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LANGUAGE FORMS AND FUNCTIONS

TASK 1 - INITIAL ACTIVITY

TO REFLECT ON LINGUISTICS AND PARTS OF SPEECH

TUTOR:
ANGIE CAROLINA ROJAS

GROUP:
551019_18

NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY AND DISTANCE

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

BACHELOR IN TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

September 05 Th, 2018

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MY PRESENTATION

My name is Nestor Almanza Galindo; I’m 36 years old; I’m from Talaigua Bolívar but I live in

Cartagena Bolívar; I’m a security guard; I’m studying English, I’m in my third year. I’m married

and I have 2 children.

My hobbies are:

About music, I like vallenata music, with groups and artists how: Diomedes Diaz, Faríd Ortiz,

Binomio de Oro and Jorge Oñate.

I like playing and watching sports and spending time with friends and family. Also I like walk,

read, talk with people and I like swimming.

 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 2 3

In the Knowledge Environment, in Unit 1 contents find the text “An Introduction to Linguistics
and Language Studies” by McCabe (2011). After reading it, answer the following questions
with your own words:
A. How do you compare the quotation from Wallace Chafe at the beginning of the
chapter with the purpose of linguistics?

Linguistics is the scientific study of language, and involves an analysis of language form,
language meaning, and language in context.
I find Chafe's approach very promising.
let’s see that communication is very complex, that it goes beyond a simple conversation, his
linguistic studies were emphasized in the contact between the interaction of spoken language,
mind and conscience.

B. Why do you think some people approach the study of linguistics with
apprehensiveness? Is this your case? Explain

Many people do not know what is linguistic, we think many times that they are large amounts of
reading and as we do not have the habit of reading, that is why it is not difficult. The spoken
language we acquired through our environment, but over time we realize that some words we
commonly learned are badly pronounced, but this depends on each person, on my part I began to
investigate how each verb was written correctly and their respective derivations and I got to
identify the amount of errors I had and I could notice that it was not my fault since all these
pronunciation errors are passed from generation to generation. Since then my purpose is to help
many to change each of these faults.
C. Is linguistics about correctness in language use? Explain.

There are great the mistakes that we have in our language, so many people oral as written that by
means of the linguistics we can correct. When we are learning the second language we must
develop as a priority the oral communication, the phonemes to bearing in mind will be those 4
who turn out to be indispensable to establish a suitable communication.

D. What are the names of the greatest contributors to linguistics field? How would you
label each of them? For example, Ferdinand de Saussure, the father of modern
linguistics.

William Labov
who is he? Labov is an American linguist, born on December 4, 1927. Before devoting itself to
the linguistics, he worked as industrial chemist. He studied in Harvard and obtained his doctorate
of Columbia's University.
What did he do? Labov is considered by many as the father of the sociolinguistic, the branch of
the study of the languages that centers on the influence that has the different aspects of the
company in them.
Michael Halliday
who is he? Born in April, 1925, Halliday is a linguist Englishman that resides nowadays in
Australia. Halliday's career began concerning the Chinese mandarin, which study gained him a
title of degree and other one of doctorate, the latter of the University of Cambridge.
What did he do? Halliday is emphasized as the creator of the systemic functional model of
grammar, which it sees to the language as a system of related options, and one emphasizes it in
addition for his contributions to the field of to psycholinguistic, the study of the psychological
and neurological factors that make possible the acquisition of the language.
Leonard Bloomfield
who was he? He Born in Chicago, in 1887, Bloomfield began his tertiary studies in The United
States and continued them in Germany, always inside the field of the languages, specializing
itself punctually in the Germanic languages.
What did he do? Without doubts Bloomfield was one of the principal figures of the American
linguistics and in addition there assumes to him largely the development of the field of the
structural linguistics and the behaviorism. he was one of the principal defenders and impellers of
the utilization of the scientific method in the linguistics and his work on the Algonquian
languages of North America was fundamental for the study of this family of languages.
Edward Sapir 5
who was he?
He Born in Germany, but formed in The United States, Edward Sapir influenced to other
recognized names of the linguistics, as Benjamin Whorf or the very same Noam Chomsky.
Though his career began with the study, prompt of Germanic languages his interest went on to
the languages indigenous to North America and his studies often intermingled with the
anthropology. In fact, he was a pupil of Franz Boas who is considered to be the father of the
American anthropology and had a great influence in the change of his object of study.
What did he do?
Before Sapir, the disciplines like the historical linguistics were, in the main, considered as fields
that alone could never be applied to the European languages and the original ones of the
American continent. Thank you largely to him, there was understood that the latter languages can
have so complex and interesting structures as the Europeans and the study of the Amerindian
languages deepened and gained protagonism itself.
Roman Jacobson
who was he?
From his infancy in the Russia of beginning of the 20th century, Jacobson showed a strong
interest for the study of the languages.
What did he do? Jacobson was one of the first ones in promoting the structural analysis of the
language and this method spread to other fields of the social sciences. His contributions in the
area of the phonetics and the phonology also performed supreme importance for the linguistics.
Noam Chomsky
who is he?
Chomsky is something like rock star of the current linguistics. He is one of the alive scientists
more acquaintances and respected in the world and has could go out of the linguistics to think
about varied current topics of politics and company.
What did he do? All this reputation is not uselessly; Chomsky is responsible for imposing a
theory that shook the foundations of the linguistics: The grammar generativist. Chomsky
supports the existence of a universal innate grammar to the human brain, instead of one
acquired of the environment.
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ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 3

In any language, we find eight (8) different parts of speech: noun, verb, pronoun,
adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

A. Choose three parts of speech and explain them in terms of definition, types, and
examples. You would rather choose those parts of speech you are less familiar with.
If you wish, you can use the “Glossary of English Grammar” by Leech (2006)
included in the Unit 1 contents for your search.

CONJUNCTIONS.
Conjunctions function as connectors between words, phrases, clauses, or sentences, as and, or,
because, if, etc.
Types.
Coordinating Conjunctions.
Examples:
Cookies and milk
This cup of tea is delicious and very soothing.
Homer always wanted to join the play, but he didn’t have the guts to audition
Here they are (only 7): for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
Subordinating Conjunctions
There are many subordinating conjunctions. This list does not include all of them.
Example: I will eat broccoli after I eat this cookie.
A: after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though
B: because, before, by the time. Etc.
 Correlative Conjunctions 7
These are always used in pairs.
Example: This cookie contains neither chocolate nor nuts.
both... and
either... or
neither... nor
not only... but also
whether... or
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives describe or define nouns, as good, bad, blue, my, an etc.
Types of adjectives
Descriptive adjectives
Examples:

 Dangerous chemicals
 Green vegetables
 A square box
 A big house
 A tall tree
 A cold morning
 A powerful motorbike
 An English language

Mediterranean country

Adjective of quantity
An adjective of quantity tells us the number (how many) or amount (how much) of a noun. But it
doesn't say exactly how many or how much.
Examples:

 He has eaten three apples.

 I don't have enough pocket money.
 They brought along a few sandwiches.
 There is a little dust on the bookshelf.
 There are some birds in that tree.
 We have much wine for the guests.
  This long, thin centipede has many legs. 8

Demonstrative adjective

There are four words that are used as demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these, those. We
use this and that with nouns to show the nouns are singular (this/that computer = one
computer) and these and those with nouns to show they are plural (these/those ants = more
than one ant)
Examples:
 This dog had no tail.
 That pig has a curly tail.
 These trousers are now too tight for me.
 Those monkeys are noisy.

Possessive adjective

A possessive adjective, also called a possessive determiner, expresses possession of a noun by

someone or something by modifying the noun. Possessive adjectives are the same as possessive
pronouns.
Examples:
 I spent my afternoon painting the toilet.

 This must be your missing pencil.

 His arms have a few tattoos.

 Its skin is dry and rough.

 Our grandmothers were classmates.

 ADVERB 9

Adverb modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, as here, always, very, etc.

type of adverb.

Adverbs of Time

Examples of adverbs of time: never, lately, just, always, recently, during, yet, soon,
sometimes, usually, so far
 So far, we have found twelve grammar mistakes.

 I haven’t been going to the gym lately.

 We recently bought a new car.

Adverbs of Place

Examples of adverbs of place: here, there, nowhere, everywhere, out, in, above, below,
inside, outside, into
 We went into the cave, and there were bats everywhere!

 One day when my dad wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, he walked into a
wall.

 There aren’t any Pokémon here, let’s look somewhere else.

Adverbs of Manner
Examples of adverbs of manner: neatly, slowly, quickly, sadly, calmly, politely, loudly,
kindly, lazily.

 The young soldier folded his clothes neatly in a pile at the end of his bunk.
 I politely opened the door for my grandmother as she stepped out of the car.
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 A fat orange and white cat rested lazily on the sofa.

Adverbs of Degree

Example of adverbs of degree: almost, quite, nearly, too, enough, just, hardly, simply, so.
 Can I come to the movies too?
 Aren’t you hungry? You’ve hardly touched your dinner.
 I’m so excited to see the new James Bond movie!

Adverbs of Frequency

Examples of adverbs of frequency: never, always, rarely, sometimes, normally, seldom,

usually, again
 I rarely eat fast food these days.

 Tom usually takes his dog for a walk before breakfast.

 They always go to the same restaurant every Friday.

b. Propose two complex sentences on your own and identify as many parts of speech as
possible in them. You can do this using a diagram or a chart. Be sure the sentences are
created by you, and not paraphrased or copied from a source of yours. Remember that if a
copy is detected (plagiarism), you will get zero (0) points in this initial activity.

Noun Verbs Adverbs

The girl Is At the desk
The book Is On the table
The teacher Is In the classroom
The shoes are Under the bed

Pronoun Verbs Adjective Noun

I am A tall man
You Are An intelligent Woman.
 REFERENCES 11

Defining Language

McCabe, A. (2011). An Introduction to Linguistics and Language Studies. London: Equinox

Publishing Ltd. pp. 1-15. Recovered
fromhttp://bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co:2051/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=547849&l
ang=es&site=eds-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_1

https://www.vix.com/es/btg/curiosidades/57567/profesionales-de-la-lengua-7-autores-que-
camb
http://myenglishgrammar.com/lesson-3-adjectives/1-types-of-adjectives.html
https://www.myenglishteacher.eu/blog/types-of-adverb/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverb

book 3 conversational grammar, institute Meyer