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Introduction to
Linguistics
LESSON 01 – LINGUISTICS AND ENGLISH
LANGUAGE TEACHING
PREPARED BY MR. JONATHAN M. AYSON
What is Linguistics? 2

In a nutshell: Linguistics is the scientific study of

language. Linguists apply the scientific method to
conduct formal studies of speech sounds,
grammatical structures, and meaning across the
world’s 6,000+ languages.
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Linguistics in Everyday Life
Whether it’s telling a joke, naming a baby, using voice
recognition software, or helping a relative who’s had
a stroke, you’ll find the study of language reflected in
almost everything you do. Linguists study meaning,
discourse, and many other language aspects that
you have always wondered about.
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Studying Linguistics
When you study linguistics at any level, you gain
insight into one of the most fundamental parts of
being human- the ability to communicate through
language. You can study every aspect of language
from functional theory to language acquisition, and
computational linguistics to psycholinguistics. Studying
linguistics enables you to understand how language
works, and how it is used, developed and preserved
over time.
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The Science of Linguistics
Linguists are not only polyglots, grammarians, and
word lovers. They are researchers dedicated to the
systematic study of language who apply the scientific
method by making observations, testing hypotheses,
and developing theories. The science of language
encompasses more than sounds, grammar, and
meaning. When you study linguistics, you are at the
crossroads of every discipline.
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Linguistics as a Profession
An undergraduate or advanced degree in linguistics
can prepare you for a career in a variety of different
fields, including but not limited to: teaching,
publishing, national security, international affairs,
policy, forensics, medicine and technology.
Linguistics and 7
English Language Teaching
Teachers’ knowledge on the workings of language
and language teaching are essentially intertwined
with each other. The teachers’ competence on how
a language behaves will certainly help teachers
explain to the students how the language works, as
well as anticipate and respond appropriately to
possible learning difficulties.
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1. Knowledge of linguistics, specifically phonology, may be useful for
explaining interference problems that may be experienced by English
language learners with the English sound system. To illustrate, in the
absence of the following sounds such as /f/ and /v/ in Philippine
languages, except in Ivatan and Ibanag, Filipino English learners are
likely to use /p/ and /v/ as substitute sounds, e.g., /pæn/ for /fæn/ ‘
fan’ and /bæn/ for /væn/ ‘van’. Language teachers are advised to
remember that each language has its own inventory of phonemes
that may differ from that of another language. Such differences may
result in using sounds that only approximate the target sounds, as
shown in the aforementioned examples.
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2. Language teachers need to realize that grammatical units such as
morphemes, words, phrases and clauses behave quite differently
across languages. For example, plurality, and tense in English are
expressed through inflections as is {-s/ -es} and {-ed}. However,
Tagalog plurality is expressed as separate words as in mga bata
‘children’. Linguistically speaking, Tagalog verbs have no tense, only
aspects – perfective “kumain’ and imperfective ‘kumakain’, which
may explain the Filipinos’ problems in dealing with English tenses.
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3. Helping students to discover the meaning of words by parsing them
into small parts depends heavily on the teacher’s knowledge of
morphology or word formation rules. To exemplify, students may
parse or segment the following words, taking note of the morpheme
{-ment} that recurs in embarrassment, government, disillusionment,
enhancement. As students discover the meaning of {-ment} as ‘state
or condition’, they may be able to give the meaning of the cited
examples as: ‘state of being embarrassed’, ‘state of governing’,
‘state of being disillusioned’, and ‘state of enhancing’. Hence, the
process of word formation such as derivation may help learners
interpret and remember meaning of words that follow certain
patterns in forming short words into longer words.
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4. Teachers’ knowledge about larger units of language use – discourse
structure – may be relevant when teaching exchanges or
conversations. The use of language for social functions such as
asking permission involves familiarity with modals that express
formality and a higher degree of politeness when speaking with
someone who is older, who occupies a higher position, or is an
authority than the speaker. In this context appropriacy has to be
observed in selecting modals. For example, it is appropriate to use
may, not can when asking permission from someone who is older,
higher in position than the speaker. e.g. May I use the office
computer?
References 12

https://www.linguisticsociety.org