LET Reviewer for English Majors

LET Reviewer for English Majors

I. Linguistics
Scope of Linguistic Studies
Phonology – studies the combination of sounds into organized units of speech, the combination
of syllables and larger units.
Phoneme is a distinctive, contrasted sound unit, e.g. /b/, /æ/, /g/. It is the smallest unit of sound
of any language that causes a difference in meaning.
Allophones are variants or other ways of producing a phoneme.
Phonetics – studies language at the level of sounds: how sounds are articulated by the human
speech mechanism.
Morphology – studies the patterns of forming words by combining sounds into minimal
distinctive units of meanings called morphemes.
Morpheme is a short segment of language which (1) is a word or word part that has meaning,
(2) cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts without violating its meaning, (3) recurs in
different words with a relatively stable meaning.
Allomorphs – are morphs which belong to the same morpheme e.g., /s/, /z/, and /ez/ of the
plural morpheme /s/ or /es/.
Free morphemes can stand on their own as independent words, e.g., beauty in beautifully, like
in unlikely. Thus, they can occur in isolation.
Bound morphemes cannot stand on their own as independent words. These morphemes are
also called as affixes.
Inflectional morphemes never change the form class of the words or morphemes to which they
are attached. They show person, tense, number, case, and degree.
Derivational morphemes are added to root morphemes or stems to derive new words.
Syntax – deals with how words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences, and studies
the way phrases, clauses, and sentences are constructed.
Structure of predication –refers to the two components : subject and predicate
Structure of complementation – has two basic elements : verbal and complement
Structure of modification – includes two components : head word and modifier
Structure of coordination – covers two components : equivalent grammatical units
Semantics – attempts to analyze the structure of meaning in language and deals with the level
of meaning in language.
Lexical ambiguity – refers to the characteristic of a word that has more than one meaning.
Syntactic ambiguity – refers to the characteristic of a phrase that has more than one meaning
e.g. Filipino teacher.
Pragmatics – deals with the contextual aspects of meaning in particular situations ; studies how
language is used in real communication.
Speech act theory – advances that every utterance consists of three separate acts (1)
locutionary force – an act of saying something and describes what a speaker says, (2)
illocutionary force – the act of doing something and what the speaker intends to do by uttering a
sentence, and (3) perlocutionary act – an act of affecting someone; the effect on the hearer of
what a speaker says.
Categories of illocutionary acts – refers to categories proposed by John Searle to group
together closely related intentions for saying something:
Representative – stating, asserting, denying, confessing, admitting, notifying, concluding,
predicting, etc.
Directive – requesting, ordering, forbidding, warning, advising, suggesting, insisting,
recommending, etc.
Question –asking, inquiring, etc.
Commissive – promising, vowing, volunteering, offering, guaranteeing, pledging, betting, etc.
Expressive – apologizing, thanking, congratulating, condoling, welcoming, deploring, objecting,
etc.
Declaration – appointing, naming, resigning, baptizing, surrendering, excommunicating,
arresting, etc.
Discourse – studies chunks of language which are bigger than a single sentence.
Language Views / Theories of Language
The Structuralists support the idea that language can be described in terms of observable and
verifiable data as it is being used.
Language is a means of communication.
Language is primarily vocal
Language is a system of systems.
Language is arbitrary.
The Transformationalists believe that language is a system of knowledge made manifest in
linguistic forms but innate and, in its most abstract form universal.
Language is a mental phenomenon. It is not mechanical.
Language is innate. Children acquire their first language because they have a language
acquisition device (LAD) in their brain.
Language is universal: all normal children learn a mother tongue, all languages share must
share key features like sounds and rules.
Language is creative and enables speakers to produce and understand sentences they have
not heard nor used before.
The Functionalists advocates that language is a dynamic system through which members of a
community exchange information. It is a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning such
as expressing one’s emotions, persuading people, asking and giving information, etc.
They emphasize the meaning and functions rather than the grammatical characteristics of
language.
The Interactionists believe that language is a vehicle for establishing interpersonal relations and
for performing social transactions between individuals.
Language teaching content may be specified and organized by patterns of exchange and
interaction.
Language Acquisition / Theories of Language Learning
Behaviorist learning theory – the language behavior of an individual is conditioned by
sequences of differential rewards in his/her environment.
According to Littlewood (1984), the process of habit formation includes the following :
Children imitate the sounds and patterns which they hear around them.
People recognize the child’s attempts as being similar to the adult models and reinforce
(reward) the sounds by approval or some other desirable reaction.
In order to obtain more of these rewards, the child repeats the sounds and patterns so that
these become habits.
In this way t he child’s verbal behavior is conditioned (‘shaped’) until the habits coincide with
adult models.
Behavioralists see three crucial elements of learning: (1) a stimulus, which serves to elicit
behavior, (2) a response triggered by the stimulus, and (3) reinforcement which serves to mark
the response as being appropriate and encourages the repetition of the response.
Cognitive learning theory. Noam Chomsky believes that all normal human beings have an
inborn biological internal mechanism that makes language learning possible.
Cognitivists / innatists ‘ mentalists account of second language acquisition include hypothesis
testing, a process of formulating rules and testing the same with competent speakers of the
target language.
Krashen’s Monitor Model (1981).This is the most comprehensive theory in second language
acquisition. It consists of five central hypotheses.
The acquisition / learning hypothesis – claims that there are two ways of developing
competence in L2:
Acquisition – the subconscious process that results from informal, natural communication
between people where language is a means, not a focus nor an end in itself.
Learning – the conscious process of knowing about language and being able to talk about it,
that occurs in a more formal situation where the properties of a language are taught
The natural order hypothesis suggests that grammatical structures are acquired in a predictable
order for both children and adults _ certain grammatical structures are acquired before others,
irrespective of the language being learned.
The monitor hypothesis claims that conscious learning of grammatical rules has an extremely
limited function in language performance: as a monitor or editor that checks output.
The input hypothesis. Krashen proposes that when learners are exposed to grammatical
features a little beyond their current level those features are acquired.
The affective filter hypothesis. Filter consists of attitude to language, motivation, self-confidence
and anxiety. Learners with a low affective filter seek and receive more input, interact with
confidence, and are more receptive to the input they are exposed to.
Teachers must continuously deliver at a level understandable by learners
Teaching must prepare the learners for real life communication situations
Teachers must ensure that learners do not become anxious or defensive in language learning.
Formal grammar teaching is of limited value because it contributes to learning rather than
acquisition
Language Teaching Implications
Language theories provide some basis for a particular teaching method or approach.
Structuralism / behaviorism has produced the audiolingual method (ALM), oral approach /
situational language teaching, bottom-up text processing, controlled-to-free writing.
The cognitive learning theory results to the cognitive approach that puts language analysis
before language use and instruction by the teacher, before the students practice forms.
Learning as a thinking process gives birth to cognitive-based and schema-enhancing strategies
such as Directed Reading Thinking Activity, Story Grammar, Think-Aloud, etc.
The functional view of language introduced methods which are learner-centered, allowing
learners to work in pairs or groups in information gap tasks and problem-solving activities where
such communication strategies as information sharing, negotiation of meaning, and interaction
are used.
These communication-based methods include the Communicative Language Teaching /
Communicative Approach, Notional-Functional Approach, Natural Approach
Cognitive – affective has given rise to a holistic approach to language learning or whole person
learning. It also includes the humanistic approach, allowing learners vocabulary for expressing,
sharing and understanding one’s feelings, values, and needs.
The humanistic techniques cover Community Language Learning.

II. Literature
Goals of Teaching Literature
Develop and/or extend literary competence. Jonathan Culler defines literary competence as the
ability to internalize the ‘grammar’ of literature which would permit a reader to convert linguistic
sequences into literary structures and meaning.
Develop and/or enhance learners’ imagination and creativity.
Develop students’ character and emotional maturity.
Develop creative thinking.
Develop literary appreciation and refine one’s reading taste.

Methods in Teaching Literature

Lecture Methods : formal, informal, straight recitation
Discussion Methods : pair work, buzz group, group work
Public Speaking Methods : memorizing, interpretive reading (Readers Theater, Chamber
Theater), debate, panel forum
Audio-Visual Methods : using slides, transparencies, film, vcd, dvd,
Project Methods : scrapbook making, exhibit/diorama, dramatization, literary map, time line,
video/audio scriptwriting
Field Research Methods : field trip, author interview
Creative Writing Methods : journal writing, closure writing, team writing, writing workshop
Some Strategies and Techniques in Teaching Literature
Show and Tell and Blurb Writing– using the title and cover design
Movie Poster and Movie Trailer – transforming a literary piece into film
Writing Chapter Zero / Epilogue – writing a prequel or sequel
Mock Author Interview – assigning a student to play the role of the author
Biographical Montage – compiling authentic materials about the author
Graphic Representations – using sketching or other visual representations
Sculpting – making a tableau or montage
Creative Conversation, Speech Balloons, or Thought Bubbles – supplying dialogues
Worksheets – completing grids or writing responses
Transforms – translating or turning a piece into another genre

Literary Criticism – involves the reading, interpretation and commentary of a specific text or texts
which have been designated as literature. Literary criticism is the application of a literary theory
to specific texts. Literary theory identifies what makes literary language literary and the function
of literary text in social and cultural terms.
Classical Literary Theory –literature is an imitation of life.
Mimesis (Plato) – literature is an imitation of life.
Dulce et utile (Horace) – function of literature is to entertain or to teach/instruct
Sublime (Longinus) – style may be low, middle, high, or sublime
Catharsis (Aristotle) – purgation of negative emotions of fear and pity
Historical – Biographical and Moral – Philosophical Approaches
a. A literary work is a reflection of its author’s life and times or the life and times of the
characters in the work.
b. It emphasizes that literature functions to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues.
Romantic Theory. William Wordsworth articulated it in his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads as
literature which should
a. have a subject matter that is ordinary and commonplace
b. use simple language, even aspiring to the language of prose
c. make use of the imagination
d. convey a primal, simple, uncomplicated feeling
e. present similitude in dissimilitude (similarities in differences)
New Criticism – believes that literature is an organic unity. To use this theory, one proceeds by
looking into the following : the persona, the addressee, the situation (where and when), what the
persona says, the central metaphor (tenor and vehicle), the central irony, the multiple meaning
of words.
Psychoanalytical Theory – applies Freudian psychoanalytic ideas to literature.
a. It looks into the character’s or author’s motivations, drives, fears, desires.
b. It believes that creative writing is like dreaming – it disguises what cannot be confronted
directly – the critic must decode what is disguised.
Mythological / Archetypal Approach – is based on Carl Jung’s theory of collective unconscious.
a. Repeated or dominant images or patterns of human experience are identified in the text.
b. It also uses Northrop Frye’s assertion that literature consists of variations on a great mythic
theme that contains the following : (1) the garden : the creation of life in paradise, (2) alienation :
displacement or banishment from paradise, (3) journey : a time of trial and tribulation, (4)
epiphany : a self-discovery as a result of struggle, (4) rebirth / resurrection : a return to paradise.
Structuralist Literary Theory – comes from the linguistic theory of Ferdinand de Saussure which
recognizes language as a system or structure. To Vladimir Propp and Tzvetan Todorov ,
structuralism should identify the general principles of literary structure and not to provide
interpretations of individual texts. Three dimensions in individual literary texts :
a. the text as a particular system or structure in itself (naturalization of a text)
b. texts are unavoidably influenced by other texts (intertextuality)
c. the text is related to the culture as a whole (binary oppositions)
Deconstruction – interrogates our common practices in reading and exposes the gaps,
incoherences, the contradictions in a discourse and how the text undermine itself or how a text
contradicts itself. Deconstruction draws much from the works of Jacques Derrida. The process
involves
a. identifying the oppositions in the text
b. determining which member is favored/privileged and looking for evidence that contradicts it
c. exposing the text’s indeterminancy
Russian Formalism – led by Viktor Shklovsky – aims to establish a ‘science of literature’ and
discover the literariness of a text by highlighting the devices and technical elements used by the
author. These elements should include :
baring the device – e.g. distorting time in various ways – foreshortening, skipping, expanding,
transposing, reversing, flashback, flashforward, etc.
defamiliarization – this means making strange and using fresh ways of describing things
retardation of the narrative – the technique of delaying and protracting actions by using
digressions, displacements, extended descriptions, etc.
naturalization – refers to how we endlessly become inventive in finding ways of making sense
of the most random or chaotic utterances or discourse.
carnivalization – Mikhail Bakhtin used this term to describe the shaping effect of carnival on
literary texts. The festivities associated with the carnival are collective and popular; hierarchies
are turned on their heads (fools become wise; kings become beggars); opposites are mingled
(fact and fantasy, heaven and hell); the sacred is profaned; the rigid or serious is subverted,
mocked or loosened.
Marxist Literary Theory. It aims to explain literature relation to society – that literature can only
be properly understood within a larger framework of social reality. Marxist literary critics would
like to look at the structure of history and society and then investigate whether the literary work
reflects or distorts this structure. They insist that literature has a social dimension – it exists in
time and space, in history and society. Moreover, writers are constantly formed by their social
contexts and social class.
Feminist Criticism. Branching out from Marxism, it is a political discourse; a critical and
theoretical practice committed to the struggle against patriarchy and sexism.
a. Feminism asks why women played a subordinate role to men in society.
It studies the male-dominated canon to understand how men have used culture to further their
domination of women.
b. It studies literature by women for how it addresses or expresses the particularity of women’s
life and experience. Feminist critics insist that women’s experience is different from men’s.
12. Postcolonial Criticism. Postcolonialism refers to the independence enjoyed by Third World
countries after the decline of colonial rule by imperialist powers. The many concerns of
postcolonial criticism includes the following :
a. attempt to resurrect their national culture and to combat the misconceptions about their
culture
b. dramatize the colonial experience and their response to it
c. escape from the implicit body of assumptions to which the language of the colonizing power,
English, was attached.
d. study diasporic texts outside the usual Western genres, especially works by aboriginal
authors, marginalized ethnicities, immigrants, and refugees.
e. analyze nationality, ethnicity, and politics with poststructuralist ideas of identity and
indeterminacy, and hybrid constructions (Homi K. Bhaba)
13. Post Modern Literary Theory. Postmodern refers to the culture of advanced capitalist
societies, which has undergone a profound shift in the ‘structure of feeling.’ Postmodern texts
have the following features :
a. fragmentation g. intertextuality
b. discontinuity h. decentering
c. indeterminacy i. dislocation
d. plurality j. ludism
e. metafictionality k. parody
f. heterogeneity l. pastiche

III. Linguistic Approaches to Reading

Bloomfield Approach – Leonard Bloomfield and Clarence Barnhart advocate that the child
should be acquainted with the letters of the alphabet at the very start. The child should begin
with capital letters and then go to small letters.
Fries Approach – Charles Fries’ basic concept : Learning to read in one’s native language is
learning to shift, to transfer, from auditory signs for the language signals which the child has
already learned to visual or graphic signs for the same signals for language perception. The aim
is to develop high-speed recognition responses to English spelling patterns.
C. Eclectic Approach
Reading as interest – development of the recreational reading habit; the major approach is
personalized or individualized reading.
2. Reading as language process
Language Experience Approach – a strategy which views reading as an extension of speaking :
thinking/experiencing, talking, writing, reading.
Psycholinguistic Approach – view reading as an interaction of thought and language, a process
of combining psychology and linguistics. This approach advances that reading, like listening, is
a receptive process, used to understand a written message, that readers reconstruct the
author’s meaning in their own words.
Reading as culture – focuses on the relation between dialect differences and the written
message as well as on one’s cultural heritage. It makes instruction relevant to the pupil’s
cultural background.
Reading as a learned process – emphasizes on controlled development of skills in a structured
sequence progressing from simple to complex
The Basal Textbook Approach – follows this general format : scope-and-sequence or flow chart
for all an overall view of skills; kindergarten readiness workbooks; first grade, second grade and
above skillbooks; teacher’s guides and assessment tests. The standard basal text lesson
follows these steps:
(a) background or motivation
(b) vocal development
(c) purposeful or guided silent reading
(d) discussion
(e) purposeful rereading
(f) skill instruction in word recognition, comprehension skill with the use of workbooks
(g) enrichment activities
The Linguistic Approach – look at reading as recognizing and interpreting graphic symbols
representing spoken sounds which have meaning. It stresses sound-symbol regularity and
systematic exposure to frequently used sounding patterns.
The Phonics Approach – believes that the English spelling system is essentially regular in its
correspondence between letters and speech sounds and that letter sounds can be blended
together to form words. For second language learners short phonics drills on crucial sounds like
f, v, j, sh, th, z, a and the schwa are needed.
Programmed Instruction – includes step-by-step learning, learning, immediate feedback, regular
and constant review and individual progress through materials.
The Skills Monitoring Approach – reading is analyzed in terms of skills arranged in hierarchies.
This approach entails
(1) a scope and sequence chart of reading skills
(2) a battery of tests for preassessment of reading abilities
(3) based on test results, instruction to adjust to pupils’ interest, abilities, and needs
(4) a continuous assessment using both formative and summative tests
(5) a corrective or remedial measures
(6) an adequate and challenging enrichment activities for the bright pupils.

IV. Stage and Speech Arts

Level / Context of Speech Communication
Intrapersonal – involves only oneself.
Internal discourse like thinking, analysis, contemplation, meditation
Solo vocal communication like thinking aloud, soliloquies
Solo written communication not intended for others like diaries, or personal journals
Interpersonal – involves an exchange between sender and receiver of a message. It may be
direct (face-to-face) or indirect (via telephone, e-mail, teleconference)
Dyadic communication ; two people talking
Group communication ; study group, committee meetings
Public communication ; scholarly lectures, political campaigns
B. The Speech Arts
Different types of public speech according to purpose
Informative – to present facts, knowledge, information
Persuasive – to reinforce or modify the audience’s beliefs
Occasional or entertaining – to amuse the audience
How the speech is delivered
Impromptu speech – delivered with little or no preparation
Extemporaneous speech – delivered with some prepared structure such as notes or outlines
Memorized speech – reciting speech from memory
Manuscript speaking – reading the speech word-for-word from its written form or the manuscript
Types of oral interpretation
a. Solo interpretation
Story telling – oral sharing of a personal or traditional story; it may be illustrative (using
drawings) or creative / dramatic (using gestures and creative movements) for entertaining or
educating
Interpretative / interpretive reading – also called dramatic reading, oral reading, or reading aloud
by using the elements of voice and diction to convey meaning and mood
Declamation – recitation of a poem from memory and is marked by strong feelings
Monologue – interpretative oral performance of prose or poetry in which the interpreter plays a
role
b. Group interpretation
Reading concert – also known as Readers Theatre- oral reading activity with speakers
presenting literature in a dramatic form
Chamber Theater – theatrical approach to performing narrative literature
Speech Choir – also choral reading, choric interpretation, vocal orchestration – ensemble
reading technique where a group of readers recite as one in coordinated voices and related
interpretation : (1) reading in unison – several voices sound like one instrument, (2) solo and
chorus – soloists recite lines and chorus recites refrains, (3) responsive reading – lines are
recited alternately by solo or chorus

V. Structure of English
Sentences. Every sentence must have both a subject and a verb.
Three kinds of sentences
A declarative sentence states a fact, e.g., “Connie loves Rommel.”
An interrogative sentence asks a question, e.g., “Does Connie love Rommel?”
An exclamatory sentence registers an exclamation, e.g., “Like, I mean, you know, like wow!”
Three basic structures
A simple sentence makes one self-standing assertion, i.e., has one main clause, e.g., “Connie
loves Rommel.”
A compound sentence makes two or more self-standing assertions, i.e., has two main clauses,
e.g., “Connie loves Rommel and Rommel enjoys it.”
A complex sentence makes one self-standing assertion and one or more dependent assertions,
subordinate clauses, dependent on the main clause, e.g., “Connie who has been desiring
Rommel these twelve years, loves him, and Rommel, what’s more, still enjoys it.”

Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Relative Clauses

A restrictive clause modifies directly, and so restricts the meaning of the antecedent it refers
back to, e.g., “This is the girl that started all the fun.” One specific girl is intended. The relative
clause is not set off by a comma.
A nonrestrictive clause, though still a dependent clause, does not directly modify its antecedent
and is set off by commas. “These girls, who came from Iloilo, are all sweet and charming.”
Appositives. An appositive is an amplifying word or phrase placed next to the term it refers to
and set off by commas, e.g., “Henry VIII, a glutton for punishment, had six wives.

Basic Sentence Patterns (based on syntax)

Parataxis – Phrases or clauses arranged independently, in a coordinate construction, and often
without connectives, e.g., “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Hypotaxis – Phrases or clauses arranged in a dependent, subordinate relationship, e.g., “I
came, and after I came and looked around a bit, I decided, well, why not, and so conquered.”

Asyndeton – Connectives are committed between words, phrases, or clauses, e.g., “I’ve been
stressed, destressed, beat down, beat up, held down, held up, conditioned, reconditioned.”
Polysendeton – Connectives are always supplied between words, phrases, or clauses, as when
Milton talks about Satan pursuing his way, “And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.”
Periodic Sentence – is a long sentence with a number of elements, usually balanced or
antithetical, standing in a clear syntactical relationship to each other. Usually it suspends the
conclusion of the sense until the end of the sentence, and so is sometimes called a suspended
syntax.
Loose Sentence – a sentence whose elements are loosely related to one another, follow in no
particularly antithetical climactic order, and do not suspend its grammatical completion until the
close. A sentence so loose as to verge on incoherence is often called a run-on sentence.
Isocolon – the Greek word means, literally, syntactic units of equal length, and it is used in
English to describe the repetition of phrases of equal length and corresponding structure, e.g.,
“Harry, now I do not speak to thee in drink but in tears, not in pleasure but in passion, not in
words only, but in woes also.”
Chiasmus – is the basic pattern of antithetical inversion, the AB:BA pattern. The best example is
probably from John F. Kennedy’s first inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for
you, but what you can do for your country.”
Anaphora – begins a series of phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word. Churchill’s
exhortation in 1940: “We have become the sole champion now in arms to defend the world
cause. We shall do our best to be worthy of this high honor. We shall defend our island home,
and with the British Empire we shall fight on unconquerable until the curse of Hitler is lifted from
the brows of mankind. We are sure that in the end all will come right.”