Purposive Communication

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
· Demonstrate an understanding of the key
ideas in language and communication.
· Relate your personal experience with the
input presented.
Study the following words. Which spelling is
correct?
Correct Incorrect
1. Aeroplane
2. Airplane
3. Colonise
4. Colonize
5. Defence
6. Defense
7. Enrolment
8. Enrollment
9. Honour
What is Language?
Linguists agree that a language can only
be called a language if it has system of
rules (also known as grammar), a sound
system (phonology), and a vocabulary
(lexicon). These are requirements for
identifying a means of communication as a
When people use language, they can
understand each other because they
belong to the same speech community.

While growing up, people acquire the

languages used by those in the community.
This is the process of language acquisition.
What happens if you, for example, who
speaks the mother tongue and English,
goes to work in China where the
residents speak Putonghua (Mandarin)
and a little bit of English? Will you be
able to communicate with the Chinese?
What is happening here is called
Question
1. Can animals communicate?
2. Can monkeys produce language?
3. What is the difference between language
acquisition and language learning?
4. What is the difference between first
language and second language?
5. What happens after a language comes into