Week 5 - Lecture Slide - 17.10.23

The Subsystems of Language
The Subsystems of Language
 Every educator must have an understanding of the structure and organization

of a language, called its subsystems.
 The subsystems of language are the essential organising tools with which
students.
 Phonology
 Morphology
 Syntax
 Semantics
 Pragmatics
Phonology
 Phonology is a branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects

systematically organize their sounds.
 The term also refers to the sound or sign system of any particular language
variety.
 Phonology is defined as the study of sound patterns and their meanings, both
within and across languages. An example of phonology is the study of different
sounds and the way they come together to form speech and words - such as
the comparison of the sounds of the two "p" sounds in "pop-up."
Morphology
 It is the study of words and word forms and the processes by which words become
created and modified.
 The subsystem that explains words and their usage by native speakers of a language.
 Explains how a speaker knows how to break up a stream of sounds into words and how
to break words down into smaller parts that have meaning.
 Morphology is the study of words. Morphemes are the minimal units of words that
have a meaning and cannot be subdivided further. ... An example of a free morpheme is
"bad", and an example of a bound morpheme is "ly." It is bound because although it has
meaning, it cannot stand alone.
Two Types of Morphemes
 Free Morpheme
A morpheme (or word element) that can stand alone; e.g., dog.
 Bound Morpheme
A sound or a combination of sounds that cannot stand alone; e.g., the
‘s’ in dogs is a bound morpheme; it does not have any meaning without the
free morpheme, dog.
Syntax
 Syntax is the order or arrangement of words and phrases to form proper sentences. The
most basic syntax follows a subject + verb + direct object formula. That is, “Robert hit
the ball." Syntax allows us to understand that we wouldn't write, "Hit Robert the ball.
 The relations of words in sentences.
 The subsystem that explain the rules that govern sentence construction by native
speakers of a language.
 There is a difference between grammatical sentences and ungrammatical sentences.
Cont…
 Syntax is the grammatical structure of sentences. The format in which words and
phrases are arranged to create sentences is called syntax.
 Examples of Syntax in a Sentence:
• The boy jumped happily.
• The boy happily jumped.
• Happily, the boy jumped.
Semantics
 Deals with the ability to determine the meaning of words and sentences.
 Semantics helps determine if a word or a sentence has more than one
meaning.
 Denotation and Connotation words.
 Platt explains (2014):
 Word denotation is presented in dictionary descriptions; e.g., the word ‘rat’
is defined in Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary as “any of numerous
rodents differing from the related mice especially by considerably larger
size.”
Cont…
 However, this does not constitute the variety of associations the word ‘rat’ can suggest.
For many people, a rat calls to mind feelings of disgust, fear, or even plague.
 The word ‘rat’ connotes a variety of associations in one’s mind; these are both
culturally and individually influenced, or they may be personal or restricted to small
groups of people, such as a family or a sub-culture.
Pragmatics
 The subsystem that underlies a native speaker’s competence to understand the context
and the appropriateness of the sentences being said in a particular language.
 Pragmatics is a field of linguistics concerned with what a speaker implies and a listener
infers based on contributing factors like the situational context, the individuals' mental
states, the preceding dialogue, and other elements.
Cont…
Platt reports (2014)…

 The field of pragmatics includes attention to the functions of language, such
as greeting, promising, requesting, negotiating, asking and answering
questions, talking back, teasing, and lying.
 Cross-cultural studies of child language development have shown that even
with a wide range of inputs, young children grow up speaking the language
spoken around them.
 Child language socialization is a process of helping children participate in
various discourses of home and neighborhood.
 Language socialization practices are part of the often hidden aspects of
culture.
6 Techniques for Building Reading Skills
Teach close reading skills

• Defining new words
• Asking questions
• Coding recurring words and themes
• Making personal connections to the text
• Citing current events
• Highlighting heading and subheadings
• Summarizing paragraphs
• Categorizing information
• Numbering and ordering
• Drawing pictures
Appeal to the senses
 While reading is the work of the mind, incorporating the senses provides extra
reinforcement for students who are still growing their skills. Reading passages aloud
and verbalizing questions you would mentally ask while reading can be a great benefit
to students.
 This can be further reinforced especially for visual learners by using a document
camera or overhead projector to write questions, mark key words and phrases, and
interact with a text. And as always, encourage students to read with a pen or pencil in
hand.
Guide students in setting reading goals
 While writing goals are used regularly in the classroom, students do not assess personal
reading skills on a regular basis. Begin the year by having students write a reader’s
biography to gain insight into their reading habits, struggles, and successes; this serves
as a foundation for discussions on setting reading goals.
 After reading a novel, nonfiction text, short story, or poetry unit, help students evaluate
their reading skills: Did you feel confident reading the text? Why or why not? What
parts of the text gave you trouble? Could you have used a different strategy to make
reading the text easier? Students should evaluate goals on a regular basis and create
new goals based on their needs and growth.
Vary text length
 When approaching a particularly difficult text, break it up and offer it in shorter

segments. Students often become discouraged with lengthy texts that require intense
concentration.
 Giving smaller segments allows the students to digest chunks in pieces, acquire
academic vocabulary, and build confidence.
Offer opportunities for choice reading
 Simply put, the best way to improve reading is to read, and students are more likely to
read when they have a choice in the reading.
 Classroom libraries built from donations, garage sales, and thrift shops encourage
students to take books for personal reading. Ask students about their interests and make
recommendations.
 Reading for pleasure builds transferable skills for content reading and should be
encouraged, including in class
Assess content and skill
 Students should be able to demonstrate their skills in assessment, whether it’s formal or
informal, formative or summative. Recall and comprehension questions are a good way
to check for basic understanding, but teachers should then move to the harder how and
why questions.
• Facilitate a socratic discussion.
• Create a playlist for a character.
• Write a formal essay.

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The Subsystems of Language

The Subsystems of Language

 Every educator must have an understanding of the structure and organization

 Phonology is a branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects

Platt reports (2014)…

Teach close reading skills

 When approaching a particularly difficult text, break it up and offer it in shorter

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