EL100

W EE K 1-
INTRODUCTION TO
2

LINGUISTICS
RICHELE D. DIZON, LPT, MAT
 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter/week, you will be able to:
1.describe Linguistics as the Science of Language;
2.discuss the scientific study of language in relevance
to language teaching, learning, and benefits to
community and society;
3.identify the macro skills of English language;
4.differentiate the views on language study in order to
explain further possible language origins and language
teaching methods;
5.discuss communicative competence based on D.
Hymes perspectives; and
6.evaluate their own language competence.
 LINGUISTICS AS THE SCIENCE
OF LANGUAGE
 Linguistics is the science of language, and linguists
are scientists who apply the scientific method to
questions about the nature and function of
language.
 Linguists study language and the factors that
influence language use.
 “Polyglot” is the term used for a person who has
knowledge of multiple languages. And although it is
possible for a person to be both a linguist and a
polyglot, it is just as possible that a linguist speaks
only one language.
 Have you experienced
communicating with a
foreigner in any instance? Did
you find it challenging? What
were some of your
unforgettable memories?
 DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE
ACCORDING TO THEORISTS
1. The structuralists believe that language can be
described in terms of observable and verifiable data as
it is being used. They also describe language in terms
of its structure and according to the regularities and
patterns or rules in language structure.
 DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE
ACCORDING TO THEORISTS -
STRUCTURALIST
 Language is primarily vocal. Language is speech,
primarily made up of vocal sounds produced by the
speech apparatus in the human body.
 Language is a system of systems. Language is not a
disorganized or a chaotic combination of sounds
 Language is arbitrary means that the relationship
between the words and the ‘things’ they denote is
merely conventional.
 DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE
ACCORDING TO THEORISTS -
STRUCTURALIST
 Language is a means of communication. Language
is an important means of communicating between
humans of their ideas, beliefs, or feelings.
 DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE
ACCORDING TO THEORISTS
2.The transformationalists/cognitivists believe that
language is a system of knowledge made manifest in
linguistic forms but innate and, in its most abstract
form, universal.
 DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE ACCORDING
TO THEORISTS - TRANSFORMATIONAL
 Language is innate. The presence of the language
acquisition device (LAD) in the human brain
predisposes all normal children to acquire their first
language in an amazingly short time, around five
years since birth.
 Language is creative. It enables native speakers to
produce and understand sentences they have not
heard nor used before.Language is creative. It
enables native speakers to produce and understand
sentences they have not heard nor used before.
 DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE ACCORDING
TO THEORISTS - TRANSFORMATIONAL
 Language is a mental phenomenon. It is not
mechanical. It is not mechanical.
 Language is universal. It is universal in the sense
that all normal children the world over acquire a
mother tongue but it is also universal in the sense
that, at a highly abstract level, all languages must
share key features of human languages
 DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE
ACCORDING TO THEORISTS
3.The functionalists believe that language is a dynamic
system through which members of speech community
exchange information.
4.The interactionists believe that language is a vehicle
for establishing interpersonal relations and for
performing social transactions between individuals.
 Why macro
skills are
important in
learning the
 MACRO SKILLS OF LANGUAGE

The study of English language arts enables each

student to understand and appreciate language,
and to use it competently and confidently in a
variety of situations for communication,
personal satisfaction, and learning. Students
become competent and confident users of all six
language arts through many opportunities to
listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent in
a variety of combinations and through a wide
range of relevant texts.
 MACRO SKILLS OF LANGUAGE -
ELA FRAMEWORK
 Text refers to all language forms that can be
discussed, studied, and analyzed.
 Reading refers to constructing meaning from
texts of any kind.
 SIX LANGUAGE ARTS

 Listening and Speaking Oral language is the

foundation of literacy. Through listening and
speaking, people communicate thoughts,
feelings, experiences, information, and opinions,
and learn to understand themselves and others.
 Reading and writing are powerful means of
communicating and learning. They enable
students to extend their knowledge and use of
language, increase their understanding of
themselves and others, and experience
enjoyment and personal satisfaction.
When is the right time to
listen and when is the
right to time speak?
 What are the
factors affecting
poor reading
comprehension?
 SIX LANGUAGE ARTS

Viewing and representing are integral parts of

contemporary life. They allow students to
understand the ways in which images and
language may be used to convey ideas, values, and
beliefs.
 VIEWS AND OVERVIEW ON THEORIES
IN LANGUAGE STUDY

1. Behaviorist learning theory.

the behaviorist view states that the language
behavior of the individual is conditioned by
sequences of differential rewards in his/her
environment.
 How would you
manage the
behavior of your
students in the
classroom?
 How do you
promote good
behavior in the
classroom?
 VIEWS AND OVERVIEW ON THEORIES
IN LANGUAGE STUDY - BEHAVIORIST
According to Littlewood (1984), the process of habit
formation includes the following:
a.The child imitates the sounds and patterns which s/he
hears around her/him.
b.People recognize the child’s attempts as being similar
to the adult models and reinforce (reward) the sounds by
approval or some other desirable reaction.
c.In order to obtain more of these rewards, the child
repeats the sounds and patterns so that these become
habits.
d.In this way the child’s verbal behavior is conditioned
(‘shaped’) until the habits coincide with the adult
models.
 VIEWS AND OVERVIEW ON THEORIES
IN LANGUAGE STUDY
2. Nativist Theory. A set of theories which contend that
human abilities and developmental processes are innate
and hard-wired at birth.

 They believe that children have language-specific

abilities that assist them as they work towards
mastering a language.
 Perhaps the most well-known nativist theorist, Noam
Chomsky, hypothesized that children are born with a
hard-wired language acquisition device (LAD) in their
brain.
 VIEWS AND OVERVIEW ON THEORIES
IN LANGUAGE STUDY -NATIVIST
 This idea was later expanded into the concept of
“universal grammar,” which maintains that most
languages have quite similar basic underlying
structures, and specific languages have rules that
transform these underlying structures into specific
patterns found in any given language.j
 Nativist theories posit that children are born with the
innate ability to acquire language and thus are able to
acquire and master the grammar of their native
language by the age of three.
 VIEWS AND OVERVIEW ON THEORIES
IN LANGUAGE STUDY
 Eric Lenneberg, a linguist and neurologist, believed
that the critical period for language acquisition ends
around the age of 12.
 VIEWS AND OVERVIEW ON THEORIES
IN LANGUAGE STUDY
 Cognitive learning theory. Chomsky argues that
language is not acquired by children by sheer
imitation and through a form of conditioning on
reinforcement and reward.
 Cognitivists/ innatists claim that the child is born with
an ‘initial’ state’ about language which predisposes
him/her to acquire a grammar of that language.
 VIEWS AND OVERVIEW ON THEORIES
IN LANGUAGE STUDY
Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests
that children move through four different stages of
learning. His theory focuses not only on understanding
how children acquire knowledge, but also on
understanding the nature of intelligence.1 Piaget's
stages are:
Sensorimotor stage: Birth to 2 years
Preoperational stage: Ages 2 to 7
Concrete operational stage: Ages 7 to 11
Formal operational stage: Ages 12 and up
The Sensorimotor Stage
During this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and
toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and
manipulating objects. A child's entire experience at the earliest
period of this stage occurs through basic reflexes, senses, and
motor responses.

Birth to 2 Years
Major characteristics and developmental changes during this
stage:
 Know the world through movements and sensations
 Learn about the world through basic actions such as sucking,
grasping, looking, and listening
 Learn that things continue to exist even when they cannot be
seen (object permanence)
 Realize that they are separate beings from the people and
objects around them
 Realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the
world around them
The Preoperational Stage
The foundations of language development may have been laid
during the previous stage, but the emergence of language is
one of the major hallmarks of the preoperational stage of
development.3

2 to 7 Years

Major characteristics and developmental changes during this

stage:

 Begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and

pictures to represent objects
 Tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the
perspective of others
 Getting better with language and thinking, but still tend to
think in very concrete terms
The Concrete Operational Stage
While children are still very concrete and literal in their thinking
at this point in development, they become much more adept at
using logic.2 The egocentrism of the previous stage begins to
disappear as kids become better at thinking about how other
people might view a situation.

7 to 11 Years

Major characteristics and developmental changes during this

stage:

 Begin to think logically about concrete events

 Begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the
amount of liquid in a short, wide cup is equal to that in a tall,
skinny glass, for example
 Thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very
concrete
 Begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific
information to a general principle
The Formal Operational Stage
The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic,
the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of
abstract ideas.3 At this point, adolescents and young adults
become capable of seeing multiple potential solutions to
problems and think more scientifically about the world around
them.

Age 12 and Up

Major characteristics and developmental changes during this

time:

 Begins to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical

problems
 Begins to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical,
social, and political issues that require theoretical and
abstract reasoning
 Begins to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general
principle to specific information
 VIEWS AND OVERVIEW ON THEORIES
IN LANGUAGE STUDY
4.Interactionists Learning Theory. The theory that
language is acquired from an interaction of a human’s
innate biological capabilities to acquire language with
exposure to language in the environment in which the
child is developing.

 The interaction theory recognizes that both

environmental and biological factors are important in
language development
How competent are
you in
communicating to
others?
 COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

 The term communicative competence refers to both

the tacit knowledge of a language and the ability to
use it effectively.
 The concept of communicative competence (a term
coined by linguist Dell Hymes in 1972) grew out of
resistance to the concept of linguistic competence
introduced by Noam Chomsky.
 HYMES ON COMPETENCE

 Dell Hathaway Hymes (June 7, 1927, in Portland,

Oregon – November 13, 2009, in Charlottesville,
Virginia) was a linguist, sociolinguist, anthropologist,
and folklorist who established disciplinary foundations
for the comparative, ethnographic study of language
use.
HYMES ON COMPETENCE
 HYMES ON COMPETENCE

 We have then to account for the fact that a normal

child acquires knowledge of sentences not only as
grammatical, but also as 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.