Topic 1 (Muzamil,Norazlan,Shahrul,Putri,Siti Aisyah)

7/31/2019 Topic 1 (Muzamil,Norazlan,Shahrul,Putri,Siti Aisyah)

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TOPIC 1

LANGUAGE AND

COMMUNICATION

MUZAMIL BIN HARIS

NORAZLAN BIN MOHD TAHIR

PUTRI DANG SARI BINTI OTHMAN

SHAHRUL SHAZWAN BIN

SHAMSUDDINSITI AISYAH BINTI ZAINAL


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Language and communication

Descriptive/typological linguists are thusinterested in the structure of language, aconventionalized system of signs which is

used to encode messages. They are not interested in sign systems more

generally, nor how information is exchanged

using language, nor how language is used. Language is important in the discipline; but

communication is not.


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Definition of language

Language may refer either to the specificallyhuman capacity for acquiring and usingcomplex systems of communication, or to a

specific instance of such a system of complexcommunication. The scientific study oflanguage in any of its senses is calledlinguistics.

Any means of conveying or communicatingideas; specifically, human speech; theexpression of ideas by the voice; sounds,

expressive of thought, articulated by the organs


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Language and culture

At the turn of the century, many Asian countriesare faced with tensions arising from the linguisticshift in language policies stemming frompressures of globalization.

Very often, these pressures arise as a result of theshift in domain use from that of the nationallanguage to the establishment of English asmedium of instruction at varying levels of theeducation system, ranging from the primary to

higher education. This increasing hegemony of English elicits

reactions of varying degrees of anxiety over itsimpact on national cultural identities.


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Functions of language One of the main goals of language teachers is to provide

students with the tools to be effective communicators inthe TL. Often when students are assigned projects andassignments (like the weather report in Annas case

study) their lack of practical tools to produce the actual

language becomes evident. In these cases, students might very well have the

necessary resources to accomplish the task, butteachers might need to consider a communicative

approach to teaching the language, focusing on thefunctions of language, to properly equip students tocomplete assigned tasks.


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Properties of Language

1. GeneralDescription


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Basic Concepts

Language The use of an organized means of combining words in

order to communicate Makes it possible for us to communicate with those

around us and to think about things and processes wecurrently cannot see, hear, feel, touch, smell

Communication Exchange of thoughts and feelings

Not all communication is through language (gestures,glances, touches, pictures)


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Basic Concepts Psycholinguistics

The psychology of our language as it interacts with thehuman mind

Related areas of study

Linguistics

The study of language structure and change

NeurolinguisticsStudies the relationship among the brain, cognition, and

language

Sociolinguistics

Studies the relationship between social behavior and language


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1. General Description

Six properties that are distinctive of language

Communicative

Language permits us to communicate with one or more peoplewho share our language

Arbitrarily symbolic

Language creates an arbitrary relationship between a symboland its referent: an idea, a process, a relationship, or adescription

Arbitrary relationship - lack of any reason for choosing aparticular symbol to refer to a particular thing


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Six properties that are distinctive of language(cont.)

Regularly structured Language has a structure; only particularly patterned

arrangements of symbols have meaning, and different

arrangements yield different meanings

Structured at multiple levels The structure of language can be analyzed at more

than one level ( e.g., in sounds, in meaning units, in

words, in phrases)


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Six properties that are distinctive of language(cont.)

Generative, productive

Within the limits of a linguistic structure, languageusers can produce novel utterances, and thepossibilities for creating new utterances are virtually

limitless Dynamic

Languages constantly evolve and change


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2. Fundamental Aspects of Language

Two fundamental aspects of language

Comprehension of language

Receptive comprehension and decoding of languageinput (deriving meaning from what you hear or read)

Production of language

Expressive encoding and production of language input

(transforming our thoughts into a form that can beexpressed as linguistic output speech or writing)


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Levels of analysis of language

1. Phonology system of speech sounds Phoneme the smallest unit of speech sound that can

be used to distinguish one utterance in a givenlanguage from another

Different languages use different numbers andcombinations of phonemes

Phonemics the study of the particular phonemes of alanguage

Phonetics the study of to produce or combine speech

sounds


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2. MorphologyMorpheme the smallest unit that denotes meaning

within a particular language

Content morphemes the words that convey the bulk ofthe meaning (e.g. charge in recharge)

Functional morphemes the morphemes that add detailand nuance to the meaning of the content morphemesor that help the content morphemes to fit thegrammatical context (e.g. re in recharge)


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3. Mental LexiconMental Lexicon the entire set of morphemes in a given

language or in a given persons linguistic repertoire;

contains the information about meaning, phonologicalform, orthographic form and syntactic properties of a

particular word Vocabulary the repertoire of words created by

combining morphemes


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4. Syntax The way in which users of a particular language put

words together to form sentences

It is the structure of our utterances

A sentence comprises at least two parts

Noun phrase which contains at least one noun

Verb phrase which contains at least one verb and whateverthe verb acts on


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5. Semantics The study of meaning in languageHow words express meaning

How language interacts with conceptual structure

6. Discourse Encompasses language use at the level beyond the

sentence, such as in conversation, paragraphs, stories

Studies the interactions between the context andlanguage


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Non-verbal communication

Nonverbal communication is usuallyunderstood as the process of communicationthrough sending and receiving

wordless,(mostly visual) messages betweenpeople. Messages can be communicatedthrough gestures and touch, by body languageor posture, by facial expression and eye

contact.


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Non-verbal communication


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Speech and writing

For ESL/EFL teachers, the differencesbetween the language of speech and thelanguage of writing are of fundamental

importance. We know that our students need to learn to

handle various versions of English. Forexample to chat with their friends, givepresentations in class, watch tv, write andread email messages, read the newspaper,read textbooks, write tests, and more.


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English Language in Malaysian

The Cabinet Committee Report on the Review of theImplementation of the Education Policy 1979 statesthat the teaching of English is to enable all school-leavers to use English in certain everyday situationsand work situations. It is also to allow students topursue higher education in the medium of English.

At present, English is still taught for further studies and

for work. However, English is becoming increasinglyimportant in Information and CommunicationsTechnology (ICT) and as a global language. Therefore,the use of English for ICT has been included in thecurriculum. English for ICT will enable learners to

access knowledge on the Internet and to network with


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Thank you

Documents

Topic 1 (Muzamil,Norazlan,Shahrul,Putri,Siti Aisyah)