Linguistics

Part of Speech (5): Adverb

2007-02-23T05:55:00.000+07:00

Before, it has been briefly explained that an adjective is a word that give more information about a noun or pronoun. Now, comes to adverb. An adverb is usually defined as a word that gives more information about a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives and adverbs in terms of such qualities as time, frequency and manner. In the sentence Sue runs fast, fast describes how or the manner in which Sue runs. In the sentence Sue runs very fast, very describes the adverb fast and gives information about how fast Sue runs.

Most, but not all adverbs end in -ly as in But not all words that end in -ly are adverbs (ugly is an adjective, supply and reply can both be nouns or verbs). Many times an adjective can be made into an adverb by adding -ly as in nicely, quickly, completely, sincerely.

Adverbs modify or describe verbs (run fast), adjectives (often sad), or other adverbs (too often). Adverbs often, but not always, end in -ly. A test for deciding if a word is an adverb is to think about the word's function. Adverbs tend to tell where, when, or how.

In addition, an adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause. An adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as "how," "when," "where," "how much".

While some adverbs can be identified by their characteristic "ly" suffix, most of them must be identified by untangling the grammatical relationships within the sentence or clause as a whole. Unlike an adjective, an adverb can be found in various places within the sentence.

In the following examples, each of the highlighted words is an adverb:

The seamstress quickly made the mourning clothes.

In this sentence, the adverb "quickly" modifies the verb "made" and indicates in what manner (or how fast) the clothing was constructed.

The midwives waited patiently through a long labour.

Similarly in this sentence, the adverb "patiently" modifies the verb "waited" and describes the manner in which the midwives waited.

The boldly-spoken words would return to haunt the rebel.

In this sentence the adverb "boldly" modifies the adjective "spoken."

We urged him to dial the number more expeditiously.
Here the adverb "more" modifies the adverb "expeditiously."

Unfortunately, the bank closed at three today.
In this example, the adverb "unfortunately" modifies the entire sentence.

There is one kind of adverb called conjunctive adverb.

You can use a conjunctive adverb to join two clauses together. Some of the most common conjunctive adverbs are "also," "consequently," "finally," "furthermore," "hence," "however," "incidentally," "indeed," "instead," "likewise," "meanwhile," "nevertheless," "next," "nonetheless," "otherwise," "still," "then," "therefore," and "thus." A conjunctive adverb is not strong enough to join two independent clauses without the aid of a semicolon.

The highlighted words in the following sentences are conjunctive adverbs:

-The government has cut university budgets; consequently, class sizes have been increased.
-He did not have all the ingredients the recipe called for; therefore, he decided to make something else.
-The report recommended several changes to the ways the corporation accounted for donations; furthermore, it suggested that a new auditor be appointed immediately.
-The crowd waited patiently for three hours; finally, the doors to the stadium were opened.
-Batman and Robin fruitlessly searched the building; indeed, the Joker had escaped through a secret door in the basement.

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Part of Speech (4): Adjective

2007-01-23T12:19:00.000+07:00

Adjective is part of speech which includes words like big, small, beautiful, smart, etc. English and many other languages have a large number and growing class of adjectives, though in still other languages the class of adjective is tiny and closed or absent altogether. (In these languages, the meanings expressed by adjectives in English are expressed by other parts of speech).

"Fast, fun, new, old, red, ugly" are all adjectives. They describe a noun.

Read these examples:

It's a fast car. It's a fun car. It's a new car.
It's an old car. It's a red car. It's an ugly car.

In English, adjectives may be defined by a umber of criteria. Not every adjective exhibits every single one of the ytpical adjectival properties, but a word that exhibits most of them must still be classed as an adjective. Here are some tests for adjective.

Distribution: An adjective can typically appear in each of the following slots to produce a good sentence: This is a(n) _____ book; This book is _____; _____ though this book is, it's not what we want. (Try this with new, interesting, expensive, beautiful).

Comparison: An adjectivecan be compared in one of the following two ways: big/bigger/biggest, beautiful/more beautiful/ most beautiful. It can akso appear in the as ..... as construction: as pretty as Rita, etc.

Degree: An adjective can be modified by a degree modifier like very, fairly, too, so, or rather. Examples: very big, fairly nice, so good, etc.

Affixation: An adjective may take the prefix un- or in- to form another adjective. Like happy/unhappy, possible/impossible, etc.

Negative properties: An adjective can't be marked for number (singular vs. plural) of for tense (past vs. non-past), nor can it take the suffix -ing which goes onto verb.

Moreover, the meaning of an adjective is typically a temporary or permanent state or condition : big, young, red, asleep, shiny, etc. Many adjetives also express subjective perceptions, rather than objective facts: interesting, beautiful, disgusting, etc. In fact, a few adjectives express very unusual types of meaning: mere, utter, etc.

To conclude, adjectives are words used to describe nouns. Adjectives give more information about a noun. Use adjectives to make your writing more interesting.

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Part of Speech (3): Verb

2007-01-09T17:05:00.000+07:00

A verb is often defined as a word which shows action or state of being. The verb is the heart of a sentence - every sentence must have a verb. Recognizing the verb is often the most important step in understanding the meaning of a sentence. In the sentence The dog bit the man, bit is the verb and the word which shows the action of the sentence. In the sentence The man is sitting on a chair, even though the action doesn't show much activity, sitting is the verb of the sentence. In the sentence She is a smart girl, there is no action but a state of being expressed by the verb is. The word be is different from other verbs in many ways but can still be thought of as a verb.

Unlike most of the other parts of speech, verbs change their form. Sometimes endings are added (learn - learned) and sometimes the word itself becomes different (teach-taught). The different forms of verbs show different meanings related to such things as tense (past, present, future), person (first person, second person, third person), number (singular, plural) and voice (active, passive). Verbs are also often accompanied by verb-like words called modals (may, could, should, etc.) and auxiliaries(do, have, will, etc.) to give them different meanings.

One of the most important things about verbs is their relationship to time. Verbs tell if something has already happened, if it will happen later, or if it is happening now. For things happening now, we use the present tense of a verb; for something that has already happened, we use the past tense; and for something that will happen later, we use the future tense.

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Part of Speech (2): Pronoun

2007-01-08T14:00:00.000+07:00

What is a Pronoun?
A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. You use pronouns like "he," "which," "none," and "you" to make your sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive.

Grammarians classify pronouns into several types, including the personal pronoun, the demonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the indefinite pronoun, the relative pronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive pronoun.

Personal Pronouns
A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and changes its form to indicate person, number, gender, and case.

Subjective Personal Pronouns
A subjective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the sentence. The subjective personal pronouns are "I," "you," "she," "he," "it," "we," "you," "they."

In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is a subjective personal pronoun and acts as the subject of the sentence:

I was glad to find the bus pass in the bottom of the green knapsack.
You are surely the strangest child I have ever met.
He stole the selkie's skin and forced her to live with him.
When she was a young woman, she earned her living as a coal miner.
After many years, they returned to their homeland.
We will meet at the library at 3:30 p.m.
It is on the counter.
Are you the delegates from Malagawatch?
Objective Personal Pronouns
An objective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as an object of a verb, compound verb, preposition, or infinitive phrase. The objective personal pronouns are: "me," "you," "her," "him," "it," "us," "you," and "them."

In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is an objective personal pronoun:

Seamus stole the selkie's skin and forced her to live with him.
The objective personal pronoun "her" is the direct object of the verb "forced" and the objective personal pronoun "him" is the object of the preposition "with."

After reading the pamphlet, Judy threw it into the garbage can.
The pronoun "it" is the direct object of the verb "threw".

The agitated assistant stood up and faced the angry delegates and said, "Our leader will address you in five minutes."
In this sentence, the pronoun "you" is the direct object of the verb "address."

Deborah and Roberta will meet us at the newest café in the market.
Here the objective personal pronoun "us" is the direct object of the compound verb "will meet."

Give the list to me.
Here the objective personal pronoun "me" is the object of the preposition "to".

I'm not sure that my contact will talk to you.
Similarly in this example, the objective personal pronoun "you" is the object of the preposition "to".

Christopher was surprised to see her at the drag races.
Here the objective personal pronoun "her" is the object of the infinitive phrase "to see."

Possessive Personal Pronouns
A possessive pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as a marker of possession and defines who owns a particular object or person. The possessive personal pronouns are "mine," "yours," "hers," "his," "its," "ours," and "theirs." Note that possessive personal pronouns are very similar to possessive adjectives like "my," "her," and "their."

In each of the following sentences, the highlighted word is a possessive personal pronoun:

The smallest gift is mine.
Here the possessive pronoun "mine" functions as a subject complement.

This is yours.
Here too the possessive pronoun "yours" functions as a subject complement.

His is on the kitchen counter.
In this example, the possessive pronoun "his" acts as the subject of the sentence.

Theirs will be delivered tomorrow.
In this sentence, the possessive pronoun "theirs" is the subject of the sentence.

Ours is the green one on the corner.
Here too the possessive pronoun "ours" function as the subject of the sentence.

Demonstrative Pronouns
A demonstrative pronoun points to and identifies a noun or a pronoun. "This" and "these" refer to things that are nearby either in space or in time, while "that" and "those" refer to things that are farther away in space or time.

The demonstrative pronouns are "this," "that," "these," and "those." "This" and "that" are used to refer to singular nouns or noun phrases and "these" and "those" are used to refer to plural nouns and noun phrases. Note that the demonstrative pronouns are identical to demonstrative adjectives, though, obviously, you use them differently. It is also important to note that "that" can also be used as a relative pronoun.

In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is a demonstrative pronoun:

This must not continue.
Here "this" is used as the subject of the compound verb "must not continue."

This is puny; that is the tree I want.
In this example "this" is used as subject and refers to something close to the speaker. The demonstrative pronoun "that" is also a subject but refers to something farther away from the speaker.

Three customers wanted these.
Here "these" is the direct object of the verb "wanted".

Interrogative Pronouns
An interrogative pronoun is used to ask questions. The interrogative pronouns are "who," "whom," "which," "what" and the compounds formed with the suffix "ever" ("whoever," "whomever," "whichever," and "whatever"). Note that either "which" or "what" can also be used as an interrogative adjective, and that "who," "whom," or "which" can also be used as a relative pronoun.

You will find "who," "whom," and occasionally "which" used to refer to people, and "which" and "what" used to refer to things and to animals.

"Who" acts as the subject of a verb, while "whom" acts as the object of a verb, preposition, or a verbal.

The highlighted word in each of the following sentences is an interrogative pronoun:

Which wants to see the dentist first?
"Which" is the subject of the sentence.

Who wrote the novel Rockbound?
Similarly "who" is the subject of the sentence.

Whom do you think we should invite?
In this sentence, "whom" is the object of the verb "invite."

To whom do you wish to speak?
Here the interrogative pronoun "whom " is the object of the preposition "to."

Who will meet the delegates at the train station?
In this sentence, the interrogative pronoun "who" is the subject of the compound verb "will meet".

To whom did you give the paper?
In this example the interrogative pronoun "whom" is the object of the preposition "to."

What did she say?
Here the interrogative pronoun "what" is the direct object of the verb "say."

Relative Pronouns
You can use a relative pronoun is used to link one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause. The relative pronouns are "who," "whom," "that," and "which." The compounds "whoever," "whomever," and "whichever" are also relative pronouns.

You can use the relative pronouns "who" and "whoever" to refer to the subject of a clause or sentence, and "whom" and "whomever" to refer to the objects of a verb, a verbal or a preposition.

In each of the following sentences, the highlighted word is a relative pronoun.

You may invite whomever you like to the party.
The relative pronoun "whomever" is the direct object of the compound verb "may invite".

The candidate who wins the greatest popular vote is not always elected.
In this sentence, the relative pronoun is the subject of the verb "wins" and introduces the subordinate clause "who wins the greatest popular vote". This subordinate clause acts as an adjective modifying "candidate."

In a time of crisis, the manager asks the workers whom she believes to be the most efficient to arrive an hour earlier than usual.
In this sentence "whom" is the direct object of the verb "believes" and introduces the subordinate clause "whom she believes to be the most efficient". This subordinate clause modifies the noun "workers."

Whoever broke the window will have to replace it.
Here "whoever" functions as the subject of the verb "broke".

The crate which was left in the corridor has now been moved into the storage closet.
In this example "which" acts as the subject of the compound verb "was left" and introduces the subordinate clause "which was left in the corridor." The subordinate clause acts as an adjective modifying the noun "crate."

I will read whichever manuscript arrives first.
Here "whichever" modifies the noun "manuscript" and introduces the subordinate clause "whichever manuscript arrives first." The subordinate clause functions as the direct object of the compound verb "will read."

Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun referring to an identifiable but not specified person or thing. An indefinite pronoun conveys the idea of all, any, none, or some.

The most common indefinite pronouns are "all," "another," "any," "anybody," "anyone," "anything," "each," "everybody," "everyone," "everything," "few," "many," "nobody," "none," "one," "several," "some," "somebody," and "someone." Note that some indefinite pronouns can also be used as indefinite adjectives.

The highlighted words in the following sentences are indefinite pronouns:

Many were invited to the lunch but only twelve showed up.
Here "many" acts as the subject of the compound verb "were invited".

The office had been searched and everything was thrown onto the floor.
In this example ,"everything" acts as a subject of the compound verb "was thrown."

We donated everything we found in the attic to the woman's shelter garage sale.
In this sentence, "everything" is the direct object of theverb "donated."

Although they looked everywhere for extra copies of the magazine, they found none.
Here too the indefinite pronoun functions as a direct object: "none" is the direct object of "found."

Make sure you give everyone a copy of the amended bylaws.
In this example, "everyone" is the indirect object of the verb "give" -- the direct object is the noun phrase "a copy of the amended bylaws."

Give a registration package to each.
Here "each" is the object of the preposition "to."

Reflexive Pronouns
You can use a reflexive pronoun to refer back to the subject of the clause or sentence.

The reflexive pronouns are "myself," "yourself," "herself," "himself," "itself," "ourselves," "yourselves," and "themselves." Note each of these can also act as an intensive pronoun.

Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a reflexive pronoun:

Diabetics give themselves insulin shots several times a day.
The Dean often does the photocopying herself so that the secretaries can do more important work.
After the party, I asked myself why I had faxed invitations to everyone in my office building.
Richard usually remembered to send a copy of his e-mail to himself.
Although the landlord promised to paint the apartment, we ended up doing it ourselves.
Intensive Pronouns
An intensive pronoun is a pronoun used to emphasise its antecedent. Intensive pronouns are identical in form to reflexive pronouns.

The highlighted words in the following sentences are intensive pronouns:

I myself believe that aliens should abduct my sister.
The Prime Minister himself said that he would lower taxes.
They themselves promised to come to the party even though they had a final exam at the same time.

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Part of Speech (1)

2006-12-12T13:35:00.000+07:00

Noun

Noun is the part of speech which includes words like girl, tree, and happiness. Traditional grammarian often tries to define a noun as ‘the name of a person, place or things’, but this doesn’t work. Clearly, for example, red is the name of a colour, and so, by this definition , it should be noun – and yet it is most usually an adjective, as in Shinta is wearing a red skirt.

Like any part of speech, nouns can be adequately defined only in terms of their grammatical behaviour. In English, an obvious grammatical characteristic of nouns is that most odf them can appear in two different grammatical forms, called singular and plural. Most english nouns form their plural by adding –s, as in girl/girls, tree/trees, and happiness/hapinesses, but some have irregular form of plural like child/children, goose/geese, etc. However, not all noun do this: some have only a singular form (like wheat, furniture, and spaghetti), while others heve only plural form (like pants, police, and water)

A better way of identifiying nouns is to use a suitable grammatical frame. Consider the two frames. The _______ was nice and The ______ were nice. If you can put single word into one of these blanks to make a good sebtence, then that word mus be a noun, because the grammar of English allows nouns, and only nouns, to appear in these positions. The first frame accepts singular form nouns, like girl, spaghetti, and furniture, while the second frame accepts plural form, like trees, pants and police. Still, of course, there is o guarantee that the result will be sensible: The torture was nice doesn’t sound very normal, but it’s cleary grammatical, and so torture is a noun.

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Psycholinguistics: A Brief Note

2006-08-25T11:12:00.000+07:00

Psycholinguistics is the study of the connection between language and mind. It began to emerge as a distinct discipline in the 1950s. To some extent, its emergence was promoted by the insistence at the time of the linguist Noam Chomsky that linguistics should be regarded as a part of cognitive psychology, but there were other factors as well, notably the growing interest in the question of language acquisition by children.

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There is no doubt that the study of acquisition has so far been the most prominent and successful area of psycholinguistics. But, a number of other topics have also been explored, with varying degrees of success. Many of these are aspects of language processing, the steps involved in producing and comprehending speech. Others include the links between language use and memory, the linguistic examination of reading, and more recently possible links with perception and cognition.

Psycholinguistics would also like to link their findings to those of neurolinguistics, the study of language and brain, but this has not proved at all easy. Some psycholinguists are also contributing to the development of cognitive linguistics and of cognitive science generally.

Language Faculty

2006-08-22T11:34:00.000+07:00

Language faculty is our biological ability to use language. Human beings are the only creatures on earth that use language, and many linguists and others have concluded that we must therefore have some kind of specific biological endowment for language, one which is totally absent, or nearly so, from all other living species: our language faculty.

To be sure, this conclusion has been challenged from two directons. On the one hand, some experiments have attempted to teach other species, usually apes, to use some simplified version of a human language (most often a version of a sign language) and, in spite of serious problem with their methodology and interpretations, a few observers are now prepared to accept that these creatures do indeed exhibit a (severely limited) capacity for using language - though critics of this conclusion are numerous and vigorous. On the other hand, psychologists like Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner have argued that our language faculty, while admittedly real, is not at all an individual and distinctive part of our biological inheritance, but merely one more manifestation of our general all-purpose cognitive abilities.

Nevertheless, the majority view among linguists at present is that our language faculty is real, that it is at least largely distinct from all of our other cognitive abilities and that it must be the biological result of some kind of dictinctive evolution within the brains of our ancestors. This is the belief that underlines a number of celebrated attempts at giving an account of our language-using abilities, including the generic hypothesis of language, Chomsky's innateness hypothesis, Bickerton's bioprogram hypothesis, and even the search for universal grammar.

A constant theme of these investigations is the issue of modularity. Chomsky and others have long argued that our language faculty must consist of a number of specialized and largely independent subcomponents which interact in specific ways to produce and overall linguistic behaviour. More recently, however, some people have begun to question whether our language faculty as a whole should itself be regarded as a distinctive part of our mental equipment. They suggest instead that various aspects of language use may have entirely separate evolutionary origins, and that what we call our language faculty is probably an epiphenomenon; that is, a purely superficial unity which in fact results from the interaction of diverse structure and processes within our brains, many of which are in no way confined to language behaviour. This debates will doubltless continue for some time.

The study of all the biological aspects of our language faculty is sometimes called biolinguistics.

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Direct and Indirect Speech in English

2006-08-01T12:18:00.000+07:00

There are two ways of reporting what speakers have said, direct and indirect. Direct speech is used when we want to repeat the original speaker's exact words, while indirect speech is used when we want to give the exact meaning of a speech without quoting the speaker's exact words.

A. Indirect speech can be introduced by a verb in a present tense. This usually when we are:
1. reporting a conversation that is still going on
2. reading a letter or something else and reporting what it said
3. reading instructions and reporting them
4. reporting a statement that someone makes very often
e.g. Andrew says that he will never get married.
Andrew says,"I will never get married".

Further, when the introductory verb (reporting verb) is in a present, present perfect, or future tense (less common), the tense of the direct speech does not change. Study the following examples:
1. He says,"I am unwell."
He says (that) he is unwell.
2. He has just said,"My master is writing letters."
He has just said (that) his master is writing letters.
3. He says,"I have passed the examination."
He says (that) he ahs passed the examination.

B. But indirect speech is usually introduced by a verb in the past tense. When the reporting or principle verb is in the past tense, all present tense or verb in the direct speech have to be changed into the corresponding past tense. The changes are shown as follows:
1. Tenses
a.simple present goes to simple past
b.present continuous goes to past continuous
c.present perfect goes to past perfect
d.simple past goes to past perfect
e.present perfect continuous goes to past perfect continuous
f.present future goes to past future (conditional)
g.present future continuous goes to past future continuous (conditional continuous)

2. Adverbs
a.now - then
b.ago - before
c.today - that day
d.tomorrow - the next day/the following day
e.yesterday - the day before/the previous day
f.last night - the night before/the previous night
g.next week/year - the following week/year
h.the day before yesterday - two days before
i.the day after tomorrow - in two days' time
j.a year ago - a year before/the previous year
k.here - there
etc.

3. Others
a.this - that
b.these - those
c.come - go there/here

'that' is usually optional after the verbs "say, tell, think, believe", and is obligatory after the verbs "mention, declare, report, state".

Study the folowing examples:
1. He said,"I am unwell."
He said (that) he was unwell.
2. She said to me,"I don't believe you."
She said (that) she didn't believe you.
3. He said,"I have seen this film."
He said that he had seen that film.
4. She said,"I saw these boys yesterday."
She said that she saw those boys yesterday.
5. John told me,"You can leave us now."
John told me that I might leave them then.
6. "I saw her the day before yesterday", he said.
He said he had seen her two days before.
7. "I'll do it tomorrow", she promised.
She promised that she would do it the next day.
8. Andrew said to Tom,"You are wrong."
Andrew said to Tom that he (Tom) was wrong.
9. Jane said,"I have done my homework."
Jane said that she had done her homework.
10. "I'm starting the day after tomorrow, father", she said.
She said to (told) her father that she was starting in two days' time

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The Distinction Between Phonetics and Phonology (3)

2006-04-21T16:11:00.000+07:00

According to Andrew Spencer in his book "Phonology": "phonology is the study of the sounds used in languages: the way they pattern with respect to each other, the way they are use to make up words and phrases, and the changes they undergo"

Phonetics is essentially the study of the physicaal aspects of speech. This means the physiological bases of speech. Thus, phonetics research might investigate the collection of frequencies of sounds observed in the production of particular types of vowels, or it might examine the precise movements of the tongue in producing the sound 's', for example.

Phonology is not specifically concerned with aspects of speech production or perception which are purely the result of the physical proerties of the system. For instance, it is often said that the articulation of the 'k' sounds in the words 'cara' and a'key' differ from each other slightly. In the 'k' of 'key' the tongue is brought slightly towards the front of the mouth in comparison with the 'k' sound in 'car'. The reason for this is that the 'ey' vowel of 'key' drags the tongue foward slightly, because of that aavowel is produced with the tongue slightly further foward in the mouth than the 'a' vowel of 'car'. In fact, it is more or less impossible to pronounce a clear and pure 'ey' type vowel immediately after the kind of 'k' sound found in 'car'. In other words, ait would appear that some degree of fronting in these circumstances is physiologically inevitable.

Thus, we can distinguish the word 'cane' and 'gain' by choosing as the first consonant either 'k' or 'g'. However, not all languages do this, and in some the speaker may even have a free choice as to which sound to use. To this extent, we can say that this different is purely aphonetics fact of no immediate phonological interest, in the sense that phonological theory doesn't need to have any special account of it.

To conclude, work in phonetics canaa, accordingly, be classified into two board types: (a) general studies of the articulation, acoustic, or perception of speech, and (b) studies of the phonetic properties of specific languages. Later on, in contrast to it, phonology studies the scientific material aspects of speech sound in a particular language.

The Distinction Between Phonetics and Phonology (2)

2006-04-10T16:57:00.000+07:00

As it has been mentioned above, phonetics is the study of of how speech sounds are made , transmitted, and received. It is a subject that requires as its source of data a human being with an intact auditory mechanism and a funcitioning set of vocal organs. The person's particular language background is not stricly relevant: phoneticians would draw the same conclusions about the production and reception of speech whether they are dealing with the speakers of English, Hindi, or Bahasa Indonesia. Although the categories of the sounds of speech can be used fot the analysis of any language, that section provides no information about the way these categories these categories are actually used, in the language of the world.

By contrast, the primary aim of phonology is to discover the principle that govern the way sounds are organized in language, and to expalin the variations that occur. A common methodology to begin by analysing an individual language, to determine which sound units are used and how they pattern - the language's phonological structures'. The properties of different sound systems are the compared and hyphotheses developed about the rules underlying groups of languages, and ultimately in all languages (phonological universal).

The distinction between phonology and phonetics can be seen from a second point of view. The human vocal apparatus can produce a very wide range of sounds; but only a small number of these are used in a language to construct all of its words and sentences. Phonetics is the study of all possible speech sounds; phonology studies the way in which a language's speakers systematically use a selection of these sounds in order to express meaning.

There is a further way of drawing the distinction. No two speakers have anatomically identical vocal tracts , and thus no-one prononces sounds in exactly the same way as anyone else. There is even a considerable amount of variation in the sounds of a single speaker. Yet when using our language we are able to discount much of this variation, and focus on only those sounds, or properties of sounds, that are important to the communication of meaning.

The Distinction Between Phonetics and Phonology (1)

2006-04-04T18:28:00.000+07:00

The study of speech sounds is partitioned betweem two distinct but related sub-disciplines of linguistics, phonetics and phonology. Both termscome from Greek word meaning 'sound'

V. Fromkin and R. Rodman, in their book entitled 'An Introduction to Language' define phonetics as the study of the speech sounds that are utilized by all human languages to represent meaning, and phonology as the study of the sound pattern of human language; it is also the kind of knowledge thar speakers have about the sound pattern of their particular languages.

From the same point of view, phonetics can be difined as a branch of linguistics that studies the characteristics of human sound-making, which regards to three majir processes i.e 1). articulatory production of speech sounds (articolatory phonetics)-the action of speech organs in producing the speech sounds, 2). structure of the acoustic flow (acoustic phonetics)-the acoustic nature of the sound waves which transmit speech between mouth and ears, 3). processes involved in auditory perception (auditory and perceptual phonetics)-the manner in which the ears and the brain interpret speech.

Phonetics was substantially developed by the ancient Indians and by the medieval Arabs, but the modern tradition began in the sixteenth century in England, and it was in nineteeth- and twentieth-century Britain that such figures as Alexander Maville Bell, Henry Sweet, and Daniel Jones chiefly created modern phonetics, though most of the instrumental techniques are far more recent. And the classical Indian scholars described Sanskrit with remarkable accuracy in articulatory phonetics (Allen,1953).

Comes to phonology. It is a branch of linguistics that studies the sound systems of languages. Phonology also concerns with semantically relevant speech sounds and their pertinent characteristics, relations, and systems viewed synchronically and diachronically. The concerned area of phonology is the organization of speech within specific languages, or with the system and pattern of sounds that occur in particular languages.

The history of phonology is largely taken up with the development of ideas concerning the phoneme, as originally propunded in Prague School and Bloomfieldian phonological theory, and the subsequent alternative proposed views.

Listening Comprehension

2006-03-05T23:21:00.000+07:00

The listening skill is the most neglected one, both in first and second language teaching. Teachers tend to focus on the rudimentary elements of listening briefly, and pass over to other aspects of language teaching. Discrimination of sounds and intonations often form the major part of listening practice in the classroom. Listening for content is often assumed. In reality, the listening skill is fundamental to the entire process of mastering and using a language, whether first or second or foreign.

Listening is like painting, like color, in day to day environment. You don’t notice, but it is always there in every linguistic activity. Listening is important for casual chats, face to face encounters, telephone messages, for enjoyment of radio and television programs, formal lectures, and many other activities.

In the past, listening was labeled as a passive skill, along with reading. No doubt, it is a receptive skill like reading. Speaking and writing were considered to be productive skills, but also active skills. While this categorization is somewhat justifiable because the focus of listening is on reception of information, listening itself cannot be fully and correctly characterized only as a passive skill.

There is a need for an active involvement of the self for the efficient performance of listening. The listener is often forced into guessing an approximation to what the speaker is communicating. The listener expects and anticipates what may be the form and content of the immediate message being delivered. He actively avoids the redundancies in the process of listening, focuses himself on the relevant, interesting and/or crucial points, and engages himself in some critical analysis of content. Listening becomes the stepping stone for action. In view of all these and other activities that are involved in listening, we should consider listening as an active skill demanding active participation of the listener.

How do we organize teaching the listening skill for the TESOL audience? Remember that fluent listening results only from wide exposure to the target language. Listening, like other language skills, is acquired only by doing it. Remember also that listening is an integral part of any type of language performance. For this reason it should be taught from the beginning classes of TESOL. It should not be postponed for special treatment at a later date or for special occasions. Fluent listening is important from the beginning, if a student is to succeed in his TESOL class and succeed using English outside his class. Teachers should enable the students to listen to native speakers’ speech from the beginning.

More often than not, English is taught through the eyes rather than through the ears in Third World countries. As a consequence, students would have mastered reading and writing with some relative competence, but their skill in listening to natural and native English will be poorly developed.

Where do we practice Listening Comprehension? In all places and in all classes. We must begin with the identification of natural listening situations both inside the classroom and outside.

The students are always required to listen to the teacher’s instructions and questions, and answer them. They may listen to conversations between a student and the teacher and understand what is going on. They may like to participate in a discussion between students and understand what is being discussed. They may like to listen and enjoy the story told by the teacher, and answer questions raised by the teacher. They may listen to simple questions eliciting information about them and their families and understand what the speaker wants to know from them. They may enjoy the jokes told both in the class and outside.

Outside the classroom, the students have many needs which they can meet only by listening to the speech around them and by expressing what they need. They need to understand the native speakers of English they come across in their day to day life, if they are studying and/or working in an English speaking country. Where there is no opportunity for them to come across native English speakers, they will need to listen and comprehend the native English used in the movies and TV programs.

We practice listening comprehension in all places and in all lessons and in all language skills (although at advanced levels of other language skills the role of listening could be minimal). There may be listening comprehension exercises on the phonological elements when pronunciation is taught. There may be exercises for listening comprehension when exercises on grammar are done, as well as in vocabulary teaching. When varieties of speech in various communicative contexts are introduced, there will be ample scope for listening comprehension exercises.

So, begin with the identification of listening situations appropriate to the need and age of the students and the level of English competence already achieved by them. Start with a focus on an ability to understand the formal code of classroom style English, because this is what is absolutely needed for the learner to benefit from classroom instruction. Focus on the goal of the TESOL learners and progress towards achieving the goal in small graded steps. Proceed to less formal varieties of spoken English to enable students to understand people outside the classroom.
Often a simple progression is suggested: classroom style, outside spoken English, how to listen to lectures and take notes, comprehend native speakers in all situations, including radio and TV, cultural language, etc.

Identify the listening medium: is it face to face interaction, or is it a movie or a TV program? Or is it a lecture situation? Or is it a telephonic conversation? Face to face interaction requires a different listening orientation than watching (and listening) to a movie

Source: The World of Language.

Listening Skill

2006-02-20T20:27:00.000+07:00

Listening in English is attending to and interpreting oral English. Listening is necessary to develop the speaking skill. The student listens to oral speech in English, then separates into segments the stretch of utterances he hears, groups them into words, phrases, and sentences, and, finally, he understands the message these carry. Listening prepares the students to understand the speech of the native speakers of English as they speak naturally in a normal speed and normal manner.

There are three approaches to listening: interactive (listening to a message and doing something as a consequence) and one-way communication or non-interactive (just listening and retaining the message, in activities such as conversations overheard, public address announcements, recorded messages, etc.) and self-talk. Listening to radio and watching TV and films, public performances, lectures, religious services, etc., generally reflect non-interactive listening. Responding to the commands given reflects interactive listening, which, in fact, is equally widespread in communicative situations. Self-talk is also an important process by which internal thinking and reasoning is carried out. All these three modes or approaches to listening may be included in our TESOL listening comprehension training.

In the classroom, students listen in order to repeat and to understand. In listening to repeat, students imitate and memorize linguistic items such as words, idioms, and sentence patterns. This is an important beginning task and focus of listening exercises. However, it is listening to understand that is real listening in its own right.

Students listen to understand as part of using English for communication purposes. In listening to understand, students may be involved in the question-oriented response model of learning or in the task-oriented model of learning. In the question-oriented response model, students may be asked to listen to a sentence, a dialogue, a conversation, a passage, or a lecture and asked to answer questions which may be presented in the form of true/false statements, multiple choice questions, fill in blank, or short answers. In the task-oriented response model, students may be asked to listen to a passage and accomplish the task described in the passage through interaction with others or by themselves.
Remember that research indicates that most students have difficulty with listening skills, even when listening to their native language. Among other factors, because of the phenomenon of stress (some syllables of a word may by stressed while others may not be), most learners of English have difficulty in mastering the correct placement of the primary and other stresses in English. (This could lead to misunderstanding the meaning of a word, phrase or sentence.) As a consequence, listening proficiency in English is to be cultivated with great care.

Source: The Land of Linguistics

Phonetics

2006-01-21T18:30:00.000+07:00

Phonetics is concened with describing speech. Thus, phonetics is a branch of linguistics which deals with the characteristics of speech sounds. In phonetics, we can figure out what people are doing when they are talking and how the sounds of speech can be described.

In nearly all speech sounds, the basic source of power is the respiratory system that pushing the air out of the lungs. We can talk when we are breating in, and it is much harder to talk when we are breating out. The parts of the vocal tracts that can be used to form sounds are called articulators.

A. Vocal Tracts

Vocal tracts are organ of speech involve in speech production. The parts of the vocal tracts that can be used to form sounds are called articulators.

- Alveolar ridge is the small part protuberance behind the upper teeth that can be feeled with the tip of the tongue.

- Hard palate is the hard portion of the roof of the mouth, lying behind the alveolar ridge.

- Soft palate or velum is a muscular flat that can be raised to press againts the back wall of the pharynx and shut off the nasal tract, preventing air from going out throught the nose.

- Tip and blade of the tongue are the most mobile parts in the lower surface of the vocal tract.

- Front of the tongue is actually the foward part of the body of the tongue, and it lies underneath the hard palate when the tongue is at rest.

- Back of the tongue is the main part of the tongue, lying below the hard and soft palate. The body, spesifically the back of the tongue, moves to make vowels and many consonants.

- Epiglottis is the fold of issue below the roof of the tongue. It helps cover the larynx during swallowing, making sure that food goes into the stomach and not the lungs.

- Vocal folds are folds of tissue stretch across the air way to the lungs. They can vibrate againts each other, providing much of the sounds during the speech.

- Glittis is the opening between the vocal folds. During a glottal stop, the vocal folds are held together and there is no opening between them.

- Pharyxn is the cavity between the roof of the the tongue and the walls of the upper throat.

-Lyarynx is the structure that holds and manipulates the vocal folds.

B. Places and Manners of Articulation

The air-stream through the vocal tract must be in some way obstructed to form consonants. base on this obstruction, consonant it self can be classified according to the place and manner of this construction.

1. Places of Articulation

Places of articulation indicate the vocal organ involved in a particular obstruction in producing consonants.

- Bilabial: involves the two lips, upper and lower lips. They are the primary articulators.

- Labio-dental: occurs when the lower lip articulates with the upper teeth.

- Dental/Interdental: produced by articulating tongue tip with the upper teeth.

- Alveolar: produced by articulating tip or blade of the tongue with the alveolar ridge.

- Post-alveolar: occurs when blade of the tongue articulates with the rear part of the alveolar ridge.

- Palato-alveolar: prodeced by articulating the blade, or the tip and blade of the tongue with the alveolar ridge and there is at the same time a raising of the tongue towards the hard palate.

- Retroflex: the tip of the tongue is curled back to articulate with the part of the hard palate immediately behind the alveolar ridge.

- Palatal: the front of the tongue is articulated with the hard palate.

- Velar: the back of the tongue articulates with the uvula.

- Uvular: the back of the tongue articulates with the uvula.

- Glottal: indicating by an obstruction, or a narrowing causing friction but not vibration, between the vocal folds.

- Pharyngeal: the front wall of the pharynx (in the region of the epiglottis) articulates with the back wall.

2. Manner of Articulation

Manners of articulation deal with the way how we produce the consonants. There some kinds of this manner.

- Stop: a complete closure is made at some point in the vocal tract; the soft palate is raised. Air pressure thus builds up behind the closure, which is then released explosively.

- Nasal: a complete closure is made at some point in the mouth, the soft palate is lowered, so that air escape through the nose.

- Affricate: a complete closure is made at some point in the mouth; the soft palate is raised. Air pressure builds up behind the closure, and is then released relatively slow (compare to a stop released). The first element of the sound has a sharp plosive character, but this is followed by an element of audible friction.

- Roll/Trill: one aticulator taps rapidly againts another - typically the tongue tip againts the alveolar ridge or the tomgue back againts the uvula.

- Flap: a single tap is made by one articulators againts another, as in some pronunciation of the r in very and, and d in ladder where the tongue tip taps once againts the alveolar ridge.

- Lateral: a particular closure is made at some point of the mouth in such a way that the air stream is allowed to escape around the side of the closure.

-Fricative: two vocal organs come so close together that the movement of air between them causes audible friction. Some fricative have a sharper sound than others, because of tyhe greater intensity of their high frequencies.

Speech and Writing

2006-01-19T15:22:00.000+07:00

The Distinction between Speech and Writing

Speech and writing are two basic manifestation of language. Each has its own functions. Most obviously, they contrast in physical form: speech uses ‘phonic substabce’, typically in the form of air pressure movements; writing uses ‘graphic substance’, typically in the form of marks on a surface, but of far greater interest are the differences in stucture and function that follow from his basic observation.

These differences are much greater than people usually think. The contrast is greater when written texts are compared with informal conversation; but even in fairly formal and prepared speech settings, such as teacher addressing a class. Event a fluent speaker produces utterances that do not real well when witten down.

The differences of stucture and use between spoken and written language are inevitable because they are the product of radically different kinds of communicative situation. Speech is time-bound, dynamic, transient-part of an interaction in which, typically, both participants are present, and the speaker has specific addressee (or a group of addressee) in mind. Writing is space-bound, static, permanent-the result of a stuation in which , typically, the pruducer is distant from the recipient-and often not even know who the recipient (as with most literature). Writing can only occasionally be tought of as in ‘interaction’, in the same way as speech It is therefore not surprising to find differences emerging very quickly when language first come to be writen down.

The Structural Approach

2006-01-18T22:31:00.000+07:00

The Structural Approach

The arrangement of words in English is very important. The meaning of an utterance changes with a change in the word order. For instance: there is a sentence ‘You are there’. Consider two other sentences made of two words but put in different order ‘Are you there?’ and ‘There you are’. The three sentences, although built of the same vocabulary items give different meaning because of a different way in which the words are arranged.

These different arrangement or patterns of words are called ‘structures’. Structures may consist of full utterances or they may fall on a part of a large pattern. F.D. French has defined a sentence pattern in these words: The word-pattern means a model from which many things of the same kind, and shade can be made like house or shoes which look the same. A sentence pattern is, therefore, a model for sentences, which have the same shade although made up of different words. For instance, there is a sentence in English: ‘I wrote a letter’. The formula of this sentence is SVO (Subject – Verb – Object). We can frame innumerate sentence on this pattern.

Researcher in the field of language teaching in the UK and USA have established that it is more important for the learner of the language to get mastery over the structures more than on vocabulary. So far we have concentrated more on the teaching of vocabulary than that of structures. A lot of work has been done on the selection and gradation of vocabulary but little work has been done on the selection and gradation of structures. It is as important to learn how to put words together as it is to know their meaning. Unless the learners become familiar with the pattern of English, he will not be able to use vocabulary.

Hornby has made a study of Sentence Patterns or Structures in English. He has found that there are approximately 275 structures in English and the learners of the language must master all of them. It should be remembered that the structure approach of language teaching is not a matter of language teaching but only an approach, which tells us what to teach while a method tells us how to teach. The method that is employed is called the Oral Method or the Audio-Lingual Method.

The structure approach is based on the following principles:
1. The important of a speech as the necessary means of fixing firmly all the ground works.
2. The important of forming language habits particularly the habit of arranging words in English sentence patterns to replace the sentence patterns of the learners own language.
3. The pupils’ own activities rather than the activity of the teacher.

The structure approach just lays emphasis on drills. Since language is primarily speak, learning a language means ability to speak the language. The structures, therefore, are drilled orally first before the learner can read or write them. Moreover, since language learning is a matter of habit formation, it requires repetition so that the language habits that are cultivated during the learning process may be retained. A class, which is taught a language through the structural approach, is more lively than other classes in which only teacher speaks and the students remain mere listener.

The selection of structures to be taught depends on the average ability of the students, the allocation of time and the availability of equipments. The following principles should be born in mind while selecting structures:
1. Usefulness: while selecting and grading structures we should adopt frequency and utility. The structures, which are more frequent in use, should be introduced first.
2. Productivity: Some structures are productive; other structures can be built on them. For instance, we have two sentence patterns:
(i) Mr. John is here
(ii) Here is Mr. John.
The former pattern is productive because we can frame many sentence on the same pattern like: ‘He is there’, or ‘She is there’, etc. We can frame many such sentences from the latter pattern.
3. Simplicity: The simplicity of structure depends on the form and meaning. The structure ‘I am playing cricket’ is far simpler in form and meaning than ‘The patient had died before the doctor came’. The simpler structure should be preferred to the complicated one.
4. Teach-ability: Some structures can be taught more easily than others. For example, the structure ‘I am writing’ can be taught easily because the action, which it denotes can be demonstrated in a realistic situation. To teach this structure the teacher will say:
(i) I played at 4 yesterday.
(ii) I played at 4 the day before yesterday.
(iii) I will play at 4 tomorrow.
(iv) I play at 4 everyday.

GRADATION OF STRUCTURE
Structures are to be graded in the order of difficulty. Simple structures should precede the more difficult ones. The following are some of the patterns that should be taught at early stages:
1. Two-part patterns
He / goes.
2. Three-part patterns
He / plays / cricket.
3. Four-part patterns
She / gave / me / a book.
4. Patterns beginning with ‘there’
There are twenty students in this class.
5. Patterns beginning with ‘a question verb’.
Is she coming?
Will he go?
Has he brought the book?
6. Patterns beginning with ‘wh’ type question
How are you?
What does he do?
7. Patterns of Command and Request
Sit down
Please come here, etc.

Of the seven types of patterns mentioned above, the three part patterns and the pattern beginning with ‘there’ occur very frequently. Each pattern embodies an important point of grammar and only one meaning of one word is taught at a time. Moreover, the structures are graded in such a manner that a structure follows the preceding one naturally. During the learning of the structures the child automatically learn grammar also (learns grammar, word order and the use of words or usage). Thus he avoids common error in grammar and composition. This approach lays emphasis on the four skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing. Rapid speech patterns are taught with the help of printed material. Children, therefore, start speaking English before they read or write it. The British Council plays a prominent role in popularizing this approach for the teaching of English in India.

Subsequently the NCERT (National Council of Education Research and Training) introduces the structural syllabuses, and prepares books or teaching materials in elaborating with the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), Hydrabad. The books prepared by the NCERT have been adopted by the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) and also by the various boards of education in various states of India. At present English is being taught according to the structural approach in the majority of schools in the country.

Bahasa Indonesia and Globalization

2006-01-09T14:30:00.000+07:00

Has globalization marginalized Bahasa Indonesia?
By Ahmad Qisa'i

Looking back at the history of Bahasa Indonesia as the national language of Indonesia, it was a lingua franca for the diverse communities in the Indonesian archipelago. The original form of this language was a coastal Malay dialect spoken by a small community of people in the coastal area of Sumatra. Its flexibility as a form of communication among people in the archipelago as compared to the Javanese language, the language of the majority of Indonesians, had prompted the decision by the nationalists to declare it as the National Language of Independent Indonesia. The decision was widely known in Indonesian history as Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Pledge) and it was on the basis of this Pledge that the Indonesian Constitution has sanctioned Bahasa Indonesia as the National Language of Indonesia.

The diverse nature of Indonesian society has made a common language of communication a liability for it to succeed and survive as a united community. A simple and flexible mode of communication capable of bridging the gaps between communities will only guarantee the transformation process of Indonesia from a diverse community into a single, strong nation. Selecting a coastal Malay dialect as the national language instead of the much more complicated Javanese language proved to be a correct choice.

The decision to choose a Roman script for the language instead of its Perso-Arabic form has further helped the process of absorbing various elements of other languages to be a part of an enriched language, the Bahasa Indonesia. Foreign languages like the Dutch, Arabic, Sanskrit, French, English as well as other local languages like the Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese and others have given a lot of influence to the development of Bahasa Indonesia into its current position. The efforts by previous regimes to encourage the usage of a proper and correct form of Bahasa Indonesia in any form of communication further elevated the popularity of Bahasa Indonesia. However, the waves of globalization have certainly given a lot of impact on the development of Bahasa Indonesia. The flexible nature of the language has permitted the Indonesianization of borrowed words from foreign languages to be a part of an enriched Bahasa Indonesia. This process, nevertheless, has resulted in the pros and cons among scholars over the status of Bahasa Indonesia in Indonesia amid the continuous waves of globalization.

The most recent cautious remarks came from the Director of Center for Language of National Education Department, Dr. Dendy Sugono (Media Indonesia, 26 December 2005) when he said that the current practice by corporate houses to use foreign names and billboards has threatened the future of Bahasa Indonesia as the national language. This practice, he predicted, would marginalize Bahasa Indonesia and thus would become a national threat to the unity of Indonesia. To avoid the eventuality of his hypothesis, he suggested to the local governments to enact laws preventing the use of foreign terms in public. As an example, he said that his department is looking forward of working on this project with the Jakarta Governor in enacting a law to prohibit the usage of foreign names and billboards by corporate houses and public offices in the Capital.

On the contrary, it is the flexibility of Bahasa Indonesia that has made the language popular. The ability of Bahasa Indonesia to adjust itself to the situation has proved to be effective in its development. Had it been other language, for an example the Javanese language, as the national language, it would have been difficult for it to adjust with the globalize world. The complexity found in the structure and form of the Javanese language in its spoken as well as written form would have deprived the rest of the Indonesian populace of the current situation it enjoys. Indonesia would be limited to the Javanese community while the rest of the archipelago questioned the their status of being a part of Indonesia. India is a perfect example to the situation in Indonesia. The diverse nature of Indian society is a perfect reflection for the Indonesian society. The dilemma of a national language can be taken as an example worth of examination.

The problem of a national language in India arose at the same time it achieved its independence. The majority of Hindi speaking community in India insisted on the declaration of Hindi as the Indian national language. However, other language communities like the Tamils, Bengalis, Punjabis, as well as other language communities of Dravidian languages in the Southern part of India rejected the idea on the basis of possible hegemonic domination by Hindi speaking people over the running of the administration in the country. Thus having undergone various stages of deliberations and arguments as well as threats of secession, it was finally agreed that Hindi would enjoy the status of a national language of an independent India while at the same time 16 other major languages to be accepted as the official language of administration. English, the language that long enjoyed a status of a lingua franca during the British rule in India, would continue to play the role and enjoy the same status as other official languages pending the socialization process of Hindi as the national language of India. However, the situation remains till now and even there was an addition of some three more major languages into the list of official languages in India as sanctioned by the Indian Constitution.

Thus, to be worried over the future status of Bahasa Indonesia due to the wide use of foreign language like English in Indonesia is need not to be exaggerated. On the contrary, the flexibility shown by Bahasa Indonesia will only help it to survive the waves of globalization. It will become the beneficiary of the globalization. Continuous efforts by the government to popularize the use of proper and correct form of Bahasa Indonesia while at the same time encouraging the people to learn and use foreign languages instead of discouraging them will help the process of building Indonesia to be a strong and powerful nation in the future.

Behaviourist Approach

2006-01-07T15:32:00.000+07:00

Behaviourist Approach
By Purwarno Hadinata

In the 19th century in the field of psychology, some behaviorists conduct a research on animals and children how they learn language (Pavlov’s classical conditioning; stimulus – response) trial and error.
(The Behaviourists made research by looking at the behaviour of the objects being researched. E.g. behaviour of dog, cat, child, ect.)

The Behaviourist View of Language learning.

The process of language learning according to the behaviourists can be explained in terms of conditioning. The child begins to hear during the 1st year of his life a large number of speech sound produced by his parents. Gradually his learns to associate these sounds with the situations, which accompany them. For instance, the child learns to recognize the sound of endearment, which his mother produces when she feeds him.

After sometime, these sounds become pleasurable in themselves even when they are not accompanied by food. At this stage, conditioning to language has begun. The more frequently the child is exposed to this process of conditioning, the stronger its effect. However its strength of the associative bound between the sounds and the situations accompanying them depends upon the satisfaction, which the child obtains from the conditioning process.

Before long, the child begins to imitate some of speech sounds that he has heard; the child does so in an attempt to control the environment and to invite the attention of his mother. The mother may fail to response to the majority of these random signals, but if the child, by chance, produces the vocal stimulus, which the mother recognizes as the appropriate, she responses. We say that his behaviour pattern has been rewarded or reinforced while all the inappropriate behaviour patterns have been neglected.

When a behaviour pattern is rewarded, this deals to the formation of the bound of association, say between the utterances (stimulus) and milk (response). Initially learning takes places through a random association but once it has been formed it is rapidly strengthened through repetition. The child is able to confirm that a certain vocal utterance is the correct stimulus for the desired response; he can then repeat the utterance each time it is needed.

On the other hand, a behaviour pattern that is not rewarded gets extinguished (will not be repeated by the child). The child will not continue to produce the utterance for which the mother does not take any notice of it. This is said to be the natural process of language learning, which a language-teaching program should try to stimulate. For the teacher, the following implications of the behaviour model of learning are relevant:

1. Language is learnt only through use or practice. The more the learner is exposed to the use the better the chances of learning it.

2. The production of language depends on the situation, which makes its use necessary. Language cannot be taught in divorce from situation; the teacher has to introduce each new pattern of language in a meaningful situation.

3. Producing the correct linguistic response also requires effort. If the learner is not called upon to make this effort there is no learning.

4. Producing the correct response also requires attention. Attention is bound to slacken after a time to prolong. So prolonged practice is less useful than spaced practice.

5. The spoken language comes earlier than the written, and the receptive (passive) experience of language is necessary before any productive (active) use can begin.

6. Learning takes place faster if the correct response toward stimulus is confirmed. The learner must know at once if his effort is right or wrong (rewarded).

7. Learning is still faster if the learner is placed to the situation where he can produce only the correct response. Each incorrect response builds up a faculty behaviour pattern, which interfere with the process of conditioning.

8. Every new item learnt must be reinforced by further practice before further learning begins.

Most of the methods used during the past 70 years for teaching language made use of these assumptions from Behaviorism. They emphasized, repeated but spaced-practice of language material in meaningful situation, in imitation of a given model, first orally and then writing.

Note: Behaviorism does not distinguish between the language of human being and that of animal.

Linguistic and Communicative Competence

2006-01-02T17:35:00.000+07:00

Linguistic and Communicative Competence

Linguists are aware of the inter-relationship between language and the society, because it is in society that language has its existance. But they have not succeeded in describing such a relationship. Phonology, Lexis and Syntax, which are objects of linguistic description constitute only a part of the elements in the code used for communication. The meaning(s) of an utterance (a sentence, a clause, a phrase, a word, etc) do(es) not depend entirely on its form; a lot depend on who says what, to whom, where, why, in what manner and in what effect. In other words, the context of situation in which an utterance is said, who said it, and to whom are very important. For instance, the occurrence “Can I have the salt please?” is interrogative in form but expresses a polite request in a dinning room.

Grammatical knowledge is not enough to help us participate effectively in communicative situation. In addition to acquainting oneself with the forms of language, one must know the following in order to communicate appropriately:

1. The socio-cultural relation including the attitude, values, conventions, prejudices and preferences of the people who use the language.
2. The nature of the participants which shows the relationship between the speaker and the listener, their occupation, interest, socio-economic status, etc.
3. The rule of the participant, such as the relationship in social network, father – son, teacher – student, boss – subordinate, landlord – tenant, doctor – patient, etc.
4. The nature and function of the speech deals with whether it is a face to face talk persuasion, confrontation, or a casual conversation, or a request informal situation, or a telephonic conversation, etc.
5. The mode (medium) of communication, whether spoken or written form or reading from a written script, or unprepared speech.

Communicative competence, indeed, includes the whole of linguistics competence plus the whole of the amorphous (indefinite shape or form) range of facts included under socio-linguistic pragmatic competence (the rules and conventions for using language items in context and other factors like attitudes, values, and motivation. Dell Hymes says that one who studies language should be able: “to account for this fact that a normal child acquires knowledge of sentence not only as grammatical but also appropriate. He or she acquires competence as to when to speak, when not and as to what to talk about, with whom, when, where, in what manner”. In short, a child becomes able to acquire a repertoire (all the skills, etc that a person has and is able to use) of speech act to take part in a speech act, and to evaluate their accomplishment by others.”

Chomsky believes that linguistic competence can be separated from the rest of communicative competence and studied in isolation but socio-linguist, like Dell Hymes believes that the notion of linguistic competence is unreal and that no significant progress in linguistics is possible without studying forms along with the ways in which they are used. In addition to this, basicall the linguistic competence falls under the domaint of communicative competence because communicative competence is made up of four competence areas including linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic.

For one thing, social interaction is actually skilled work, and it requires effort. It is not in innate (inborn or genetically endowed). It has to be learnt from others. A person who faces to learn and make himself and others uneasy in conversation and perpetually kills, encounters is a faulty person. Dell Hymes maintains that competence is dependent upon the fore features listed below:

1. Whether (and to what degree) something is possible.
2. Whether (and to what degree) something is visible (in relation to the means available)
3. Whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate (adequate, happy, in relation to the context in which it is used).
4. Whether (and to what degree) something is performed (actually done and what the doing entails).

All these show that the linguistic competence is largely a part of Communicative Competence. Dell Hymes’ criticism of the concept of linguistic competence is that it is an abstraction without any relevance to actual use. The same criticism has been directed against the notion of communicative competence. According to Widdowson, if linguistic competence is an abstraction of grammatical knowledge, communicative competence is an abstraction of social behaviour. The notion of communicative competence does not include in its purview (the scope somebody’s activities or influence) the actual procedure, which language users adopt in order to participate in language based on activity. So, along with linguistic competence and communicative competence, pragmatic competence should also be brought into focus.

Pragmatic competence is the one that underlines the ability to use the language along with a conceptual system to achieve certain aims or purpose. And it determines how the tool can be effectively put to use: It is user-oriented.
We can sum up and say that the following are essentially the components of communication that go into the building up of the communicative competence:

A. Linguistic Knowledge and the Para-linguistic Cues:
(i) Verbal elements (sentences, clauses, phrases, etc.)
(ii) Non-verbal elements (aspects of communicative behaviour, such as: facial expression, body movement, eye gaze, gesture, proximity, etc.)
(iii) Elements of discourse and their organization in connective speech and writing.
(iv) Range of possible variants (possible variations and their organizations).
(v) Meaning of variants to a particular situation.

B. Interaction Skills:
(i) Norms of interaction and interpretation.
(ii) Strategies for achieving desire goals.
(iii) Perception or features (verbal as well as non-verbal) in communication situation (situation of communication).
(iv) Understanding appropriateness in any given situation.

C. Cultural Knowledge:
(i) Socials structure.
(ii) Values and attitudes.
(iii) Cognitive scheme (verbal as well as noun verbal) and the cultural transmission processes.

The setting (means: place) of interaction also is an important factor in defining a situation for instance whether you interact someone in the church, a temple, a mosque, a classroom or a market place contributes to the nature of interaction and the variety of language use.

Another concept useful in understanding communicative competence is the concept of phatic-communion. One purpose of phatic communion is to avoid silence because it may imply hostility or embarrassment when it is not required. For instance, pray hall silence may be a sign of respect but when two acquaintances meet and remain silent, their silence may be interpreted as hostility or, at least, indifference. Some expressions like ‘how are you?’ ‘hello’ and ‘good morning’, etc. are highly conventional but their violation affects communication patterns adversely as often leads to discomfiture (lack of comfort) of participants in the interaction.

The concept of communicative competence introduced by Dell Hymes brought about a shift in the approach method and technique in language pedagogy. Linguists argued that ‘There are rules of use without which the rules of grammar will be useless. A distinction was made between the grammatical rules that enable the users to frame correct sentences and the rules of the use of the languages to accomplish some kind of communicative purpose. Some socio-linguists rather some socio-linguistic principles became the key phrase in language teaching.

The European common market gave a fillip (a thing that stimulates or encourages something) to the communicative approach. There was increased need for teaching adults the major languages of the European common market for increased interaction. Wilkins advocated notional-functional syllabus in his book, Notional Syllabus (1976). He gave a course around the uses or functions to which language is put: For example, one lesson can be planned on requesting information, another on apologizing and the third one on expressing gratitude. Linguists made inventories of functions, notions, and structures but they made no the proposal for the gradation of materials to be used. Grading according to functional complexity did not make any sense to them for a simple reason that syntactic complexity and function are to separated or different parameters.

The major distinctive features of Communicative Approach as contrasted to the Audio Lingual Method are the following:
1. Meaning is more important than the structure and form.
2. Dialogues if used around communicative functions, are not to be memorized.
3. Language item should be contexturized. They should not be taught in isolation as in Audio Lingual Method.
4. Language learning does not imply learning structures, sounds and words but learning to communicate.
5. Effective communication is sought and emphasized instead of mastery and over learning.
6. Drilling is not central but peripheral (secondary or minor importance).
7. Pronunciation needs not be native live but comprehensive.
8. Grammatical explanation is not avoided; any device, which the learners have, is accepted varying according to their age and interest.
9. Attempt to communicate needs not to make only after a long process of rigid drills but from the very beginning.
10. Judicious use of native language is accepted when feasible.
11. Translation may be used when student can take benefits.
12. Reading and writing need not weigh for one’s mastery over speech. They may start from the very first day.
13. The target linguistic system will be learnt not through the teaching of the pattern of the system but through the process of learning to communicate.
14. Instead of linguistic competence, communicative competence is the desired goal.
15. Linguistic variation is accepted as a central condition in method and materials.
16. The sequence of units is determined not by the principle of linguistic complexity but by the consideration of content, function, and meaning, which maintain interest.
17. The teacher helps the learners in any way that motivate them to work with the language (regardless of any conflict theory).
18. Language is not a habit; it is created by the individual through trial and error.
19. The primary goal is not accuracy in terms of formal correctness, but fluency and acceptable language; accuracy is judged not in the abstract but in context.
20. Students should not be subjected to making use of language through machines or controlled materials. They should rather be encouraged to interact with people through pair or group work in real life.
21. The teacher should not specify what language students are to use. Indeed he cannot know or anticipate exactly what language the student will use.
22. Intrinsic motivation will spring not from interest in the structure of the language but in what is being communicated in language.

Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics

2006-01-01T16:55:00.000+07:00

Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics

In language acquisition, children acquire languages without formal teaching. Additional languages can also be ‘picked up’, for example Romans acquiring Greek from Greek speaking slaves.

In terms of social requirement, written language was taught for priesthood in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The classical Greece of Homeric legends was translated from the oral form to the written form in 8th century BC. In the age of Pericles (5th century BC), the language teaching was intended to fulfil the specialist language skills for (a). appreciating great literary texts, (b). acquiring oratorical skills for the service of the state. Plato and Aristotle designed curriculum beginning with ‘good writing (grammar) and moving on to effective discourse (rhetoric) culminating’ in the development of the dialectic to promote a philosophical approach to life.

In Alexandria period (4th century BC), the grammatical analyis in the modern sense began with the ‘Dionysis Thrax’ including the 8 parts of speech: noun, verb, particle, article, pronoun, preposition, adverb, and conjunction. (see Robin, 1951: 39-40). The focus is on phonology and morphology. Meanwhile, the teaching language in Roman period was bilingual in which the Latin standed as the mother tongue and Greek as the language culture. (2nd century BC). Started from Varro (116-27 BC) De Lingua Italiana, Cocero (106-43BC) De Oratore, Quintillian (35-100 AD) De Institutione Orataria, the basic literary was both in Greek and Latin. Letters learnt (phonetic value) was studied from the syllables into words. Then, arranged the words according to the grammar (Latin and Greek) as preparation for the study of poets, and finally reached the rhetoric level as a practical eloquence for public debate and persuasion.

Medieval period (400-1000 AD) was the period in which Latin kept alive by the Church. Teaching process in this period involved: (a) orthography (letters and their pronunciation), (b) prosody (syllable and versification), (c) accidence (words), and (d) syntax (clauses and sentences).

In latter middle ages (1200-1500), Latin and French became dominant languages. Further, the odern period was marked by thr raise of modern European languages indicating by the translation of Bible into vernaculars, the Caxton’s Printing Press in 1480, the publication of polyglot dictionaries, and the dialogue manuals began to be circulated. For learning of a foreign language, some books were published such as The French Schoolmaster (Claudius Holybrand, 1573), and The English Schoolaster (Jacques Bellot, 1580). In that time, there was a growing market of foreign languages.

In modern time, the new approach series of small steps arranged in a logically graded sequence. Following it, the introduction of new vocabulary in restricted amounts and practiced each step throughly in specially written sentences for translation. Pioneering work of J.V. Meidinger’s Praktische Franzasische Grammatik (later is calles the Grammar Translation Method (GTM)) in 1783 was already published in 15 edition by 1799. Franz Ahn A New Practical and Easy Method of Learning (1834) and H.G. Ollendorf A New Method of Learning to Read, then Write and Speak a Language in Six Months in 1835 followed the GTM. Aping the methods of the classicists by elaborate display of rule making, long list of obscure ‘exception’ with a heavy emphasis on literary texts and pseudo-conversational format. This led to the neglect of spoken language. However, it made the study of modern languages also look as intellectually stimulating. Hence, Cambrage University introduced modern language in 1886 and the Oxford Honours school in 1903.

As a reaction to Grammar Translation Method (GTM) and under the influence of Phonetics (Sweet, 1877, 1899 and Jesperson, 1904), the reform movement began. G.B. Shaw dedicated Pygmalion to Henry Sweet In 1886, Paul Passy formed the Phonetics Teachers Association that became the International Phonetic Association (IPA) in 1897. This method of teaching was marked by the primacy of spoken language with the help of phonetically transcribed texts. The use of isolated sentences was replaced by coherent texts and the foreign language came to be used in class. In this time, people began to use phonetics in language teaching.

The above method in a modified form also came to be known as the Direct Method. Here, the teacher’s task was to create the foreign language environment in the classroom. Efford in the classroom was to bring about a direct association between words and meaning (by direct reference to objects). However, there was no connected text was used, only conversation-simple to complex.

The reform of English language teaching in UK was under the influence of Daniel Jones (1917), Palmer (1921), and Michael West (Inspector of school Bengal). The work got interrupted in World War II. A.S. Hornby edited the first volume of the journal called English Language Teaching in 1946. His dictionary The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English was published in 1948. His pedagogical grammar identifying the basic pattern and structures for a teaching syllabus course were attempted in Oxford Progressive English for Adult Learners (1954). English Language Teaching (ELT) was firmly established as an autonomous branch of language education by the work of Palmer, West, and Hornby.

Work on language teaching also was done in the USA though in the tradition of Sapir and Blommfield. Language teaching in a large-scale way came up with ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program) that used the informant techniques of Bloomfield (1942). The method utilized dialogue memorization , patterned drills and other ‘habit’ formation exercises. This method was called ‘applied linguistics’ by 1948 when Language Learning – A Quarterly Journal of Applied Linguistics was published. Charles C. Fries established 3 months courses at his English Language Institute (ELI). His successor at ELI was Robert Lado.

New technology adopted which name was Language Laboratory., and then relabeled as the Audio-Lingual Approach after Chomsky’s Transformational Grammar paradigm upgraded in the 1960’s as the Audio-Visual Approach.

Interest in language teaching once again reawakened in the 1970’s and 1980’s with the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) based on the concept of ‘comunicative competence’ as forulated by Dell Hymes. This approach further led to the development of Language for Specific Purpose.

By now, many more approaches like natural approach, total physical response, suggestopedia, etc. are on the scene which are influenced both by the communicative approach to language teaching and by the ‘second language acquisition’ paradigm of Krashen (1981).

References:

Bloomfield, L. 1942. An Outline for the Practical Study of Foreign Languages.

Jesperson, O. 1904. How to Teach A Foreign Language.

Jones, D. 1971. The Scientific Study and Teaching of Languages.

Jones, D. 1971. English PronouncingDictionary.

Krashen, S.D. 1981. Second Language Acquisition and Language Learning.

Palmer, H. 1921. The Principles of Language Teaching.

Robins, R.H. 1951. Ancient and Modern Grammatical Theory in Europe. London: Bill

Sweet, H. 1877. Handbook of Phonetics.

Sweet, H. 1899. Practical Study of Languages.

Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

2005-12-22T23:30:00.000+07:00

The Relationship between Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

It has been noticed that language is central to human experience. Using it, human beings can communicate each other within and across society , maintain effective social relations, develop cognitive faculties, and make explicit thoughts. It is the nature of language that make all of these possible. Nature of language is the formal or grammatical structure of language as an autonomous system of signs; moreover, it is the subject of theoretical linguistics.

Applied linguistics (AL) is the utilization of knowledge about the nature of language achieved by linguistic research for the improvement of the efficiency of some practical task in which language is the central component. The goal of applied linguistics is actually to provide a coherent conceptual basis for the analysis and solution of language related problems. However, there is no single unified body of applied linguistics that is relevant to all areas of applied linguistics. It means that actual scope tends to appear lesser than the potential scope.

In order to understand the nature of applied linguistics, it is necessary to know the relationship between applied linguistics and linguistic theory, for example in language teaching in considering to the ‘Structuralist’,‘Ganerative’ and the ‘Communicative’ approaches.

Structuralist approach is a kind of behaviourism. It is the description of conciousness, objective observation, and a conditioned learning in which stimulus-respone- reward is needed. In this approach, learning is as a habit formation (drilling), and it uses the methodology of taxonomic or descriptive. It also emphasis on system of sounds and the grammatical structure, but ignores the meaning because it is not descriptive, so it is out of linguistics. The units are contrastive, like [sheep-ship], as well as hierarchical nature of language, like [constitute and constituents]. Theory of teaching in this approach is like ASTP (Army Specialized Teaching Program) proposed by Bloomfield, Contrastive Analysis i.e. compare and contrast idealized linguistics units of phonetics and phonology, and examine the potential areas of difficulty identified that can be strengthened through drilling, and Error Analysis (Svartik, 1973) i.e. compare learners’ ability in phonetics with his phonology, as well as describe and explain error (omission, insertion, and substitutions). Thus, the structuralist approach focuses on mastery over grammatical structure and 4 language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and learners in this approach are passive recipient.

In generative approach, language eternally is a phenomena of recurring. It is the human specific internalized mental competence. This approach emphasis on the child's capacity to hypothesize about structure of language as a set of parameters for input-output, or finite rules in infinite generation. Learning process in this approach is cognitive in nature, based on the theory of language acquisition. 'Errors' are hypotheses made by learners and are not mistakes. This is an interlanguage system or transitional system where rules of introduction to linguistics and phonetics neither apply. It is also called as 'Approach Mentalistic' or the method of natural language. Learners in this method are active responser.(Krashen: 1983)

Meanwhile, communicative approach (sociolinguistic approach) assumes language as a means of communication. It deals with the understanding of what language is and what language does in considering language as in speech community or language in use. It also deals with the maximal unit of description or speech event i.e. stating, agreeing, persuading, thanking, apologizing, etc. The centrality of function of this is language as a whole, and rule of orientation is subordinate to role orientation (intrinsic grammar + extrinsic functions, e.gg language and dialect). The primacy of function is asymmetrical relationship (same form-different function, same function-different form). In this appoach, the communicative competence is 'heterogeneous'. In language teaching or learning, aims to cater is to the needs of the learners. In practice, the focus are on materials, activities, and tasks. Dialogue is as the basis of this also.

Some references:

Allen, J.P.B, Corder, P & Davies, A. 1973-77 Edinburgh Course in Applied Linguistics. OUP.

Bloomfield, L. 1942. An Outline Guide for the Practical Study of Foreign Language.

Gargesh, R. 2005 Applied Linguistics in South Asia. Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics. Elvier.

Transformational Generative Grammar

2005-12-20T13:02:00.000+07:00

Noam Chomsky, Writer / Linguist / Political Figure
Born: 7 December 1928
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Best Known As: Creator of the theory of generative grammar

Generative Grammar (Transformational Generative Grammar)

A generative grammar is defined as one that is fully explicit, in the sense that it consists of a set of rules by which it is possible to decide whether any given sentence is grammatical or not. A sentence is seen not as a string of words but rather a "tree" with subordinate and superordinate branches connected at nodes. The sentenc 'The cat killed the bird", in which S is a sentence is ‘the cat killed the bird’, D is a determiner stands for 'the', N is a noun stands for 'cat', V is a verb stands for 'killed', NP is the noun phrase 'the cat, and VP is the verb phrase 'killed the bird'. NP in this sentence is formed by D+N.

Refers to the definition given by dictionary, transformational grammar is a grammar that accounts for the constructions of a language by linguistic transformations and phrase structures, especially generative grammar. Meanwhile, the Encyclopedia states it as linguistic theory associated with Noam Chomsky, particularly with his Syntactic Structures (1957), and with Chomsky's teacher Zellig Harris. Generative grammar attempts to define rules that can generate the infinite number of grammatical (well-formed) sentences possible in a language. It starts not from a behaviorist analysis of minimal sounds but from a rationalist assumption that a deep structure underlies a language, and that a similar deep structure underlies all languages. Transformational grammar seeks to identify rules (transformations) that govern relations between parts of a sentence, on the assumption that beneath such aspects as word order a fundamental structure exists. Transformational and generative grammar together were the starting point for the tremendous growth in linguistics studies since the 1950s.

Transformational generative Grammarians’ aim consists in creating an explicit model of what an ideal speaker of the language intuitively knows. This model assigns a structure to all the sentences of the language concerned. Chomsky makes a clear distinction between ‘competence or knowledge of language’ and ‘performance or the actual use of language in concrete situations’.

The ‘TG model’ also attempts to devise hypothesis on competence by idealising performance, that is to say, by removing performance accidents such as repetition, lack of attention, false starts etc. There is a big difference between Structuralism and TG as the former deals above all with text and language that has actually occurred while the latter doesn’t use the text because it is more interesting in what the text produces.

The main features of a TG model are four:

A) It must capable of generating an infinite set of sentences by operating a finite set of rules on a finite set of items Examples: ‘S? NP+ VP (this sentence can be rewritten as a noun phrase+ verb phrase) ‘the cat killed the bird’; NP? (det)+ N (noun phrase can be rewritten as (determiner)+ noun (the) cat); VP? V+ NP (verb phrase can be rewritten as verb +noun ‘killed the bird’). Following this model we can produce hundreds of sentences: ‘Women love/hate /animals; Men love/hate animals; Some men love/hate animals; Women love/hate some animals; Five men love/hate animals: Here we have three nouns [men women animals], two verbs[ love and hate], two determiners [some and five]. For this reason there is a possibility to build many sentences.

B) A TG model must be explicit and self-sufficient because it tries to describe the ideal speaker-hearer’s linguistic knowledge and intuition.

C) This model must have three components: ‘a phonological component’, ‘a syntactic component’ and ‘ a semantic component’.

D) It must be able to assign a structure to all sentences accepted by a native speaker and rejected all the sentences which wouldn’t be accepted by a native speaker.

Sources:
1.Transformational Generative Grammar
2.Study of Linguistics

Applied Linguistics

2005-12-18T17:34:00.000+07:00

Applied Linguistics (AP) in the Subcontinent
(Continue)

Applied linguistics- a cover term for several sub disciplines that contribute to the increasing understanding of the role of language in human affairs- providing knowledge to those dealing with language related issue- highly diversified. The term ‘applied linguistics’ came into use in the late 1940s and in the 1950s in both Britain and USA, where it initially referred to the teaching and learning of second or foreign languages.

However, it got prominence in India through the Linguistic Society of India, (formed at the Fifth Oriental Conference held at Lahore in 1928 with its first journal ‘ Indian Linguistics (IL)’ commencing publication in 1931). In pre-independence undivided India, the activities of the Society were mainly centered on descriptive and historical linguistics. Major activities in the growth of linguistics as an independent discipline of study began from the meeting of the Society of Deccan College, Pune in 1951.

Since the English language was supposed to cease functioning as official languag in January 1965, the meeting identified tha application of linguistics towards the solution of problem of communication and for the development of regional languages as a fundamental need. Subsequent political developments led to the amendment of the constitution in 1967 whereby English was declared as the ‘associate official language’, which it continues to be till this day. The Summer Institutes in linguistics came into existence in 1954, and Departments of Linguistics began to be set up in Indian Universities, the sole exception being the Department at Calcutta University that had been established in 1920. Linguistics as a major discipline was taught in 14 universities by 1982, the number rose to 20 in 1992, and today it is around 32. Needles to say that applied linguistics is a major component of these programs.

The major trend towards publication in applied linguistics can be said to have begun with Some Aspects of Applied Linguistics by D.P. Pattanayak (1969) and Aspects of Applied Linguistics by A.M. Ghatage (1970). The Dravidian Linguistics was formed in 1971 and the first issue of International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics (IJDL) was bought out in January 1972. Keeping in view the demand for publication in applied linguistics, Mr. Ujjal Singh Bahri founded the Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics (IJOAL) and the Language Forum (LF) in 1975. The biannual South Asian Language Review (SALR) under the editorship of Prof. O.N. Koul commended publication from January 1991.

While IL, IJDL, and SALR publish papers on theoretical as well as applied linguistics, the IJOAL caters only to applied linguistics while LF publishes papers on applied linguistics and on literary studies. At present in addition to this, there are a number of other significant publications such as CIEFL Bulletin, Osmania Papers in Linguistics, The Yearbook of South Asian Languages and Lingustics, Psycholingual and Applied Linguistics. The setting up of the Central Institute of English and Foreign Language- CIEFL (1958), the Central Hindi Directorate- CHD (1960), the Central Hindi Institute- CHI (1961), and the Central Institute of Indian Language- CIIL (1969) have further strengthened the work on applied linguistics through researches and publications. The robustness of the field can also be seen through numerous publications brought out by Sage Publications, Bahri Publications, Creative Publications, Oxford University Press and of course by the CIIL. The range of publications on applied linguistics show that the discipline which was initially equated with language teaching/learning has now grown in scope to include other issues as well as issues related to multilingualism, language planning, language contact studies, second language acquisition, stylistic, translation, studies language disorders and computatioanal linguistics, etc.

Phonology: Distinctive Features

2005-12-17T14:34:00.000+07:00

Distinctive Features

Phonological knowledge goes beyond the ability to produce all the phonetically different sounds of a language. In phonology, every different sounds called phonemes. Thus, phoneme is a distinctive speech sound,and it can change the meaning of a word. In Bahasa Indonesia, for example, the minimal pair ‘aku’ and ‘abu’represent different phonomes.
The sounds [k] and [b] cause the change of the words meaning. Furthermore, in order for two phonetic forms to differ and to contrast meaning, there must be phonetic difference between the substitued sounds. It is a distinctive feature.

Distinctive feature refers to a minimal contrastive unit used as a means of explaining how the sound system of language is organised. The first of these views is found in the approach of the Praque School, whereas the phonome is seen as a bundle of phonetic distinctive feature: the English phoneme /p/, for example, can be seen as the result of the combination of the feature of bilabial, voice, plosive, etc. According to Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman in their book ‘An Introduction to Language’ page :73, distinctive feature is a feature that distinguishes one phoneme from another.

Further, for features indicating opposite traits, we can employ a binary system using the symbols [+] and [-] (pluses and minuses) to show whether or not the attribute is present. For example, we need set up only a single feature [voiced] for two separate labels, such as voiced and voiceless. Then, voiced sound can be specified as [+voiced] and voiceless ones as [-voiced]. This binary notation is ideal for all features indicating opposite qualities. This binary system also gives advantage that we can show explicitly how members of pairs such as voiced-voiceless or nasal-oral, are related to each other in a way in which other possible pairing.

A. The Major Class Features

1. Sonorant/Nonsonorant

S. A. Schane in his book ‘Generative Phonology’ states that the feature [sonorant] refers to the resonan quality of sounds. Vowels are always [+sonorant] as are nasals,liquids, and semivowels. The obstruent stops, fricatives, affricates, and glides are, of course [-sonorant].
Sonorants are sounds produced when the vocal tract cavity configurates in which spontaneous voicing is possible, while obstruents are produced with a cavity configuration that makes this kind of voicing is impossible.

2. Vocalic/Nonvocalic

When the most radical constriction does not exceed that found in the high vowels [i] and [u] and the position of the vocal cords allow the spontaneous voicing, the vocalic sounds are produced. Meanwhile, non-vocalic sounds are produced when one or both of these conditions are not satisfied.
Therefore, vocalic sounds are the voiced vowels and liquids, whereas glides, nasals, obstruents as well as voiceless vowels and liquids are not vocalic.

3. Consonantal/Nonconsonantal

Consonantal sounds are produced with a radical obstruction in the midsaggital region of the vocal tract; nonconsonatal sounds are produced without such kind of construction.Further, the term consonantal refers to sounds that produced by a narrowed in the oral cavity-either total occlussion or frication. Stops, fricatives, affricates, nasals, and liquids are [+consonantal], while vowels and semivowels, withou ths degree of narrowing are [-consonantal].

4. Syllabic/Nonsyllabic

In general, vowels are [+syllabic], whereas consonants are [-syllabic]. This features are also necessary for differentating syllabic nasal and liquids ([+syllabic]).
A segment is viewed as syllabic if it constitutes the nucleus or peak of syllable.

A set of features makes explicit claims concerning the relationship of different segment types. The more feature values shared by different classes, more they have in common. Thus, classes which differ in only one feature value are more closely related than those which differ in two or three feature values.

B. Cavity Feature

Cavity feature refers to place of articulation. They specify where in the vocal tract modification of the air stream take place in the production of particular sounds.

1. Primary Structures

1.1 Coronal/Noncoronal

Coronal sounds are produced with the blade of the tongue raised from its neutral position; noncoronal sounds are produced with blade of the tongue is in the neutral position.
Dental, alveolar, and palato-alveolar consonants are coronal, as are the liquids articulated with the blade of the tongue. The uvulars, glides, retroflex vowels are noncoronal.

1.2 Anterior/Nonanterior

The sounds that are produced with an obstruction that is located in front of the palato-alveolar region of the mouth is called anterior sounds. Nonanterior sounds are produced without such kind of construction.
Vowels which are produced without construction in the oral cavity are anterior sounds, as well as consonants and liquids. Palato-alveolar, retroflex, palatal, velar, uvular, or pharyngeal are therefore nonanterior, whereas labials, dentals, and alveolas are anterior.

C. Feature Related to the Body of the Tongue

Another features that related to the position of the body of the tongue are deal with the features high, low, and back. Using the binary feature, we can devide them high-nonhigh, low-nonlow, and back-nonback.
High sounds are produced by raising the body of the tongue above the level that it occupied in the neutral position.; nonhigh sounds are produced without such a raising of the tongue body.

Low-nonlow sounds are produced by lowering the body of the tongue below the level that it occupies in the neutral position, nonllow sound are produced without such kind of lowering of the body of the tongue.
Meanwhile, back sounds are produced by retracting the body of the tongue from the neutral position; nonback sounds are produced without such a restraction from the neutral position.

D. Rounded-Unrounded

Rounded sounds are sounds that are produced with a narrowing of the lip; unrounded sounds are produced without such kind of narrowing.
All classes of sounds may manifest rounding. In glides and nonlow vowels, rounding is commonly correlated with the feature ‘back’: sounds that are also round, those that are nonback are nonround.
The degree of rounding is always determinable from other features. In the vowels and glides it is corelated with the maximum degree of constriction in the oral cavity. Glides and high vowels have most rounding; low vowels, least.

E. Distributed- nondistributed

Distributed sounds are produced with a constriction that extents for a considerable distance along the direction of the air flow; nondistibuted sounds are produced with a constriction that extends only for a short distance in this directon.

Applied Linguistics

2005-12-15T17:27:00.000+07:00

Applied Linguistics
Prof.Ravinder Gargesh

Applied linguistics can be defined as an area of activity consisting of language related concerns that go beyond the study of the forms and functions of language for their own shake.By doing so, the discipline has contributed by developing new perspectives and frames of reference for different areas of language related concerns such as in the domains of language teaching, stylistic, translation, lexicography, language policy, natural language processing by computers, speech, pathology, terminology development, forensic analysis, etc.
In this way, applied linguistics provides help to those who are in need of such knowledge in their language related practices.

Although it is true that applied linguistics presupposed a knowledge of linguistics, it is also true that applied linguistics helps in developing linguistics theory by not only providing insights from other diciplines, but also at times by providing new challenging data.--- Bounger to the Linguistic Society of America on December 28th, 1972 stressed the fact that while subject and verbs agree, linguist should deal with the question whether statements and facts agree. Once we move in this direction, the 'big lie' becomes the proper object of study for linguists, and a necessary one ,especially when lying is cultivated by the government, politicians, journalists, writers, and even by linguists as an art. (Bolinger,1973).

In a similar context, Srivastava (1990:11), in his 'Address to the Indian Linguists' viewed applied linguistics as "a socially meaningful academic activity since here linguists are called to utilize their knowledge and skill to reveal the implicit assumption made by speakers for the benefit of common users." This brings applied linguistics right into the centre of language related social concerns. The scientific perspective of linguistics, it is believed, will help in solving langauge related social concerns.