TOPIC 1

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

MUZZAMIL BIN HARIS NORAZLAN BIN MOHD TAHIR PUTRI DANG SARI BINTI OTHMAN SHAHRUL SHAZWAN BIN SHAMSUDDIN SITI AISYAH BINTI ZAINAL

Language and communication

Descriptive/typological linguists are thus interested in the structure of language, a conventionalized 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.

Definition of language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication. The scientific study of language in any of its senses is called linguistics. Any means of conveying or communicating ideas; specifically, human speech; the expression of ideas by the voice; sounds, expressive of thought, articulated by the organs of the throat and mouth.

Language and culture

At the turn of the century, many Asian countries are faced with tensions arising from the linguistic shift in language policies stemming from pressures of globalization. Very often, these pressures arise as a result of the shift in domain use from that of the national language to the establishment of English as medium of instruction at varying levels of the education system, ranging from the primary to higher education. This increasing hegemony of English elicits reactions of varying degrees of anxiety over its impact on national cultural identities.

Functions of language
One of the main goals of language teachers is to provide students with the tools to be effective communicators in the TL. Often when students are assigned projects and assignments (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, but teachers might need to consider a communicative approach to teaching the language, focusing on the functions of language, to properly equip students to complete assigned tasks.

Properties of Language
1. General Description

Properties of Language
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 we currently cannot see, hear, feel, touch, smell

Communication
Exchange of thoughts and feelings Not all communication is through language (gestures, glances, touches, pictures)

Properties of Language
Basic Concepts

Psycholinguistics
y

The psychology of our language as it interacts with the human mind Linguistics
The

Related areas of study

y

study of language structure and change the relationship among the brain, cognition, and language the relationship between social behavior and language

Neurolinguistics
Studies

Sociolinguistics
Studies

Properties of Language
1. General Description Six properties that are distinctive of language

Communicative


Language permits us to communicate with one or more people who share our language Language creates an arbitrary relationship between a symbol and its referent: an idea, a process, a relationship, or a description Arbitrary relationship - lack of any reason for choosing a particular symbol to refer to a particular thing

Arbitrarily symbolic
 

Properties of Language
1. General Description 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)

Properties of Language
1. General Description Six properties that are distinctive of language (cont.)
Generative,


productive

Within the limits of a linguistic structure, language users can produce novel utterances, and the possibilities for creating new utterances are virtually limitless Languages constantly evolve and change

Dynamic


Properties of Language
2. Fundamental Aspects of Language Two fundamental aspects of language
Comprehension


of language

Receptive comprehension and decoding of language input (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 be expressed as linguistic output speech or writing)

Properties of Language
2. Fundamental Aspects of Language 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 given language from another  Different languages use different numbers and combinations of phonemes  Phonemics the study of the particular phonemes of a language  Phonetics the study of to produce or combine speech sounds


Properties of Language
2. Fundamental Aspects of Language Levels of analysis of language

2. Morphology
Morpheme the smallest unit that denotes meaning within a particular language  Content morphemes the words that convey the bulk of the meaning (e.g. charge in recharge)  Functional morphemes the morphemes that add detail and nuance to the meaning of the content morphemes or that help the content morphemes to fit the grammatical context (e.g. re in recharge)


Properties of Language
2. Fundamental Aspects of Language Levels of analysis of language

3. Mental Lexicon
Mental Lexicon the entire set of morphemes in a given language or in a given persons linguistic repertoire; contains the information about meaning, phonological form, orthographic form and syntactic properties of a particular word  Vocabulary the repertoire of words created by combining morphemes


Properties of Language
2. Fundamental Aspects of Language Levels of analysis of language

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 whatever the verb acts on

Properties of Language
2. Fundamental Aspects of Language Levels of analysis of language

5. Semantics
The study of meaning in language  How 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 and language


Non-verbal communication
Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless,(mostly visual) messages between people. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch, by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact.

Non-verbal communication

Speech and writing

For ESL/EFL teachers, the differences between the language of speech and the language of writing are of fundamental importance. We know that our students need to learn to handle various versions of English. For example to chat with their friends, give presentations in class, watch tv, write and read email messages, read the newspaper, read textbooks, write tests, and more.

English Language in Malaysian

The Cabinet Committee Report on the Review of the Implementation of the Education Policy 1979 states that the teaching of English is to enable all school-leavers to use English in certain everyday situations and work situations. It is also to allow students to pursue higher education in the medium of English. At present, English is still taught for further studies and for work. However, English is becoming increasingly important in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and as a global language. Therefore, the use of English for ICT has been included in the curriculum. English for ICT will enable learners to access knowledge on the Internet and to network with people locally and overseas.

Thank you