally. +or e!ample, human language allows speakers to talk about the

present, the past and the future.

They can also talk about things that are physically distant #such as other

countries, the moon, etc.*. They can even refer to things and events that do not

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actually e!ist #not present in reality* like 7anta Claus or the destruction of Tara in

!one with the "ind.

8nimal communication is almost e!clusively designed for this moment, here and

now

). 7tructure dependence. umans recognise the patterned nature of language

and manipulate 3structured chunks% e.g. they understand that a group of words

can sometimes be the structural euivalent of one. #productivity*

Fo# e)&le3

- The old lady > who was wearing a white bonnet > gave the donkey a carrot.

- 8 carrot > was given to the donkey > by the old lady who was wearing a white

bonnet.

F. /roductivity is the ability to produce and understand virtually unlimited

number of utterances #novel sentences* from a limited number of words. 8

person can talk about anything he likes because of the ability to generate novel

meanings

G. =penness is the ability to add new words, phrases or other meaningful units

to a language. umans can coin new words at will, hence adding new le!ical

items.

Both properties are part of the creativity aspect of human language.

P#e*#i%tion refers to the ability to communicate about things that are not

verifiable, things for which there is no empirical proof ; saying about false or

fictional things.

4enerally absent in other animal communication system e!cept perhaps some

animals may fake conditions like death to confuse a predator, some animals

mimic the sounds of other species. This playing dead and mimicking other

species is similar to lying ; but genetically pre-programmed whereas humans

learn to lie.

(. 7emanticity - the use of symbols to 3mean or refer to ob


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condition rather than referring to a specific ob Interchangeability - 8ny speaker or sender of a linguistic signal

can also be a listener or receiver. The speaker can both receive and broadcast

the same signal.

Tutorial Task

1. The following are additional properties of human language. Elaborate each

property.#i* Broadcast transmission and directional reception.

#ii* Total feedback

. 'iscuss how the properties of language distinguish human and animal

codes.

D. $hat does it mean to know a language5 elate it to linguistic competence

and linguistic performance.

SESSION T!O (3 Hours)

1.1.4 (")n ln!"!e *' ni)l %o))"ni%tion

"ook at the pictures.

$hat do you think these animals are doing5

'o you think they are communicating5 $hat might they be saying5

8re language and communication euivalent5

'o they use language to communicate witheach other5

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"ist down the things that human use to communicate with each other.

Then compare your answers with a partner.

!"at is Co##unication$

Communication is the ability to share information with people, and to understand

what information and feelings are being conveyed by others. It can take on manyforms including gestures, facial e!pressions, signs, vocali0ations #including pitch

and tone*, in addition to speech and written communication.

Teachers and students freuently use nonverbal methods to communicate.

7tudents often show disinterest in school by avoiding eye contact or sitting back

in their chairs with their arms folded across their chests during instruction. 7taff

members may indicate that they have time to talk but they may show disinterest

by grading papers or busying themselves while you are trying to talk.

Conversely, a smiling, nodding face indicates that the listener is interested in

what we are saying and encourages us to continue.

Communication includes a broad range of actions which help the teachers work

more effectively with students and other teachers. Teachers interact with many

different people during the day, including administrators, other teachers, parents,

students and others. The ability of teachers to contribute to the education

program will depend on his or her communication skills.

1.1.5 Non6e#7l Co))"ni%tion

There are two forms of communication erbal and &on-erbal Communication.

erbal communication reuires a language. "anguage is defined in terms of

semantics, that is, a group of labels used to represent appro!imations of space-

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time events and abstractions. The labels can be conveyed from one entity to

another by a variety of means vocali0ation, writing, etc.

&on-verbal communication #&C* is any communication that takes place using

non-linguistic signs, or @non-word signsA #arrison, 1(F*. &C is independent of

a formal language, whereby ideas and concepts can be e!pressed without the

use of coherent labels. It refers to the processes without the use of language

proper, e.g. body movements, gesture, smells but also such e!tra-linguistic

features of speech as intonation, speed or pause. &on-verbal messages often

convey more meaning than the spoken words. )J of a message%s meaning is

communicated through non-verbal clues. #Birdwhistell, 1(FH*. (HJ of the

meaning of a message is transmitted non-verbally. #+romkin K odman, 1(GD*.

Refle%tion

In your opinion, which of the items in the list below contribute most to

communication5 &umber the five most important. Then compare your answers

with a partner.

Things which human use to communicate with each other.

7tyle of dress, air style

4estures, Body posture

"istening, +luency, 8ccent

+acial e!pressions, Behaviour

8ccurate use of language structures, ocabulary

Eye movements

T%&es o Non'eral Co##unication

There are three types on non-verbal communication kinesics, pro!emics and

paralanguage. The types and e!amples are given below.

#I$ESI%S

1. GESTURES

They are used to convey meanings. +or e!amples

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a. E!tremities of our bodies e.g. itchhiker%s outstretched thumb, thumb-

inde! finger circle for @=LA, use of middle finger.

b. 'irectly tied to speech - mother in the window moving her hand to her

mouth, pretending to eat, to indicate to her child outside that he>she has to

come in for dinner.

. FACIAL E8PRESSIONS

These are similar across all cultures. +acial e!pressions readily reflect

different feelings happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, anger, disgust and

interest. +or e!amples

a. 8 child opening a present. :ou can observe the her

eyes and facial e!pression.

b. 8dults receiving news that they owe evenue 6alaysia a large sum of

money. +acial muscles would become tight and rigid indicating anger and

disbelief.

c. 8 smile and


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b. 8 father confronting his child about his wrongdoing.

The child will fidget on the edge of the chair as he looks for a way out of

the situation.

&R'(E)I%S

INTERPERSONAL DISTANCE o# ;SPACE :U::LEA that surrounds eachperson.

Interpersonal distances

a. Intimate 'istance ; up to 1G inches

b. /ersonal 'istance ; 1 N feet to feet

c. 7ocial 'istance ; 1 foot to about 1 feet

d. /ublic 'istance ; 1 feet or over

e. Canadians communicate at an arm%s distance from each other. &arrowingthe gap and actually touching the person being spoken to identifies the

communication and establishes power. estricting and invading another%s

personal space creates tension for him or her.

+or e!amples

a. In the observation of an argument, you will notice one of the parties involved

moving in close to the other one while trying to make the point.

b. $hen you meet someone for the first time, you leave them a polite distance

and if the person moves within this distance, you become uncomfortable

and uneasy #perhaps move away*. c. /olice officer places hand on someone5

d. /olice officer putting hands on somebody ; confrontation. @The strong hand

of the lawA.

&*R*+*$!*!E

Tone of voice indicating attitude, authority, empathy.

/itch of voice indicating emotions and tensions and stress. olume indicating the importance of certain words or phrases as well as

emotions.

+or E!amples

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a. 8rriving at the scene of a motor vehicle accident, the police officer has to take

charge of the situation. The voice will be strong and firm e!pressing authority.

b. $hen a police officer is giving evidence in court, the voice will be steady and

confident, showing impartiality.

8. Barbour, author of +ouder han "ords- $onverbal %ommunication said thatthe total impact of a message breaks down is FJ verbal #words*2 DGJ vocal

#volume, pitch, rhythm, etc.*2 and J body movements #mostly facial

e!pressions. This breakdown indicates that effective nonverbal communication

skills are essential.

Non'eral Co##unication* Cues+ Si,nals an- S%#ols

8 cueis a type of communication used by an adult to let a child know what is

e!pected of him>her in a given situation. Cues are a type of receptivecommunication.

Signals are movements the child used to communicate needs, desires and

feelings to adults. 7ignals are a form of e!pressive communication.

Symbolsare representations of an event, ob


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e* I donOt know f* 7tand up g* IOm mad h* IOm happy

i* 7top


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'o you have good eye contact when you are angry or happy5

'o you consider yourself to be a verbal or nonverbal person5

Remember that students are unaware of many of the behaviors that they exhibit

when communicating. /y perfecting your own communication skills you can

become a positive role model for children and adolescents, helping them

become more effective communicators as they practice good communication

skills.

T"to#il T' S&ee%+ n$ ,#itin!

$hen we talk about language, sometimes we mean speech #spoken language*,

sometimes writing #written language*.

Refle%tion

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$hat is speech #spoken language*5

$hat is writing #written language*5

ow are they similar5

ow are they different5

7peech is an interpersonal communication where sound is the medium. $e use

speech organs #mouth, throat* and ears in speaking and listening. /ara-

linguistics features, e.g. pause, loudness, stress, intonation etc. and e!tra-

linguistics features, e.g. gestures, facial e!pressions, eye contact, nods, body

posture, etc. used to aid communication. 7peech is where thinking, speaking

and listening go on at almost the same time. If the listener fails to understand

what the speaker says it at the time, he will not get another chance to listen to it

again.

$riting is a system for interpersonal communication using visible signs or graphic

symbols on a flat surface such as paper, cloth or even stone slabs. Every

language has its own graphic symbols. $ritten English uses a system consisting

) letters #a, b, c, 9..0*. $riting is thinking put on paper and is a very comple!

skill. The writer needs to know the sub


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4. +eedback the speaker can find out thelisteners% response to what hesaid almost instantly.

delayed feedback. The writerhas to wait until he gets areply to his letter or review ofhis ideas.

5. "anguage usually simple sentences andvocabulary used.

more sophisticated andcomple! structures andvocabulary used.

>. =rgani0ation more meandering and fewer

organi0ational markers,

especially in spontaneous

speech, e.g. conversation.

Psually well-organi0ed

because more time for

planning.

@. /erformance many false starts, fillers,

pauses, etc found.

editing. Therefore, no

mistakes visible.

T"to#il T'


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in actual speech production and comprehension #e.g. slips of tongue,

hesitations, repetitions etc.* The grammar of a language consist of the

sounds and sound patterns, the basic units of meaning such as words, and

the rules to combine all of these to form sentences with the desired meaning.

!rammatical versus ungrammatical

In all languages, every sentence is a seuence of words but not every

seuence of words is a sentence. 8 seuence of words that conform to the

rules of synta! are said to be well-formed or grammatical. iolation to the

syntactic rules are ill-formed or ungrammatical. 8 sentence is said to be

grammatical when it conforms to the rule of grammar ; mental grammar and

description of the internalised grammar. &ot all strings of words constitute

sentences in a language - our knowledge of a language determines which

are and which are not @rules for forming sentencesA.

4rammaticality is based on rules acuired or constructed unconsciously as

children. The ability to make grammatical


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to speak. This will prepare you to speak with more confident and e!press your

views fluently.


By the end of this 7ession, you will be able to

label the articulators in the speech organs used in producing different

English sounds

know the phonetic symbol of the alphabets2

transcribe and pronounce words according to their phonetic symbols

identify and analyse vowel> diphthong sounds and consonant sounds

speak with correct pronunciation, enunciation, stress and intonation


CONTENT

SESSION FOUR (3 Hours)

2.2.1 W+t i' P+onolo!=

'o you often wonder why some words are not pronounced the way they are

spelt5 Isn%t it frustrating when you can spell words correctly but don%t know how

they are pronounced5 &ow, that%s the beauty of the English language.

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P+onolo!=3T+e So"n$'of Ln!"!e

S&ee%+O#!n' n$

A#ti%"ltion

So"n$' of

En!li'+

P+one)e'n$

P+one)i%

T#n'%#i&tion'

Int#o$"%tionto S"

'e!)entlFet"#e'

o,el'Di&t+on!'

Con'onnt'St#e'' R+=t+) Intontion


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To start off, let%s be clear of what phonology is and then look at the seven main

articulators in our speech organs that are used in the production of speech.

/honology is the study of the sound systems of languages, and of the general

properties displayed by these systems #the contrast in sound phonemesU which

make the difference within the

language.

2.2.2 S&ee%+ o#!n' n$#ti%"ltion

There are seven mainarticulators.

&harynx; a tube which begins k > and > g > thetongue is in contact with the lowerside of the velum. ence, thesesounds are called velar consonants.

7ard &alate; it is often called 3roof ofthe mouth%. :ou can feel its smoothcurved surface with your tongue.

*lveolar Ridge; it is between the topfront teeth and the hard palate. Its

surface is covered with little ridges.:ou can feel its shape with yourtongue. 7ounds made with thetongue touching hers such as > t > and > d > are called alveolar.ongue; it is a very important articulator and can be moved into many differentplaces and different shapes. The tongue is divided into different parts such astip, blade, front, back and root. #see +igure .*

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"ikewise, every speech sound sounds different because of some uniuecombination of features in the way you shape your mouth and tongue and moveparts of the vocal apparatus when you speak. 8ll English sounds are producedin this manner.

Take a break for a while before you move on to the sounds of EnglishQ

2.2. So"n$' of En!li'+

There are ) letters in the English language, vowels and 1 consonants.

owever, what we are more concerned with is the spoken sounds of the

alphabets. The spoken English has phonic sounds, H spoken vowels and

spoken consonants. $e will look at the phonic structure of English in detail.

o.el Soun-s

owels #H vowels sounds* ; are articulated without any obstruction as the air

passes from the laryn! to the lips. The vocal cords always vibrate. In contrast,

the air flow has to be obstructed at different points when articulating consonants.

ct s"n rose, bot, toe gi#l, c"rl, fe#n poor, l"re

cr cpe, sil,hy

moon, bl"e,screw

ho"se, cow letter

sw, v"lt, bll bee, lef book coin, boy

kid hen rose, bot, toe hre, fir

dog kite, tie, light f ork, core er, deer, he#e

List o &"onetic s%#ols an- /e%.or-s

S+o#t *o,el' Lon! o,el'

I as in bIt i: as in sheep

e as in bed V as in f ther

W as in ct ' as in door

' as in dog X as in f o"r

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Y as in b"t u as in boot

P as in p"t Z as in bird

[ as in bout

i as in happ=

u as in act"ality

i&"t"on,s

'iphthongs #G dipthongs* ; a sound which consists of a glide from one vowel to

another. 8 vowel which does not glide is a pure vowel. 7ome vowels end in a

glide > i< >, > uw >.

'iphthongs glide between two vowels. The ending vowel in a diphthong is one of

> a >, > I >, or > u >, e.g. > ia > beer, > ea > bare, > eI > make, > eu > home, > ai > five,

>au > how, etc. #see diagram*

eI as in mke XI as in boy aP as in now e[ as in hir u[ as in act"l

aI as in lie [P as in note I[ as in r el P[ as in s"#e i[ as in peculir

7ome e!amples of dipthongs can be seen in the table above.

Consonants

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Consonants have the following characteristics

24 %on'onnt 'o"n$'

7ed +en &up ,ig %+imp

%at,


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&ow that you have gone through the phonetic sounds and symbols, let%s look at

some e!ercises.

Ee#%i'e 1

In this e!ercise you are to rewrite the following words into phonetic symbols. #youcan refer to the dictionary to help you*.

Wo#$' P+oneti% '=)7ol'

8pologi0e

Bewilder

Comprehend

Confess

Confide

'emolish

'evour

'iscuss

E!pose

Ee#%i'e 2

In this e!ercise, you are to rewrite the following phonetic symbols into words.

P+oneti% '=)7ol' Wo#$'

_\

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]Pd

`[

'

gZl0

Take a break for a while.

Stron, an- !ea/ For#s

Certain well-known English words can be pronounced in two different ways

these are called strong forms and weak forms.

$eak forms are those words that are pronounced in an unstressed manner.

They are called function words or grammatical words such as con


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at t this h 0 0

There is sometimes an important difference in meaning between strong and

weak forms, e.g.

I%m gonna be sick #prediction*

I%m going to school #destination*

$hat have we gotta take5 #necessity*$hat have we got to eat5 #availability*

T"to#il "e'tion

/repare your answer to the following uestions for your tutorial session.

#a* ow do you differentiate between long vowels and short vowels5

#b* ow would you define consonant clusters5

#c* ow would you define vowel clusters5

#d* $hat are the problems that you faced while completing this topic5

SESSION FIE (3 Hours)

2.2.4 P+one)e' n$ &+one)i% t#n'%#i&tion'

8 &"one#e can be defined as a minimal sound unit which is capable of

contrasting word meaning. This can be illustrated using minimal pairs.

e.g. tip bit mate pat bet butdip bid made pad bed bud

The words in each pair have different meanings and this difference is signaled by

the difference between > t > and > d >. Therefore, > t > and > d > are separate

phonemes. 8nother way of saying this is to state that sounds are separate

phonemes if they contrast in identical environments.

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In English, there are phonemes # consonants and H vowels*.

The > p > is aspirated #puff of air* as in 3pill% and 3poker% whereas un-aspirated > p >

occurs after 3s% as in 3sprint% and 3spine%. The different > p > sound is called an

allophone. 8n allo&"oneis described as a variant of a phoneme. 8llophones

occur only in certain positions within a word.

$hen two or more sounds do not occur in the same sound environment, they are

said to be in complementary distribution. 8n e!ample of complementary

distribution occurs in the allophones of > l > in English. 'ark > l > always occurs at

the end of a syllable while light > l > always occurs at the beginning of a syllable.

&either allophone may occur in the other%s position.

8nother type of relationship between allophones of a single phoneme is calledfree variation. Two allophones are said to be in free variation when a word is

pronounced in two different ways ; using two different phonemes but has no

effect on the meaning. +or e!ample, pronunciation of the word 3tomato%. There is

no difference in meaning between the two ways of pronouncing the word. 8s

such, the sounds > a > and >ei > are in free variation of this word.

2.2.5 Int#o$"%tion to S"'e!)entl Fet"#e'

S"'e!)entlalso called /rosodic +eature, in phonetics, is a speech feature

such as stress, rhythm, tone #intonation*, or word


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3photograph

pho% tographer

photo%graphic

Psing the correct stress patterns, try to pronounce the words.

Ee#%i'e 1

/ractice pronouncing these words with the correct stress patterns.

Tiresome humanitarian ceremony

distinction praiseworthy downstream

e!ception particular e!ceptional

Check your stress patterns with your tutorsQ

Ee#%i'e 2

/lace a primary stress mark over the syllable that has the greatest

prominence.

1. defer

. differ

D. pervert #verb*

. pervert #noun*

. conflict #verb*

). conflict #noun*

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F. superb

G. romance

(. defense

1H.research

11. accent

1.education

1D. interruption

1.humanitarian

1.socialised

4ood workQ E!cellentQ

R"%t"#

hythm is the occurrence of stressed syllables at regular intervals of time.

English speech is rhythmical.

hythm is important in English because it can result in miscommunication.

Contrast @talking to themselvesA and @talking to damselsA

$e need to understand rhythm patterns in English in order to understand native

speakers of English and also to try to speak in that rhythm so that we may be

understood by them.

Intonation

Intonation refers to the tune a speaker uses when speaking. There are two basic

patterns of intonation the rising tune and the falling tune. They can be put

together in various combinations rise-fall-rise, fall-rise-fall, etc.

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Intonation and sentence stress are very clearly connected in speech. They are

used together to put the precise message across to the listener.

The following two utterances are e!amples .

1. :ou speak English, don%t you5 +alling tune

. :ou speak English, don%t you5 ising tune

Ee#%i'e 1

ead the dialogue and mark the intonation pattern.

7ee Ti ello, 8h Boo. ow are you5

8h Boo Must fine, fine. $hat about you5

7ee Ti =h, not bad. 8h Boo, you know ani, don%t you5

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8h Boo :es, I met her in our "ondon office last month.

7ee Ti In "ondon5

ela! and move on to the ne!t section when you are ready.TOPIC MORP(OLOGY3 T(E WORDS OF LANGUAGE

.0 SYNOPSIS

Topic D introduces you to the word structure and word formation of the English

language. It seeks to develop your knowledge in English language, by

understanding the different types of morphemes and how English words are

structured and formed. It also aims to help you further improve your skills in

listening, speaking, reading and writing and develop your confidence and fluency

in using English in a variety of conte!t.

.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES


1. discuss word structure and formation2

. identify the different classification of morphemes

D. give reasons for the classification

. analy0e word formation processes

.2 FRAMEWORK OF TOPICS

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CONTENT

SESSION SI (2 Hours)

.2.1 W+t i' Mo#&+olo!=

6orphology is the study of word structure and word formation. $ords - though

impossible to define in absolute terms, can be thought of as the units that are

combined to form sentences in a language such as English.

7imple $ords - consisting of a single morpheme2 a word that cannot be analy0edinto smaller meaningful parts, e.g. 3item%, 3five%, 3chunk%, 3the%. Comple! words

consist of a root, plus one or more affi!es #e.g. 3items%, 3walked%, 3dirty%*.

Compound word is a word that is formed from two or more simple or comple!

words #e.g. landlord, red-hot, window cleaner*

.2.2 T=&e' of Mo#&+e)e'

Must as sentences can be broken down in smaller units #words*, we can break

words down into smaller, meaningful parts. The smallest meaningful part of a

word is called a morpheme. &ot all words have more than one morpheme.$ords that have only one morpheme are also called monomorphemic words

#e.g. boy*. $ords with more than one morpheme are called polymorphemic

words, as in foolishness #fool ish ness*. 6orphemes can be classified as

either free or bound.

.2.2.1 F#ee n$ :o"n$ Mo#&+e)e'

34

Mo#&+olo!=3T+e Wo#$' of

Ln!"!e

T=&e' ofMo#&+e)e' Wo#$ Fo#)tionP#o%e''e'

F#eeMo#&+e)e

:o"n$Mo#&+e)e

De#i*tionlMo#&+e)e

Infle%tionlMo#&+e)e


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Free #or&"e#es are units of meaning which can stand alone as an

independent word or alongside another free or bound morpheme #e.g. lid, sink,

air, car ; individual words*. They cannot be split into anything smaller #e.g. tree,

gate, pillow, butter, flower, rhinoceros etc.*. owever, the terms !te, 7"tte#and

flo,e# can also e!ist alongside another free morpheme e.g. !te&o't7"tte#)il


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P#efi Menin! E)&le

nti6 8gainst something anti-socialcounter; Take opposite action counter;attackdis &ot dislike, disapprove, disagreeex; +ormer, previous, past ex-wife, ex-student, ex-boyfriend

in;, im;,il;, ir;

&ot inactive, impossible,iilogical, irreplaceable

un; &ot, changes a word to the

opposite meaning

unkind, untidy, unable

mis; 'one incorrectly mistake, misadventure, misusenon; &ot non-violent, non-conformistre; 'o over again, go back redo, replace, recycle, rewindinter; Between interfere, international, interchangeemember, when words are added at the start of a word, they are called

efie'. &ow, take at a look at E!ercises 1 and and do the e!ercises to check

your understanding.

Ee#%i'e 1

Psing the dictionary, find out what these words mean.

Wo#$ Menin! Root6,o#$

gloriouseateries

probablyassortmentstemptationsurrounded

Ee#%i'e 2

8dd suitable efie'to the following words.

Wo#$ P#efi Wo#$ P#efilike behaveproper uniteresponsible rationalknown pack

'id you get the answers all right5 $ell doneQ &ow look at the '"ffie'.

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In the meantime take a break first and move on to suffi!esQ

Suies

7uffi!es are added to the end of a word. They not only change the meaning of a

word, they also change the part of speech.

S"ffi Menin! Ne, ,o#$ i' 3 E)&le

-or, -er /erson noun Teenager, actor -eer /erson noun Engineer, auctioneer -ster /erson doing an

activity

noun 4angster

-let, -ette 7mall noun Booklet, statuette-ess +emale noun $aitress-hood,

-ship, -dom

7tatus, condition noun Childhood, friendship,

freedom-ful The amount something

has, being full of

noun, ad


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-ly In this way adverb Cheaply, tiredly

emember, for suffi!es, the word is added at the end of the word. &ow, look at

E!ercise 1 and try to add suffi!es to the words.

Ee#%i'e 13

8dd suffi!es to the following words. Pse your dictionary to check your answers

glorious politeregular uniteproper lawfulpossible difficultsafe savour

$ould you like to have more practice in efie' and '"ffie'5 :ou can listdown as many words as you can think of and add efie'or '"ffie'to these

words.

The previous section gives you an idea of how words if added new word or part

of a word to them would mean different things. Therefore, when you come

across words with prefi!es or suffi!es, you need to be e!tra careful with their

meanings.

Take a break first before you read on to other categories of morphemes

and allormorphs.

Cate,ories o 4or&"e#es

8 content #or&"e#eis a morpheme that names a concept>idea in our record of

e!perience of the world. It has semantic content ; independent and identifiable

meaning2 and has a full le!ical meaning of its own. They fall into the classes of

noun, verb, ad


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construction #the, by, of*. 4enerally, they fall into classes such as articles #a,

the*, prepositions #of, at*, au!iliary verbs #was eating, have slept*, etc.

Allo#or&"s are the different forms>variations #pronunciations* of a single

morpheme. E!ample the plural morpheme in English is -0 j. Its allormorphs

are > s >, > 0 >, and the upside-down, backwards e > e0 >. 8lso the morpheme 3leaf%

has two allormorphs 3leaf% in words built from it #e.g. leafy* and 3leav-%, found only

in the plural 3leaves%.

ypes of *llormorphs

Allo#)o#&+' of &l"#l )o#&+e)e-

> s > - shops, nuts, books

> 0 > - cubs, mugs, stands

> i0 > - glasses,


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plural form ; add 3s% or 3es% 2 and much less predictable #e.g. nouns derived from

verbs ; refuse ; refusal, pay ; payment*.

eri5ational #or&"e#eschange the part of speech or meaning of a word. E.g.,

;ment added to a verb forms a noun,


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6any words are formed or created from combinations of other words, or from

combinations of words and prefi!es or suffi!es. There are many possible ways of

forming or creating new words in English.

eri5ation

The most productive process of word formation in a language is the use of

$e#i*tionlmorphemes to form new words from already e!isting forms #.e.g.

from arrange we can derive rearrange, from which we can still derive

rearrangement*. Can you think of other e!amples5

Coina,e

Coin!eis the invention of totally new words. The process usually involves thee!tension of a product a name from a specific reference to a more general one,

e.g. Lleene!, ero! and Lodak. These started as names of specific products

but now used as the generic names for different brands of types of product. Can

you think of other e!amples5

Con5ersion

Con*e#'ionis the e!tension of the use of one word from its original grammatical

category to another category as well, e.g. the word must is a verb #e.g. @:ou must

attend classes regularlyA*, but it can also used as a noun as in @Class attendanceis a mustA.

6orro.in,

&ew words also enter a language through 7o##o,in! from other languages.

English, for e!ample, borrowed a lot of +rench words as a result of the &orman

invasion in 1H)). #e.g. croissant, chauffeur, dentist, resign*

=ther e!amples of foreign words found their way into English

#a* leak, yacht #from 'utch*#b* Barbecue, cockroach #from 7panish*

#c* /iano, concerto #from Italian*

#d* 8lgebra, amulet, caramel, carat, coffee, safari, syrup, sheriff, soda #from

8rabic*.

8e9 >am, banana 8from *frican languages9.

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6ac/'or#ation

:%


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Ono#ato&oeia

8 new word is formed by analogy with the sound made by the thing it names.

E!amples bu00, beep, hiss,

Su&&letion

7uppletion is about irregularity. It is the replacement of a word form by a

completely different word. They are morphologically comple! forms in which the

connection between the base and the newly created form is not obvious at all.

E!amples go #present* R went #past*2 good R better.

Re-u&lication

8 way of building up words by repeating either a part or all of the base word. $e

don%t have this in English. E!amples total reduplication in B.6. #rumah-rumah*2

partial reduplication in Tagalog. $e take the verb bilij and reduplicate only the

first two sounds to get the future form bibilij

4or&"e#e'internal c"an,es (alaut)

8dding morphemes results in changes to a part of the word #stem internal vowel

change*. 7ome cases of this in English, though not @productiveA ones.

E!amples

sing #present* - sang #past*

mouse #singular* - mice #plural*

Ee#%i'e 1

Identify the word formation processes that created the bold-printed words and try

to find their meaningQ

1*. Eggers is owner of probably the most Goo!le$name out there right now.

*. ollywood has put Evita through the 7nl='i'machine and found her


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*. (=&e#flie#'can be identified by pale comple!ion, red, watery eyes and a

crease in their stomach from having a laptop crushed into their body by the

reclining seat in front of them.

*. 7imilar high-pressure 0ones on Earth under the 8ntarctic ice, for instance

are suitable only for specially adapted organisms known as

et#e)o&+ile'.

)*. Tornado chasing, one form of ,et+e# to"#i'), has become particularly

popular lately.

F*. Can I talk to my 7#oon the &+one5

G*. ock was a #ol=6&ol=detective who looked like a no-hoper but who always

outwitted the opposition with sly brilliance.

(*. MauchOs fund-raising show not only was a telet+onbut turned out to be a

7e!t+on.

1H*. If I did 7"#!le6adgeOs house, like you said, then I wouldnOt come round here

and tell you about it.

11*. e was taken off the CIA payroll.

Ee#%i'e 2

Can you guess which words have combined to form the following computer

terms5

Emoticon,

netiuette,

neti0en,

technophobe

ela! for a while. $hen you are ready, do e!ercise D.

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Ee#%i'e

Fill in 7ln


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TOPIC 4 SYNTA83 T(E SENTENCE PATTERNS OFLANGUAGE

4.0 SYNOPSIS

Topic introduces you to the sentence patterns of English language. It provides

the basic types of sentences that you can use in speaking or writing. By

understanding these sentences, it will make it easier for you to write simple and

grammatical correct sentences. It also aims to help you further improve your

knowledge in phrase structure and transformational rules, your skills in listening,speaking, reading and writing and develop your confidence and fluency in using

English in a variety of conte!t.



1. identify the different types of sentences in English

. 8naly0e the sentence patterns in English

D. e!plain the different types of ambiguities in sentences

. draw a tree diagram on sentences based on /hrase 7tructure ules

. apply transformational rules in analy0ing the sentences


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CONTENT

SESSION SEEN (3 Hours)

4.2.1 W+t i' S=nt

7ynta! is the study of the structure of sentences which attempts to uncover the

underlying principles, or rules, for constructing well- informed sentences of a

particular language. There are two rules in synta! #1* phrase structure rules,

and #* transformational rules

P+#'e' are any groups of two or more words that together form a thought or

e!press one meaning. 8 phrase has no sub


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The verb plays a central role in clause structure. $e can omit other clause

elements e!cept the verb drinks

That farmer drinks beer by the bucketful.

7 = 8

'o you know what is ano7Be%t

=b


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'id you manage to analyse the sentences5 4oodQ

Take a break first before you move on to sentence types.

4.2. Senten%e t=&e'

'o you know what a 'enten%e is5 It is a !#o"& of ,o#$' ,+i%+ ee''e'

%o)&lete t+o"!+t. 7entences begin with a capital letter and end with a full

stop, e!clamation mark or uestion mark. :ou can make a sentence by putting a

noun #sub


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1. last night > went > he > the theatre > to

. en each other > they > arguing with

D. her > an e!pensive > bought > he > necklace

. the baby > proud parents > the > with love > shower

. watching birds > 8llen%s > is > hobby

&ow, we move on to Co)&o"n$ 'enten%e'.

8 %o)&o"n$ 'enten%eis made up of t,o o# )o#e )in %l"'e'. The main

clauses are


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. 8fter the e!ercise, I felt tired and I also felt sleepy.

D. e did not give them any money for he did not have any in his pocket.

. e must have woken up late or he had forgotten about it.

. The principal spoke loudly and he reminded the students to be punctual.

emember, a simple sentence has one main clause or main idea, but a

compound sentence has two main clauses or two main ideas. 8nd these two

main clauses or ideas are


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&ow that you have learnt the different types of sentences, see if you can do

E!ercise .

Ee#%i'e 5

Combine the clauses below into a comple! sentence using the subordinate

con


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(e te N

(e ', +e#S

NP P

N NPNP

N #t N

(e !*e +e# t+e 7oo< S

NP P

N PP

P N

S+e ,ent to 'e

S

NP P

N PP PPAP

$et A$B P N P N P NP

$B $et N

T+e ol$ )n ,ent to 'e in 7ot

'raw tree diagrams for the following sentences

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1. I chopped potatoes on the board.

. e gave Mohn the book.

D. 8 black bird flew into the room.. $hich book did you read5

. 8hmad ate the meat pie yesterday.

4.2.4.2 A)7i!"it=

8 word, phrase or sentence is ambiguous if it has more than one meaning.

E!ample

#a* ambiguous word R light # not very heavy or not very dark*

#b* phrase R porcelain egg container

porcelain egg container

#c * sentenceR The police shot the rioters with gun.

The police shot the rioters with gun.

T%&es o a#i,uit%

+exical ambiguity

e.g. nouns R bank, chip etc.

verbs R call, draw etc.

Structural ambiguity

e.g. Tibetan history teacher

The chicken is ready to eat.

I-enti% an- e&lain t"e a#i,uit% in t"e ollo.in, sentences7

E!amples

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#1* $illiam saw a star.

Type le!ical ambiguity

6eaning 8 $illiam saw a celestial ob


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To do this, we need a set of rules which change or move constituents in the

structures derived from the phrase structure rules. These are called

Transformational ules.

4.2.5 T#n'fo#)tionl G#))#

=riginally interpreted as string operations, mapping one string onto another byreordering, inserting #conte!t-sensitive rewrite rule* or deleting #unrestricted

rewrite rules* material. The passive transformation given earlier involves the first

two operations. Essentially what Ts do is to take a 3branch% of the 3tree% away

from one part of the tree diagram, and attach it to a different part.

E)&le3

S S

NP P A$* NP P

NP A$* NP

Geor,e "el&e- 4ar% %ester-a% 8ester-a% Geor,e "el&e- 4ar%

This is an e!ample of a movement transformation.

=ne of the best arguments for having transformational rules involves what seems

to be the movement of a very small element in English sentence structure.

E!ample two sentences having a great deal in common.

#i* 'oobie picked up the maga0ine.

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#ii* 'oobie picked the maga0ine up.

These sentences contain a verb-particle construction #verbRpick2 particleR up*

which can be symboli0ed as b part.

The particle can be separated from the verb and moved to the end of the

sentence.

8 constituent structure analysis would have some difficulty accommodating this

type of sentence.

8 phrase structure analysis would have to create two distinct tree diagrams.

Pnder circumstances like these, the optional transformation called @/article

6ovementA which takes that structural description and yields the structural

change to $& 5erb $& &articleis proposed.

/hrase 7

7tructure &/ /

Tree

&/

b part. 8rt &

Doobie picked up the magazine

/article 6ovement Doobie picked the magazine up

By taking this simple transformational rule, we have provided the means for

e!plicitly relating the two structures in sentences #i* and #ii* as 3surface% variations

of a single underlying structure. This type of transformational analysis can solve

a number of tricky problems for syntactic descriptions.

The transformational part of the grammar operates on the deep, abstract

structures as specified by the /7%s of the grammar. Transformational rules

operate on bits and pieces of the deep structure these rules may delete

constituents, addconstituents, or changeconstituents around.

E!amples

The boy shot the dog.

The boy could shoot the dog.

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wasn%t. 8n au!iliary constituent is postulated in the underlying structure of

sentences. It can be generated by a phrase-structure rule. Instead of the earlier

e!pansion of 7 as &/ /, the following e!pansion is assumed

7 &/ 8P /

$e can represent the structure or this e!pansion in a tree diagram

7

&/ 8P /

The operation that transform the constituent structure of the yes>no uestion

does so by inverting &/ and 8u!. Thus, subcompound>comple! sentences and draw

tree diagrams to show your understanding of phrase structure

rules.

Then take a break and move on to the ne!t topic when you are

readyQ

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TOPIC 5 SEMANTICS3 LANGUAGE AND MEANING

5.0 SYNOPSIS

Topic introduces you to language and its meaning. It seeks to develop your

knowledge in English language, by improving your knowledge in figurative

language as well as phrasal verbs. It also aims to help you further improve your

skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing and develop your confidence and

fluency in using English in a variety of conte!t.



1. understand how figurative language is used in communication

. use figurative and phrasal verbs in spoken and written language


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SESSION NINE (2 Hours)

5.2.1 W+t i' Se)nti%'

7emantics is the study of the linguistic meanings of words, phrases and

sentences in human language. 8 word%s meaning is determined by the people

who use that word, not by the dictionary. In other words, the meaning is decided

by convention or consensus of the people.

$hy is semantics important in linguistics > language teaching5

#i* To be able to understand each other ; hence facilitating communication.

#ii* To disambiguate ambiguities

5.2.2 Wo#$ )enin!

6eaning is a multifaceted notion. $ord meaning can be content words or

function words

Denotative )eaning

eferential meaning #'enotation>'enotative meaning* refers to the person,

ob


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described in terms of a set of semantic properties which serves to identify the

particular concept associated with the word in uestion. E!amples of words as

having referential or denotative meaning

#i* I went to the store this morning.

#ii* 8ll dogs are animals

$hat can you comment with regard to the truth of the sentences5

#i* It may not be true. The speaker may be lying.

#ii* Is inherently true.

6eaning is probably also determined in part by the conditions under which a

sentence may be used uestions, orders, wishes etc.

Connotati5e 4eanin,

In addition to denotative meaning, a word may convey certain affective or

evaluative associations. +or e!ample house vs home meaning goes beyond

referential meaning i.e. affection, feelings, emotional attachment. It reflects what

the language user feels about the content. This is connotative meaning.

7ome connotations are shared by people of the same status, social or economic

background. Consider violin K fiddle2 and cheap K ine!pensive.

I%m thrifty2 you%re tight2 he%s stingy.

5.2. P+#'e n$ 'enten%e )enin!

$hat do you know when you know what a sentence means5

8nyone who knows a sentence meaning knows the conditions under which it

would be true. 7entence meaning depends on the meaning of the individual

words but semantic roles must be taken into consideration. Ptterance meaningon the other hand, is entirely dependent on circumstances.

5.2.4 Lei%l n$ 't#"%t"#l )enin! e.!. %ollo%tion'

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8nother basic distinction in semantics is the contrast between le!ical meaning

and sentence meaning. $e know that sentence structure makes a contribution to

sentence meaning as seen in Learns% e!amples

#i* The rat that bit the dog chased the cat.

#ii* The cat that chased the dog bit the rat.

These sentences are made out of the same words, but put together in different

ways. The differences tell a speaker of English what bit what and what chased

what.

English speakers do not find other word orders to be eually unambiguous, e.g.,

Chased the dog the cat.

$e use the combination of word meanings and sentence structure to compose

the meanings of sentences and larger units of discourse. =ne of the goals of

linguistic semantics is to understand how speakers construct the compositional

meanings of sentences.

5.2.5 W+t i' Fi!"#ti*e Ln!"!e

$henever you describe something by comparing it with something else,you are using figurative language.

+igurative language is a word or phrase that departs from everyday literallanguage for the sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity, or freshness. 6etaphor

and simileare the two most commonly used figures of speech, but things like

hyperbole, synecdoche, puns, and personificationare also figures of speech.

Psed well, figurative language enhances your fiction and can be an economical

way of getting an image or a point across. owever, used incorrectly, figurative

language can be confusing or downright silly.

Al'o Kno,n A'3 figure of speech, rhetorical figure, metaphorical language.

E)&le'3

?Its fleece was white as snow? is an e!ample of a figurative language from a

childrenOs rhyme. In this case, comparing the lambOs fleece to snow helps create

a picture of how white 6aryOs lamb really was.

65
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/metaphor.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/simile.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/hyperbole.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/synecdoche.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/puns.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/personification.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/metaphor.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/simile.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/hyperbole.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/synecdoche.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/puns.htmhttp://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/personification.htm


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Though we might associate figurative language more with poetry than with

fiction, most of us automatically use figurative language all the time in our writing.

'one well, it helps us communicate and makes our prose fresher and more vivid.

!"at Is a 4eta&"or$

7ome people think of metaphors as nothing more than the sweet stuff of songs

and poems--"ove is a


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E!ample busy as a bee

The metaphor states a fact or draws a verbal picture by the use of comparison.

8 simile would say you are like something2 a metaphor is more positive - it says

you are something. E!ample :ou are what you eat.

!"at is an I-io#$

8ccording to $ebsterOs 'ictionary, an idiom is defined as peculiar to itself

either grammatically #as no, it wasnOt me* or in having a meaning

that cannot be derived from the con P+#'l e#7'

8 &+#'l *e#7 is a combination of a verband a preposition, a verb and an

adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition, any of which are part of

the synta! of the sentence, and so are a complete semantic unit. 7entences may

contain direct and indirect ob


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?$hen he heard the crash, he looked up.?

8n adverb in a literal phrasal verb modifies the verb it is attached to, and a

preposition links the verb to the ob


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patterns intransitive and transitive. 8n intransitive particle verb does not have an

ob


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e#7 Menin! E)&le

'


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before I moved to 8merica.

7#e< "& start laughing #informal*The kids

Documents

English for Language Teachers