CHAPTER 1:

THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE

I. Introduction:
This module covers the review on definition of language, macro skills, communicative competence,
views on language, and components of grammar. It tells that Linguistics is the scientific study of
language. It involves an analysis of language form. All linguistic structures can be broken down into
component parts that are combined according to (sub) conscious, over multiple levels of analysis.

II. Learning Objectives:

At the end of this module, the students will be able to:
• Define and explain components of language and its importance;
• Differentiate linguistic terms in general language study;
• Relate the lesson to their personal lives;

III. Content

LESSON 1: DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE

Language
➢ Is the ability to produce and comprehend spoken and written words; linguistics is the study of
language.
➢ Is such a special topic that there is an entire field, linguistics, devoted to its study. Linguistics views
language in an objective way, using the scientific method and rigorous research to form theories about
human acquire, use, and sometimes abuse language. There are a few major branches of linguistics,
which it is useful to understand in order to learn about language from a psychological perspective.

Major Levels of Linguistics: This diagram outlines the various subfields of linguistics, the study of language. These include
phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
Phonetics and Phonology
Phonetics is the study of individual speech sounds; phonology is the study of phonemes, which are the speech
sounds of an individual language. These two heavily overlapping subfields cover all the sounds that humans can
make, as well as which sounds make up different languages. A phonologist could answer the question, “Why do
BAT and TAB have different meaning even though they are made of the same three sounds, A, B, and T?”

Morphology
Morphology is the study of words and other meaningful units of language like suffixes and prefixes. A
morphologist would be interested in the relationship between words like “dog” and “dogs” or “walk”, and how
people figure out the differences between those words.

Syntax
Syntax is the study of sentences and phrases, or how people put words into the right order so that they can
communicate meaningfully. All languages have underlying rules of syntax, which, along with morphological
rules, make up every language’s grammar. An example of syntax coming into play in language is “Eugene walked
the dog” versus “The dog walked Eugene.” The order of words is not arbitrary in order for the sentence to convey
the intended meaning, the words must be in a certain order.

The 4 Macro Skills in Communication

When we learn a language, there are 4 macro skills that we need for success communication, these are reading,
writing, speaking and listening. We need to learn these 4 skills in order for us to communicate with other people.
We usually listen first, then we will learn to speak, then we will learn how to read then write. Below this text, we
will elaborate what are these 4 macro skills of communication.

1. Listening
The first one in the 4 macro skills of communication. The process of using the sense of hearing, in order
for the person to know what is happening around him. These are 3 types of listening, the passive, active,
and competitive.
• Passive Listening- happens when a person listens to the speaker without any response at it. He/
She will only listen to the speaker without giving any feedbacks.
• Active Listening- happens when a person listens to the speaker while also acknowledging the
information given by the speaker. Active Listeners also give their brief or short response to the
given information of the speaker.
• Competitive Listening- happens when a person listens to the speaker in order for them to give
their own opinion to the speaker, he also promotes his/ her own ideas as if they are arguing with
each other. This kind of listening usually happens during a court hearing or debate between two
parties.

2. Speaking
The second communication skill in language. The process of conveying a message to a receiver verbally,
or a process where the listener applies to him/ herself. If the information he/she have heard. Speaking can
be a tool in order for an individual to express his/ her feelings towards what he heard. A listener applies
all the information he received while listening in order for him to communicate with other persons, or to
share their feeling and thought with each other. Communication will fail if the receiver didn’t understand
 what the sender is saying. Possible causes are; the sender don’t know how to construct sentence properly
or the receiver can’t decode the message given to him by the sender.

3. Reading
The third communication skill in language. It is the process of analyzing symbols for you to understand
the message conveyed by the sender. A person to learns to read by memorizing the alphabets, analyzing
the sounds per letter make and applying it in order for him to decode the message given to him by the
sender. Reading takes a lot of practice in order for an individual to decode the message given by the sender.
If the scenario is like this, the receiver decodes the message successfully, but he/ she didn’t understand
what he/she is reading, communication will fail.

4. Writing
The last and probably the most complex skill in communication. Writing takes time and practice for you
to master the said skill. Writing can be practiced by knowing the strokes of each letter in the alphabet.
Writing is also a process in which a person can share his thoughts and feelings through symbols. Writing
can also be a tool to develop and strengthen human connections and the society.

LESSON 2: FIRST LANGUAGE (L1) vs. SECOND LANGUAGE

➢ A first language is the mother tongue or native language of a person while a second language is a
language a person learns in order to communicate with the native speaker of that language.
➢ The first language is like an instinct which is triggered by birth and developed with the experience of
being exposed to it. A second language is personal choice of a person.
➢ There is no other alternative to a first language. A person cannot decide his/ her first language. It comes
to him/her as an inheritance/ legacy/ birthright. On the other hand, a second language is always fixed by
the person. There are many alternatives to a second language. A person/community can choose a second
language among other languages.
➢ The acquiring process of the first language is very rapid while the learning process of the second language
can vary from language to language and from person to person, but can never be as rapid as the first
language acquisition.

SOME FACTORS OF DIFFERENCE FOR THE FIRST LANGUAGE AND THE SECOND LANGUAGE
A. Age
It is the most important factor that makes a second language totally different from the first language.
Children of the age of 6 who have already acquired full proficiency in their first language are most capable
of learning a second language. Adults usually find it difficult to learn a new language when they become
too accustomed to their first/ native language.

B. Personality
A child’s personality does not usually make that much of difference in the acquisition of the first language.
But it makes a huge difference in the learning process of the second language. In the second language
learning process, the learners with an introvert personality usually make slow progress than the learners
with an extrovert personality.
 C. Culture
The first language is one of the most important factors of a person’s culture. But a second language is not
important in anyone’s culture. However, the second language has some effects on the culture of a person
but not significant enough to be counted as an element of that culture.

D. Motivation
It is important factor for the second language learning. A learner with good motivation to learn second
language is likely to learn that language faster. But the acquisition of the first language does not require
any motivation because it is a natural phenomenon. The first language is required subconsciously and
there is no need for motivation to acquire it.

LESSON 3: NATIVE LANGUAGE vs. MOTHER TONGUE vs. FOREIGN LANGUAGE

A native language is generally the first one a child is exposed to. Some early studies referred to a process of
learning one’s first or native language as First Language Acquisition or FLA, but because many, perhaps most,
children in the world are exposed to more than one language almost from birth, a child may have more than one
native language. As a consequence, specialists now prefer the term Native Language Acquisition (NLA); it is
more accurate and includes all sorts of childhood situations.”
(Fredric Field, Bilingualism in the USA: The Case of the Chicano-Latino Community. John Benjamins, 2011)

A foreign language is a language indigenous to another country. It is also a language not spoken in the native
country of the person referred to, i.e. an English speaker living in Japan can say that Japanese is a foreign language
to him or her. These two characterizations do not exhaust the possible definitions, however, and the label is
occasionally applied in ways that are variously misleading or factually inaccurate. Some children learn more than
one language from birth or from very young age: they are bilingual or multilingual. These children can be said to
have two, three or more mother tongues: neither language is foreign to that child, even if one language is a foreign
language for the vast majority of people in the child’s birth country. For example, a child learning English from
her English father and Japanese at school in Japan can speak both English and Japanese, but neither is a foreign
language to her.

Pidgins and Creoles

• The word pidgin refers to a language used as a means of communication between people who do not share
a common language.
• The word pidgin derives from a mispronunciation of the English word business. The term “Pidgin English”
was first applied to the commercial lingua franca used in southern China and Melanesia, but now pidgin
is a generic term that refers to any simplified language that has derived from two or more parent languages.
• Creoles typically arise as the result of contact between the language of a dominant group and that of a
subordinate group, as happened as the result of European trade and colonization. The earliest reference to
a creole language is to a Portuguese-based creole spoken in Senegal.
• The vocabulary of a typical creole is supplied for the most part by the dominant language, while the
grammar tends to be taken from the subordinate language.
• A pidgin is nobody’s natural language; a creole develops as a new generation grows up speaking the pidgin
as its main language. The grammar of a creole usually remains simpler than that of the parent languages,
but the new language begins to develop larger vocabularies to provide for a wider range of situations.
 • Because of its distinctive use of verb tenses and other grammatical features, Black English is considered
by many to be an English creole having British and American varieties. Haitian is a French creole.
Macro and Micro Linguistic Studies
• Macro-linguistics and micro-linguistics are both fields of study of linguistics that focus on language and
its form and meaning and the changes that occur to that form and meaning due to other factors; macro-
linguistics examines language on a macro level, or from a more general perspective, while micro-
linguistics examines language on a micro level, or in a more specific and particular way.
• Macro-linguistics analyzes language beyond its most basic functions and context—it focuses on the social,
cultural psychological, and neurological factors and how they're connected to the language and its
structure. Thus, there are several subcategories of macro-linguistics, such as sociolinguistics (language
and society), psycholinguistics (language and psychology), neurolinguistics (language and neurology),
computational linguistics (language and IT), and others.
• Micro-linguistics is the study of how a language is a system with a structured set of rules. Micro-linguists
might study phonology, or how speech sounds are arranged to convey appropriate meaning. They might
also study morphology, or how words are formed and how they relate to other, similar words. In micro-
linguistics, you might study the syntax of a language, or how words are arranged to create sentences.
• Micro-linguistics, on the other hand, looks inward and focuses on the details of language itself. Linguists
who practice micro-linguistics might study phonology (the study of sounds); phonetics (the sound systems
of a language); morphology (the grammatical structures of a language); syntax (how words are put
together in phrases and sentences); semantics (the meanings of words); and/or pragmatics (the social use
of language).

Prescriptive vs. Descriptive

• Prescriptive grammar describes when people focus on talking about how a language should or ought to
be used. One way to remember this association is to think of going to a doctor’s office. When a doctor
gives you a prescription for medication, it often includes directions about how you should take your
medication as well as what you should not do when taking your medication. In a similar way, a prescriptive
grammar tells you how you should speak, and what type of language to avoid. This is commonly found in
English classes as well as other language classes, where the aim is to teach people how to use language in
a very particular (typically described as ‘proper’ or ‘correct’) way.
• Descriptive grammar, on the other hand, focuses on describing the language as it is used, not saying how
it should be used. For example, think about a prescriptive rule like Don’t split infinitives. A descriptive
grammarian would see a sentence like “To boldly go where no man has gone before” and would try to
describe how the mental grammar can cause that ordering of words, rather than saying that the surface
form is faulty due to prescriptive rules (which would require the sentence “To go boldly where no man
has gone before”). Linguistics takes this approach to language.

Diachronic vs. Synchronic

• Diachronic linguistics is the study of a language through different periods in history.
• Diachronic linguistics is one of the two main temporal dimensions of language study identified by Swiss
linguist Ferdinand de Saussure in his Course in General Linguistics (1916). The other is synchronic
linguistics.
• A synchronic study of language is a comparison of languages or dialects—various spoken differences of
the same language—used within some defined spatial region and during the same period of time," wrote
 Colleen Elaine Donnelly in "Linguistics for Writers." "Determining the regions of the United States in
which people currently say 'pop' rather than 'soda' and 'idea' rather than 'ideal' are examples of the types
of inquiries pertinent to a synchronic study."
Oral vs. Written Language
✓ The written language can be significantly more precise. Written words can be chosen with greater
deliberation and thought, and a written argument can be extraordinarily sophisticated, intricate, and
lengthy. These attributes of writing are possible because the pace of involvement is controlled by both the
writer and the reader. The writer can write and rewrite at great length, a span of time which in some cases
can be measured in years. Similarly, the reader can read quickly or slowly or even stop to think about what
he or she has just read. More importantly, the reader always has the option of re-reading; even if that
option is not exercised, its mere possibility has an effect upon a reader's understanding of a text. The
written word appeals more to a contemplative, deliberative style.
✓ Oral communication can be significantly more effective in expressing meaning to an audience. This
distinction between precision and effectiveness is due to the extensive repertoire of signals available to
the speaker: gestures, intonation, inflection, volume, pitch, pauses, movement, visual cues such as
appearance, and a whole host of other ways to communicate meaning. A speaker has significantly more
control over what the listener will hear than the writer has over what the reader will read. For these
techniques to be effective, however, the speaker needs to make sure that he or she has the audience's
attention--audiences do not have the luxury of re-reading the words spoken. The speaker, therefore, must
become a reader of the audience.
 CHAPTER 2: PLURALITY OF ENGLISH

LESSON 1: WORLD ENGLISHES

Linguistic Universals and Universal Grammar

❖ Linguistic universals in syntax are sometimes held up as evidence for universal grammar (although
epistemological arguments are more common). Other explanations for linguistic universals have been
proposed, for example, that linguistic universals tend to be properties of language that aid communication.
If a language were to lack one of these properties, it has been argued, it would probably soon evolve into
a language having that property.

English vs. Englishers

❖ English is sometimes used to mean 'belonging or relating to Great Britain.
However, it is better to avoid this use, as it may cause offence to people who come from Scotland, Wales, or
Northern Ireland. English is derived from England, one would think. But in fact, the language name is found long
before the country name. The latter first appears as England around the year 1000 and means "the land of the
Engle," that is, the Angles. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were the three Germanic tribes that emigrated from
what is now Denmark and northern Germany and settled in England around the fourth century AD.

Standard English
❖ The English that with respect to spelling, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary is substantially uniform
though not devoid of regional differences, that is well established by usage in the formal and informal
speech and writing of the educated, and that is widely recognized as acceptable wherever English is spoken
and understood.

KACHRU’S CONCENTRIC CIRCLE

✓ Kachru (1985) proposes this concentric circle to illustrate the spread of English all over the world. Each
circle in this model represents the kind of function and acquisition in which English language is used.

1. Inner Circle (ENL)

✓ The Inner Circle English in the model refer to the parent countries of English. These countries are
the colonizing nations in our history. Through colonization, they have spread English to the other
regions of the world. For example, Britain carried the language to Australia, New Zealand, and
North America.

2. Outer Circle (ESL)

✓ The Outer Circle belongs to the territories colonized by the parent countries of English. English in
this circle, is considered to be a second non-native language and is used for functions like
education, law, and government transactions.

3. Expanding Circle (EFL)

✓ The Expanding Circle considers English as a foreign language. This encompasses countries where
English has no historical or governmental roles. Nevertheless, English is still used for very limited
transactions and mostly for international communications only.
 Kachru's Concentric Circles of English (Kachru, 1992)

The Power of English

Kachru (1986) establishes the authority of the English language by looking into its “range” and “depth”. The
range of English refers to the totality of functions which it has acquired as it spreads around the globe. Its depth
refers to the amount of societal penetration it has achieved. For example, those countries that have moved from
the Inner to the other circles. Although difficult to assess, depth can be gleaned through the pluricentricity of
English and the development of varieties within an educated variety in the Outer Circle. Putting together the depth
and range of English, the following are Kachru’s useful parameters of the power of the language.
1. Demographical and Numerical: unprecedented spread across cultures and languages; on practically even
continent…
2. Functional: provides access to the most important scientific, technological and cross-cultural domains of
knowledge and interaction.
3. Attitudinal: symbolizes-certainly to a large group across cultures- one or more of the following: neutrality,
liberalism, status and progressivism.
4. Accessibility: provides international accessibility in the Outer Circle and international mobility across
regions.
5. Pluricentricity: this has resulted in the nativization and acculturation of the language. These two are, then,
responsible for the “assimilation” of English across culture.
6. Material: a tool for mobility, economic gains, and social status.
 LESSON 2: PHILIPPINE ENGLISH

Philippine English
• Philippine English (similar and related to American English) is any variety of English native to the
Philippines, including those used by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. English is
taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being Filipino (Tagalog).

A. Historical Background of Philippine

Filipinos were first introduced to English when the British invaded Manila and Cavite in 1762, but this
occupation had no lasting effect on English in the country. A national variety called Philippine English
evolved eventually, as a result of the American colonization, and was arguably one of the fastest to develop
in the postcolonial world. Its origins as an English language spoken by a large segment of the Philippine
population can be traced to the American introduction of public education, taught in the English medium
of instruction. This was marked by the arrival of the Thomasites in 1901, immediately during re-
colonization after the Philippine Revolution in the late 19th century up to the early 1900. After a
tumultuous period of colonial transition, Filipino leaders and elites, and the American colonial government
alike begun discussing the formation of a Philippine national language. The retained high ethnolinguistic
diversity of the new colony was due to low penetration of Spanish under Spain's rule. Spanish was limited
to a medium of instruction for the landed elites and gentry. At the end of Spanish colonization, only 3-5%
of the colonial population could speak Spanish.

The lingering effects of Spanish amongst the general population nevertheless had notable effects on the
lexical development of many Philippine languages, and even Philippine English, in the form of
hispanisms. Tagalog was selected to be the basis for a national language in 1937, and has since remained
so. It was re-labelled as Pilipino in 1959, and Filipino in 1987. With the successful establishment of
American-style public education having English as a consequential medium, more than 20% of the
Philippine population were reported to be able to understand and speak English just before the turn of
mid-20th century. This meteoric growth was sustained post-World War II, much further through
Philippine mass media (e.g. newsprint, radio, television) where English also became the dominant
language, and by the ratification into the current Philippine Constitution in 1987, both Filipino and English
were declared co-official languages. As of 2000, approximately 60% of the population could speak
English.

B. Definition and Linguistic Background of Philippine English

Philippine English is a legitimate nativized variety of English. It is the language used by Filipinos in
controlling domains such as science and technology, the judiciary, the legislature, bureaucracy, higher
education, scholarly discourse, and the like. While it shares some of the linguistic properties ascribed to
other varieties of English, especially those used in Asia, it has features that are unique to it (Dayag, 2012).

The spread of English around the world has offered us a diverse range of varieties of English.

Within the framework of Postcolonial English varieties, it was investigated that the Philippine variety of
English, which was a result of and emerged from its colonial background.
 "The linguistic background and colonial history of the Philippines provide an illuminating example of the
development of a new variety of English” (Kirkpatrick, 2007, p. 34). The use of English as the primary
medium of education in the Philippines started in 1901 together with the arrival of some 540 Thomasites
(US Soldiers-Teachers sent by USA). English has understandably developed to be the main language of
education and as it has broadened its use, it turned out to be indigenized through the addition of vocabulary
from native dialects, the adaptation of English words to local needs, and modifications in pronunciation
and grammar (McArthur, 1988).

PE (Pronunciation) PE (Grammar) PE (Vocabulary

Idioms
The influence of Philippine In terms of spelling and The majority of the
languages, which are the first grammar, Philippine vocabulary of Philippine
language of the majority of its English has a lot in English comes from
Description speakers, has given Philippine common with American American English, but it also
English a rhotic accent. Another English, and it also has a lot includes borrowed words
factor is the rhotic quality of in common with Colonial from local languages and
General American English, which English. Philippine English Spanish, as well as some
has been the archipelago's uses the latter when it Filipino-specific usages,
mandated standard since comes to punctuation and idiomatic phrases, and
Americans began using it in public date marking. Therefore, terminology. Philippine
schools. single inflections are lost, English comprises Spanish-
the present perfect is used derived phrases, such as
for the simple past, the past Anglicizations, as well as
perfect is used for the words taken from Philippine
present perfect, and soon languages, such as native
plant and animal names and
cultural notions that have no
specific English alternatives.
Examples • Nurse - nars • Filipinos will refer • jeepney (blending
• Doctor- doktor to 12:30 as half past jeep and jitney)
• Treasure- trehsure twelve and read a • High-blood (heavily
• Car- kar date like “December angered)
1” • Nosebleed (having
• Nina is going to difficulty with the
school regularly mental task on hand-
• She hoped that she most commonly, in
can visit you English.)
tomorrow, so on. • Estafa (fraud)
• Jogging pants (sweat
pants)

Expressions that are solely in the Philippines/ Philippine English

Tomboy- Lesbians are commonly referred to as tomboys.
Aircon- The Philippines uses the term aircon instead of the phrase A/C to refer to air conditioning.
Charot- It means just kidding.
Kilig- You know how you feel when you're starting to fall in love with someone? Your heart is racing,
and butterflies are fluttering around in your stomach. Well, that is how you describe that feeling.
Chika- To receive the most up-to-date gossip, use the word chika.
 LESSON 3: MULTILINGUALISM

COMMON LANGUAGE VS. MULTILINGUALISM

✓ Common Language - language spoken by two or more people – allowing them to communicate.
✓ Multilingualism – The ability to speak many languages proficiently (though not necessarily perfectly).

If a person can communicate effectively be it writing, speaking, or even singing using three or more language,
he/ she is considered a multilingual or polyglot. A multilingual can also listen or read passively and understand
the message in different languages.

A. Maximal Multilingual- These are the speakers who are equally proficient in two or more languages.
B. Minimal Multilingual- These are speakers who can successfully cut across their message even if they
are not fluent in the second or third language. For example, the tourist. They can communicate and make
themselves be understood although some of them are not very proficient in the language.

CAUSES OF MULTILINGUALISM
Globalization and cultural exchanges are the usual causes of multilingualism. It is becoming a phenomenon in
this generation most especially that technology has helped shape and aid in this access of information and flow
of ideas. Colonialism has also contributed to this phenomenon. When colonizers live with their territories, the
natives of their colony have to accommodate and learn the colonizer’s language. As a result, the native people
absorb and learn the language and apply this in their daily lives. With their unconscious practice, their children
have imitated and learned as well the second or third language and continue to incorporate the language into their
culture.
Another reason for multilingualism is the migration of people. With the advancement of technology and the
transport system, it has become easy for people to move and live from one place to the other. In so doing,
languages and culture have been carried and transported in a way as well causing the emergence of
multilingualism and cultural exchanges.
Intermarriages also contributed to the causes of multilingualism. Naturally, when a couple speaking different
languages move and live together they are forced to teach each other their languages causing one to learn and
later on be proficient in this particular language. Unsurprisingly, this also happens to their children. Having
parents with different native languages, the children will learn and speak both languages causing them to be
bilingual.
 CHAPTER 3: LANGUAGE AND HUMANS

“Language and culture are the frameworks. Through which humans experience, communicate, and understand
reality.” – Lev Vygotsky

A lot of researches have been made to teach animals talk and communicate like humans. There are researchers
whose interest is on teaching apes talk; there are also those who focused on dolphins and parrots. They introduced
varied systems of communication that are human-like. As technology has advanced, the study on animal language
has also increased and new findings have also been recorded.

LESSON 1: NON-HUMAN COMMUNICATION

Animals communicate differently to others by the use of their body parts or by making sounds. Their manner of
communication affects the behavior of the receiver and the sender of information or message.

A. THE LANA PROJECT

✓ The research began in the 1970s and it was designed to make

a language training system that was computer based. Lana was a
female chimpanzee that they took to teach how to use a keyboard.

✓ Lana did very well with lexigram research and was able to
distinguish many terms and relate them to the symbols. A lexigram
is symbol that relates to a term or idea. They are often used in
language research with primates.

✓ Many consider Lana to have extraordinary powers of communication. She could tell the lab
assistant to refill her treats. She also could request items that were not in the lab and that she could
not see. This proves that she had the ability to communicate on a level that was not believed
possible before.

✓ Just as amazing was the lexigram keyboard that Duane Rumbaugh designed for primate
communication at the research lab in Decatur, Georgia. The three panel keyboard has nearly 400
symbols and when the ape selects and presses a key, the word is spoken and the lexigram is shown
on a video monitor.
B. THE WASHOE PROJECT

✓ The Washoe project began in 1967 at the University of

Nevada in Reno. There had been experiments with chimpanzees
and communication previously. These attempts were aimed at
teaching the chimps to speak a language. However, they soon
realized that the chimps did not possess the physical ability to
form a spoken language. This practice was abandoned in favor of
body gestures. In the wild the apes communicated with each other
this way. It was decided to try and teach a chimpanzee the ASL
or American Sign Language. This was the same language that was taught to hearing and speaking
impaired humans.

✓ When the project first began, the researches practiced showing the signs and used the process of
repetition to teach Washoe, how to sign. Whenever Washoe made a motion that resembled an ASL
sign, the researchers would immediately work with Washoe to perfect the sign. They would work
with Washoe until the sign became something of meaning to her.

✓ Here is an example that the researchers used. The ASL signal for the word "more" involves
bringing the hands together and allowing the tips of the fingers to touch. They used tickling as one
of their rewards, as Washoe was fond of it. When someone ticked her, she would bring her hands
together as a reflex. This would be an automatic gesture of asking for "more".

✓ The researchers needed to make her understand that a reflex was not the same as a deliberate
action. So when she cringed upon being tickled, they would immediately pull her hands apart and
the tickling reward would stop. When Washoe brought her arms together again, she would receive
the tickling reward, again.

✓ At first, the mere bringing of the hands together would elicit a tickle. In time, the researchers
demanded more and more actions that resembled the sign for the word, "more". This went on until
the exact sign for the word "more" had to be produced in order to receive a reward. With this
accomplished, the researchers went about teaching her other ways to relate to the word, "more".

✓ They invented a game whereas Washoe would be pulled around in a laundry basket. When they
stopped pulling her, she could have more fun by make the sign for the word, "more". It did not
take too long for her to realize that this worked. She also applied the sign to get more of other
things. This worked for food or anything else that she may want. She was able to transfer learning
for communication to other parts of her life. This showed a great deal of insightful thinking that
was once thought only capable by humans.

✓ After a couple of years, the researchers noticed that Washoe could learn signs by watching others.
She picked up words and their meaning by watching what the researchers did. When they realized
this, they changed their teaching methods. Rewards were no longer necessary as Washoe wanted
to communicate. She could express words for items that were different than what she was taught.
 For example a refrigerator was a "cold box". She would sometimes call it "open food", as people
would open in to get food. This showed a great amount of intellect and forethought.

C. THE KOKO PROJECT

✓ Koko the gorilla has had an amazing life. Her ability to learn
and understand sign language has brought different and new
understanding to communication between species.
✓ Koko was one year old in 1972 when the project started. She
was taught differently that Washoe. Sign language and the vocal
sound of the word were introduced to her at the same time. Within
two weeks time, she had learned how to make the sign for water
and food. Every month she would learn another sign. In the span of
four years, she had learned 200 signs.
✓ When tested for comprehension, Koko scored well above the possibilities of chance. It was not
near human capability, but she was not human. She could also make unique combinations of signs
for things.
CRITICISM

Many people may argue that apes are simply imitating. However, the research is hard to ignore. Certainly, apes
cannot talk and communicate on a human level. That most likely will never happen. One can also argue that these
apes are just extraordinary samples of a large population. The only way to disprove that is with more research.

LESSON 2: FEATURES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE BY HOCKETT

Language and Humans

"Humans are born to learn language", Angela D. Frederica begins her new book "Language in Our Brain" by
discussing the structures in our brains which enable us to develop this fascinating medium which we use to
speak and write, think and poetize, email and tweet. "We learn our mother tongue without any formal lessons
and are nevertheless able to handle it in every situation without even thinking about it." A capability which
remains reserved for us humans. Indeed, apes, dogs, and parrots are able to learn words by associating an
abstract symbol or a sound with an object. But they are not able to combine them according to certain rules to
make them into meaningful sentences.

Features of Human Language by Hackett

Hackett, C. (1960). Fifteen "design-features" of human language:
1. Vocal-auditory channel: sounds emitted from the mouth and perceived by the auditory system.
2. Rapid fading (transistorizes): Signal last a short time. This is true of all systems involving sound.
3. Interchangeability: All utterances that are understood can be produced.
4. Total feedback: The sender of a message also perceives the message. That is, you hear what you
say.
5. Specialization: The signal produced is specialized for communication and is not the side effect of
some other behavior.
6. Semanticist: There is a fixed relationship between a signal and a meaning.
 7. Arbitrariness: There is an arbitrary relationship between a signal and its meaning. That is, the
signal is related to the meaning by convention or by instinct but has no inherent relationship with
the meaning.
8. Discreteness: Language can be said to be built up from discrete units (e.g., phonemes in human
language). Exchanging such discrete units causes a change in the meaning of a signal. This is an
abrupt change, rather than a continuous change of meaning.
9. Displacement: Communicating about things or events that are distant in time or space.
10. Productivity: Language is an open system. We can produce potentially an infinite number of
different messages by combining the elements differently.
11. Cultural transmission: Each generation needs to learn the system of communication from the
preceding generation.
12. Duality of patterning: Large numbers of meaningful signals (e.g., morphemes or words)
produced from a small number of meaningless units (e.g., phonemes).
13. Prevarication: Linguistic messages can be false, deceptive, or meaningless.
14. Reflexives: In a language, one can communicate about communication.
15. Learnability: A speaker of a language can learn another language.

LESSON 3: HALLIDAY’S LANGUAGE FUNCTION

Language is vital in every interaction. People cut across their purposes of communication through language. These
purposes may include a personal chore or whiling away time indulging in one’s hobby or sport. It may also be
interactions from social gatherings or pursuing goals for professional and personal growth.
For Halliday (1978), these functions or purposes are very important and drive the motivation for children to
develop language. He categorizes these functions or purposes into seven and first four help a person to satisfy and
address his/her physical, social and emotional needs.

Halliday’s Language Functions

Halliday (1978) proposed that there are 7 stages or functions of a child's speech. These are as follows.
1. Instrumental function - language that is used to fulfil a need, such as to obtain food, drink or
comfort. This typically includes concrete nouns.
2. Regulatory function - language that is used to influence the behavior of others including
persuading, commanding or requesting.
3. Interactional function - language that is used to develop relationships and ease interaction. This
could include phrases like "I love you mummy" or "Thank you".
4. Personal function - language that expresses personal opinions, attitudes and feelings including a
speaker's identity.
5. Representational/Informative function- language that is used to relay or request information.
6. Heuristic function - language that is used to explore, learn and discover. This could include
questions or a running commentary of a child's actions.
7. Imaginative function - the use of language to tell stories and create imaginary constructs. This
typically accompanies play or leisure activities.
 CHAPTER 4: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

A language is not just words. It’s culture, a tradition, a unification of a community, a whole history that creates
what community is. It’s all embodied in a language.” – Lev Vygotsky

What was the first language? How did language begin- where and when? These are repeated questions asked by
scholars. Bernard Campbell states flatly in “Humankind Emerging” (Allyn & Bacon, 2005), “We simply do not
know, and never will, how or when language began.”

Here are theories and hypotheses about the origin of language.

FROM BOW-WOW TO LA-LA

• The bow-wow theory: Language began as imitations of natural sounds -- moo, choo-choo, crash, clang,
buzz, bang, meow... This is more technically referred to as onomatopoeia or echoism.
• The pooh-pooh theory: Language began with interjections, instinctive emotive cries such as oh! for
surprise and ouch! for pain.
• The ding-dong theory: Some people, including the famous linguist Max Muller, have pointed out that
there is a rather mysterious correspondence between sounds and meanings. Small, sharp, high things tend
to have words with high front vowels in many languages, while big, round, low things tend to have round
back vowels! Compare itsy bitsy teeny weeny with moon, for example. This is often referred to as sound
symbolism.
• The yo-he-ho theory: Language began as rhythmic chants, perhaps ultimately from the grunts of heavy
work (heave-ho!). The linguist A. S. Diamond suggests that these were perhaps calls for assistance or
cooperation accompanied by appropriate gestures. This may relate yo-he-ho to the ding-dong theory, as
in such words as cut, break, crush, strike...
• The la-la theory: The Danish linguist Otto Jespersen suggested that language may have developed from
sounds associated with love, play, and (especially) song.

Genetic Mutation of Chomsky

Noam Chomsky postulates in his theory that language was created
from a genetic mutation from one of our human ancestors. This human
ancestor developed the ability to speak and understand language and
he passed this on to his offspring.

Vocal Grooming of Dubar

Robin Dubar’s theory is based on the notion that people needed to find a
more efficient form of grooming as communities began to grow larger.
Wanting to keep their peers with them, humans groom themselves and so
did the vocals develop. Humans need to be together with other humans
so they needed to use sounds like early conversations similar to gossip in
modern times.
 “Putting the baby down” hypothesis
Dean Falk an anthropologist suggests that language developed from early humans- the
mothers in particular. As humans evolved and lost their fur, the mothers who used to carry
their babies on their backs needed to leave them on the ground as they gather food and
foraging. To make sure that the babies are ensured that they are not abandoned, the mother
would call him/her and uses facial expressions. Aside from this, language and tactile
communication are also used like tickling.

Whitney’s Origin of Language

Whitney’s theory on the source of human speech is anchored on the
natural sound of human cries. As humans express their feelings and are
being understood by others the use of language began.
Next, according to Whitney, human beings come to use imitative or
onomatopoetic utterances as reproduction of the sound of crying.

LESSON 2: SEMIOTICS AND SIGN LANGUAGE

Semiotics is the theory and study of signs and symbols, especially as elements of language or other systems of
communication. Common examples of semiotics include traffic signs, emojis, and emoticons used in electronic
communication, and logos and brands used by international corporations to sell us things—"brand loyalty," they
call it.

Practice of Semiotics and History

➢ A person who studies or practices semiotics is a semiotician. Many terms and concepts used by
contemporary semioticians were introduced by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913).
Saussure defined a sign as any motion, gesture, image, pattern, or event that conveys meaning. He defined
langue as the structure or grammar of a language and parole as the choices made by the speaker to
communicate that information.

➢ Semiotics is a key study into the evolution of human consciousness. English philosopher John Locke
(1632–1704) tied the advancement of intelligence to three steps: understanding the nature of things,
understanding what to do to achieve whatever you wish to achieve, and the ability to communicate these
things to another. Language began with signs. In Locke's terminology, signs are dyadic—that is, a sign is
tied to a specific meaning.

➢ Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) said that signs work only if there is an intelligence capable of learning
from experience. Peirce's conception of semiotics was triadic: sign, meaning, and interpreter. Modern
semioticians look at the entire network of signs and symbols around us that mean different things in
different contexts, even signs or symbols that are sounds. Think of what an ambulance siren communicates
when you are driving: "Someone is endangered and we are in a hurry to help. Pull over to the side of the
road and let us drive by."
Semiotics Takeaways
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols, in particular as they communicate things spoken and
unspoken.
Common signs that are understood globally include traffic signs, emojis, and corporate logos.
Written and spoken language is full of semiotics in the form of intertextuality, puns, metaphors, and
references to cultural commonalities.

SIGN LANGUAGE

Sign language makes use of the hands, facial expression and other gestures usually used by deaf or the hearing-
impaired individuals. However, sign language may also be very helpful for individuals with intellectual and
physical disabilities especially those with communication problems like autism and apraxia of speech.

FINGERSPELLING

Spelling words in signs may be done using fingerspelling strategy. There is a manual for English alphabets, which
makes up important parts of sign language. Fingerspelling is used to emphasize specific words like pine, so p-i-
n-e would be spelled referring to pine tree.
 LESSON 3: THEORIES IN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

The interconnectedness between Culture and Language

We can view the interrelatedness between culture and language in these three opposing aspects:
1. Language and culture are inseparable since language is closely related to culture.
2. Language and culture are independent because speech is a means of exchanging information which can
be used in aspects that are not connected to culture.
3. Culture and language are partly interconnected.

Kramsch (1998) pointed three ways by which language and culture are related.
➢ Ways of doing things and perceptions can be manifested through the use and arrangement of words.
Considering this, people in society convey culture.
➢ People postulate meaning in their daily activities and experiences through language, and thus, language
personifies cultural reality.
➢ The context of communication where language is used embodies cultural reality and speakers distinguish
themselves using their language as their identity.

Therefore, language is a tool for people to express themselves and put significance in their social and cultural
experiences and reality with others.

Culture as Part of Language

“Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desire by means
of voluntarily produced symbols” (Sapir, 1921).
Risgar (2006) claims that language is a part of culture and a part of epidermal behavior. It is predominantly held
that the task of language is to put thoughts into words, to communicate pieces of information and to express
feelings. Language fulfills many other functions as maintaining a friendly societal relationship between people
such as greeting people, expressing needs, etc. In this area of study, Kramsch (1962) phrased the main functions
of language in three aspects:
• Language is the primary vehicle of communication.
• Language reflects both the personality of individual and the culture of history. In turn, it helps in shaping
both personality and culture.
• Language makes possible the growth and transmission of culture, the continuity of societies and the
effective functioning and control of social group.
If we endeavor to learn a foreign language, we need to be acquainted with the cultural realities embedded in this
foreign language. There must be a distinct way of requesting or expressing gratitude and other appropriate ways
of transacting.

Language, Thought and Culture

Benjamin Lee Whorf shared his theory on the significance of language in organizing our thoughts. He espoused
that our ways of looking at the world depend on the type of language that we use. His example is on the word
“snow”. The word may mean differently to and English person and an Eskimo person who may have 50 ways to
describe the snow.
The same holds truth for Sinugbuanong Binisaya or the Cebuano language, there are more than one word to mean
“eat”. There is “painit”, “pamahaw”, “hab-hab”, “sima-sima”, “timo”, etc. Language therefore is very cultural.
The Cebuano words for eat basically tells that culturally, Cebuanos have different ways and practices for eating
as represented by the hue of meaning of these words: (painit, pamahaw, hab hab, sima sima, timo)

Culture and its Elements

It is undeniable that we learn culture through interaction with people. Culture is not inborn but rather learned as
it is a social product. Words are the best tools of cultural symbols, such as epics, myths, and stories. This helps
connect people. Aside from words or language, rituals, beliefs and values are essential in the formation of culture.
Generally, the elements of culture include the overall patterns of behavior, literature and language, arts, prototypes
and other products of human work and thought.

Vygotsky’s Theory
Lev Vygotsky, a psychologist, believed that social interactions between and among people are a key element in
acquiring knowledge, just like how a child watches and learn from adults. The more experiences a child has to
imitate the greater his intellectual skills and language development compared to those with less experience and
exposure. Moreover, for Vygotsky, language and culture are intently interconnected. He believed that every
culture has specific dynamics for social transactions.

Piaget’s Theory
Jean Piaget contends that when children are born they have an embedded basic structure for cognition as well as
for language. As they mature, their built-in structure also adjusts to let them learn more about complex language
and other higher-order concepts. In his theory, Piaget stressed that children create meaning from the verbal and
non-verbal cues received from their environment and these meanings change as children learn more because of
maturity. Piaget did not adhere to Vygotsky’s idea of emphasizing culture in learning.

Chomsky’s Theory
Noam Chomsky is known for his Language Acquisition Device (LAD) which is a built-in box in the brain
responsible for creating and learning the language. For him, practice is not important as children never acquire
language through it. Furthermore, language structures can change, develop and evolve given cultural interactions.
 CHAPTER 5: LANGUAGE AND HISTORY

“Learning another language is not learning different words for the same things bit learning another way to think
about things.” – Flora Lewis

The history of language relied so much on the hands of the great linguists from the time it started up to 20 th
Century. Language literally and constantly evolves with time and its development follows a timeline. In each
stage that language passes through are footprints of accomplishments of great contributors from Ancient
philosophers to modern linguists. From the time language was first studied and structured, the transformation of
language artifacts just kept coming. The changes applied to language miraculously suit to the generation of its
users. With the numerous language experts the world has, there are just a few noteworthy linguists whose
contributions are widely adopted and scrutinized by modern linguists.

LESSON 1: HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF NOTEWORTHY LINGUISTS

NOTEWORTHY LINGUISTS
Linguist started to make a mark after Panini composed his Sanskrit grammar in India in 400B.C. followed by the
remarkable linguists of Greece in the 5th Century onwards namely, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The lineages of
linguists that history records are all noteworthy. However, in the field of language and history, the following
linguists below are well remembered.

1. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

In 384 B.C.E, Aristotle was born in Macedonia particularly in Stagira. His father served as the physician
of the Macedonian king, Amyntas. At 17, Aristotle entered the academy which Plato established in Athens
and stayed there until Plato's death. As the successor of Plato, he departed Athens and lived in Asia Minor
and then resided in Lesbos. Later between 343 B.C.-342 B.C. he 'was invited by Amynta's son, Philip II
of Macedonia, to teach his 14-year old son, Alexander. In 336B.C. Alexander took over the throne and
conquered the entire of Greece. So, Aristotle left and established his school of philosophy. He taught there
until 323 B.C Alexander died at age 32. Uncertain of Macedonian protection, he moved out of Athens and
lived in the Chalcis, north of Athens. Later in 322, Aristotle died of a digestive disease.

Contribution to Linguistics
Aristotle's huge contribution to the development of language started when he demythologized language.
He looked at it as an object of rational inquiry, a medium of communicating and expressing thoughts about
anything under the sun. In Ogden and Richards (1923:11), he explained that the "semiotic triangle" refers
to (a) language is human's means of expression of (b) thoughts that are purposefully connected to (c)
elements present in this world. In other words, he was establishing the relation between language
expressions including written words with the mental meaning produced by these word. In his theory of
truth, he provided that the properties of either thoughts and sentences are truth and falsity. He identified
the primary parts of a sentence- the noun and verb, which functioned as subject and verb in the sentence.
2. Robert Lowth (1710-1787)
He was born in Winchester on November 27,1710 and was educated at Winchester School and New
College Oxford. In his lifetime, he worked as a Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford. Lowth
was a clergyman after he served as archdeacon of Winchester, rector of East Woodhay, prebend of
Durham, Bishop of Saint David's, bishop of London, dean of the Chapel Royal and privy councilor. His
noble acts ended after he died on November 3,1787.

Contribution to Linguistics
In 1762, he published his book titled, “Short Introduction to English Grammar” which became a standard
textbook. The “Short Introduction to English Grammar” instantly gained fame over: other grammar books
that it was reissued approximately 45 times form 1762-1800. Lowth then earned a reputation as a
prescriptivist and that period gave rise to prescriptivism. The term prescriptivism refers to beliefs and
practices where one's language is thought to be superior and correct and should be promoted. The explicit
rules are laid down as the basis of the imposition on the language users. He was one of the few
grammarians to publish writing about what is right and wrong in English grammar where he used footnotes
that contain essential information that explained why a particular grammatical' structure was right or
wrong (Encyclopedia.com, 2019).

3. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)

In 1857, Ferdinand de Saussure was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He was interested in languages even at
his very early age. At 15, learned French, Greek, English, and Latin and he also wrote essays on languages
at that age. Having been influenced by á family of scientists, he entered the University of Geneva and
studied natural sciences. He stayed at the university, but he had convinced his parents to permit him to
study linguistics in Leipzig in 1876 and luckily received his doctorate.

Contribution to Linguistics
As a linguist, he was among the pillars of linguistics in the 20th Century and known as a co-founder of
semiotics and structuralism. Structuralism theorizes that things could not be understood without analyzing
the context where they appear. Things might look self-evident at first glance, but structuralism goes
beyond what one sees and insists that context contributes to the meaning-making process.

In summary, structuralism advocated three similar concepts:

A. Saussure maintained the difference between langue (a set of conventions and rules) and parole
(language as used in daily life). He claimed that the "sign” was a combination of a ''signified”, the
mental concept or idea, and a "signifier”, the physical existence including sounds and image;
B. There was no intrinsic and particular reason why a sign was utilized to express a signifier. There
was no resemblance and direct connection between the language and the thing that it represents,
that's why, other languages call it using different names; and
C. The meaning of signs can be based on their relationships and differences from other signs
(Negi,2020).

4. Noam Chomsky
His name, when in full, is Avram Noam Chomsky. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1928. He pursued his
interest in linguistics under Zellig Harris, the professor who helped him earn his doctorate at the University
 of Pennsylvania. During his time, he was also regarded as the Father of Moderm Linguistics, a
philosopher, a social critic, a cognitive scientist, and a political activist.
At the age 13, Chomsky began travelling to New York by himself, where he discovered interesting reading
materials for his extreme reading hobby and befriended some Jewish intellectuals. He worked as a
Laureate Professor at the University of Arizona and as an Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) and had authored some notable works such as The Logical Structure of
Linguistic Theory and Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in
Democratic Societies and Syntactic Structures.

Contribution of Linguistics
As one of the linguistic intellectuals, he introduced the concept of universal grammar and suggested that
human has an ability to learn grammar because the brain has a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that
automatically works in language acquisition. Chomsky, who often focused on the language learning of
children, popularized this theory since the 1980’s.
He was not convinced that exposure to language alone can fully develop the child’s faculty to acquire a
language. Instead, he believed that basic language structures are already wired into the human brain at
birth. Besides, the human language has universal components no matter what language it is. For instance,
the English language has verbs, nouns, and so do other languages even if the terms being used vary due
to language differences. The word “house’ in English is named as “Bahay” in the Filipino language. These
terms sound and spell the distinctly from each other, yet they belong to one category, they are both nouns.
Therefore, language shares the same universal components of grammar.

LESSON 2: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Development of English Language: The Darwinian Perspective

Human language evolves through a modification process where major languages gave birth to new languages
similar to biological species develop their language (Pagel, 2016).

Darwinian or evolutionary linguistics is a socio-biological method in scrutinizing a language. Proponents of this

theory look at the linguistic field as a sub-umbrella of evolutionary biology and psychology. This is further linked
to evolutionary anthropology, biolinguistics and cognitive linguistics. It assumes that language is a product of
nature and it centers on the biological nature of language. However, this research lacks empirical data as proof.
Researchers have not found any archeological traces of language that linked the existence of biology and human
language forms. There is no clear evidence that language started from animals and developed into a form which
human used even up to the present.

It was in the late 1930’s that Darwin started searching at the beginning of language. His focus of inquiry lies in
the communicative abilities of animals and their capacity to acquire new sounds and associate them with human
words. He observed the proximity and sameness between sounds of animals and the different natural utterances
and gestures that human beings produce when venting out strong feelings such as fear, joy and surprise. He
focused on the observable interrelatedness between words and sounds, shown in “crack”, “scrape”, and “roar”
that appeared to be an imitation of the things signified.
Darwin admitted that language sets man apart from lower animals; however, he went on emphasizing the
resemblance of animal and human speech. Darwin’s in-depth beliefs were anchored on his vast knowledge of
anthropology, linguistic pathologies, language learning and acquisition in children and the wide range of animal
behavior both domestic and wild. (Darwin correspondence Project, 2020).

LESSON 3: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FAMILY TREE

Indo-European Family Tree

The earliest known Indo-European language is the common ancestor of modern English and Western languages
(Grey, 2019). No written traces of the Indo-European language could be found for it was not written down. Based
on the many texts that language experts and researchers delved on they have deduced that the east of Turkey was
once occupied. The group split, with one group voyaging to Asia and other sub-group towards the west of Europe.
The two main sub-groups scattered into smaller groups and settled in the different sections in Asia and Europe
where their languages developed separately.

Although Europe and India are geographically distant from each other, those regions use languages that share a
common origin. Researchers revealed that Latin, Sanskrit, Old Irish, Hittite, Old Bulgarian, and Greek all arose
one common language.

At present, the languages belonging to the Indo-European family are Balton-Slavic (e.g. Russian, Lithuanian,
Latvian, and Polish), the Roman languages, the Indo-Iranian languages (e.g. Hindi, Persian, and Sanskrit), the
Italic languages (i.e. the Roman languages), the Celtic languages (e.g. Gaelic, Welsh, Breton), and the Hellenic
language which the Greek occupied all on its own. Around 48% of the population all over the world spoke the
Indo-European languages and its family consists of over 200 languages.
Adapted from Tradoc Rhone Alpes (2020)
The family tree shows a surprising rise of modern languages from common ancestor. This does not guarantee that
the speakers of these languages understood one another. However, these languages have common word origin,
which may not be intelligible to many, but it served as a link among them. The illustration does not have modern
English. It is because, among the Indo-European languages, modern English is a combination of Old English and
French with the influence of Scandinavian and Latin, turning it into both Germanic and Italic. This combination
gives the Modern English a huge amount of vocabulary (Tradoc Rhone Aples, 2020)

LESSON 4: OLD, MIDDLE AND MODERN ENGLISH

The English language has gone through a series of modifications, for it had been in the mouths of a few
generations of speakers. It had changed that its previous form seemed unrecognizable anymore. The English
language has historically transitioned from Old English to its Modern English structure and conventions.

OLD ENGLISH
The Old English (OE) period can be regarded as starting around AD 450, with the arrival of West Germanic
settlers (Angles, Saxons and Jutes) in southern Britain. They brought with them dialects closely related to the
continental language varieties which would produce modern German, Dutch and Frisian.
This Germanic basis for English can be seen in much of our everyday vocabulary – compare heart (OE heorte),
come (OE cuman) and old (OE eald) with German Herz, kommen and alt.
Many grammatical features also date back to this time: irregular verbs such as drink ~ drank ~ drunk (OE drincan
~ dranc ~ (ge)druncen) parallel German trinken ~ trank ~ getrunken. Similarly, many OE pronunciations are
preserved in modern spellings e.g. knight (OE cniht, German Knecht), in which k would have been pronounced
and gh sounded like ch in Scots loch.

Old English, also called Anglo-Saxon, was not heavily influenced by the Celtic languages spoken by the native
inhabitants of the British Isles, borrowing only a few words (e.g. brock, tor) associated with local wildlife and
geography (but many place and river names e.g. Dover, Avon). However, Latin, introduced to Britain by the
Romans, and reinforced in its influence by the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity during the 7th
century, had a significant impact, providing both vocabulary (e.g. master, mass, school) and the basis for the
writing system.

An example of Old English text can be seen in the Start of Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf.

MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100- 1500)

During this period, development in terms of pronunciation of unstressed syllables found at the ends of words
caused the merging of most inflections. Moreover, the influence of the Norman and French people went a long
way. French prestige dominated the vocabulary in court, church, education and law. The words for farmed animals
(mutton, beef, pork) translated in modern French into (mouton, beouf, porc) were from native words like sheep,
swine, and cow.

The loan or borrowed words referred to the meat of animals consumed by wealthy French speakers, while the
native or Old English words referred to living animals. Norman also changed the way words were spelled and
written using the French conventions. As a result, the Old English word “is” turned “ice” and “cwcn” became
“queen”. One great example of Middle English text could be read in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (Lohr, 2019).

MODERN ENGLISH
This period marked the introduction of printing. Caxton’s preference of the East Midlands/London’s English
variety for the earliest printed books towards the end of 15 th Century influenced the formation of the standardized
English language variety with acceptable grammatical forms and vocabulary, fixed spelling, and punctuation
conventions.

The perception of the correctness of this standardized variety was supported by the codification attempts of
Johnson’s dictionary and many other perspective grammarians during 18 th Century. From that point, English
vocabulary was meticulously elaborated as it was widely used for several purposes e.g. translations of written
works and other rediscovered writings in the Renaissance, description of recent scientific works and the growing
of creative literature. In this period, among the borrowed words from Greek and Latin were critic, education,
consciousness, and metamorphosis. The modern English was also characterized by the Great Vowel shift. People
started to produce the long vowels from the subsequent short vowels.

The Modern English text can read at the onset of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. At present, English is used worldwide
as a native tongue, second foreign tongue due to imperial and colonial activity, educational and cultural prestige,
the interracial slave trade end international business for economic reasons. Modern English is continually
changing and upgrading both its non-standard and standard varieties. However, there is nothing to fear or resist
as the language continues to change if it brings unity and comprehensibility to everyone (Lohr, 2019).
 CHAPTER 6: APPLIED LINGUISTICS

“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow”. – Oliver Wendell
Holmes

The term applied linguistics refers to the interdisciplinary field that aims to seek out, identify, and provide
solutions to real-life problems that result from language-related causes. This research encompasses a wide variety
of fields including language acquisition, language teaching, literacy, literary studies, gender studies, speech
therapy, discourse analysis, censorship, professional communication, media studies, translation studies,
lexicography, and forensic linguistics.

Applied Linguistics vs. General Linguistics

The study and practice of applied linguistics are specifically geared toward addressing practical issues as opposed
to theoretical constructs. Fields in which applied linguistics routinely come into play are education, psychology,
communication research, anthropology, and sociology. General linguistics or theoretical linguistics, on the other
hand, deal with language itself, not as that language applies to the people who are using it.

One way to better understand what distinguishes the two disciplines is to make an analogy between them and
connotative versus denotative word meanings in grammar. Denotative words generally have a single meaning
that isn't open to interpretation. Take, for example, the word a "door." Generally speaking, when you look at a
door, you know it's a door—not a shoe or a dog. Like denotative words, general or theoretical linguistics are based
on a set of predetermined rules that are understood to have a uniform meaning.

Connotative words, on the other hand, tend to be conceptual rather than concrete. Concepts, which are open to
interpretation, are often understood differently by different people. Take, for example, the concept of "happiness."
As we know, one person's happiness can be another person's misery. As with connotative meaning, applied
linguistics focuses on language with regard to how people interpret—or misinterpret—meaning. In other words,
both applied linguistics and connotative meaning are dependent on human interaction and reaction

Applying Theory to Practice

One of the main goals of applied linguistics is to determine practical applications for linguistic theories as they
apply to the evolution of everyday language usage. Initially targeted toward teaching, the field has become
increasingly far-reaching since its inception in the late 1950s.

Alan Davies, whose career spanned four decades as a professor of applied linguistics at the University of
Edinburgh, wrote, "There is no finality: the problems such as how to assess language proficiency, what is the
optimum age to begin a second language, [and the like] may find local and temporary solutions but the problems
recur."

As a result, applied linguistics is a constantly evolving discipline that changes as frequently as the modern usage
of any given language, adapting and presenting new solutions to the ever-evolving problems of linguistic
discourse.
 LESSON 1: ETHNOLINGUISTICS
Human speech is a part of culture. This meant that utterances can be correctly understood if they match with the
represented culture. Since cultural experiences are shared through language, language then becomes a
representation of one's culture. It is when experiences are told that the listeners get to know and experience the
complexity of other people's practices and beliefs. Moreover, the spoken symbols used in communication
somehow stand for one's culture since language is sometimes distinct from culture to culture (Silva-Fuenzaleda,
n.d.). However, for some, language is only a means of communication or a channel in which ideas can be
expressed, not knowing that language is more than just that (Silva-Fuenzaleda, n.d.).

The difference in sound and manner of delivery has an important role in communication and this is an emerging
language concern of ethnolinguistics that could lead to cultural discovery. Ethnolinguistics deals with the
connections between culture and language. It examines how we culturally behave given the type of language that
we use in speaking (Augustyn et. al, 2019). Ethnolinguistics further pushes the idea that languages cannot be
tagged "similar" because they represent not only the language symbols but the social reality in their respective
cultures. Where there is even a little difference in how every group speaks and behaves, there is a significant
difference to investigate.

Part of ethnolinguistics is the so-called linguistic relativism. It states that the language we know or use every day
is more than just a list of words guided by grammar structures and prescribed rules. It goes beyond the ordinary,
for it also influences our cognitive processes and defines how we see things. Linguistic relativism has two versions
- the strong and the weak. The strong version postulates that language decides and determines our thought and
cognition, while the weak version pushes the idea that language only influences thoughts. At present, linguists
seem favorable to the weak version and this fact has influenced many experiments on linguistics.

LESSON 2: CODE SWITCHING

What is code-switching?
Communities, where bilingualism is practiced, employ some techniques in making communication meaningful,
effective, and intelligible. They resort to code-switching, especially if the target language is the people’s foreign
or second language. Code switching is a strategy of using two different languages inside a sentence or in discourse.
This is a real phenomenon among multilingual speakers (Esen, 2019). It is also the process of distinguishing a
speech structure from one language to another. This quick language shift depends on context and ease. In some
cases, some people intentionally switch codes to get approval and experience belongingness to a large community.
As the code-switching technique spreads, identity researchers, social psychologists and sociologists become more
interested in its aspects and elements.
Who Uses Code-Switching?