Instituto de Estudios Superiores Belén

PROFESORADO EN INGLÉS
Historia de la Lengua Inglesa

A DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE
A LONG ONE , YOU WILL SEE

WELCOME

Hello, Students and welcome to the second lesson of this history! This week’s work is a
bit more complex (not complicated, I promise) than last lesson: you are going to read a
chapter taken from the 1993 book by PYLE, Thomas & ALGEO, John: The Origins and
Development of the English Language (4th Edition). This text is a continuation of the one we
read the previous session – do you remember? which was about these authors' reasons for
studying the History of the English Language. Well, it is high time to get to know their
perspective about what a language is.

To begin with, you are not expected to read the text and that is all. As it is full of concepts
and with many explanations, examples, and theoretical knowledge essential for other
subjects, you have to read and assimilate as much information as possible. Nevertheless,
instead of working with the whole text, the first two questions of this “Study Guide” will
be developed by everyone, while the following sections will be assigned in sections in order
to fully read and understand, following this “Study Guide” as a guideline through the reading
process and which you can consult anytime, anywhere.

Besides, you are not only reading for yourself and missing the rest of the text. On the
contrary, you are going to give an oral report about the main points of your assignment. This
will be delivered next week, and you have to prepare and share with your classmates and
teacher a PowerPoint Presentation (or any other visual resource) highlighting those main
points. This must not be a "Copy and Paste" of the text, but a summary of it. For that reason,
and in order to prepare it well, you will be giving the necessary guidelines and support in
order to design and development properly all your materials.

Finally, all your productions should be uploaded to the campus, so as to share it with the
class.

Well, that is all for now. If I am missing any mate of yours, let me know. Thank you in
advance and be successful!

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 Instituto de Estudios Superiores Belén
PROFESORADO EN INGLÉS
Historia de la Lengua Inglesa

STUDY GUIDE
1. Which is the definition of LANGUAGE given by the authors?
2. Which are the six important terms in that definition?

LANGUAGE AS SYSTEM
1. How do we speak?
2. How many levels does each human language have?
3. How do we call that characteristic?
4. Which are the two levels of each system? Which are their components?
5. Which are the six kinds of signals especially important for signaling the structure of a
sentence?
6. Do all languages have these kinds of grammatical signals? What is their difference?

LANGUAGE SIGNS
1. Draw a word web showing the relationship among MORPHEME – ALLOMORPH –
AFFIXES – COMPOUND – IDIOM, etc

LANGUAGE AS SPEECH
1. Do you know the difference between the words ORAL and AURAL? Explain it
2. Which are some of the ways in which language can be expressed? How do we call
them?
3. Which is the basis of the signs of language?
4. What is the importance for humans of writing and speech?
5. Compare and contrast WRITING and SPEECH
6. What is the object of study of KINESICS?
7. What is PARALANGUAGE?

LANGUAGE AS CONVENTION
1. Is writing a convention? Why?
2. Is speech also a convention? Justify
3. Why is CHANGE a normal state of language?
4. Which are the causes for language change? Bear in mind how these causes are
called
5. What is meant by “LINGUISTIC CORRUPTION” and “LANGUAGE VARIATION”?
Explain them

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 Instituto de Estudios Superiores Belén
PROFESORADO EN INGLÉS
Historia de la Lengua Inglesa

6. What is the relationship/difference between CORRECTNESS and

ACCEPTABILITY?

LANGUAGE AS HUMAN
1. What are some of the theories of the beginning of human language mentioned?
Explain the one stated in the text
2. Do you know any other theory? Choose one and explain it
3. Is there any innate language ability? Justify
4. Do birds and bests really talk? Justify

LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION
1. What are the possible relationships between language and thought?
2. According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: Does language influence our view of the
world?
3. Which is one of the most important aspects of language systems?
4. What is meant by DISPLACEMENT?

SOURCE
➢ PYLE, Thomas & ALGEO, John: The Origins and Development of the English
Language (4th Edition), Harcourt Brace College Publishers - The USA (1993) –
Chapter 1, pp. 3 – 24

CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

➢ Acosta, Dante (2021). LH 1-2 Language Definition. Material de Cátedra “Historia de
la Lengua Inglesa” – Profesorado en Inglés (IES Belén)

Esta obra está bajo una licencia Creative Commons

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