Linguistics: Components of a Language - Report Example

Due Linguistics: Components of a Language What are the different component parts of language? How are they related to each other? Give examples. Human beings are obligatory to inhibit the capacity for language. Components of human language must go hand in hand with language spoken and read. There are several components of language identified by the linguists over the years. Morphology involves the study of word formations and development. It defines the smallest unit of meaning called morphemes, for example, the words come, bring, eat has got full meanings that can be understood fully when read. There are two types of morpheme namely free and bound morpheme. Free morpheme is where a word can stand alone, and the meaning is realized. It is possible while bound morpheme is where the word must be supported by another word for the meaning to be realized e.g. ‘im-’. Another component is phonology where it studies the structure of the speech within a specific language. It involves phonemes that are the smallest unit of sounds in a particular language, e.g. /d/, /b/ /k/ are phonemes of a particular language. The third component of a language is the syntax; it involves the study of a word arrangement in a language for correct grammatical realization. For example I went to school must follow the order of subject (I), verb(went), and object (to school) and it will not make a lot of sense when the order is interfered with. Language also contains a component called semantics that provide the clues for knowing the meaning of a particular language and the study of real meaning of the language. It helps us to understand the deep meaning of the language but not just the literary meaning. For example, when an individual says, “she has turn red” it does not necessarily mean the color, but the anger that the person is experiencing. It also involves cultural understanding of a language according to age bracket. Components of language relate to each other in different ways: morphology deals with the word formation while syntax arranges the words in a sentence to make it grammatically correct. Whereas semantics studies language meaning in regards to speech and writing. Phonology tries to identify the sounds used in a particular language to make the words spoken relevant for its correct meaning. 2- What are the major characteristics and qualifications of a successful teacher of English as a second language? Why and how are these important? English is a major subject learned by most students in school; a successful teacher must be competence in accordance to the requirements of the subject so that the student can learn new things in regards to the subject. English teacher must be a disciple; the virtue will enable students develop a positive attitude towards the subject and hence contributes to good performance of the subject in class and the future. The teacher must act as a role model to the student and the society. Through this characteristic, the students will be able to emulate the ways the teacher carries his or her daily activities. The society will also view the teacher an example to their children and therefore teach them the goods ways of the teacher. 3- What are the major characteristics of each of the following language teaching and learning approaches? Give examples. a. The direct method Language involves teaching of concepts and new words in regards to real life object besides virtual materials. Another characteristic of the direct method involves engaging learners by finding out rules through sufficient linguistic form in regards to language targeted. It also focuses on question and answer method. For example, a teacher posts question and expects an answer from the learners. Furthermore, it involves centralizing spoken language to the learners. Direct method also incorporates new teaching ideas orally to the learners. Students’ corporation is to the maximum to enable them have a clear understanding of the language. b. A structural approach Structural approach involves the assumption that language is a science and therefore a learner is able use different patterns to formulate a language. It involves a situation whereby a learner or a teacher uses designed objects to teach or learn a language. c. The communicative approach It involves direct interaction between the learner and the teacher. The learner and the teacher get to learn different ideas of a language in regards to language components. For example, a learner can differentiate a meaning of a word when the speaker uses tonal variation. d. The whole language approach It involves using a language wholly with the aim of understanding concepts and meaning. Through it, a learner or a teacher gets the whole concept and meaning without considering components of the language. 4- Give two examples to show how language and general situational contexts are related with Significance of contextualizing Language is a culture and a tool of communication. The importance of language in the society is to depict cultural practices since one can identify the way he or she uses a language. As a tool of communication, language reduces the barrier between two native people from different communities who can understand themselves with a single language known to them. Different societies can identify themselves among a group of people by using their language to communicate to each other without problem. In general situation, language contextualization helps in business and education. People can understand each other in business because they use a common language to communicate other than their native languages. 5- Explain the following terms and give an example or two of each: Phoneme It refers to the smallest unit of a sound that aims at making up a language. For example; the word ‘this’ contains three units of a sound or phonemes that are /th/, /i/ and the sound /s/. The sound, [i] records to a short sound. While [s] it the basic sound that leads to the sound /this/. Phonemes contribute to the study of speech sounds and structure in language thus incorporates both the pronunciation recommendations and units of speech known as phonology. Semantics It refers to the way language express meaning in a particular language. For example; - The boy is green with envy - The Girl has cold feet. These sentences have hidden meanings understood in regards to the context. Semantic have moved beyond literal meaning to cultural understanding. It explains why teenagers understand each other since they use language that is unique in many ways. It helps individuals from different backgrounds or natives understand each other without problem. Fricative Refers to the group of consonants that are produced when two closed articulators allows air to pass through. Example: /f/ - the sound comes when the lower lip is against the upper teeth. /x/ - it comes when the back of the tongue forces itself against the soft palate. Other examples of fricatives are sibilants. These include sound such as /s/, /z/, /j/. Syntax It refers to the study of single words combined to form a sentence in relation to their basic units. Syntax helps in understanding meaning of two or more different English sentence in regards to the grammatical rule of a language in addition to the level of complexity. For example in a sentence: • The girl hit the bean bag • The bean bag was hit by the girl The two sentences above have different meaning in regards to how the reader will understand the meaning. On the other hand, the second is complex, but the first sentence will be there to help the reader understand the intended message. Grammatically, the second sentence is wrong thus defines the complexity level of English language to the reader. Competence It refers to the ability of language. It defines how different people use language to communicate in regards to its meaning. For example, language is a tool used to relay message from one person to another. Without competence, people cannot understand each other. Example: I am studying The sentence is competence since it gives the message direct. Performance Refers to how language has changed the views of people in the society in regards to its presentation. Language is a tool and hence used to present cultural setting of different people in different communities. Morpheme Morpheme is a language component that focuses on the study of smallest units of a language in regards to meaning. It include word base such as ‘dog’, ‘man’, ‘hat’ in addition to affixes for example ‘im-‘ ‘re-‘ plural such as ‘es’ ‘s’ and past tense suffixes for example, ‘ed’. , morpheme helps in the development of vocabulary in regards to building smallest comprehensive blocks in the language. Morpheme also enables English speakers and uses differentiate the intended meaning of the word in regards to the tense used will speak. Supra-segmental It refers to effect of voice that extends over more than different sound segment in a speech. For example, tone, pitch, stress, length of the vowel, nasalization, and aspiration. Supra-segmental is common in poems and songs to bring out the effect and meaning of the word. It helps an individual differential meaning of two words that are the same in spelling. For example; • Advice – means to give guidance. • Advise – means giving control over something Grammar It refers to structural rules in linguistic that guide sentence composition in regards to the phrase, clause and words in a particular language. Besides, grammar helps in the study of language components and language meaning in relation to how the rules intend to bring out the meaning. For example, for a sentence to be correct grammatically, it must follow the grammar rule that is; Subject +Verb+ Object. (SVO) Example of a sentence: I am coming to school · ‘I’m’ is the subject. · ‘Coming’ is the verb · ‘To school’ is an object. Semiotics It deals with language making in regards to symbols and signs. It is divided into three namely; pragmatic, semantic and syntactic. Examples of semiotics include metaphors, similes, and analogy. Examples: • The boy is a pig • He is as fat as a pig The first sentence implies that the boy under discussion is glutton or fat. The second sentence describes the size of the boy. Semiotics also involves the study of structure and language meaning in addition to sign-language. Stress It is the emphasis placed on a word syllable, phrase or sentence. It shows emphasis in regards to the meaning of the word intended for the listener. A keen listener can realize stress through loudness, pitch, vowel length or articulation of long and short vowels. When stress comes between different words in a language, it’s known as a lexical verb. Notion Refers to how language is perceived by different people in regards to its structure and use. For example, many people, thin language is hard to understand due to its complexity and sounds. Work Cited Barnbrook, Geoff. Defining Language a Local Grammar of Definition Sentences. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub., 2002. Print. Read More