MODULE WEEK NO.

1
Gingoog City Colleges, Inc.
Macopa St., Paz Village, Brgy. 24-A, Gingoog City
(088) 861 1432 Ext 7385

University Logo

College of Education
EL 100: Introduction to Linguistics
1st Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021

Introduction

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Human language,

understood as a systematic use of speech sounds, signs, and written symbols for
communication among people, is a very complicated system, which can be
analyzed on different levels and from various points of view. Modern linguists
often adopt different perspectives on language depending on the goals of their
COURSE MODULE

research. It is common to distinguish between language as an individual act of

speaking or writing in a particular context at a given moment or in a certain
social context, and language as the abstract linguistic system underlying the
linguistic behavior of a whole community of speakers.

Rationale

There are a lot of questions that can be asked about language, some
scientific, some not. One such question is: Which is the oldest language in the world?
Several centuries ago, researchers were much concerned with this question,
however, it does not have a reliable answer, simply because we cannot go so far
into the history of humanity. Another often asked question is about the features that
all natural human languages share. The American linguist Charles Hockett has
pointed out a number of such properties. Here are some of them:
a) all languages have vowels and consonants;
b) all languages have words;
c) all languages can create new words when required and modify their meanings;
d) all languages are open-ended in the sense that they can produce totally new
utterances which are understood by the users of the language;
e) all languages can form questions;
f) in all languages it is possible to talk about things and situations that are removed
from the immediate situation of the speaker (this is called displacement);
g) in all languages we can use hypothetical, unreal, and fictional utterances.
1
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the module, students are expected to:

A. show the implications of linguistics for language Teaching,
B. define language,
C. explain the nature and functions of language,
D. enumerate the functions of language, and
E. discuss the shifting Theories of language.

Activity

Gives the function of the remark made by the indicated persons in the
situations. Support your claim.
COURSE MODULE

The milk is sour

a. Complaining and demanding a refund

b. Expressing objections
c. Advising and informing

1. A woman goes to the grocery: returns a bottle of milk and makes the
remark to the grocer

2. The same woman talking with her husband before she has the chance to
return the milk. Her husband who usually takes cream with his coffee is
making a cup of coffee for himself when the woman makes the remark.

3. The same woman returns from the grocery with the replacement of the
bottle of milk she returned. She pour the milk in the pack lunch for her son,
the poor boy makes the remark even if the milk is not really sour.

2
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1

Discussion

Linguistics is defined by William O. Moulton as “the branch of learning

which studies the language of any and all human societies; how such a
language is constructed; how it varies through space and changes through
time; how it is related to other languages; how it is used by its speakers.”
Moulton also points out that fundamental to all branches of linguistics are
some specific questions, namely,
- What is language
- How does it work?
- What happens when a speakers says something and a hearer
understand him?
There are two main branches of linguistics, theoretical and applied.
Theoretical linguistics is concerned with the nature of language and its
components while applied linguistics has to do with language use, how is
learned and acquired and how it may be taught.
COURSE MODULE

The following are the definitions of language that linguistics or people

who study language have come up with-
1. Language is speech.
Speech is language
- The written record is but a secondary representation of the language-
Charles Fries
2. Language is a system which relates meanings to substance.
- It is a mental phenomenon that is innate.
- All the children the world over acquire a mother language-Noam
Chomsky
3. For communication to take place, the sender and the receiver of the
message should have shared preposition- Widdowson
4. Language has 2 elements, one is cognitive, and active which comprises
the linguistic features of the language. The other is emotive affective. – Oller
5. Language is a system of signals conforming to the rules which constitute
it grammar. It is a set of culturally transmitted behavior patterns shared by a
group of individuals.- Joseph Greenberg
6. Language is a code, a set of elements forms composed of sounds,
letters, their combinations…..into words, sentences, etc… used for
communication between individuals who share the same rules. – Roger T. Bell.
7. Meaning does not reside in the worlds per se but in the context of the
situation. –Malinowski.
8. When we use language, we are not just saying something. We are doing
something as well, like promising, asking information, etc. –Searle and Austin

3
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1
Functions of Language
Do you recall what Searle and Austin said about the nature of language? They said-
“When we say something, we are also doing it.”
- Let us look at these situations and determine what you are actually doing as
you say the remark.
Situation One

You accidentally step on a person’s foot and you say

Excuse me

Questions
1. What are you doing when you make the remark?
2. What other remark could you say to express the same idea?
3. What is the several response that goes with that remark?
COURSE MODULE

Situation Two
You meet a person on a street and you want to ask directions. You try to catch
his eye and you say:
Ex cuse me
Questions
1. Are you apologizing this time?
2. What then are you doing?
3. What response will that remark call for this time?
Situation three
Someone accuses you of something you didn’t do. You look at her sternly and say:
Excuse me

Questions
4. What are you doing this time?
5. What other expressions could you use to give the same idea?
6. What response would you expect?

General Functions of Language

Michael A K Halliday, a well-known linguist points out as the functions of language.
Function What one does through Examples
language

1. Instrumental Get things done commanding

4
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1
2. Regulatory Control events once approving
they happen

3. Representational Communicate reporting

knowledge about the
world
4. Interactional Insure maintenance of greeting
social relations

5. Personal Express oneself apologizing

6. Heuristic Acquire knowledge and questioning

learn about the world

7. Imaginative Create imaginary Composing poems

systems
COURSE MODULE

SHIFTING Theories of Language

If you must have noticed in this section on the nature of language, different linguists
have different ideas about the nature and components of language.
Why do you suppose there were changes that took place in their view points? What
brought about these changes?
Before we look at the shifts, in the theories of language let us first look at change and
find out why it takes place. Here are two theories of change.

Theory A
First, some bright mind comes up with an idea and expounds on it. This is his Thesis.
Others see the wisdom of his assertion or thesis and so they follow him and a school
of thought is born.
But then, another brilliant person reacts to what the first person said and takes the
opposite stand and so that becomes the antithesis. He too will have followers of his
own.

A third one comes and sees the wisdom of both schools of thought.
He tries to put up the two together and now comes up with or synthesis.
But the swing to the other end continues followed by another reaction resulting in a
continuous swinging from one end to the other but with each swing and counter
movement, something new is added.

Theory B

First, some perceptive mind observes what happens and comes up with an idea or
paradigm enters the nature of science period and many schools subscribing to that
paradigm development.
5
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1
Then, someone finds a flaw or anomaly in the paradigm.
At first there are attempts to reconcile the anomaly but soon nothing can be done
to correct it and so a new paradigm is born.
The new paradigm goes through the same process of maturing until an anomaly is
again discovered and the cycle and new paradigm something is added.

Theory A

Thesis Anti-thesis

Synthesis
COURSE MODULE

Theory B

Emergence of a Paradigm Refinement and Maturity of Discovery of Anomaly in

the Paradigm the Paradigm

Shift to a new Paradigm Attempt to reconcile the

anomaly

Now let us turn our attention to the shifts in the theories of language. As you move
from one theory to another, determine if the shifts follow the pendulum like or the
cyclical model of change. You will also be asked after each theory to show in a
paradigm how the theory may be presented automatically

The Beginning
At first, the grammar of many languages was studied in relation to Latin
grammar that is they were Latin- based grammars. This was because at the time
emphasis was on the classic. For a man to be considered learned, he had to know
the classics. Since Latin was a classical language, other languages were studied in
relation to it. That was the age of classical Humanism.
But with the onset of the scientific period, in the early 1900’s, languages
were studied independently as systems with significant sounds as the smallest unit.
The sounds when combined come up with meaningful units like words which form
the next higher level in the system.

6
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1
When words are combined, following a certain orderly utterances are
formed. These sentences or utterances can be put together to form paragraphs or
discourse. Thus language was considered a structure, a system where the lower
units combined to form the next higher units. This structural approach to language
up to the 60’s.

Discourse
Paragraphs

Grammar of

Sentences
COURSE MODULE

Meaningful units
Words and affixes

Significant sound

In the 60’s an anomaly was found in the theory that language is a system of form
made up of sounds that combine to form meaningful units which in turn form
sentences or utterances when they are arranged in a certain order.
The anomaly was that sometimes you use the same form but come up with different
meanings. A teacher who asks some students, “why are you giggling?” as she gives
her lectures is actually reprimanding them and telling them to stop laughing. But if
the same question is asked by a friend as she joins the giggling girls, she is not
reprimanding them and telling them to stop laughing. Rather, she is asking the
reason for the laughter so she can join in their amusement. Although the same forms
are used, the meaning changes because the person interacting change. So
language is not just forms, that is, the message or what is said having a locutionary
force. It is also what one does as he says it or the function of the utterance which
has an illocutionary force. The response to the utterance is that the girls should
giggling when the teacher says “why are you giggling?” but they can continue to
do so and share the reason for their amusement when it is their friend who asks the
question. The expected response would be the perlocutionary force.

In such an instance all three forces- locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary are
considered. Language is viewed not just as a system made up of forms but as a
means of communication. For one to know the language and be communicatively
competent, it is not enough to master the correct usage of the forms, that is, to have
7
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1
linguistic competence. One should also know the appropriate rules of use accepted
by society. So, he should have sociolinguistic competence. Then, too, since
communication calls for an utterance followed by a response, then it is concerned
not just with single unrelated sentences but with relation across sentences. This would
mean a text made up of several related sentences and this would call for discoursal
competence. Finally, at times, one may not be understood when he says something,
so he should rephrase and keep simplifying what he says until he is understood. That
means he should have several strategies of communication. He should have
strategic competence. This paradigm was popular until the mid 80’s.
COURSE MODULE

From the mid-80’s another change in the theory of language took place. It
was in England that another anomaly was discovered an observation was made
and a question raised, “why was it that the students there whose native language
was English had a difficult time understanding their academic textbooks which were
written in English? So the conclusion was reached that the textbook required
Cognitive Academic Language proficiency or CALP whereas the dimension of
English that the students knew was made up of basic interpersonal communication
skills or BICS. Whereas CALP was cognitively demanding. BICS was cognitively
undemanding. And whereas CALP was context-reduced, or had few clues in the
context to make it understandable, BICs had enough clues embedded in its context
to make what was said easy to comprehend.

Cognitively
Undemanding

Context Context
embedded embedded

Cognitively
Undemanding

8
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1

Exercise

Directions: Gives the function of the remark made by the indicated persons in
the situations. Support your claim.

A.

Why are you laughing?

a. Expressing anger and commanding them to stop.

b. Expressing curiosity about the cause of laughter.
c. Expressing surprise at the reaction

_________1. A person who fails to catch the joke

_________2. A teacher whose students are snickering while she is discussing the lesson
_________3. A member of a group who arrives and finds her friends watching TV and laughing,
COURSE MODULE

B.

I’m feeling cold

d. Requesting that the air conditioner be turned off or lowered.

e. Hinting she wants to go home
f. Wanting assurance that she is okay.

________4. A woman with her doctor in the examination room

________5. That woman with her husband in a party.
________6. A woman who is chilling in an air-conditioned room
________7. A girl after swimming in a swimming party

Assessment
Directions: To sum it up, see if you can complete this paragraph

Language theories have several shifts. At first, the study of languages was
based on (1) ___. Then, languages were studied independently as a system
made up of ____(2)_____composed of significant sounds that combine to form
____(3)_____ which in turn combine to form _______(4)________The sentences can be
put together to form texts of paragraphs.
Later, the theory of language changed. It was viewed as a mean
of_______(5)_______. So the goal was to develop _______(6)________. This is seen as
having four competencies: ______(7)______ sociolinguistic competence, discoursal
competence an ______(8)______.

9
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1
Today, language is viewed as having _____(9)______dimensions. These are
CALP or ______(10)_______and BICS or the Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills.

Reflection

The Double-Entry Journal: A Myriad of Options!

On The Left: The Source On The Right: The Response

Notes from the lesson Summaries/Comments

Observations Interpretations

Facts Questions, Quick Responses

Key words or phrases Observations/Questions

COURSE MODULE

Definitions

Concepts & Ideas Explanations/Questions

Facts, details, statements My Predictions/Questions

Resources and Additional Resources

O’Grady, William et. al. 2001. Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction,

4th ed. New York: St. Martin’s.

Radford, Andrew et.al. 1999. Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Paz, Consuelo et.al. 2003. Ang Pag-aaral ng Wika. Quezon City:

University of the Philippines Press.

Additional References:
Crowley, Terry. 1997. Introduction to Historical Linguistics, 3rd ed.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Duranti, Alessandro. 1997. Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Salzmann, Zdenek. 2004. Language, Culture, and Society, 3rd ed. Oxford:
10
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT
 MODULE WEEK NO.1
Westview Press.
COURSE MODULE

11
Crafted by Mr. Joevannie B. Acera,LPT