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Language is arbitrary.
Language is social.
Language is symbolic.
Language is systematic.
Language is vocal.
Language is non-instinctive and conventional.
Language is productive and creative.
Language is dynamic.
1. Language is Systematic.
Sentence:
The cats sat on a blue mat.
det noun verb prep. art adjective noun
2. Language is Dynamic.
• Itchanges constantly; words and meanings
may even vary from one generation to the
other.
Example:
female adult human being
woman in English
aurat in Urdu
zen in Persian
femine in French
NOTE:
1. The choice of a word selected to mean a
particular thing or idea is purely arbitrary but
once a word is selected for a particular
referent, it comes to stay as such.
• Structural
• Communicative
• Interactional
THE STRUCTURAL VIEW OF
LANGUAGE
Belief:
LANGUAGE is a system of structurally related
elements for the transmission of meaning. These
elements are usually described as
• phonological units (phonemes)
• grammatical units (phrases, clauses, sentences)
• grammatical operations (adding, shifting, joining or transforming
elements)
• lexical items (function words and structure words)
The target of language learning, in the
structural view, is the mastery of elements
of this system.
L2 Methods:
Audio-lingual method
Total Physical Response
Silent Way (Richard & Rodgers, 1986)
THE COMMUNICATIVE VIEW OF
LANGUAGE
Belief:
LANGUAGE is a vehicle for the
expression of functional meaning. The
semantic and communicative dimensions
of language are more emphasized than
the grammatical characteristics, although
these are also included.
The target of language learning is to learn to
express communication functions and
categories of meaning.
L2 Methods:
Communicative approaches
Functional-notional syllabuses
The Natural Approach
THE INTERACTIONAL VIEW OF
LANGUAGE
Belief:
LANGUAGE primarily is a means for
establishing and maintaining interpersonal
relationships and for performing social
transactions between individuals.
The target of language learning in the
interactional view is learning to initiate and
maintain conversations with other people.
L2 Methods:
Strategic interaction
Communicative approaches
SOME FEATURES OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
1. Sounds of the Language.
• Vowels
• Consonants
THE VOCAL ORGANS
2. Stress.
• relative degree of loudness of the part (syllable) of
words of a whole word, or a syllable within the
utterance.
a. Sentence stress - In English, a speaker highlights
certain words in each sentence.
Sentence Stress Rules are:
• content words are stressed
• structure words are unstressed
• the time between stressed words is always the same
a. Content words - stressed
sentences sentences
are analyzed into are used to build
clauses clauses
are analyzed into are used to build
phrases phrases
↓↑
are analyzed into are used to build
words words
are analyzed into are used to build
morphemes morphemes
The following table shows a three-part model of the structure
of English.
Examples:
• Show me your hand.
• Hand in your papers.
• Language is handed down from the mother to child.
Subdivision of vocabulary:
1. Simple.
2. Compound.
3. Derived.
c. Qualities:
• Simple – true or false
• Derived – misty, childish, broken